The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1872-05-31
q Arrived at the spot, he placed hi.

"Arrived at the spot, he placed his
men about the premises, and Instituted
a strict search the landlord and the
man who was found in the house being
compelled to accompany him. The
room in which had slept was carefully
examined the floor was of plaster or
cement, so that no sound could have
passed through it; the walls were
sound and solid, aud there was nothing
To be seen that could i'm any way ac-
count for the strange disturbance had
experienced. The room on the ground
floor underneath my bedroom was next
inspected it contained a quantity of
straw, hay, firewood, and lumber. 1t
was paved with brick and, on turning
over the straw, it was observed that the
bricks were uneven, as if they had been
recently disturbed.
"' Dig here said the officer; I'VE
shall find something hidden here, /
imagine
"The landlord was evidently much
disturbed. 'Stop!' he cried. Il will
tell you who lies there; come away out
of doors, and you shall know all about
it,
- Dig, | say. We will find out for
ourselves
"'L Let the dead rest, cried the land.
lord, with trembling voice. For the
love of heaven, come away, and hear
what shall tell you
"' Go on with your work. said the
sergeant to his men, who were now ply
ing pickax and spade.
90 can't stay here and see it, ex-
claimed the landlord once more.
Hear, thenl 1t is the body of my
son, my only son let him rest, if rest
he can. He was wounded in quarrel, and
brought home here to die. thought he
would recover, but there was neither
doctor or priest at hand, and in spite of
all we could do for him, he died. Let
him alone now, or let a priest first be
sent for; he died unconfessed, but it
was not my fault; it may not yet be too
late to make peace for him..
But why is he buried in this
place p
90 We did not wish to make a stir
and we laid him down quietly; one
place, thought, was as good as another,
when once the life was out of him.
We are poor folk, and could not pay
for ceremonies
The truth at length came out.
Father and son were both members of a
| band of thieves under the floor they
concealed their plumber; and there, too,
| lay more than one molderng corpse,
victims who had occupied the room in
which | slept, and had there met their
death. The son was indeed buried in
that spot he had been MORALLY
wounded in a skrmish with travellers,
and had lived long enough to repent of
his deeds, and TO beg for that priestly
absolution which, according to his
creed, was necessary to secure his par
don. In vain he had urged his father
to bring the confessor to his bedside /;
in vain he had entreated him to break
off from the murderous band with
which he was allied, and to live hon
estly in future; his prayers were disre-
garded, and his dying admonitions were
of no avail. But for the strange mys.
ferrous warning which had reused me
from my sleep, and driven me out Of
the house that night, another crime
wosld have been added to the old
mans tale of guilt. That gasping at
tempt to speak, and that awful groaning
whence did they proceed? 1t was
no Hving voice. Beyond that / will ex.
press no opinion on the subject. will
only say, it was the means of saving
my life, and at the same time putting
an end to the series of bloody deeds
which had been committed in that
! house.
Il received my passport that evening
by the diligence from Rome, and started
the next morning on my way to Naples.
AS we were crossing the frontier, tall
figure approached, wearing the long
rough csppotta of the mendicant friars,
with a hood over the face, and holes
for the eyes to look through. He car.
ried a tin money-box in his hand, which
he held out to the passengers, jingling
few coins in it, and crying in monot-
onous voice, 'Anime in Prgatorio Aaime
IN P,ugatorio = | do not believe in
purgatory, nor in supplica tons for the
dead but | dropped a piece of silver
into the box, nevertheless. "-Evry
Saturday.