Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1876-04-20

receive the funds on deposit. rak,
receipt and return in the morning: you
can take the six o'clock train this even.
ing"
81 took the package containing the
nine thousand dollars, and after reeeiv.
ing some money for my expenses, I start.
ed. ] syTived At my destination about
half past six O'Clock, and went directly
TO Mr.. Martins house, but found that
he had gone up town, and later was 90.
ing 10 the theater. Wbereu,ou Isoueh,
the principal hotel, thinking 7 might
see him there, bnt was Disappointed
here and there. I walked around where
thought / would be most likely 70
meet him, until about half past nine,
and then returned to the hotel, took
supper. and engaged. . room, TO which
l went. I sat down and read the even
ing paper until about half past ten,
when I started for Mr.. Martins house.
Al / came down stairs and opened the
door, . burly fellow touched me on the
shoulder, and whispered
81 arrest you for the robbery Of the
Farmers' bank Of K. and the murder OF
Mr.. Richards" 4.
"He then placed the handouts on me
and escorted me here; and now I have
told you all I know Of my case, and il
is the truth. Ny name Is Howard Bur-
ton. / have no parents"
This 10 the substance of what Howard
Burton related to me in his cell in the
Jail Mt @. I had not interrupted him
during bis recital, but had listened at
tentively to every word. I was much
interested in the young man. who vas
about my own age, and who felt was
innocent ofthe horrible crime with which
he was charged. I remained with him
until long after midnight, and then,
charging him to converse with no one
on the subject Of the murder, I left
him. I knew nothing of the circum-
stances Of the murder as yet, but
thought would 60 to X. and learn
what could.
On my arrival at X. l went directly
to the bank, and found two or three de.
tectives there and some Of the officers
Of thes6bak. Nothing had been moved
except the body Of the murdered man.
He was found lying on the floor, with
his skull crushed and his throat cut
from ear to ear. Some of the drawers
had been rifled, but aside from this
there was nothing to indicate robbery.
There was missing from the safe So, COO,
but the locks afforded no evidence of
having been tampered with. I found
that belief in Burton's guilt was quite
general
I st16d at the window in the presi-
dents Office, staring vacantly out, hard
at work thinking, when my eve noticed
on the sash of the window Of the law
yer's Office just across the passageway
a litsle scrap of paper with the word
"paint" written on it. A suggestive
thought flashed through my mind as
walked out of The bank and stepped
into the law office door, Twas slightly
acquainted with its occupant, who well
coined me and invited me to seat. We
talked of the frightful occurrence of the
previous night for some time, and at
length said, rising to go:
$50 you have been painting a little,
Mr.. Harris 2"
"Yes, sir; did you observe my sign ?
Kelley, the painter. has a young Ger
man working for him who is really an
artist. He did all the work here"
"When was the painting done ?" I
asked.
"All done yesterday-be careful of
your coat"
] bade Mr.. Harris good day, and left
his office.
I had learned who painted that win
dow, which was just what most wanted
to learn, without asking a leading ques-
tion or letting Mr.. Harris know I was
interested in Mr.. Richards murder any
more than he l made up my mind to
see the man without loss of time, and
find out If he saw Mr.. Richards after
young Burton left the bank. went to
the paint shop.
''You painted Mr.. Harris sign and
Office. did YOU not 2" asked.
"Yes. sir"
"well. what time did you finish up
there ?"
"At ak o'clock, sir"
"Did you paint after dark ?"
"Yes, sir; after dark I painted the
outside of the window, about half past
fve; the man in the bank lighted the
gas and it shoue so brightly that I fin-
ished the window"
'Did you see this man in the bank
handle any money 2"
The man looked puzzled at this ques.
tion, but answered:
"Yes. sir; noticed him counting a
large pile"
What kind of q looking man was
! hef"
"Well. kind Of good looking man;
It was Mr.. Richards. If you don't know
him will describe him to you"
answered chat had seen him, and
then inquiresI what he did with the mo-
ney.
''He made bundle of il and banded
it to q young man. telling him to take
it some where. I could not hear all he
said. In addition to the bundle, he
gave him what I Judged to be a few
dollars in change, and told him to come
back in the morning. Then the Young
man went away. By-and-bye Mr.. Rich.
ards put out the gas, and then I sus.
pended work and went home"
"Did you see Mr.. Richards again p
Eyes. ! saw him in the cigar store q.
I passed"
/ concluded my examination with Ii.