The Louisiana cotton-boll. [volume] (Vermilionville [i.e. Lafayette], Attakapas, La.) 1872-1883, 1877-09-05

lug over bh6 DunuIe Oh DOn6S pulleu 10
pieces as soon as handled. There was a
large Russia leather wallet lying between
the shriveled left arm and the bare ribs,
and this was SO far gone that it required
the most delicate handling Some
portions of it were lost before it reached
sunlight above, and the odor from it was
almost sufocating. In the mass of dust
and bones Martin made still more
important discovery. He found a men,
orandum- having an almanac in it
and the days of the week printed on
alternate pages The book was well
bound, and, owing to its thickness, had
stood the ravages of time much better
than even the thick-soled boots. The
almanac was for the year 1865, and
must be taken as proof that the stranger
fell into the pit in that year. He could
not of course have an almanac later than
the year in which he lived, and would
not be likely to carry one over year
old at the most. Many of the leaves
fell out and crumbled away, and portions
of many others were lost, but enough
were left, and enough of the writing
could be made out to form one of the
saddest chapters in the history of the
wild forests of Michigan. Written with
ink were the following words, found here
and there through the book:
"Thenee west !" shipments )" acre
tract;" Government; "trade for a
I-;;" shall have for--;" thence
by lake to. )" Grand Haven is for
:. )" John NJ. A !" demand for
about. )" "No. 456 South Co."
The above parts Of sentences were
CLEANED from perhaps the first twenty
leaves in the book. The rest seemed to
have been filed with writing in pencil,
and in one or two instances with red
lead pencil. Words could be made out
now and then, but the only complete
sentence found reads . seathWest
D lst
Of tree.
The unfortunate man had written his
name on the inside ofothe first cover of
the book. The presence of a name
could be family seen, but not even a
single letter could certainly be made
out. Martin thought the first name
locked like "William," while French
feels quite sure that it was Charles" !"
There was evidently an initial, standing
for a middle name, and the last name
was short enough for Wood" Gregg
or Brown" As near as they could
make out, there were not over six letters
in the name.
The bundle was lifted out with all
possible care, and in in it were found two
pairs of woollen socks, two Woollen shirts,
a vest, the blade of razor, buttons and
bits of paper which resembled greenbacks
Not one of the articles of clothing was
much more than dust, and the slightest
breath tore them to pieces. No book
card or anything to furnish clue was
found in the bundle, nor in the boots,
nor about the pile of blackened bones.
The skeleton was lifted out of its long
resting place in hopes that a knife or
tobacco.box might be found, but the
search was in vain. After half days
hunt for clue, the young men made
another discovey. The bones Of the
skeletons left leg were broken. That
was the first discovery. From the
bottom of the pit, for ten feet up, except
| in one place, the sides were full Of grit
and rock; in this one place, which was
stratum of red clay, the peer man had
cut inches about foot apart, evidently
hoping to reach the mouth Of the pit By
that means. He had cut inches to with
in thirteen feet of the surface, and in an
evil moment had lost his balance, fallen
to the bottom, and rendered all hopes
vain by breaking bis leg. He could do
nothing then but wait for death. He
might have had small supply of food
perhaps enough to last four or five days
Near where the skeleton was found were
nine plain marks on the wal, each one
standing for figure q" He had made
them to stand for days. He could tel
when day ended and night came, and
suffering terrible mental and bodily pain
he had made a mark to indicate the
passage of time, and hoped for release in
some way before he shoald be called
upon to make another. Worn out al
last, he had 'braced his back against the
wall and died. No one can tell what he
suffered--his hopes and fears and anguish
For ten long years at least the darl
pit has preserved its secret from the
world. Days and nights and weeks and
months have rolled away, and time has
shriveled the flesh and blotted out O
existence everything that might tell tht
world who the unfortunate victim was
Hunters, land-lookers and paid explorer
have gone into the north woods to b
heard Of no more. The newspapers have
chronicled the mysterious disappearance
of some citizen or stranger almost
weekly. This man was only one. out 0
two score who have strangely dis
f appeared during the last ten years i'll th,
, dark forests Of the lower Peninsula
leaving no clue to tell how or wher
| they met their fate.
II What must be the potato-bug'