The Prescott daily news., 1909-03-02
Toe Rockland % % < MyStery.
lCopyright, 1909, by American Press Asso
 citation


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 Rockland had been rough town hut It had settled down into a town with out the adjective.
 One day man without q record came to town. Since he gave no name as was customary in such cases, name was given him. But this was not till it was noticed that he appeared to be looking for some one. Then they called him the shadower." He had no cohidants, no associates. He en- tered upon no business, but seemed to have what money he needed. He was continually walking about. always with revolver at each hip, and it was mo- ficed that he usually kept an eye to- ward his rear.
 He was well favored man about tWenty-eight, and what few young women there were in Rockland adored him. Perhaps it was the mystery there was about him. though he never took any notice of them. One of the girls, Eunice Parks, bet she could make him smile, but she lost the bet Neverthe- less she succeeded in at least estab- fishing an acquaintance. They were seen occasionally walking together and usually in earnest conversation. Flu nice was good deal of hoyden. just the girl to make such bet, but from the time she fell in with the shadower she began to get sober. and it wasn't long before she was going about ap- parently with just such a load on her shoulders as the stranger seemed to be carrying
 Her intimate friends questioned her about the mysterious man who never smiled and who seemed to have drawn her under the spell by which he was influenced. They got nothing out of her, and by and by her parents, per ceiving that there was something wrong with her made every effort to induce her to give them her confidence. They succeeded no better than her companions, who were her ompanions no longer, for. like the stranger, she was without associates. without con- fidants. When she was asked if he had contded in her she answered "No." but hesitatingly, as much as to say that she was in a measure at least in the dark Was he influencing her without telling his story, or had he no story to tell?
 Wherever there is mystery there are d thousand explanations, and of the mystery of the shadower now extended to Eunice Parks no two explanations were alike. After Eunice was drawn into the vortex the parents of those who had been her friends feared that their daughters might be contaminated as people catch diseases from one an other. But if this contributed to the separation between her and her for mer associates it was but slight part. for Eunice dropped them before any of them dropped her.
 As time went on the shadower grew more cautious in his motions, as if the altercation he seemed to be expecting might be more imminent. He was seen on one occasion while walking through the town to turn suddenly, tldDDlHS IIS Htli tO llS iiSut hil. IL was noticed that when coming to a corner before advancing to cross a street he would hastily glance to the right and left as people in crowded cities do to avoid swift moving vehi- cles.
 One afternoon the shadower was seen walking rapidly toward wood on the outskirts of the town. A boy who saw him said he was talking to himself. Suddenly from the wood sev- eral shots rang out. There was no doubt about this, for they were heard bv four different people who noticed them particularly, there having been no shooting in the town or vicinity for a long while. They differed, however, in the number of the shots.
 Two of these persons were chatting together when the shots were fired. They were talking about the stranger who had hurried past them a few min utes before. They went to the wood, md there lay the shadower with bull let in his temple. One chamber of his revolver had been emptied, and after searching a ball was found in the trunk of tree near by.
 The body of the shadower who now seemed to have been really the shad- owed. was examined and the clothing searched carefully for evidence of his identity. On the body number of sears were found, and the clothing was bare of any evidence whatever. Search was made for the man who had killed him, but he was not found. The ground was examined for his tracks. but it was not of character