Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1878-03-14

ic keys, and fed, leaving, as h
thought, no trace.
O ''But as l studied the heel
e mark in the soft pine I knew h,
If had left a trace-a link that
t. determined should be fitted to /;
V chain that should bind him hanc
|, and foot. AS I have said the
e exact imprint Of the heel was
deeply impressed into the yield
: ing pine. The maker of the
s boot to which that heel belonged
s must have had leisure, and q
: fanciful turn of mind, when EN-.
: gagged In its manufacture, for he
had made in the centre a per-
2 feet star, and there it was every
nail distinct. It was useless to
I think Of tracing his course with
5 out, for it had been showing all
5 lnight-and in fact all day-and
; OF course every mark was long
since obliteratcd.
Gas / expected. the country
coroner and jury returned a YER
dict Of death by suicide. l i'm
medlately held a consultation
, with the railroad express Off
cials, to whom [ impaired my
belief Of murder, but cautioned
them to let the impression 90
forth that they were satisfied
with the verdict, and then the
chances were that the murder
er would not take alarm and fly.
My idea was that he was no
stranger to that section, and
that he would, unless startled by
the fact being made known that
Pancoast had not committed
suicide, remain, for fear that his
going away would create sus-
picion.
81 visited all the boot and
shoe stores in that part of the
country, ostensibly to buy a
pair Of boots, but [ was hard to
suit. | managed to discover, |
however, that none had made or
sold a pair Of boots or shoes
with star in the heel. | fell to
inspecting every shodded foot,
and the marks they might make,
with indefatigable perseverance.
It. grew to be such mania with
me, that I greatly surprised Mrs.
Rollins by mechanically raising
her bootees, as she laid them a.
side to don her slippers one
evening, and examining the
heels thereof; and she fell to ex-
patiating on the beauty of the
fit and their cheapness, fearing,
the dear little woman, that l was
parsimoniously in
clined. t
81 had boots and shoes, from
number nothing to unhcard Of s
sizes, mixed up in my dreams; {
and when one night | missed
the Express, and took the Fast I
Freight for D, and threw |
down on D scat in the q
cabooso and fell to sleep, it was |
not surprising that I fell to 7
dreaming of the perplexing So S
luton to the mystery attached |
to the murder of Agent Pan t
coast. f
II seemed tG he in an invisi- y
bic shape, wandering around 4
from place to place in search ~
of a pair Of boots with star !,
worked in the heel with nails. T
AT last | stepped into a store, y
which | recognized as being the I
one next door TO the headquar-
ters in c.. Great 'broad- =
threads with strange devices .
worked in the heels with huge 8
nails, fitted before me, and g
ranged themselves on the long a
counter beside the little shoes
With no heels at all. Dainty n
ladies' shoes and gents boots o
seemed of their own volition to
leave the shelves and boxes, and .
come down foraInspection. 4
"At last came the pair I had :
looked for SO long-a pair with f
a perfect star worked in the "
centre of the heel. / had al St
ready reached out my hand to ?
take them up, when before me = :,
stepped a man ] had known by \,
sight as sort of ne'er-do-well, "
who had been braking on the t
road for a few weeks, who, TAX if
ing possession of them with an
air of ownership, stalked out. Y