The Davenport gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Scott Co., Iowa) 1841-185?, 1851-11-27
A PROFITABLE GHOST.

I
Bay said Long Island subscriber, the
other day, with one Of those crafty fisher
man to whom no days on which the water
may be tempted, nro considered days for
| 'bad Iuck;' dies infaastus' being term
unknown in his calendar. Heswas one Of
those long necked clameaters, whose stom-
ach rose and fell with the tides which made
them plentiful Or Ief, them scarce. As we
were coming on in our boat, nfier sue
cessfnl foray upon bass and sheepshead,
we dell TO medi, ate upon various matters
which were neither piscatory or akin to il,
As Boswell would say Of the coliloqnies Of
the Great Lesia'han: we spoke Of Ghosts
You say ghosts have been seen on Long
Island, but you never seen 'em, and don't
believe 10 'eme-'WaI, yes, can't say | do
believe ia 'cm, bn, guess should believe
in 'em, ef had such luck in gettn' sight
on 'cm as man did down to Jerusalem
South, good many years ago. The way
was this; Yoa see ii was Dire adful cold win.
,er's night, about nine o'clock--how the
old South Bay roared that night !--w when
there was sleigh with three fellows into
il, drnv up under the hoss-shed at the tav-
fern. Two on emigot ou, and as they got
out they said TO i'oiher one--'Jim jist you
sit there and mind the horses while we 60
ia and get somethin' warmin'-wo'il be
righ, ou, agin.' They went into the tav.
ern, but they didn't come right on, agIn,
by joyful; though when they did come
out, they had more than a jugfusl apiece
into 'om both on 'em had--ha! h Fore
they come out, though, Bill, the 'osler said
to the man si,un'--biamed il would; wis
don't you go in and get someihiu' ,oo?
The man never said nothin' though, in an.
swer, but sot up as straight as an Indian.
| Bill, v ho WAS ookin' after some other hos
ses under the same shed, alter while said
Is0alcthn' moro to him, but be was as still
as q 'ysler. Pooly soon, Bill said 10 him
self--'Goy-blamed eli don't thlnk he's irlz
10 death, or else he'd say someihn. So
he'went up 70 him and shook him; aud sure
enough he found him ffiz stiff as a stake,
and when he come TO hold up his lantern e
look he found him propped up on each side
on the seat; the lines wound around his
hands; be was muflled up with comtor.ers
about his lacc--and he was stone dead!
sBll wasn'. uobody's fool, cf he did at
tend to hosses. He smelt the whole thing
out at ouce. Two or three graves had
been robbed about there, only little while
before, and The two chaps in the tavern
9as two bodg .gatherers that had been paid
| by the doctors 10 &C, bodies for 'en,, for TO
Gu, up, and they'd been and robbed a new
grave that night and here was the corpse
wrapped up and propped up in that sleigh,
SO that the folks wouldn't suspicion nothing
about il. Now, what d'you 'spose Bill
does? He goes and takes, Bill does. that
body ont Of the sieigh--lor he wasn't afraid
Of The very devil--strips off the clothes
and puts it into the oai bin inside, and fas-
tens the door; then be puts on the dead
mans clothes hsself, and he goes and gets
into the sleigh with 'cm on TO him, puts
the line round his hands. props hissei up,
and waits for the body -snatchefs TO come
out from the bsrroom. Pooty soon out
they come, got in on the wide seat along-
side of him, aud druv of. There Bill sits
as stiff as rail; but 'twasn't long fore one
. the chaps says TO t'other, feelin' o Bits
leg little, 'Whv, The body getiin' warm ).
Feel o. that les! T'other one put down his
hand and felt o Bills legs; and then he
started back and snid--'I,'s fact BY thun.
Ter! it is warm, and no mis,aken. Twas
Bills turn now; so he turnd his head round,
s,ifi-iike and straight without moving his
bodv, aud, says he .earm.!--wal, guess
you'd be WARM ef you'd been took out Of
as hot place only little while ago, as
was'
bill says it wasu't half a second fore
both of them chaps had pitched head frs,
out o. that sleigh. sud n'her on 'cm stop
ped runnin It'll they was clean out o sight,
Then he TUNED right square round and
druv back TO the tavern. There he told
The whole story; and he made good speck
out o the thing too, 10 the end for YOU see
The friend o. the man that was dug up guv
him fifty dollars for saving of the body, and
rs nobody ever came back a'terthe sleigh
and hosses, he sold 'em to Captain B.
dawn on H Plains, for nigh uponthree
hundred dol'ars! 'rwps fas, rate team
80 they said. That's the mos, profitable,
and abon, The only ghost that ever henrd
tell on! Good many folks talks about
seein' 'em. but Iexpec,cd they never did
not rally
Not many months since. al an Episcopal