The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1880-02-06

oh, sweet ar the breath of mCrn
To the fallen and fOr,urn
Are whispered words " praise
Tor the fanlished heart believes
IN" iaisvnnod that t'mlts and drccNvN,
Ana TIE promise that bctrays.
~ she follows from land 1, land
lhe wi1ard'c brckuuing hand,
~ leaf ~ blown hy the gust
llll sba Vanishcs into night!
~ rcH.er, stnop down and wTlte
With Thy finger IA the dust.
- town in the midst of the s,a,
With thy craft " cedar trees
my merchandise aud thy shrs
Thou to, art become IN naugh'
phantom, shadow, thor ..ht
name upon uen's FPS.
STRANGE CLEWS TO CRIME,
John Cooper kept II small hosiery ut
Cassieford, III Yorkshire, England. In
Jane, 1879, Young man calling himself
William Jones. came 10 the place and
asked for employment. He said he
knew all about horses, and, further
more, he wrote n good hand. Cooper
was llhteratc, and had long felt the need
OF some one t. help him, as he had IT,
Gently built Hour mill AMI found it
hard 10 keep II reckoning with the
farmers who brought their wheat To bc
ground. Jones WAS about twenty-threr.
tall and robust, and of very pleasant
manners, and, having read Ia Cooper and
his wife out OF an old newspaper, and
having shown them what he could do
with pen, he was engaged al salary
Of one pound II month and his board
About three weeks after this there
come To the house pClller-a man
nearly twice the age of Jones and of II
different kind. He was short and robust.
with red hair, IA hump on one shoulder.
with arms unuaturally long and sinrwy.
This man drank his ale, ate his bread
and cheese, and offered his wares for
sale. Then he sat 10y the fire, told good
stories and related strange adventures in
out -ot-the-way places among the hills
and on the moors.
In the evening he walked outside with
his pipe and watched Jones curry the
horses and fodder them for the night.
Now 1t so happened that Cooper's bed
room was over the stable, and that.
having drank more than ordinary. he
had gone 10 rest soon after ten. After n
two hours slumber he suddenly awoke
and became conscious that two persons
were talking III the stable below. Get
ting out Of bed with due caution. he
PUT HIS EAR TO THE FLOOR,
AMI overheard distinctly what was said
What he heard was this:
WELL, said the pedtller, - came
Just us soon rs / got your letter. 1t lav
at the cottage for some days before got
II; but rs soon rs / read il | started
right away"
:. This thing can not last much long
er, said Jones. I'm worn out ALREADY,
but | ON Obliged to bear mp SO rs not 10
arou'e suspicion. \ nice idea. isn't it,
for me To he doing this drudgcry?"
II Is your own fault, WAS the an
swer; why did you not stop and face it
ont? Why did you sneak away and
leave others TO bear III" hrunt ="
"Sncak away" Jones said III bitter
tone; "who would not have done the
same, with the gallows staring him IN
the face"
lyon should have made complete
job OF it, the peddler said; 80 dead men
tell no tales ,"
Look you here" Jones replied; "as
Won know, I'm not the man TO finch
when Il bullet or Il knife can do the bust
ness, but To pnt ones own sister ont of
the way is another matter altogether"
The question now is" said the ped
dier, "what are you going 10 do if you
quit hcre?"
Go back TO the word was lost and
take my chance" WAS the answer.
% You are Id fool, the peddlcr IT,
piled, in low growl.
And YOU are worse than fool Z"
Jones said, "or you would have man
aged things better than keep me waiting
here"
"Well, We stranglcd the old wretch.
anyhow, the peddler said, land that
put him out OF tn. way. Ii Won cant
manage your sister and get out of her all
you want, You will he Ia blame. and
not j. "
The conversation vas then continued
III lower tone, and Cooper
GREY CAUTIOUSLY PROM THE ROOM
aud joined his wife below stairs. Like
many shrewd business people who can
neither read nor write, Cooper and his
wife had wonderfully retentive memo
ries, and Cooper had related to his wife
word for word the conversation he had
Just overheard.
After consulting together for some
time Mrs. Cooper said:
"We've had trouble enough on our
hands with our boy, who is now over the
sea, suffering for his share in that poach-
ing aliray ut Shadwick Hall. Don't let
us m"ddlC with this matter, whatever il
NAV be"
But il may bring lis into worse
trouble still, Cooper replied. Murder
has been committed, and the men who
did it are under our roof, and one of
them is our servant. IL this was found
out it might 60 all the harder with us,
because our boy has been in almost as
bad trouble himself.
After pause Mrs. Cooper snid:
"There's still two hours Of daylight.
I'll put on my things and go over to my
brothers. He's constable, and will be
able to advise us what to do. I'll stay
there all night, and you must keep the
men here till | get back in the morning
early"
This was agreed to, aud Mrs Cooper
departed. Later on Jones and the ped
der came into the house and sat with
Cooper and number of guests until the
place was closed. Then the peddler
went with Jones to the inner kitchen,
where he slept, and Cooper retired to
his own room.
When Mrs. Cooper returned il was
past Z o'clock. The house, greatly to
her surprise, was closed, but on going to
the rear she found the back door on tho
latch. AZ she was about to enter, VIM.
Meek, ncighbor, called to her from the
window adjoining:
"Whats the matter, MISTRESS" he
said, "that John has not opened house
10y this timc?"
Mrs. Cooper was in such state OF fear
and trepidation that she could hardly
answer, and Neck observing this climbed
the fence and joined her Then she
briefly told him that she had been away
all night ut her brothers on business,
and was
AFRAID SOMETHING HAD HAPPENED.
Meek entered the house with her.
Everything appeared as it had boon left
over night, but on going to the small
room occupied by Jones, they found that
il was empty, and the bed showed signs
Of not having been slept upon. This.
for reasons known to the reader, excited
Mrs. CoOper's fears greatly, and, accom-.
panied 10y Meek, she went up stairs u
her husbands bedroom. John Cooper
law on the bed undressed. and dead,