San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1884-04-17

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here and 500 all thisf Surely the,
meant 10 murder this girl and make
us witness II, in order 10 spread terrol
and tho fear Of their power 10 Judge
and 10 execute Judgment through thu
land, Here was q murder TO which
the murderers demanded witnesses
and compelled the presence OF wit
nessos But still, as l said before
we could see but dimly. The moor
was sinking fast now, How SLOW
and deliberate they were! Tit
barrow evidently had heavier load
than ever before. The heavy chair
and the chained girli! 1t mooved
heavily, slowly, through the grea'
white girdle Of cleaning salt; slowly
and sadly, like funeral march.
At last il touched the edge OF the
dark waters. All was still, as death
II seemed that some one Of these
men-two Of them, three OF them
all Of them-must disobey this giant
and monster, kill him If necessary,
and save this beautiful girl. Even ii
they had no sense OF chiyalry OF
valor in them to help the helpless, i
did seem as il some one, any ono, all
might do almost anything to protect
her, save her.
Two men rode up, dismounted,
held their horses by the long tethers
as they stood there fretful and knee,
deep in the cleaning girdle Of salt,
and so hastily lifted the long black
coffin into the boat.
Tho giant solemnly and silently
took his place at the oar and began
to move slowly and certainly toward
the dark and desolate rock in the
deeps of the lake.
The horsemen remounted, drew
back. hats in hand, and 80 sat with
the others looking out at the colossal
and silent boatman with his singular
freight. Was he rowing to reach
this rock where the corpse had been
seen loaded down in the water with
chains7 Would he not go on, on, on,
anywhere, and escape these brutal
and blind followers, who believed
him saint engaged in maintaining
the Church of Jesus Christ?
But these men did not doubt for q
moment. They sat their horses in q
crescent about the head of the lake
and looked on, tranquil, silent,
reverential, waiting with certainty
the signal Of death.
Never fell there such silence.
Never was there such a murder as
this. Far away above the cleaning
towers of snow the stars stood trem-
bling. The moon began to hasten
away and slide swiftly down in the
west behind the hill on which we
stood, as if terrified and refusing to
be witness.
The man saw that the moon was
going away, and he dipped his oars
with rapid and heavy stroke. The
water shone, sparkled, flashed in the
moon. The oars dug into the heavy
water as if dipping into a seq Of
molten silver.
The boat struck the rock! You
could hear it CRATE and grind, all was
80 still.
The giant stood up in the boat a
second, then with his broad right
hand slowly drew back the covering
and looked down as if into face in
the coffin. He was SO tall, his form
seemed like tree. He cast a black
and frightful shadow far out over
the sea of silver in the fading moon
light. The mounted Danties doomed
up in the mirage larger than heroic
statues. At last the colossal figure
in the boat leaned over, caught up
something long and heavy from the
coffin, stood up tnll and terrible with
it poised in the air, high above his
head in his two mighty hands. He
poised it there a moment, dallied
with it, heaved his great heavy
arched his long strong
back, surged to and fro in the failing
silvery moonlight, and then with
vehement force threw it forward into
the depths of the dark waters with
all the tremendous power that was
in him.
The waters dashed up, CLEANED
like sunrise, closed over, and all
was still again in the heart of tho
great dark waters Of death.
A hand was lifed to us from the
nearest horseman, and we passed on
over the hill right in the face of the
great round moon now settling down
to rest in the far-off Sierras, and 1
never saw the place again for twenty
years or more.
And when did return I came from
London to write up the trial of Brig
ham Young, who was then being tried
for his life for completely in murders
like this.
By good foltune I found an old
friend of mine was then Governor OF
the Territory. We searched this
spot for the skeletons ; but, as before
observed, the lake had so filled that,
while we found the buried rock and
little island, we found nothing more.
told d Mormon elder this story, and
he earnestly assured me that all we
had seen of the end was the mirage
a delusion that the missionary
did not drown the girl, but had taken
this course to save her from the
Danites; that he had left the girl in
the willows, to fall in with the next
train that came by, while he had
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