Rensselaer Standard, Volume 1, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 October 1879 — A COURIER’S STORY. [ARTICLE]

A COURIER’S STORY.

Htfper’n.Weckly. My name i* Carl Johann lUxfckel. By birtli ami nationality I an» a But cosmopolitan in every taste and habit. In my early days I regularly followed the profession of as I do now occasionally when any of my old natrousor their friends require such services, which la rather infrequent, the taste of the traveling public having degenerated into hasty journeys by express trains, which the consequent loss .ot all enjoyment of the different phases of scenery through which the travelers are passing. In the course 1 of my many years’ experience I have been witness to many strange occurrences, have assisted in manv a secret and adventurous undertaking, and have been subject to many perils. From among such varied experiences I give tlie following strange story, suppressing tor obvious reasons the real names of those interested: Many years ago I was engaged as «*ourier U> liis Excellency the Honorable Frederick Eslington, KiutMHsador Extraordinary, of 111-. Britannic Majesty King George, on a special secret mission to one of the greut t’outineutal p iwera. Having finished hisduties and successfully at tallied the oqject of bis mission, we started on our homeward journey in the summer of 18—. The period was one to be long remembered, from the political excitement which existed throughout all Europe, almost every government having unsheathed the sword. We had traveled a considerable part of the first stage of our return journey, when his Excellency, who was feeding the fatigues of the incessant traveling in the heavy, rumbling carriage, said he should ship at the next town we arrived at and take rest ami refreshment, both of which he was in meed of, besides having important state docuineuts to transcribe. In due course we arrived at the small town of 8 , *ou the confines of Germany, where we put up. We staid a day and a half there; and I wap then instructed to have the carriage and horses in ieadiue?« to continue aur journey. His Excellency meanwhile had completed hi» writings, to which he had assiduously applied himself; and told me, ds it was a fine afternoon, he would take a short walk, and on his return resume his journey at once, and I must therefore make all necessary preparations. He accordingly left the hotel. But he was never seen afte»ward. nor was anything known of his fate. I waited for upward an hour auxiously, and then made a close search for him, which I continued for several days, but not a trace could I discover of jmy master. A villager, however, living outside of town, brought to me at the hotel a pair of Overalls, which he stated he had found in a neighboring copse. I recognized the garment as belonging to his excellency, and at once rei»aired with the villager to the copse, and closely examined the spot, hut found too tnwe or sign of any strug-

gte. t - Finding it useless to prosecute the search, I at once returned to London with his Excellency’s traveling gear, which I handed to his family. The British Government at once instituted inquiries, also did his Excellency’s family, and large rewards were offered by both, advertisements were widely disseminated for any information respecting the missing Embassador; • but they failed one and all to gain any information of or the slightest clew : to bis fate. A certain amount of suspicion attached to*ne, but it was only momentary, and lat once cleared myself of it, and assisted the distracted wife aud her missing ftusbaud’s family as much as lay In my power. Well I remembered the agonies of anxiety and suspense caused bo the Embassador’s wife and family by the distressing calamity. Magisterial investigation was made, experts were employed, and every endeavor made to penetrate the dark veil of mystery surrounding the event; bat aU efforts were unsuccessful. One of his Majesty’s Embassadors bad completely and mysteriously disappeared, without leaving a clew to light up the awful obscurity which enveloped the

tragic occurrence. . Several years bad elapsed since the distressing event, and the memory, the painful memory, of it was beginning to fade from my mind, when I happened to be in Antwerp on a short tour through Belgium with patrons. And while listlessly strolling by myself on the quay one summer’s evening, watching the passengers disembarking from the newly arrived steamer, I was accosted by a mean, haggard-looking little man of beggardly appearance, who spoke to me in flemish “Are you not Herr Koekel, the courier?” he said. - “Yea,” replied I. “What do you want with me me? Who are you?” “I suppose you have quite forgotten mes saul he.

I stared at him keenly. The man’s features were somewhat familiar to me, 'yet; I was confused in my remembrance of how and where I had seen him. “x do not know you,” said I. “Yes, you do, aud very well,” re- * plied he. “My name is Ludwig Kuhl, and I have frequently driven you the first state out of Vienna. I did so 1 | when you were courier to his Excellency, the honorable Eslington, in the jammer ofthe year Ilf—.” _ (The courier is remembered even when the patron is forgotten, fur it is to us that landlords aud their servants look for their gratuities.) <, , j I stared at him, and then recognised the haggard looks. “True,” said I; “I remember you uow well, How goes it

with you? What do you hear in Antwerp? The old trade, eh?” “Ah, no!” he replied, with a .deeply drawn sigh. “It’s a long story, and! can’t tell it to you here in all this noise and bustle. Let us go to a quiet cabaret.” _ . t .. _ I agreed; and In our Snort walk I revplved in my mind all those circumstances, so dark and impenetrable in their profound mystery, which had happened year* before. And I remembered how our postilion, Ludwig Kuhl, had assisted meji n the unavailing search for his Excellency. Hoon we reached a little cabaret —their name Is legion in Antwerp—in one of the back streets near the cathedral; and with a gla«i of his favorite Boonjekamp in front of him, he seated himself, and tola me the following sequel to the mysterious disappearance: “You must remember me, friend,” be began, “when 1 was in a better condition than you now see me;” and he scanned his wretched garments,shrugging his shoulders with an impatient air. I nodded acquiescence.

