The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1876-01-21

TWO mites DeyOnu inc Top OF lne moor,
and consequently between ten and twelve
miles from the town. Ii was fine win
ter day, and the snow lay crisp and
bright in the sunshine. There was no
need for haste, and we were by no means
busy, so l determined to walk. was
young and active then, and | seldom lost
the opportunity of walking, for by doing
so l gained better knowledge of the
country, as well as an increment of health
from the exercise.
The journey to the town was long
one for poor people, SO we kept small
stock of medical necessaries ut the place
of which L have spoken, under the
guardianship OF one of the ccttagers,
and i took several small articles Iremem-
bercd we required there, among them a
vial of strong solution of nitrate of
silver, to be diluted afterward and used
for certain diseases Of the eye. "
Bear in mind That little vial of nitrate
of silver, for, under Providence, it
brought murderer to the gallows.
l set off brislSly for my twelve-mile
walk about noon. On my road over the
moor | passed that cottage inn; the sign
was legible then, and it told how Gabriel
Sturm provided good entertainment for
man and beast-the house looking far
more suited to travellers of the latter
species than the former. 1t looked, in
deed, nearly as woe-begone then rs it
does now, and as if few wayfarers cared
to accept Mr.. Gabriel Sturm's offer.
This was the case, | learned afterward;
for the house had n bad name, though
had been too short n time in the neigh
borhood to hear of ii. How that reputa-
ton was deserved you shall presently
judge. In the meantime, picture me
striding bravely up the hill, now aud
thea having to make n detour upon the
moor TO avoid an unusually formidable
snowdrift. l reached Hobtrush-for so
the cluster of cottages which was my
destination was named, after local
spirit supposed 10 haunt woods and on
arriving there L found more work to do
than I had expected. There was, more
over, n young woman, who, with a con.
sideration for her medical man not often
shown by her sex in such cases, took the
opportunity of presenting her husband
with another baby, and SO saved me a
special journey. All this made me very
late, and had there been any accomoda-
ton in Hobtrush, might have been
tempted to stay. AS it was, made up
my mind for the walk, fervently trusting
it would be moonlight. But before
went l looked carefully over our small
surgery, which was i'll an attic room in
the cottage, and regarded with supersti-
tious reverence by the inhabitants. These
may seem trivial details, but, rs you will
see, they are essential to the story. At
the surgery, among others, did three
things: l. L found more of the nitrate
of silver than expected. 2. l had en-
tertained some suspicion of the good
ness OF a certain acid supplied us, and
finding an old bottle of it on an obscure
shelf, 1 put it in my pocket to take home
and test its strength. g. l found the
ring of the large brass syringe we kept
there was broken; the syringe worked
perfectly well but the ring should be
mended, and l pocketed it also for that
purpose. / need mention nothing else
the silver solution, the acid, and the
syringe are all the details with which l
need trouble you.
/ started off at bris1 pace, and even
as | did so L could feel the wind rising;
and L had not gone above hundred
yards or so when | felt flake of snow
fall on my face. That ought to have
warned me; but / was somewhat stub
born and self-willed, and / determined
at all hazards to persevere. Night fell,
but no moon nor friendly stars shone
out, and presently | found myself in the
midst of heavy snowstorm. For some
time l managed to keep to the tracli-at
least, so L imagined; but ut length /
became conscious that / had lost it,
though l battered myself that 1 was
laundering on in the right direction.
For little time the snowstorm seemed
to slacken; Mt oil events, L was able to
make some progress. After short time
felt myself getting drowsy; but / knew
1t would be death TO stop; and then again
tho flakes came down heavier than ever,
and / could hardly make Roadway at all
against the driving wind and drifting
snow. l was plodding feehly on, when
above the noise of the storm,
l heard noise that, cold as / was, seem
ed to chill me through and through. 1t
was wild, loud scream-a mans con-
for 1t was strangely strong and
hoarse, and it continued until suddenly
it was broken off sharply, and L heard no
more. Something had stopped il, or,
argued, n turn of the wind might have
swept the sound away from me.
1t was sufficiently appalling, and on
first hearing it / started violently and
dropped my stick, which, i'll the thick
snow, L was unable to find. What ter
rible scene was being enacted on that
wild moor on such a night, What
criminal was trusting to the white snow
10 hide his crime2 L nerved myself for
IN effort, and struggled on wildly for
what seemed n long time; ami mt last L
came against door half covered with
the drifted snow, and almost at the SHINE
my foot struck against some
thing in the snow, and, STOPPING down,
[ picked up, to my intense astonishment,
the stick / had dropped an hour ago.
Close 10 the door was a narrow window,
through which I could see faint light,
md in IN instant L recognized three ter
tible facts connected with my situation.
In the first place l had walked for
hours, and had only covered the two
miles which separated Gabriel Sturm's
rom Hobtrush. L knew it was the |
,o,aa o. could faal H. -. 49,