The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1885-12-31
TWENTY YEARS. HERMIT.
A Strange Being In the Mountains OF Fir-
.ginia.
From tile Cincinnati Enquirer.

From the Cincinnati Enquirer.
In THE W1LD's OF Mcdowell, w.
Va, December Z, 1SS5.-One of the
strangest and most pathetic stories
your correspondent, in long expert
ence of years, has ever heard, is the
history of Cole Darlington, as it came
to him through authentic and reliable
channels. It is true, the facts of this
STRANGE HISTORY
occurred in Mcdowell county, where
the inhabitants live principally on
small game and faith, but neverthe-
less | have no reason to doubt the
truth of it. Somewhere in 1864 q
stranger appeared at the county seat,
Perryville. His personel was so pc
culiar and so unlike the old specimens
to the manor born that the attention
of everybody was attracted to him.
At the time Of his first appearance he
wore frayed and worn suit of Confed-
crate gray. Upon his head a cavalry
hat with black plume brought into
bold relief his clearcst countenance,
beardless and brown. His deep-set
gr eyes pierced the too curious
gazer with the questioning look of a
Suspicious or insane mind. The man
asked no questions, and when interro-
gated by an over-inquisitive noun
taineer simply turned toward his
questioner with q fierce, cold look
which caused the querist to humble
an apology and quickly walk off to a
safe distance. The newcomer quietly
walked to one of the stores Of the vii
lage and purchased powder, lead,
cooking utensils and a few necessaries,
such as salt, pepper, etc, and, putting
them into sack, rode off in the di-
rection of the mountain. Of course,
the appearance of such a peculiar
character was soon noised about for
miles in country where there never
had been piano, and where q two
horse wagon excited spasms of enmity
in the bucolic mind, and where, as far
as the knowledge Of the outer worlds
everyday life was concerned, the peo-
ple may as well have lived at the an
ttipodes. But it was months before
the whereabouts of the stranger was
known, and then he again came
among them as he had done before,
except this time no one dared to ques-
ton him, but all stood aloof while he
entered town and made his purchases,
which were Of the same nature as
before. After his second appearance
three or four of the most daring spirits
among the young men determined to
TRACK H1M INTO THE MOUNTAINS
and see how he lived, and where; and
about an hour after he had gone they
took up the trail, and followed it until
the shades of evening and the laurel
thickets through which they passed
concealed all trace. Then they gave
up pursuit and turned back. A short
time after the strangers second ap-
pearance, two young men, Eson and
Andrew, were out deer hunting.
Their dogs had sprung a deer, and ran
it directly toward the mountains.
They followed until the game led them
into deep gap or glen between two
steep declivities, and, as it was getting
late, and the somber recesses Of nature
looked dark and gloomy, they were
lust Oh the point of stopping when they
heard the sound of a rifle shot. Hur-
rying forward as fast as the rough
nature Of the ground would admit, the
young fellows were amazed upon
arriving at small clearing or open
space to see the tall stranger standing
over a large buck, evidently the deer
they had followed all day. The
strange being uttered not word upon
getting sight of them, but merely
pointed finger in the direction of the
back track which they had come over.
One look was sufficient, for bold and
hardy as they were, there was some
thing 50 cold and deadly in that look,
they said, that they dare not object or
protest. They returned aud reported
to their neighbors, and the next day
an organized search commenced, but
the mountain recesses were so deep
and the forest so thick that search
of two or three days duration failed
to discover the
HUMAN GAME.