Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1905-10-06

n daughters as they met them. When
the last had been killed. the bodies were
to be thrown into one room and the
house set on fire. Once il had burned
to the ground the Rawlings hoped that
every evidence of their crime would
have vanished.
This was the scheme as conceived by
Rawlings, sr. Fortunately, is succeed
ed only in part. He was wise enough
to know that suspicion Of foul play, II
| there were any in the minds or the
neighbors would naturally fall upon
him, for his threats against the Carriers
had been spread on all sides. He, there
fore, determined TO have no direct part
in the murder, but to have a thoroughly
su~bstantiated alibi If he were called
upon to give an account Of himself the
| night the Carriers died. So 1t happened
that he was not with the boys when
they made their attack upon the Car
ters, but was seen in the town of Val
dosta, a few miles south of the Carter
and Rawlings plantations.
During the afternoon of June IL, the
Rawlings boys o ALI Moore, their
accomplice, to a cabin on their planta-
ton and shut him up there, telling him
to keep out of sight and that they
would bring him his supper later. The
were taking no chances OF his losing
his nerve and crawling h last mo-
ment.
When the shadows had grown long
the Rawlings met at this cabin as pre-
arranged. The last directions were
| given, probably by Milton, who, as
oldest, had charge of the party. Then
all four, including Moore, went care
fully through the brush, where 1t vas
necessary through the open fields, to
the Carter plantation. After the sun
had sunk and there was little danger
Of thair hninU Sopn the mlrdprprS
closed in upon the house and waited.
Imagine the suspense of those boys
waiting there with murder in their
hearts. No matter how much they may
have been murderers by instinct, pro-
vided that such a thing Is possible.
they had youth and inexperience to
overcome. Perhaps they wished many
times that the whole affair was only a
dream, that they would wake up from
the nightmare just as they were killing
the Carriers. Aft Moore frankly con-
fessed on the witness stand that he lost
his nerve and had he not been kept
where he was by a stronger will of his
boy confederates he would have thrown
up the job. But his was the weaker
mind and theirs the stronger will.
About 8 o'clock the Carriers wera dis
turbed by the barking of n of their
dogs. Then every dog on the place
took it up Thinking that it might be
a friend, or possibly a stranger seeking
information about the roads, Willie
Carter, seventeen year old, and Carrie,
his sister, who was only a year young
err, and their baby sister, went out to
see what had caused the rumpus
First Attack.
Mr.. and Mrs. Carter, with their two
older daughters, Lola and Leila, were
sitting inside the house. Suddenly they
heard three shots fired in quick success
sion. Rushing to the door, Carter saw
his son, Willie Carter, craving pain
fully toward him on the ground. HIS
baby girl lay but a few feet away from
the door. Carrie was nowhere IN sight.
Quickly he snatched up the little girl,
and grasping the boy, dragged him TO
the house. Quickly, because he knew
that there were other bullets whence
these that had wounded his children
had come. Once inside the house he
barricaded the door n locked the
shutters. Then the siege began.
Inside the house Carter, still unable
to handle his gun On account or the
wounds Rawlings had given him sew
eral weeks before, waited anXiously for
the attack, which he knew must come
soon. Beside him ~crouched his Two
girls, fearing, they knew not what.
In another corner was the mother,
bending yer the little girl and wound
ed boy. The baby girl soon came to
herself. The bullet only grazed her.
But the boy was desperately hurt. Part
of the time he was unconscious, put
whe he was himself he moaned pit
eously for water, water which his
father could not bring him, for the well
was in range of the enemy's bullets.
And Carter knew hat those bullets
were from the guns of the RAWLINGS,
for the little girl had recognized OF
the boys.
Tried to Burn the House.
Outside lowered the Rawlings and ALI
Moore, fearing to approach the house
lest they be shot down by Carter. They
waited an hour in quiet, thinking that
the man would come out to look for his
daughter. They could hear the means
of the dying boy in the house, and
again ALI Moore lost his nerve and
would have gone away had the Raw
lings not compelled him to stay.
Losing hope that Carter would come
into the yard, the Rawlings determined
to set the house on fire and either burn
the rest of the family to death or smoke
them out. They collected bundles or
corn shucks lying near, n began pli-
ing them against the side OF the house
In which there were no windows. Lola
Carter, peeping through a crack In the
chimney, saw one of the boys with ms
arms full or dry SnuCkS. SHe, loo, iSS-
ognized a Rawlings.
She called TO her father, and he, as
well as he could, fitted his gun into the
crack in the chimney. When he heard
the thud of falling corn shucks ne
fired.
Immediately there was the sound OF
hurrying feet. Then quiet, although Lola
watched for another hour to see If more
shucks be piled against the house, n
could pnfhin0 A nna ranflY the muir
derers had been frightened away by
one shot. They had, but Carter was
not sure of this. All through the long
night the terrified family waited and
watched. Before dawn the rounded
boy died.
Murdered Girl in Cornfield.
When at last the night of horror was
ended. Carter went out with his wire
to look for the missing daughter. They
found her In a nearby cornfeld, her
face mashed beyond recognition by the
boots of the fiends who had killed her.
The n~eighborhood was aroused.
There were talk of a lynchtng II the
murderers could be found. Old man
Rawlings declared hat neither he nor
any of his family a been near the
| Carriers house that night. He proved
his alibi. But the evidence given by
the Carter girls was sufficient to cause
the arrest first of he Rawlings boys
and then OF their father. Then ALT
| Moore was taken.
An extra session of the court was
held In order hat people should not
| complain Of the hardness of the law.
The Rawlings boys .swore that they
were innocent. Their mother and Sis
tiers declared they had not left the
house the night of June ID. But
| Moore turned states evidence. hoping
thus to save his own neck. His con-
ros.;on ord fha axidanca given hy the