The evening Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1861-1871, 1871-03-04
D ailD argus.
TEE DEATH TEST.

of the crime. Blood upon my hands and
clothes, and have not touched the corpse
All | see how it came. The bushes are
stained with it. The body was dragged &c
this lonely spot. Lonely Who would
ever think of coming here unless he had a
foul purpose, save, It might be, geologis'
ike myself, whom the simple people IN
tals part OF the country would call mao
Yes, 1t would 90 hard with me, especially as
AN stranger, aud though poorly clad, as
becomes my present occupation, have con,
siderable sam of money about my person.
He drew back few steps from the corpse
UPON which he had come suddenly aud
uuexpec,edlv looked around. Without
noticing his path, be had journeyed to the
bottom of deep rsvine before his progress
was arrested. High hills roIe mp ei'ner
side, covered with heavy growth OF trees
and tangled underbush. little stream
found its way with great difficulty through
the rocks at the bottom, and iss waters were
never giIdsd by single ray Of sunshine.
Even in the brightest day it Was gloony twi-
h,b. thar. and 81 more dismal place would
have beon difficult to tiud-the very spot for
DARK dsed, for a murderer's hiding And
there before him, stopping the path, 10y a
blood-stained human body, as if to finish the
picture and give CORY evidence of it's evil
character
His first thoughts were to pass on. What
had he TO 90 with the crime of another p
Why should he mix himself with that in
which be had not the most remote business
HIS clear head and logical mind forssaw oil
the difficulties that would arise should he be
discovered and charged with the commission
of the deed, and the fearful network of cir
cumstantial evidence that would surround
him vel he was man of the most deter
mined Grmuess as well as tender heart
ana not for the sake of escaping trouble, or
even danger, would he suffer chance to
relieve suffering or save life TO pass unem
6raced. So be drew nearer, and bending
away the bushes looked scrutiniaiugly upon
the victim OF some hends cupidity or
rJV,nge.
The corpse Was that Of girl who must
have. been under twenty years, and the face
was one OF more thar common beauty The
oval of the cheeks was perfect, the nose
straight, the mouth small, and the lips, now
parted by agony. were full and srohed
Tue eyes, WIDE open aud CLASSY
were blue Us the depths of the ocean, and
tuat her glossy brown hair. The figure was
tall and deica,ely proportional, the feet
small and ezq4Isitely arohed, the hands
white and slender, denoIing good birth and
freedom from manual labor. The clothing,
now torn and stained, WAY of fine material;
aud the dIscUorauou OF the neck, ears, hn-
gers and wrlsts-the piece torn from the
bosom Of the dress, and the pockets turned
outward-tOld that robbery as well as muir
der had been committed
At once deeply interested, the stranger
kueis down, brushed back the tangled tress-
es, gazed sadly upon the sweet, pailid face,
and examined both pulse and heart for
symptoms of life, hoping against hope that
b spark 1T least might remain. But his in
telteciual and unusually sunny face cloud.
ed, and he shook his head in doubt. The
marks upon the base Of the skull caused
apparently By heavy blows from o sharp
stono seemed sufficient to have produced
aea,h alone, but IN addition to them blood
was slowly ooziug from and congesIing
upon, several wounds, III one OF which a
knife was sticking. His profession had
taught him skill as well as GOODNESS, and
with extreme tenderness and deicacy be
preparations TO s.auch the blood and dress
the wounds.
With this knife he said giving utter
anee to his thoughts as hs drew out The
weapon, 81 could even thus kill all my enc.
mics, make myself rich, md i"
The sentence was never tininhed. Be-
fore 1t could be. dozen men, " no had be en-
watching, creeping near sprang out Of the
bushes, and pinioned him beyond the pow er
Of resistance. Taken beside the corpse with
the blood dripping knife in his hand, wha,
could he say in his defence? The situation
he mad forsesn had come upon him, and he
stood convicted IN their eyes, II least, a
murderer. To sppegl 10 their reason, he
saw ct glance, would be useless: they
we're not Of that class that would look deep
or than the surface. BIS defence mus! be
made at another time ana place; anc, II
truth, he was thinking more of the corpse OF
the murdered girl than Of his own desperate
situation, and drawing himself up proudly
ne asked that she might be cared for.
Whatever may be your purpose with NE,
he said Eat least see if there is not life
remaining. Tnke you- hands off, and let ms
see If my skill can be Of some avail. an
t. surgeon
Scowling brows and clenched fsts we're
the only answer he received. They paid
not the slightest attention to his words, ex-
cspt it might be to grasp him even more
firmly than before, and hurry him before G
neig boring justice TO be examined and ex
hl5lted as monster Il was even more
unpleasant situation than he had anticipated
and the chances were desperately agaius
him but he retained his GOODNESS, ant
prepared 10 make the best possible de-
fence.
The evidence was given with the u.mos
btterness-honestly given, perhaps, tu
without the slightelt leaning toward thu
side Of mercy, and with the morbid desir,
On the part Of q majority TO see a mar
hanged, for such a thing had never hap
psned in that neighborhood. Aud VIVA
could he say to rebut the sworn statemen
Of dozen witnesses What were his asser
tons against their own eyes and his bloodr
hands and clothes.
But be had the satisfaction, if, indeed, i
could be called by that name, to learn WI,
the supposed victim OF his murderous knit
was-learu that her name was Ethel Lorinl
that she was com paratively strange
upon q visit to an old uncle who lived Dea
the scene of the tragedy that she wss 81
orphan and rich in Ger own right-that sh
was known TO wear costly jewels, and carr
With her a considerable sum Of money Gal
Of which was missing) aud that she haC
gone out 10 take a walk alone and was foun,
rs described. These facts, together with hi
having been detected bending over the BODY
with a knife in his hand, the out Of the wa
place. the provooation for the deed in
pecuniary point Of view, the almost certain
ty OF remaining undiscovered. that be wa
poorly dressed, stranger, had been seer
lurking in the out OF the way places fol
several days, and that in his pockets wa,
found about the same sum Of money. and o
tho same description as that known to hav,
been in the possession Of the murdered girl
were dwelt upon by the prosecuting nttorne,
with remarkable force. and the prisone
saw that it was next to useless to attempt
defense.