Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1877-11-16

Itold him how to reach the plac,
he sought, and with a polite "thanl
you," the sad man with a red ey,
walked out of the office, and in {
a couple of minutes the sounds o
his footsteps died away in the dis
tance.
GA queer sort of a chap" said l.
agent.
81 wonder if he heard us talking
about the specle?" l queried.
lie seems honest enough"
"Yes, said l; "but Pm sure he
was listening to our talk when
first saw him."
care you certain of it?'' the
agent asked, eagerly.
"Well-nO," l replied, "not alto
gether certain, beyond all mistake
but it looked nightly like 1t, car
tell you"
Suppose you go to the Office an6
see what sort of message he sends, .
suggested the agent.
No sooner said than done. | hast
ened around to the telegraph office,
and as | went in the man came out.
de didn't seem to remember meat
least, he didn't look at me-and
thought 1t prudent to appear not to
notice him.
"Did that preacher-looking chap
send a message to Co." I asked
of the operator, when l had gone in
to the little Office and closed the door
after me.
eyes. Why do you ask?"
"Oh, only out of curiosity" l re-
piled. "Was it anything of impor-
tance? The man said his brother
and brother-in-law were both killed
this afternoon.
The operator took a copy of the
message from file on the table and
laid it before me. 1t was addressed
to Mrs. c. H. Griggs, c., and
signed Isaac G. Vansrotter 1t read:
''Henry and Charles are both
dead. They will be sent home
Thursday"
Everything seemed consistent,
and any doubts which l had enter
tanned of the good intentions of the
stranger were speedily dispelled. 1
didn't go back to the express Office,
but turned my steps toward my
boarding place, thinking as walk
ed along, that Thursday would be
an uncommon day with me, with
two cOrpses and eighty thousand
dollars in specie in my car.
The money was safely deposited
in the car an hour before the time for
the train to leave, Thursday morning.
1t was securely locked in two
strong, iron-bound chests, and when
they were slowed away in the large
safe and the heavy doors made
fast, thought every thing was pretty
well fixed. A few minutes before
we pnlled out two wagons paused by
the car, one of them containing two
coffins and the other six men, who
were evidently acting as pail bear
ers. | looked around for the be-
reaved brother with the peculiar
eye, but he was nowhere to be
seen. / thought it a little strange
that he should be absent at such
time, but l forgot all about it in
a moment.
The collins were placed in one
end of the car, and after it had
been arranged that one of the men
should come into the car and take
look at the bodies when we
got to Redwood, he shook hands
with the others and entered one of
the coaches. As the door closed
on him, the bell rang and we went
steaming away.
1 was pretty busy for an hour or
more, and we had passed two or
three stations before | had time to
cast more than a causual glance
toward the quiet passengers at the
end of the car. But after little,
when / had more leisure, an uncOn-
trolable wish took possession of me
to look a the faces of the two
dead men. 1t wasn't mere morbid
curiosity, and l can't describe it in
any way better than to say it was
a sort of vague desire which l
could not quiet without satisfying
it.
| noticed that the lids were not
fastened down. My next discovery
was that the screws were gone.
This struck me as being strange, tor
l was sure l had noticed when
the coffins were lifted into the car.
| remembered that had given the
attendants permission to arrange
the caskets TO their own satisfaction,
and that they had been long time
doing it. If they had removed the
screws unobserved at that time,
what possible object could they have
had in doing so? With this question
in my mind, raised the upper por-
portion of the lid of the coffin near
est me, and took good look at the
face of the occupant. He was a
young man, with a full face and
square features. His cheeks were
not sunken, and he had a decidedly
fresh appearance for man who had
been dead nearly two days, l
thought.
Replacing the lid | walked away
to the other coffin. Here a new and
startling surprise met me. The man in
the coffin was the man whom l had
seen in the express office! That red
eye was staring straight at me, and
l was not mistaken! For moment
my CONSERVATION was toO great tor
words. | could not have uttered a
sound, had my life depended on it.
This man, who was alive after the
accident which the paper said caused
the death Of Van Scooter and Griggs,
and who had made arrangements
for the transportation of their re-
mains, was now here III this coffin, to
all appearances dead! Then | re.
membered that the bereaved strang'
er had said that his dead brother re-
sembled himself very closely. But
two brothers are not apt to have reu
glass-eyes! Such a coincidence as
this was beyond the pale of response
4 L l.