The National tribune., 1882-04-01

struck something hard, and the next stroke,
to his horror, and 1 own somewhat to my
surprise, threw out human bone. To be
brief, few more strokes of the spade suf-
feed to bring to light nearly the entire
skeleton, and lying among the bones few
coins and gold ring containing sapphire
set in a peculiar manner, which L recog-
nized as one worn by Henry Eden.
Hastily putting this in my pocket, L told
John to throw in the earth and fill up the
place, and tell no one where he had been, or
what he had done or seen. OF course III
Bauer were guilty, as | now had small
doubt but that he was, and should discover
the freshly turned earth, he might take
alarm and leave the country; so what was
to he done must be done without delay.
hastened to the office of the magistrate, told
him of my susnicions and what they had
led me to do, and the result, made formal
complaint, and in less than an hour, accom-
panied by an officer armed with a warrant,
I started for the inn. 1t suddenly occurred
to me, however, to have the boy H0d9son
accompany US, and making detOur to my
own house, told him to come with me. BY
this time the sun had set, and we reached
the inn in the early twilight, and entered the
tap-room. There was no one there, and L
was about to call out, thinking that Bauer
might be up stairs, when the boy started
suddenly, and with one sharp cry OF pain
muttered. "My dream!" and sank back
terrified in chair, with staring eyes fixed
on the rear door. Following the direction
of his gaze, saw standing by the doorway
the man Bauer himself, and the palljd face
of Aaron Rawton.
The rest of the story is soon told. The
warrant was served on Bauer, and be was
brought before the magistrate. When told
the reason of his arrest, he at first st0utly
and Indignantly protested his innocence; but
when told that the secrets of his garden had
been unveiled, and shown the ring, his man
ner changed He became silent and thought
ful ard finally disturbed look settled upon
his features. The next morning the magis-
trate sent for me. and informed me that
Bauer was about to make a confession, and
I desired to become Queens evidence.
OF course, no promise of immunity from
punishment was given him, but he was told
that if his statement should prove to be such
as to secure the punishment of confederates,
if he had any, his chance for mitigation of
punishment would be increased. Thus as
sured, Bauer stated that on the night when
Henry Eden was last seen he had stopped
at his inn early in the evening for shelter, as
the weather was threatening. He called for
a mug of ale, and as he stood looking out at
the rear door, he, Bauer, struck him ON the
head with all his might with heavy piece
of cord-wood, and killed him at once, while
an accomplice kept watch at the front door.
They then dragged the body out into the
garden and as soon as the night was still
buried it where we had discovered it. The
field had been freshly ploughed, and heavy
rain, which soon began to fall, obliterated
their footprints and all traces of the crime.
On returning to the house he found his wife
prostrate and insensible on the ground by
the front window of the tap-room. She had
been to her fathers house, and returning
sooner than he expected, had witnessed the
deed through the window, and fallen in a
dead faint, and, prostrated by the shock, died
three days after her child was born. That
his reason for committing the crime was
that old Mr.. Elden, of whom he had bought
the inn, held large mortgage on it, and he
found it impossible to keep down the inter-
eo1
in the depths of debt and poverty. While
he was in despondent state of mind ae was
approached one day by Aaron Rawton, who
had discovered the situation of his affairs,
and who himself desired to have Harry put
out of the way, both in order that he might
be the sole heir TO his uncle's property, which
he knew had been willed to Harry, and also
because Harry had supplanted him in the
affections of Lucy Oakland, and that Raw
ton had promised him, in the event of his
succeeding to the estate, to give him clear
title to the inn, and in any event ready
money enough to pay off all arrearages of
interest; and Rawton it was who, on the
night of the commission of the deed, had
watched at the front door, and helped him
dispose of the body and had, on the day of
the arrest, ridden out to meet him, and told
him of my suspicious, and he had intended
during that night to remove whatever traces
might remain of the body if I had not an
ticipated him.
Thunderstruck as I was by this disclosure,
l could not help recalling to mind certain
peculiar and unusual nervousness in Raw
tons manner during our late conversation,
and whether this charge was true or false,
the magistrate deemed it his duty to issue
a awarrant at once for Rawton's apprehension
The officer, on arriving at Elden Hall, was
told that Mr. Rawton was in the library and
upon being ushered thither, and finding the
door locked burst it in without ceremony,
and discovered Aaron Rawton lying upon
the lounge dead. An empty phial, and the
peculiar odor which pervaded the room, iu-
dicated the means by which he had wrought
the desperate deed.
In secret drawer of his writing desk
were subsequently found two documents
one dated some eighteen years before, which
proved to be the will of his late uncle, leav-
ing the bulk of his property to Harry, which
will had never been found, although it was
known to have been executed and the other
was the mortgage from Bauer to Fortesque