Fort Mill times. (Fort Mill, S.C.) 1892-current, December 15, 1910, Image 11
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Quarter Century u
W. R. Bi
Twenty or more years ago
when the tide of political battle
had turned favorably for the
Democracy and there was swept
into the White House the first
friend the late Confederate States
had had there for wellnigh three
decades, not a few Southerners,
for partizan activity, were rewarded
with government positions
in Washington. Among the
number were two young men? j
one from Carolina, the other
from Texas?between whom a
fast friendship sprang up as the
result of a chanqe acquaintance, J
formed en route to the national
capital. Neither had ever visited j
Washington, hence their knowledge
of the city was necessarily
limited. Nothing was more
natural, therefore, than that they
should agree to seek lodgings at
the same place, temporarily at
least.
A modest but respectable hotel ;
had been recommended to the
Texan, at which they were for
some days comfortably established.
Fire came along one'
night, however, the ~ hotel was i
gutted and the young men had to !
find quarters elsewhere. At a
loss to know whither to go, they
sought the aid of the congress-:
man who represented the home ,
district of the Carolinian. Hjs !
assistance was readily given. Ut j
course he knew where they could
be accommodated; indeed, the
family with whom he was staying
in the "northwest" would be
pleased, he doubted not, to take
the young men in.
The place was some distance
out, but not inconvenient to the i
government offices. The house
was large, roomy, well-furnished
and withal a desirable home, in
most respects. It had been
built by a retired Southern planter
of the Calhoun-Clay-Webster
era, who, having disposed of his
immense holdings of slaves and
plantations, had come to Washington
to spend his declining days
, in ease and luxury and to be near
the scene of the momentous political
discussions which were
then wellnigh the all-absorbing
topic of public interest.
During the war the place had
passed into the hands of a Scotchman,
a somewhat mysterious
man, about whose past and present
little was known. For years
he had been the sole occupant of
the house, but after considerable
importunity had reluctantly
agreed to lease the three floors
above ground to the present
tenants, retaining the basement
for himself. The house had1
recently been repaired within and I
was now attractive enough in- j
side; but for some singular and '
unexplained reason the Scotchman
had refused absolutely to
allow any improvements to be
made to the exterior of the building
or the grounds, declining
even to discuss the matter.
JP Furthermore, there was one
room in the building which, he
announced, must be little altered.
This room, on the rear of
the third floor, might be used,
but he insisted that no changes
be made therein further than
^ necessary to make it habitable.
The room, the congressman, added,
was immediately to the rear
of the one he himself occupied,
and he thought it the only unoccupied
room in the house. If
the young men hesitated to use
the room because of the Scotchman's
singular solicitude concerning
it. they need not, of course,
do so, even if it were offered
them.
The young men had little
trouble in locating the place, but
both were surprised to find the
house and grounds even more
desolate and foreboding than they
surmised. The iron gate groaned
wearily on its rusty hinges, the
lawn (if such it could be called)
was unkempt and covered with
dead leaves and dying grass, a
marble statute had fallen from
its base and lay half hidden in
the tangled mass of rotting herbage,
here and there an oldfashioned
flower, growing wild,
struggled for existence among
the weeds and briars and the
shrubbery had long since failed
to bear evidence of kindly care;
the house, a massive brick pile,
was old, weatherworn, uninviting
in the extreme, and looked as if
no human foot had crossed its
threshold for ages? '"o'er all
there hung the shadow of a fear."
Once within, however, the
transformation from the gloomy
ml outward appearance of the place
r was in such marked contrast to
the cheery, hospitable surroundings
that all thought of the former
was forgot. Only one room,
the young men were told, was at
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i Burial Chamber.
radford.
the disposal of the landlady, a
rear room on tHb third floor; and
she would be pleased to allow the
young men to use it, since they
were recommended by her distinguished
guest. Did they care
to see the room? Yes. There was
nothing objectionable about it,
as both agreed, though the furniture
was of an antiquated, outof-date
nattern. In one corner
there stood a small table, covered
with preen cloth, that appeared
to have been roughly used.
Across the top the table bore a
number of stains, the peculiar
brownish color of which sugpested
human blood; and on opposite
sides of the wall there
hunp the portraits of two young
men, each of striking appearance,
but of a distinctly different type,
who seemed to be lookinp fixedly
at each other. In other respects,
the room was not unlike many
others the young men had seen,
and instead of being displeased
because of its somewhat quaint
and indeed outre appearance,
each said that he would move in
the following day.
