The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1880-01-22

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him threaten to kill Charles Mckinley;
that young man had himself said that
he did not consider his life safe so long
as John Mason remained in the country.
Even Johns father admitted reluctantly
that his son had declared his intention
of Kidding Charles Mckinley with buck
shot, while David corroborated the par
ent's statement. Thus the coils of cir
cumstantial evidence closed tighter and
tighter about the young man, and be-
yond his bare assertion there was moth
ing to be said in REPUTATION. The blow
had fallen on the young girl with crush
ing effect. The sudden disappearance
of her lover, the arrest of her brother on
the charge of numbering him, almost
drove her insane. She however, shared
the popular opinion that young McKin-
ley had been murdered, and that her
brother was guilty of that terrible crime.
Urged for reason for her belief, she
finally admitted that it rested on the
slender foundation of a dream. She
added that on the night succeeding
the day upon which Charles Mckinley
disappeared she had dreamed that she
saw her brother and him in violent
quarrel. The men were in dark ra-
vine; there was mountain to their
right, and a deep, dense forest to their
left. She heard their words; she saw
John strike Mckinley with the butt of
his rifle and fell him to the earth. That
blow was fatal. The young man never
spoke afterwards. John hid the body
in dark cave in the mountains, and
there it still remained! This dream
made powerful impression upon the
young girl, and though many were dis
posed to laugh at it, even while admit
ting it told tremendously against her
brother, nothing could shake her faith
and confidence in its horrible reality.
She insisted that it was true, though no
trace of the body could be found in any
of the numerous mountain caves after
most rigid search, and the vision rested
only upon her individual statement.
But her faith gave it tenfold power;
her acts seemed to confirm her belief.
From that moment she was a changed
woman. Slowly she pinned away The
color faded from her cheeks, giving
place to a death-like pallor; her step,
once light and elastic, became slow and
languid; her eyes lost their tender
glance, and sparkled with an unearthly
luster; she uttered no complaint. Like
the gentle girl who loved the unfortu-
nate Irish patriot, Robert Emmett, she
passed to her early grave, forgiving all,
beloved by every one, the victim of
broken heart!
John Mason broke Jail and fled to
Texas, his brother David going into ex-
lie with him. This settled all questions
or doubts as to his guilt or innocence.
Flight was accepted by one and all as
confession of guilt. Liberal rewards
were offered for the capture of the BROTH
ers, David being considered an accesso-
ry to the crime, but neither were ever
apprehended. From the Lone Star State
they went to Louisiana and in New Or
leans fell victims to that dread scourge,
yellow fever. Letters now in the IA
theirs possession contain the most fervent
protestations of their innocence, and
subsequent events clearly exonerated
them from completely in the taking off
of young Charles Mckinley For, years
later, when the main actors in this
strange episode slept in their quiet
graves miles and miles apart; when in
terest in the scenes we have related had
almost died away, or was recalled with
awe at the hunters winter fireside, the
mystery surrounding the disappearance
of the young man was brought to light!
A party of hunters, while chasing bear
in an adjacent county, found his remains
in a cave in which the animal they were
pursuing had established his lair. There
was only a CHASTITY looking skeleton of
man, a rusty rifle and, rudely carved in
the yielding rock upon which it rested,
these words: "Lost cant find my way
out Chas Mckinley" That was all, but
it told its own story. 1t solved an enig-
ma that darkened many lives. 1t cleared
from the foul stain of murder, though
too late, John Mason and his brother.
This was the life-history-a record
which, by the way, is authenticated and
can be verified by other living witnesses
the old man told us, one evening as
we sat beside the glowing fire in the big
fireplace of his lonely cabin. The night
wind swept down the deep mountain
gorges with the roar of an angry sea, the
stars twinkled dimly overhead, the howl
of the wolf echoed dismally far out in
the shadows of the woods, while the
darkness of night filled all space.