Year: 1866

all or not Is more than l can tell"


did you look at his feet, Henry ?" il


terupted one of the party, 81 expect


was old


Never mind what you expect, hea


me out" he continued 81 followed tn


trail, which wound about, it seemed b


me, into prairie, which thought re


cognized. l stopped and was lookin


around to make out the land marks


when a horse with saddle on burst from


the woods behind me, and tore off aoros


the prairie as if he, too, had seen tn


devil"


"What color was he ?" exclaimed hal


dozen voices.


He was too far off for me to distin


guish more than that he was dark hors


say out as much so as mine. | coulC


distinguish the pommel of the saddl,


and the stirrups flying.


"Stoner's horse was a dark bay" wa


whispered around the table in low tones


every one looking seriously in his neigh


boris face.


YES" said the Squire, rising and step


ping uneasily to the window. 'Stoner''


horse was good deal like yours. He
must have got away from him, and thai
is what detains him. But then. the nag
was very kind creature, and was well
trained. | wonder that it should be-
have So"


Don't believe bay would have done it,
Squire" said one of the men. Some
thing has gone wrong. Was the bride
down, Mr.. Henry?"


'Tt was too far off for me to tell /
followed in the direction the horse took,
and soon found myself here, and expect
ed to find it here, too"


No. Stoner's beyond here > said the
Squire. That wagon trail you were turn
ing and twisting about in is a road had
opened to a number of board trees we
cut and rived out there; you might have
followed it for hours and not have been
more than a mile or so from the place
you started from. That ghost ofyours, by
the way, may be some crazy fellow who
has wandered into these parts with mis-
chief in him. Did you hear no gum


Il thought did-about an hour after
parted with that man, or devil, or what
ever he was but the sound was so faint
and distant that, for fear of being mis-
taken, l did not go to it, and the road
had turned so often l could not tell
whether it was in the direction he went
off or not


Here the driver" interposed, saying
that he had heard a rife report about
that time on the right but supposing it to
be Henry or Stoner he thought nothing
of it. And a half laughing discussion
followed as to the probable character of
the wood-ghost Henry had reported Of
for these men were too much accustomed
to the exigencies of hunters life to be
for a moment affected by the circam-
stances of Stoner's non-arrival. In the
midst of this a horses feet were heard
gallopiDg up the road, and loud Hill
loa p followed. The Squire rose hastily
and went out. In a moment after he en-
tered, pale and excited.


tom Dix lone of Stoner's neighbors)
says that his horse has come home with
out rider, the reins upon his neck and
a clot of blood upon the pommel of his
saddle. He's been shot. Just as l ex-
pected from the first"


Everybody rose at this announcement,
looking in the face of him opposite with
a blank, paid stare.


"The crazgnan !" calculated several.
Strange ~ "Very mysterious business Z"
said others.


Il tell you what" said the Squire, af
ter pause, "has struck me from the first.
1t is that this strange looking fellow that
Henry saw, mistook him for Stoner, un-
til he looked into his face for Henry's
horse and general appearance are not un-
like his. and when he found that he was
wrong, got out Of the way and went on
till he met Stoner himself, and when he
did he shot him"


No doubt of it," was the reply from
several.


But it is a very mysterious affair"
he. 81 know of no such look
ing man in this region as Henry describes;
but at any rate, he will be hunted down
for Stoner was of the Regula-
tors, and Hinch is perfect blood hound.
He can hardly escape him, crazy or not
crazy"


This seemed to be the most satisfac-
tory solution of the difficulty, and as it
was too dark for US to do anything that
night, we resumed our seats to discuss
over and over again these details, while
the Squire sent off a messenger summon
Hinch and the Regulators to be on the
ground early in the morning.


Before sunrise in the morning, Hinch
arrived with six men. | was awakened
by his loud clustering and swearing. He
was raVing, as | afterwards understood,
about Henry-calling his story about the
meeting with the remarkable parsonage
all humbug, and asserting his belief that
if any murder had been committed.
Henry had been its author. Our host
quieted him in some way. and when we
came out to join them he greeted US with
a snaIing look of civilitv. He was a
thick set, broad shouldered, bully-look-
ing wretch, with blood-shot eyes, and
face bearing all the marks of riotous de-
bauchery. Our search was for several
hours entirely unsuccessful Henry, by
accident, found the place where he had
encountered the Bearded Ghost, as some
one christened him. Here one of the
keen-eyed hunters found the trace of
large moccasined foot. These were pur-
sued for several miles and lost, but on
spreading our line and continuing the
same general course for some distance
further, we at last indeed found the body
of Stoner. 1t had been so much mutila-
ted by the wolves and ravens that little
was made of the bones
W q gathered them together to carry them
to his family and in doing this l noticed
the fractures Of a bullet through the back
part of the skull. 1t had been stripped
bare of flesh, and both eyes were pluck
ed out by the birds, and was too shock
ing an object for close examination. But
what puzzled all parties most was the dis
coyery of the trail of a shod horse. Now,
there was perhaps not horse in Shelby
county that wore shoes. and certainly not
one in our party. Shoeing is never
thought of, being unnecessary where
there are no stones. This vas as perfect
a poser as even Henry's story, and threw
g greater air of finexplicability around the
affair. 1t was thou ght that this track
might be traced to any distance but af-
ter worrying about it for several days it
was given up in dispair, and the Regula-
tors, fatigued and disheartened, scattered
to their respective homes.


But one of their number never reached
his. Being missed for two days, there
was general turn out to look for him,
and as has been the case with Stoner, his
body was found torn to pieces by the
wolves. The report was that he, too, had
Loo,, shot tbro,,T Th tho haoty Of tho haad