Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1870-12-23

him up by u string, and rolled his
best pantaloons up into little foot
stool for him. The Professors re-
quests thus finally attended to,
Goggs shut the closet door on his
ugly visitor. The creature gave a
little grin in the last departing
streak of light, as the button turned,
as much as 10 say, "Comfortable
quarters-thanks-don't trouble your
self" And Goggs felt as if he were
doing a very inhospitable thing, and
deserved the sarcasm. He thought
that if he were ever to be in such
reduced circumstances as to become
a college skeleton, he should take it
as no more than common courtesy
to be allowed out among the fellows
where he could see what was going
on. However, that WAS AL he tho't
about it, and that was the last he
thought about it.
That was the last he thought
about it till half-past eleven o'clock
that night. He buttoned the door
and went to Greek, and went to
Rhetoric, and went to Calculus, and
went to prayers, and went down
town, and to supper, and to ri On
ikron, and to Zeta Eta, and to a club
or two, and rush or two, and a fire,
and an ice-cream saloon, and to bed
and to sleep, but never thought OF
the skeleton till halfpast eleven.
At haif-past eleven he woke up,
and remembered that he meant to
have looked over "Paley on the Flu
ture State" instead of eating that
last harlequin. Whether from the
collection of theological ideas, OF
from a guilty conscience, or from
the fact that the last harlequin was
one too many, | cannot say, but al
that identical moment he remember
ed that there was a dead man n his
closet.
Now the closet opened dircctl,
upon the head of the bed.
81 wonder if the door is shut?'
thought Goggs. The door was, o,
the door seemed, to be quite shut.
81 wonder if l should like it any
better to lie at the foot of the bed?'
thought Goggs. He turned around
and lay at the foot of the bed. Bu,
there was no bolster there, and he
did not like it any better.
81 believe Pm behaving like q
fool" thought Goggs; and to prove
that he wasn't, he went back to the
head Of the bed again.
The bolster was easy, but Goggs
wasn't. The room was as still as q
country church-yard on a Sunday
night. A halflight crawled in
through the door; Goggs had the
dark room that term, he and his
chum having tossed coppers for it
and there was no window. The
bright dimness or dim brightness
of a moon, away round somewhere
on the ca tern side Of the colleges
with difficulty outlined his bedposts
and bureau. A heavy shadow fold
ed in the the closet door. Goggs
wondered if his chum was asleep
and callcd-for the fun of the thing
it is always fun to wake up you,
chum in the middle OF the night
and see how cross you can make
him:
81 say there-Dick!"
But Dick was sound asleep; Dick
made no answer at all.
There was no use in DENYING it:
Goggs wanted some live company
He felt uncomfortable. Ghost sto.
ries, grave stories, ghoul stories
came into his thought-all that h,
had ever heard. Ghostly, gasping
gurgling taccs-all that he had evcl
seen-crowdcd before his eyes. All
the dreadful words in the vocabula-
ry that begin with G, occurred to
him. He remembered all the ana
tomical lessons and the lectures il
the dissecting-room, rs he had ncv.
cr remembered them before. ii,
wondered who that fellow was, be.
hind him there, before he lost his
auriclcs, and vcntriclcs, and muscu
lar system, and cartilage, and cuti-
Gle, and all the rest of it; whether
he was dead spy, ora bought muir
derer, and whether he ever belong
ed to a Presbyterian Church, and
how much he cost, and whether Ii.
had room enough in the closet, and
if he were particular about how he
was treated, and
Goggs was not asleep; not quite
almost; and not quite but almost he
heard a noise in the closet. \ slight
tumbling, scratching noisc,and then
a tremendous noise, and thcn-up
OH Goggs' word and honor-bcfore
he could stir, or speak, or think, that
closet bounded open, and the dead
man leaped upon him.
Goggs sprang, but it was too late
he struck out bravcly with his two
fists, and they went through under
two dry thigh sockets that held
them fast; the horrid creature doub
led itself about him; it entangled
him in his ribs; it raspcd his cheeks
with it's vertcbra; it's long fingers
clutchcd him; with ilium, and sa-
crum, and pclvis, and breast bone,
and collar bone, and frontal bone,
and parictal, and all the other bones
that Goggs got ciphers for, the thing
ratified horrible music about him,
and laughed long and loud and tri.
umphantly.
No, it didn't!
The laugh came through the clos.
ct wall! 1t was that scoundrel
Dick.
II say, Goggs! Who poured boil.
ing water into my wash pitcher last
week? Who set my alarm off a two
o'clock in the morning the week be-
fore, and the week before that? Who
put mice into my boots and red pep
per into my pomade, and brought
me Edwards on the Will for pony
on Xenophon? Hon about that lit
tie bill from Taylor's palmed off on
me last quarter? Who eats my piece
Of cocoanut pie every time he's late
at club? Who may consider him
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