The daily critic., 1890-09-26
AN EYE FOR AN EYE.
A BELIEVER IN THE MOSAIC LAW WHO
OBTAINED TERRIBLE REVENGE,
out, He Melted out Death to Hts
Tormentors one by one,

Tormentora One by One,
NilrauEss Correspondence IN the Nsc Yort
S'Or.
you see" said an old.timer, as he
sat In a Northern Wisconsin land Of.
fee few days ago, the people up
there have law and justice these days,
but Il was not always So" He was a
pre-. emptor Of Clark County and well
posted. 1T was away back some fifty
or more years ago thai many outlaws
made their homes IN the dense woods
up there. And when Henry Hoskins
and his young wife ard two children
came here 10 settle and clear mp farm
for an honest life the gang soured on
him and kept up such warfare that
Hoskins finally retorted against one Of
the gang.
80 one afternoon seven Of the gang,
Hugh Boden, John Gilfroy, Sam Dra.
kin, VIII Beardsley, Duke Thomas.
Syl Worden and his brother Hank. rot
surprise party on Iloskins. They
bound him TO q tree, aud In presence
Of his wife aud children laid the lash
ON his bare back most numerically.
The plebdincs Of the poor wife were 90
vain. No sound of murmur usC sped
the lips of Iloskius.
Finally, either by accident or desirn,
q blow struck Huskius' right eye. tear.
ing the ball from the socket uHskiI
tainted, and his wife also fell into .
swoon The scoundrels now felt that
they had perhaps gone too far so they
skunk of one by one Upon regaining
consciousness the suffering wife cut the
bonds that held ber husband and con
veyed him to their cabin. and under her
care he recovered But he was not the
same man. His ambition was now only
for revenge. In few months his wife
died from nervous prostratiOn. He esent
bis children to the home of their grand
parents at Dearborn, near Detroit, Mich.
HOskins remained on his land. The
gang who perpetrated the outrage on
him were desperate men, but they gave
Hoskins a wide berth.
Zone day Hank WoTden-it was
Hank who piled the lash-Was found
dead in the woods. The cOrOner's Jury
found a verdict Of died from a bullet
in the right eye by parties unknown.
Weeks sped by. when the body Of BOden
was found-killed by a bullet In the
right eye. And now a nameless terror
seized upon those men. They dare not
leave the woods, as q bounty was set on
their capture. But they never left
their shanties except with loaded rifles
on their shoulders. The breaking of
twig in the woods gave then spasms Of
fear In week or two the body OF
GilIoy was found-shot in the right
eye.
Would not their Nemesis now con
eede his vengence satisfied? The state
of the remainder Of the gang was
| pitiable Aud when few days later
| the bodies Of Deakin and BeaTdsley
| were found near the bank of the river.
/ shot IN the right eye, the remaining
members Of the gang-Syl Worden and
Duke ThOmas-pale. emaciated, scared
/ and with shattered nerves, sought 10
| escape from the uneFring rifle of the
man they had so deeply iniured-whOse
life they had ruined. They donned
disguise and set out toward where now
stands the city of NeilsYille, but which
WAS then an unbTOken wilderness.
They took turns al watching, but there
was no escaping the yigilant eve of he
who treasures up wrong.
The two men stood on a slight ele-
vation watching the setting sun, when
The report Of a rifle broke the stiffness
n the scene and Syl WOTden dropped
dead-shot in the right eye. In a few
moments Hoskihs stood IN front Of the
solitary remainder Of this gang Of perse-
cutors-Duke Thomas. Thomas pleaded
for mercy He held his rifle In his
hands but he was paralyzed with fear
and dread.
'Iloskins recalled the scene Of that
| dread evenings told Of bis dead wife,
his shattered life, his ruined home. He
had sworn a solemn oath of vengeance,
and raising bis rifle the last Of the gang
lay in dCaih-slOt in the right eye.
/ HOskins was never seen after that
Some say that ihe hermit, aged and
I gray bearded, and with only one eye
The left-Who died IN his hot IN the
Northern Wilds in 1876 was the same
Hoskins The initials ii. H. were cut
into the stock of his rifle and seven
nolches with a udely engraved eye
bore a ghastly significance and partially
solved the mystery of the old hermit s
life