The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1906-03-16
rec additional witnesses, viz;

had been sitting near the open WIN
dow in the servants room. and had
heard distinctly how the pastor and
the man Niels We're quarreling, and
how the former had cried out, Il will
slay thee, dog, thou shalt lie dead at
my feeti" They added that they had
twice before heard the pastor threaten
Mel with the like. The dairymaid de-
posed that on the night when Larsen
saw the pastor in the garden. she was
lying awake in bed, and heard the
door leading from the passage into the
garden creak; and that when she rose
and peeped out, she saw the pastor
| in his dresing-go gown and night-cap. go
out into the garden. What he did
there she saw not but about an hour
afterwards she again heard the creak-
| ing of the door.
When asked what he had to say in
his defense, the pastor replied solemn
Iy, so help me God, will say moth
| ing but the truth. / struck deceased
with the spade, but not otherwise than
he was able to run away from me, and
out of the garden: what became of
! him afterwards, or how he came to
| be buried in my garden. / know not.
AS for the evidence of Larsen and the
| dairymaid, it is either foul lie or 1t
| is a hellish delusion. Miserable man
| that am! / have no one on earth to
| speak in my defense-that see clear
| ly; if He in heaven likewise remains
| silent, have only to submit to His
| inscrutable will"
When, some weeks later, the trial
| came on, two more fresh witnesses
| were produced. They declared that
| on the aforementioned night they were
proceeding along the road which runs
from the pastors garden to the wood.
when they met man carrying a sack
| on his back, who passed them and
| walked in the direction of the garden.
His face they could not see, inasmuch
as it was concealed by the overhang-
| ing sack; but as the moon was shin
ing on his back, they could plainly
! descry that he was clad in a pale
| green coat and white night-cap He
| disappeared near the pastors garden
hedge. No sooner did the pastor hear
! the evidence of the witness 10 this
effect than his face turned an ashy
hue, and he cried out in a faltering
voice, 81 am fainting." and was SO
Frustrated in body that he had to be
taken back to prison. There, after a
| period of severe suffering, to the in
! tense establishment of every one, he
made, to his friend, the district mag
| istrate who had first arrested him, the
| following strange confession: From
| my childhood, as far back as | re-
member, l have ever been passionate,
quarrelsome. and proud-impatient of
contradiction, and ever ready with a
blow. Yet have l seldom let the sun
go down on my wrath, nor have
| borne ill-Will to any one. When but
d lad | slew in anger a dog which
one day ate my dinner. which l had
left in his way. When, as student.
went on foreign travel, ! entered,
on slight provocation. into a brOil with
a German youth in Leipsic, challenged
him. and gave him a wound that en-
dangered his life. For that deed | feel
| it, i merited that which has now come
upon me after long years; but the
punishment falls upon my sinful head
with tenfold weight now that l am
broken down with age, clergyman
and father. Oh, Father, in heaven!
it is here that the wound is sorest."
After a pause of anguish, he con-
tinued: Il will now confess the crime
which no doubt l have committed, but
of which / am, nevertheless, mot fully
| conscious. That / struck the unhappy
man with the spade l know full well,
and have already confessed; whether
it were with the fiat side or with the
| sharp edge l could not in my passion
discern; that he then fell down, and
afterwards again rose up and ran
away-that is all that / know to a
| surety. What follows-heaven help
me!-four witnesses have seer; name
! ly, that l fetched the corpse from the
wood and buried it; and that this must
be substantially true 1 am obliged to
believe, and 1 will tell you wherefore.
Three or four times in my life, that
| know Of, it has happened to me to
walk in my sleep. The last time
tabout nine Years ago. 1 was next
day to preach funeral sermon over
the remains of a man who had un
expectedly met with a dreadful death.
was at a loss for a text, when the
words Of a wise man among the an
Gent Greeks suddenly occurred to me
Call no man happy until he be in his
for the text of a Christian discourse
grave" To use the words of a heather
was not, methought, seemly; but I
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