The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-06-11

started forth, but soon returned fearing to
attempt the journey then, and besides | was
getting ravenous for food. L covered the
dead men, all but Bell.
HORRIBLE NARRATIVE.
'When 1 remember this part of my suffer-
ings stop and wonder; it comes all back to
me so wildly. There he lay on his back.
looked on him as I had looked on the others
before covered them; then stopped and
carefully felt him as had felt the Others
There was reason in my madness. 1t fright
ems me now to think how cool was about
it. l stood over them and mentally weighed
their values, trying to conclude as to which
was better for my awful purpose-whether
one had little more fat than the other, or
whether the taller ones skin and flesh were
as tender as outward appearances seemed to
indicate. 1t was question of life or death
with me, and tell you, surrounded as L
was with an awful and majestic silence that
seemed to my disordered mind to be bend
ing its ear and awaiting my decision, con-
sidered it with all the gravity
that l thought the occasion and circun-
stances warranted. | couldn't tell you in
words the state my brain was then in, At
times get gimpses, but my mind yet lacks
the power of concentration. The vagares
that then experienced are forever fitting
before me, and I hope after while they will
become Ineligible.
AFTER studied for while l concluded
that Bell made the best man for food. l
pulled him along to the side of the brook
that ran by the camp, took off his clothes
and carefully washed him. When 1 was
through this operation his flesh looked
white and tempting. / drew him back to
the fire, and wiped the body dry with
al white shirt he had rolled up in his
pack. After whetting my knife on the edge
of a bowlder to fine razor-like edge, l pro-
ceeded to carve him, cutting the slices as
neatly as possible, for l didn't care to un-
necessarily mutilate my friend. When l
had taken the meat from the fleshy part of
his legs and his breast l concluded that had
enough for present purposes, and so, getting
a bag that had been brought with us to carry
our ore, 1 carefully put the provisions away,
| first roasting them to light crisp.
BELL had $50 IN his pocket The contents
of the pockets of the other men realized $40,
which, in addition to the $40 had, made me
flush. didn't think so then; in fact didn' t
consider the money as an article of value,
and would cheerfully have exchanged the
whole for a fve-cent loaf of bread,
so averse was 1 to eating the con-
tents of the bag. There was no choice,
however, Taking one of Bells breasts
l began to eat. After the first mouthful
the idea became less revolving, and finally at
the expiration of half an hour had disposed
of the morsel, and felt strengthened. Every
day, three times day, did | go to that bag.
had become used to the meat and could
eat it with a relish. 1t tasted and looked in
appearance like piece of lean bacon. There
was no fat about any of us, and at the best
my comrade was very tough, even for my
jaws" and the smiling cannibal, as if to
prove his assertion, theoretically worked his
maxillary mechanism with a disagreeable
steel-trap sound at the same time displaying
to nv gaze two perfect rows of strong milk
white teeth.
Besides the flesh, which 1 carried with
me-" he continued, II was burdened with a
tin pail of live Goals. l had no matches, and
dry wood was hard to get so I resorted to
this method of sustaining warmth. The
sixtieth night camped, that is the night be-
fore reached the agency, l had two long
leatherly slices of flesh left, which 1 threw
away. These were found by an Indian, who
recognized in them some resemblance to the
human anatomy and brought them into
camp. When hauled up to identify the re-
mains of my dead comrade, 1 denied all
knowledge of them, for reasons you
already know. How in the deuce the
redskin happened to stumble upon the
truth is more than can imagine, unless he
| tasted them and recognized q familiar flavor.
This is my first and last statement about this
affair. l give it to you for your paper if you
want it. You know the rest, or you ought
to; how escaped at Saquache and had up to
year or so ago, when arrested, lived in Wy
oming under the name of John Schwartze;
and how, at nay trial, was convicted by the
testimony of that malevolent cuss Lauter,
who said when he found the bodies they had
bullet-holes in their heads and had been shot
while asleep AS for my past life, | am a
college graduate, although from my appear
ance you wouldn't believe it, and l have rel
atives in Pennsylvania, my native State"