The weekly messenger. [volume] (St. Martinsville [i.e. St. Martinville] La.) 1886-1948, 1890-02-01

employed in the villag, at laundry
work. Martin gave out that he would
marry her, and he was heard to say
more than once that not one of his reia-
tive, should ever get dollar Of his
money.
One night, two month"; after the
Thatcher woman went to keep house for
him, be got bad fall while bringing
in wood. He had to be helped
to bed. but only a portion
rs what followed was known for
any months afterward. The old
/ IT that hi, last hour had come,
| "a ,. rid of her for few minutes
by Sc. ..ny her out to the barn. Which
will he meant to burn no one will ever
know, but h, got up and burned one of
them. Both were duly sealed and
attested. and both were equally good in
! law. That he did burn one of them
was SUP. Tairty hours later some one
happened to visit the cabin, and the
old man was found dead in his bed, the
woman had disappeared. and the wills
were missing. With all that money at
stake there was great excitement, of
course, and the relatives gave me the
case to WORK up. No one knew, until
| r ha al ona
that anything had been burned.
found scrap, of paper. proving that at
least one of the wills had been de-
stroyed. So far as I could tell, both
might have been burned at the same
time. Ole had been, anyhow, and the
question of which it was interested every
relative.
1t seemed curious why Mrs. Thatcher
had gone away, and still more curious
that she had escaped observation. As
no one had met her in the village or on
the highway, it must be concluded that
she had reasons for hiding. If one Of
the wills had been preserved. she prob
ably knew of its whereabouts, as the
whole cabinet had been hunted over
and over again without bringing it to
light. My first step. therefore. was to
discover her; but when a fairly sharp
man pits HIM 'e.f against half idiot he
L as 10
thirty miles around on horseback, and,
while 1 met a hundred people who
knew the woman by sight, 1 could get
no trace of her. A robDer could not
have hidden his trail moro successfully.
When l found that the hunt was to DO
extended, l notified every sheriff in
that part of the state. Igot out c.rcu-
lars and s,nt them to town marshals,
constables, postmasters, and farmers,
but no good resulted.
Then, one day. sat down to put
myself in her place. For all 1 knew
then she was with tho old man when he
died, and it might tave been her hand
which held one of the wills to the
flame. Just why she should fly and
hide herself when not guilty of any
thing was puzzle. So far as We could
determine she had taken nothing. One
day Martin had gone with her to the
bank and drawn out and presented to
her the sum of $500. This she had
taken, as was her right; but the few
dollars he had in his pocket were there
when we searched tn, dead body.
had not thought to overhaul her ward.
robe, but when came to do so l got a
pointer. She had dressed herself in
her best, and gone without taking even
hand satchel. Her best was q black
silk, a fine red shawl, a fashionable
bonnet, and fine shoes. She would not
only look very much like lady, but she
would not set out for walk across the wei
fields or along the muddy highway. She
would take the train at the nearest
point, of course, aud that happened te
be at station not over thirty rods from
the old mans cabin and on his land.
Freight and accommod alton trains
stopped there always for water. aud the
regular passenger trains sometimes. Fol
instance, the express for Cincinnati
would not stop at the village, bu