Los Angeles daily herald., 1875-01-24
third member of the party, he an

swered:
II know no more than any one.
1Iinghaus was a queer old Dutchman
and would have his tod. In fact, that's
what killed him, as we all know, OF
course: Well, it's my opinion that
this will was made very recently, and
the money left to his 'old gals chill
dren, because his wife was given to
quarreling with him about his drink
ing.n
"WelI, anyhow, we'll satisfy our
selves tonight about that crazy story.
For my part, believe he was as sane
when he made his will as any of us,
and I'll bet money we'll find the
cause of his acting so strange the last
few weeks was liquor on the brain, and
nothing else.n
These remarks from the first speak
er closed the conversation. The men
approached the table. One of them,
who seemed to be silently delegated
to perform the operation, held in his
hand.
A GLITTERING KNIFE.
The others caught the corpse by the
shoulders and raised it to sitting po-
sition. One of them held it there.
The man with the knife began to cut
at the base of the skull and around it.
The other, placing his fingers on the
bloody opening thus formed, pushed
them forward. The knife cut clean,
and III ali instant the scalp W as throw Ii
forward upon the face, exposing the
bald skull despatched with blood.
At this instant u tremor passed
through the corpse; a second a third
succeeded
ag a A WILD SHREK aa4
Followed, and with cry of most soul
curdling agony, the supposed dead
man leaped from the table. The stu
dents, affrighted to death, could only
huddle in a corner and gaze at the APP
piration. Shrek after skriek followed,
and the sufferer tore the bleeding
scalp from before his eyes and glared
about him with frothing mouth and
looks of demonical' ferocity. When
his eyes at last rested upon the stu
dents, he uttered a shrek more appall-
than its predecessors, and rushed upon
them. He seized upon the one who
had held his body in position; with q
grip of iron he clutched his throat and
with q giants power he bore him to
the floor. p e5s.
Itwas question of life for the stu
dents or death for their assailant. The
man who had the knife realized the
situation upon the instant, leaned for
ward and plunged the knife to the hilt
in the heart of the unfortunate wretch.
With horrible cry he sank down on
the body Of the half-strangled student
and in an instant cold shiver that
convulsed his frame, told that indeed
he was q dead man. Now that the
deed was done, the students looked at
one another as if one and all were
stupified. Then, with the bloody knife
above his head, the man who had
committed the act called on his COM
panions to swear a eRt ae
AN OATH OF ETERNAL sECREsY
Then and there. With their left hands
clasped together and their right hands
on high, the three men swore eternal
fidelity to each other in the great and
damning secret that must forever
darken their career. This being done,
the body was again wrapped up in the
sack. A large supply of combusible
materials were then concentrated in
the room and the torch was applied.
Ere the flames had time to spread, the
guilty men were on their way home
ward. M OF
The fire did its work effectually in
destroying all evidences OF the crime.
There were no living witnesses save
the three participants. One of these
A 1f..oI Dtp VxyS,c III nd st ho kof 4
tie of Pittsburg Landing, while serv-
ing as surgeon in the Union army;
Robert Crawford, the man whose
sturdy right arm had driven home
that weapon of death, was killed upon
an Illinois railroad in July, 1869, and
Orsen Holmes, the last actor in the
drama, died but a few weeks ago in
Parsons, Kansas. 1t is from little
weekly paper, published at that place,
that this confession, giving the details
of the horrible affair as related above,
was obtained. ls.lr 1.