The Bloomfield times. [volume] (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1867-187?, 1870-11-01
ALFRED MARTINS PERIL.
90 1T is A FOUL and bloody murder,
n opd ,,,o,, God ,,unicb tho ono thot


did the deed But may there not be some
life remaining? May it not be in my
power to rob the grave. 1t is danger
Gus undertaking, and if am found here,
shall most certainly be accused of the
crime. Blood upon my hands and clothes,
and l have not touched the corpse All. =!
l see how it came. The bushes are stain
ed with it. The body was dragged to
this lonely spot Lonely! Who would
ever think of coming here unless he had
foul purpose, save, it might be, geolo-
gist like myself, whom the simple people
in this part of the country would call
mad. Yes it would go hard with me, es-
pecially as [ am stranger, and though
poorly clad, as becomes my present oc-
cupation, have considerable sum of
money upon my person"
He drew back a few steps from the
corpse upon which he had come suddenly
and unexpectedly, and looked around
Without noticing his path, he had jour
neyed to the bottom Of deep ravine be-
fore his progress was arrested. High
hills rose upon either side, covered with
a heavy growth of trees and tangled un-
derbrush. A little stream found It's way
with great difficulty through the rocks at
the bottom, and its waters were never gild-
ed by single ray of sunlight Even in
the brightest day it was gloomy twilight
there; and more dismal place would
have been difficult to find-the very spot
for dark deeds, for a murders hiding!
And there, before him, stopping the path
lay a blood-stained human body, as if to
finish the picture and give CORY evidence
of its evil character.
His first thoughts were to pass on.
What had he to do with the crime of
another? Why should he mix himself
with that in which he had not the most
remote business His clear head and
logical mind foresaw all the difficulties
that would arise should he be discovered
and charged with the commission of the
deed, and the fearful network of circum-
stantial evidence that would surround
him yet he was q man Of the most de-
termined frmness as we'll as having a
tender heart, and not for the sake Of
escaping trouble, or even danger, would
he suffer chance to relieve suffering, or
save life to pass unembraced. So he drew
nearer, and bending away the bushes, look
ed scrutinizingly upon the victim of
some iend's cupidity or revenge
The corpse was that Of girl who
must have been under twenty years, and
the face was one OF more than common
beauty. The oval of the cheeks was per-
feet, the nose straight, the mouth small,
and the lips, now parted by agony, were
full and arched The eyes, wide open
and CLASSY, were blue as the depths of the
Of the ocean, and curtained by long lash
es shade darker than her glossy brown
hair. The figure was tall and delicately
proportioned, the feet small and exqui-
sitely arched, the hands white and slen-
der, denoting good birth and freedom
from manual labor. The clothing, now
stained, was of fine material and the dis
coloration of the neck, ears, fingers and
wrists-the piece torn from the bosom
Of the dress, and the pockets turned out
ward-told that robbery as we'll as mur-
der had been committed
AG once ueeply interested, tne stranger
knelt down, brushed back the tangled
tresses, gazed sadly upon the sweet pal
lid face, and examined both pulse and
heart for symptoms of life, hoping against
hope that spark at least might remain
But his intellectual and unusually sunny
face clouded, and he shook his head in
doubt. The marks upon the base of the
skull, caused apparently by heavy blows
from sharp stone, seemed sufficient to
have produced death alone but, in addi-
ton to them, blood was slowly oozing
from, and congealing upon, several
wounds, in one of which a knife was
sticking. His profession had taught him
skill as we'll as coolness, and with extreme
tenderness and delicacy, he made still
closer examination, and began prepara-
tions to stanch the blood and dress the
wounds.
With this knife" he said, giving ut
terance to his thoughts as he drew out
the weapon, Il could even thus kill all
my enemies, make myself rich and T."
The sentence was never finished. Be-