Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1875-03-13


thing that might lead any one to suppose
| was anything but groom. Often have
I laughed within myself as a mounted
trooper has ridden up. and called me to
take his horse and give him feed; how
ever, kept my own counsel, and little by
little light dawned upon my track. Over
the never failing pipe | had frequent con-
vcrsltions with Stevens about this old man;
on such occasions he would generally fix
his eyes upon the ground, which gave mo
opportunity to watch him the more mar
rowly. l could then see the nervous
twitching of his face, the biting of his lip,
and the sudden passing of his handker-
chief across his brow, which convinced me
that he knew more Of this affair than l did.
Frequently at the close of our conversa-
tions, in which Stevens was making these
unconscious sclf-revelatons, would he say,
4 hate talking of this dismal subject; let's
have another glass"
"On such occasions he always said I'LL
shout; you are only a groom, can afford
it better than you Gradually he took to
regular drinking; morning, noon, and
night he was to be found at the bar. When
ioked about his finances he had his answer
ready he had sold his horse, or an old
mate had called and given him some cash.
So long. however, as he shouted freely,
few cared where the money came from.
My eyes, however, were steadily fixed on
his drinking habits as the clue to my re-
searches.
Summer was now coming on. Though it
was late summer, it WAS a regular hot
Australian one, and in the course of few
weeks the Gleneig began to dry up, and its
long chain Of water holes to appear. Now
was the time for ascertaning whether the
remains of the old man were to be found in
any of the water holes in the ncighborhood
of H.. and one evening. rs | was talking to
Stevens about this, | said You or | may
as well try and find the remains OF Jeffrey,
and so lay claim to the Government reward.
l noticed this gave him quite Il turn; and
although he tried to conceal it, I saw that
he trembled all over, and though generally
very mild spoken, he got quite angry with
me, and told ne | might do what | liked,
but he wasn't so fond of looking after dead
men, especially if they were murdered.
81 replied, No one said that jeffrey was
murdered you have always said he made
away with himself 4 thought so once,
but now, the more l think over the matter,
the more convinced am that he was mur.
dered.' That has to be proved said l.
and to prove it we must first find the re-
mains, and as the river dries up | have no
doubt we shall find them in one of the ,ratcr
holes near his hat. This was not exactly
guess, but was a conclusion arrived at thus:
First, Stevens was Il slight built man,
and supposing him to have been the MUIR
derer, could not have carried Jeffrey far
and secondly. every one knows that mur-
derers seldom have nerve or forethought
to carry their victims far from tho scene of
the murder. AS soon as had said this he
became very pale. and quickly said, Well,
let's have a nobbler l cant stand this ev-
erlasting talk about murdered man. We
had our glass, and parted for the night !;
but my mind was already made up. Ste
vcns, beyond doubt, was the murderer, and
l must obtain the proof. l am not going
to defend our code of morals Iadmit that
we often do evil that our good may come !;
but society should not employ us to find
out dark crimes if they mean to condemn
for on bln afbnl, ofv
dure. 1t was now late in January, and the
weather was intensely hot.
at was surprising to see how rapidly the
Gleneig ceased to be q river. and how each
day the water holes became shallower and
shalower. Prompted by me. Mr.. Il. OBJ
tanned from a neighboring magistrate or
ders for the police to examine every water
hole within mile ON either side of old JEFF
frey's hut. AS soon as this was known.
Stevens was down at the bar, trying, l sup
pose, to smother his ory in deep pota-
tions Of whiskey. Directly the police COM
menced searching the river, discharged
myself. and having obtained my check,
proceeded. or pretended to spend it after
the usual up-country fashion, which, as ev-
erybody knows, means staying in the bar,
and shouting right off the reel. This did
not exactly do; / kept myself sober as :.
Judge; behind the scenes prompted ev-
erythins; through Mr.. T. sugges.ed ev-
cry step that had hitherto been taken, and
now l had only to wait the result of the
SG,.relds ;1nl ur.gsl"5 t"eSe water holes.
Those who know tie country, know that
this is no easy matter. and that it occupies
considerable time. Sometimes, only two or
three could be searched in a day, ON others
more.
whilst this was going on, Stevens be-
came almost a resident in the bar, seldom
leaving it, but betraying the most intense
and childish curiosity as to the result of the
search. Have they found anything yet?'
or Haven't they found anything yet ?" or
Well. should have thought they would
have found something by this time were
expressions that frequently fell from his
lips. 1t was think the fourth day of the
search, and Stevens had been drinking
hard all the time; on the afternoon of that
day sack was found with human remains
in it at the bottom of a hole; and on the
evening of that day drink and excitement
hod rnnIor,J Stavnoo ipooD, Ila or +,ly;no.