Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1907-10-04
The Mysterious AxInan.
[Original.1

ownership Ol Lue WOOL ~ lug between
the Scarsdales and the KirchoTs, and
even then the decision of the court
left the ownership of the timber on the
property uncertain. The Scarsdales
gained the land. a title to which would
IN law include the timber. but kir-
chotf had at one time held q bill Of
sale for the wood. and when the de-
cision came the KirchOf against whom
It was rendered declared that no Scars
dale should ever carry away stick Of
wood from the property. He died soon
after making the threat, and Thomas
Scarsdale considered that he might
take peaceable possession Of both land
ard timber. However, there was no
occasion to cut the wood, and no move
was made to do so for many years.
Indeed the property remained as 1t
was till Howard Scarsdale became en-
gagged to Elsie Kirchof. Then Howard
concluded to build a house for himself
and the girl he was to marry In the
center of the woods. Before beginning
he sold the timber to make way for
the house to man who was to take it
away.
TIE first tree cut down fell on one
q the men engaged in the work and
ki!let! him. Then when it had been
SoCel into logs and they were being
removed from the property chain
broke, log rolled down on a man, and
another life was sacrificed. Some
jlot..i- spoke Of the threat Of the Kir-
e!loiri who hau lost the suit, and that
::..,tI for the time any attempt to
,onlove TIE timber, for no one would
undertake the job.
f:::c night Elsie Kirchoff, who occu-
:n;21 tho family home on the west edge
q the voo.,, being awake, heard the
en- - al! * which she fancied came
i:'o:.l tie spot where he: fiance had
j,..'v!,l!Sy,l 70 build their nest. The next
>iav she told Howard of the circum-
sianoe. Howard insisted that she must
t7re been mistaken. No one had been
clA..'. iH.y il the wood He made per-
al examination, which confirmed
-: - he had said. But Elsie remained
L.: IL maintaining that she had heard
III aXlllan 1T work. Howard told her
that SIC would soon hear axmen, for
be had succeeded in securing new
gang OF men for the purpose of taking
away the timber.
The next day the body of a man was
carried By Elsie Kirchoff's house. The
bearers set the bier down in front of
tie house to rest, and Elsie shrinking
" went out, leaned on the gate and
asked what had been the cause of
death. She was Informed that a tree
that had been partly felled by the first
gang Of men employed to cut the tim
Der had fallen on the man and killed
him. lie was to have been the fore
man of the new gang that Howard
Scarsdale had employed.
The girl paled, gasped and went into
the house. She sent Immediately for
her lover and implored him to take no
further action in making the required
clearing. Scarsda16 considered the
deaths simply chapter Of accidents,
but he found Elsie in such turmoil
Of emotion that to calm her he prom
ised her that the whole matter should
Ue lNueHnlleiy ueIefFeO.
Autumn was coming on, and he con-
Guided to keep his promise till the next
spring, when he would have the Job
done without saying anything to Elsie
about it Perhaps he could get her to
be absent while it was done. He sue
cceded in doing this. Elsie went in
May to visit a friend, but she had
scarcely settled herself in her friends
house when she experienced an ire
sistibIe desire to return. This she did
the next day, reaching her home at
bedtime.
Howard had his men ready to enter
upon the work of making the clearing
the next morning Before breakfast
he received message from Elsie that
she was at home and she wished him
to come to her. Thinking she had been
taken i'll, he went to her Immediately.
Without explaining her sudden return
she asked quickly:
Are you going to cut the wood?"
Howard tried for awhile to equivo-
cate, but seeing that she would have
nothing but the truth. confessed.
"Stop it at once" she said excitedly.
go and forbid the men to strike a
blow. Last night l heard the axman
again. Oh, do go and stop them!'
While they were speaking there was
2 crash in the wood
''Too late.' gasped Elsie.
Howard, impressed with something,
he knew not what, started to 90 to -,
the wood. Elsie held him in a tight
EN- brace. Hearing shouting, he tore
himself away. When be reached the |
point from which the voices came he
found that the men had been at work
long enough to fell tree with rotted
core. It had fallen prematurely on one
Of the men, and the others were try
ing to pry it up so that they could get
him out. When they succeeded he was