Ben was like Andy Taylor, he never carried a gun, and yet all the
people respected him (of course - he was a Vaughan!).

Anyhow, one day he had to ride across the county to collect some
money, and it took longer then he thought.  It was getting dark
and looked like rain, so he stopped, not far from Eureka Springs,
at a large farmhouse.

Now this farmhouse was avoided as the family living there were
said to be rather weird. Travelers that passed through the area
were reported as having vanished when they went by this old
farm. Nobody went by it alone, especially at night. Except ol'
Sheriff Ben.  He didn't like it, but he knocked on the door and
a mean looking man answered. Ben identified him self as Sheriff
and told him he needed lodging for the night. With few words,
the man let him in and some of the man's sons put Ben's horse
out in the barn.

They gave Ben a room and about 3 o'clock in the morning, Ben
heard a noise and woke up. Grabbing a chair (no gun, remember)
as a weapon, he cautiously advanced into the kitchen to find the
whole family up sharpening wicked looking knives.

Ben put his back against the wall and demanded to know what
they were doing. They said that they were preparing to butcher
a hog in the morning, but Ben didn't buy that. He wondered if
they thought he might be carrying gold or money on him, as he
collected tax money.

Not taking his eyes off the odd family, he demanded that one
of the boys bring his horse around. They complied and Ben
rode out of there as fast as he could.

Years later, the family moved away and they were tearing the
farmhouse down. Guess what they found in the basement?
Human bones, from travelers killed by the family!
 

Linda_Welden@vaughan-vaughn.org

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