Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-01-08
snor by A pnuCAY GIRL.
A story of the wild Days when Oregon
WAS Xouug--A 5lysterious Murder and
its Consequences.

Il 4 r. g. chit ,l
alal ana lar from lasn'onao.e Ia ''' ou''
ana MS nat was OF DlacN leN Win uIlid
nearly foot wide. TO a reporter who
had an opD0rfunitv of meeting him. he
7ootol ne - }.o could +.ll 81 ,ood story. II
- ,5 ,,,,.o.. .,,5
was lo"uu eh"O Ae N0"l"' " NoH
Tor some OF his experiences having ueeh
given an easy chair and a cigar as par
'1ial inducement) he said;
.WeU my how. I've got haitian hour TO
,eraoa ana do,,,t mind i've brougnttue
old woman and the bows East 10 take
look AT things. and have been around get
ZINC a iittia somoth{no tor Christmas.
Won want sometime With a little ro-
nance in ir .11unosa We'll. can give
III 10 Won. NOT MANY wears, ago { was
Sheriff of a comfy p Orer0p You need
NOT fOel an sururi-pd dIdu' tcOuIe from
There ON this min. I've moved further
Hast. The town I'M which mad my head
ouArters was on the eGgp OF "a river, about
Ia quarter OF "a mile wide. on tue opposite
side of which was a go0d-sized tract Of
wooded land that was known as ShaW's
5slapd. But ~ was more Than ordinary
woodland. IL w4sa regular wilderness.
and a man who did not know much about
lit would get lost there ia doutle-quick
time. B0t il was mll Of Grst-class game,
and so the BOYS who were handy with "A
auu often went across 90 theIsiaud hunt
ing. risking their cuauces of getting lost
5or the sake of what they could capture
sn the way Of birds
"InbabitedY No, nor never had been
except by one man. His name was Parks:
and he is the cnap am gong TO tell YOU
about. He was a tough customer--au es-
capped convict. we were Inclined 20 be-
1seve-and he lived alone iar in the inte-
1oiOpf the island IN "a hut on shanty
which he nut up. .NU,- ard thed he would
show himself ar the village, but whoney-
er he did he would act In 3 en- dog
faced way, and was so souchy in his APP
pearauce that no one cared to 20 near him
sQr have anything to do with him more
5ban could be helped, He was about %
years old and had a hard-looking face. He
let his hair and beard grow long. he al
ways carried a long, bright rifle and was
known TO be a crack shot Well one day
Jimmy Barker, a young fellow who was
great favorite in the village aud soon to
be married to one Of the prettiest and
qluckiesI little girls / ever saw, started
over TO the island for q hunt. He left
word that be would be back the next day,
or the day aner at the fartnest. But three
DAYS went by, then another aud another,
until week passed and he had not turn
ed up. Then we all got alarIntd d. Jim
my sweetheart was nearly frantic. The
only thing 60 do WAS t. set out on search
1or the boy. Inside of twenty-tour hours
we had party started. But [ tell you
we had tbs biggest kind OF time keeping
Jimmy girl from taking hand
with us IN securing those
woods. OF course we wouldn't
let her, for It would have been no work
IOr her tender hands. But I'll never for
get to my dying day how she came
mp to me just before we started, and
SAID:
DO let me 20, sheriff. You know l
can handle a gun, ana if old Parks has
harmed Jimmy I wouldn't be afraid to
shoot hun Qead!
Strange, wasn't it, that suspicion from
tie first fell upon old Parks? But 1t did,
and it was a lucky thing for the old fell
low that he kept clear Of The town Just at
that time. But We started without the
.girl and searched the woods thoroughly
for two days without even finding trace
OF Jimmy. Then we made up our minds
10 give seige TO Parks shanty. He had
acted suspiciously when W. had knocked
~ his dOOg, and had refused TO let us IN.
. Aa-erder 60 have no mistake about it l
came back to the village and swOre out
warrant for Parks arrest on the ground
that he was a suspicious character.
Everybody wanted 20 know what luck we
lad, and / had to tell them. or course
Jimmy's girl was one Of the first TO hear
of our poor luck, and as soon as she beard
OF it there was 1Nsuch thing as keeping
her bset. She lid not plead to so with
: - -sfg7~sinesnor carry on at all, but with
her pretty face set and determined she
came to me and said that she was going
10 the island with us, and would nc tax. =
no for an answer. lt wasn't in me 10 re-
fuse her, for l could see that unless some
thing WAS done for the poor girl she
would go mad. she had clearly made
up her mind that Parks had murdered
Jimmy, and now she was in for re-
venge. And / tell you she looked 1t as
she came up 10 my side and said in q firm
voice;
"sNOw, Sheriff, I'm ready
''shu was rugged ont for the woods.
wearing loOse-fitting dress Of dark blue.
Her trim figure looked well in il, and
stood as erect as a soldiers. She was
about ~ years old, well developed, strong
snd healthy. she insisted upon taking
her rife, light weapon which had been
f;ly1rits with her a long time, aud one
which Jimmy had given her as q present.
In getting % the neighborhOOd Of Parks
shaDty. where had left nay men TO keep
watch, ! made the work as light for her as
] could, but she stood it well, and didn't
seem at all used up when we got there,
although IL took half day OF solid tramp
ing. Then We hid ourselves in the woods
All around the shauty and prepared TO
wait for Parks appearance. Not until an