The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1890-08-09

ing about slowly, with curious, swaying
steps. The one eye-it had but one-was
fixed full on Indian Joe. He could not
avoid it. Now that he observed the mon
ster closely, it had half a dozen Of legs
1t would be useless to attempt to escape
it, even if it were not looking at him with
its one great eye. Juee-mo crouched
upon the ground in terror.
Still the eye moved, the creatures legs
moved, but it came no nearer. Indian
Joe listened; he placed his hand to his
ear, and craned his neck forward in the
darkness. There was a curious sound.
Was it the monsters teeth? The thought
made the Indian heart throb. A deadly
fear overcame him. Such sound as that
mortal had never heard until now. All
the witch stories Indian Joe had listened
to IN the past month were recalled. All
the hobgoblins and devils invented by the
gossips of Salem passed before his dis
ordered brain in review. This monster
was the devil he had heard of. Indian
Joe made a noise that was neither o cry
nor q grunt, but a blending of both.
Suddenly the glowing eye disappeared.
The monster was nowhere to be seen.
Indian Joe rose slowly, cautiously, stood
upright, and looked about him. The cool
night wind famed his cheek An insect
whirring past struck him full in the face,
but the Indian had no eye, no ear for any
thing but the monster that reappeared;
that had fixed its eye on him again.
Now he could see the monsters legs
plainly. He counted them. Eight legs.
They moved in the strangest way. Some
times they were punched together. Some
times they seemed to be but a single leg.
Then they separated in twos and tours;
then they seemed to walk off in pairs.
The persplration rolled down Ju- ee- mo S
face. He wiped his head with his hand,
and looked again. The great glowing eye
was swaying; the monster seemed to be
shaking his head at him. Suddenly Jul
eemos mood changed. He laughed softly
to himself
. The great glowing eye was a lantern.
1t was swinging IN a mans hand. The
monster with eight legs was four men.
Indian Joe could see their outlines quite
plainly now. But what were they doing
there, and where were they? They had a
spade and pick.
Ju-ee-mo crept forward slowly on his
hands and knees. The lantern showed
him four men plainly, but he could not
distinguish them. Now one was down
in the bowels of the earth. Indian Joe
could see the others holding the lantern
stoop and disappear altogether. Was
this, then, the opening to the intern Il
regions? Were these men really men,
or witches, such as he had heard Of?
Now the man emerged from the bowels
of the earth and brought with him an
other, clad in white. Ju-ee-mo could see
the others reaching down, grasplng the
figure in white, and lifting it out of the
earth. juice mo moved nearer. He
heard voices; his curiosity led him to a
point where he could see and hear. If
these were really witches, what a tale he
would have for Salem o-morrow, He
was fascinated by the spectacle the men
and the lantern and. the cavity in the
earth presented. He could Tot resist the
inclination to approach the actors in this
strange scene. He moved nearer. His
foot caught q twig the twig snapped,
and an instant later Ju- ee-mo was
stunned by blow on the head. He was
butfeted and kicked and lifted bodily
from the ground. A dozen hlnds seemed
to throw him up in the air and strike
him as he fell. A score of feet kicked
and pressed upon him. He was rolled
over crunched, and left for dead.
Wien he rega ne consciousness all
was silent. The events of the past hour
seemed a dream, but Indian Joes srm
HIS Hedu, ana HIS u OK loli ulll IL Was not
all dream. He got up with difficulty,
looked about him Ill the dark, and seeing
what he conceived was the outline of a
hofse near at hand, he walked slowly
and silently away.
When he related tits strange expert
ence 10 the people of Salem, they shook
their heads, and some put their tongues
in their cheeks. Indian Joe's weakness
was we'll known. Besides, he had been
S en- half drunk the day before What
more natural than that he should dream
he beheld these things? What would the
men be doing digging III the ground? If
it were the evil one, he did not need a
lantern; everybody knew he could p oviIe
himself with as much light as he wanted
to. And who would be bent on such silly
work rs digging holes in the earth?
SO Indiun Joe story found few listen
ers, aud no credence.
One effect Produced was unnoticed at
the time. 1t weakened his narrative of
the k Hing Of John Winslow's horse and
sheep. Even the gossps asked eoch
other if a man who told such prodiGious
lies, and stuck TO them, as Joe did TO his,
could be believed