The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1880-12-23

Degan 10 Steal across the heldS and
woods aroumi ussfs sfssusssrs AS ..-
= 0, what shall 1 dor' exclaimed 81
las, looking fearfully around. Unjust
60 over to Farmer Browns before I
ga home and it will be dark before I can
get BACK
= "sTo Farmer Brown1lsp Said I;,;wiak-,
ing at the other boys; then you'll have
ocross the old bridge over Long Pond,
Si and they say that the ghost of the
woman who drowned herself there
haunts sit after nightfall; that's only on
the anaivsrsarg Of her death; though,
so-but l say, boys, what day of the
month is thisa'
'' The TENTH was the answer.
+ g l drew in my lips in long whistle
and looked hard t.Sdass ssTqvr
''' Then I'm glad don't have to 90
that way tonight I muttered in low
tone, but not So low but. that he heard
me, as meant he should.
@tWhy, Hhy?l. he stammered, turn
ing white as sheet; is tt
49, Yes, tits. since yoh must know.
But do not be afraid, old fellow. don't
believe the story amy yhows ANhe ever
heard of ghost with fiery ribs and fiery
spots all over its facep Pshaw, it's ali
But poor sssiihas Iswss Thoroughly
alarmed; indeed. I intended he should
be and thought his terror fine sport, or,
rather, the beginning Of some fine sport,
.o hss os ss sss 3sds erslois eR pAr Ct which R this
"While Silas hesitated, divided be-
tween, the fear of meeting the ghost
and the 0eftainty of getting q whip
ping if he did not perform his errand.
called my brother John aside and in a
hWsieda Ttisper; told him of my plan,
which we decided to keep to ourselves.
L "As result John proposed to ac-
company Silas ON his errand, an offer
the poor fellow gratefully accepted, and
so theysat tfoffz gethafo and the rest of
our party started for home.
l made some excuse to turn off be-
fore l reached nay own, home and ran
with all speed to the drug store, where
| bought stick of phosphorus; then I
darted home and succeeded in getting
possessionAof small sheet. and in Slip
ping off again unnotieed.s sst4, ra.
Every soon l found myself at the
bridge and there, hidden behind bush,
proceeded to trace over my dark jack
ct The outline of skeleton ribs and very
startling they. .looked-the, white, glow
log lines shining out clear and distinct
through the darkness, for byathis time
it was entirely dark. Then / put some
Of the phosphorus on my hands and
face and wrapped the sheet around my
waist. leaving it to trail behind me.
''Thus prepared, Iposted myself a
few yards beyond the bridge, on the
side the boys would reach first on their
return path. iIp7si" .sfs,s.a s,ased1 ~<~
/" Directly heard Silas' voice.
| % John, I'm afaid, Pm afraid.,ae
llxY Nonsense, answered my brother.
The idea of. a. ghost. only wish
there was such q thing I'd like to see
/ 70 o. don't don't say / that. q, bh4'
fssa' .Suchfa cry Of intense, utter horror
Thopenever to hear again, and as Silas
uttered it he fell all in y heap on athe
ground. John, according to our agree
ment, shrieked also and started to run,
as if terribly frightened. An instant
Silas lay tkert e and My heart gave a
great leap. Was he dead? Had
killed himP But no, my boys, i had
done nothing so merciful as that.
g Silas sprang to his feet again, and
ntteringa shrek alter slSfiek. rushed
headlong down the road towards the
bridge. BY this time, seeing Thow ter
ribly in earnest he was, Lbegan to think
that my fun had gone quite far enough,
so followed at full speed, calling out
TO him that @ il was al 2 Joke and no
=" But he. never needed word ut
tered; ON and on he ran, shriekihg all
the way, until he reached 1.-The bridge,
and there to my horror he sprang with
one leap over the wall down into the
soft, Shiny mud and water at the mar
gin of the pond. 49, ~ :
l'is7ss John had turned back and tearing
loose the sheet from around myawaist.
I rushed with him down the steep bank
to the spot where Silas was There was
more mud than water just there, as we
well knew and the force of his descent
had sent him down into the deep, yield
| ing slime until his head and shoulders
were above the surface and to our fur
ther alarm weysaw that he was slowly
sinking down, down, down,s
Something must be done, and that
speedily, or he would be buried alive
beforefohrI eyes Some heavy planks
were lying on the shore, and seizing
these we dragged them out in the mud
until we had formed line reaching to
the spot where poor .Silas was still
shrieking. The ghosti the ghost! the
ghost!'
"How We two boys centriyedtoa arag
him. out of that oozing slime cannot to
this day understand But we did it
somehow, and between us we got him
back home, though he broke from us
several times with the old cry of The
| ghost!'
l,es.s, He was very i'll for weeks after that,
and when his body got well the doctors
said his mind would never come back
again, and from that time to this he has
been justiaa ypu. see him now. =
=" As long as his unhappy. mother
lived your Uncle John and 1 helped heI
to take care Of him, and ever since he1
death. long years ago, we have entirely
/ supportod the miserable victim Eof our