St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-02-21
PROOF AGAINST BULLETS.
Strong Men Get Excited Over {
SOutn Dakota SDactar.

Strong Men Get Excited Over a
South Dakota Specter.
Special to the Globe.
CHAMBERLAIN, s. D., Feb. 20.-The
following curious but interesting story
is told by recent arrival from Battle
creek, some distance west of here: For
q month or more the men living on Nc
Clouds cattle ranch, near the mouth of
Battle creek. have been startled from
their sleep at night by footsteps thread
ing the halls and pasSageWays of the
house, doors opening and shutting. and
an occasional laugh of the demonlacal,
Embarrassing, blcod-chilling variety. All
these ghostly demonstrations had been
looked upon by the inmates of the
house asi the workings of some prac-
tical JOKER, or the result :of imagi-
nation, aud very little attention
was paid to them until about week
ago, when one of the men, about 10 or
II O'clock at night, had occasion to step
out of doors for a minute or so. What
he saw there almost froZe his blood.
Standing in the middle of the yard was
familiar figure, that of former lady
resident Of the house, clothed in the
habiliments of the grave; dull. phos-
phoreScent light seemed to emit from
the shrouded figure, whose back was
turned toward the man. Slowly the
fguIe turned, and, with arms extended,
its great, staring eyes shining with
dull luSter, it commenced a movement
toward the man. who stood rooted spell
bound to the spot. Fora second only did
he stand transfXed, then with yell of
terror he dashed in upon his comrades
Within fhn hOnSn Hn told hic CT fO
the crowd, and rush was made for the
yard to investigate, but the specter had
fled. That night the footsteps and
noises throughout the house were more
frequent and louder. ban!shing sleep
from the eyes of the now thoroughly
frightened inmates. The next night a
watch was kept for the ghostly visitor,
but it came not. The next night fol
lowed, and still no ghost, so the
watchers had about given up all hope
OF its temperance, when on the fourth
night the watchers, while sitting in a
daTkened room, were startled by sud
denly seeing the specter's face pressed
against the window pane. Each man
seized his gun and volley was fired at
the cold, clammy visage there. When
the smoke had cleared away and the
mems courage had in a measure re-
turned, they yentured outside, expecting
to find corpse lying beneath the window.
They did not, but instead saw standing
about thirty PAGES from the house the
figure of a woman looking at them re-
proachfully, and seeming to have
just arisen from the grave. For a
moment the men stood breath
lessly gazing at the strange sight,
when one of the boldest raised his gun
to his shoulder, took deliberate aim at
the figure, and pulled the trigger. The
figure was still there when the smoke
- cleared away, and, looking at them for
moment with its great, staring eyes,
gradually disappeared from view. Next
morning there was an emigration from
the ranch, not even the bodest daring
to remain; ana now daylight only finds
curious people about the place-it is va
cant after dark.
Such is the story told, and had it not
been related with so much earnestness
and with such an apparent air of sim
ceritv on the part of the narrator, no at
tention would have been given it.