The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1879-12-25

/ sore hearts Tonight, Tor you WlH lose
your little all, God help you! and there
viii be nothing but starvttion left. >
Heart-sick at the sight of so much
woe which was utterly powerless TO re-
lieye. l arose and was about to leave
the room, when my eye was suddenly
arrested by figure, ragged, wild, and
woe-begone, which crouched close up
by the window Five minutes before,
had seen this man crouched like strick-
en- beast before the agent, his skeleton
hands outstretched, his parched lips SUI
ing for mercy.
8For the love of God, Tony Man
naghan, niver be hard on poor boy"
he had said; "all my potatoes had the
black disease this year, and they rotted
in the ground. My pig took the sick
ness and died. | have two little chill
dren down wild a fever, and if ye take
away my cow, I'll have no dhrop of
milk to give them, and they'll die"
This appeal, heart-breaking as it was,
had met with the usual repulse.
" Don't bring yer hes to me. Yen
90 before them ASH make ye pay"
So the man had crept back into the
shadow, and as saw him crouched be-
side the window, noticed that the pit
eous look of appeal had left his face; his
features were strangely convulsed, his
wild eyes cleaned, and his hands
clinched and unclinched in nervous
! dread.
"That man means mischief | said,
as passed out into the street
| At > o'clock the tenants cases were
/ to be called on. and rs the hands of the
clock approached that hour l made my
way through the crowded street, in the
direction of the court. The wind blew
bitterly, thin flakes of snow were fall
/ ing, and as | walked felt the ice break
inc and cracking beneath my feet. l
noticed, to my wonder, that the streets
through which | passed were almost de-
| serted. Presently a succession of
means and cries struck upon my ear;
then noticed that people were running
/ excitedly, and, following the direction
which they took, at length found my
! self on the outskirts of a great crowd,
which was collected in the principal
! street, before the open door of the
court. Seeing my own servant amongst
the throng, questioned him as TO the
cause Of the excitement, for l ne tlced
that many of the people were wringing
/ their hands, others mOaned 1eebiy,
while others glared around them with
wild eyes, and then seemed to utter
sighs of relief. Instead of replying to
my question, Shawn took me by the
shoulders and gently propelled me into
the middle Of the throng.
Then | saw the cause of the disturb
ance.
Lying on the curb-stone, his head sup
ported in the arms of a policeman, his
| face open to the wondering gaze of hun
dreds of eyes, was the agent, stone-dead.
His body was surrounded by policemen
warders of the court-nay, at the cry OF
murder the very Judge upon the'bench
had stopped the course Of justice and
came forth.
"Good God!" I exclaimed, recoiling
upon Shawn; chow did this happen?'
''He was Just walkin' along the street,
yer HONOR said Shawn, quietly, ''when
he fell, and laid his head down and
died"
Murdered?'
sob, God forbid! yer honor; what
| for should he be kilt at all, at atl?''
Nevertheless, felt convinced that my
supposition was right; nay, more, be-
lieved that l could point out the very
man who had done the deed.
That a murder had actually been com
mitted could not be proved on the spot,
but the manner Of the mans death was
so peculiar as to call for COroner's in
quiIy and post-mortem examination.
The body, therefore, was at once re-
moved to the inn, and several hours af-
ter its removal the two principal doc
! tors of the town were on their way,
armed with the implements necessary
! for their work. On their arrival at the
! inn q novel scene awaited them. The
people having at length solved the
meaning of the awful words "post-
/ mOrtem examination, had risen up in
arms, and declared that no such desc
Grafton of the dead should be allowed.
| Before Toney Monaghan became a
land-agent he had been one of them
selves, AID though he had been a little
| hard upon them of late, there wasn't
one man among them but would raise
his voice against having the poor boy
body cut up like q beasts. The conSe-
! Quence waS-a riot. The police were
overpowered, the doctors sent packing.
the inn taken by storm. For two nights
the body lay in state, being walked by
its wild comrades. At the end of that
time the authorities, only too eager to
bring matters to a peaceful issue, al
lowed it to be quietly buried. As the
grave closed above it, popular excite
ment seemed to die away.
But if the people were satisfied, the
authorities were not. Every body be-
ieved that murder had been com
mitted, and that the subsequent riot was
only an effort to prevent the discovery
of the murderer. No sooner, therefore,
was the unfortunate man buried, than
the doctors received an order authoriz-
ing them to eXhume the body and make
a post-mortem examination in secret.
One night, two nights after the funeral,
they set out on their mission with hope
full hearts, 1t was bitter winter weather.
The night was black dark; the ground
was frozen hard, and thickly covered
with snow. Making straight for the
graveyard, the doctors employed them
selves in opening up the grave. For
several hours they worked with pick-ax
and spade; at last they came upon the
coffin, raised it up, and opened the lid.
1t was empty!
At this piece of audacity on the part
of some persons unknown, every body
was more amazed than ever, and again
came the conviction, stronger than be-
fore, that murder had been done. But
try as they would, they could discover
Z y,otb;np Tho vUbo1e county was throISyr,