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EDWARD D, WORRELL. 127

on the contrary, considered him quite shrewd in a trade.
Hutehinson saw nothing unusual in his conduct; he appeared
perfectly rational, and demeaned himself as travelers usual-
ly do.

Major Wright thinks (upon the supposition that he killed
Gordon) that his conduct at the place of the homicide is
wholly inexplicable; thinks a sane man would have con-
cealed the body in the thicket. To my mind it is perfectly
consistent with reason, and exhibits a degree of shrewdness,
and a knowledge of human nature, which few men possess.
Tt was necessary to conceal the body as soon as possible, and
the gully afforded a ready means of doing it; whereas, it
would have required some time to carry the body any dis-
tance into the thicket; besides, he could not leave it in the
‘woods without depositing it on the surface of the ground,
as the ground was frozen too hard to admit of digging a
hole, even if he had had the implements for digging. In addi-
tion to this he very naturally supposed that if suspicion fixed
upon that vicinity as the probable place of the murder, the
persons in pursuit of the body would be most likely to search
the thicket, and in this he was correct, for Major Walker tells
you that he, Wentz and others were busily engaged searching
the thicket, and but for the dog that scented the blood in the
track of the road, it ia not probable that the body would have
been discovered until the snow had entirely disappeared from
the ground. The gully was just wide and deep enough for
the purpose, and so situated that persons following the usually
traveled portions of the road would not be likely to notice it,
It was snowing hard at the time, and their tracks were almost
immediately obliterated. We have heen asked why he left
the saddle in the thicket half @ mile from the road. The
reason is obvious. He could not have put it on the horse he
was leading without exciting suspicion, and by leaving it in
the thicket it was calculated to draw attention from the road.
Considering the time they had to operate, the whole thing
‘was managed with considerable adroitness.

Major Wright has discovered evidence of insanity in the
fact that on Saturday night he went to the theater in St.

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