The Red Cloud chief., 1892-09-09
SPIRIT OF THE SAND.
The Weird Tale OF u woman who Had
Died IN tho Desert.

Died IN tho Desert.
To the north of that most desolatc
aud chccrlcss region OF the midwest,
tho Nebraska range OF sand hills, there
II u stretch of low laud upon which
people struggle for n living with rather
indifferent success. Their enemies arc
drought and SAND. The former Is the
leading feature of nearly every ummer
and tho latter is blown down from the
hills, fine and white as -four. by every
malicious breeze.
In ono section Of this dreary waste
there are several families Of Bohcmians
engaged, year after year, in the filling
Of their sandy acres. They are very
ignorant people, quite unim'ginative.
and with no thorough understanding Oh
anything on earth but hard work. ana
ono would think that when dead they
would appreciate their rest too much to
dream Of visiting the earth again IA
ghosts And yet n strange tale Is tod
of one of their number. who died m
walked the sands again, with n we'll
defined purpose.
In January, 1883. Nebraska was Wis
tied by q blizzard OF such violence That
tho venerable oldest inhabitant could
remember no storms to compare with
! It; q great many people were lost IN
the whirlirg snow, to be found dead
DAYS nfterwnrd. In the sand hill conn
try the storm was Of surprising fury,
and humorous deaths occurred.
One Of tho Bohemian farmers was
safely housed with the family during
the tempest, when his wife expressed a
belief that tho stable door had been
left open and that the horses would
perish With moro courage thar dis
erection she announced her OK
going forth to remedy the evil, and
she went; she was never seen alive
again.
When the storm was over search was
made for her, but without avail; no
trace of the unfortunate woman could
DO found. The husband roamed the
country in a demented sort OF way Tor
weeks, and the snow melted and spring
came and her disappearance was rs
much a mystery as ever.
1t was in the spring that strange
stories began to circulate among the
farmers concerning n ghost that roamed
the desolate hills in the night-the
ghost Of n woman in sable garb that
glided al silently as the moonlight from
one white hillock to another, looking
neither to the right nor left, and
always pursuing the same course, and
Vanishing az completely and inexplica-
bly, when a certain hollow was reached
as ever phantom disappeared.
Several had seen tho specter and fol-
lowed II for u time, but their courage
gave out, and not one had ever explored
that sand grit hollow where IL van
ished, and NO wonder, for in the moon
LIGHT or in the darkness there Is nothing
in nature more weird, more CHASTITY
and dresry than that great range OF
sand 100 miles long and five or six wide,
where oven q snake cannot live. And
so the ghost enjoyed its rnmbles unmo-
Tested through tho summer, and when
winter came people said they had seen
II gliding softly and sinuously over the
unbroken snow, and there were men
who said II was tho wrath OF the poor
bohemian woman who had been lost a
year before.
Another spring came and n couple OF
venturesome young men were riding
over the white hills in tho moonlight
looking with dreadful expectancy for
that dark shape that was not Of this
world, and they did not look in vain.
Down over the CHASTITY glittering sur
face the thing cane steadily and
silently, gliding over the floury sand
into which human feet would sink sc
deep, and the ponies the young mer
- -. .~l .rN%al ay1 ,1,,.,al L.
terror, and the riders tremblingly dis
mounted, determined to solve the mys
terry, though with fear in their hearts.
The spectral woman passed within q
few feet Of them, and they could see
her pale face and the unnatural glow
of her great eyes
She paid no heed to them nor to thu
terrified horses, but moved on while
the men followed; over knobs ant
through little valleys she glided, in the
same direction as others had SCOT hel
go, and after n time she reached the
hollow where she was said to vanish,
and her followers, frightened ant
weary, were ncar her. In the cente,
of the hollow she stopped, stood silen'
and motionless for q moment, and thel
-ouc WdS 4Ot tACIC ~ ~ oAkhS
The mon walked to the spot wher,
she had stood. and tho object OF tn
phantom woman's wandering, II no
the mystery of it, was revealed 4
them, for ut their feet, partially covere,
with sand. were the bones Of q huma,
being and tho remnants Of a dress
which were aftcrward identified q
having belonged to tho bohemian
! woman She had roamed in tho storm
fourteen miles from her home to di
in the drifting show and perhaps to fl
the NAV of the hungry, wandering
coyote. 80
The bleached bones were buried o.
the following day, and ''the ghost O
the sand hills" was seen no more
Omaha Bee.
-Jackson-"Any sleeping apart
- t.