The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1881-07-22
HICKMAN FULTON COUNTY, KENTUCKY FRIDAY JULY % 1881

SOY. HlCk nj A n
against him. Besides, he knew scarcely
any more English than his wife. and
later, when calm, his story of the traveller
who had stopped at his house, was re.
ceived with disbelief and derision. Poor.
friendless, and a stranger, things looked
very dark against him.
Weeks passed, his trial came; he was
sentenced to be hanged.
Rev. Mr.. Marshall, rector Of st.
Johns Church. Brookdale. village
some two hundred miles distant from
Haywood, was in hisstudy, one Septem-
Der morning, IN the year 1873. He was
suffering from an attack of influenza
which he had taken the night before,
while on visit to a sick parishoner.
u Consequently, complying with his wife's
ksu,.ss,est that he should do no studying on
>6sannaan- = p Ss<usrslaz1iI iI-xkas Iazr15
sGssIe1i On the lounge in front of
q sherry fire. His eight years old son,
Ioln, was in the room, every now and
then running up to his father, with soma
request. At last one was: Papa, it's
Saturday; how shall / spend the day
Wish | had kite. Do you know how
20 make one, papa?"
81 used to, Tom / don't know
whether l have forgotten or not. Give
me the newspaper on the table, please,
and the scissors. Then run out in the
wood shed and get me some of those
sucks ON the shelf, also hammer and
some small nails. Stay, don't be in such
a q hurry; ask Hannah to make little
flour PASTE
4 Tom hurried away, and while waiting
Ior him to return, his father glanced
| over the columns of the newspaper he
was cutting. 1t was one that his friend,
MI. Brown, of Haywood, had sent him.
MS eyes Glanced to fall upon these
words:
] The German, Peter Groat, who muir
dered Mrs. Curtis, has been sentenced
10 be hung on the second Friday in next
month. Groat, though a stranger, was
supposed to be n respectable man, and
one not at all capable of perpetrating
such crime. But the evidences of his
guilt are most conclusive The morning
after the murder, his wife was found
washing q bloody shirt. also a knife
stained with blood was found hidden
near woodpile. Besides, goods belong
ing to the murdered woman, were found
IL Groat's house The only thing miss
ing Is a curious old suuff-box, OF some
black wood, quantity carved IN the shape
oI a toad. Her name. HepsiOah Curtis,
Is engraved on the inside. But with
out this, the evidence is strong enough
to hang him "
Poor fellowi" murmured Mr.. Mar
shall as he laid down the paper 1T
makes one dread to read the news-one
comes across 50 many horrors.
Papa papal you needn't mind about
Ia r I
with shining eyes 'Unele George lust
fishing, and says he viii take me along.
May go?"
IF mamma IS willing"
: "She is; / asked her And I've been
Sie,ssssAg gruDs anu fish ~~or11as- fs~ Iss.ss l
you know. But see what a nice bait
box I've got.
'An old snuf-bo1. Where did you
get it9n
.Myron Mason gave it to me.
WHO'S Myron Mason?"
''Oh, a new man Uncle George got to
work for him in his garden He's gather |
ing the pears and trenching the celery.
Myron was a tramp who came along,
but he Is real nice The box is nice, /
too. See what funny shape it is"
"a toad Quick, Let me + see, Toni /
Mr.. Marshall had not closely exam |
med the box until now, and it was with |
trembling fingers that he opened 1t.
"Hepsibah Curtis, was the name en-
grayed on the inner covert
Mr. Marshall S face was white, but his /
Voice was calm, as he said:
''Tom, inst run over and tell your /
uncle George to come over. here a few !
minutes i want to talk with him on
little business"
Three days later, Myron Mason, atlas
Jasper Armand,r was arrested for the |
murder of Mrs Curtis.
He made no resistance; he told no
falsehoods; he simply confessed the
whole affair, stating that he had muir
dered the woman out of revenge. Ten |
years before the two had lived in the /
same town He had always been Wild
and di=solute, -but : had been the be-
trothed of Mrs. Curtis sister, a gentle
and lovely woman. Mrs. Curtis had /
opposed the match, knowing that 1t
would cause her sister a life of misery.
Also finding that Armand belonged to
gang OF eounterfeiters, she promptly
gave evidence against him.
He was condemned to ten years i'm
prisonment. This he bore patiently, |
mentally vowing that, when released, he
would at once wreak vengeance on the |
woman who had foiled his plans and |
bhghted his life.
When the time had expired, and the |
prison doors opened to let him pass ont, |
he found that the woman he loved was |
dead, and that the woman he hated was /
living in Haywood. Thither he went. |
\ he had seen Mrs. Curtis go to town, and |
2eoncealed himself in the woods to |
- her return He did not take tho |
articles she carried merely for the sake /
of robbery, but to have suspicion point |
its fingers at some other party. At the |
conclusion of his confession, he said thai !
he had no desire of concealing it any |
longer. His life was made wretched by |
the horrid crime he had committed, and |
death and exposure were not unwelcome. |
The next day after his confinement ~ |
the Jail, he was found dead in his cell. |
He had ended his life by poison.
AS for Peter Groat, he was at once re-
leased, and all the inhabitants of Hey, |
wood strove to express their regret and |
regard for him, but to these, Peter sadly |
shook his head, saying:
ssHe did care live in blace where |
1e people vas so ready to pelieve him a |
mad man p So he sold his little home,
hacked his goods, and with his wife and |
children, moved to the far West. where
Il Is to be hoped, in spite of sweet char
;tv's sake, he is more careful In enter
taining benighted travellers.
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