He Walked Out of the House and Into a Whirlpool of Whispers

SPOKANE, August 1. — The fate of Charles F. Gloystein, whose strange disappearance from his home at Mica has been chronicled, is as much a mystery as ever. Sheriff Pligh and a dozen deputies spent yesterday endeavoring to find a clue, and forty neighbors, mounted and afoot, conducted a vigorous search through the surrounding country. The mystery only became more perplexing as the search progressed.

Public opinion is divided. Many cling to the most probable theory of murder. Some held that it was a case of abduction—nothing more. And a few boldly proclaimed it a Republican scheme, and that after the election Gloystein would appear again. Capt. F. I. Evans, state organizer of the shotgun league, visited the neighborhood late last evening and was busy assuring his friends that the preposterous story was true. He met with indifferent success, for however much Gloystein differed from his neighbors in politics, they respected his dogged determination and were open in expressions of confidence in his integrity.

"No, Evans, I can't go that," one was heard to say behind the schoolhouse at midday. "Gloystein was not the man to desert his wife that way, and you know as well as anybody he wouldn't be a party to such a scheme."

The esteem in which Gloystein was held was attested by the numbers who came from miles around to assist in a careful examination of the country. Ten men on horseback scoured the country for a trace of him. Two parties on foot, under George Denman, a stalwart young schoolmaster, beat every pine thicket and grove of cottonwood within a radius of three or four miles. Up California creek and down the party went, hunting through the densest underbrush. Then Cottonwood creek, to the southeast, was searched. Stagnant pools were dragged.

Among the discoveries: a little bunch of buttons by a roadside bush near a spot where a battered, bloody hat was first seen—but nothing to connect it with the crime. Then a trace of a mysterious spring wagon. Warren had passed a strange outfit in Piouf gulch four hours before Gloystein was called out and kidnapped. There were a dapple gray and a bay horse in the team, unhitched, but no campfire, and two men stood by. Two hours later another rancher reported a double team and light wagon passing him on the road south of Mica, with what he thought were three men on the seats.

A feeling of dread pervades the vicinity. Neighbors are growing to distrust each other, and conversations between friends are carried on in whispers. Mrs. Gloystein has given up hope and is almost prostrated. She is being cared for by the family of W. D. Barnhart, her next-door neighbor. There are five children in the family, the eldest being 8 years old and the youngest less than 1, all undergoing an attack of whooping cough.

"I can't understand it at all," she told a reporter. "My husband seemed troubled about something at times, but he never told me what. I have since thought that when he came back into the house that night something in his voice suggested that he was going on an errand that he didn't want to tell about; yet there seems to be no reason for thinking so. It would be easy enough to get him to start out. He was quick to go to anybody's assistance that he thought was in need."

Alonzo M. Murphey said: "I have known Mr. Gloystein for two years and have always found him an upright and mild-mannered man. Disreputable efforts are being made to attack his character. From my knowledge of the man I consider these assertions wholly false. Mr. Gloystein was a good citizen, true to his connections and not at all obtrusive. In fact he was one of the mildest-mannered men I ever met."

The Spokane Chronicle, whose account of the abduction gave an acute shock to the entire community, cautioned against jumping to conclusions: "While there is no doubt that Gloystein suffered this outrage on account of his courage and freedom in expressing his convictions, the community will be loath to believe that it was the result of a political conspiracy, or that any political league or party is responsible for the act. It is only natural that bitter partisans should seek to make party capital out of the sad and disgraceful event, but the public will suspend judgment until all the facts are known."