Henry More Smith: The Mysterious Stranger

by Walter Bates

Mr. N. Perkins having had occasion to call that day on Mr. W. H. Lyon, was enquired of by him concerning the state of the prisoner. Mr. Perkins informed him that he was alive when he left him; but thought he would be dead before night. This information Mr. Lyon communicated the same evening to a number of persons who were assembled at the house of Mr. Scribner, and added that he was dead, for that while he was on his way to Mr. Scribner’s, (it having been in the dusk of the evening,) he had seen Smith’s Ghost pass by him at a short distance off, without touching the ground. This singular report, as it came from a quarter that could not be well disputed, very much alarmed the whole company, and formed the subject of their conversation for the evening.

But return to our narrative. After the prisoner had made his will, he was, for a short time, left alone, with the probability that he would shortly be seized by another fit, which he was not expected to survive. About 6 o’clock in the evening, the Rev. Mr. Scovil observed to his family, that it was then about the same hour of the day at which Smith had had his fit on the day preceding; that he thought he would die suddenly; he would therefore walk over to the Court House and be ready there at the time, as it must be unpleasant for Mr. Dibble to be alone. This so much awakened the sensibilities of Mrs. Scovil, that she could not bear the reflection, that a child of parents that were perhaps respectable, should be so near her, in a strange country, sick and dying, on a bed of straw. She therefore called Amy, her wench. “Here,” said she, “take this feather bed, and carry it to the gaol, and tell Mr. Dibble that I have sent it for Smith to die on.” Mr. Scovil had been in the house, and seated with Mr. Dibble but a very short time, when a noise was heard from Smith in the gaol. John Dibble, who constantly attended on him, ran in haste, unlocked the prison door, found him in the agonies of a fit, and almost expiring. He made an effort to speak, and begged John to run and heat a brick that was near, and apply it to his feet, to give him one moment’s relief while he was dying, for that his feet and legs were already cold and dead to the knees. John, willing to afford what relief he could to the dying man, ran in great haste from the gaol through the passage round the stairway that led to the kitchen, where was a large fire of coals, into which he cast the brick, waited but a few minutes, and returned with the heated brick to the prison; but to his indiscribable astonishment, and almost unwilling to believe the evidence of his senses, the dying man had disappeared, and could not be found!!! John ran with the tidings to his father and the Rev. Mr. Scovil, who were sitting in a room which the prisoner must have passed in his escape. They were entirely incredulous to the report of an affair so unparalleled, and would not yield their belief until they searched every corner of the apartment themselves, and found that Smith had not only effected his escape, but had also carried his money, his boots, and every article of clothing away with him.

It is impossible to conceive or describe the feeling of astonishment with which every one about the house was filled, when they found that the man, who had been groaning and agonizing under the pain of an accumulation of diseases, which night after night, seemed to have been wasting his strength, and bringing him nearer the close of his unhappy life—had, in a moment, and the very moment which was thought to be his last, seized the opportunity of his prison door being open, and rushed from his confinement, leaving not a vestige of his moveables behind him. As soon as a search through the prison confirmed the fact of the elopement, the inmates hastened outside, and continued their search around the premises. At this moment, Amy, the wench, made her appearance, carrying the feather bed; and seeing the people around the house said to them: “Misses send this bed for Smit to die on.” Her master told her to take it home, and tell her mistress that Smith was gone. Amy ran home and told her mistress that massa say Smit dead and gone—he no want im bed! “Ah!” exclaimed her mistress, “poor man, is he dead? Then, Amy, you may run and carry this shirt and winding sheet, to lay Smith out in.” Amy instantly obeyed, and told her master accordingly. “You may take them back,” said he, “Smith is gone!” “Where he gone, massa?” “I don’t know,” said he, “except the devil has taken him off!” Amy hastened back to her mistress, and told her that “massa say Smit be dead and gone, and the devil has taken him away!” So much was the mind of every one prepared to hear of his death, that the expression, “Smith is gone!” served to convey no other idea. The sheriff himself, who had not been present, and did not hear of the affair immediately, gave the sentence the same interpretation. A messenger having been dispatched to him with the tidings, met him on his way to the gaol, expecting to witness the last moments of the patient. On being informed by the messenger that “Smith was gone,” “Ah poor fellow,” he exclaimed, “I expected it.” “What time did he die?” “But he is gone clear off.” “It is impossible,” rejoined the Sheriff, “that he can be far from his sick bed.” “Why,” replied the messenger, “they were all about the gaol looking for him, and no one could tell which way he had gone.” “Unparalleled and abominable deception!” replied the sheriff. “How did he get out of gaol!” He believed John Dibble left the door open while he ran to beat a brick, and then Smith made his escape.

