Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1874-12-17

things he wanted generally had some
difficulty IN getting, and filled up the
interval by remarks about the weather,
the country, the mines, the success of
some and the failure of others-in
word, anything could think about to
induce conversation, watching him fur
lively all the while. He answered easily
and readily, and yet with that peculiar
kind of reserve that was not suggestive
of tending toward familiarity. His re-
plies, however, evinced a man of mind
and education, and I began to give him
credit for being a thinker-perhaps
practical and selfish dreamer, if l may
use a paradoxical term that best ex-
presses my idea.
One day, 1 scarcely know how, /
touched upon the general superstitions
of mankind, and, to my surprise, 1 saw
that at last he was interested. His eye
changed expression and frightened,
and emitted a strange and peculiar
CLEAN and my attention being thus
directed to his eye, I now bethought
me that had never seen one exactly
like it-one capable of being so ap-
parently open down to the soul while
concealing so much. 1t was off its
guard now; the door was really open
to the soul of the man; and looked
in at the door of that opening, and sa,0
that the soul of that man aOas a dark
one. A nameless fear came over me a
strange thrill passed through me, like
an electric shock; l felt an electric shud-
der of dread. No wonder l had not
been able to read him before; the
man had been wearing an impenetrable
mask.
now had the key of the mystery,
and to him, and 1 used it. He was In
terested in superstitions was super
stitious himself. Why? Good men
may be superstitious; bad men always
are, because they carry hell of wild
fancies within them. Thus it was with
this man, as 1 could see by his eye, and
/ made his fancies work upon him. 1
told him stories of sorcery, witchcraft
and magic, of ghosts, hobgoblins and
devils, till he became pale with fear,
breathed With compressed lips, and
trembled, in spite of his great nerve
and skill.
If good men, as l have said, are
sometimes superstitious, why, you ask,
did | think this man superstitious alsoY
First, answer, because / had accident
ally thrown him off his guard and read
his soul aid secondly, because he was
not naturally nervous and credulous.
Fear could only arise from the self
convicted knowledge of past wicked
deed. The man was even then q crimi-
nal.
But let me hasten along to the de-
nOueDlent.
1t CHANGED that no other person was
present when this conversation occur
red about the superstitious fancies of
men, and as soon as We were interrupt
ed by the entrance of another customer
my dark visitor left somewhat abruptly.
After that he did not come as often as
he did before, and never renewed the
conversation that had so agitated him,
and never, in fact, entered into any
other that he could possibly avoid.
kept my thoughts to myself, but made
some casual inquiries about him, and
learned that he had been so fortunate
as to secure capital lead" from
which, with his partner, another young
man, he was taking out gold in quaint
ties that promised TO enrich both, and
that both rad the goodwill and esteem
of all who knew them.
One dark night, about three or four
weeks after this, I was startled from
my sleep by wild, prolonged shrieks,
and cries of murder murder help!
helpl"
/ jumped, seized my revolver, and
darted odt into the open air. The cries
from bend of the river about hun
dred rods below. In a minute 1 was
joined by five others, all well armed,
and together we ran as hard as we could
to the place from which the alarm pro-
ceeded. When we arrived there at least
thirty men were collected in and around
the tent of the dark man have been
describing, and he himself it was who
had given the alarm. His partner and
companion had been murdered and
robbed, and he himself had been slightly
cut across the face and gashed on the
left arm, and he was all excitement,
lamenting his dearest friend, and VOW
ing vengeance against the assassin. 1t
WAS SOLlc tlI1c DCiOIc VIC COuiu Rct dt
the particulars, and then We learned
that both had been sleeping side by
side, when an unknown robber had
crawled under the light canvas, stabbed
one to the heart, and taken large bag
of gold from under his head. With
this he was escaping, when the present
narrator awoke and feized him and
received the wounds which had compel
led him to relinquish his hold. Lights
were brought, and there, sure enough,
was the bloody confirmation of all that
had been related.
/ shall make no attempt to portray
the intense excitement, the wild rage
and CONSERVATION which this daring
murder occasioned. Every man felt
that, if the assassin escaped without
his just punishment, there would no
longer be security for any one in our
hitherto quiet and peaceful valley, and
solemn oaths were taken to hang the
wretch, if found, upon the nearest tree.
A large reward was offered for his
detection, and every gambler that had
ever been seen about there was more or
less suspected, and / believe that, had
any man been arrested on the following
day he would have been HING first and