Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1886-10-07

"1Su Rot oiS euouSu 10 give Nol.
Bill a genteel thrashing.
In the course Of time ! caught more
than one glimpse OF the colonel when
he was going TO his plantation or re-
turning. He rode a fine horse, and
generally dashed along without look.
ing either TO the right or to the left.
He was very handsome man of
about so. but his face was stern and
repellant. Selhshness, cruelty and
even murder lurked in that face. Al
though l had fully made up my mind
10 call Col. Bill TO bloody account
sometime In the distant future, tho
sight Of him was so hateful 70 me that
made it point to get out of the
way when l saw him coming. In the
meantime made inquiries about the
charming Mexican.
People raved over her beauty, but
very few had ever seen her. She
had never gone into society, and had
never been al home TO visitors. From
the servants little or nothing could be
learned. They were afraid Of their
master and devoted their mistress.
Still, it was generally agreed that
Col. Bill was horribly cold and cruel
to his wife. He was Jealous. too. an
absurd thing, as the poor lady never
went anywhere. ! was told that some
two or three years after the couple
had settled in NJ they were visi-
ted by old Don Juan Gomez. The
don did not have bit of use for the
wicked colonel, and wanted to kill
him, but he yielded to his daughters
entreaties, and before he left shelled
out diamonds and doubloons in the
most bewildering profuson. Then he
sadly went back TO his hacienda in
Mexico, after exacting promise from
his SON. law to behave himself. So
the story ran, and ! could not learn
how much OF it was true and how
much false.
One evening, just after dusk. had
occasion to pass the house in which /
ss snsh sh dssR Interest. A fine lSok; % J.;
the opposite side Of the street, looking
at the place. He called me over, and,
in very good English. asked me who
lived there. | told him. and he thank
ed me and walked off. slackened
my pace and kept the stranger in
view. When he came to the garden
wall he paused and looked up and
down the street. Seeing nobody he
climbed the projecting bricks at the
corner, and vaulted over into the gar.
den with the activity of a cat. was
go dumb-founded by the proceeding
that struck for home. and by great
effort kept my mouth shut.
The next morning the whole city
rang with the intelligence of a crime
almost without parallel or precedent.
When ] heard the details ! felt a sense
Of guilty responsibility. Col. Bill, his
wife, and a strange gentleman had ell
been murdered the night before The
servants could throw no light upon
the affair. When they retired at q
late hour they left Col. Bill aud his
wife in the library.
Nothing more unpleasant than usu.
al had occurred, and the servants were
positive that there was no guest. no
visitor in the house. In the morning
the housemaid entered the library and
found tue three dead bodies. Each
had been stabbed to the heart, and a
bloody dagger was found on the floor.
Iu the Colonel's hand was pistol,
but it had not been discharged. The
bodies OF the Colonel and his wife lay
close together on one side o: the room,
while the stranger was on the other
side.
Then made clean breas. of it all.
had to attend the inquest, and when
/ saw the face Of the dead stranger |
recognized the man who had lues-
toned me the evening before and
jumped over the garden wall. The
lawyers aud the authorities were great
ly puzzled. There was not the slight.
est clue to the strange mans identity.
Finally the theory was accepted that
he was either the former husband or
lover OF the colonel's wife, aud that ae
had killed the two in a fit OF jealous
revenge, and then committed suicide.
Some contsnded that Col. Bill had
killed the wife and the man. and then
killed himself. but the undischarged
pistol in his hand was against this
theory. Efforts were made TO trace
old Don Juan Gomez but without re-
suit. II vas believed that ii he could
have been found he would have been
able 10 explain some things. AS it
was. the tragedy had TO remain q
mystery. There were no further de-
velopments, and other events soon
drove the matter from the public