Chapter I: Front Matter

to his berth,

HENRY MORE SMITH
The Mysterious Stranger

By WALTER BATES, Esquire
Sheriff of Kings County

Being an Authentic Account of the
Numerous Arrests, Remarkable Doings
and Wonderful Escapes of the Most
Noted Road Agent who ever Pestered
the Authorities of New Brunswick

PRINTED AT THE STRATHMORE PRESS SAINT JOHN, N. B., FOR JOHN A. BOWES
PUBLISHER, NINETEEN HUNDRED AND TEN

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
PAGE

The “Mysterious Stranger” Arrives at Windsor, N.S.—Obtains
Employment, Professes Religion and Marries—Suspected of Theft he
Leaves Nova Scotia, Comes to St. John, Returns to Nova Scotia
and is Arrested there by the New Brunswick Authorities and
Lodged in Kingston Gaol. 9

CHAPTER II.

Examination Before Justices Pickett and Ketchum and Commitment for
Trial—Would not Join the 112th Regiment to Secure Freedom—Before
the Trial Smith was Attacked by a Strange Disease which Baffled
Physicians—Supposed to be Dying He Escapes from the Gaol. 18

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 38

CHAPTER IV.

Smith’s Wanderings Through the Province—Leaves a Trail of
Larcenies—Arrested and Brought Before the Court at Fredericton
He Admits Escaping from Kingston Gaol and is Sent Back by Judge
Saunders—Escapes on the Way—Burglarizes the Home of the Attorney
General and is Re-arrested, and After a Month of Liberty is
Again Placed in Kingston Gaol 48

CHAPTER V.

Chained to the Floor of His Dungeon He Contrived to Cut the Chain
and Had also Sawn the Bars of the Grated Window—Makes a Second
Attempt at Escape—Breaks Chains, Padlocks and Handcuffs and an
Iron Collar About His Neck—Tries Suicide by Hanging. 61

CHAPTER VI.

Second Trial Ordered—Smith Continues to Break Chains and Relieved
Himself of Fetters Rivetted on by a Blacksmith—Reads Bible and
Makes Straw Figures—Feigns Insanity when Placed on Trial—Refused
to Plead—Found Guilty and Sentenced to Death 79

CHAPTER VII.

After Sentence Smith Assumes Indifference to His Fate—Breaks
Fastenings Again—His Marionette Family Described by Sheriff
Bates—Tells Something of His Past History—His Case Considered by
Supreme Court at Fredericton 94

CHAPTER VIII.

Smith Becomes a Fortune Teller and Startles the Gaoler—Foretells
His Own Release—Pardoned by the Court he Refuses to Leave the
Gaol which he Sets on Fire in a Mysterious Way—Finally Shipped
on a Schooner to Nova Scotia with His Marionettes. 110

CHAPTER IX.

Did Not Go to His Wife in Nova Scotia but Made a Tour Committing
Various Depredations—Is Seen in Portland, Maine—Is Heard of at
Boston and New York and Then at New Haven Where He Robbed a
Hotel—Arrest and Escape, Recapture and Conviction. 127