The morrow came and with it
the two new guests of the place,
who readily adjusted themselves
to their new quarters. Nothing
out of the ordinary happened for
several weeks, but late one night
during their second month in the
room the Carolinian awoke from j
a restless sleep and declared to ;
his room-mate that he had just |
had a most horrible dream, and j
that he did not purpose to stay ;
in the room another night.
All efforts of the Texan to
calm the Carolinian were unavailing,
and the latter arose and
turned on the light, but not hefore
receiving the positive as- j
surance that the Texan had not <
been out of bed since retiring. I
The light revealed the fact 'to !
both that in some mysterious,
unaccountable way the small,
green covered table had been
shifted from its accustomed place
in the corner to the centre of the
room and that underneath it on j
the floor lay a blood-soaked ace I
of hearts.
No beseeching would induce
the Carolinian to reveal the na- j
iure 01 nis a ream tnat nignt, but j
he promised his friend to relate ,
the whole of it the following
morning. The promise was fulfilled
when they were joined at
the breakfast table by the congressman.
to whom was shown j
the blood-besmeared ace of hearts i
as evidence of the Carolinian's ,
uncanny experience. That afternoon
both young men moved out, j
the Carolinian, at least, firm in j
the conviction that the place was
haunted. To this day he has in
his possession that weird ace of
hearts.
Coincident with the departure
of the young men, a message was
received by the congressman,
stating that the Scotchman was
ill and wished to see him. The
request was readily complied
with, the visit to the old man's
bedroom disclosing the fact that
he was indeed very ill. Here is
the story he related as the reason
for requesting to see the congressman:
"As you know, I am an old
I man. For the last ten days I
j have been sick, and I am now so
| week and emaciated that I do
I not hope ever again to rise from
j this bed. I have little strength
[ left and realizing that it perhaps
i is but a matter of hours for me
on this earth, I can no longer
bear the thought of passing out
into the great beyond without
telling someone of the awful life
I have lived for the last 25-years.
But let me begin the recital with
the days of my young manhood.
I am a Scotchman by birth and
lived on my father's estate near
Glasgow until my 25th year. In
spite of the careful home training
I received in my youthful
days, I grew up to be wild and
dissipated and was fast bringing
disgrace upon my honored parents
when, one day, my father
proposed to me that I go to
America and there make my
| home, thinking the change would
make of me the man he had so
hoped for. The proposition was
agreeable to me, especially after
! I learned that it was also the
I purpose of a boyhood friend to
j emigrate to America.
"We sailed tocether. each of
I us having considerable money,
and finally drifted to Washing|
ton. Shortly after the outbreak
of the great Civil war I bought
this home, intending to return
later to my native land and bring
back with me the girl who could
i never discover in me the faults
^ so many others found. But 1
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THE FORT MILL TIKES
could not shake off my inordinate
passion for gambling?the thing
took complete possession of me.
As the climax to this irresistible
desire for the game of chance, I
invited the friend of my boyhood i
days to spend the night with me ;
with the purpose of inveigling j
him into a card game. He cared ;
little for cards, but agreed to ;
play to please me. I lost steadily
for hours, the stakes meanwhile |
mounting higher and higher.
Pinallv I rialfwl m\r nil mm I
lone hand, every dollar I had in
the world was thrown in the
balance and ?I lost. The thought
of the utter ruin which stared me
in the face completely overcame
and crazed me, and drawing from
my pocket a dagger I drove it to
the hilt in the heart of my friend.
The blood spurted out over the i
table and cards and he sank to the ;
floor and died without a groan.
"Realizing the enormity of the i
crime I had committed and the
necessity to dispose of the body
to save myself, I dragged it downstairs
from the rear room of the
third floor, where we had played,
to this very room and buried it
under the floor. Not one night
in all the long years since I committed
the horrible crime have I
failed to sleep in this room, within
a few feet of my murdered
friend. Last night, realizing
that my strength was fast leaving
me and unable to withstand
the irrepressible desire once more
to visit the scene of my crime, I
stole silently upstairs to that
fated room. Upon discovering
that the room was occupied, I
left it as quickly as my feeble
strength would permit, but
dropped to the floor an ace of
hearts, besmeared with the life
blood of my friend.
