Some years since, in the month of May, the remains of a human body,
partly devoured by wild animals, were found in a woody ravine, near
a solitary road passing between the mountains west of the village of
Stockbridge. It was supposed that the person came to his death by
violence, but no traces could be discovered of his murderers. It was
only recollected that one evening, in the course of the previous
winter, a traveller had stopped at an inn in the village of West
Stockbridge; that he had inquired the way to Stockbridge; and that, in
paying the innkeeper for something he had ordered, it appeared that he
had a considerable sum of money in his possession. Two ill-looking
men were present, and went out about the same time that the traveller
proceeded on his journey. During the winter, also, two men of shabby
appearance, but plentifully supplied with money, had lingered for
awhile about the village of Stockbridge. Several years afterward,
a criminal, about to be executed for a capital offence in Canada,
confessed that he had been concerned in murdering a traveller in
Stockbridge for the sake of his money. Nothing was ever discovered
respecting the name or residence of the person murdered.