‘ Well,” said he, “you must also know in your long experience of travel that all classes of society on the Continent, and jwtrtieularly in Vienna, have their secret club. The postilliaus had theirs; hut it was subject to the rule of the Chief Secret Society. Ito mv younger days, friend, I was induced, in an unlucky moment, to enroll myself us a member, aud take the oaths of the Secret Society of Postilions. Bitterly have I rejiented since, for it is to that circumstance l owe my present deplorable state of mind and position. “But what has that to do with the mysterious case of his Excellency?” I asked of him, somewhat impatiently. “Much more than you imagine or can ever know, friend,” replied he, sententiously wagging his head. He paused for a moment. “Weil, I will tell you,” continued he, “though you must not break my Story with your inquiring comments. Firstly, then, you must know that I was on tue establishment of Herr Spultzeu, the carriage master and stable keeper from whom his Excellency' the Hon. Edington hired his traveling carriage and horses for his return journey. It was known to the Chief Secret Society that his Excellency was In possession of important papers, aud ft was also known that lie was on the point of starting with them for England. The Chief Commander had important reasons for obtaining these papers, or copies of them, and of one in particular above all others, by fair means or foul; aud what the Chief says Is to lie done, is done invariably at any cost. The committee had balloted for the person who must execute their orders, and their choice hail fallen on me as postilion, and more likely to effect a successful result. By Virtue of my oath I was hound to obey, or I should have suffered a secretdeath, by assassination, probably. I need not tell you my instructions; but a dreadful fate awaited you in the event of you or his Excellency obstructing our wishes. In every town through which we passed there were emissaries of the Chief .Society - to assist me, so great is its organization; and when I received -your instructions to pull up at the next town, which, if you remember, was 8 , I knew the wishes of the Chief Commander would be effectually carried out. -The landlord of the hotel you staid at and the head hostler were Known to me as members of the Chief Society, and there were other residents in the town also members, whom I did not know. So you see, my friend, how his Excellency and you were enoomliassed in a net from which there was no escape;” and he chuckled to himself as he said it. “Now, you remember how his Excellency was was always engaged in writing his dispatches and documents. Well, there was consequently great difficulty in getting a view of the papers without adopting foul means, aud time was of great importance to the Chief Commander.”

“What!” I exclaimed, in great astonishment. my hair almost on end with the suddeuness of the confession: “what? Do you mean to tell me, Carl Johann Roeckel, that you murdered his Excellency in cold blood?” “Not exactly that, friend,” he quietly replied. “When his Excellency weut for the short walk, the head hostler also went for a stroll in the same direction. A short distance from the town the hostler met a friend, also a member, aud they quickly bound and gagged his Excellency, and carried him to the cellar of the laUer’s bouse, where they kept him secretly until after the excitement of the appearance and search had subsided, when he was taken to Vienna in the involuntary disguise of a dangerous luuatic peasant, and afterward—” And he made a significant sign of strangulation. “The papers were abstracted by the landlord, and handed to me. aud I in turn delivered them to the Chief Commander personally. Nothing was .ever said about the missing documents, if you recollect, because only one other person besides his Excellency and the Chief Commander knew of them, and he dared not say what they were.” “But how,’* asked I, “was everything kept so quietly as the British Government made a great stir over the matter, and large rewards were offered?”

“Well, 1 ’ replied he, “those to whom the matter was referred were mostly members of the Chief Society, which, you must remember, numbered limits roll members of all ranks and stations. The pair of overalls fouud in the copse some days after the disappearance were purposely placed there to lead and encourage the belief that his Excellency had been robbed and then murdered.” “But you do not account for your being here in Antwerp now,” said I. “Well, friend,”continued he, and he drew himself closer to me and spoke in a very low tone—“well, the Chief Commander, in consequence of the stir made by both the British and our Gov-

ernment, and fearing disclosure on account of the large rewards offered, took effective steps to prevent it by ordering the deaths of those concerned in the tragedy. The landlord of the hotel, however, suddenly decamped to America—where he will be tracked, never fe&r—after hearing of the deaths of the hostler and his friend, who were found stabbed in their beds; and I escaped here, bp circuitous roates, and I have remained in hiding ever since. But I am already known and discovered,and Igo daily in fear of my life. The sign of the Black Dagger here”—and he tore open his vest and shirt, disclosing the print of a dagger on his breast—“is ' known to all the members of the Se-

cret Society. My death warrant has long ago been signed, and I am studiously watched, I feel certain. Even now—” and he suddenly stopped, casting a cautious glance around the room, and pointed to a stranger who was silently smoking and drinking, to all appearance engrossed in their enjoyment. “I must leave you.” he said, In a hurried hoarse whisper. “Good-by, friend;” and he crept out of the eabarefcquickly. The next m irnlng Ludwig Kurn's body was found floating in the canal, near Its entrance to the Scheldt, pierced in the breast by a short dagger, wilh the device in German on its flat black handle, “We wait” ,