The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-07-30

passed, and he had become part of the com
munity, an important part too. The vii
lage minister, who was man of ability,
fond of studies related to his sacred protes-
sion, was surprised and delighted one day
IN casual conversation with the stranger to
find that he was scholar, able to help him
get at the meaning of Greek word used
by St Paul, by citing the repeated use of
the same word in Greek literature. The
doctor, who like many country physicians,
had been compelled to lead a very lonesome
life so far as intellectual companionship was
concerned, found immense delight in pass
ing talks, brief but full of information and
appreciation, with the unknown man. For
no remained practically unknown. lie
never talked long with any one. He would
exchange a few sentences, pleasantly, with
minister, doctor, farmer, or mechanic,
then turn away, seeking again his lone
someness in which he seemed content. This
much | think may be taken as fact about
him. Much more exists in tradition among
the older inhabitants, who say that he was n
wonderful scholar, a great lawyer, man
OF immense powers. Perhaps he was.
Enough to be sure of that he had come from
crowded world of society, of books and
learned men, and the associations OF edu-
Gated people, into this remote life where
only nature seemed his familiar companion
IpuO llllS NtN nOb bno Iu1SlcL1 ANNplCf
thereabout were not inquisitive. To them,
indeed, there was nothing worthy Of won
derment that man should come from any
whore to enter into that community and
sort of society i'll which they lived and
from which they had no desire TO remove.
Nor at that place and time was there any of
the now existing curiosity which character
ICES inhabitants of the large cities, leading
them to pry into the private lives of
aud ,,l olyna I,,h hos
triumphs of journalism the discovery and
publication from day to day of family Sc
crets. The invasions of private and per-
sOnal life now approved of IN the large cities
were unknown to that social system in
which every mans house. though it were
only a log cabin, without lock or bolt, was
his castle, sacred to home privacy, defended
from invasion by universal respect for the
decencies and dnties of social life.
For more than fifteen years the stranger
who, from the address on his letters, had
come to be known as John Wilson, without
even Mr.. or an ESQ., lived in the old house,
while the land around it went to waste
brush grew over the clearing. the noun
tain brook wore new course for itself in
freshets, and covered what had been the
garden behind the house with broad sheet
of sand, dry, hot, and white in the summer
sun. Now we come to the mystery.
=
drove up the lane between the naples to
the door of the old house. He went by APP
pointment to get from Mr.. Wilson some
medicine promised him for a sick horse.
He knocked but got no answer. Then he
walked. around the house Across the bed of
sand, on the edge of the brook, he saw some
one lying and called out The motionless
figure frightened him. He went nearer 1t
was John Wilson, dead; shot through the
l. ~ ~ h,xll oh
Bolson was a selectman, intelligent, Judi
cious. He satisfied himself the man was
dead, past help, then went as fast as his
horse could carry him for the doctor, the
minister and three or four of the most in
telligent men he could pick up. In an hour
or two they reached the house all together
and Josiah, with much anxiety, bade them
follow in single file across the sand. leav-
ing footprints only where he had before
crossed it. They carried the dead man into
the house Then they began an examina-
ton There were other footprints in the
sand, which was much trampled Some of
these were made by the boots of the muir
dered man, Others were by boots of a
smaller size For a long time these two
sizes of footprints were the only ones
found. At length the doctor uttered ON ex
clamation. He had found third sort of
footprint, clearly woman's, 1t was small
anu III btlOoe Wucu oAlOco WCI6 ulOSOly
handmade, was recognized as the print OF
what they called city shoe.
In the house there was nothing to attract
notice. 1t was sconjectured that in the
night time man and woman had come
had called the solitary man out into the
moonlight, had held an interview of some
kind with him, which had ended with the
pistol shot. There were few facts on which
to found conjecture, The mystery of this
l. G.
Among his effects they found nothing to
indicate who he was, and there was there
fore no one to whom the fact of his death
could be commun icated. "Shall we oper
the next letter which comes to him at the
postofficeN was much discussed question.
1t was useless discussion, for, to increase
| the mystery, no letter ever again came ad-
dressed to him. How did his correspon
dent know that he was dead.
The entire contents of the house was sold
by due process of law to pay his funeral ex
penses, for be had only trifle of money il
his pocketbook. The minister bought the
pocketbook, and the only other books found
in the house, to wit, small Bible, and g
beautiful little Antwerp edition of Sopho
cles In the Bible be found an occasional
marked passage-marked only with a BLACK
dot of a pencil on the margin. Each OF
these passages had reference to the ingrati
Juue OF cnlIuTen. Inc same SCyle OF lndrH
directed his attention to passages Of similar
character in the Greek tragedies. In after
years the people used to say that the minis
ter found something important in the
pocketbook about the man. But this was
not gill after the minister was dead, and he
had never spoken of any such find. All
this happened fifty years ago. How old
were they whose footprints, man and
woman, marked their presence and the prob
able guilt of one or both in the murder OF
John Wilsonl Are they living still, old PEG.
pie, going on heavily loaded with the
weight Of this ancient crimes Or have they
met the murdered man in country where
all wrongs dole here are sure to be rlghted
by all-compeling powerl