The Andrew County Republican. [volume] (Savannah, Mo.) 1871-1876, 1875-12-03

NNS A'Sih "'S q iiti - VI
wOman's it was hard to say, but the
general impression was that it was a
woman's. Coulter instinctively associ-
ated the letter with young Armstrong,
Kate's former lover, who, as before
stated, had been driven from the house
by her father, and had, us was suppos-
ed, enlisted. The jeering words of Arm
strong's mother came up fresh to Coul-
ter's memory.
"Ah, Mr.. Coulter, % you've lost your
pretty miss. Now we're even. You
drove away my boy, and the devil has
driven away your girl"
The officers resolved to search Mrs.
Armstrong; cottage, rs there might be
some Indication of her sons having
been recently there. They went down
at once, and aroused the old woman,
who was doing by the fire.
"Wha dye want with me and
mine?" she asked, ENORMOUSLY; "this
is no time O night to disturb Il body"
On being informed that officers of the
law demanded admission, she opened
the door, and boldly confronted them.
"Take what you al iind,n she said,
"that belongs to other than me-
The officers began a careful search of
the place, and were rewarded by find
ing Il pair of boots slowed away under
the floor, bearing on them the traces Of
the peculiar black mud found on the
borders of the Black Tarn, from which,
and the ~Singularly dark hue of its
waters, it derived its name.
"Who>e boots are thesc?" the officer
asked.
"They were my s%on'S,' replied the
old woman, before they drove him
away from home"
"When did he leave homc?" the de-
tective inquired.
"In November, H. the old woman
answered, quickly.
"Did he put the boots under the
t%loor?:n The officer asked.
"'Deed did he, the very day he left
home" Mrs. Armstrong replied.
"You saw him do it?:" the detective
inquired.
"Saw him with my own eyes" was
the reply.
"-And that was when?:n the officer
asked.
"The very day he left home, Novcm-
Der >, 49, Mrs. Armstrong answered.
"And he wrapped up the boots then
as they were when | found them, and
put them under the %floor:?" the officer
said.
$50 help me God, that's what he
did, sir" the old woman answered.
"This is Il Carlisle newspaper, in
which the boots were wrapped, and it
bears date February 8, 1S75-the very
day on the night of which Kate Coulter
was murdered.n
Before the officer had finished the
sentence, Mrs. Armstrong dropped to
the ground in Il SwOOn. A neirhbOr
was called to attend her and the officers |
left. There was no doubt on their
minds that Armstrong was the man
who visited the shoemaker's in Bromp-
ton, that he was the "Private john
whose name had been on the h~alf-burnt
envelope, and that he was the outrager
and murderer of Kate Coulter.
But how had he communicated with
his victim, as he must have done? And
how had she been enticed to the Black
These were questions to which the
officers sought IN answer in vain. They
went to work, however, Immediately to
hunt down the perpetrator of the abom-
Unable crime.
Mrs. Armstrong refused stubbornly
to answer any questions, although it
was judged proper to arrest her Us ac-
cesSory after the crime. All that could
be got out of her were these bitter
words:
"lIe drove away my son, and the
devil drove away his daughter!"
1t was easily ascertained that one Pri-
vate John Armstrong had deserted from
the 18th Regiment of Infantry, station
ed at Manchester, in February, and that
nothing had been heard of him since.
His description answered to the person
of young Armstrong, Hates former low
er, in every particular. What puzzled
the detectives most was that nobody
had seen Armstl ong on the road or in
village before the murder, and that,