icago, and I was resolved also to learn the
antecedents of John Henry Schulte and his servant, in order to
unravel the mystery which attended his appearance at South Norwalk,
and to discover the relations which existed between the master and
the man who now stood charged with a foul crime.

That this eccentric man, possessed of such large means, should thus
have taken up his abode in a land of strangers, and should have lived
the secluded life he did, was an added mystery in the case, which I
resolved to become acquainted with. I considered this necessary,
also, in order to discover some motive for the crime, if any existed
except that of robbery, and to guide me in my dealings with any
suspected persons who might thereafter be found.

His brother was communicated with, and another operative was detailed
to gather up the history of the man from the time of his landing in
America.

John Cornwell, a young operative in the service of my New York
agency, was delegated for this service, and he performed the duty
assigned him in a manner which furnished me with all the information
I desired to possess, and as the story contains much that is of
interest, I will give it here.

THE HISTORY.

CHAPTER IX.

_Dortmund._--_Railroad Enterprise and Prospective Fortune._--_Henry
Schulte's Love._--_An Insult and its Resentment._--_An Oath of
Revenge._

How true it is, that in the life of every one, there exists a vein of
romance which justifies the adage that "Truth is stranger than
fiction."

No page of history may bear their names. No chronicle of important
events may tell to the world the story of their trials and
sufferings. No volume of poetry or song may portray the sunshine and
the storms through which they journeyed from the cradle to the grave.
But in their quiet, humble lives, they may have exemplified the vices
or virtues of humanity, and may have been prominent actors in
unpublished dramas, that would excite the wonderment or the
admiration, the sympathy or the condemnation of communities.

The life of Henry Schulte evinces this fact, in a remarkable degree.

The town of Dortmund in Prussia, in 1845.

A quiet, sleepy, German town, in the Province of Westphalia, whose
inclosing walls seemed eminently fitted to shut out the spirit of
energy and activity with which the world around them was imbued, and
whose five gates gave ample ingress and egress to the limited trade
of the manufacturers within its li