Daily Republican. [volume] ([Wilmington, Del.]) 1874-1890, 1885-01-17
ROMAHCE or LONG AGO.

In the carly settlement Of Missouri
many bloody tragedies have been Gu.
acted In the shadows Of the wtld-woods
and passed unrecorded, aud are now
forgotten and unknown, save only TO
the few survivors Of that time. OF such
Is the following:
Take the great road leading south
from Kansas City and follow 1t on 70
westport, thence half mile beyond the
town to Brush creek. At the creek turn
to the right, and follow 1t up for about
"a mile, and yOu will come to little
valley of about forty acres, now en-
closed and cultivated. Far away back
in the latter part OF the "thirties,"
chs little valley was owned and occu-
pied by two different persons, the di.
viding line between them running
north and south. A Kentuckian named
George Smith owned the west part. He
WAS widower with a grown daughter,
and lived In q log house on the west
side Of his field. His daughter, Effie
Smith. was tall, comeIy girl, pos
sesesd OF rude beauty and q quick
wit, which made her the belle OF the
neighborhoOd She had two suitors,
Tom Elvers and Joe Perkins, both re-
spectacle young men, but 1t Was dim
cult 10 tell which one she preferred. To
her widowed fAtheL she WAS particu-
larly devoted.
At the east end Of the valley and
directly opposite lived their neighbor,
Dan MackinnOn, North Caroitnian.
He was Q bachelor and lived alone. lie
Was of q singularly moroso ana III
natured disposition. To make matters
worse, his neighbor smith was quick
and fiery tempered, and they had many
quarrels about their dividing line ant
also the spring they both used, which
was exactly on the line ut the bank o
| the creek which bounded their land OF
! the south.
One summers day the two met at tn
| spring Mackinnon had his rifle Of
| his shoulder, and, after n bitter wran
gle. he put bullet into Smiths heart
The neighboi hood was aroused. bu
before any stsps could be taken :
arrest Mackinnon no had disappeared
There was no telegraph In those dave
aud settlements being few and 10
apart, escape was easy. When Smit
y q. brought home, his daughter thre'
herself on her knees beside the bod
and refused 10 be con forted. When q
| lbat sue Ihibtsl utE no.u bhC INV Aos
| Elvers and joe Perkins standing on
ON each SIDE Of her. She looked 1t thei
in a dazed, dreamy kind Of way, an
NJ last said: Whichever one OF 20
b,iugs me Dan Mackinnon's ears Thu
man III marry Now 70 and lea'
| me alone"
They knew her we'll enough To kno
that abe meant what she said, and
I ~ L.. L.. In
was the great land OF refuge tor the ou
| casts Of society. To Texasit WAS natu
ally supposed Mackinnon had gone. To
e Eiv.rs and Joe Perkins also soon at,
, left the neighborhood, After Smi
, was buried his daughter went to II
J | with some relatives his place WAS reI
ed out. and peace and quiet once INC
reianed over the little valley.
A wear had passed away. Dan Mao
!. inpon's house had remained closed il
: AS he left IL. His few horses and cat
had wandered away and had been TAX
mn and sold as estrays. One morni
T In August, about sunrise, the door
!, his house opened, and q man came {
!" with bucket on his arm and walk
= slowly down the old path towards
D s,ring II was Dan Mackinn
l. That strange fatality which impels
murderer TO revisit the scene of
crime was upon him. He walked
|. one In q ream pausing occasionally
n listen and look around.
lie reaches the spring 1t lisa 1
I'D snltrv nuumer morning. and all
n quiet save the hum OF insects and
rollick ing notes of will mocking /
IN a ,ree Ion near by. He stands
moment In li.t.nipg attitude, 4
,aking a Gun from his bucket stu
10 am into the v ater. but before he
do NO some unusual sound attracts
N Attention, He straiyhtens himself
NJ and sands with his head slightly u
es, ~ d, one AIDE. Ike a bnck sudde