Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1892-08-20

aud tins cEeak1cs or = window were
heard
The slate colored man stumbled down
tie stairs. and said with intense gloom,
The black dOrgll De along soon.
The little man started and the pudgy
man sneered al hinl. They ate . supper
and then sat waiting. The radgy man
listened 50 palpably that the little man
wished 70 xiii him. The wood ire be-
came excited and sputrered frantIeslly.
Without q thousand spirits Of the winds
hal become entangled II the pine
branches and were lOwly pleading 10 DO
loosened. The slate oolOTed man mp
toed across the room and ht timid
candle. The men sat waiting.
The phantom dog lay cuddled 10 a
round bundle, asleep down the roadway
against the windward side Of an old
shanty. The speeter's master had moved
- Pike county, but the dog fingered as
a friend might hnger at the tomb OF
friend His fur was like suit OF old
clothes. HIS jOwls hung and Hoped,
exposing his teeth. Yellow famine was
III MS eyes The wind rocked shanty
groaned and muttered, but the dog
slept Suddenly, however, ne got up
and shamoled ID the roadway. He cast
d long glance from his hungry. despair
ing eyes Ia the direction Of the venera-
bic house. The breeze came full 10 his
nostrils. He threw back his head and
gave a long. low howl and started in
tently mp the road. Maybe he smelled
a dead man.
The group around the fire in the ven
cradle house were listening and waiting.
The atmosphere Of the room was tense.
The slate colored mans face was witch
ing and his Grabbed hands We're gripped
together. The little man was contin-
ually looking behind his chair. Upon
the countensnce of the pudgy man APP
peared conceit for All approaching tri-
uInph over the little man. mingled with
apprehension for his own safety. Five
pipes glowed as rivals of the tiInid can
die. Profound silence dropped heavily
over them. Finally the slate colored
man spoke:
My oil uncle, Jim Croker, he's sick
ter death"
The four men started and then shrank
back in their chairs.
Damn i'll" replied the little man
vaguely.
Again there was long silence. Sud-
denly it was broken by wild cry from
the room above. 1t was a shrek that
struck upon them with appalling swift
ness, like a fash of lightning. The
walls whirled and the floor rum bled. 1t
brought the men together with rush.
They huddled in heap and stared at
the white terror in each others faces.
The slate colored man grasped the can
die and fiared it above his head. 1.-The
black dorg," he howied, and plunged
at the stairway. The maddened four
men followed frantically, for it is better
TO be in the presence of the awful than
only within hearing.
Their ears still quivering with the
shrek, they bounded through the hole
in the ceiling and into the sickroom.
With quilts drawn closely to his
shrunken breast for shield, his bony
hand gripping the cover, an old man
lay. with glazing eyes fixed on the open
window. His throat gurgled and q
froth appeared at his mouth.
From the outer darkness came q
strange. unnatural wall, burdened with
weight Of death, and each note filled
with foreboding. 1t was the song OF
the spectral dog.
'Godw screamed the little man. He
ran to the open window. He could See
nothing at first save the pine trees, en-
gagged in a furious combat tossing back
and forth and struggling. The moon
was peeping cautiously over the rims of
some black clouds. But the chant OF
the phantom guided the little mans
eyes, and he at length perceived its
/ shadowy form on the ground under the
window He fell away gasping at the
sight. the pudgy man crouched in a
corner. chattering insanely. The slate
colored man, in his fear, crooked his
| legs and looked like hideous Chinese
idol. The man upon the bed was turned
to stone, save the froth, which pulsated
la the final struggle terror will fight
the inevitable. The little man roared
maniacal curses, and rushing again to
the window began To throw various ar.
ticles at the specter.
A mug, a plate. "a knife, fork, al
| crashed or changed on the ground, buI
the song Of the specter continued. The
bowl Of beef tea followed. As it struck
the ground the phantom ceased Its cry.
The men in the chamber sank Imply
against the walls, with the unearthly
wall still ringing in their ears and the
/ fear unfaded from their eyes. They
/ waited again.
! The little man felt his nerves vibrate.
Destruction was better than another
wait. He grasped "A candle and, going
TO the window. held 1t over his head and
looked out.
"HoI' he said.
| His companions crawled to the win
+ dow and peered out with him.
/ Hes eatin the beef tea said the
slate coloTed man family.
"The damn dog was hungry said the
pudgy man.
There's your phantom" said the little
man 70 the pudgy man.
On the bed. the old man lay dead
Without, toe specter WAS wagging IL
tsil.-New York Tribune.
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