Greenbrier independent. [volume] (Lewisburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1980, 1897-02-18


ran through different parts of the
held and underwood. Nightfall wa,
just at hand. a short time more
and one Of the party found them
they were lying on the ground close
together as If asleep. When turn.
ing them over, awful to relate! thei,
throats had been cut by the hand OF
murderer. Oh, the anguish of that
poor mother! What heart can con.
ceiVe 1t, what pen can describe il ?
Enough is said, when it is told she
tainted and fell by their side.
Heavy tidings generally fly fast ;
SO were these soon borne up ami
down the river to the Warm Springs
ana to every house in the mountain
holiows. All that day and part of
the next, people were gathering
Tears were shed from eyes not ac-
customed to weep. Mr.. Msyse was
from home on business, and did not
reach his home until late in tho
hlght, where the dreadful news
awaited his return. Look down into
the quiet dell in the mountains; see
that mother wringing her hands in
the unutterable anguish of her soul,
and that father, as he enters the
house, throwing himself down by
the bloody and mangled corpses of
his murdered children. Look upon
these and say, docs not the wither-
ing curse of sin rest on our world p
While life lasts | can never forget
my own feelings, when the painful
news reached my ear. | was living
on a SICK bed but rallied enough
strength to arise and ride sixteen
miles to the house of Mourning
When preaching on Jackson's river,
l had often lodged under the hospi.
table roof Of Mrs. Mayse. / had Of
ten nursed these sweet and prattling
children their dimpled and rosy
cheeks are now fresh before me. I
found the family crushed to the earth
under this heavy load Of sorrow,
which, in one sad hour had been
thrown upon them. Ministers older
ana more experienced than | well
know that in some Affections, in of
ferlng comfort, it is their wisest
and most becoming course to let
their words be few and well Or
dered." jobs three friends sat
down seven days without attempt
ing TO address him, "because they
saw that his grief was great" Grief
Is sometimes so intense, that to con-
verse much is rather an injury. But
when we can do nothing moro than
SIT in silence, still the presence of
friends is an unspeakable relief. We
are so constituted that sympathy
passes from bosom to bosom, though
not a word be spoken. The most
that could do was to sit down with
them and by II few words try to lift
their thoughts to God, whose "iudg-
ments are often a great deal"-to re-
mind them that it is our duty to
trust in him though he slay us, and
to kneel with them in prayer. |
went to the spot where this awful
murder had been perpetrated. The
| chlldren had been taken to the top
of hill in the field some distance
from the ordinary path. Their
throats had been deeply gashed and
then they were let go. There were
the circles of their blood, as in the
dizzy moment of death, they rad
made in running round and round,
until they fell to rise no more.
looked along the school path where
the little footprints were still to be
seen, but alas ! no more to be pressed
by their lightsome tread. That
morning the sun rose bright and
cheerful in the quiet valley of
Mayse'S abode, but it set i'm the blood
of his children. An inquest was
held, and very soon strong suspi-
picionS were entertained that two of
MaySe'S servants, Il man and a wO-
man, were the murderers. These
suspicious were soon confirmed by
the testimony of a servant girl about
fourteen years of age, the daughter
of the woman blamed. She was
present, and saw the bloody deed
perpetrated by the hands of her own
mother and the man. At this mo-
ment, in some parts of our country,
the guilty pair would have been exc
cuted, but not so in the mountains.
True, the men were there with strong
arms and swelling bosoms, but these
mountain people honor the majesty
of law. The children were laid in
one grave, amid as deep sympathy
as is seldom witnessed in the world.
Those charged with the horrible
crime were imprisoned, tried and
condemned. The testimony Of the
little girl in its positive form, and
in all its circumstances, was such as
to carry conviction to the mind Of
every spectator. After their con.
demn8tion, visited them in prison,
talked and prayed with them, but
they bitterly denied any knowledge
Of the murder. On the day of exc
cution it was thought by some they
would confess. BY request / at
tended, conversed and prayed with
them under the gall0ws, but they
persisted to the last and were
launched into eternity with denial
Justice of their awful doom, the COM
nunity entertain no doubt. Mrs.
MaySe never recovered from this
shock. | saw her afterwards, but
never saw her herself again. Sew
eral wears since she was laid by the
side of these she continued to mourn
i'm life. She was called away to join,
as we trust, her murdered daughters,
i'm that world where the hand of God
shall wipe away all tears. MOntan'ts,
in Bath County Va.) NerS.
A WEARY SEARCH.-The story
of the Editors Dracer tor March
of the professor Of mathematics who
dreamed that his son was under the
radical sign and he could not get
him out, reminds reader of an eX-
perience related by a Boston draw