The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1881-10-13

a Ro,1ANcE OF TIE WEST,


sixteen years ago, James Baxter left
Stone county, this State, with his
wife, intending to emigrate to Louis
lana. Some place along the border
fell IN with a man who gave his name
as Isaac Young, and Who obtained
permission to join Baxter, as he claim
ed to be travelling in the same direction
they were going. Young was about
30, very plausible, and quickly ingra-
tiated hinselfin the good graces Of
Baxter and his wife. He cOnfided to
his companions everything regarding
his financial resources and future
plans, and Baxter, in return, made a
similar revelation. Among other
things he informed the young man
that he had sold his farm for $1,000,
and that he 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 Off lonely glen,
which was shaded on either side by
tall pines, and thickly carpeted with
| luXuriant grass. a spring of clear,
cold water gushed from a ledge of
I rocks half way down-the glen and
/ number of fallen pine logs furnished
ample material for fuel. When a
! simple repast was prepared and eaten,
/ Baxter lit his pipe, and said he would
! return soon strolled down the glen.
! Young and Mrs. Baxter remained
| seated by the blazing fire talking
! about the incidents of the day travel.
An hour passed. Baxter did not re-
turn. His wife grew uneasy, and
/ tn, inf hat 10
! pressed it, started down the glen, say
ing he would bring him back. The
woman waited impatiently. One,
| two, three hours went by, yet neither
| appeared. Mrs. Baxter was now
thoroughly frightened. She called
loudly for her husband, but received
no response. Only the echo of Ler
own voice came back to her, borne OH
1 the night wind, which swept down
1 the valley and through the tops of the
9s8vayimg Stfees. She Ventured down
1 the glen, Trembling. calling, listening;
/ but she neiBker heard nor saw any
thing. her husband and hi
,compaIf3s I'D disappeared as COM
pletelY Che earth had suddenly
! opened and swallowed them up. Al
Amost distracted, she >fS8Hrned to
8Sfhe camp, where she paced to
s 8nd fro until morning came :;
sfthen mounting one of the horses, she
/ :hastened to the nearest house, and
soon had body of men securing the
country in search of the missing men.
The search was continued for nearly
week without finding so much as a
trace of either Young or Baxter, when
it was abandoned. The men engaged
in it told Mr.. Baxter blpntly that the
affair was preconcerted 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 that she
was not mistaken.
Acting on this supposition she re-
turned to her former home, and gath
ering all her available means. institu-
| ted a thorough search. She adVer-
tised, employed detectives, and scat
tered handbills with descriptions of
her husband and Young; but all to
| 10 purpose. Nothing came of it, and
the affair seemed a mystery which no
human skill could uDraveI. Years
went by, and still she remained in her
mountain home, hoping and praying
for tidings of her husband-or even
clue that would point TO his fate. The
suspense in all these years has been
| trying. Since that memorable night
she had become an old woman. By
the sale of nearly all the effects which
| remained to her after her husbands
| disappearance, she had been enabled
to buy a little cabin and few acres
| of ground and have enough money re-
manning to keep her, with close econ
omy, from actual want. And alone
in that little hut she waited for tidings
of the man to whom she had linked
her fate.
Last weeks startling news reached
that solitary woman in her mountain
retreat. 1t came in the shape off let
ter 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
be en- charged to examine, showed he
was Isaac Young, an American, and
who confessed to a horrible crime.
Then followed a detailed account of
the night iii the glen, sixteen years
ago. 1t seems Young had made up
his mind to rob aud murder Baxter
from the time he learned that Baxter
! IlitU pZ,UO0s' lie tOiiOWGtL Nun quietly
down the glen, stole upon him una
wares, and struck him blow with a
stick of wood that killed him instant
ly. To secure the money and bury
the body under some loose earth and
stone was the work of a very few mo-
ments, and before Mrs. Baxter had
started down the glen Young was
miles away. He FASTENED to New
Orleans, took passage to Australia,
changed his name, and speculated
with his ill-gOtten gains. He prosper
ed amazingly, and, unlike the tPadi-
tional murderer, died undecided and
wealthy. He directed that Mrs. Bax-
ter be found, if living, and paid $1,000
with interest from the date of the
murder, and begged her to forgive
HIM. That was all which the letter
contained. But subsequent investiga-
ton proved it to be true. Bakers
bones were found at the foot of the
glen decently buried, and the Austria
liam party turned out to be Isaac
Young, the murderer. Mrs. Baxter
declined the money, but she may yet
conclude to take it. The story is as
strange as it is true.