The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1875-09-02

| it?"
"Can't say, never having heard anything
of it," replied.
"Well, 1 do ssyi Thought everybody
had hearn OF that. any how! It's q rsle
romance, a regular mystery, sir. IT'S been
talked about and writ about i'm the papers
so much Fat supposed 'st it was knowed
of far and wide."
past" replied by way of excuse for my ig-
norance OF even the vaguest outline OF the
affair, whatever it might be.
| "Well, you see, a leetle more'n a year ago
a gal an her father come here ana stopped
at this ERE very hotel. The man must "a
been som'res near sixty years old; but the
| gal was young, and jist the poortiest thing
/ ever seed in all my lie. l couldn't de-
scribe how she looked at all; but every
body 'at saw her said she was the beauti-
fullest creatur that they ever laid eyes onto.
Where these two folks come from nobody
| ever knowed, but they seemed like mighty
nice sort or persons, and everybody
liked 'em, specially the gal. Somehow,
from the very start, kind of mystery
hung round 'em. They seemed always TO
have gobs o. money, and Onct in awhile some
little thing'd turn up to make folks kinder
juberous some how at they wasn't list
what they ginerally seemed to be. But
that gal was tacinstin' as a snake, and as
! like tinted wax mixed with mOonshine, and
her eyes was as clear as
Limestone spring-though they
were dark as night. She was that full
of restless animal life 'at she couldn't set
still--she roamed round like leopard in a
cage, and she'd romp equal to ten year
old boy. Well, as nought be expected,
sicha gal as that 'ere'd tract attention in
| these parts, and / must say 'at the young
| fellows here did sit 'bominsble sweet on
her. 'Casionally two of 'em'd cit out in
the swamps and have a awful fight on her
/ 'cOnnt- hVt 5naarPd n
| little 'tenti0n TO any of 'em I'LL finally Ber-
ry Young ssepped in and jist went for 'er
| like mad and she took tom. Berry was
rally the incest and inteliiGentest young
man in all this country. He writ poetry for
the papers sir-sna CHI n coo1 po(tcy, tCo-I
and had got to be talked of a right smart
for his larnin', an 'complishmeDt. He was
good lookin', TOO; powerful handsome, for
fact, sir. So they was to be married, Berry
and the gal, an the time it WAS sot, an the
day it come. am all was ready, an the
| young folks was on the floor, and the
squire was jist commencin' to say the
ceremony, when 10! and bsholden, four big,
awful, rough loolzin' men rushed in with
big pistols, and mighty terrible bowie
knives, and big papers and big seals, and
said they was sheriff and a postum from
kaintucky. They Jist jumped rigst onto
the Gal an her father an han'cuffed 'em,
an took 'em."
"Hsrdcuffed them and took them!" 1
repeated, suddenly growing intensely inter-
ested. This was beating my dime novel,
for sensation, al hollow.
"Yes, sir, hau'cufled 'em an took 'em,
been hearn of since to this day. But the
mystenOusest thing about the whole bust
ness was that when the sheriff grabbed the
| gal ne called her George, and said she
wasn't no gal at all, but jist terrible Orn-
cry boy AT had been stealin' an counter
| ef,1fo ,sraf
What dye think Of thRt?"
ga remarkably strange affair, certainly"
/ 1 replied; land do you say that the father
and the girl have not since been heard
| from?"
''Never breath. The thing got into all
the newspapers and raised awful rumpus,
| and it turned out that il wasn't TO sheriff
at come there; but some dark, mysterious
Kidnappin' transaction 'at nobody could &C
count for. Detectives were put on their
track an follered 'em to Ipjun territory an
there lost them. Some big robberies was
connected with the affair. but folks could
never get head nor tail OF the partic'lers."
Sand it wasn't a real sherif's arrest
Ihen?" said i.
''NO, sir, twas iist a mystery. Some
kind of a dodge by band of desperadoes
to avoid the law some way. The papers
tried to explain it, but L never
could see any sense to il. Twas
to tell We at Berry Young took it awful hard
| bout the gal, IAN he's been sort o. siDkin'
away ever sence, an now he's jist ready to
wink out. Wonders where Berry lives, in
that ERE white cottage house with the vines
! round the Wind6r. Re's desp'rit Sick-a
sort o. consumption. Pm goin' to see i'm
now good mornin' To ye."
Thus Rbruptly ending our interview, the
doctor took up his medicine bag and went
his way. He left me In really excited state
OF mind; the story OF itself was SO strange.
and the narrator had told it so solemnly and
graphically. | suppose, too, that / must
have been in just the proper state of mind
for that rough outline, that cartoon of a most
startling and mysterious affair, TO become
deeply impressed in my mind, perhaps. in
the most fascinating and fantastic light pos
sible. y thirst to know more OF the story
took strong hold on my mind, as if 1 had
been reading a tantaliHlng romance and had
found the leaves torn ont Just where the
} mystery was 10 be explained. l half closed
my eyes TO better keep in the lines and
shades of the strange picture. It's influence
! lay upon me like spell. ] enjoyed il. IL
was luxury.
The wingsof the morning wind famed the
heat into broken waves, rising and sinking,
and flowing on, with lnurmur and fash and
glimner, to the cool green ways of the
woods, and, like the wind, my fancy went
out among golden fleece clouds and into
shady places, following the thread of this
!. new romance. i can not give sufficient
reason why the story took so fast hold on
me. But it did grip my mind and master it.
1t appeared to me the most intensely strange
affair had ever heard Of
While sat there lost in reelection, with
my eyes bent on a very unpromising pig
that wallowed in the damp earth by the
town pump, the laEdlord OF the hotel came
, out aud took a seat beside me. gayo him
pipe of my tobacco and forthwith began
plying him with questions touching the
affair of which the doctor had spoken. He
confirmed the story, and added to its mys-
terry by going infinitely into its details
He gave the name of the father and daugh-
ter as Chsrles Alton and Ollie Alton.
Ollie Alton! Certainly no name sounds
sweeter. How is It that these gifted, nlyster-
iously beautiful persons always have mu-