Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-08-15


you shall hear a preachment"
Directly after they heard (they could
not see, because the hedge was too high
how the two quarreled. At last they
heard the pastor cry: Il will beat thee,
dog. until thou lieth dead at my feetg'
Whereupon, there were sounds as OF
blows. and then they heard Niels call
tho pastor rogue and q hnngman.
To this the pastor made no reply. but
they heard two blows and saw the iron
blade OF a spade and part Of the handle
swing twice above the hedgerow. but In
whose hands they could not discern.
After this all was quiet in the garden,
ana quite alarmed. the widow and her
daughter ran away as fast as they could.
The third witness was q cottager named
Larsen on the night OF the day
following Niels Burns's disappearance.
he was returning home very late from
Tols,rup and was passing along the foot
path which fanked tho pastors garden.
when he heard the sound OF some one
digging.
Seeing that II was clear moonlight. he
determined 10 find out who IL was that
was working I'm the garden at that late
hour He slipped or his wooden shoes.
climbed up the hedge. and parted the
tops OF the hazel bushes. Then he saw
and with n white nightcap on his head.
busted in levelling the earth with a spade:
but more than this he did not see. for
the pastor turned suddenly round. as II
some sound had struck his ear. and
Larsen. being afraid Of detection. let him
self down and ran away.
Thereupon the pastqNs garden was
searched under the direoion Of the Mag
istrate. The pastor welcomed the search
ing marty and called his farm servants
70 aid. He was confident that they would
find nothing 10 confirm the accusation
against him. The man Larsen was asked
to point out the place where he had seen
the pastor digging in the moonlight He
pointed to a heap OF cabbage stalks and
/ other refuse.
They had not dug long when one Of
them cried out: Heaven preserve u.s.!
and as all present crowded TO look,
hat was visible above tho earth.
This IS Nielss hat" cried Morten.
'T know It well. Here is a security we
Shall find him. Dig awayg' he shouted.
with fierce energy. and was almost as
eagerly obeyed.
Soon an arm appeared. and in n few
minutes the entire corpse was disinterred
There seemed to be no doubt that II was
the missing man. The face could not
be recognized, for the features had been
destroyed by blows; but all his clothes.
even unto his shirt, with his name on 1t,
were identified by his fellow-seryants.
III.
Practically the Identification was as
complete as that OF the body Of Gulden-
suppe-the head only was not IN evidence.
II was not missing altogether like OIL
densuppe's, but IL was too battered TO be
recognized, which. for purposes OF proof,
was the same thing.
There was no alternative but to ar
rest the pastor on the spot. He most
willingly surrendered himself, merely
protesting his innocence. Appearances
ara against me-" he said, surely this
must be the work OF Satan and his
ministry: but He still lives who will at
! His pleasure make my innocence mani
fest. Take me to prison. In solitude and
in chains 1 will await what He in HIS
wisdom shall decree"
The pastor was arrested and taken 10
| fail. Next day the preliminary judicial
examination was held. Two farm ser
ANTS and dairymaid, all in the employ
/ Of the accused pastor. testified that on
/ tho day OF the murder they had been
sitting near the open window In the SER
wants room and had heard distinctly
/ the pastor and the man Nlels quarrel
| linz. and the former had cried out: Il
will slay thee, dog; thou shalt lie dead
at my feetH'
They added that they had twice be-
| fore heard the pastor threaten Niels
with the like. The dairymaid deposed
that on the night when larsen saw the
pastor IN the garden she was lying
awake in bed and heard the door Lead
ing from the passage into the garden
creak and that when she rose and
peeped out she saw the pastor in his
dressing-gown and nightcap 80 out into
the garden. What he did there she saw
not. but about an hour afterwards she
again heard the creaking OF the door.
| when asked what ne had TO say In MS
defence. the pastor replied solemnly: 80
helm me. God. j viii say nothing but the
truth. / struck deceased with the spade,
! bur not otherwise than that he was
able TO run away from me and out OF
tho garden. What become OF him after
wards. or how he came to be buried In
my Garden / know not.E
"As for the evidence OF Larsen ana
the dairymaid. who say they saw me in
the garden IN the night II IS either
foul lie or a hellish dolusion. l have no
one on earth 10 speak IN my defence
IL He in Heaven likewise remains silent
have only to submit to His inscrutapIe
will"
When. some weeks later, the trial came
nm two more new witnesses were pro-
duced. They declared that on the oft
mentioned night they were preceding
along the road, which runs from the
pastors garden TO the wood, when they
met q man carrying a sack on his pack
VINO passed them and walked on In the
direction Of the garden. His race they
could not see, inasmuch as II was con-
cealed by the oyerhanging sack; but as
the moon was shining on his back. they
could plainly descry that he was clad in
nale-green coat and a white nightcap.
He disappeared near the pastors CUR
den hedge.
No sooner did the pastor hear the evil
dence of the Witnesses to this effect taan
his face turned an ashy hue, and he cried
ont in A faltering voice: Il am fainting.
and was so Frustrated in body that he
had 10 be taken back 20 prison.
There. after a period OF severe suffer
ing. 10 the intense astonishment or every
one he made. to his friend the District
MAGISTRATE. who had first arrested hlin'
the following strange confession:
From my childhood, as far hacK as
can remember, / have ever been pas
sionate. uuarrelsome, and proud. impa-
tent OF contradiction, and ever ready
Win a blow. Yet have 1 seldom let the
sun 90 down on my wrath, nor have
horne ill-wlll to any one When but a
lad / slew in anger dog which one day
ate my dinner, which l had left in his
way. When. as a student, l went on
foreign travel, l entered on slight provo
cation into a broll with a German youth
in Leipsic, challenged him and gave him
wound that endangered his life."
After a pause of anguish he continued:
III will notg confess the crime which no