The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1867-03-28
asir. may I beg to know your business

The stranger turned round, and ad,
vancea 10 sslute his host, warmly and
lconrteon,ly. Mr.. Burnett started back,
and uttered a loud exclamation OF sur
mise and alarm. Well he might, Tor pc
fare him stood his old friend and DEBTOR,
Ciodomir. whom he himself had ioiio"ea
to the grave. hatween
,ru p,rpo,t and his strange visitor re-
NJ "a cas Al. time a secret. Mr.. Burnett
res ohserved TO issue several times, paie
"nS a~;,ated. from his dwelling, and to
an;Sa;, sba magistrate charged with the cri-
,.;n.i nrocess Of the colony.
Tn the course of that day, while John
Noon was regaiing himself with tea under
the palm trees Of his garden, In company
with a Circassian female whom he had
bought some time previous, he was arrested
and taken to prison by the officers OF JUS
tice. On the following day he was brought
to the criminal court, accused OF robbing
the late Clodomir Frenois, the crime being
conioined with breach of trust and VIC,
lence. Moon smiled at the charge with all
the confidence Of o man who had nothing
TO fear. The Judge having demanded OF
him. if he confessed the charge, the &C
cused replied that the charge was alto
pether absurd, that clear testimony was
necessary to fix such crime upon nm;
and that, SO far from there being any such
evidence produceable, neither the widow
of the deceased nor any one person IN MS
service had ever heard the pretended rob-
bery even once mentioned by Frenois during
his life. =,
ado YOU then affirm your innocence :"
repeated the Judge gravely, after hearing
all that the other had to say.
81 will avouch my innocence" replied
| Moon, "eyen before the body of my late
master, if that be necessary /" lSuch q
thing often took place under the old colo
NAL law.l
aJohn Moon" said the judge, in a
voice broken by some peculiar emotion,
" it is before your late master that you will
have to assert your innocence and may
God make the truth appear
A signal from the Judge accompanied
these words, and Immediately a door open
ed and Clodomir Frenois, the supposed
suicide, entered the court. He advanced
to the bar with a slow and deliberate step,
having his eye calmly but sternly liked on
the prisoner, his servant. A great sensas
ton was caused in the court by his appear
ance. Uttering shrieks of alarm and hor-
ror. the females present fled from the spot.
The accused fell on his knees in AFFECT ter
ror, and shudderingly confessed his guilt.
For a time no voice was heard but his.
However, as it became apparent that a
living man stood before the court, the adj
yocate for the prisoner gained courage to
sneak. He demanded that the identity of
the merchant be established, and the mys-
terv of his existence be explained. He
said that the court should not be biased by
what might prove to be a mere accidental
likeness between a man living and one de-
ceased and that such an avOwal as that OF
the prisoners extracted in a moment of
extraordinary terror, was not to be held of
much weight. "Before being admitted
here as accuser or Witness" continued the
| advocate, addressing the resuscitated mer-
chant, "prove who and what you are, and
disclose by what chance the tomb which so
lately received your body, mangled by bull
lets, has given up its tenant and restored
you to the world in life and health"
The firm appeal of the advocate, who
continued steadfast to his duty under cir
cumstances that would have closed the
lips of most men, called forth the follow
ing narrative from Clodomir Frenois: "My
story may be soon told, and will suffice to
establish my identity. When discovered
the robbery committed by the accused, he
had then fled from the island, and | speed
ily saw that all attempts to retake him
would prove fruitless. | saw ruin and dis
grace before me, and came to the resolu-
ton of terminating my life before the evil
day came. On the night on which this
determination was formed, l was seated
alone in my private chamber. l had writ
ten a letter which was found on my table,
and had loaded my pistol. This done,
/ prayed for forgiveness from my Maker
for the act Of despair l was about to
commit. The end Of the pistol was
at my head, and my finger on the
lock, when a knock at the outer door OF
the house started me. l concealed the
weapon and went to the door. A man en-
tered, whom I recognized to be the sexton
of the parish in which | lived. He bore a
sack on his shoulder, and in it the body of
a man newly buried, which was destined
for my nephew, the physician, then living
with me. The scarcity of bodies for dis
section, as the court is aware, compels
those who are anxious to acquire skill in
the medical profession to procure them by
any possible secret means. The sexton
was at first alarmed at seeing me. Did
my nephew request you to bring this
body p said 1. NO. replied the man /;
but / know his anxiety to obtain one for
dissection, and took it upon me to come
and offer him this body tFor mercy's
sake,' continued the sexton, do not be-
tray me, sir, or | shall lose my situation,
and my family's bread
"While the man was speaking, a strange
idea entered my mind, and brought to my
despairiDg bosom hopes of continued life
and recovering honor. | stood for q few
moments absorbed in thought, and then
recollecting myself, / gave two pieces OF
gold to the resurrectionist, the sum which
he had expected. Telling him to keep his
own way and that all would be well, | sent
him away and carried the body to my Ca
binet. The whole of the household had
previously been sent out of the way on
purpose, and / had time to carry into ex.
ecution the plan which had struck me.
The body was luckily of the same stature
as myself, and like me in complexion.
knew the man he had been a poor offend.
err, abandoned by his family. Poor relic
of mortality said !, with tears in my eyes,
nothing which man can do can now in
iure thee yet pardon me if | rudely dis.
figure thy liisless substance. 1t is to pre-
vent the ruin Of not one, but twenty fami.
lies. And should success attend my at
tempt, l swear that thy children shall be
my children and when my own hour