Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1902-01-23

could without losing his balance. Inch
by inch he let his fore paws over the
edge, digging them into the wood to
brace himself. He thrust his nose down
along the outer end of the pier as far
as he could reach and for nearly min
ute hung half on the pier and half
down over the water.
He was showing the crowd that Nell
Cropsey had dropped Or been dropped
from the end of the pier; that her
clothing had brushed the outer end as
she went into the Pasquotank river.
Hurricane Branch was the only man
who believed the dog had shown what
had become of the girl. The family re-
called the fact that Nell had often
walked down to the pier and few
days before her disappearance had
been one Of a sailing party that had
embarked from that spot.
Jim Wilcox, her sweetheart, was en-
ployed at the marine railway to run
the engine that hauled vessels up on
the ways, and Nell had often walked
down to chat with him.
The dog was called back to the Crop
sey house. He had not taken up the
trail from the front porch, but from
the path just inside the front gate.
He was taken on the front porch, but
could find no trail leading down the
steps. All the trails led him inside the
house. Nothing led him from the porch
L solro 4l>o %x,o: %1,o
path.
"My girl" said the father, "was
knocked unconscious as she stood on
the porch that night and carried off,"
He and others thought at the time
the trail the hound followed to the
edge of the pier was an old one. Had
the clew given by the dog been follow
ed the mystery of the girls disappear
ance would have been cleared much
sooner.
Jim Wilcox is small man. He is
but 5 feet 2 inches in height, but is
stockily built and is as strong as a
much bigger man. He has a thick
neck, a deep chest and is well put to-
gether. He is twenty-six years old,
but looks not more than twenty, hav-
ing a round, boyish face and clear blue
eyes, which do not look one squarely in
the face.
He has never been popular, though
his father, ex-Sheriff Wilcox, is one Of
the best liked men in the place, and his
mother is widely respected.
Father and son have not got along
happily together. They have gone
months and months without speaking
to each other, though the ex-sheriff is
kindly, genial man. Jim, on the 9TH
er hand, is moody, combative and Of
uncertain temper. He is peculiar in
many ways.
A few years ago he had strange
fondness for live snakes. He would
carry them about with him and do all
kinds of queer things with the reptiles.
One of his habits was to ride a BIZ
cycle at great speed with live snake
between his teeth, clutched through
the middle of the back the head wrig-
Cling on one side of his face and the
tail on the other.
Wilcox's strange fondness for snakes
gave him an uncanny reputation which
has chung to him. He also acquired
the reputation of always going about
armed with a long dirk and revolver,
just as his uncle did, the man whom
he was named for and the most unpop
ular man in this section of North Car
DINA.
Close friends Of the Wilcox family
say that the young man is a victim Of
heredity and that the traits which
made his uncle so notorious have de-
scended to him.
This uncle, James F. Wilcox, died a
few years ago. He killed at least two
men. and reports credit him with hav-