164 A TRAGEDY ON THE NORTH SHORE 



erly wind was blowing and the barge was soon 

 out of sight. 



What happened after this can only be conjec- 

 tureu, as P made no confession, but circum- 

 stances seemed to indicate that they steered the 

 boat turn about, and that during a rest, Ouellet 

 was struck on the head with the tiller of the boat, 

 which apparently only stunned him. A scuffle 

 ensued, and Ouellet was stabbed to death with the 

 butcher's knife. Evidence of the struggle was 

 shown by Ouellet 's hand being cut, probably 



trying to grasp the knife, and P 's clothing 



being torn, and scratches received by him. A 



barge, unknown to P , had sailed from Cape 



Chatte that same evening, bound for the North 

 Shore also. Uuring the night the owner had 

 heard strange noises ana loud cries and groans 

 which he could not account for. Next morning 



P was near lies de Mai, where he went 



ashore, and selected a small out-of-the-way cove, 

 in which he buried Ouellet's body, after having 

 stripped it of all its clothing, except a woolen un- 

 dershirt. He dragged the body about fifty yards 

 in the woods, made a shallow grave, placed his 

 burden in it, and covered it up carefully with 

 leaves and decayed wood. The spot was about as 

 lonely a one as could be selected on the whole 

 coast. It was not in the line of travel, and was 

 fifteen miles distant from the nearest habitation, 

 and, in the ordinary nature of things, years 



