Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1879-11-13

Slare OI the nooluay sun. Inc
place was as silent as the grave.
! Not a leaf stirred in the hot air;
not blade of grass quivered as
l stood and looked at her. i
called softly, Nellie Nellie 2
There was no ansWer-nO move
ment in the PROSTATE form, and
then it came suddenly upon me
that she was dead. [ sprang a.
cross the brook and lifted her in
my arms. She was stabbed
through the heart. The grass
was imbued with her blood, and
l saw the place where she had
knelt and prayed for mercy. And
from her knees she had fallen on
her face, and so | found her-her
hands clasped as she had lifted
them in prayer, and her face
pressed against the ground.
| came up this rugged path
with her in my arms, a mailman
blind with grief and rage. Iran
back to where | had left my COM
panions.
"What is this?' they said see
ing that | carried Nellie in my
arms.
"She has been murdered - |
shrieked, laying the lifeless form
at their feet.
"And do you dare own that
you killed her?" they asked.
| looked at them in greater as
tonishment than | can describe. |
| saw by their looks that they
were i'll earnest. My heart was
breaking, my lips were cracked,
my voice only came in gasping
sobs.
"Oh, Nellie, Nellie! They say
l killed you! /, who loved you
better than my life. Are you
mad, men, that you thus accuse
me Of her murder? | tell you
Horace Philips is the man!'
That was proof enough. My !
companions knew me too we'll to
believe that | would lie to them.
The news spread like fire through
the neighborhood that Horace
Philips, the rich farmers son,
had murdered Nellie Martin.
Search was Immediately institu-
ted for the william and he was
soon discovered near the spot
where he had committed the
murder. He denied it at first,
but being pressed he finally ac-
knowledged having committed
murder the while in a fit of pas
sion and through jealousy of me.
stranger, we men Of the
woods have laws of our own, ,and
when | was called on to choose
the manner of his death, | silent
ly pointed to the bluff which you
see to the north Of the glade.
To the highest point Of that
bluff Horace Philips was car
ried, bound hand and foot, and
with the assistance Of my friends
and a strong rope which we pass
ed under lfs arms, we soon had
him suspended three hundred feet
above the toughest, gloomiest
chasm in all the mountains. It'll
only remained for me to cut the
rope, and as | approached for
that purpose, the doomed man
looked pityingly up at me and
begged for mercy. But my heart
was dead to mercy, and with a
steady hand l cut the rope.
"Thls was the last | ever saw
of Horace Philips. ] was told
afterward that his body lodged
in the branches Of a tree grow
ing on the side of the bluff mid
way beteen the base and the top.
One of the branches pierced his
body and held it there until the
flesh decayed and dropped to the
ground below. Some of his
bones are still clinging to the
tree. You can see them if you
walk over the bluff"
"This, stranger, is my story. !
My revenge was sweet, bit it has
lost me my happiness. Nellie is
buried on the other side Of the
knoll over there. Her father died
soon after her death, and he lies
beside her. / am engaged in an
unlawful practice-that Of max
ing wildcat whiskey, but | never
forget to visit Nellie's grave ev-
cry morning and night, and place
there some of the flowers she
loved so WELL"
Here his voice broke down, his
eyes filled with tears, and shoul-l
dering his rifle he disappeared in
the thick woods.
/ afterward visited the bluff
and found what he had told me
was true. Nearly two hundred
feet below stood the tree, from the
branches Of which hung several
human bones. With what horror
must Horace Philips have con-
temp!ated his doom while hang
ing suspended above this fright
full abyss. But for the tree he
must have fallen fully three hum
dred feet.
One of the greatest beauties