This was to us the first development of the true character of Henry More Smith, and thus, by means of a counterfeit illness, which melted the feelings and drew the sympathies of the whole neighborhood; which baffled every power of detection, and imposed even upon the physician himself, did this accomplished villain effect his release, and was now again running at large, glorying in the issue of his scheme.

CHAPTER III.

Pursued by Officers of the Law His Whereabouts are Frequently Discovered but he Eludes his Pursuers—Commits a Number of Thefts—Taken Before a Magistrate he makes Satisfactory Explanation—He Goes on his Way—The Court Convenes at Kingston Before he is Apprehended.

But before we pursue his history in his succeeding adventures, it may be necessary, for those who are unacquainted with the local situation of the gaol, from which the prisoner made his escape, to give a short description of it. Kingston is situated on a neck or tongue of land, formed by the River Saint John, and Bellisle Bay, running north-east and south-west on the western side of the neck, and by the Kennebeccasis running the same course on the western side, leaving a tract of land between the two rivers about five miles in breadth and thirty miles in length.

The winter road from Fredericton, the seat of Government, to the City of Saint John crosses the land at Kingston to the Kennebeccasis, and this road is inhabited on both sides. The road is intersected in the center of Kingston by another road running northeasterly to the head of Bellisle Bay, and is also inhabited on both sides, at the intersection of these roads; on an eminence, stands the Court house (under which is the prison) and church, facing each other, east and west, at a distance of about eight rods. At the distance of about ten rods from the gaol stands the house of Mr. F. N. Perkins, to the north, and at an equal distance to the south the house of the Rev. E. Scovil is situated, with various other houses in different directions; the land clear all around to a considerable distance, affording no hiding place. From a prison thus situated and surrounded with dwelling-houses, did our hero escape, without any eye having seen him, and leaving no mark nor track behind which could direct in the pursuit of him. Finding ourselves unable to pursue in any certain direction, our conclusions were that he must either have taken the road to Saint John or that leading to Nova Scotia the way by which he came, and the only road he was known to be acquainted with. Accordingly men were dispatched in pursuit of him on the Saint John road, and others sent to the different ferries, while I myself, with Mr. Moses Foster, the deputy sheriff, took the road toward Nova Scotia, with all speed, in the night, and rode on until we began to think that we must have passed him. Having arrived at a house which he could not well pass without being seen, we stationed watchers there, and also set watchers in other stations, and maintained a close lookout all night, but to no purpose.

At daylight I furnished Mr. Foster with money, and sent him on upon the same road with directions to proceed as far as Mr. McLeod’s tavern, distance forty miles, and in case of hearing nothing of him, to discontinue the pursuit and return. At the same time I returned to Kingston myself, where I was informed towards evening, that a man, who answered his description had crossed the ferry over Bellisle Bay the evening before in great haste, stating that he was going on an express to Fredericton, and must be there by ten o’clock the next morning. This, compared with Mr. Lyon’s story, the reader will recollect, of having seen Smith’s ghost or apparition the same evening in the twilight, confirmed the opinion that we had now got upon the direction of our runaway. And when we remember further, that the apparition was passing without touching the ground, we will have some idea of the rapidity with which our self-released hero was scudding along as he carried his neck from the halter. It was now Sunday evening, and he had twenty-four hours of a start, leaving little hopes of his being overtaken by me. As my only alternative, I forwarded advertisements, and proposed a reward of twenty dollars for his apprehension and re-commitment to custody; but with very little prospect of success knowing that he was escaping for his life, and would succeed in getting out of the country before he would be overtaken.