Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1880-01-08
!
x MOUNTAIN MYSTERY.

Glimpses of Life in the Thinly Settled Inte-
4 . = SriOf COInt1e OF Arkansas.
-TCorrespondence of the New York World.l
WITT SPRINGS, Searcy County, Ark
December 20.-At the foot Of the Bos-
ton Mountains dwells man named Ma
s,son. He is over 80 years old, and his
tall figure, white hair and patriarchal
air give him an indescribable appear
ance. His house is {: rough but COM
fDrtablea4oG- -cabinys and the sfew acres
around it afford ample subsistence. An
y excellent marksman, he has never aban-
Il !, ,doned the tisei0f bis tr,lsty rife, while
the numerous deer and bear skins within
.. and without the cabin bear ample testi-
1nony Of his skill and success. With the
exception of his wife, he lives entirely
alone. But his life has not always been
thus dcsolate. Only a few years ago
three children frightened his humble
"a home, two boys, John and David, and
one daughter, Lizzie, who was the pride
of the old mans heart and the light of
his rude cabin. The sons were light
4, hearted boys, given to drink, somewhat,
but liked by every body, while Lizzie
e. was rare, wildwood blossom. Her
. soft blue eyes and faxen hair played
sad havoc with the hearts of the younger
pOTfianI of the opposite sex in all that
} section and many sought her hand in
marriage, the fortunate young sl,itor
being yoapg man an.;a1as aamed CHI, Charles Nc
dollar, yet handsome, very forest
-. Apollo-in short, just the kind of Il man
to win :: young girls heart!
The Mason family were any thing but
pleased with her choice, and spared no
effort to break off the attachment the
lovers had for each other. Lizzie, how
ever, could not be moved. Entreatics
and threats were alike unavailing. The
former gave her courage to plead for
Charley; the latter made her cling the
closer to him. The young man was also
firm. will never give up Lizzie, he
said, with big, round oath, when
questioned on that point. Finding all
other efforts useless the Masons resorted
to more violent measures. John Mason
met Charles Mckinley one day in the
'-- forest and a terrible fight -ensred in
which both were badly cut and bruised,
but in which John was decidedly
worstedf This stirred up additional
bitterness and for a time threatened to
draw the majority of the surrounding
fanlies into the quarrel and disturb the
peace of the neighborhood. Lizzie
q sought to pour oil on the troubled water,
and her gentle words melted the hard
cned natures that evil passions had filled
with wrath, There was reconciliation
between her lover and brother, and
there was general rejoicing in conse-
quence, when an event occurred which
chaaxed amity into distrust and sus-
- picion. ThSsait vas no less than the
sudden and ms5sSz>sd disappearance
of Charles Mckinley. last seen
alive, alone in the forest beyond the
mountains, and was on the traifSof q
herd Of deer. The most rigid seateh
failed to discover him or any trace u
3 his Whereabouts. He had dropped out
of sight-and life as if the earth had
opened and swallowed him up. All sorts
been murdered, another that he
had ran away, still another that
s he was purposely hiding himself and
would suddenly, RETURN But as time
won't of antlshc neither c4me nor was
heard ofg the suspicion that tshe had met
4 fWithfo,d klay gained gro6nd rapidly,
growing into. certainty in the minds of
very many persons. Of course John
Mason was accused of the murder, and
,s though he strenuously denied the
l4s charge, the evidence against him was
strong enough to warrant his apprehen-
~ sion. Once in the meshes of the Law i
seemed as if a hundred circumstances
Il ~ came Esrpa all crying ftrumpet tonged,
Il1ii ."GmlAlr divers pefsonsiIhad heard
him threaten to kill Charles Mckinley
xhat young 1iiair had himself said that
he did not consider his life safe so long
1es as John Mason remained in the country.
Even Johns father admitted reluctantly
that his son had declared his intention
of riddting Charles Mckinley with buck
sh6k, while David corroborated the par
ent's statement. Thus the coils of cir
cunlstntial evidence closed tighter and
u tightcratout the young man, and be-
you'd BIZ bare assertion there was moth
~ ing TO V said in refutation. The blow