The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1893-11-01
IBY i WAYsIDE (fR i YE.
THE STORY or 4 Doo AND a
sABV THAT WAS LOST.
PhantOm Had More sense Than Most
lEen-He was Honored with Grave
" the Public highway whsrs ALI
Might See It.

The tourist who visits this region
will see. among other things. as he
drives along the trail from the rail-
road, grave with thick head
board, on which is painted the one
word .Phantom, says the New York
Suns New Mexican letter
Its only a dogs grave, the
guide will explain. ..but reckon
he'd more sense than some men =
Phantom was the property of Ber-
nard Wisner, cowboy living near
the Dantil mountains some years ago,
but he was buried near the home of
Daniel Chapman, whose wife was the
sister of Wisner Mrs Chapman,
when her brother first got the dog,
had hearty dislike for it. It was q
big mongrel with hound blood pre-
dominating, and like all mongrel
hounds it had an enormous appetite
that was never SO well satisfied as
with food stolen from somebody
kitchen. For many offenses of this
kind Mrs. Chapman had good reason
to complain, and she would haye
taken the Winchester and shot the
hateful brute on MOI e than one oc-
casion but for two reasons 1t was q
very good hunting dog, and it would
now and then play with the baby
when she wanted to do housework-
come over from her brothers house
a mile away as if for the express
purpose of having romp with the
little tot of three.
However, the dogs manners kept
growing worse, and one day when
it come sneaking around the cor.
raj she started for the gun, but
stopped halfway because she was re-
minded by the sight of the dog that
the little one had not been about the
house for an hour or two. perhaps
more, SO far as she could remember.
So she ran out OF the house quickly
without the gun and called aloud:
''Baby! Baby"
Then she listened and grew faint,
for she heard no reply, and fainter
still when she remembered that her
husband had told of seeing panther's
track down IN the hollow, near by.
70 think of this YVES TO send her fly
ing toward the hollow, but no baby
or trace of it was to be tound, al
though she looked behind every one
of the scattered pines and cedars
growing there. Then she came rum
ming back to the house, wringing
her hands and calling '.baby" dis
tractedly. She found the dog stand
ing right beside the door, but she
r h hi oh
SO near wild about the baby, only for
the fact that he stood looking in
tently at her. instead of taking to,
his heels with his tail between his
legs, as he had always done when she
came toward him. Even as it was
she paid little attention to the dog,
but ran hither and yon about the
house and corral and horse shed,
crying and calling the child until at
last she saw the dog come square be-
fore her. and, after a grave look into
her face, start running around the
house with mis- nose to the ground.
She remembered afterward that he
circied around the house two or
three times and then disappeared.
but by that time she fell headlong
lay nobody knows how long.
When she came to her senses the
dog was licking her face, and at once
began to capcr about and bark in eX-
Sraordinary fashion when she opened
her eyes and sat up. Then he ran
cut the door and stopped and looked
back. and directly came back and
grabbed the skirt of her dress which
he pulled so hard that he tore it.
Then she picked up club and drove
the dog out of the house, and when
her burst of anger was over tainted
again at the thought of the lost baby.
When she revived this time she was
too weak 80 get up, but she saw the
dog was still acting in the same un-
usual fashion she noticed before. A
little late- the sound of horses hoofs
gladdened her ears. and with a last
effort she got up. staggered out the
door. saw her husband as he jumped
from his horse. and. gasping out the
words that ''Baby is lost, tainted for
the third time.
Chapman carried the woman to the
bed, took one look around the room
in order to assure himself that he
had rightly understood what she had
said. and then grabbing the Win
chester said to the dog:
"Hi, Phantom! where's babyP"
"Wow!" replied the dog and
started away on Iooe that kept Dan
humping himself to equal The trail
zigzagged about for nearly half a mile
then crossed broken lava bed and
ran on down draw to the creek val
ley; had any other dog than Phan
tom been on ths trail Dan would not
have believed the child could have
gone that way, but he banked on
Phantom. and kept trotting along un-
til at last thicket was reached just
trun rniIas and n hnIf fr.nrn homa In