Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1885-03-05
A THRILLING STORY.

OF all the remarkable tTialS which
have taken place in the courts Of
: North Carolina, writes a correspond
emit to The St. Louis Globe Democrat,
none have ever surpassed that of T..
l.. Shields. who has once stood under
/ the shadow of-the gallows, and now
goes to the penitentiary for Staying
the seducer Of his sister.
In Mecklenburg county no family
stood higher IN the social scale than
that of Mr.. a. @, Shields. Living in
this old county, which claims to have
issued the first declaration of indie.
pendence. Mr.. Shields traced his
ancestry back TO the heroes of the
revolution He had two sons and one
daughter His first son, David, had
married Miss Annie Sitton, young
girl of viyacious manner, queenly
step, and volHptuous form. The sec
and son, Thomas L., was engaged
some distance from the parental home-
stead in country merchandise, owned
the house in which he lived, and was
regarded as q good catch by all the
young ladies IN the country. The
daughter, Miss Mollie, was Just Is;
tall, lthe of figure, with long raven
tresses falling in wild confusion over
her shoulders beautiful peach
bloom complexion; eyes of soft blue,
arched by wavy lashes, which added
to the striking beauty of her face.
Tom was her favorite brother, and
when he went to be master of bach
elor's hall, she made protracted visits,
and soon grew to being more at home
there than ct the house of her father.
1t was during one of these visits that
Miss Mollie was called upon by the
wife of her brother David, who filed
the young girls soul with a dream of
possible love. "My brother, Joseph
Sltton," Mrs. Annie Shields said, sis
coming to make me visit. He is
ceming here in the interest of min
ing company, and may stay here for
good if business prospers. | do so
hope you two will like each other, for
il would be so romantic to have our
families bound by this new tie. y And
the young girl, her soul full of love,
looked dreamingly into the future,
and treasured up the romance which
her sister-in-law has so temptingly
painted for her
In few weeks Mr.. Joseph G.. Sitton
made his appearance in the neighbor-
hood-a large man of violet temper
and q masher of women's hearts He
listened to the scheme which his sister
he'd prepared for him, but while the
sister was only thinking of love and
marriage, the brother was only think
ing of passion satiated upon new
victim. a message was hurriedly
sent to Miss Mollie to come over. She
ran ioyously into the room not know
ing of the arrival of the stranger,
when suddenly, with a Slight scream,
and looking up from her dark lashes,
she beheld;
My brother, Mr.. Joseph G. Sit
ton"
MY husbands sister, Miss Mollie
Shields"
For an hour and half this simple
country maiden sat enchanched under
the spell of man of the world, who
valued female hearts as only made to
be crushed. She listened to his tales
of travel as Desdemonia listened to
the exploits of the swarthy Moor, and,
while he did not come up 10 the
poetry of her expectations, yet she
was completely enthralled by his
eloquence. When Mr.. Sitton left the
trembling maiden at her brothers
door that night he turned away with
the air of a man who had made an
other conquest, while Miss Molhe
sought her couch in a whirl of unreal
Imagination. At the breakfast table
next morning, with ali the impulsive
ness of young love, she told her
brother OF the strangers arrival
My poor, innocent little sister, -
said Tom, 'let me beg of you to drop
this man from your mind. Better
the honest love of someone you know,
who has been raised with you, than
all the fiction which a hardened
stranger can spread out before you
When next Miss Noliie saw her
sisterin- law she told her Of the unex-
pected obstacles to their plans. Then
it was that Mrs. Shields became the
bearer of messages between the couple
and arranged for their secret meet
ings, sometimes at her own house,
aud sometimes in the groves through
which they passed to the little church
which they attended. Miss Mollie
was one of the teachers ia the Sunday
school, and this afforded her full OPP.
portunity to get away from the
watchfulness of her brother Slowly
Sitton wound himself around the girls
heart, trying to lead her mind into
lille. channels Once he promised to
present her with a catechism, the
reading of which would make her
smarter than all the other girls. She
took it home and into her room, and
upon opening it was shocked to see
spread out before her pictures Of
things she had never dreamed Of.
Hastily placing it at the bottom of her
trunk, whore il could not be found,
she tried to forget it, but still the Sc
ductive pictures woald float before
her eyes.
Thus matters passed untilJune 1888
when Sltton announced that on
Thursday, the 5th OF that month, he
would go to his home not to return.
| Wednesday night was dark and