The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-02-14

run i'm inter hia hole mn stop mp tho hole
wi or pine knot~-thot'a what we'll dol"
II was a lovely night, With tho full noon
climbing up \ soft sky IN tho east. Dim
and strange wsre the outlines OF ths tree.
In tho thick. dusky sout horn wood. A
light breeze made a wide rustic and u sol
omn moan In the tall pines. Tho shadows
waved Enthusiastically.
Wallahss. with it's tangled woods, was
'encirclsd by the men and boys. They blew
horns and shouted - they closed IN toward
Billy Raglan was the most snEer one of
all. He tried to DO everywhere at the same
time.
Il air jes' or achin' ter qit er holt or that
ar boy" no kept sayinR as hs ran this
way and that Just inside Of the line.
Many wild amin ais. mostly small things
like hnres. raccoons. and opossums, we're
seen; but tho wild boy did not show him
self.
At last tho little swamp was reached BY
the noisy and now closely-drawn Gordon.
There he is! Yondsr he goes! Look
out! don't let i'm through"
Suddenly q chorus OF voices yelled ont:
Grab i'm il he tries to pass! Well git i'm
nowv'
Billy Raglan rushed forward. and many
declared they saw him in full chase OF q
wild, ragged, haggard, tangle-hnirsd boy.
Plash! plash! plnah! the feet Of tho Pnr-
nuCk uAu RuI0AoA luAk AP - = sAS
coffee coio,ed pools as they tore along.
Tho line pressed in with a surge and .
tumultuous yelling that made the forest
ring for miles. ".
Those who could distinguish them said
that the wild boy was not vs. large as Billy
Raglan; indeed hs did not appear to be
moro than II years old, and that he ran
like a deer and q straight for the cen
trail little hummock Of the swamp. Billy
was straining every muscle. Slowly but
sursly he gained until, a. 1t was afterwards
said, he could almost touch the long, yol-
low hair that stroamsd in half-curling
locks from the bare head of the smaciated
little fellow.
Closer and closer, in the wnvering moon
light. swept in the rapidly diminishing cir
Gle of providing, vocifsratin0, laundering
people. The wild boy could never break
face back on Billy with a look of terror and
despair. This was just AZ tho two were on
tering the shadowy. moss fcstooned ciump
Of trsos on thu hummock.
The circle was now 10 narrow that q stone
could have been tossed across.
Into the central dump, rs the account
step b. lau him followed Billy Raglan.
A moment later an awful scream was
heard and then came q dull. mufflsd sound,
~ of some heavy body falling to the bot
tom of a pit.
Instantly th0 voices OF tho GORDON were
hushed; even the dusky trees seemed to be
hsarkening. Everybody pressed on, scram-
bling over fallen trees and dashing knee
deep through the black muck and leaf Gov
erod ooze.
"Whar air ye, Billy" called OIL Andy
Davis. "Hev ye cotch i'm, Billy?"
There was no answer.
Andy's large yellow dog darted forward
from his masters side n began Gn iffing at
something beside a huge, half-de caysd
water-oak log.
What yc got thar. Trumpet" demand
cd the old man, as he cautiously approached
the spot. "Hey We foun' somethin'?'
The crowd now rushed up, and what
they beheId almost curdled their blood.
BILLY Raglan lay in n shallow, grave-like
pit. face upward, apparently dead, and by
his side a skeleton of a small boy. This
wild boy himself was nowhere to be seen.
When tbs first shock had passed they
still beat. He was ill for some weeks; bat
he recovered. Tbs skeleton whom examined
proved to be old and bieached. Evidently
it had lain there for many years undis-
turbed.
One thing about the story was always
and still is ve1atious. Billy Raglan him
sslf, though he 10 yet living, has never told
any person \ single particular Of that
strange adventure; perhaps there is nothing
for him to tell. 1t you ask him to relate
to you the zeal facts of it he only smiles
and ahakes his head with a shrug. But old
Andy Davis, now in. his nincties. is elwnyl
matter; but Andy has never been con-
gideted a very good or a very truthful man.
MAURICE THOMPSON.
Copyright.