The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1881-10-20
manitomof pilot.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1881.
ROMANCE OF THE WEST.

Stone County, Michigan, with bis wife,
intending to emigrate to Louisiana.
Some place along the border he fell in
with man who gave his name as Isaac
Young, and who obtained permission to
join the Baxters, as he claimed to be
travelling in the same direction they were
going.
Young was about 80, very plausible,
and quickly ingratiated himself in the
good graces of Baxter and his wife. He
confided to his companions everything
regarding his financial resources and fu-
ture plans, and Baxter, in return, made
similar revelation. Among other
things, he informed the young man that
he had sold his farm for 81, 900, and that
be carried the money, in $40 gold pieces,
in belt strapped around his waist.
! Some time after this the emigrants
camped one night at point between
Dykes Mill, La. and Magnolia, Ark.
The spot selected for camp was at the
head of a lonely glen, which was shaded
OH either side by tall pines and thiokly
carpeted with luxuriant grass. A spring
of clear, cold water gushed from ledge
of rocks halfway down the glen, and a
number of fallen pine logs furnished
ample material for fuel.
When a simple repast was prepared
and eaten, Baxter lit his pipe, and saying
he would return soon, strolled down the
glen. Young and Mrs. Baxter remained
seated by the blazing fire talking about
the incidents of the days travel.
An hour passed. Baxter did not re-
| turn. His wife grew uneasy, and Young,
to quiet her fears, as he expressed it,
started down the glen, saying he would
bring him back. The woman waited i'm
patiently. One, two, three hours went
by, yet neither appeared. Mrs. Baxter
was now thoroughly frightened. She
called loudly for her husband, but re-
ceived no response. Only the echo of
her own voice came back to her, borne
on the night wind, which swept down the
valley and through the tops of the sway
ing trees. She ventured down the glen,
trembling, calling, listening; but she
neither heard nor saw anything. Both
her husband and his companion had dis
| appeared as completely SIS if the earth
| had suddenly opened and swallowed
them up.
| Almost distracted, she returned to the
camp, where she paced to and fro until
morning came; then, mounting one of
the horses, she fastened to the nearest
house, and soon had q body of men
securing the country in search of the
missing men. The search was continued
nearly week without finding any trace
of Young or Baxter, when it was aban-
doned. The men engaged in it told Mrs.
Baxter bluntly that the affair was pre-
concerted between the two men, and that
her husband had heartlessly deserted
her. The wife SO strangely bereft would
not accept this theory. She insisted
that her husband had been murdered by
Isaac Young, and that time would show
she was not mistaken.
Acting on this supposition she return
ed to her former home, and gathering
all her available means, instituted a
thorough search. She advertised, en-
ployed detectives, scattered handbills
with accurate descriptions of her hus-
band and Young, but all to no purpose
Nothing came of it, and the affair SEEM
ed mystery which no human skill could
unravel.
Years went by, and still she remained
in her mountain home, hoping and pray
ing for tidings of her missing husband
or even clew that would point to his
fate. The suspense in all these years
has been trying. Since that memorable
night she has become an old woman. By
the sale of nearly all the effects which
remained to her after her husbands dis
| appearance, she had been enabled to buy
| little cabin and few acres of ground
and have money enough remaining to
| keep her, with close economy, from ac-
tual want. And alone in that little hut
she waited for tidings of the man to
whom she had linked her fate.
Last week startling news reached that
solitary woman in her mountain retreat.
1t came in the shape of a letter written
only last June, and dated at Melbourne,
Australia. The writer said he had that
day assisted to bury a man of the name
of Saunders, but whose papers, which
the writer had been charged to examine,
showed he was Isaac Young, an Ameri-
can, and who confessed to o horrible
crime. Then followed detailed account
of the night in the glen, sixteen years
ago.
1t seems Young had made up his mind
to rob and murder Baxter from the time
! he learned that Baxter had $1,000. He
followed him quietly down the glen, stole
upon him unawares, and struck him a
| blow with a stick Of wood which killed
him instantly. To secure the money and
bury the body under some loose earth
| and stones was the work of few mo-
ments, and before Mrs. Baxter had start
ed down the glen Young was miles away.
He fastened to New Orleans, took pas
sage to Australia, changed his name, and
speculated with his ll-gotten gains. He
prospered amazingly, and, unlike the
traditional murderer, died undetected
and wealthy.
He directed that Mrs. Baxter be found
If living, and paid $4,000 with interest
from the date of the murder, and he
begged her to forgive him. This was