Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1875-09-10

| lou know RoSS is calieu Il naFu case
It's suspicious"
at looks bad" Ireplied.
1t does so. Well, / have the warrant
for his arrest, and | am going to ride ou
to the Cross Roads and get him. Will
you go along? You are lawyer, and ]
would like you to go along. You might
notice things that wouldn't"
Yes, I'll go with you," said. WAN
| just minute.
| had a horse which | soon saddled and
| bridled, and in few minutes Mr. Brush
ana were galloping away over the coun-
| try toward the Cross Roads, a place that
| aspired to be village on account of its
having Postoffice, grocery store and
three or four dwelling houses.
"By-the-way," said the Constable, as we
rode along, " did Edwards leave his will in
| your carer"
"No, he took it with him. Was it
| found in his pocket?''
81 didn't ask the girl, but we'll know
| when we get there. He won't be buried
| till an investigation is made The Coroner
is coming out to-day"
We learned ON the way that Ross Ed
wards made his quarters at the Cross
Roads tavern, and when we arrived in
front of the little two-story building we
saw him sitting on the porch reading the
county newspaper. He did not seem to
notice Us dismounting, and we had secured
our horses at the hitchlng post and stepped
upOii the piazza before he was aware of
our presence.
Ross Edwards" said Mr.. Brush, in a
very impressive tone, as he laid his hand
on the startled mans shoulder, :" | arrest
you for the murder of your uncle, Stephen
Edwards, whom you waylaid on Tuesday
night and knocked from his horse with a
club to secure the immediate benefit of
his will"
Grave as the occasion was, l could
scarcely keep from smiling at this pomp-
Gus speech, which / think Mr. Brush
had mentally prepared and committed
to memory on the way. 1t was the first
time he had ever been called upon to
arrest man on a charge of murder, and
he evidently intended to make the most
of it.
Ross Edwards looked up into the Consta-
BILE face, then at me, with apparent sur
prise after which he turned very pale, and
seemed trying to speak, though unable to
utter word.
"I'm sorry" said Mr.. Brush, in less
official tone, "and hope the charge may
prove false; but must do my duty. Your
cousin Lucy has made the complaint and
got the warrant out. Here it is" And he
began to read" Commonwealth Of"
Never mind reading it," interrupted
Ross Edwards, recovering his selfposses-
sion and speaking very calmly. "Iknow
what warrant is, and know you are the
Constable. Twill go with you at once; but
rest assured that there is some mistake
about this"
He arose and put on his hat as he
spoke.
81 hope it will turn out So" said Mr..
Brush.
"Ross" said for had often addressed
him by his first name" do you happen
to know that your uncle made a will in
your favor?"
NO." he replied, coolly.
You don't?"
"No, don't know that he did so. He
told me few days ago that he would. He
had quarrel with Lucy, who has viO-
lent temper, and he said that I should be
his heir. He told me that she did not
treat him either with affection or respect,
and he was determined that she should not
become wealthy at his death-that she did
not deserve it, That's all I know about
it,"
"Then you don't know that he made
will ?"
"No, I never saw him alive after that
Tuesday morning, think"
When the Coroner arrived we proceeded
to Edwards house, where the usual in
quest was held.
The country physician testified that
death had resulted from a fracture of the
skull with some blunt instrument.
A neighbor-one of two men who found |
the body-testiied that he found near by |
a round stone, of three pounds weight, |
stained with blood
Ross Edwards again admitted that his |
uncle had told him he would make such |
a will; that he knew he often changed his |
mind; yet denied that he had any knowl- |
edge of the murder.
"Where were you during the early part |
of Tuesday night?" asked the Coroner,
eying him sharply.
=" Let me see. l took walk across the
fields to the river and had swim. / got
back by nine, think"
"Did you meet anyone on your way to
the river or coming back?"
Not a soul"
The verdict of the Coroner's jury was
to Ross Edwards, and he
was taken to Wellington, briefly exam
ined by magistrate, and committed to
Jail.
I remained behind to see if any new
facts could be learned, and it is singular
that the Constable and Coroner, with their
prisoner, had been gone half an hour be-
fore | thought of the will. Then [ sought
he two countrymen who had discovered
5he body of Mr.. Edwards, and asked:
"Were there any indications that he
lad been robbed?"
eyes," they both replied. "The pockets
we're turned wrong side out"
What! Was the inside pocket of his
coat turned wrong side out?"
" Yes, and a little memorandum-book |
lay on the ground nearly covered with
dust"
"Did you see anything that looked like
a villa good-sized paper?"
"No, nothing but the memorandum
book. 1t had little money inside. We |
handed it over to Lucy, just as we found |
it,"
Here was new and singular feature of |
the case. Where was the will? Had Ross |
been so stupid as to take it with |
him after committing the murder to make |
sure of it? If so it could probably be |
found in the room he occupied at the tav
ern, or even on his person, and that would |
be piece of evidence that would establish
his guilt beyond all doubt.
"Ah, how shortsighted men are when
they commit crime" | mused Given |
the shrewdest of criminals are sure to,
leave some clew"
fastened back to Wellington and
found Mr.. Brush.
"Did you search him?n I asked.
eyes, he replied. 81 took all his eff
fects-knife pipe, tobacco and a pocket
book with fifteen dollars and twenty cents
in 1T y