The New Bloomfield, Pa. times. (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1877-188?, 1877-10-23


at length I sat down and something
seemed to say, Wait and see what will
happen did so, and almost lmmedi-
ately l beheld % man, q stranger to me,
riding up the hillside. lie seemed In
great haste, and / thought he was hurry
ing on to Sarahsville before the rain
should come. SO far as was concerned
/ did not care to seek shelter, but some
thing seemed to call all my attention to
the stranger. Almost Immediately l
saw another man emerge from the dark
ness of u fence corner opposlte,and with
heavy club or bludgeon In his hands
he ran up behind the man on horseback
and dealt him terrible blow on the
head. There was q fall, u groan, and
then seemed to awake; although, as 1
am now certain did not. That was
simply part of the dream. When j
next looked the murderer was conceal
ing the body Of the dead man In huge
hollow tree. 1 recognized this place also,
and still awaited developments. The
murderer next took the money from the
saddle-bags and placed 1t in large bag
of his own, and taking the saddle from
the horse, turned him loose. Then talk
ing the money In his hands he start
ed away. AS he did 80 o fash of light
ming shining full upon his face, revealed
William Styles, my father then
screamed in reality, and awolSe. At first
thought nothing in particular of the
peculiar revelation, deeming 1t only o
nightmare, but the more thought of
the matter the more 1t impressed me,
and l was absolutely led to go to the
spot where 1t seemed to me the body was
concealed"
"Did you find anything that resem-
bled the spot pictured in your dream ?"
Certainly; j recognized the spot
shown in the dream, and could 20 di-
rectly to the spot. Upon arriving there
and examining the ground, / found
nothing remarkable; but was not sat
isiled with superficial examination.
got shovel, and, digging among the
rotten wood, found what you have
heard.'
" A skeleton, which you are convinc-
ed is that of the dead drover?"
She bowed her head, but made no aud
ible reply.
"What Is the truth in regard to the
finding of portions of a saddle supposed
to be that of the lost droverY" i asked.
ooh, / should have remarked as /
proceeded with the story of my dream"
she said, "that the murderer seemed to
hide the saddle beneath pile of leaves
and brush not far away, first digging q
hole in the ground"
" Did you search here 20
No,I didn' 't,but after i had discover
ed the skeleton and had told about it to
some of the people told them where to
dig for the saddle, and they did so, and
found all that could have remained of it
through the years-viz., the stirrups, the
buckles, ETC., much decayed with rust.
Thanking the young lady forher cour-
tesy in relating her dream, and filled
with wonder that her account should so
closely have followed that of the neigh
bors, went away to make further in
quiries. l found that the bones, after
lying in state for day or two, had been
inferred in the graveyard; that the por-
tlons of the saddle found were still on
exhibition, and examined them. They
consisted of one stirrup and two buckles
all exceedingly old and eaten with rust
They are kept at the harness-maker's
Upon inquiry among the people of the
town, it was discovered that considera-
BILE suspicion, wholly on account of the
dream, fastens upon Mr.. Styles, the
father of the girl, but as he is dead al
ready, no criminal prosecution will
probably be begun against him at pres
ent 1t was remembered that he had for
many years before his death been noted
far and wide as the most consummate
coward in the whole region. He could
hardly be persuaded to go out at night,
and during thunder storms his fear was
painful to behold. He usually betook
himself to his cellar and covered his
face with his hands in an ecstasy of
agony.
All in all the case is certainly one of
the most peculiar and interesting on
record. My account of it as given above
reads more like an extravagant story
than an adherence to facts, but never
was there more painstaking effort made
to arrive at the truth, and what was
obtained has been recorded.