The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1889-11-27
A SKELETON.
Prom the Transatlantic.

9t0Et teih thh Stouy u ssIh Estt
WINGED that nobody will believe il. Ii is
very certain that this house was haunted,
hut 10 possessed none of the usual charact-
eristics Of haunted houses. IL WAS not a
weather~hsaten castle. perchesl upon "a
wooded hill, on the edge Of u dark preci-
pice. Ii had not hren abandoned for
several centuries. Its last owner did mot
die In n mysterious manner. The peasants
did not point II out i'm terror ~ they passed
by. No dim light was seen at it's ruined
windows when the village belfry sounded
the hosir Of midnight. The trees i'm the
park WEIR. not new trees. And tiInid
children did not come and peer through,
h hedges and watch for white forms ut
niRhtfail. ! did not arrive ut AN inn where
all the MONS were full. The inn-kccIGr
did not scratch his head for ~ long time.
holding "a candle i'm his hand, and did not
finally propose tn 'ne with an air OF hcsita-
sion tn make up ~ bed in the lower room
Of tho tower. He did not add. with u
frightened look, that of all tlis travellers
that had slept there none had returned Ia
not tell n. 81 dIiainlic,i noises that were
heard at night in the old manor. ! did
not experience AN inner feeling of bravery
the Ingenious idea did not occur tn me to
. pistol. Nor did j form a firm resolve TO
watch until midnight, reading am odd vol
ume Of Swcdeuborx. and l did not feel
toward midnight the weight of lcaden
sleep upon any cyclids.
No, riothing that usually happens In
these TERRIFYING stories Of ~haunts houses
happened To mc. went from the railway
I had "a very good appetite and ! dcvourcd
three slices of roast meat. brsidcs somc
chicken sautc and an excellent salad.
also drank ~ bottle of Bordeaux. Then I
took my candle and went mp tn my room.
My light did not go out. and ! found my
Rrog npDn the mantci untouched by the
spectral lips of my ghost.
hut when l was on the point at going tn
bed. and as ] lifted my. glass of grng Ia
surprised to sec Tom Bubbins at the cor
ncr of the hearth. He seemed tai me very
thin. He had kept his hig hat and wore
N very becoming coat, hut the legs of his
pantaloOus Hoatssi about in am extremely
~InRrarcful fashion. ! had not seen him
Tor NOR thar, u year. so that il was with
hand and asked: "How are you. Tom ~
He stretched out his sleeve and gave me
something to grasp that l took at first for
a pair of nut-crackcrs; and as ! was about
to express to- him my dissatisfaction with
this stupid Farce h.. turned his face. to-
ward me and ! SAW his hat was planted on
a stripped skull. ! was the more aston
isheh tn find him with this deaths head
from the fact tl,., ! had positively r,rog-
his left eye. asked myself what terrible
disease could have so disiigurrd him. He
sockets wcrs. fcarfully hollow. and what
nose rc,nainch was not worth talking
about. Really ! felt ~ sort of emlHarrass-
Inent in questioning him.. But le began
to talk Familiarity and asked me for the
last quotations of the stock exchange:
after which hc expressed his surprise. at
not having received my card in answer to
hls letter announcing his death. ] told
him that ] had received mo- letter. hut he
assured me that lac had put my name upon
his list, and thai lac had made am express
visit Ia the undertaken to give il to him.
Then I SAW that l WAS talking To Tom
Robbins skeleton. l did not fall upon
my knees and cxclaim: Back phantom,
whoever you may he! Soul troubled in
yonr rcposr. cxriating doubtless some
pRispn sSNnrsupttfHsl s.n s.are1. az. s..,s ..s.s "a,
haunt meW No, hut I examined my poor
friend Bobbins more closely. and I saw an
me to the heart. l thought to comfort
him 10y offering him u cigar. but he cx-
<uscd himself un the ground of the bad
condition, OF his teeth, wi II y Tered cx-
trenely from the dampnes - of his vault.
i naturally inquired with some solicitudc
about his coffin, and he answered that II
was made of very good deal boards, hut
that there was Il slight draft through il
which was gradually giving him the rlIcu-
wear %ianncis. and 1 promised him that
my wife should send him knit wai,t 10 u g.
A moment later Tom Robbins Tor his
the mantl.-sl,clf and were talking as COM
fortably as possible. The only thing that
touched m. was tllat Tom Bobbins per
sisted in winking his left eye. although he
had no sort of eye at all; but l felt rs.as-
sured when I remembered that my other
habit Of giving his word of honor. although
he no more lad honor than Bobbins had "a
left eye.
After "A few minutes Tom Bobbins bU-
gan "a sort of soliloquy while looking AT
the fire. He said: 81 know no race more
despissI than we poor skeletons. The
coffin-makers lodge us aboniuably. They
dress as In the very liglltest clothes We
have. n wedding ar AN evening coat, for
instance; and 1 have been Obliged to va
and borrow this full suit of my usher. And
then there are "a lot of poets and other
practical jokers who talk OF our supcrnat'
ural power. and of our fantastic manner
of towering la the air. and of the revels la
which we indulge on stormy nights. !
once strongly desired to take my thigh
hone and deal one of them "a slight crack
on the head. i'm order tn give him an idea
of these revclries. To say nothing of the
the fact that they make us drag chain,
that clank with AN Internal noise, l SHOULD
really like TO know how the guardian ~
the cemetery could let us go o,It with stici
an apparatus. Then they look for us 10
old novels. I'm owls nests. and In holes
stopped up with nettlcs. and they ~circulats
everywhere stories about ghosts whs
friRhten the poor world and utter the erie,
of the damned. I really do not see wha
there Ii about us that should tcrrify any
D.~A- NNa -. Dsnlv .~x ss,ssf.la strtnrNHl