A FEW SPECIMEN BRICK8. *75
sold to another master, and run away again, to their employers ; sometimes
they would be sold in tljis manner three or four times, until they had realised
three or four thousand dollars by them; but as, after this, there was fear of
detection, the usual custom was to get rid of the only witness that could be
produced against them, which was the negro himself, by murdering him,
and throwing his body into the Mississippi Even if it was established that
they had stolen a negro, before he was murdered, they were always prepaied
to evade punishment; for they concealed the negro who had run away, until
he was advertised, and a reward offered to any man who would catch him,
An advertisement of this kind warrants the person to take the property, if
found. And then the negro becomes a property in trust, when, therefore,
they sold the negro, it only became a breach of trust, not stealing; and for
a breach of trust, the owner of the property can only have redress by a civil
action, which was useless, as the damages were never paid. It may be in-
quired, how it was that Murel escaped Lynch law under such circumstances?
This will be easily understood when it is stated that he had more than a
thousand sworn confederates, all ready at a moment's notice to support any of
the gang who might be in trouble. The names of all the principal confede-
rates of Murel were obtained from himself, in a manner which I shall pre-
sently explain. The gang was composed of two classes: the Heads or
Council, as they were called, who planned and concerted, but seldom acted ;
they amounted to about four hundred. The other class were the active
agents, and were termed strikers, and amounted to about six hundred and
fifty. These were the tools in the hands of the others; they ran all the risk,
and received but a small portion of the money; they were in the power of
the leaders of the gang, who would sacrifice them at any time by handing
them over to justice, or smfrj-ng their bodies in the Mississippi. The general
rendezvous of t"hi« gang of miscreants was on the Arkansas side of the river,
where they concealed their negroes in the morasses and cane-brakea
The depredations of this extensive combination were severely felt; but so
well were their plans arranged, that although Murel, who was always active,
was everywhere suspected, there was no proof to be obtained. It so hap-
pened, however, that a young maT! of the name of Stewart, who was looking
after two slaves which Murel had decoyed away, fell in with him and ob-
tained his confidence, took the oath, and was admitted into the gang as one
of the General Council. By this means all was discovered; for Stewart
turned traitor, although he had taken the oath, and having obtained every
information, exposed the whole concern, the names of all the parties, and
finally succeeded in bringing home sufficient evidence against Murel, to pro-
cure his conviction and sentence to the Penitentiary (Morel was sentenced to
fourteen years' imprisonment); so many people who were supposed to be
honest, and bore a respectable name in the different States, were found to