The Arkansaw traveler., 1886-04-24

without a seein d white fgger of the judge, swallow-tail coat, brass buttons, and all, a standin' out in the woods?'
 Here a curious light appeared in the eye of the genius, and was relieved to see him almost disappear behind the chimney jamb
 Gentlemen, resumed Sam, impress sively, allusion has been made to the blue coat with the brass buttons which the judge always wore. Them ten but tons with the American eagles on 'em- you all remember 'cm, l dare say
 Everybody who was old enough did.
 Them ten buttons" Sam continued were always polished up bright, and looked like gold-pieces. They don't look so any more, for here they are, and he unrolled the paper.
 The excitement following this dis closure was quite indcscribable, and the ten mildewed. rusty disks of metal were eagerly passed from hand to hand amid questions and exclamations The faint outlines of an eagle were imperfectly traced on each one. Everybody i'm plored Sam to explain, which he did, as soon as they gave him q chance
 Waal, you see, Widow Bakers grand sons were a stoppin' up at the Notch farm, and tell yc, when it comes to raisin the devil generally, 1t would be putty hard to find the beat of them ere two youngsters Yesterday they was Il wunst they set up q ascrcech and up they cum through the brush ycllin' and howlin as if tribe of Injuns were be hind em l was a chopin wood and looked up and see the boys a runnin like mad and smoke comin' lip from he Hollow
 "' What have you becnup to now you young varmints, says l. a Scttin fire to the woods again?
 "Oh, it s wusser nor fire. blubbcrcd lit tie Pete and then howlcd again
 "a Waal, come along then, said Shonlderin' the axe; anything wlsSer than fire and lniuns must bcputty bad
 walked down to the little erik that runs through the Notch, and there, sure enough, at the end of a big tree that lay across t the boys had kindlod fire
 Waal, gentlemen, my knees did knock togethrra bit, when l see, right in the middle of that fire, q skull grinnin at me through the flames Then see that the tree, where it was burned away, was all holler, and the inside was full of the bones of skeleton All to wunSt remembered Judge lockwood and the brass buttons on his coat, and scraped around till found every one of them ere ten buttons jess as you see cm.
 It took long time for the company to settle down after this and then every incident of the great Baker Notch mys- tery was recalled, and every theory re- garding 1t 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. It was growing late some of the company were already moving, so concluded to go upstairs to bed. Out of the light and warmth | passed through the dark railways, and heard the moaning wind through the distant trees, and thought once more of the musty sheets on the bed. My room, a sort of cavern, in distant wing of the building, with its one dim kerosene lamp, was anything but cheerful Alone in the stiffness my conscience awokc and reminded me of those wedges of mince-pie And then the story of the skeleton in the flames began to assume grotesque forms ill my imagination Fumbling in my vest-pocket for my watch-kev drew out, not the key, but something hard and rough which sent a thrill through every nerve in my right arm It was only one of the iudge'S but tons which must have absentlv thrust into my pocket My watch had run down-an ominous incident-and it had stopped at the very hour when they said the judge had left the hotel. These gloomy tancies made me anxious to get under the bedclothcs; if only l had not eaten that pie There was my brandy-tlask, but unluckily it was empty It was too late to stumble downstairs through the dark, to replcn- ish it at the bar; everybody was ccr- tainly in bed by this time. rummaged
 n my Valise for something to read, but finding only a pack of cards, sat down and played two games of solitaire on the bed. Then strong odor filled the room. My lamp was going out. and there was nothing for it but to throw off my clothes and jump into bed
 l cannot say how long had been dSltN ll--ll ttluN nave tttu two hours per haps-when l became conscious that somebody was in the room It was too dark to see anything distinctly, and only knew that the door was open on account of the strong draught which blew from that direction. Positive as was that somebody was approaching the bedside, felt powcrless to stir, though remembering with horror that the murdered official had passed in this hotel, perhaps in this very room, his last night on earth; however, rolled over, and, to my unSpeakable terror, beheld the white and vapory form of a man, of about fifty years of age, 1t seemed, bald-headed, chin-whisker 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 lVinp in the rorpar IraS ona nf hiS