The Portland daily press., 1892-05-09
A VERY BAD Man.
CONTINUED FROM FIRST rAGE.)

man who was arrested here SATURDAY.
night, was not about home much while
his parents lived in Gorham, Me-,
for the very good reason that he was
serving sentence in the
Concord, IN. H.} State Prison for man
Slaughter. He was sentenced April 26th,
1887, and discharged February 2Oth,
1890. The crime for which Godfrey
served this sentence does not seem to
have been premediuated at all. He was
a frequent visitor at the home of an aunt.
The relations of this aunt with her hus-
band were not good, and one day finding
Godfrey at her house, the husbund drew
pistol. Godfrey, however, was too
quick for him, and drawing his own pis-
tol shot the uncle fatally. For this God
frey does not seem to have felt any re-
morse. In speaking of it Saturday even
ing after his arrest he swore roundly that
he would sh DOT any man under similar
conditions.
1t may well be imagined that family
like the Godfreys, with son of this des-
cription, would not be very desirable
neighbors upon the whole. Whether the
Strouts and Hobsons ever had any I'M
easiness about them it is not certain, but
it is certain that the Strout household
were living in considerable uneasiness
last December.
Unpleasant Things
were happening about the premises.
Their barn would of morning some
times show that strangers had been
around during the night. The noise of
someone prowling about the house was
heard several times and one night in
particular Mrs. Strout was much alarmed
by the noise of someone moving among
the rose bush es which grew by one of
the windows. On another night, consid-
erably after dark, Mr.. Strout was leading
his horse down the lane from his barn TO
a watering trough which sets some dis
tance from the barn and near to some
woods. Suddenly when nearing the
trough, the horse jumped, snorted and
stood with ears erect as horses do when
they beco me suddenly aware of some
person or object which alarms them.
Mr.. Strout, his suspicious aroused by
this action of the horse, looked vigilant-
ly about and saw the form of man
vanishing steathily into the darkness.
All these circumstances had contribut-
ed considerably to alarm the Strouts, and
Mr.. Strout was keeping on his guard as
much as possible. On the evening of
December I'd, Mr.. Hobson, came over to
the Strout farm to call carrying a ian
tern with her. AS she rose to go ho me
Mr.. Strout told her to remain little
longer and he meanwhile would go out
to his barn and feed his horses. He
started off with the lantern and was not
| seen again, until alarmed by his absence,
| they began searching for him. They
found him lying by his barn door, sense
less, with the mark of a heavy blow on
the right side of his head His pocket
book was gone with over $3.50 in money
and papers besides. 1t was many hours
before he recovered consciousness suffi-
GENTLY to tell what had happened to
him. Then he could not throw a great
deal of light upon the occurrence.
Leaving the house he had gone through
the barnyard to the small sliding door that
entered the tie-up. Upon his left hand as
heIwent through the barnyard was long,
low shed in which a foe might easily
lurk to do him harm, but he seems to
have suspected no evil until he came to
| the tie-up door. He had been at work
butchering in the barn during the after
| noon, and when he left had been particu-
lar to close the door sufficiently to pre-
vent the sheep getting in while at the
same time it should allow the hens to go
| in. The door was not as he had
left it; and this gave him feeling that
there was some danger lurking in the
| barn. To get to his horses he was obliged
to go through the tie-up and across the
barn floor to the stalls, which were on
the other side. He crossed this space
hastily and nervously; fed the horses,
and then as hastily started back to get
| out of the barn. Near the small door of
the tie-up there was a window, and as he
passed this window he saw glimmer of
light fall upon a large srock which stood
in the barnyard. 1t was probablya stray
beam of light from his own lantern; but
its unexpectedness alarmed him
still more, and he was moving
quite rapidly when he passed through
the tie up and stepped across the thresh-
old of the outside door.
The moment he stepped out his worst
fears were realized. Indistinct, but
fearful in the darkness, there seemed to
rise before him
The Figure of Stout Man,
with a slouch hat upon his head and an
uplifted club. MI. Strout attempted to
shout, but the club descended, and be-
fore he could utter sound everything
was black, and he was unconscious.
When the women of his household
| l.. l. I