Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1896-09-10

to repeat my visit at his fine old estate,
and as knew he really wanted me to
come, I had neither heart nor reason to
decline.
"The weather during July was ex-
ceedingly warm, and during our fire.
quent fishing trips to Lake Fryksdal
my friend and often refreshed our
selves by taking dip in the clear
waters. One afternoon, as we were
fishing off shore near the place where
had shot my eagle, I said to my host
with banterlng triumph, We'll, year
has passed, and haven't seen the ghost
of that sacred eagle YETI
Never mind was the reply, you
will see 1t yet. Mark my words, 1t
will come to you some time when you
least expect it,
81 laughed and proposed that we take
swim, as the sun was getting very
warm, and the fish were not biting at
all. My friend assented, so we I'M
dressed and plunged into the lake. I
dove straight down, and catching hold
Of the jagged end of large rock, opened
my eyes to look about me for q mo-
ment.
Never, II I live to be hundred,
will the sight that met my eyes at that
instant be effaced from memory. Com
ing toward me, silently, and yet with
incredible swiftness, was the bleached
and snowy skeleton Of gigantic bird,
with wings outstretched! 1t made no
ripple, no pulsation of the water 1t
seemed to have no means of propulsion,
for the ghostly wings were rigid and
motionless. Yet on it came, swift and
still; and, to my Mortified imagination,
in the white sockets Of the skull
cleaned those same reproachful, con-
demning eyes which the dying eagle
had turned upon me year ago.
ITO say that I was fairly paralyzed
with fear but inadequately describes my
condition. Though beginning to suffer
for lack Of air, I could not to save me
let go Of my grasp of the rock. l was
fascinated, enchanted. Every muscle in
my body was rigid and beyond control
OF the brain. And still that horrible,
mysterious specter was coming on to-
ward me, and I could neither avoid It
nor ward 1t off.
How long l chung there, suffocatiug
and helpless, I know not. I only know
that, just as the water-ghost was about
to strike me in the face, 1.-the, white
form flashed in between, a strong hand
seized my arm, and I was dragged for
chilly up to the surface of the water.
Then / lost consciousness; and the next
thing | remember was being rolled over
and over on the beach, and punched in
the r,Ss, and then opening my eyes on
the pale, anxious face Of my friend, who
had dived down and saved me.
when, an hour or two later, I told
him the story Of my deep-water appari-
ton, he smiled incredulously, even as
he said, Did I not tell you you would
see 1t sometime?
"But the mystery was solved, few
Nt'Jp Ae'ISAb NhOhi plShlu6 NY u pIOCh-
holm paper, read the following para
graph:
"'A CHASTITY TROPHY.
"A recent writer tells what may be
truly regarded as one of the most Curl
GUS incidents Of natural history. In
some Of the Swedish lakes, he says,
large birds of prey are in the habit of
swooping down on the pike basking st
the surface of the water. In these cases,
If the pike be more powerful than the
bird, the latter, unable to extricate his
talons, is borne to the bottom and is
drowned. Incredible as the story seems,
Ecksrom, the Rev. Moller, and other
writers, state that the flesh of the pike
heals with the talons of the bird in its
back, while the bird becomes converted
into skeleton, which Is carried about
by a pike. One skeleton, which had
long been exhibited by pike in Lake
Wetter, had acquired a greenish tinge,
and was regarded by the fishermen as a
harbinger Of misfortune