The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-01-02

out of accord with every other charac-
te-fstic of the place as to seem a COM
plete anomaly. Yet crime or some other
htdeous mystery almost equally revolt
ing has during the last five years been
| accountable for the disappearance in or
| about this village Of four persons Of va
rious ages and occupations. Of these,
three were strangers and one a we'll
known vagabond accustomed to tramp
the hills and live on the bounty of
farmers wives. All were Of the male
sex, and in no case has any clew ever
come to light as to their fate. They
were not seen or ever heard Of again.
That is the matter as it Stands before
the police today
"a serious affair." I remarked.
Seems to me I have read of such
things in novels. Is there tumbled
down cid inn in the vicinity where beds
are made up over trapdoors?"
His smile was mild protest against
my fippancy.
II have visited the town myself
There is no inn there, but a comfortable
hotel of the most matter of fact Sort
kept by the frankest and most open
minded landlord. Besides, these dis
appearances. as a rule. did not take
place at night, but in broad daylight.
Imagine this street at noon. 1t is a
short one, and you know every house
place. You see a man enter 1t at one
end and expect him to issue from it at
the other. But suppose he never does.
More than that, suppose he is never
heard Of again, and that this thing
should happen just here on this one
street six times during five years.
Il should move" l responded dryly.
|, would you? Many good people have
moved from the place L speak of, but
that has not helped matters. The dis
appearances go on, and the why and
the where are just as much a mystery
as ever"
You interest me-" I said. Come
to think Of it, If this street were the
scene Of such an unexplained series Of
horrors as you have described, 1 do not
think 1 would move"
II thought not" he responded, curt
ly. But since you are interested let
me be more explicit in my statements.
The first person whose disappearance
was noted
Wait" I interrupted. Have you a
map Of the placer"
He smiled, nodded quite affectionate-
ly to an old friend of his on the mantel-
piece, but did not produce the map
THAT detail will keep" said he.
Let me go on with my story. AS I
was saying, madam, the first person
whose disappearance there was noted
was d pcQQleI VI wares, dCCuS-
toned to tramp the mountains On
this occasion he had been in town long
er than usual and was known to have
sold fully half Of his goods. Conse-
quently he mmust have had quite
sum Of money upon him. One day his
pack was found lying under cluster
OF bushes in a wood, but of him moth
Ing was ever again heard. 1t made an
excitement for few days while the
woods were being searched for his
body, but nothing having been discov-
cred he was forgotten and everything
went on as before, till suddenly public
attention was again aroused by the
pouring in OF letters containing In
Quiries in regard to young man who
had been sent there from Duluth to COL
lect facts in a law case, and who, after
a certain date, had failed to commune
cate with his firm or show up at any Of
the places where he was known. In
stantly the village was in arms Many
remembered the young man, and some
two or three Of the villagers could re-
call the fact Of having seen him go
up the street with his handbag in his
hand as If on his way to the mountain
station. The landlord of the hotel
could fix the very day on which he left
his house, but inquiries at the station
failed to establish the fact that he