The New Bloomfield, Pa. times. (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1877-188?, 1880-05-11
A Detectives Story.
rhe Baby witness

the right of the road just as you enter
the village Of L., Pennsylvania, from
the south. The house stands back about
ten rods from the road, among peach
and apple trees, and the little path run
ming up from the gate Is bordered with
pinks and moss.
should not speak so confidently; 1t
is five years since saw the village or
the house, and perhaps the awful
tragedy enacted under the moss covered
roof Que night may have kept the house
tenantless, and allowed time to tumble
it down.
One day, in answer to q telegram sent
from the nearest railway station to
L., matter of dozen miles, 1 rode
into the quaint old village on the top of
the stage, and at once reported myself
to the town authorities. Every inhab-
liant of the village, even to the ragged
urchin sitting ON the tavern porch,
carried grave face and talked in whls-
pers. Had l not known double muir
der had been committed the night before,
| could have read some news almost as
bad by glancing at the faces of the towns
people
While was eating my supper at the
only hotel the town clerk and the pres
ident of the village sat opposite and told
me the story. 1t seems that Arnold,
who was nearly sixty years old, had two
sons in another part of the State, and,
wishing to divide up his property before
his death, had, a few days before the
murder disposed of farm and some
manufacturing interests in Pittsburgh,
realizing several thousand dollars in
cash. He intended visiting the sons
and dividing the money between them,
but had placed it in the village bank un-
til he should be ready to go. MrsaAr-
mold was old and gray headed, and the
couple would have been all alone had
it not been for little Jack, as he was call
ed, child four years of age. The child
had been abandoned by u woman pass
ing through the village, and the Arnolds
had taken it for company; in fact had
ihauO pIONlSlOn W duppl ll'
The night before, at o'clock, a cit-
zen had seen Arnold at his gate smok-
ing pipe. No one heard any alarm
from the house during the night, but
about sunrise little Jack crept down in
to the village, his night-gown red with
blood, and told the first one he met that,
Somebody has hit grandpa and grand
ma on the head with an axe"
There was an investigation and the
aged couple were found at their house
dead and terribly mutilated The old
mans head was nearly split in two, and
Mrs. Arnold had a horrible wound in
the temple, which had caused death al
most Instantly. The child was not in
the least injured, but seemed to have
been badly frightened.
This was the gist of the story 1 got
while eating, but l found that none of
the sensational points had been over
drawn when reached the house. The
corpses had been the subject of inquest
and had been washed and placed in cof-
fins, but the rooms had not been disturb
ed, A constable had been present all
the time to see that any clue which
might have been left of the murderer
should not be erased by careless hands
or feet
The room where the tragedy occurred
was double bedroom on the ground
floor. 1t contained two beds, one of
which was occupied by the old man and
little Jack. The murderer had come in
the back door, bringing along the axe
from the woodpile. He had passed into
the bedroom, lighted candle which
stood on the stand, and had been some
time in the room before using the weap-
on. / knew this because the top draw
er of the old bureau was pulled out, its
contents tumbled over, and there were
40 bloody finger marks on anything
The three other drawers were daubed
with blood, showing that he had search
ed these after the murder.
Something had aroused the old man
from his sleep. He had started to get
out of bed when struck by the axe. The
old lady had.hear the noise when the
cruel implement descended on her head,
the positions in which the bodies were
found bearing out my theory. The
night had been chilly and little Jack
probably smuggled down under the
quilts, and had thus escaped harm
though, as afterward shown, he haC
been silent witness of part of the pro
ceedings.
The murderer had made a thorough