The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1873-05-22


Cherryvale is small town on ID
Leaveuworth and Galve ston raiiros.
and is in Labette county. about fit
miles from the line Of the State 7
the south, Of Cherryv ale. some tw
miles or less. stands . frame houss
having In front large room wher
the meals were served, and In rear
sleeping room furnished with tw
beds, and some scant additional furnI
ture besides.
William and Thomas Bender live,
in this hooee with their wives. To th
right Of the dwelling-houss vas a
out-hoOse, and in the rear was IN in
closed garden of possibly two acres.
The search seemed to end suddenl,
at Cherryvale. Suspicion, il ever co
tertained, fell upon no one. Their
were various surmises. coDjectures aDt
expressions Of opinion but for tn.
life Of any man he could not say wna
bad become of Dr.. York.
One day. early in April. some men
from Cherryvale ride over to the
Bender House-a tavern, too, IL wss,
where entertainment was furnished Ia
travellers to inquire concerning DR..
York, and to learn. II possible, some
tidings Of bis fate. They learned
nothing. however. None Of the Ben J.
ers had seen him, nor heard OF him.
nor his mysterious disappearance, nor
anything that pcrtained TO him. Very
well, the men said, and they rode
back again as fully informed rs be-
fore.
II would seem as il the visit Of the
Cherry vale party alarmed the Bend
ers. WIN. Bender, now that the ter
rible secrets have come to light, and
now that the shallow graves have
given up their CHASTITY and mutiisted
occupants, can be remembered ~ hsv-
ing acted very strangely. Twice he
bad come iito Cherryvale and had
been noticed, upon the occasion Of
each visit, to loiter upon the outside
Of crowds, seemingly having no busi.
ness, but eagerly intent ell the time in
listening to everything that was said.
Time went slowly by, and = man
riding In one day from the prairie saw
no smoke arising from Bender's chin
ney. The windows were down. the
ioors were closed, there WAS no sign
Of life anywhere. There evidences of
emigration did not even interest him.
So absolute was the stupor over the
Of DR.. York that an
awakening had to depend upon an abb
solute discovery. T'his man, however,
IN riding by pen to the left Of the
house, saw . dead calf Ia the lot, and
upon further investigation and with
the practical eyes OF . farmer used to
guessing the weight of live stock upon
the ho1f he knew that the calf had
uleO OF sthfvAtlon.
Then the truth came, as an owe rfiow
comes often to Kansas creek. all of 1
sudden and overwhelming. Such ,
death suggested flight, flight mean
guilt, and the nature Of that guilt wa
surely murder. He galloped int,
Cherryvale and related what he ha,
seen. The town aroused itself.
party was organized instantly aud Sc
out for the Bender mansion. Then |
was remembered that about two week
before tbis-say somewhere about til
oath Of April-William Bender ha
cold to some persons either in or nea
Cherryvale watch, come clothing 9
fine character. two mules, and, pei
haps. a shotgun or two aud some pis
tolls. How did he come by these?
the dead could speak, the questio
might be readily answered.
The party from Cherryvale arrive
at the house directly from the Osag
Mission road, having the clubhouse ii
the rear and to the south OF 1t.
In the rear, as we have said, was
garden. This at first was not exam
ined. The front room OF the hous
was next carefully searched, ever,
crack and crevice being minutel
looked into, aud subjected to the az
plication Of rods and levers to see
the flooring was either hollow or loose
Nothing came Of 1t all. No bloc,
spots appeared. The floor was solid
the walls were eolid. II there er,
dead men about, they were not in tn,
front room. Then came the bacl
room. The beds were removed. II
his flight the elder Bender had lef
everything untouched. Not even the
doors were locked, though such had
been the reputation Of the she-devil
1.-THE elders wife, who was Spiritual.
LIST that the premises stood as safe
from intrusion % II protected by q
devil In reality. After the beds had
been removed one of the party noticed
. slight depression in the floor, which,
upon examination, revealed . trap
door upon hinges. This was immedi-
ately lifted up, and in the gloom q pit
outlined itself, forbidding, cavernous,
Lights were procured, and
some Of the men descended. They
found themselves in an abyss shaped
like well, some six feet deep, and
about five feet In diameter. Here and
there little damp places could be seen,
~ II water had come up FROM the bot
tom or been poured down from above.
They CROPPED about over these splotch.
% and held up handful to the light
The ooze smeared itself over their
palms and dribbled through their fin-
gers. It was blood-thick, fptid,
,lammy, sticking blood-that they
bad found cropping there In the void
he blood, perhaps. Of some posr, be-
ated traveller who had died while
lreaming Of bis loved ones. The par