Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1871-01-26

poor brother as he lay at his ASSISTANTS
Of the boy, the appearance Of . monstrous
bird Of prey. $50.
dare say this ghouI had an actual
power, such as many men are said to pos
sess, of controlling the springs Of action,
mental and bodily, by some occult power
of the eye. To my brother It seemed that
it needed perpetual and desperate strug-
gle of will TO prevent frightful trance
from stealing over him; g. pzlaI l
For moment the wretch's hand was
slightly raised from the boys mouth. He
intended, no doubt, ct this instant to in
troduce the pitch plaster, which was to
stop both mouth and nostrils. But my
brother, now struggling frantically, utter
ed two piercing yells, which compelled the
murderer to replace his hand before he had
accomplished his purpose. He was now
transported with fury. Up to this he had
been operating rs methodicaliy asa spider.
He looked 30 fiendish that my brother
fancied that he would cut his throat, or
otherwise dispatch him at the moment.
His plans, however, were different. He
had no idea of losing sight Of his inter
ests, much less of his safety. No princi-
Die of his nefarious trade was better es-
tablished than the absolute necessity of
leaving no trace of actual violence upon
the persons of his victims. Even the
knee with which he held his prey was
padded so carefully that this young boys
breast did not exhibit the slightest con-
fusion, although for so long under pres
sure which held him at the verge of suffo-
cation. atrf.
Rapidly, and with more success, the vii
lain again essayed his final sleight. One
dreadful yell escaped, and the deadly pitch
| plaster was fixed on mouth and nose, and
another sound or respiration became i'm
possible. a
The leafy bushes above and about him,
the figure, the face Of the. spectre, began
to swim before his eyes. He saw the man,
still on his knees, rise with start, and
pause with eyes askance, and his dark
hand to his ear. In the next instant he
he'd disappeared.
7 y In his struggles, the boy now rolled from
| the lair in which he had been attacked
into the. clear light, upon the open path,
where he lay perfectly insensible.
was not for some minutes three men were
about him, drenching his head with water,
and all endeavoring to extract word OF
explanation, but for long Time after he
could not speak a syllable, nor, for some
time, hear distinctly what was said.
Not a moment was lost, SO soon as he
was able to describe what had happened,
in directing pursuit, wherever any results
were the least likely. All my brother
could say as to the point toward which the
assassin had directed his flight was that,
as his sight failed, he thought though very
distinctly, he saw him pass away obliauely
in the direction of the lane in which he
had observed the donkey cart. 49,
| 1t must have belonged to an. accomplish,
who was there by arrangement. Every
| thing had been prepared to-carry away the
! body of the poor fellow, which would
| have been secured in sack, enveloped in
the carpet, and covered with straw, and
thus secreted in some lonely lookup yard,
until, at dead of night, it would have been
! conveyed to the dissecting room. The
boys hat thrown upon the water would
have turned inquiry off the scent, and in
duced delay
The strap, still buckled with cruel force
about the poor fellows arms ard ribs, the
| channels cushion | have mentioned, and
the pitch plaster fixed over the lower part
| of his face, were the only properties" OF
the villain left TO indicate his visit.
The cool old assassin had carried of
every other trace of his presence, and he
and his comrade, taking the donkey cart
with them, had decamped with CELEBRITY,
and managed their disguise with an art
which, as matters then were, and with
full hours start, had baffled pursuit.
No doubt with the police force now at
| our command the result might have been
different AS it was, no clue whatever
was discovered; and this was positively
marvellous considering the marked Pc
culiarities of dress and of person that be-
longed to the culprit. The persons best
acquainted with the ways of our criminals
at that period were of the opinion that the
strange details of the dress, the hair, the
complexion, and the distortion Of the
! figure, were parts of an elaborate piece OF
masquerading.
II There was some, controversy as to the
object of thesprojected crime. II was not
until the terrific exposure at Edinburgh
had made all the world horribly familiar
with the machinery of that peculiar spe-
cies of murder that all debate upon the
uldllCI CCdoCu, duu tAC PiooeSA VN'
accepted as conclusive evidence that the
body was intended for sale to the sur
| geons.
No doubt these peaehers on great
scale were thoroughly skilled in all the
art The regularity Of my poor brother
solitary walk, its favorable hour, ard the
easy suggestion of drowning as the cause
of his disappearance, had all been noted,
and the enterprise was, as have told you,
very nearly accomplished, when an unex-
pected interruption saved him. $3.50
My brother was ailing at the time this
dreadful attempt was made upon his life.
He survived it little more than ten
months, and the able physician who at.
tended him referred his death to the awful
shock which his system had received
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