On finding that I could not be allowed to see the murderer--and as I was anxious to learn something immediately--I determined on taking a look at his victim. It would be easy to do this: as the house where the dead woman was lying was not far distant, from that which contained her murderer. Accompanied by Stormy, I walked over to the house; and we were admitted into the room where the corpse was lying. The face of the murdered woman was concealed under a white cloth; and while standing over the body, I was more strangely agitated than I had ever been before. Should I, on removing that slight shrouding of cotton, behold the inanimate features of my mother? The suspense was agonisingly interesting. The covering was at length removed; and I breathed again. The body was not that of my mother; but of a young woman apparently about nineteen or twenty years of age. She had been a beautiful woman, and was still so--even in death! Less tortured by my thoughts, I followed Stormy back to the public-house--around which the crowd had greatly increased: for it was now twelve o'clock, the hour appointed for the execution. My heart beat audibly, as the criminal was led forth, surrounded by his guards and attendants. Stormy was right. The murderer was Matthew Leary! "What shall I do?" I inquired of Stormy, as we followed the criminal to the place of execution. "You can do nothing," answered Stormy. "Let _them_ teach him manners. If you interfere, you'll be larnt some yourself." There was truth in this. From the temper of the men, who had judged and condemned the murderer, it was evident I could do nothing to save him. Perhaps I did not contemplate trying. The prisoner was led from the public-house he had been kept in since his condemnation, to a live oak tree, growing on the top of a high hill, about half a mile from the town. Under this tree was a grave, that had been freshly dug. The murderer, as he was conducted forward, must have seen the grave, and know it to be his final resting-place. For all that, he approached the tree without any apparent emotion! "He is either a very good man, or a very bad one," said one by my side, "he is going to die game!" A cart was drawn up under the live oak; and into it climbed four or five respectable-looking men--who appeared to be taking a prominent part in the proceedings. One of them requested silence--a request which was immediately complied with--and the man who made it, then addressed the assembly, in, as near as I can remember, the following words:--