Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1885-05-23
cHAPTEr III.

CHAPTET III.
Never before or since have / seel
such excitement in a town. 1t Wa
useless to deny that the note had beer
written by the curious scribe, but tn
cid man could not have entirely sew
cred bis own head from his body, ant
even If he could have done so, h'
could not have placed it ON the stone
Why any man should have murdered
him no one could conceive. Expert
detectives came and spent days look
ing for clue, but went away puzzled
Squire Duval declared that the ole
man had been aided by bad spirits in
the execution of the bloody design, yel
this, while it may have found ready
supporters among people who believed
in supernatural agencies, was ridieuled
by the Coroner and laughed at by the
Jury.
Some time previous to the arrival ol
the old man had incurred the mortal
enmity uf fellow named Gives. This
soulless wretch, biding his time, swore
out warrant charging me with the
murder OF the curious scribe. Oh
course | was indignant, but soon saw
that the people paid but little atten-
tion to my protestatiOns of innocence.
was arranged for examination before
a Justice of the Peace. | had Squire
Duval and the man with whom boar
ded introduced as witnesses. The
Squire's testimony amounted to moth
ing, but the testimony OF my landlord,
made my blood run cold.
"Mr, Buck went to bed at the usual
hour" said he, "but about midnight he
got up and went out. When he came
back, which he did after some time, /
heard him washing his hands, and at
morning when / went to the wash
shelf on the porch saw blood stains
in the bottom of the bowl"
The truth, unable to sleep had got
ten up | went out, lighted my pipe,
and walked around, smoking. As /
was returning to the house. came in
contact with the end of "A rail which
projected over the fence, forcing few
drops of blood from my nose.
When made the statement, the
people looked suspiciously at me. My
lawyer made an able speech, dwelling
on the fact that | WAS the old mans
friend, and that 1 had nothing against
him; and, although had known him
TO be something OF meteriallst; yet.
the Sqrire's opinion inso-
much that as the old man had unques-
Iionably written the note, he might
have cut off his own head.
The magistrate decided that the evl-
ience was sufficiently strong to justify
my detention, and as the case was not
/ was taken to Jail. | had
great hopes that the Grand Jury would
.lil to return an Indictment, but was
When it became known
hat the charge against me Was sus-
aimed by the gentlemen i'll secret ses-
ion, a mob assembled and it was with
,reat difficulty that the Sheriff could
Seep me from the clutches of the yell
ng avengers
One morning, just before the meet
ng of the court before which was to
,e tried, the Sheriff entered the Jail,
ND said
Mr.. Buck, you are free. Read this
etter. 1t was written by crazy man,
vell known in this community, and
vas addressed to the circuit Judge"
The surprise was so gladdening the
hought of regaining my liberty and
nee more taking my place among re-
pected men, illled me with such a de-
ire t., throw up my hat that. it was
Fith difficulty that could repress my
xultation long enough to read the let
er The document which elected my
Iteration ran us follows
Judge, while no one is bothering
ne, and while sit alone in my room,
lumber 102 left, wing, l will drop you
few lines We used to go to school
ogether, didn't we, Judge? Well, |
ome time ago-I don't know how long,
DR. sometimes it seems ten years and
hen ten minutes-I slipped away
rom the asylum. They had given
ne the privilege of walking out. II
ot ON train and went up to your
own. 1t was night and nobody saw
ne. After 1 had walked around |
while, got down on my knees and |
ipped water out of a puddle. Yes, l
i'd / saw light in a house and |
1ent in. An old man with white hair
;as in the house. 1t tickled me to
Dok ut him. While we were talking
funny idea occurred to me: Sup |
ose the people were to come here in |
ne morning and find that old mans
eslt on the rock table, what would |
hey say? 1t would puzzle 'em if he
Yas to leave a note aging that he had
ut off his head and put it there. |
ould put his head there and write |
ne note, but the people might know
is hand writing and detect the for
cry. | won't commit forgery 1t is
1rong. They send folks to the peni-
entiary for forgery. Ill get him to
rite the note That is the way the |
Inny idea ran through my head.
egan to talk pleasantly to him, told
i'm that l owned farm II short dis
lnce from town. Well, do Judge
won'i tell lie unless it is to help
long a great cause. "Will you do me
great favor? asked. He said that
e would. II want to play joke ON
~ little girl said | She can read and
rite, but | can't. The other day she
'hipped her doll. told her she
ught not be so cruel, that if she
idn't mind the doll would commit
1icide. Now, | tell you what | am
Ding to do. am going TO cut oil the
oils head and put 1t on a stool and
ave note, explaining the funny sit
alton. While she is weeping over
he death OF the doll | will take out "A
icer one which l shall have handy,
nd make her glad. Won't you please
'rile down the words dictate? !? He
iughed at the idea, said it was the
rst time he had laughed for years.
lid him that was glad to afford him
nv amusement, and that l would he
rateful if he would write the words
,r me. He did so and | went out. l
ipped into store, through win
ow, and got new butcher knife.
hen | went back and found the old
ian reading. We talked awhile, and
len, when he wasn't noticing me,
rabbed him by the throat and forced
i'm to the floor. He WAS too weak to
ruggle much, and | had very little
.ouble in cutting his throat, but cut
ng of his head WAS not such an easy
10. / got it off after awhile, and
ad to laugh when | put the note be-
de it, it tickled me so much that |
adj to blow out the light. shut the
oor carefully and went away
lmped on freight train and rode
here nobody could see me. When
got off, threw nearly all my clothes
! the river. BY morning, | was at the
,ylum. They had been looking for
- C:.,,,.. 81 <Laxv ,,y<,,,f LOT mo tro |