The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1878-05-02

| thrown from his horse and killed and
now suspicion became rife, Tor William
had been seen in his company not long
before.
"Still jus ice, always tardy where the
suspicious person is rich and powerful.
took no notice of these things, though
private individuals were much excited
over them.
In this state was the public when
| Father Pedro and Philip arrived the
| latter feeble and shattered, but still a
reasonable man.
g As soon as decency would allow after
the arrival of Philip, Father Pedro sug-
gested to William that it was proper for
him to resign the house and estate of the
Man in Armor to its rightful owner, as
| he had heard the conditions of the win
mentioned by many of the Inhabitants.
| William cody replied that he believed It
| to be in possession of that person now,
and produced will, signed by his father,
witnessed by the lawyer and Mr.. AgayO,
the principal features of which were
these:
That the two largest estates were the
! property of William, the smaller being
! the property of Aununciata, no mention
being made of Philip whatever.
Many persons on the island had heard
OF the origininal will, many had talked
with the deceased gentleman about it,
but still no one had any personal
knowledge of it.
" Father Pedro was not to be so easily
discouraged, and asked several infuentisl
men to go with him to the Man in
Armor, confront William, tell him of
their suspicious, and as -ertain what they
/ could.
William received them all in the
most undaunted manner, declared his
determination to maintain his rights and
put al suspicion at defiance.
! "' How do you dare, gentleman, be-
cause one man dies in his bed and another
tails from his horse, to say that / have
murdered them, or caused them to be
murdered? Why do you believe that,
because l inherit my fathers estates
he believing himself to have no other
son--that, therefore, / have forged a
will? Produce your proof, gentlemen,
of my guilt; produce one connecting
link between me and the death of these
men, and / will abdicale in favor
of my brother, feeble and broken
man, who shall have the care asd support
he requires, but who never shall hold
the position of power and Proprietorship
which 1 hold
" j low, fiendish laugh was the only
sound which broke the stiffness after
this speech of Williams. Old Santa
had stolen in as he spoke, and now stood
behind Father Pedro's chair uttering her
broken and almost unintelIigible sounds.
" William sprang at her, but an ath-
| letic man near him held him down in his
chair while she old woman spoke, brand
ishing vial in her hand.
"' He kill him ! he kill Mr.. AgayO
He ask him to drink the night b8fOre he
die; he put this in his cupl He knock
him of his horse under de cottonwood
| tree. / watch himl Dere is more like
dis in his dressing case, and something
else, too
"The old woman watched him grow
| ing livid under her words, and darted
| towards him.
You kill NY daughter, too: you
say you love her; you beat her: you
| broke her heart The old woman fell
on the floor Uttering wild cries. Like
all her imaginative and savage race, she
could BE- wilv and quiet for a time but
| the terrible food would come at last, and
now it overwhelmed her.
" The gentlemen gathered around
! William. Father Pedro and one other
were dispatched for the dressing case
In it were discovered several vials o.
poison, and in a secret top the original
will, the contents of which have before
| been stated.
| 90 William recovered his coolness some
what, begged of the gentlemen to remem-
Der that the word of slave was not OF
value as testimony, but surrendered
himself prisoner, and desired that legal
| opinion should be obtained at once, as he
would then clear himself.
"He went into small room near the
hall door, from which there was no egress
except the window and door, both of
which were guarded.
''Six men remained through the night,
two walking up and down before the
window, two in front of the door, aud two
more threw themselves on the couches
in the hall, waiting to relieve their com,
rades.
" In the morning the dignitaries of the
island arrived, the door of the room was
opened, but the prisoner was gone.
The men who had guarded the window
had not left their post; the door was
securely guarded; there was no other
opening to the room. It seemed as if he
must have entered the sslid wall.
However, he was gone. The search
for him proved utterly unsuccessful, and
was given up. Gradually he ceased tC
be talked about. There were wild
rumors of his having been seen in boat
J pulling for some ship; but nothing very
definite was known.
Perhaps a year after this sudden dis
appearance Annunciata came back from
! England. She was followed by an Eng.
, lish gentleman to whom she had
promised her hand, and, finding heI
brother Philip much improved in mind
and body, she determined to celebrate
her marriage at his house, and endeayoI
to break the chain of dreadful events
which had followed one another under
the roof of the Man IN ArmOr'
4" TIE marriage day of Annuncista ar
2 rived. They had deemed it proper Il
! show their sense of the neighborly kind
/ ness of their friends, and invite them tC
be present. Although the fate of Viii
2 liam hung over them like dark cloud
vet their conviction OF bis crimes auC
his harsh and unbrotherly conduc
+ towards them had blotted out the low
4 of kindred, and they had got to lOOl
f upon him as something mysterious anc
e dreadful. and to try TO forget him.
g The wedding was arranged with gTea
{ state, as becoming the wealth snd socia
s position of the parties. The planters il
y their beautiful equipages, drew up be
Il fore the superb entrance OF the Man il
q Armor.' The negroes, in holiday COS
: tune, filed the grounds. Numbers Q
u them from the other estates, with thei
e bright colored dresses, came on in Pre-
b cessious bringing flowers to throw befoT
+ the bride.
e "About five in the evening, as th
n oratafI,I sas.bretz, began To s6rin0 II,