The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-03-01

without. More and more crazed with
fright the imprisoned man pounded on the
rough oaken door with his fists until the
AS time passed he grew quieter and be-
gan to think of some way 10 escape.
Fortunately he had box OF hla al'. a.,
hickering light he made some starting
discoveries. He saw that the STRONG wits
of the prison were without WINDOWS, sh ha
that the only opening to the place was w
door through which he had entered, now
closely and securely locked. -.
Not satisfied, however, Hickman STRUCK
Of the room, keeping close TO the wall
This finally brought MN up asai inSs -
he'd i'm the corner. The shock mSuS mn IN
drop the burning match. AS ne neiu and M
looked down on the bed It's hlckSriins,
feeble rays revealed a sight that lailiS
froze the blood in his veins; -. .Aotr
Living i'm pools of clotted bloou' I'LL
arms around each other, were the forms
of a man and woman, rigid In dey ath;;
nv the light of another match HlckIhah
discovered several sHlal ill., v,itb Tho
ings i'm the wall on dead line WIN .ne
bed He later saw that these holes . ran
All around the room at regular interNais
and at once OWNED the purpose tor "hlcn
'" TSSoMsh appalled, at the situation. HEX
man resolved to escape the death Tor
which he seemed doomed, II II cqulI ,,I Do
done by ingenuity or bravery. e eSli ht,
tbat nothing more could be gained by
an sir' investigafion OF the apartment, he sat
down I'm corner to quietly await ueNei-
Shorty after midnight he saw through
the northoles on the other SIDE OF the
room reflections from the rays OF ran
tern, and knew that ms W TPa newt min min
ufe the muzzie Of a gun was slid eau
tiously through one OF the holes Just ABOVE
the bed, and the thunderous alsTnbarg 5o
awaken the dead lying there IN the corner
opposite Another and another tohoWedi
each fired from dlnerehe POEM an,' sv ~ar
by the leaden hail. But the prisoner was was
on the alert, and by lying nat on ms
back close up in the hre-pIacea ne r..
utfered no cry or sound, but Immediately
after Il stopped crawled sottly 20 tne
door, feeling sure that the nehas on IA, tn nc
outside would enter 10 get his money as
soon as they thought their diabolical Work
He was not mistaken in that Presently
he heard a noise, which indicated that the
door was being unlocked. Arising from MS
PROSTATE position he stood erect, and pre-
pared for a desperate struggle win ms
Slowly the door opened and swung in
ward As IT did so. Hickman stepped be-
hind It, and saw. Allen enter with gun
i'm his hands, his wife following win a
lantern TO guide their footsteps. AS they
passed the portals of the door, the quick
witted and desperately determined pris-
OnHr
hand. throwing the room into total dark
ness, and, springing out of the room, slam
med the door to, and quickly iocked IL
with the murderous man and his wife on
the inside.
Hickman knew at once what TO do.
Stealthily securing his horse from the sta
BILE he mounted the animal ana rode at
break-neck speed to the. nearest settle
ment three miles away. In two hours ne
was back at the road house with dozen
men behind him.
The day had hardly dawned and the
guests of the inn were still sleeping, when
they were awakened by the curses OF a
man and the sreams of a woman. BY the
time they had jumped into their clothes
and reached the scene, Allen and his wife
were dangling from ropes swung on the
limb OF a big oak in the back yard, ana
when the sun came up a few hours later
Il shone full upon their distorted faces
and long since lifeless forms still swing
ing from the limb.
TO this day that tree Is pointed out to
visitors as being one of the most inter-
esting features of the county, which is
rich in blood-curdling legends.
Beneath the floor Of the stone house
where Hickman had been entrapped were
found the decomposed and mutilated re-
mains Of six men and two women, not
counting the bodies Of the man and wo-
and which Allen evidently had not had
time to put away. Aside from these bod
les a pile of bones was discovered in a
cellar beneath one corner OF the house,
Indicating that more than a dozen people
had been murdered in the apartment
some time between the years of 1910 and
1850 thus accounting for the large num-
Der of persons who had mysteriously dis
appeared in that section during those