Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1879-12-10
A WILD-GOOSE CHASE.


"Now, yer Honor, jist lie quiet and
aisy, keep the gun on full cock and all
ready, but never shtir limb till I give
the curlew's cry, and then look out, for
the hirds'l IL be just within shot of ye."
So spoke Shawn, my Hercuiean bench
man, as he laid the last bunch of heath
or on my quiveriug body, and, having
satisfied himself that | was perfectly
well concealed from human sight, he
prepared to creep of to the spot where
he had seen the wild geese aligbt. in
order 10 drive the unconscious victims
directly over my head, L nodded as he
gave his instructions, and, ere he crept
away. promised implicitly TO obey his
commands. But | felt anything but
comfortable in my novel position. My
bed was the bare bog land, oozy and soft
with the soaking of the heavy winter
rains, my covering the balf-withered
heather which Shawn had uprooted
from the hillside. Aud the month Of
march, There had been no snow in
Storport for many weeks; the hills all
round me were black and desOlate as
( lie sky which doomed above; but the
liter March wind came creeping over
re hills and smote me with chilly
.ands / lay patiently for some time,
ne sportsman-like srdor in my heart
preventing the wind from utterly freez-
ing my limbs; but at length my patience
got exhausted, and [ began to stir. Sud-
denly / heard the faint whistle of the
curlew; two minutes after [ saw flock
of wild geese pass almost directly over
my head. fired aimlessly, and missed.
Then [ found that my garments were
ompletely soaked with bog water, and
that my limbs had sunk several inches
in the oozy ground--nay, more, that
they were only prevented from sinking
farther by some obstruction that was so
hard and cold that it made my bones
ache. My first care was to exhume my
half-buried limbs, my next to unearth
the su distance which had prevented me
from sinking utterly. The latter was no
easy matter, but with the help of the
spade which Shawn had brought with
him to prepare my Doggy bed, l atlength
succeeded in clearing away good deal
of earth, and discovering that my life
preserver was deal box some five feet
long, stained almost black with bog
water, and fastened down with half q
dozen rusty nails.
had heard, during my Childhood
days, Of fortunate people being enriched
by the discovery of buried treasures, but,
7 need hardly add, all such romantic
ideas had long since vanished from my
mind; and yet as | gszed at that peculiar
looking box, felt as if cold hand had
passed over me, and succession OF the
widest thoughts surged through nay
brain. Exhume and open it l must
and the wish became stronger within me
when Shawn, who soon returned from
his goose driving, did his best to dissuade
me from such procee ding.
"Sure tits no affair Of ours, yer
honor" said Shawn. looking at the same
time 80 profoundly uncomfortable as to
cause my curiosity to increase. Maybe
it's L little. potheen that the boys have
buried" 80
But I cut him short, and insisted that
he should assist to exhume and open
the box. Seeing that was determined,
he at length set towork, but was SO slow,
and evidently SO unwilling, that at
length my patience got exhausted. l
took the spade from his hand, inserted it
In the crevice upon which Shawn had
been working, and with one powerful
wrench forced off the lid We both re-
coiled In horror-the box contained a
corpse!
After the FIRST shock of the discovery
was over, [ looked again, and my dismay
increased tenfold.
Why, Shawn" / exclaimed, eff it
isn't"
Yes, in troth," broke in Shawn;
"sure enough it is" And we both
stared into the box again.
In order TO explain the strange cir
cumstance which enabled me to recog-
nize the corpse, I must chronicle events
which took place several weeks before /
exhCmed It.
r. IL I'll