A Mad Revenge

A MAD REVENGE.

Legend of a Recluse Murderer In the Island of Jamaica.

Having Turned Against the World He Made War on All Men-Victims' Bones Found In a Cave.

When Sir Henry Blake, who is now governor of Hongkong island, China, was governor of Jamaica, West Indies, a few years ago, Lady Blake had an experience in one of the caves of the Island that she probably will never forget.

She spent most of her time in the jungle, exploring with her party the wonderful caverns with which the colony is quaintly enriched.

One afternoon her dauntless ladyship was lowered down a "sink hole" in the recesses of a cave near St. Ann's bay. When after wild signaling she was hauled up her womanship was much perturbed.

At the bottom of the "sink hole" Lady Blake had discovered numerous skeletons, all with their heads battered in.

When her ladyship recovered her nerves sufficiently to make investigations she unearthed the story of the skeletons.

Early in the eighteenth century, it appeared, a Scotchman named Lewis Hutchison lived with an only sister on the estate of a young lord near Edinburgh.

The sister was the only relative Hutchison possessed, and apart from her great beauty he loved her as a man loves his all in life.

The young lord referred to became enamored of this beautiful girl, and in time she became the victim of a foolish and disastrous infatuation on her own part. Then love died, as the young woman did shortly afterward of shame and a broken heart.

Lewis Hutchison, the brother, then swore an oath of vengeance against all men and particularly against the young and thoughtless lord.

One night the two men met on a lonely spot in the outskirts of Edinburgh. There was an altercation, followed by a sword thrust, and Hutchison fled the country, leaving his victim's body in a ditch.

In those days the island of Jamaica was the dumping ground for every scapegrace son and ne'er-do-weel disowned by indignant parents. The home of former pirates was also a harbor of refuge for criminals from the other sidewalks of life.

Hutchison escaped to Jamaica, where he bought a tract of land near Pedro, St.  Ann. There he built a residence, which in the bitterness of his heart he named Edinburgh castle.

The house had a conning tower with little windows and was built on the summit of a ridge commanding a view of the country for miles around.

Here the murderer lived with a number of brutal negroes, all of whom were enslaved to their master's criminal vows.

Hutchison never worked, never read books and seldom ate or slept, it is said. He spent his days in the conning tower, with a powerful telescope scanning the orange and pimento groves that stretched away in the vista of a man cursed paradise.

When a traveler hove in sight this mysterious man dispatched a negro slave on horseback with a pressing invitation to the stranger to come and dine at "Edinburgh castle." Why, spend a few days or so.

There was nothing suspicious about this invitation. Even to this day Jamaica is famous for its hospitality.

The murderer's guests were at first charmed by their host's irreproachable courtesy. His wines were of the finest quality, and he was most generous with them, although he personally did not imbibe overfreely. His slaves came to the table and vanished at a gesture of his hand. Certainly it was a most orderly house in this respect. The guests were delighted.

Strange to say, there was never more than one guest in the castle at a time.  To this day it is said, "They were come and gone rapidly."

Hutchison would award the finest room in the castle to the passing guest, and the household would seemingly retire. But in the night the door leading to the conning tower would open and a ray of starlight reveal the demoniacal face of the betrayed girl's brother.

"Against all men!" he would mutter and steal into the guest's room. The explosion of a horse pistol was the signal for several stalwart slaves to drag the victim's body to a cave near the house.

In this cave no less than thirty bodies were hidden, their mutilated skeletons being afterward discovered.

This castle of crime continued to flourish until the year 1773, when a traveler who was seeking shelter one night saw and heard things which decided him in choosing the sward for a couch and the stars for a coverlet. He communicated his discovery to the government at Spanish Town, with the result that an investigation was ordered.

One of Hutchison's slaves heard that the soldiers were coming to "Edinburgh castle" and warned his master. The murderer fled to the jungle.

When the soldiers arrived they found some interesting relics in the black cave and sought Mr. Hutchison. But the host at that moment was drifting in an open boat on the Caribbean sea to the north of the island intent upon reaching Cuba and safety.

The Jamaican government beat the jungle for several days and then gave up the chase after a supposed suicide.

Admiral Rodney, who was then cruising in West Indian waters, was returning to Port Royal when from the quarter deck of his battle ship he espied a speck upon the ocean. It was a drifting boat. In it Rodney found a man dying of thirst The castaway was picked up and restored to consciousness. It was Hutchison.

When the murderer learned that he was aboard of a British battle ship bound for Port Royal he wanted to jump overboard. Rodney's sailors restrained him, however, feeling some pity for the man, not knowing the real reason for his oft attempted suicide. They believed his sufferings had rendered him insane.

In the meantime the Jamaican government had gathered such evidence that when Hutchison arrived at the capital, Spanish Town, he was promptly tried and sentenced to be hanged.