The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1901-07-31

than an outlaw, and when asked vhy
1t was, If he 10 innocent of any wrong
doing, he should have abandoned the
dress and character of man and as
sumed that Of woman, he replied in
! guarded terms and in the best Of Eng
lish that it was whim Of his, a fool
ish one, maybe, but he found it easier
to get through the world as a woman
than as man.
! he declined to submit to an inter-
view and seemed &c &c =: at oasu in
the cheap, ill-6tting suit of clothes
the detective had purchased &c. hin
in the little mountain town. The on :
ly vestiges that remained Of EVA
Sears were the woman's tan Oxfords
on his feet and the delicate, beautiful
rings on his slender and tapering fing-
ers. One Of these rings, it is said,
was given him as pledge of plighted
troth betwixt the in ,ersonatnr ard e
young man of Madison County.
While waiting at the station, Stokes
made desperate efforts to conceal from
public view the heavy irons on his
slender, womanish-looking wrists.
He seemed to be greatly relieved when
the train that was to take him to Tex
as finally steamed out of Van Buren.
The crime for which the prisoner
alleged to be Tom Stokes will stand
trial for his life at the next term of
the Circuit Court to be held at Baird
Tex, was committed little more
than three years ago, few miles from
that little South Texas town. The
dead body Of Alvin Arnold, one of the
wealthiest farmers Of that part of the
State, was found within a few feet Of
his barn with. bullet hole through
the head. His pockets were riAed
and $4,000 in cash that he was known
to have had on his person was missing
when the body was found.
There was practically no doubt that
a murder had been committed for the
purpose Of robbery. The evidence
pointed to Tom Stokes, q young man
of the neighborhood, who disappeared
simultaneously with the murder, as the
guilty man.
A reward, aggregating $4,000, was
offered by the State and County Off
cials and the relatives Of the murdered
man. Some Of the shrewdest man
hunters in the South undertook to win
this reward by tracing Tom Stokes, to
capture and convict him.
The detectives found they had a
shrewd man to deal with. After
months of persevering work they got
trace of Stokes at Ell Reno, Ok, where
1T appeared he had endeavored to OBJ.
tain admission to the regular army,
but had failed, on account Of his deli
cate form and apparent unftness for
the strenuous life of the soldier.
All trace Of him was lost for some
time. When next the man hunters
heard Of Stokes it was in San niFranois-
co, and with the aid Of the police Of
that. city it was hoped to land the
quarry. But Stokes was up and away
before he could be trapped. After
diligent search it was learned that he
had taken steamer to Honolulu and
detective followed him to the ..Ha-
waiian Isles. In vain. Stokes had
again disappeared, as if by magic, and
his trail was harder to find than it had
ever been before. Although positive
information was obtained as to his ar
rival at Honolulu arG as to his goings
end comings after his arrival there
was not scintillp of evidence to show
that he had ever departed from ,Ha-
waii.
After weeks of patient effort the
sleuth on the track of the supposed
murderer gained information which
led him TO believe that Stokes had as
.sumed the guise and name Of q woman
and had slipped out Of Honolulu on
some vessel bound for the States un-
noticed and unsuspected
| Back 30 the States came the human
blood hound, and the trail, now grow
ing very cold, was again taken up.
Back across the continent from Frisco
to San Bernardino, from there to Los
Angeles, then to Phoenix, up to Den
YER and Butte City, eastward to Kan
sas City and st. Louis, then into the
rugged country Of the 'Ozarks, the un-
swerving detective followed the man
he believed to be guilty oe an afro
cious murder.
In the little village Of Huntsville,
remote from railroads, telegraph and
telephone lines, woman teacher had