Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1880-10-21
/, A FAIR DEMON.

Slaughter The Son's0ath of Ven
q geance The Confession of Cow.
9 ard, and a Merciful Verdict Sin
} gular Scene in Court The Oath
D FulfIled--A Murderer Devoured
Alive by Red Ants--The Murder
! ess' Fate Death of the Avenger
On the morning Of May q,
D 1877, shortly after daybreak, a
, little Chinese boy, exhibiting
} the most violent CONSERVATION
and terror, informed the police
man on duty at the Post-office
at Georgetown, Demarara, that
he feared something had occur
red to his master, a wealthy
merchant named AlcxanderFor-
bes, an eccentric Scotchman of
Of fifty, who had been a resident
of British Guiana tor upward
of thirty years, and lived inapart-
ments in the building in which
he transacted business. His on
ly servant was little WahLong.
On the morning of, which we
write Wah Long, one of whose
duties was the preparation of
the eaIly- coffee, with which ev-
cry onein the tropics begins the
day, rose before the dawn.
While kindling his fire he MOTTO
ed that his blouse and trousers
were wet, and to his horror dis
covered by the frightening fame
that they were stained with
blood. The mattress OH which
he had lain was puddled with
the same frightful fluid, drops
of which were still dripping
sluggishly from the ceiling
which formed the floor Of his
masters bedroom overhead.
In spite OF his terror the child
went upstairs and tried the door
of the merchants apartment. 1t
was locked, and his repeated
knocking was unanswered. He
then went in search of help, and
the policeman returned to the
house with him at once.
The bedroom looked as if a
legion of raving mad devils had
been holding carnival there.
The chairs were fairly beaten to
splinters. The desk in which
Mr.. Forbes kept his private pa
pers was battered into a score
of pieces. The door was cover
ed with broken bottle and frag-
ments of glass from the side
board. Thatarticle Of furniture
itself was overturned and one
Of the pannels stamped in. The
frenzy Of the murderer or muir
derers seemed to have extended |
to the very walls, the numerous
pictures on which were slashed
and destroyed in their frames.
Midway between his bed and
the door, clutching the corner
of one of the sheets which he
had dragged after him, was Mr..
Forbes. His night-shirt and
muslin night drawers were rip
ped to ribbons. There were
eighteen stabs i'm his face and
neck. Through ghastly wound
in his abdomen his. bowels pro-
truded. His right bare arm
was cut half through, and the
bones broken. Every rib on
his right side vas smashed.
His right ear and a portion Of
the cheek were sliced away,
leaving the jaw-boncs bare. The
cheek, with ear and whisker at
tached, was found on the floor
scHeralifeet away.
Nevertheless the wretched |
man was not dead. Lying on
his back, motionlcss, his eyes
wide open and dilated by terror,
he mdttcred constantly in a
voice strangled with the blood
Which at almost every word |
gushed from his mouth, "She
She !.sheLp3 ( i ill.,
These unyarying words were
all,that could be obtained from
him. In two hours he died.
That the crime had been COM
mitted for purposes of plunder
seemed impossible. The mur-I
defed mans valuable watch,
chain and diamond studs were
under his pillow. Scattered a
mid the debris on the floor was
over e300' in American and En-
giish gold,and e3, ,500in Colonial
bank notes was jammed in one
corner of the drawer from the
broken desk. All the private
papeps, letters and the rest, ,how-
ever, were utterly destroyed,
torn into infinitessimal frag-
ments,a "a heap Of which had been
burned on the slab of the table.
Although Mr.. Forbes was a
bachelor, he was responsible for
the existence of several children,
all the fruits Of his amours with
native women. To the mothers
of these children he had been in
the habit of paying an annual
allowance. The children them
selves he had caused to be edu-
Gated. The eldest, handsome