Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1881-11-10

out. In moment after he entered, looked
pale and excited.
"Tom Dix-one of Stoner's neighbors-
says that his horse has come home without a
rider the reins upon its neck, clot of blood
upon the pummel Of the saddle! Boys. he's
been shot Just as suspected from the first. y
Everybody rose at this announcement
looking in the face of him opposite with a
blank, pallid stare.
"The crazy ma M" calculated several
"Strange !"-"very mysterious business" said
others.
81 tell you what" said the Squire, after a
pause, "has struck me from the first. 1t is
that this ngelooking fellow Henry saw,
mistook him for Stoner, until he looked into
his face, for Henry's horse and general ap,
pearance are not unlike his, and when he
found that he was wrong, he got out of the way
and went on until he met Stoner himself, and
has shot him.
"No doubt of it," said several
"But it is a very mysterious affair" con-
tinued he-"I know of no such looking man
in this region as Henry describes; but at any
rate he will be hunted down tomorrow, for
Stoner was one of the Regulators, and Hinch
is perfect blood hound. He can hardly
escape him, crazy or not crazy
This seemed to be the most satisfactory So
luton of the difficulty, and as it was too
dark for US to do anything that night we re-
sumed our seats to discuss over aud over
again these details; while the Squire sent off
a messenger summoning Hinch and the Reg
ulators to be on the ground early in the
morning.
Before SUNRISE in the morning, Hinch ar
rived with six men. I was walked up by his
loud clustering and swearing. He was raw
ing, as | afterwards understood, about Hen.
ry; calling his story about meeting with the
remarkable PERSONA ge-all humbug-and as
serting his belief that if murder had been
committed, Henry was its author. Our host
queted him in some way, and when we came
out to join them, he greeted US with snarl-
ing sort of cvility. He was thick.set,
broad.shouldered, burly y-looking wretch, with
blood.shot eyes, and face bearing all the marks
of riotous de5auchery. Our search was, for
several hours, entirely unsuccessful, until
Henry, by accident found the place where he
had encounter, I'd the Bearded Ghost, as some
one christeneG him. Here one of the keen
eyed hunters found the traces of large moe
casined foot. These were pursued for several
miles and lost, but on spreading our line and
continuing the same general course for some
distance farther, we at last found, indeed, the
body of Stouer. 1t had been so much mutt
lated by the wolves and ravens that little ex-
animation was made of the bones. We gath.
cred them together to carry them home to his
family, and in doing this l noticed the frac-
ture Of bullet through the back of the skull.
1t had been stripped bare of flesh, and both
eyes plucked out by the birds, aud was too
shocking. an object for. close examination.
But what puzzled all parties most was the
discovery, a short distance of, Of the trail of
shod horse. Now, there was perhaps not a
horse in Shelby county that wore shoes, and
certainly not one in our party. Shoeing is
never thought of, being unnecessary where
there are no stones. This was as perfect a
poser as even henry's story, and threw yet
greater air of inexplicability around the af-
fair. 1t was thought that this track might
be easily traced to any distance; but after
worrying about it for several days, it was
given up in despair, and the Regulators, IA
respective homes.
But one Of their number never reached his.
Being missed for two days, there was gen.
eral turnout TO look for him; and as had
been the case with Stoner, his body was found
torn to pieces by the wolves The report was
that he, too, had been shot through the back
of the head.
These murders, and the singular circum-
stances accompanying them, created great
sensation. Hinch and his troops secured the
country in every direction, arresting and
lynching suspicious persons, as they called
them. One poor, inoffensive fellow, they
hung and cut down four or FIVE times, to make
him confess; out nothing was elected and
they left him with barely spark of life.
That evening, as they were returning to
their headquarters at the store, one of them,
named Winter, missed portion Of his horse
furniture, which had become accidentally de-
tached. He said he had observed it in its
place a mile back-that he would return
to get it, and rejoin them at the store, by the
time they should be ready to commence the
spree they had determined on going into that
night. He left them, and never returned.
They soon got drunk, and did not particularly
notice his, absence until some time the next
day, when his family, alarmed by the return
of his horse with an empty saddle, sent to in
quire after him.
This sort of inquiry had come to be so sig
nifcant of late, that they were instantly sober
ed, and mounting, rode back on their trail.
Very soon swarm Of buzzards and wolves,
near line OF thicket ahead, designated the
whereabouts Of their search and there they
found his feshless bones scattered on every
side. They were appalled,. The reddest-
bloated cheek among them blanched 1t was
terrible They seemed to be doomed !! Three
of their number dead and torn to pieces with
iu ten days and yet not the slightest clue to
the relentless and invisible foe, but that g host
story of Henry's, and the tracks which only
served to tantslize them 1t must be some
dread supernatural visitation Of their hideous
crimes! They shivered, while the great
drops started from their foreheads and with
out thinking of looking for any trail, or
gathering up the bones, they started back at
full speed, spreading the alarm everywhere.
The excitement now became universal and
tremendous. Nearly the whole country turn
ed out for the purpose of unravelling this
alarming mystery; and the superstitious fren-
zy was in no small degree heightened by the
report, that this man had been shot in the
same way as the others-in the back Of the
head!
These incidents were all so unaccountable,
that own felt no little sympathy with the
popular association of supernatural agency
in their preparation. Henry laughed at all