The Montgomery tribune. (Montgomery City, Mo.) 1892-1910, 1902-07-11
AMurderer's
Story

MAS sitting at my desk In q de-
tnrhry office ~ my factory unc mid
summrr night. II the year 1854, whsn
n slight rnttl. at the window blind.
arrested my attention. Reaching for
my pistol. ! cautiously unboltsd and
opened the door leading out I'm the bal.
cony. ws- confronted b, n BRINGING.
anxious. srsrrd.looking man. whose
face. ar should LAY form. wns not en-.
,irrly unfamiliar. ~ that date my
factory. on the upper side ~ Canal
street. was the ln,i building toward the
real ~ the city. The two rondways
Tor u considerable ii,tancr were I'm.
paved. and the neutral ground" ~
We called the green stretch which IL.
yidrd the municipalities was nm un.
troddcn tanglc ~ noxious weeds and
] swamp grass. Some distance above,
On the opposite side ~ the street, two
or three smnll, detached cottages. sur.
rounded hy low fences. struggled I'M
evenly nlong the narrow sidewalk
Still further mp Canal street woods
cotton press" was the only occupied
lot for quite n distance.
was daily ut m, factory. and occn.
s%ionnlly clerical business detained me
In the Office after nlghtfnll.
My shabby visitor I thought I rccog.
nilcd u, u tenant ~ one ~ the before.
mentioned cottages. though I had never
met him face to face. ~ We walked On
opposite sides ~ the broad street. lie
called me by name. and whispered he
was In great trouble. and had been
watching my office several nights hop
ing To- see n light there that would In
dicate my presence. told him to
come In and close the door aud tell me
his trouble. In response Ia his inpuir'
ing look. I assured him there was no
one besides ourselves about the build
ing. Iiy the ligh, Of the room ! raw he
wus all In tnttcrs; his clothes. ~ good
material. were torn by ihorns and
briars aud bcspat,crcd with swamp
mud.
"Why, man" I said. "whcrc have you
been? Aud what l. the mattcr?"
"Oh. MIR. Winn. ! am IN great trouble
I have killed u man this three nights
ago. aud | run away and hide In the
swnmps all days. And only nights I
Green out aud watch for your light. I
want you tn help me. ! want you to
hide me. do somrihing!" he added,
and the tear raced down his careworn
face aud dropped upon his ragged coat
front.
"You have been In the swamp bnck
here all that time? without fond and
In all that mud? only wonder you are
not crazy. Here. take drop of brandy
and brace NJ. and then we viii talk II
over"
saw he was yerging IN n complete
collapse. lie swallowed the brandy and
seemed n tribe more composed. I NJ.
summed n very rcnssuring manner, nnd
chcerfuily said;
Snow, tell me all about II. Maybe I
can help you. MR. don't even know
your name. You say you have killed u
mnn. Don't YOU live In one ~ those
cottages across the street? Haven't
YOU u family? I see n woman around
there sometimes"
fired the questions n, him to get him
quietcd down. for he was fairly
sinking - with nervous excitement.
..y.s ,.s 1.-Two thar. IhnV, wife,
,bo,. ahit,ron Va, don,, lnn,, mo.
,n, a'aa,. tnnwn - sino. ,on
- n, 49,. a., 49, notad,
49,, W.. .a,,'.
..rs.,'n In a,a,,, I, 80. H. n-a,,ino
,.,a aaS ha,h otusars ,,rod W.,n see
what we can do tn help you. What Is
and bow Jid van hnnnen 10 KIN n mani