Suspicious Characters
“. . . Two individuals (strangers) are suspected of being the incendiaries who set fire to that town on the 8th of July. They were first seen at Dallas the evening preceding the fire. One, a young man, was riding a large dun horse, the other a man of apparentlyforty-five was riding a roan. They avoided the hotels and are supposed to have lodged in theCourt House Saturday night. They were observed in town Sunday and about the alarm of fire was given, they crossed the Trinity at the ferry, making sundry enquires aboutthe distances to neighboring towns, among the rest to Waxahachie, where they said they were going. They rode in the direction of that place to Judge Hoard’s three miles south of Dallas, where they stopped and inquired if they could get dinner. The Judge invited them into his house, promising to have dinner prepared and about the same time, discovering a dense smoke in the direction of Dallas, ordered his horse, saying he would ride to town and ascertain the cause. The strangers remained until his return in the interim were questioned by Mrs. Hoard, who learned from them that they were from Kansas. They said they were traveling to see the country, and were going to Waxahachie. They were armed with Colt repeaters, which they carefully re-capped while at the Judge’s house. The lady, suspecting all was not right, communicated her suspicions to her husband on his return, who concluded to watch the strangers. After supper they set out in the direction of Waxahachie but were seen two miles west of town in the neighborhood of Mr. Eaken, whose house was burned. . . .”1
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