The Democratic advocate., 1907-01-18

at the gate. They talked for some time,
when man passed by few rods from
them and entered his masters grounds.
Supposing it to be his master, and that he
had collected large amount in rents, he
| advised his brother to follow and waylay
him in the shadow of the thick foliage,
white he himself would give him an oppor-
tunity by walking about in the adjacent
fields while the deed was being committed.
After waiting a considerable time, he fol-
lowed his brother into the grounds, and
soon found his master lying on the sward,
his brother. being on him, and his mother
standing by.
On being asked by the magistrate if his
master was then dead, he replied that he
was not, that after he reached him he
heard him cry:
"Ah, roguesl will you kill me p
He further said that, when he saw his
dear, good master struggling in their grasp
his heart relented, and he began to beg
for his life, when his brother said, "Hush,
you fool - and proceeded to strangle him.
A bag of money was then taken from
his person and given to his mother, and
she secreted it. He and his brother, he
said, carried the body into an adjoining
field, and finally to the river, over half a
mile distant.
His mother and brother then went home,
while he fingered about the gate, and
finally met William Reed, as before men
toned. With the dawn of day he started
to make inquiries, concerning his master,
carrying the hat, headband and comb,
which he cut with his knife, and finally
left on the highway, where they were
found
This confession was made with such
apparent candor and profusion of detail,
that it was at once accepted as the true
history of the foul crime. OF course the
brother and the mother were instantly ar
rested and charged with the deed. They
stoutly denied all knowledge of it, and
when confronted by their accuser, he coolly
reiterated his statement, and when small
piece of cord was taken from his brother s
pocket he instantly exclaimed that it was
the cord with which his master has been
strangled. To all assertions of innocence
on their part he responded with solemn
oath, that all he had spoken was the truth.
In few months they were all brought
to trial, and all pleaded not guilty. When
his former confession was read to him
Perry stated that he was mad then, and
knew not what he said. OF course, he
was disbelieved, and all were convicted and
hung, all protesting their innocence to the
last.
And now comes the curious part of this
strange history. About five years after
the execution of Perry and his supposed
accomplices, William Harrison, for whose
murder they had suffered, unexpectedly
made his appearance in the village OF
Campden. The sensation created by his
advent was profound. At first he was
Stunned by his late acquaintances, and
even by members Of his own family, as a
terrible spectator from the grave; but he
finally persuaded them that he was a body
of veritable flesh and blood and gave the
following extraordinary account of his dis
appearance:
He said that when he was on his return
from his collecting tour he was met Just at
dusk by three men, whom he had never
seen before, who, without word OF ex-
PLANTATION, stopped him, threw cloak over
his head, pinioned his arms, and then car
ried him to Deal, seaport some twenty
miles distant, where he was imprisoned In
lonely house for three days, and finally
sold to an Italian captain for seven pounds,
kept six weeks at sea, and finally trans
ferred to Turkish ship, from which he
was landed at Smyrna, and sold to an aged
physician residing at that port. lie at
tempted several times to explain his posi-
ton and circumstances to his several mas
ters but they either would not hear, or his
ignorance of the language rendered it i'm
possible to make them understand. At
length his old master died, and Mr.. Har-
rison, taking advantage of the excitement
of his burial, concealed himself on board a
Portuguese vessel and was landed at Lis
bon, from which point he made his way
slowly to England and Campden.
Such was the story related by the re-
turned steward concerning his absence. 1t
is hardly necessary to say that a tale so
marvellous did not receive universal Gre
| dence.
Not few people believed that for some
reason unkowD, he desired to leave En-
gland for time, and to avoid scandal,
had deliberately left the impression that he
had been murdered. What secret compli-
cations, what threats of exposure, or what
combination of causes forced the necessity
upon him, will never be known. Some
believed that he was suddenly attacked
with insanity, wandered abroad in delirious
ignorance, and perhaps imagined the hor-
rors of kidnapping and slavery. Others
again credited the story to its fullest ex,
tent, and suspected the son, who succeeded
to the stewardship, of desire to secure
the position at once, without waiting for
his hale parent to vacate it by disease or
death.
No farther information was ever OBJ
tanned. and the case now ranks as one OF
| IL 1900. ,,,r;o,,o in criminal history