Year: 1879

not u room, Or even n pat oil room
which no could assign me, The "ter'
dble tragedy" as tho papers called 1t,
had brought half ol tho surrounding
country to seayiew, aud, from cellar
to garet, there wasn't an anoeeup'ed
corner In the housei and for proof OF
his statement hc referred me to copy
Of the Seayiew Daly Bustieator ly.
ing on tho table before me, ! took
up the paper mechanically and glanced
ut il, aud was ut once enlightened as
TO the cause Of the unusual excitement
which prevailed, Business had 80
thoroughly cngrosSed my attention
during the week, that murders, malrl-
mony, aud mischief together with
other amusing little incidents ofevery
day life, had quite escaped my obser'
yaion' aud | Lad neglected 10 pos,
myself in all the details ofthe Seaview
tragedy,


1t appeared, upon investigations that
on elderly gentleman, one OF the mag
mates of the country and universally
esteemed, who for some weeks had
been staying at Seovlcw for the benc'
ft of his health, had gone one evening
after dinner for a stroll along the
beach, and had not returned at tho
time when the hotel closed for tic
night. As hc was very regular in his
habits, this attracted some attention
search was made Tor him, and hi'
body was at length discovered lying
half in and half out OF the water, ano
bearing marks OF the most bruta
violence. On account of the poshior
which deceased had occupied, hi
murder occasioned unusual excitement
the corner and other legal Officers
came over, and people from all parts
of the country ilocked 10 Seaview
The inquest had taken place on the
day of my arrival, and thus it was thai
there was not room for a single adli
ton to its inmates.


! was, Of course, very much per-
picked what to do, for the last train
had gone and / was bound to stop in
the village, whether ! could find sleep
ING accommodation or not. l there.
fore asked the landlord whether be
could not con,rive to stow me away
some'cherein in some place, no matter
what, a garret or 4 parlor, l was will
ing to lie upon the floor or under the
table even, and to pay handsomely fo'
the privilege OF doing So. For some
time the landlord was perfectly inexora'
Bile; but at length he took me aside very
mysteriously, and whispered that there
was one place where | could remain
for the night, but he did not think my
nerves would be equal to sleeping
there. asked him to explain himself
more clearly, ard he did so. The un'
der,aker who had charge Of the funer'
al was, he said, his own brother. He
had engaged a room at the hotel, and
as the body OF the murdered gentle
man was to be conveyed by rail the
next day to the family grave, some
forty or fifty miles distant, he had, for
convenience sake, brought it secretely
and unobserved TO the hotel as soon
az darkness bad set in, and there it
was in a coffin under the bed. The
undertaken had then left to see some
friends, who resided at little distance
from the village, and with whom he
Intended to pass the night. If, there
fore, ! had no objection to sleeping IN
the same room with corpse, l was
at liberty to do so, but ! must observe
the strictest secrecy, as some OF the
guests were nervous and would make
a fuss if they learned that the dead
body had been brought to the house.


Now ] am not at all a nervous man
in the ordinary acceptatlon OF that
word, but still / don't like sleeping
with a corpse, especially If it be the
corpse ola respectable old gentleman
who had beep recently Knocked on
the head. felt my heart 60 plt-a-
pat, even at the thought Of the land
lords kind offer but what could do!
TO sleep with corpse was better than
not to sleep at ALL At least so |
thought, tired and weary as l was.
So 1 put bold face on the matter,
and, withouta moments hesitation,
said very courageously:


"Oh, l haven't the least objection
if the coffin is well screwed down I'll
risk the old gentleman troubling me-


The landlord assured me on that
point | need not feel the slightest ap-
prchension he would undertake,
under any penalty, that my room