Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1851-02-18
The Shot in be Eye.
A True Story of Texas Border Life.
BY C. WILKINS EIdI. 8
o. u hN
-(G9ncLnRe4.l

(Conauaed)
Before sunrise in the morning
, I1inch arrived with SIX men. / was
wakened by his loud clustering and
swearing. lie was raF Wing, as [ af.
terWafds understood, hbout Henry;
calling his story about the meeting
with the remarkable d personage- all
humbqg-and ASSERT ng his belief
that If murder had been committed,
Henry was its authdr Our b ost
quieted him in some wd y, and when
we came out to join thdm M he greeted
US with a snarling SOFT of civility.
He was thick-set, broh hd-shouldered
buriy-looking wretch, wi ith blood-shot
eyes, and face bearing 4 II the. marks
Of riotous debaueheryl Our search
vas for several hours entirely un
successful, until Henry by accident
found the place where he had en-
couhtered the Bearded Ghost, as
some one christened hi1h. Here one
Of the keen-eyed hunter found the
traces of a large moe ctasined foot.
These were pl lrsued for several miles
and lost, but on spreading our line
and continui ing the sbme general
course for some distancd farther, We
at last indeed found the body of SBo-
neri 1t had been so much mutil a.
ted by the wolves and ravens that
little examinaf lion was made Of the
bones. We gathered them together
to carry them home I'd his family,
and in doing this / mott ibed the frac-
Nre Of a bullet through the skull.
Il had been stripped bhre Of flesh,
and both eyes plucl1ed out by the
birds, and was too shocking an Object
for close examination. But what
8uzzeled all parties most was the
discovery, short distan Ee of, of the
trail afa sIod horse, n pw. there wa 5
not perhaps horse in Shelby coun-
ty that wore shoes, and certainly not
one in ON party. Shoe ing is never
thought Of, being unnecd dssary where
there are no stones, This was as
perfect a pozer as even q henry story,
and threw yet a greater air Of mex
plicability around the affair." 1t was
thought that this track might be east
~ traced to any distanc e-but after
worrying about it for seferal days, it
Was given upin despair, and the, Reg
plators, fatigued and qisheartened,H |
scattered for their respective homes. \
But one Of their nj imber never
reached his. Being mis- 4sed for two
days, there was a general turnout to
look for him; and as hid been the
case with Stoner, his body was found
torn to pieces by the " olives. The
report was, that he too had been shot
through the back of the head.
These murders, and the singular
circumstances accompanying them,
created great sensation. Hinch and
his troops secured the country in ev-I
cry directs On, arresting %nd lynching
suspicious persons, as they called
them. One poor inpfb bnsive fellow
they hung and cut down four or five
times, to make him confess; but moth
ing was elected; and they left him
with barely a spark Of life.
That evening, as they were return
ing to their head-qua Fters at the
store, one Of them ma ned Winter,
missed portion of hif horse furni-
ture, which had becoma accidentally
detached. He said he had observed
it in.its place a mile bd ck, that he
would return to get it AID rejoin
them at the store, by Il lie time they
should be ready to commence the
spree they had determ med on gong
into that night. He oft them, and
never returned. They soon got
drunk, andd not part eularly notice
his absence until some dime the next
day, when his family, alarmed by the
return of his horse Wi ia an empty
saddle, sent to ihquif fe after him.
This sort ofinquiries hd Id come to be
so sid ghifcant Of late, THAT they were
INSTABILITY sobered, an d mounting,
rode back on their trail Very soon
SWARM of buzzards and wolves,
near \ line of thicket. ahead desig-
pafedi the whereabouts of the object
Of tbgir search; and theFe they found
his Ifleshless bones scattered. on
o,t c;da They wbre appalled,.