The Newtown bee. (Newtown, Conn.) 1877-current, 1902-03-21
Still Greater Reductions {!
FOSTER, BESSIE & CO.,
Bridgeport Conn. ~- .""

cave whar he meks his home. He don
go with no one no more"
"When did his daughter die?" 1 ask
ed.
"Wall, I reckon it's been about two
var. I'll show you whar she's buried
lireckly.'
We had proceeded but few yards
when we came to deserted cabin, the
windows:.o of which were tightly closed
In front of this cabin was mound and
at it's head rude slab on which was
painted in bold letters:
THE only one who ever loved me and shot
JOHN WILSON"
had sense of horror as 1 read the
strange inscription. The story pos
sessed peculiar fascination for me.
Partly from my guide and partly from
others / learned the facts, and here
they are:
Years before, when John Wilson
was but a youth, he came to this
mountain and built his cabin. Then,
on the creek in the valley, three miles
below, he opened country store. He
f,r n CT ~
tain folk, and his immense strength,
his strong intellect and his knowledge
Of books made him a leader. No one
knew from whence he came, except
that he was raised in the city, and at
first his neighbOrS were distrustful of
him. But this soon wore away, and
nothing could be done on the noun
tain-side in which he did not take the
most prominent part. Hel brought a
young wife with him, and together
they lived in the cabin he had built.
The years passed by. and for that
country, where money is scarce and
needs are few for which money is
wanted, the storekeeper grew to be a
wealthy man. He was natural ath-
lete, and could run faster, leap farther,
shoot straighter and ride better than
any man in the sparsely settled coun-
try
For years his life was a happy one
and little daughter was born unto
the young couple. In the morning and
evening Wilson's cheerful whistle
could be heard as he passed from the
cabin to the store and back again. AS
the baby grew he used to take her on
his back and carry her to the store,
where she was content to play until
he was ready to go home. She was the
pride of the mountainside. But one
day stranger appeared on the noun
tain. He was we'll dressed, and the
simple mountaineers regarded him
with suspicion. The next day he Was
gone and John Wilson's wife had disap.
peared, never to return. No one knew
anything further; but the storekeepel
no longer whistled as he went to the
store. An almost savage fierceness
came upon him, except to little Susie,
who was always by his side, or being
carried on his back. If she hid behind
the boxes in the store, it was pathetic
to hear him call, "Susie, my babyr
And the child would run out and
throw her arms around him and laugh
| while the tears would come unbidden
to the strong mans eyes us he stroked
hor h.,ir rbiIo1 ~.
ing him by running away. When she
! was older they would sit in their ca bin
| 'or, and he would teach her to read.
Never for a moment were they Separ
ated, these two; and as the years used
by something of the old-time gayety
came back to John Wilson.
When IA years old Susie was sent tC
the city to school and there she re-
manned four years. Once month hel
father went to visit her, and Their
he would come back and take up his
ordinary duties in a perfunctory way
us if his thoughts were with his
daughter in the distant city. Every
night a little knot Of men met at his
house, and it was not long before the
Government officials learned that the
strongest organization of the moon.
sinners in the State were operating
somewhere among these mountains
and they believed that John Wilson
was the leader. During all these years
he had held aloof from these men, ex-
cept they knew him to be a man who
could be trusted, and when he built a
still down on the creek below his store
they at once acknowledged him as