The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1906-03-16

than myself. Not more than half
year previous, / had, in the same mar
velous state. gone in the night time
into the church, and fetched away
handkerchief which had left in the
chair behind the altar. Mark now
when the two witnesses this morning
delivered their evidence before the
court, then my previous sleep walk
ings sud lenly flashed across me; and
l likewise called TO mind that in the
morning after the night during, which
the corpse must have been buried, ]
had been surprised to see my dress
ing-gown lying on the floor just In
side the door, whereas II was always
my custom to hang 1t on chair by
my bedside. The unhappy victim OF
my unbridled passion must. In all like
lihood, have fallen down dead in the
wood; and / must in my sleep-walk-
ing have followed him thither. Yes
the Lord have mercy!-so it was, so
it must have BEEN"
On the following day sentence of
death was passed upon the prisoner
sentence which many felt to be too
severe, and which led to a friendly
conspiracy on his behalf; and had ii
not been for his own refusal to be
party to anything unlawful, he might
| have escaped. The jailer was gained
| over, and fisherman had his boat in
| readiness for flight to the Swedish
| coast, where he would have been be-
| yond the reach of danger. But Soren
Qvist refused TO flee. He longed, he
| said for death; and he would not add
| a new stain to his reputation by fur
| tive flight. He maintained his strength
| of mind to the last, and from the scat
| fold he addressed to the bystanders a
| discourse of much power, which he
had composed In prison during his
| last days. 1t treated of anger and it's
| direful consequences, with touching
| illusions to himself and the dreadful
| crime to which his anger misled him.
| Thereafter, he -doffed his coat, bound
| with his own hands the napkin before
his eyes, and submitted his neck to
| the executioner's sword
| One-and- twenty years after the pas
| tor, Soren Qvist of Veilby, had been
| accused. tried. condemned and eXecut-
| ed for the murder Of his serving man,
an old beggarman applied for aims to
| the people of Aalsoe, the parish ad-
joining to Veilby. Suspicious were
| aroused by the exact likeness the beg
| german bore to Morten Burns, of Ing
| vOrstrup who had lately died, and also
| by the curious and anxious inquiries
the man made concerning events long
past The pastor of Aalsoe, who had
| buried Morten Burns, took the vaga-
bond to his parsonage, and there the
fellow, all unconscious of the porten-
tous nature of the admission, acknowl-
edged that he was Niels Burns, the
very man for whose supposed murder
death of criminal. Had his brother
Morten survived him, it is pretty
certain the truth, concealed so long.
had never been known, as Niels had
only returned to the district in the
hope of profiting by Morten's death,
the news of which had accidently
reached him. He professed-and, in
deed, plainly experienced-the utmost
horror on hearing the dreadful his
tory of the pastors cruel fate 1t was
all Morten's doing, he said; but he
was so overcome by the terrible mar
rative that he could scarcely gather
strength to reply to the questions put
TO him. The result of his examination
and confession may be summed up
very briefly. Morten had conceived a
mortal hatred of Soren Qvist from the
time that he refused him his daugh-
ter, and had determined on revenge
1t was he who compelled Niels to take
service with the pastor; he had spur
| red him on to the repeated offenses.
in the expectation that violence would
result, owing to the pastors hasty
temper; and had carefully nursed the
feud which soon arose between mas
ter and man. Niels told him daily all
that took place. On leaving the gar
den on that fatal day, he had run over
to lngvorstrup to acquaint. his broth
er with what had happened. Morten
shut him up in private room that
no one might see him. Shortly af-
| ter midnight. when the whole village
was asleep. the two brothers went to
a place where the roads cross each
other and where two days previously
a suicide had been buried-a young
man Of about Niers age and stature.
In spite of Niers reluctance and re-
monstrance they dug up the corpse
and took it into Morten's house. Niels
was made TO strip and don a suit of
| Morten's, and the corpse was clad.
] niece nv nj IL,