The weekly herald. [volume] (Cleveland, Tenn.) 1876-1888, 1880-01-08

That murder had actually beer
committed could not be proved on the
spot, but the manner OF the mans death
was so peculiar as to call for coroner'f
inquiry and post mortem examination.
The body, therefore, was at once re.
moved to the inn, and several hours
after its removal the tvo 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 NOR
tenn examination had risen up in arms,
and declared that no such desecration OF
the dead should be allowed. Before
Toney Monaghan became a land agent
he had been one of themselves, and
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 a beasts. The consequence
was-a riot. The police were overpow-
cred, 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, allowed it
to be quietly buried. As the grave
closed above it, popular excitement
seemed to die away.
But if the people were satisfied, the
authorities were not. Everybody be-
lieved that a murder had been commit
ted, 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. 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 pickaxe
and spade; at last they came upon the
ccffia, raised it up, and opened the lid.
1t was emptyI
At this piece OF audacity on the part
of some persons unknown, everybody
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 1 unwittingly
solved the terrible secret by finding the
body in the bog.
Having sworn Shawn to secrecy, as
sisted him to re-inter 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 everybody was amazed,
and this time the wonder was mixed
with shame. After the examination was
made, the coroner's inquiry was hurried
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, 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 mysown
mind l had accused Of murderl For a
moment hung back ashamed, then l
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 bogs toward his home.
By whose hand the corpse was con-
veyed from the churchyard to the bog
was never discovered. 1t was generally
believed, however, that news of the in.
tended examination had been whispered
abroad, and that the agent was exhumed
and hidden solely with view to pre-
venting his body being cut up
Harper'S.
The Romance Of the Indian Outbreak,