Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1885-07-09
Somewhere
RepOse rests L
CLAIMING HIS SKELETON,
A Weird Story of the Michigan
University.

When John Wentworth put his last
touches TO his work he stood back and
regarded it with admiration. He stood
with his hands in his pockets and hi.
cap well back on his head, and he fell
that glow of self-satisfaction which s
man feels who has just finished long
and arduous task.
Well" he said, as he turned his
head, now this way and then that 81
call that first-class job, by George"'
1t was certainly a most complete
piece of mechanism, every joint perfect
ly fitted, yet perfection is never alto
gether appreciated, and when Mrs.
Jones, the landlady, deceived by the 81
lence into supposing that Weutworth
had gone out, and thinking the present
a good time to fix up the room, came
in. she gave a scream of terror, and on
catching her breath, cried:
Laws, Mr. Wentworth, what start
that horrid thing did give me. You re
not going to keep that in the house,
Mr.. Wentworth?'
Mrs Jones, let me present you to
our distinguished fellow-lodger, j. w.
Stodgers. venture to say that a more
complete or handsomer skeleton can
not be found in Ann Arbor, Mrs. Jones,
if l did wire him myself. John w. will
give you little trouble, Mrs. Jones, and
if; when we're out, you give him little
touch up with the buster, he will not
only appreciate it, but you will also
oblige Mr.. Smile and myself, for we are
partners in j. w. Stodgers."
Mercy sakes, I'll never come into
this room if that skeleton is to be here -
''Oh, John w. is harmless Besides,
he has been in that box here for some
weeks. I've only helped him to collect
himself, as it were"
AT this moment the lower jaw of the
skull dropped with click to an angle
of forty-five, and Mrs. Jones gave an
other little shrek as she looked with
averted gaze at the sort of dry, bony,
silent, fixed laugh of the skeleton.
That" said Wentworth, with par
donable pride, lis little device of my
own. That jaw stays in place about
half an hour and then drops. BY the
way. just notice what a lovely set of
teeth John w. has. That's the fault
find with most of our American skele-
tons. They have poor teeth. 1t seemed
to Smile and me that this fellow must
have been an Englishman, he had such
good grinders, so we christened him
Stodgers, an aristocratic name over
there, / am told"
1T gives me the chills to look at it. "
said Mrs. Jones. The fading afternoon
light threw deep shadows in the eyeless
sockets that gave Mrs. Jones an uneasy
feeling that the skeleton was looking at
her.
That's because you always had
Lifts to board here instead of NEEDLES. ,
You'll get used to John w. He's an
unobtrusive cuss feverybody minded
his own business with the exclusiveness
j. w. does there wouldn't be much
trouble in this world"
Wentworth bitterly remembered this
remark later on.
At this moment young Smile came
in.
by Jove," said Smile, in admira-
ton, You We done that up tiptop. John.
Thunder, | call that triumph" and
he walked around and took a side view
of it. That's what I call a deuced
good job for first attempt Did YOU
ever see anything handsomer, Mrs.
Jones?"
Mrs. Jones thinks she has," said
Wentworth.
Its awful" shuddered Mrs. Jones.
''To think that that was alive and
walked around like the rest of us!''
land thou hast walked about, how
strange story" quoted Smile.
That's so, it's rough on j. w., isn't
it?"
Mrs. Jones went down stairs and the
medical students closed the door.
His jaw droops little, john" said
Smile
That's all right; shows the action,
you KNOW" and Wentworth with a
ruler touched John w. under the chin,
and the two cleaning rows of teeth
came together and remained in that
fixed grin so characteristic of all skele-
tons.
Wentworth had placed a narrow
table against the wall, and on it John
w. sat with his skull fastened to the
wall SO as to keep him upright, while
his spindly white legs dangled down and
swayed gently to and fro, when the
door opened or breeze came through
the window.
The medical students sat down, and
Wentworth was telling Smile how he
had overcome certain dif6cult;ee in ar