The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1889-04-04
WHAT BECAME OF
Mr.. Lane-A New England Story ~
Lave and Mystery.
nv cHAs. o. srICESFT


mOuu now shed her gentle light O
the cottages and farm houses An
tipped with . faint, siIvery hue ID
OctOber-tinted woods which skIrte
p the village on the south and east.
Although early In the evening, tb
: county store, In which the post
ONCE was kept. wAs already vel
hlled with q prOmlseuOus coInpan!
VI the masculine persuasion Of VIII
tOETille, comprising some Of tn
elite Of the place, With all the varies
gradatiOns Of WilIOnville society
. down to bill Virgins, who, by com
, mOa consent. VAS awarded the pail
for being the vilest denizsn Of thi
avsrsge-eihical New England vii
IaRR
Political discussion was USUALLY
an important feature Of these night
~ assemblages, but on this partIeu
lar evening, politics, and In fact nj
ordinary topics Of conversation
were wholly ignored. Nevertheless
there SAs q bAbble Of voices all helms
speakers - we'll - listeners, for Iusl
then all WlltonvIlle was shaken
from centre TO circumference by 4
new aud startling accusation.
but the vocal clamOr was sudden
~ hushed by the entrance az the
stranger. He vas q tail man and
seemingly large. this was uncertain,
he being buried in q long, shaggy,
buffalo coat, the wide collar of which
turned up aud buttnned over his
chin, together with = low aud re-
culiar fur cap, 50 covering mis- face
that little Was visible but q pair Of
black, searching eyes. He wore
WOollen gloves aud rubber boots,
mi d hi Il
10y his costume Indicated q Traveller
wIu WAs bound To he prOOf. and
more than proof, against the chilly
night air of nlid-autumn.
"Flne eseniHg, gentlemen" said
he, hlandly, approaching the stove.
Very tlne," said Squire Crafts.
Wtlinnville's trial justice and lead
Ing citizen, rising and profirring his
low. basket-bOttOmed chair.
IINO, keep your sitting, thank you:
nd not going tn stop" waving the
iite justice Ia seat To the post
master: ID" you keep stout bed
cords a"
80, sir snme very nice ones on
hand. RiRh this way, sir"
"A u right. But guess I'D better
blanket my horse. IN he right back
in moment" And 80 saving. he
stepped briskly outside,
The crowd thought the strange
gentleman took unnecessary Mains
90 blanket his horse he wac so long
doing IL. Bill Virgins guessed IL
vas the new Methodist minister
over tO Burr's Mill hut this theory
was Immediately exploded by the de-
enthusiastically well-pnsted Deacon
Brown
a
the stranger a. he re-entersh the
store.
He sOOn selected one In the back
room, where house furnishing was
kept. At the same time ne conf.
dentislly learned from the trader. In
answer To low voiced request, q de.
scriptlOn Of certain man in the
crowd named Jonas Wells. Ou his
return Ia the main store, lie looked
the company over, and his aharp
glance Tea lily took in his man.
wish some one would help the n
III outside, said he. Would yuu,
1ir ," addressing Mr.. Wells.
, with pleasure" and sliding
down from his favOriIe perch, Wells
accompanied him out Of doors.
Your name 10 I mistake not, Is
Wells-JOuas Wells" 81 soon as
they were fairly outside.
1t IT," la n tone Of surprise.
but I confess you have the advan-
tage Of me-"
"No noubt. But it, long time
since | was last In the place. Let's |
see, your the sexton Of the village |
rightly remember"
We'll, I'd like to have a talk with
you live from here"
ITO the north-about q mile"
Just the direction I'm going: so
please step into the buggy, aud We |
can talk rs We ride along"
Wells did as requested, and the |
two were directly Juggling sIong.
80 you are the village SEXTON"
observed the suave stranger. How |
long have you held the office"
"SlX years come December"
And In that time, OF course, have
buried many people,"
MANY. One would hardly think /
10 In q small place like this, but it's |
surprising what they'll aggregate"
We'll, ~ ! came In to the place |
heard something about q recent |
death, Of q somewhat mysterious |
nature. You had charge Of the
burial, eh?"
al did. II Was = sad occasion.
The church was crowded to over
Rowing. I've got pretty well used to |
funerals, but ! must say this Que
took right hold Of me. fine way his /
mother aud sister took on was
enough TO melt heart Of stone. He /
was q splendid young man: every-
body liked him. Aud then, too,
there WAS such . painful mystery
connected with his death. It's raised i
Q big excitement all about here"
Yes; 90 ! understand. But, Mr..
Wells'-lowering his voice, and put /
ting his lips close to the others ear.
I'm inclined To think 10 did't dis
turb you so very much, after ALL"
Mr.. Wells gave 8 nervous start /
why, sir, " he exclaimed, what do
you mean
"oh, nothing" said the stranger,
evaslvely, "Only one gets used 10
death, when constantly brought in
contact with 10, you know"
True, quite true, sir"
There was no post mortem: ="
mo; his relatives wouldn't con-
sent TO Il. There were no marks of /
violence whatever on his person,
and how he came to his death IL
truly mystery, though Il seems 20
be the general impression he made i
way with himself by poison"
why do they think sO?"
well, there's quite q history con-
nscted with the affair. You see, the
way Of Il wAs''-here Mr.. Wells was
on the point, evidently, ofimparting
some Interesting facts, but was In
terrupted by his companion. who
said:
beg your I,ardon, but I think
you'd better defer the whole par
tieulars . while, till we have more
leisure"
Very well, just as you say. Il
don't matter much, a. I know Of, n
le4at 20 You aaS me, how he came to
hls enc. Time, perhaps, will tell
the story. IL looks 10 me. though,
like foul-play. Some folks mistFust
Q strAggler who came along the day
before, but e. he didn't call 81 the
house, and being - the young man
Was known TO have tittie, eft any,
money by him, and had No enemies,
! really don't know what 10 think"
How long sitter HE death was the
funeral1"
mot quite three days III
think. Lets see; today is
Thursday; he was found dead
Tuesday morning, and was burled
this afternoon