People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1893-09-08
FISH AND GHOST.
The Old Man Was Much Disturbed py
His Experience.

The Old Man Was Much Disturbed Or
His Experience.
"a few years ago." said an old
gentleman, to a Forest and Stream
writer, Il was a-cutting and piling
driftwood on the lake shore when a
party N the village came down to
fish through the ice. 1t was a cold,
Jaw day. They told me if I'd let
them use my fishing shanty and they
had any luck they would give me
some fish. Well, at N they went.
just as was a-picking up at night
to go home they fetched me a pick
erel that would applied down six
pounds good and strong. | brought
him home and put him up in the
crotch of that apple tree over there.
Then done my chores, eat my sup
per, got the pickerel and thought Id
clean him; but he was froze hard as
a brick, so | run a string through
his gills and hung him up back of
the stove to thaw out.
"rd got good grip on the sleep
that night, and was blowing ahead
on the gallop, when my wife WOKE
me up and said that there was some
one at the door. listened bit and
heard a noise jest like some Teller
was a-knocking on the door with
mittens on his hand. | were a bit
vexed, slid out of bed, pulled on my
pants and boots, but did not strike a
light, grabbed a big cane which
stood at the head of my bed, hurried
to the door, opened it and Jumped
out, ready to knock the stuffin' out
OF anything. But, my dear sir, there
weren't anything to knock. l run
round the house; not living critter
could see, nor even any tracks IN
the snow.
ITO bed [ went ag'in, and was jest
dropping off when the old woman,
she nudged me hard and whispered.
Hear that? Jest listen; there it
goes ag'inn
81 sat up in bed, and jest as plain
as day | could hear dull sort of
thump, thump. | begun to feel
agerish like; mought have trembled
a bit; then hollered: WHO'S therep,
No answer
81 kinder shivered for bout half a
minute, when there was the darndest
racket out in the kitchen you ever
heard; sounded as if some one was a.
kickin' tin pan all around the room
and my dog came a-yelpin' and howl
in in the bed room and crawled clear
under the bed, where he kept up a.
whinin' and yelpin'. My wife
screamed and crawled down under
the bed-clothes. had NOT only the
ager, but the chills-sweating chills,
good and strong.
81 was ratified, badly ratified. Jest
had sence enough left to crawl out of
bed, grab my gun, which was loaded,
and creep carefully to the kitchen
door. There was certainly some fell
low out there, barefooted, and he was
having a hull dancing school all to
himself. located him as near as |
could in the dark, then, without max
ing any noise, brought my gun to my
shoulder and let her 60
"The flash of the gun was just long
enough t0 let me see what the mat
ter was. | went back, LIT a candle,
and then went to the kitchen. There,
right in the middle OF the floor, was
that cussed pickerel having the live.
liest kind of circus all by himself.
He was cutting up in great shape
with his fipity-aOp, hipity-hop, jest
as lively as if he had jest been pulled
out of the water. With a stick of
stove-wood | busted that show quick
erin you could say shoe.
"You see, hung him up in a good
warm place to thaw out, directly
over the old woman's dish pan, right
under the pan being a good, warm,
out-of-the-way place the dog used to
sleep. AS that internal pickerel be.
gan to thaw out his old cussedness
crept back into him. Between the
Happings of his tail and the work
ings of his jaws he broke the string.
then dropped onto the dish and both
fell onto the dog"