"No one can imagine the horror-haunted
life I have lived since
that night more than 26 years
ago. Now, I beg of you not to
repeat tne story ot my crime
until "
The stricken man had sunk
back on his pillow unable to say
more. Within 24 hours dissolution
had come and his soul had
passed out into the great beyond,
there to be tried for his crime
before a greater Judge than he
had evaded on earth.
A Valuable Gift.
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LINEBACK & ELAN
(POPULAR JEWELERS)
CHARLOTTE, N. C.
West Trade St., Near Square.
II
"The Little Store with the
Big Stock."
We are gutting in tremendous
stocks of the most select lines of
Jewelry, Watches, Silverware,
Cut Glass and Holiday Goods.
Our stock has the variety that
you want when you select a Wedding:
or Holiday Gift.
| Come to see us and we will always
give you the best goods for
i
the least money.
Q BEACH-IHRIE'S ?
fi Our Jewelry Store is simply Q
Q running over with the many new M
things for fall and Xmas. We W
Q have never before been able to n
rt offer the people such a large se- J
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gj ceived large shipment of g|
8 Libbey's jjj
g Cut Glass, |
Sthe world's best. For a tfift you A
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A Cut (llass. ft
Mail orders filled same day re- w
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| R Reliable Jeweler*, g
i jj Rock Hill, - - - S. C. ?
1 tOOdOdCXOOtOllOt'l
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DECEMBER 15, 1910.
TAX NOTICE?1010.
Office of the County Treasurer
of York County.
Yorkville, S. C., Sept. 15, 1910.
Notice is hereby given that the tax
books for York county will be opened
on Saturday, the 15th day of October,
1910, and remain open until the 31st
day of December, 1910, for the collection
of State, county, school and local
taxes for the fiscal year 1910, without
penalty, after which day one per cent,
penalty will be added to all payments
made in the month of January, 1911,
and two per cent, penalty for all pay
menis made tn the month of February,
1911, and seven per cent, penalty will
be added on all payments made "from
the 1st day of March to the 15th day of
March, 1911. and after this date all unpaid
taxes will go into executions and
all unpaid single polls will be turned
over to the several magistrates for
prosecution in accordance with law.
For the convenience of taxpayers, I
will be in Yoi#>ille from Monday, November
14. until the 31st day of December,
1910, after which day the penalties
will attach as stated above.
HARRY E. NEIL,
Treas. of York Countv.
We Are Headquarters
For the Following:
Hardware, Crockery and Stoves,
Buck's Steel Ranges, Lime, Cement
and Plaster, Elwood Field and Hog
Fence, McCormick Mowers and Rakes,
International Gasoline Engines, Shredders,
Corn Harvesters and Disc Harrows,
Sewer Pipe a^ul Farm Drain Tile,
Grates and Tile, Chattunooga Turn and
Disc Plows, Cole's Hot Blast Heaters,
Wilson Heaters, Machinery, Fittings
and Supplies, Window Glass and Putty,
Roofing of all kinds, Farmers' Favorite
Grain Drills, Stalk Cutters, Spokes and
Rims, Guns and Ammunition.
Rock Hill Hardware Company,
Rock Hill. - S. C.
OVER 65 YEARS'
>mHHB|^experience
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bank pays 1
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| The Pec
ROCl
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SAVINGS ]H
It's not what you make that
:ll i i. - I
win uicUvc you weauny. u is
what you save that will make |j ^ I
you happy and independent
ARE YOU 1
SAVING? A
I THE SAVINGS BANK OF FORT MILL, S. C. V
W. B. Meacham, Cashier I W
1 =j
Mules and Horses '
We have just received our first shipment
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as they may be higher later in the season.
l^vprvnuo (tn<1 vuiitnnd fn lw*
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imall Account
Welcomed Here.
sitate to open a bank account I
i cannot begin with a large I
eoples National Bank of Rock
lly welcomes small deposits,,
t from one dollar upwards,
lat these accounts grow to
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to make regular addio,
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a liberal income for
together with absolute safety.
>ples National Bank, j
K HILL, - - SOUTH CAROLINA.
SUCCESSFUL, SECURE. I