Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-05-18


- "a storeI" Cecil
exclaimed, ioytully, "aso We near a
"6Hlya ruined store and plumb full
of ha 'nts. -
"Antsl"
"Well, ghosts, then. 1"
"oh, don't mind ghosts. They re
not half as bad as bugs.
"Don t yeu believe in ghostBI"
"No.t Do your"
Ally wore his stolid expression and
answered like Scotohman-that is, he
did not really answer at all. "Well,
papa and mamma don't neither; but
Cobbs' brother-ip-law he died on &C
count of meeting up with ghost.
"Don't you think We better go to this
Etors?" SAID Cecil, losth to tackle the
subject of Cobbs in any way. Chow
far are we from homer"
HMost eight miles," answered Ally,
despordently, "three miles off the road
If we cut through the swamp by the old
cross road. LIKES not We should get
mixed up, too"
"Can you find the wayH Is the road
plain?'' -
"There ism any road now, and the
trees have grown up SO you can't hardly
find where it was. 1t was road before
the war;
"Thsn should say we better 60 to
the store, and stay all night. We can
build fire and start early in the morn
ing
Alan looked about him rather wistful-
IL. "Say why couldn t we camp further
on, build q fire against log near some
caue and some water?"
"But the store isn't far from here"
"Maybe half a mile.
''That's not far, and then wen be
under shelter.
Ally had dismounted, and was leading
Rasmus; he stood still, kicking the loose
cIods of earth with his foot.
"surely you don't mind the ghosts, -
said Cis.
Instead of the denial that he expected,
his cousin answered, very seriously:
"Well, there is something queer about
the place. But III tell you; and then,
If you say go, all right, amt any more
afraid than anybody else, -
nWe might be walking along that
way while you tell 1t, " suggested Cecil q.
"No, 4" said Ally, bluntly, 81 don t
guess you II crave that way after have
told you; can just as we'll tell it here. !"
Secretly Cecil determined that he
would go to the store, If only to show
Ally that he was not so easily scared; but
he sat down politely while Ally turned
the horses. Then, seating himself beside
Cecil, resting his elbows on his knees and
his chin on his hands, Alan told the story
of the haunted store. 1t was O cross
roads store during war times, and come
guerillas had been captured and shot IN
front of the door. Their ghosts 1t was
that maze the spot terrible.
''They were mighty bad men and did q
heap of numbering thus Ally ex-
planned the case-'tso now they Just nat
urally can't rest IN their graves, cause
they dldn 4 have no graves. CoIS Ruth
erford just let Thorn lay where they were
shot. Pheir bones are somewhere round
here, Sobbs says, what the pigs didn t
get, and he says that'A how come they
ere ghOsts-haTIPg no proper place to
stay In. -
Cecil jumped up laughing: Gwen. we
better 90 and see them-if they want to
show themselves.
"slt down." said Ally, "I'm- not
through yeti -
ished.h Cecil seated himself with. his
usual politeness. "
':It isn't al talk about the ghosts -
Any conunus& Folks have seen these
ghosts. ~ -. -.
al fancy they were darkeys." -
"The darkeys did see them,' said
Ally SIMPLY, not dectiug the covert sneer
at his superstition, "apd they most killed
INK. Joe Collins. BE didn't run off
like the others when they heard noises
and saw light in IN store. He was
Eieht brave, aud stole Up to fhs honss to
peep inland that was ell he knew. Exc
heard a clap OF thunder and saw light
nmg, and the next thing he knew he was
laying on the ground and the stars were
shining BE jumped up aud ran home
aud ,whenhe got home be was sick with
CRAMPS, and be oramped and cramped
till be 'most died.
els that all?'' said the young skcptic
from the North, who showed no sign of
being impressed.
"No, it isn't all, - said Ally. "There
was heap of talk about it aud Cobbs'
then and he was brave as brave, and
he lowed there might be moonshiners
there. so he and two other men went to
see, and they went at night; ana when
they got there 1t was moonlight and the
stars were shining, but there came q
powerful loud clap of thunder. And then
thew saw light In tine store that would
shine and then go out. And they heard
sounds like hammer OF somebody
knocking. So the other two men were
scared and wanted to go home. but
Cobbs brother-in-l just laughed at
them and ran ahead into the house.
Then the light went out. -