, 1886-07-10

little Pete, and hen howled again.
WAL, come along them said l,
shoulderin' the axe; anything wusser
than fire and Injuns must be putty bad
Il walked down TO the little erik that
runs through the Notch, and there. sure
enough, ut the end of a big tree that lays
across it the boys had kindled a fire.
WAL, gentlemen, my knees did knock
together a bit, whenI see, right in the
middle of that fire, a skull GRIMM at
me through the flames. Then l see that
the tree, where it was burned away, was
all holler, and inside WIS full of the
bones of n skeleton. All to wunst l re-
membered Judge lockwood and the brass
buttons on his coat, and l scraped
around till l found every one of them ere
ten buttons jess as you see en-
1t took a long time for the company to
settle down after this, and then every
incident of the great Baker Notch
mystery was recalled, and every theory
regarding it was reviewed, proved, and
disproved many times over. After all
the bones and the buttons were not likely
after thirty years to bring the murderers
to justice. 1t was growing late; some OF
the company were already moving, SO l
concluded to go upstairs to bed. Out of
the warmth and light, l passed through
the lark hallway, and heard the moan
ing wind through the distant trees, and
thought once more of the musty sheets
on the bed. My ROOM, a sort of cavern,
in a distant wing of the building, with
its one dim kerosene-lamp, was
anything but cheerful. Alone in the
stiffness my conscience awoke and re-
minded me of those wedges of mince pie.
And her the story of the skeleton in the
flames began to assume grotesque forms in
my imagination. Fumbling in my vest
pocket for my watch key, l drew out not
the key, but something hard and rough
which sent a thrill through every nerve
in my right arm. 1t was only one of
the judges buttons which l must have
absently thrust into my pocket. My
watch had run down-an ominous Incl
dent-and it had stopped at The very
hour when they said the judge had left
the hotel. These gloomy fancies made
me anxious to get under the bedclothes
if only l had not eaten the pie. There was
! my brandy-hask, but, unluckily, it was
empty. 1t vas too late to stumble down
stairs through the dark, to replenish it
at the bar; everybody was certainly in
bed by this time. l rummaged in my
valise for something to read, but finding
only n pack of cards, and sat down and
played two games of solitaire on the bed.
Then a strong odor filed the room. My
lamp was going out, and there was moth
ing for it but to throw off my clothes and
jump into bed.
| can not say how long l had been
asleep-it might have been Two hours
perhaps-when / Boo 'soious W. /,
somebody We :" iooin, ~ was Y
darL J see anything distinctly, and l
dIy knew hat the door was open OF
account of the strong draught which
blew from that direction. Positive as l
was that somebody was approaching the
bedside, ! felt powerless to stir, though
remembering with horror that the muir
dered official had passed in this hotel,
perhaps in this very rom, his last night
on earth. With a great effort, however,
/ rolled over, and to my u~nspeakable
terror, beheld the white and vapory form
of a man, of about fifty years of age, it
seemed, bald-headed, in-whiskered,
and wearing an antique dress-coat, with
ten button-holes, but no buttons. My
ghostly visitor did not, at first, seem to
regard me with any ill-will, until his
attention became fixed upon something
lying in the corner. 1t was one
of his own buttons. With a threaten
ing gesture tie apparition advanced to
the spot where | lay, and though fear
had nearly paralyzed me-, l made a
mighty effort for the ghostly conflict.
There was n shudder and a shock, and
then-then found myself on the floor,
not in my own room at all, but outside
in the hall. Mince-pie, somnambulism,
nightmare, / said to myself, as l CROPPED
along to my room, with that feeling of
relief which one has when awakening
from a bad dream, and almost ready to
laugh over my combat with a ghost in a
dress-coat. Outside, in the night, the ele-
ments were at war; the hosts of
wind and rain which l had heard
from afar in the evening were
sweeping around the house. After
much cropping about, and trying of many
doors, / at length founo a knob which
yielded, and turned it quickly. Now l
could sleep in peace until morn
ing, was my consoling thought,
when l looked up, and there. in
the farthest corner of the room which ]
had entered, it stood. not distinct, as be-
fore, but barely defined in the darkness.
Then came n crash which shook the
earth and sky, and the room blazed foi
an instant, and was black again. a great
wind smote me in the face, and the APP
partition itself seemed suddenly to adj
vance. This was no dream | very well
knew, as / slammed the door, hearing o
crash behind it, and ran wildly down the
hall. and through the first open door that
| came to-. Providentially, the room was
mine, and, leaping into bed, | divcd into
its very bowels, MS it We're, where ! slept
until morning.
1t was late when / awoke. A warr
square or morning sunlight lay on my
coverlid, while eaith and air, cleansed
and freshened by the rain seemed to
laugh at my gloomy nocturnal visions.
A rusty old brass button lay harmlessly
in the corner. l dressed myself and went
downstairs, where everything wore n
commonplace and everyday aspect. |
began to suspect my senses. Perhaps the
second spoctcr, like the first, was only n
dream. and had no other foundation
than the rie-dish; but no. this could not
be. The landlord was not about, and
Lawson had disappeared. l heard one
of the hostlers laughing at the mention
OF Sans stories. l ate my breakfast
alone-an excellent one-and grew more
doubtful concerning my apparitions.
The whole thing was only a nightmare.
would worry myself no more on"t it.