Feliciana sentinel. [volume] (St. Francisville, La.) 1877-1892, 1877-09-08

house last night, Miss Elizabeth and
Priscilla bofe are dead, somebody cut
dere throats." s'Whatw we all cried out
together, 'It's de trufe, Marster fore
God Glare it's dc trufe;" returned the
poor negro, solemnly, while the tears
gushed from his eyes. II never seed
such a sight before, it made mo sick to
see it, my poor old Mistress" and overcome
by his sorrow he fairly biubbered out
Go directly to town" said I to the
frightened negro, and tell Dr. Smith to
como on out, will go to the house, per-
haps Miss Peyton is not yet dead" So say
ing we gave our horses the reins and
galloped forward: AS we neared the
place the deep tones OF the plantation
bell smote on our cars and on entering
the gate we saw dusky throng gathering
in the grounds, all frightened, and wild
with excitement Old Mr. Palmer, the
overseer, had just arrived, and to him we
proceeded inquiring ifIsaac's fearful It'd
| ings were true. Indeed, gentlemen, know
| as little of the matter as you, replied the
old man, his pale countenance and tremb-
ling accents testify ing how much he felt,
! children came running to me saying
| thai his mother becoming alarmed at
not finding the doors and windows OPEN
cd, as Priscilla usually uuclosed them at
| Il very early hour, and hearing no an
| swer to her calls for the woman, had
broken down q window and entered the
| house and had found both Miss Pcyton
| and Priscilla murdered in Miss Peyton's |
room. have not yet gone up stairs and |
wonld like you to accompany me there" |
After mounting the broad steps we cross
ed a spacious hall, at the farther end of |
which was Miss Peyton's room, the |
scene ofthe tragedy; the door was slight |
ly al jar and as We pushed it open scene |
OF confusion lay before us, armoirs, cabi- |
nets and bureau drawers were open, their |
contents scattered through the room,
boxee that mad been rif1cd were piled |
peil-mell upon the carpetcd floor, and
clothes and papers were strewed around,
clearly tho burglars had made q thor
ough search for the treasure, which we
found afterwards they had succeeded in
getting. Across the foot of the bed in a
heap of blankets and pillows lay the
old lady-a hideous cash half dividing
her head from the body, she had not yeild-
ed up her life without struggle for her
arms and hands were dripping with
blood that still oozcd from the numerous
wounds upon them. On the floor beside
the bed lay the negress literally batheo
in gore. :, cursory examination showed
us that Miss Peyton had been dead some
hours, there was no hope for her, she had
passed beyond the reach Of I'LL human aid,
but Priscilla's still warm body gave
faint indications of life, and upon the ar
rival of the surgeon he decided that there
was enough vitality apparent to admit
of an effort to prolong it. His examina-
ton showed that she had received al
wound that had escaped the heart, and
at first he thought her head had also
been injured, as it was lying in a pool Of
blood that evidently had flowed from
that member Of her body, he soon discov-
cred upon u moro thorough examination
that the blood proceeded from her mouth
and on opening it, the horrible and bar
ba1ous fact was disclosed that the mis-
cradle creature had been deprived of her
tongue, that organ having been cut out
by the fiends who had killed the mistress.
The coroner's inquest failed to throw any
light upon the horrible deed. , 1t was ,
that having in some way ascer-
tanned that the sum Of money had been
withdrawn from the bank and deposited
in the house, the ruffians, there evidently
had been more than one, had successfully
entered by g window left open in the
pantry, this window, strongly grated by
al iron screen, was found with It's bars
cut and wrenched apart. Having etiec. {
ted an entrance, their way up stairs to ,
their helpless victims chamber was easily .
traced, probably she was awakened b. ,
the noise made III opening the cabinet
where undoubtedly she had placed the {
money. Her c:ies for help had appriscd +
the villains that they were detected in
their work, and from robbery to murder
,he transition vas easy Priscilla on !
icaring the struggles and cries Of her {
mistress rushed in to her aid, and the 6
knife that was dyed in her mistress
blood was imbrued in her own. Why her
tongue had been cut out no one could \
guess, such barbarity savoring moro of
jhe acts of demons than Of human beings. r
All this we had conjccturel it is true,
out later our conjectures were fully veri-
led by Priscilla who after many months &
If suffering finally recovered her health |
md strength. But who had committed y
5he awful deed? This was q puzziing
question, at first it was thought that the
nurderers might be found on Miss Pcyton's [
own plantation, but as suspicion could \
point to no particular slaves blood-thirsty
20, hn1r toll E,l1ln n |