Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1868-11-18
A Woman's- Confessions
From Mc Picayunc.

From Me Picayunc.
GA few days ago. said Mr.. F. :,
!" intelligence reached us that Milan
banker had absconded with an immense
amount of money. 1t was believed
that he Aadsf to this country and.ta-
ken refuge in New Orleans. A young
Italian girl was the companiorstof his
fight. Together with a description of
the man was a. miniature of this girl.
She was very beautiful, and the mani
mate ivory pictured Il face so winsome
in its youth and innocence, SO trustful,
so conhding, that my heart ached as |
looked at.it. ,-yses er
".Months went by in the fruitless
search for the criminal If here, his
precautions were we'll taken, and his
concealment efectual.
"One night report reached the sta
tion that a. drowned woman had been
drawn from the river. She had@'been,
dead but a few hours, itswas said, and
was, elegantly clad, and young and
beautiful. "a u As.
Why I-could notdiVinesat the time,
but l felt a strange desire to see this
girl.. / mentioned the fact to Mr.. l.,
and we walked together to the river.
The body was laid out on thepier. and the
lovely upturned face was magnetic in
its intense beauty. a wealth of black
wet hair fell back from the broad low
forehead. exposing face rounded and
full in its fresh, spring=timc beauty
Hhe g pSy 4Rs uaaafd a59fdFe4HS4 Hd hs aak asss
lips had not lost their delicate curve
and crimson stain. The soft milky skin
showed beneath it the olive tint it had
worn in life. The cinging dress but
imperfectly concealed each rounded
limb and the exquisite outline OF body.
l felt strange attraction in looking
at this dead woman. She must have
been unsurpassingly lovely when life
was instinct in the frame now so chill.
The warm sun Of her native land could
not have been more lustrous than her
eyes were then. l felt that I had seen
her before. The conviction grew upon
me as my eyes became rivitcd on her
features. The face haunted me. For
an hour my memory was at fault, but it
came at last. Like flash. recollection
returned.
SHE agos tile original Of tie picture.
Eagerly l bent forward and traced
again and again each outline of face
and figure. There could be no mistake
the liniaments were the same.
On examining the body it was discov-
cred that she had been murdered. A
deep penetrating wound in her side,
made with a small Spanish dagger,
which yet filled the cavity, disclosed
the means of her death. This knife
bore the initials E. F. They did not
stand for her name nor that of her be-
trayer. 1t was costly weapon, for in
the handle was brilliant OF value. I
took the knife to ajeweler, a and asked
him to examine it. The monogram ar
rested his attention at once. He took
it and examined it closely. Then from
his desk he brought jewel set in gold
on which was lettering precisely SINH
lar.
"Wherc did you get this?' 1 asked
From customer of mine.
"a lady ?"
eyes.
Where is she to be found ?"
FIe showed me II direction. 1t was
that of lady of fashion, a4Cuban Wis
iting in the city.
went to her at once. On mention
ing my name she showed me evident
signs of uneasiness, and motioning me
to private room, begged with white
lips and faltering utterance, the ma
ture of my GRAND.
/ detailed the circumstances briefly
told her of the ciminal, the flight ant
escape, of the dead body; I showed he
the knife, and the ring had obtained
at the jewelers..
Madame" I concluded, 81 must
arrest you for murder !
"Oh, no no, no, she exclaimed, Z"
will confess all not mine the sin, no
mine the deed !
She then told me who the man was
where he lived, and the circumstance
that occasioned the poor girls death.
1t appears from her statement tha
some weeks before, the banker ha'
wearied of the Young girl, and ha,
abandoned her. He had then paid hi
court to her, and not knowing his ante
cedcnts, and Judging Of him by the sta
rtion he held in society, she had consent
ed to marry him. That the evenin
previous she had been walking wit
him on the pier. Standing there in tn
moonlight, they had been approache
By female clad as this one was. VI
braidings and angry reproaches follow
ed, and the girl, in the madness an
frenzy of her distress, threatened to II
veal a secret. The words had scarcel
left her lips when the man struck he
with the dagger l held in my hanc
She said he had taken it from her fe'
moments, and was toying with 1t whe
the woman came up.
When the blow was struck sl
said, "thc woman reeled and fell int
the river saw her as she sunk beneat