Weekly Calaveras chronicle., 1867-09-28

eternal secrecy, the nature of which |
shall there and then make known to
you" "Having no desire to profit by
giving Information to the United States
Government of his whereabouts in case
he Is alive, L have no objection to taking
an oath of secrecy so far as divulging
Booths place of residence is concerned.
Firmly believing that he is not alive,
my only object is to satisfy myself of
the fact. If [ lose, l shall have suffi-
cient sense to hold my tongue, and, if I
win, l shall do the same In either
case, my curiosity shall have been fully
satisfied. Is that satisfactory ?" 81
will take you at your word, Captain !!
But, hold perhaps it would be better to
have this in black and white, as we are
strangers to each other," whereupon
having gained Hunts assent, Capt.
iolbert hastily drew up an article speci-
flying the terms of the agreement to
which both Hunt and himself signed
their names requesting the remainder
of the party present to witness it, and
then gave it to Col. Ferguson, request
ing him to keep it until the question
was decided. Tolbert then said "Let
US now proceed to Magistrates office
and have the other articles drawn up at
once"
Everything being in readiness, we
all above started ashore few minutes
after the spirited conversation tran
spired, Captain Tolbert going in sown
boat Ga handsome little gig with which
his ship was supplied.) We were not
long in reaching the quay, and, being
invited by the two Captains to accom-
pany them to the magistrates office,
Colonel Ferguson, Captain Parker, and
myself we're witnesses to all that tran
spired between them. Upon reaching
the Office the following oath was admin
istcred to CAPTAIN Hunt. "You do
solemnly swear, in the presence of
Almighty God, that you will not betray
the confidence reposed in you by the
tWo individuals with whom you are
about to enter into an agreement, so
help you God" Tolbert then suggest
ed the following more secure form,
which was drawn up: 81, Charles
Newton Hunt, do solemnly swear, in
the presence of Almighty God and
these witnesses, that [ will forever con-
ceal and never reveal, the name of the
town, city or country where breathes
the mortal body of John Wilkes Booth,
so help me God" Tolbert then, draw
ing sharp, pointed stiletto, very coolly
presented it to Capt. Hunt, asking him
to prick his arm till the blood come
then handing him pen, requested him
to catch a drop of blood upon the point
and write his signature to the above
oath. Captain Hunt very reluctantly
complied, signing his name in full,
,oriting acitA his oacn blood. The mag
istrate, Mr.. Samuel Reboliet, Col.
Moses, D. Ferguson, Capt. Joseph H.
Parker, and myself then witnessed it,
and Capt Tolbert sealing it up, handed
it to Mr.. Reboliet, requesting him to
put it in place of safety and deliver
it to no person save himself. The
magistrate then drew up the following
article of agreement; awe, undersign-
ed, being equal participants in the
question at issue, do hereby bind our
selves to deposit two thousand pounds
sterling (5e2, ,O00) each in the hands of
the President of the Bank of Bombay,
British India, this the 31st of March,
1867, the aforesaid sum total of four
thousand pounds to be held by said
President of said bank till the expira-
ton of ninety days, to be subjected at
such time to the order of either one
of the two parties whose signatures are
hereto annexed. (Signed.) w. Martin
Tolbert, Chas Newton Hunt. Done
before me at my Office in the city of
Bombay, this the 2 l of March, in the
year of our Lord one thousand eight
hundred and sixty-seven. (Signed.) }
Samuel Reboliet, Notary Public" Two
duplicates Of the above agreement were
drawn off, signed, and one delivered to
each of the Captains, the original being
held by the magistrate, The costs
having been paid, ETC., we proceeded to
a refreshment saloon, and, after partak-
ing of sumptuous repast at the ex-
pense of Captain Tolbert, our party
dispersed to arrange the preliminaries
of the bet, making an appointment at
the Royal Exchange at 3 P. NJ.
Capt Parker, Col Ferguson, and
myself were on the ground promptly at
the appointed hour, and found Tolbert
already there Hunt arrived about
fifteen minutes later, and thence we all
proceeded to the Bank of Bombay,
where the two Captains deposited Bank
of England notes to the amount of two
thousand pounds each, and received
bank certificates therefor, payable at
ninety days sight, with the understand
ing expressed in writing that the whole
amount should be paid to either party
on the presentation of both receipts
A few days after this the papers an
nounced that the ship "Bird of the
Ocean," Tolbert master, had sailed for
Colombo, Ceylon. Meeting Capt. Par
ker the same evening, 7 inquired if
Capt. Hunt had gone "Yes," he re-
piled, "he went as passenger in the
Bird of the Ocean, and left his first
mate in charge of the Loyal till his
return. He told me he would be back
in abont six weeks, and appeared
quite jubilant over his big bet; said he
felt confident of winning. as he believed