Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1903-07-21
CHAPTER Nv

CHAPTER XIV.
The first thing which attracted me
was an unsealed letter from the clergy
man, which l proceeded to read:
My Dear SRI write this at the
bedside of Samuel Fleetwood, whose con-
fessioA l have taken down from his own
lips. The original of this confession.
duly signed by Samuel Fleetwood, and
witnessed by me, l retain, to deliver to
the authorities. The document you will
find herein is a faithful copy of the same.
which | made at the unhappy mans ur-
gent request. who extracted from me the
promise that | would deliver it to you as
soon as he was dead. | cannot say that
am entirely satisfied with the confess
sion, clear and explicit as it must be to
all who read it. My reason for dissatis-
faction lies in the fact that, after the
confession was drawn out, | asked the
dying criminal to swear to its truth, and
that he lightly refused, saying that sure
ly the words of a dying man would suf-
lice. There must be strange contradic-
tons in his nature. AS one who has sat
at many deathbeds l should have expect
ed that having committed a crime so
horrible, Samuel Fleetwood would have
been afraid to meet his Maker. 1t is not
so. Unless l have gathered a false i'm
preston from his utterances, he goes to
his account in a calm, reliant spirit
weighed down by no fears of the judg-
ment of the Eternal Lord. You will find
also in the packet l leave for you a seal
ed letter from the criminal which he
must have already prepared before he
gave himself up to human Justice, and
successfully concealed from those who
searched him in prison. 1t is, he says,
for your eyes alone. and | have faithfully
carried out his most earnest, nay, his
solemn desire, by inclosiRg it herewith
Heaven have mercy upon all sinners"
This letter led me to expect that
should find two Enclosures in the packet
There was, however, but one. the heading
of which was, Copy of Samuel Fleet
was missingl
Had the clergyman forgotten TO put
1t in the packet, or had l dropped it on
the lawn? No, not the latter, because
the packet was firmly tied round with
string, which had to cut before l could
open it. However, | went out and look
ed, but did not find it. There was an
other possible explanations; that Mile.
Rosalie had extracted it, with the idea
that it contained some information which
would be of value to her. Should l go TO
her and accuse her of the theft? No,
it would be useless; she would deny it.
L decided, after a little reflection, to
read the confession first, and then to
hasten to the clergyman's house and
ask him for the missing document. /
should have gone Immediately had it not
been that l was too anxious to read
Samuel Fleetwoods confession. 1t ran
as follows:
Il, Samuel Fleetwood, lately and for
many years in the service of Richard
Pardon, Esq, being on the point of death
and knowing that l have but few hours
to live, hereby confess that |, and l
alone, murdered my masters uncle, Mr..
Wilmot, who had come TO pay my mas
ter a visit at Boscombe Lodge. No per
son but l am implicated in the dreadful
deed, no person urged me to it, no per-
son but l am responsible for it.
Il awOke in the middle of the night
with the awful purpose in my mind. A
voice whispered to me: Kill him. He
has FIVE thousand pounds in dispatch
box. The box lies at the head of his
bed. The key is in his pocket He is
an infrm man and the deed can be easily
and swiftly done. Then, take the money
and fly
Il viii make no pretense to account
for this prompting. Mr.. Wilmot had
done me no wrong. | was not laboring
under any sense of injustice from his
hands | had hitherto enjoyed good
character. My master was a good mas
ter; my mistress was the sweetest lady
4 fs11 ha1 I Z
would | have lain down my life for her.
All that l can advance is that there are
times in the lives of the best and noblest
of men when they are afflicted and over
come by wicket temptation.
"He lay asleep in his bed. I had in
my pocket a tau piece of whipcord
Without arousing h.m from his slumbers.
1 managed TO put tds cord around his
neck. With all my strength l pulled 1t
tight and sat upon ms limbs TO prevent
him from rising. Ii was soon accom-
plished. The poor gentleman was dead.
Il searched in his pockets for the key
of his dispatch box and found il. l I'M
locked the box took out the money, lock
ed the box again and replaced the key in
the dead genleman'S pocket. Then |
observed a ring upon his finger. L drew
II off, and with the money and the ring
In my possession | fed from the house
in which had been treated with unvary-
ing kindness and consideration.
Il succees;ed in escaping unobserved.
and before noon l was at sufficient dis
tauce from SevenoakS 20 believe myself
safe. But | knew that when the muir
der was discovered and it was found
that had fed, the police would be after
me. | was therefore very careful in
my movements, and kept myself con-
cealed during the day, and walked from
place to place in the night. l managed
&c get hold of a newspaper in which
read an account of the murder and a de-
scription of my personal appearance. 1t
was a long account and II told every
thing about the robbery Of the money
and the ring This made me Fearful of
keepinsg these about me. and being one
night on a bridge | tied them in pocket
handkerchief. 10 which | attached some
heavy stones; then 1 threw she treasure
iv1o the river. From that nigSs 1 have
no Gear remembrance of what occurred
suffered great hardships from hunger
and often thought that l should die. At
length. my life being a torture too great
20 bear, determined 10 50 back to