Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1898-04-19
A CORK LEGGED MAN.
By CHARLES u. LEWIS.

from the stage coach at the Acorn inn.
I'm Blissfield, one April evening was a
man with q wooden leg. That sort OF a
misfortune Is not rare, aud yet the vic
tim, especially In a country town, al.
ways attracts considerable attention.
The stranger registered rs John Gordan
Of Chicago, and when he gave out that
he might remain In Blissfield for sew.
eral weeks everybody wondered what
business could have brought him there.
1.-THE man with the wooden leg, rs
be came to be generally spoken Of, had
been in town about week, when one
Of the leading merchants was robbed OF
about 81, 900 in cash. He had the mon
ey in an old fashioned safe, which
opened with key, and the safe bad
been unlocked. Entrance to tho store
had been effected by way Of the fanlieht
over the front doors No suspicious
characters had been seen about the town.
aud rs tho merchant agd his son were
the only ones having keys to the safe
the affair was puzzle. The local con.
stable did n great deal of talking, but
struck no clcw. and in his desperation
he asked Gordan TO assist him, bsliev'
ing. no doubt. that q government officer
Of any sort ought 10 be more or less
posted I'm detective work. Gordan seemed
10 think the matter over for awhile and
then replied:
"Tho case is ~ plain AZ the nose on
your face The merchants son took the
money, and after this thing qniets down
he will 60 of To ST. Lonis to have n
good time. Id stake my life he's got
every dollar of the missing cash secure.
IL hidden away somewhere.
The constable couldn't believe IL Of
the young man. having known him from
childhood, but he was bound by a prom
ise not To mention the matter, and after
several theories had been worked out
and exploded the matter was allowed
to drop. or, rather. il was relegatcd for
another sensation. Seven or eight days
after the store robbery the pos,ofiico
was entered. That. too. had an old fash.
toned safe, but IL held something like
a., 600. OF this sum about $500 belong.
ed to tho postmaster. the balance 10 the
citizens.
The lock on tho hack door was bored
of with q brace and bit taken from Il
carpenters shop and this safe was also
opened by means of false key The ex.
citement in that small town was in.
tense, and men tumbled over each other
TO advance theories and suggestions.
The robbery did not take place until
after 10 o'clock at night. The pustmas-
ter and his assistant could prove them
selves clear. The general idea was that
the burglars had driven into the village
from a point perhaps 20 miles away,
and this was strengthened by the tale
Of farmer az TO having seen buggy
with two men in IL pass his house twice
that night. He saw nothing OF the sort,
but told the story from desire 10 mix
IL" and furnish clew.
The sheriff rode all over the county
in search Of his men, but the days pass
cd and no one was arrested. No one had
advanced the theory that the robber was
living among Us, and il any one had he
would have been laughed at for his
words. Gordan, the government agent,
was the only stranger in town, and who
could suspect him: He had little TO say
about either job, but when pressed Tor
all opinion on the postoffice affair he re-
piled:
Gentlemen. my line is not detective
work, though have seen good deal OF
il and know something about criminals.
Whoever did that job come from u dis.
lance. There was likely two Of them.
They NAV have come so miles for all
We know, bst you can bet they were old
hands and slick ones. "
Ii was decided that the robbery had
been committed by strangers, and after
search lasting three or four days the
officers gave il up. IL was big loss to
the postmaster and several citizens, but
they had to bear il the best way they
could. The postmaster was an old man
and had little of this worlds goods, and
Gordan offered to be- one Of the ten to
chip in $50 and make good his loss.
The other nine did not come forward,
but every body in town said it was more
than kind Of the man with wooden
leg, and dozen or more Of the most
prominent men shook bands with HIM
over it. Ten or IL days passed, and then
came terrible tragedy.
The richest man in Blissfield was
Squire Higgins. He owned the WOODEN
mills, a store and several houses and
had money to lend. He was widower,
but lived with his SON and daughter.in-
law. His room was on the ground floor,
while all the others slept up stairs. He
had no safe, but kept his money in a
tin box on shelf in u closet He had .
bank account over at Medina, ten miles
sway, but often had $1,000 dollars or
more in the hspse. One evening when
the others WERE ready to go to bed he
announced that he had some business to
attend tn and was seated at his desk in
the sitting room when the others re-
tired. About midnight the daughter-in-
law heard q fall and q grean down
stairs, and when her husband went
down 10 investigate the squire wal
found dead on the floor. having bsen
stabbed no less than five times in the
body.
House and grounds were searched,
but the murderer had escaped, and he
had also taken with him the cash box,
which contained about 800. The MUIR
der bad taken place in the bedroom.
Having finished his work, the squire
bad retired to bed and had perhaps
fallen asleep Some noise made by the
murderer as be hunted for the cash box
had aroused him, and he had sprung out
of bed and grappled with the unknown.
Any one Of the stabs would have dis.
abled him. but it appeared that the
midnight intruder had held on to him
and used the knife again and arain, as
il he thirsted for blood. When heard
men speak Of this next day, the cruel
eyes and thin lips Of the man with the
wooden leg was the next thought. Boy
that was, he seemed to be man who
would do just that thing. and l found
myself wondering II he was not the
guilty party in all three instances.
Gordan seemed to take lively inter.
est in the murder, which he promptly
declared to be the work Of strangers
again. When something was said about
getting detective, he opposed the prof.