The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1880-01-22

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-
lev had been murdered, and that her
brother was guilty of that terrible crime.
/ Urged for a 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
i his rifle and fell him to the earth. That
blow was fatal The young man never
] spoke afterwards. John hid the body
! in a 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 changed
woman. Slowly she pined away. The
color faded from her cheeks, giving
place to 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 ali,
! beloved by every one, the victim of q
broken heart!
John Mason broke jail and fed 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 a
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 ut the hunters winter fireside, the
mystery surrounding the disappearance
of the young man was brought to lighti
a party of hunters, while chasing a bear
in an adjacent county, found his remains
in cave in which the animal they were
pursuing had established his lair. There
was only a ghastly looking skeleton of a
man, 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 It's 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 how
of the wolf echoed dismally far out in
the shadows of the woods, while the
darkness of night filed all space.