A tragedy of the mountains

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Tragedy of the Mountains

OR

THE WHITE ROCKS.

A THRILLING TALE OF THE ALLEGHENIES.

By a. F. hill.

M ^ y

PHILADELPHIA

COLUMBIAN PUBLISHING COMPANY 35 North Tenth Street.

By COLUMBIAN PUBLISHING CO. , .

1890 . /

Preface

Although this work is simply a narrative of facts which occurred many years ago in the vicinity of the oil lands of '^Vestern Pennsylvania, it must not be supposed that I have written it merely to present to the world, for my own advantage, an exciting story. The object which I have in view, beyond all that, is, to set forth a lesson which may prove useful to those fair ones who are prone to regard outward show rather than real worth. If the perusal of this work shall induce the fair reader to reflect seriously on the subject presented, and shall move her to greater vigilance against flattery and deception — if the lesson herein contained shall prove a warning against the perfidy that too often lurks behind the smooth tongue, the handsome face and the portly figure — the chief object for which it was written shall have been accomplished,

I hope, too, that this story may contain a moral by which young men may proflt. The manner in which Philip Kirke (who was not naturally more wickedly-inclined, perhaps,

than the ordinary run of mortals) went from bad to worse,

PEEFACE.

and from worse to worst of all, should admonish the young man, when tempted, to ** abstain from appearance of evil/* If this were exclusively a work of fiction, I should be far from denying it ; but it is not. The facts on which this story is based can be attested by every resident of the section of country where the scenes are laid. Not a few still live in that vicinity who distinctly remember the occurrence at the White Rocks, and who can relate, substantially, to-day, the story I have presented in these pages. The White Rocks and Delany’s Cave, in the mountain, and the Robbers’ Den, on the Monongahela, still remain to speak for themselves.

A. F. Hill,

Table Of Contents

CHAPTER L

PAfll,