Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1882-04-01

Suddenly he jumped back paler than
the boy himself.
my GOD IT'S A WOMAN
said he, and his hat came off as rev
erentially as though he had stepped
into church. 1t was whispered
around among the boys in short or
der and the surprise was general,
tell you. In those days there were
no women in California; except in
the cities, and most of those who
were there, were none of the best,
and the fact that there was wOm-
an in our midst, was enough to as
tOnish us, But this only deepened
the mystery about the murder, and
we were as far from an explanation
of it as we We're before we discover
the sex of the prisoner, A few min
utes later she recovered from her
swoon and resumed her quiet demea-
nor. The men, of course, wanted to
know the reason for her appearance
in the country in that disguise, and
what connection. if any, her pres
ence had with the murder. A COM
mittee was appointed to take her
aside, and hear what she had to say,
and then she told her story.
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"a few years ago." said she, Il
lived with my mother, father and
sister, on our farm in Missouri. We
were as happy together as any fami-
ly ever was, and didn't know any
thing about the real meanness of
men. One day there came to our
house nice looking young fellow,
who wanted work on our farm. My
mother did not like his appearance,
and begged father not to take him.
But we needed help on the place and
in spite of mothers protest, he was
taken into the family. He was "a
nice young fellow, apparently, aud
father took great liking to him
taking him into the house and treat
ing him like a member of the family
After awhile he began counting me,
and | fell in love with him, fool that
! was. We were to be married and
to remove to a city in the west to
live, but we kept all our plans to
ourselves, l not even telling my sis
ter, at his request. 1 thought that
she liked him, too, but / knew we
were were engaged, so preferred to
say nothing to any one at all on the
subject. After awhile he began GO
ing regularly to the city with father,
and we noticed that some times the
old man would come home under the
influence of liquor. Matters went
from bad to worse, until father be-
came confirmed drunkard aud lost
the farm. A short time afterward
the young man disappeared without
a word of warning or explana ton.
One day my sister came to me and
told me in confidence that she was
to have been married to him soon,
and that she was about to become
the mother of his child. He had be-
trayed us both A few months la
ter my sister died in giving birth to
her baby, and father was committed
to an insane asylum. / stayed with
mother until she died, a year later,
of broken neart.
A BETRAYED GIRLS vow.
''Then / took a solemn oat h that
sooner or later, l would find that
man an kill him for his perfdy, ii it
should be the last act of my life. /
heard nothing of him for another
year, when / learned by chance that
he was in the mines of California, so
/ came to this State, and disguised
as a man, searched among the bills
and mines for months, until / found
him. When | found out where he
was / went to his cabin and awaited
his return. Shortly after he came
in / told him who was, and sent
my knife into his heart, as | had
sworn to do. Nose Rodacker was
that man, and it was l who killed
him"
"When the committee returned
with the prisoner, and told her story
to the men, there wasn't dry eye
among them all Did we hang her +?
Well, should say not No, sir;
that girl could have called on that