The Bloomfield times. [volume] (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1867-187?, 1872-04-09

1
walked through the slippery gore that lay
upon the floor up to the body. She took
the candle from the unresistng grasp of
her flrst-born, and with hand that trem-
bled not, lifted the head Of the dead man
SO that the light shone full upon it. She
gazed at it steadily for half a minute then
she said, gently lowering it until it rested
upon his breast again:
at is my boy George -
Mrs. Mowbray was the only one in that
household who remained calm and emo
tionless. The family were in the widest
state of sorrow. The three brothers with
difficulty extricated the body from the win
dow. The.authorities were notified, and
everything was kept as quiet as possible.
The inquest was duly held, Mrs. Mowbray
was fully exonerated, and the body was ten
derly prepared for burial. The real story
was known to few outside the family and
the authorities 1t was believed by them
that George, instead of going to Devon
SHIRE had remained lurking in the neigh
borhood, and had planned the robbery,
and If need be the murder of his mother.
He knew that she would be alone on that
night, and that she had a large sum of
money and valuable jewels in her room.
The old nurse who had held George in her
arms when he first saw the light, took care
of the body and prepared it for the tomb.
She dwelt tenderly on the familiar marks
upon the limbs and face which she knew
so well, each of which had story of youth
full daring OF folly connected with it. In
due time the funeral took place. The
corpse was laid in the family vault. Only
the family and one or two relatives attend
ed. Mrs. Mowbray spent the best part of
each day by the side of her dead SON.
She showed externally no signs of emotion.
Before the lid was closed she kissed the
forehead, and cut off a lock of the hair.
The day after the burial she gave direct
ions to her eldest son to pay all the dead
mans debts, which was done at once. SO
far as known. Gloom settled over the
hail. The wing of the building in which
the tragedy occurred was closed up, and
Mrs. Mowbray removed to bedroom up
stairs. rrHig ~
On the fifth day after the funeral, post
chase drove up to the door of Harwick
Hall, and from it stepped George Mowbray
looking better than he had looked for many
along days before he had left home. The
servant who opened the hall door started
back, and almost dropped with fright His
ordinations caught the ears of Mrs. Now
bray and her sons, who hastened back into
the entrance hall, only in their turn to be
dumbfounded. George was as much as
founded as any of them, and gazed from
one to another, perfectly lost in bewildered
surprise. There was no doubt about it.
George Mowbray, whom every body believ-
ed dead and in the grave, was living and
before them di
"Mother," said George, advancing TO-
ward her, "what is the matter? Ny re-
turn is easily accounted for. On reaching
Tawvale, found that my unces family
had been unexpectedly summoned to Lon
don, as my eldest cousin, Sir John Gray's |
wife, was thought to be dying. | took a
nights repose and then started home again,
and here am p
Mrs. Mowbray walked UP to him, gazed
into his face, and then, without a word,
folded him in passionate embrace. Each
of his brothers grasped his hands and kissed |
him as they had been wont to do when he !
was boy and the pet of the family The |
old nurse, aroused from her MONDAY
slumber, embraced and wept over him, and |
the servants gathered round with wet eyes
and congratulatory explanations.
All this time George knew nothing of the
true reason Of this singular reception.
Soon, however, the my stery was explained |
to him. The effect upon him cannot be
described
Measures were Immediately taken to
have the body of the man who had been
bnried as George Mowbray disinterred.
This was soon done, and as the living |
George Mowbray stood beside the dead |
man, the resemblance was seen to be the |
most extraordinary. The marks on the |
face and hands corresponded with those on
Georges. The scars on the legs were
similar, also; and the hair, eyebrows and
finger-nails were marvelously alike. Who
the dead man was, was never ascertained. |
After Georges return, however, inquiries
were made, such as it was never deemed
needful to make SO long as the dead man
was supposed to be Mrs. Mowbray's
youngest son.