Mexico weekly ledger. (Mexico, Mo.) 1855-1956, 1880-06-10
TIE CHILD WITNESS

lie Arn0.ls lived III tt.u Old brown
house which you may have noticed 81
the right OF the road just l., YOU en-
ter the village Of IT,, Pcnnsy!-
vania, from the south. Tie house
stands back about ten rods from the
road, among peach and apple trees.
and the path running up from The
gate is bordercd with pinks and moss.
l should not speak SO confidently it
is five years since | saw the village or
the house, and perhaps the awful
tragedy enacted under the moss COW
cred roof one night may have kept
the house tcnantless, and allowed
time to tumble it down.
One day, IL answer to telegram
sent from the nearest railroad station
to l., matter Of dozen
miles, l rode into the quaint old wi,
lage on the top Of the stage, and at
once reported myself to the town
authorities. Every inhabitant of til,
village, even TO tie raggc'. urclIns
sitting on the tavern porch, carried
Il grave face and talked in whispers.
, Had | not known double murder
hal been committed the night before.
could have read Snlne news almost
a. bad by glancing 1T tic faces of the
towns people,
While | was eating my supper s.t
the only hotel, ,hc town clerk anC
the president OF. the village sat oppo,
site and told nc the story. T. seem
cl that Arnold wE0 was neatly sixt,
years old, had TWO sons Ill another
part Of the state, and, wishing to di.
vide up his property before his death
had few days before the murder
disposed of farm and some manu-.
/ featuring interests in r,tsbnr~, re-
allziug several thousand dollars il
cash. lie intended visiting the sons
and dividin" the money hctwccl
them, but had placed it i'll tiie village
bank until he should he ready to 20
Mrs Arnold WAS old :uN gray head
p,l, and the c"upic would have bee!
all alone had il not been for Liltl,
Jack, rs he was called, IL child foul
Years old. The child had been ahan
honed by woman passing through
the village, and the Arnold's ha,
taken it for company; in fact, haG
made provision to adopt it.
The night before, at nine O'Clock
q citizen had seen Arnold at his gat,
smoking apipe. No one heard any
alarm from the house during til,
night, but about sunrise Little Jacl
crept down into the village, his nigh
gown red with blood, and told tn,
first one he met, ''Somebody had hi
grandpa and grandma on the hea'
with an axe
There was an investigation, an,
the aged couple were found at th'
house dead and terribly mutilatcd
The old man $ head was nearly spli
in two, and Mrs. Arnold had a horri
bic wound on the temple, which ha;
caused death almost instantly. The
child was not in the least injured
but seemed to have been badl,
frightened.
THIS was the gist OF the story
got while eating, but l found tha
none of the sensational points hat
been overdrawn when l reached tn
house. The corpses had been th
subject of inquest, and had bee
washed and placed in cofiins, but tn
rooms had not been disturbed
constable had been present all tn
time to see that any clue that nigh
have been left of the murderer shoul
not be erased by careless hands o
feet.
The room where the tragedy oc
Cured was double bedroom on tn
ground floor. 1t contained two beds
one Of VIII ch was occupied by tn
old lady alone, and tue other by tn
old man and Little Jack. The mul
derer had come in at the back door
bringing along the axe from tn
woodpile. He had passed into tn
bedroom, lighted a candle whic
stood on the stand, and had bee
, sometime in the room before usin
: the weapon. knew this because th
top drawer of the old bureau wa
pulled out, its contents tumbled ovel
and there were no bloody finge
marks on anything. The othe
) drawers were daubed with bloot
: showing that he searched these afts
3 the murder.
Something had aroused the ol
man from his sleep. He had starte
to get out of bed when struck by 8
' axe. The old lady had just hear
+ the noise when the cruel implemel
descended on her head, the position
in which the bodies were found bea
: ing out my theory. The night ha
g been chilly and Little Jack probabl