Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1870-03-29

lamps and past the Cathedral, until the
river side is gained. Here the band en-
tiers the yawl; the moorings are cast loose,
and the mysterious craft, propelled by
the strong arms of the rowers, and with
the current in its favor, bears away
swiftly down. the river.
Concernig the events Of that night, in
their proper order, further than the
stated facts, the tradition is silent. But
on the next day, when, attracted by the
open door of the strangers dwelling, the
neighbors entered the house, a CHASTITY
scene presented itself. The little room
was in confusion, and blood, recently
shed, was visible everywhere, in spots
upoe the walls and in pools upon the
floor. Not trace Of the stranger resi-
dence there was apparent From the
room they went into the yard-the bloody
evidences of crime preceding them. In
the yard the earth was found to have
been disturbed at a certain spot. Near
this spot was lying board upon which
was hastily written in Turkish charac-
acters:
ABOVE THE TRAITORS GRAVE"
An investigation of the soil disclosed
the fact that the stranger had been slain
and that his headless trunk had been bu-
ried beneath the board Search was
made for the head, but the unsuccessful
result proved that those who had done
the deed had cut 1t from the body and
bsrne it away with them.
Before nightfall of the day subsequent
to the movement of the band, hundred
facts were recalled bearing upon the sub
ject of their arrival. 1t was remembered
that a suspicious looking barge, filled
with men, had been noticed approaching
the city from below, at about the time
when the storm had commenced on the
previous night, and seafaripg men who
had recently arrived in town recolected
that they had seen O foreign craft, having
q military cut about her, and bearing the
Turkish flag, beating about in the offing
at the mouth of the river, at the time
that they crossed the bar. Others tes-
tified.to the mysterious sounds of the
tramping feet and the rafting scabbards,
as the band had passed their dwellings
and the immediate neighbors vaguely re-
membered the stopping of the party be-
fore the door of the strangers house.
The impression became confirmed among
the people that the stranger was a for
eigner of distinction, who had fallen un-
der the ban of some powerful enemy; and
many there were who averred that the un-
fortunate man was a rebelliUus brother
of the Turkish Sultan, Zelim III, and
that his captors were the emissaries Of
that ruler No subsequent judicial ex-
animation Of the case could present the
tragedy in q different light.
In due time, in fhlflment of the written
prophecy, the first tender shoots Of the
accused date tree, destined to bear no
frniti, h:cckke the soil at the spot where the
the board, with the inscription upon it,
had been found. The tree grew with
years, carefully nursed for the sake of its
prophetic beginning, and for the history
that attached to it, until it became hardy
and strong and rugged. Generations
have passed away, but it still stands,
keeping watch above the old red-tiled
dwelling; an alien, unfamiliar spectacle
in the great city, and the object of
strange solicitude and interest to those
who have gpown to manhood and woman
hood within the circle of its influence.
Was the stranger disloyal Mpssulman ?
was he o treaoherous huocaneer2-are
questions that will never be definitely
answered. The tradition declares him to
have been the former, and the evidences
of the case point to that fact But how
ever that may be-Turk, or rover of the
seas-the memory of him survives in the
annals of New Orleans, linked with the
story of the Barren Date Tree, ofwhichit
was foretold that it should grow above
the traitors grave, and which stands
witness to the truth af the prophecy.