The Coconino weekly sun., 1896-09-03
X DEEP-WATER GHOST.
EY PAgL PASTNOR.

We were four bronze,l, jolly sports sDaeg, who happcned to meet during the yssrtriiyc shooting season at little 6ESteiry tn the southern part of Nir- @juSa- Ths,e was a re3l old-fashioned Srcptzce in see waiing room of the aUtcs. ansl herc we uscd to gather every ercniHg to smoke our cigars, compare a1srtas o, she sport of the day, ard swap yurlsS-"
 l renrs1nber in particular the story EEat L!eyd told us, the night before we partssi- itwas unique and weird. Lloyd vSa,s a tremendously big, athletic fel- sssv- and he had 8 way of saying things Jzs that deep bass eo;rs of his that made Shcra donhiy impressive.
 l5s hod been sitting for some time vyHh his chin on his hand, looking stead- Isv insn sbe open fEe. Benson had been Stasinsr a r1y.hsr common place ghost sssc9y. aSd the Irst of us had dutifully ..1ss-d sIsxa and and prctendcd to shiver sss shs proper lacrs, but Lloyd said never s& rFssrh- WhEn silence settled upon the &itsie group ou.a more, however, Lloyd a@saE oIs in his e.irair, uncrossed his feet, ard rc,narheti:
 Sow, boys, I am going to tell you a -shDst story the kke of which you never .ksssfIl before, and the best of 1t is it's 'a& tEsss- for it happened to me exactly ,aS I a5SE,N trll if-
 Nhcn Twas in ;s,vctle1a, some I5 years aESu. ha8 an opportunity to do con ssascrabis gunnns, as my friend and sH,sf WIS Il landed proprietor and con ,a1'ollsi Ghe hunting and fishing rights Os2 isrgc and SalnaDsr territory. In this s&;ac1 was onr large lake. called Lake E-ylSs,iaI, wbic.a aboundnd in fire fish. particularly pikr of remarkable size. -SlSsesing oSer this lake almost con Sitz1mt)y were a few pairs of whitish- gray big,ls which the Swedes call sea- Ncngfes -- great, magnificent, broad E,DgsSl ereatDpss, whose food consisted os thr large fish that were so plentiful D in the waters of thrir habitat.
 \ "I had n strong Clessire to shoot one of these birds, although knew them to be be,h in almost sacred esteem by the Inhabitants, who believed that if anyone should kill ous. of them, he would be hounted by the sprite of the bird as fony as he lived. But not being the least bit superstiti0ns, my passion for obtaining a specimen of each new bird 4c- animal I came across in my travels srasiiy ovcrcame all scruples, and forth with laih my plans to secure one of the asses-sagies-
 -'i shall never forget the circum- ssfances connected with the shooting of this birti- 1t was Il bright, still after noon- 1 had been lying for hours be- hind a large rock on the shore of the inis waiting for one of the birds to sconne within range of my fowling-piece. lh pair of them were sailing hithcr and thither above the surface of the lake, @s1aitins, for aH opportunity to bounce apon some pike or other fish that might bs summing itself at the top of the water. At length I saw one of the eagles drop like n snot from a height of more than 100 feet, and strike the water in cloud of foam and spray. The next moment hs rose, bearing q good-sizcd fish in his faions- and flew heavily toward the shore My heart began to thump against my ribs, as saw that, if the Sagie held to his course, he would pass almost directly over the place where I Kay concealed. Crouching down, waited for the shadow which I knew sn'iiat prccedc the bird, as he was flying between me and the sun.
 "At length it came-a big, slowly arnveling blot of darkness-and the mo- hlsat 1t passed me on the shingIe of the focssrh. l ieaped up with both barrels of my gun cooked and ready. There, sscsrceiy 20 yards away, and a little to the left. the eagle ioomed in the clear, sssn-iit air. The gun spranp to my shoultler, and quick. loud report rarp oat on the silence. With an almost humnn scream, the bird dropped the ti,sh from his talons, and came sailing s,nwn wi,h ontspread. quivering wings. ss;Ysscrsh even unto death Slowly lie 4St'fcss "pon the beach, wings extended. cn"h'sts towards him. The great wings <sefs vibrating silently on the stones. kEs hs2d and neck had fallen prone in E''e vSezkness and stupor of death. But
 fs s''oad over my victim, the eyes of Sae great bird met mine with glance