San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-03-31


look in the morning was Jim Wilson,
because he had to rouse the fire under a
boiler early enough to provide steam for
a score of rock drills. The night watch
man awakened him at daybreak, accord
ing to custom, and then got into bunk
as the other got out of one.
Everything all right" Jim asked.
II guess So" the other replied. But
/ hain't seen your boiler sence afore mid
night. Eph was disturbin' Mary Mite,
and so l hung round her cabin pretty
much the last half of the night"
Jim went to his post at the boiler, and
at an unaccustomed pace, from the point
where he first saw and heard steam hiss
ing upward from the safety valve. On
quitting the night previous he had
banked the fire as usual and this morn
ing he should have found it burning so
slowly that an hour of raking, replenish-
ing and open draughts would no more
than start the machinery at o'clock.
Going nearer he found that open damp
ers and fresh supply of coal had set the
furnace raging.
What was that which protluded from
the open door and so nearly filed the
aperture that the draught was not i'm
paired?
A glance gave the answer. 1t was the
legs and half the body of man, whose
head and shoulders were thoroughly
charred. as Jim was Mortified to see when
he pulled the remains out upon the
ground. g.. st., /.
Jim ran TO tell the superintendent. and
within few minutes a knot of excited
men surrounded the body. The gather
ing grew in numbers rapidly. By means
ct the clcthinG the dead and partially
burned man was identified at once as
Tonic Ravelli. That he had been muir
dered was an equally easy conclusion.
The murderer had apparently sought to
cremate the corpse. Whether he had
found it physically impossible or had been
frightened away could only be conject-
nred.
"Who can have done it," was the ques-
ton asked by Superintendent Brainerd,
the autocrat of Overlook.
There was minute of silence, with
all staring intently at the body, as though
half expecting it to somehow disclose the
truth. The night Waterman was first
to speak.
"Eph might have done it," he said.
Then he told of the monOmaniac's visit
tothe Geographic station, and OF the acute
stage which his malady had reached.
Nobody else present had seen him since
the previous evening. Superintendent
Brainerd ordered a search of the lodg-
ings Ten minutes were sufficient for a
round of the different quarters. Eph
was in none of them. The searchers re-
turned to the furnace. and with them
came Gerald Heath. g.
81 met Eph yonder where the paths
cross, not a hundred yards from here, a
little past midnight" Gerald said. He
was terribly excited. That was after he
had tried in vain to telegraph crazy
message. Evidently his delusion, that
his whole life was condensed into brief
space, Lid driven him to frenzy. He
spoke Of walking to Dimmersville, but
tried to quiet him, and he disappeared. {"
Dimmersville was a town about ten
miles distant, in direction opposite to
that from which the railroad had work.
ed its way through the mountains. No
wire connected it with Overlook, and
there was no public road for the nearest
third of the way, although Il faint trail
showed the course that few persons
had taken on foot or horseback
Every likely Eph has gone toward
Dimmersville. Brainerd argued land
we must try to catch him.
Before the order could be specifically
given a horse and nder arose over the
edge of the level ground and came into
the midst of the assemblage. The man
in the saddle had a professional aspect,
impaired chiefly by his smoothly shaven
face. In this era of mustaches hairless
visage is apt to be assigned to a clergy
man, who shaves thus from motive of
propriety; an actor who does it from
necessity, or somebody who aims at
facial distinction without the features
suitable to that purpose. "A countenance
of which it can only be said that it has
one nose, one mouth and two eyes, all
placed in inexpensive nonentity, and
which is dominated utterly by hair ON
and around it, may be less lost to indi-
viduality if entirely shaver. Of such
seemed the visage of the d9:k man who
calmly rode into the excitement at Oven
LOOK.