Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1898-12-18

"tSA hou ldoIeueu my dtLSnrlOn.
Horrible Discovery near Pur:ey
Lock- the headline announced. I read
On, rapidly but thoughtfully Two boys
from Great NARROW had, it seemed been
wandering beside the river bank, be-
tween that village and Purley Lock.
Straying along a small backwater.
leading out from a larger one, they
had noticed a peculiar object caught
among a number of reeds. One of the
boys had curiously poked at it with his
stick, bringing it nearer to the shore,
when it appeared to be a heavy. almost
formless mass sewn up in rough sack
The boys, being frightened, had run
home with their story, and a member
of the local police force, going to the
spot, had found the children's suspi-
cions confirmed. The unclothed body
of a man, partially consumed by fire
and lacking the head, as we'll as other
wise mutilated in a seemingly aimless
way, had been doubled up and sewn in
the sack. Weights had evidently been
attached to the horrible bundle, but
had in some manner become detached
So far no clue whatever, either as to
the identity of the murdered man or
that of the murderer, had been brought
to light. The body had been in the
water for some days, but might still
have been recognizable had the head
not been removed.
The horror of my dream on Christ
mas Eve came back to me as l read
No doubt there had been many river
mysteries and shocking discoveries"
in the Thames, and perhaps l had read
of them, dismissing them from my
mind with the alacrity with which one
does rid ones thoughts of such sordid
tragedies, when they do not happen to
concern oneself or ones acQuaint-
ances. But this tragedy l could not
dismiss.
l could even picture the very spot
where the boys must have seen the
sack caught among the dry and rat
Ting reeds. "A small bacllwater lead
ing out of a larger one, between Great
NARROW and Purley Lock The larger
one was doubtless that on which Car
son Wildred's house was situated; the
smaller one-a mere alley of water,
leading away under a dropping tangle
of willow and chestnut branches-one
had to pass in walking rom Purley TO
the house by the lock. l was sure, as
1 recalled the place in memory, that
the scene of the discovered mystery
could have been no other than this.
Having read to the end, 1 folded up
the paper and put it away in a pocket
of my great-coat for future reference.
Then l began walking slowly on to-
wards the Savoy hotel.
Had it not been for the odd chance
which had induced two boys to stroll,
in the middle of winter, along the
banks of an insignificant outlet Of a
Thames backwater, what fine place,
| told myself, this would have been
for the concealment of a crime! Even
without the weights, which had prob
ably become detached from the sack
by tangling among the roots under the
surface of the water, the body might
have been expected 10 remain hidden
for months-at least, till the coming
of the spring.
Then. as l so reflected, my mind
turned to darker thoughts. Had a
crime been committed by the inhabi-
tants of the House by the Lock. what
a convenient hiding place would that
adjacent waterway have been! had
no reason TO fancy that such crime
had been done, and yet-my thoughts
went back to the day on which I had
paid my somewhat memorable visit to
Wildred and Farnham.
Suddenly came the recollection of
the awful cry had heard as / waited