Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1874-03-12


They described it rs the body of hale,
vigorous young man, agreeing in height,
size and appearance with cousin Will.
lam.
And there was another story told by the
Captain of a sloop which had been moored
at the mouth of Fish River, near by Johns
sloop, on the fatal voyage from which
cousin William had not returned.
The Captain said that upon the 4th of
July he had heard qnarreling upon Johns
sloop all the afternoon, and had noticed
that only two men were there. He thought
the men had been drinking. At night
fall there was little lull; but soon after
dark the noise broke out again. He
could see nothing through the gloom,
but he heard high and angry words,
and at length blows, and then a
dull, crushing thud, followed by a
plunge into the water, and then there was
entire silence. He listened for an hour,
in the stiffness of the summer night, but
heard no further sound from the boat In
the early gray of the next morning the
Captain, looking across the intervening
space to Johns sloop, which he described
as hardly q stones throw from his own,
saw hat lying upon the deck, and using
his glass was confident that he saw "spat-
tiers of blood" He thought it "none of
his business and taking advantage of
| light breeze sailed away and said moth
| ing. But when the floating corpse was
found he felt sure there had been MUIR
der and, as he expressed it, felt bound to
tell his story like an honest man, and so
told it.
| Putting these things together, it soon
| grew to be the current opinion upon the
lake that Captain John had murdered his
cousin William. The dwellers upon the
Wilderness road also came, by slow de-
grees and unwillingly, to the same con-
clusion. 1t was felt and said that John
ought to be arrested.
| Accordingly, on dreary day in No
vember, two officers, from the county
town twenty miles away down the lake
shore, came and climbed the steep road
to the lonely log.house, and arrested
John. 1t was undoubtedly dreadful
blow to those two lonely people living
| isolated in the Wilderness Perhaps there
| ought to have been some crying and
scene, but there was no such thing. The
| officers testified that neither John nor his
mother made any fuss about it. There
was a slight twitching of the strong
muscles of her face, as she talked with the
officers. but no other outward sign.
John gave more evidence of the wound
he felt. He was white and quivering, yet
he silently, and without objection, made
ready to go with the officers. He was
soon prepared, and they started. John,
as he went out of the door, turned and
, said, " Good-by; it will all be made right,
mother" She simply answered, "Yes,
good-by; know it, my SON."
The trio went on foot down the road to
the next house, where the officers had left
their team. Jupiter, standing up with
| his fore paws upon the top of the fence,
| gazed wistfully after them. When they
passed around the bend of the road out
of sight Jupiter went into the house.
| The strong woman was there about her
work, as usual but the heavy tears would
now and then fall upon the hard pine
| floor She knew that her own boy would
spend the coming nights in the county
jail
At twelve O'Clock of that November
night the woman and the dog went out
| of the house; she fastened the door, and
! then they went together down the dark
mountain road, while the autumn winds
swept dismally through the great wilder
ness, and the midnight voice of the pines
mourned the dying year. The next day
at noon very weary woman on foot,
| with small bundle and a large dog, put
up at the little village hotel hard by the
| county jail
Another day passed and then the pre-
| liminary examination came on before
Justice to determine whether there was
sufficient evidence to mold John in Gus
tody until grand jury Of the county
should be assembled for the next Court of
| Oyer and Terminer.
| Three days were spent in this exami-
nation before the Justice; the Captain of
the sloop who had overheard the quarrel
in the night told his story, and the boat
men who had found the body told theirs,
Two men who had been the crew of
Johns little vessel were also called. But
they could tell little more than that they
were absent on shore upon the 4th of
July, and when they returned to the vessel
William had gone, they knew not where
nor why.
The evidence against John seemed to
the magistrate clear and conclusive. But
the counsel for the accused employed by
Johns mother) took the ground that, as
the otfense was committed in Canada, q
Justice in the United States had no iuris-
dictiOn in the matter.
This view prevailed, and after five
days the accused was set at liberty.
But that voice of the people, which the
ancient proverb says is like the voice of
God, had decided that John was guilty
1t was under this crushing condemnation
that John and his mother left the county
town on cold December day, turning
their steps homeward; and at evening
they climbed the ACTIVITY SO familiar to
them, and reached the lonely Lighthouse
upon the mountain. Their neighbo1s
were glad to see them back again, out
u = 4l.,tA rnl Ii la