The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1880-01-01

upon Shawn; show 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"
Murderedp''
sob, God forbid! yer honor; what
for should he be kilt at all, at all?'
Nevertheless, / felt convinced that my
supposition was right; nay, more, be-
lieved that I could point out the very
man who had done the deed.
That 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
quiry and a 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 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 little
hard upon them of late, there wasn't
one man among them but would raise
his voice against having the poor boys
body cut up like 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 q 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-
lieved that murder mad 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
post-mortem examination in secret.
| One night, two nights after the funeral,
| they set out on their mission with hope
full hearts. TWAS 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
nothing. The whole county was thrown
into tumult, and popular excitement
was at its height when I unwittingly
solved the terrible secret by finding the
body in the bog.
| Having sworn Shawn to secrecy, I as
sisted him to RENTER the box, and forth.
with sent word of the discovery to the
magistrate. The box was at once re-
moved, the post-mortem examination
concluded, and the discovery made that
the unfortunate man had died of heart
| disease. Again every body was amazed,
and this time the wonder was mixed
with shame. After the examination was
made, the Coroner's inquiry was hur-
| rled over, and once more, in solemn
pomp and with all the rites of the
Church, the agent was laid in his grave.
! Amidst the solemn concourse which
attended this second funeral, 1 noticed
the wild, wan face which had haunted
| me ever since that day when had seen
| it by the frozen window of the inn-the
face of the very man whom in my own
mind l had accused of murder! For a
moment | hung back ashamed, then
| boldly walked forward and pressed a
| bank-note into the wretched creatures
hand. He looked from it to me in dazed
amazement, then the sight of one of his
ragged children seemed to make him
realize what the money would do. He
clutched it closer, and with one last
look down the open grave, he crept
across the boys toward his home.
BY whose hand the corpse was con-
veyed from the churchyard to the bog
was never discovered. 1t was general
ly believed, however, that news of the
intended examination had been whis-
pered abroad, and that the agent was
exhumed and hidden solely with view
to preventing his body being "cut up. -
Grandfather Lickshingle's Christmas
Story.
Grandfather Lickshingle called the
children around him the other night and
said