The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1907-02-13
"I shall be with you on your wed.

ding nlgQs. 1QSGe&u VI . olkAosoI
thase was the CHASTITY emblem OF
skull snd croEs.boneg.
| Young Gilmore lsughed at hrse
thinking it was the joke Of SOM
friend. In New England countr.
towns q certain clsss OF fellows mad
Bridegroom the butt Of all sorts o
jokes.
Charles Gilmore tried to think tina
thiE sibylline letter was the fret o
q series OF mild hazlng tricks that h'
would have to stand good-naturedlY
But, nevertheless, 3 cold shiver TAI
over him as he looked again and agar
at the glaring skull.
Then, to rid his mind Of the name
less horror it suggested, be tore W
the note and threw it to the wind.
The following week he called on bill
intended bride one evening. Wher
he left the house about II o'clock an6
went to take his horse and buggy out
Of the barn to drive home. be founo
sn envelope stuck IN the wire screen
ing OF bis lantern.
A suspicious fear shot through hin
IS be tore 1t open, and even before he
read the lines he surmised what the
message vas.
II shall DO with you on your we'd
ding night" and below was the same
onincus signature, . skull and cross-
ho0oS-s1l fInne In red
CHARLES Gilmore read and reread the
note In state OF dszed. ine1plicable
fear. It was not 30 much the contents
Of the letter this time that alarmed
him as the manneI in which 1t bad
been left.
While he had been looking into the
laughing, lovelit eyes OF his bride. to-
ba, some gtealthy form had been
prow!ing outside, perhaps seeing bis
happiness through the haH.closed
shutters-andipIeparing TO blast THAI
sweet emotion on hic home going.
The message now conveyed maIig.
nant jealousy. Young Gilmore studied
it carefully, for it no longer seemed s
joke. he tried 10 think whose hand
writing it was. 1t did not seem Ike
any he had ever seen before. Then
despairing Of making anything OF it,
in q fash Of indignation be tore up
the note.
Now he would give anything fof
that precious bit Of evidence that
might he used against the assassin.
At times during the next fortnight,
that fateful sentence occurred To him,
and bis blood alternately boiled and
frozs ct it's blind meaning. But other
and happier thoughts mostly aled bis
mind and he mentioned the two myE.
terious letters to no one.
After the tragedy, when he and the
friends vhe had been the wedding
guests were discussing the shooting
and trying to think Of some clue to
the assassin, Gilmore told about the
two leoters.
WHY, that is 8 quotation from
Mrs. Sheley's novel ahout the Frank.
enstein monster" said one Of the
young men who Is particularly well
read. Amazement spread over the
faces OF the group. They started to
laugh-bus frowned instead, for they
then remembered that this was the
parting threat Of the Frankenssein
monster, made to the iu.fated bride
groom-a threat that was fulfilled on
the wedding night by serangling the
bride in her bed.
This deepaned the mystery. The
assassin, whoever he was, must have
been an intelligens, weIl.read man.
BE must be . resident Of the village
or some nearly town. The only mo-
tive for such . crime, under such CTR.
cumstances, was jealousy Vindic
tive rival OF q repuleed lover-which?
Love affairs sn 3 village Ike Ira are
open secrets. The whole town knows
Just how the ccurtship Of every fond
pair Is progressing.
The1e hsd never been any secrecy
about the romance Of pretty Mary
Parker and young Charles Gilmore.
They had been lovers from childhood
ali through their school dsys-and
no iealous rivals had interfered In
their pretty, simple, loyal loVe-msk.
Ing.
That so foul 9 plot should be woven
about their wedding seemed incredi'
BILE. That young Andrew Farrell, the
man who had been arrested. wss a
jealous, disappointed lover, no one for
. moment believed. It seemed moro
ike the deed OF an o7erwrought
maniac than like she act Of healthy
minded merchant. farmer or villager.
The only substantial clue which the
authorities have is the bullet which
struck Mrs. Gilmore. Il is consider
ably dsttened and out Of shape; but
appears to have come from a. calibre
riffs. Ths same kind Of bullet struck
Mrs. Gilmore's sister-in. law.
The police have made search OF
the whole village for rihss that could
have fred such bullets. Several have
been found that would have answered
the purpose, but there Is nothing to
connecs any OF the owners Of the guns
with this atrocious crime.
There are matters which will be
siftsd at the March term Of the grand
jury.
In the weeks that have dragged by
since Christmas the young bride has
faced the alternative Of death from
shock and blood poisoning or the pos
sible losing Of her right srm. The
attending physician has thought 1t
might DO necessary to amputate just
below the shoulder In order to save
the girls life.
In the meantime the mystery OF the
unnatural crime dsepens, and there
seems TO be no hope Of clearing 1t up
till young Farrell is brought before
the grand jury, and the State AteoH'
ney has produced all the evidence that
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