Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1879-12-11
A WILD-GOOSE CHASE.
l..

ANo", ypi iAohoij J'ot iuASb am
aisy, keep the gun on full cock ard all
ready, but never shtir limb till l give
the cIrlew's cry, and then look out, for
the birds'll be just within shot Of ye."
So spoke Shawn, my Herculean bench
man, as he laid the last bunch of heath
or on my quivering body, and. having
satisfied himself that | was perfectly
we'll concealed from human sight, he
prepared to creep of to the spot where
he had seen the wild geese alight. in
order to drive the unconscious victims
directly over my head. 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 half-withered
heather which Shawn had uprooted
from the hillside. And the month o
March! There had been no snow in
Storport for many weeks; the hills all
around me were black and desolate as
the sky which loomed above; but the
bitter March wind came creeping ovey
the hills and smote me with chilly
hands. l lay patiently for some time,
the sportsman-like srdor in my heart
preventing the wind from utterly freez-
ing my limba; but at length my patience
got exhausted, and | began to stir. Sud-
denly hea ID the faint whistle of the
.Curlew; two minutes after | saw a flock
of wild geese pass almost directly over
my head. ] fred aimessly, and missed.
Then l found that my garments were
completely 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
hall-buried limbs, my next to unearth
the substance which had prevented me
from sinking utterly. The latter was no
easy matter, but with the help of the
spsde which Shawn had brought with
him to prepare my Doggy bed, atlength
succeeded m clearing away a good deal
of earth, and discovering that my life
preserver was deal box some We feet
long, stained almost black with bog
water, and fastened down with half a
dozen rusty nails.
Hhu thiAi'S my .
days, of fortunate people being enriched
by the discovery of buried treasures, but,
l need hardly add, all such romantic
ideas had long since vanished from my
mind; aud yet rs | gszed at that peculiar
looking box, felt as if cold hand had
passed over me, and a succession of the
widest thoughts surgtd through my
brain. Exhume and open it | must
and the wish became stronger within me
when shawn, w',o coon returned from
his goose driving, did his best to dissusde
me from such proceeding.
"Sure It's no affair of ours, yer
honor" ssid shawn. looking at the ssme
time so profoundly uncomfortable az to
cause my curiosity to increase. Maybe
its q little potheen that the boys have
buried"
But 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 al
length my patience got exhausted.
took the spade from his hand, inserted il
Sn the crevice upon which Shawn had
been working, and with one powerful
wrench forced off the lid. We both re
cooled in horror--the box contained s
corpse!
After the first shock OF the discovery
was over, looked sgsin, and my dismsy
increased tenfold.
Why, shawn" l exclaimed, "ii i
isn't"
{" Yes, in trotu," broke in Shawn
" sure enough it is.' And we bot
stared into the box sgsin