Connecticut western news., 1891-10-29
z8 CANAAN, CONN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29 1891.

ruby and goIssr rays over the spot so beautiied and idealized by nature glori- lying that already exquisite corner of creation as only drowsy sunbeams can Elorify natures own handiwork- Up the hill went Silas Beaver, but never again to the knowledge of man did he retrace his steps.
 Were there high words? No one knew. Perhaps the great eagle whose nest was perched far over the topmost rocks on the opposite side of the gorge could have told, or the crows as they winged their dusky flight past the lone ly homestead. No man but those two was near to hear what passed between debtor and creditor that summers day 20 long passed by.
 Inquiries ensued as matter of course. Search parties were organized Inspec- tion of the doctors premises brought to light that his gig was stained with blood, bis horse bearing the appearance of hay Ing been hardly driven the night before, but Dr. Hoff accounted for these sus- picious facts with complete coolnees. A long drive. an amputation after 8 severe accident. Further inquiry elcited that there had been an accident at 8 distance, that the doctor had been there, that he had performed just the operation that he claimed to have performed
 No evidence. So Silas Beavers dis appearance remains to this day mys- tery.
 It may be that the iron tracks of the great railway rested on their sleepers above the murdered mans hidden re- mains, for what so easy as to hide the likely victim of passion under the great banks of upraised soil? It may be that amid some tangle of wood and vine, rock and fern, the missing man was laid away, hidden forever from earthly eyes
 Time went on; suspicion slept, watch fulness abated, but never again did the feet of Silas Beaver cross the threshold of his own door.
 Then one night there was lurid glare lighting the tree tops of the gorge. A farmhouse. barns and all their contents were one great pitiful bonfire. Oh, for the toll of weeks, of months, the slow gathering of harvest, the pinching and saving to obtain stock! Only black ened ruin. hopeless prospect!
 The victim had been at enmity with Dr. Hoff. It was he who had been fore most in the search for the missing man Beaver. The doctor had been heard to threaten him repeatedly. So Dr. Hof was arrested and lodged in jail. but be- fore the day of trial came be escaped and the neighborhood knew him no more.
 Silent and deserted stood the house on the edge of the gorge, until one night, when the storm ragged and the lightning flashed and glistened in the leaden skies. the flame shot up from it's lonely timbers and vied with the flashes of it's kindler, the electric bolt. When morning came the sun rose over 8 heap of charred ruins and forest birds piped requiem over the scorched trees and flowers.
 He who lived in the homestead on the verge of the gorge had been stormy and passionate; fit ending to his dwelling to perish by the fury and the passion of the storm
 Over the gorge now. By the hand of the axman shorn of it's pristine beauty, on it's tracks of steel, supported by their mighty trestles, hour by hour pass the trains with slackened speed and panting breath of steam in curb.
 Down below, deprived of the grateful shade of it's verdant friends, the forest trees, the little brook nipples and gurgles bravely in the garish sunlight Alasl no wary trout sport in its once cool, dark depths. No timid deer bend their grace ful heads to drink of it's waters. but few birds quench their thirst in it's now luke warm shallow nipples The beautiful gorge. the cool, deep brook are things of the past. Like the homestead which once overlooked them and it's passionate tempered dweller, like the great eagle which built it's nest on the crags near by, like the deer and the myriad forest birds, it remains but memory, rem iniscence of long ago. told in an hour of retrospection by the "oldest inhabitant." :"
 Does any one ask what befel the poor young wife of Dr. Hoff? This is what the "oldest inhabitant" told to satisfy the visitors curiosity on that point: It was supposed by many people that it was Mrs. Hoff who aided the doctor in his escape from jail; however that may be- she disappeared at the same time he did. The lonely little grave in the corner of the clearing no longer had mourner; never again did posies of fen and flower deck it's tiny upraised mound. Then there came day when sorrow and indignation mingled in the hearts of those who had known and loved the gentle English lady who had led such sad life in the home stead by the gorge. A certain Dr. Hoff. who had lived for some years in Canada, but who had lately returned to England, was on trial for his life for the murder of his wife, near London, so the papers recorded. Later on was sent the news far across the water that Dr. Hof had expiated his abominable crime on the scaffold.-Fidele H. Holland in Toronto Globe.