The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-07-04
AS A GHOST IN A PANIC.
HE FLED IN HIS NIGHTsHIRT ROUND
II BLOCK.

Tho wild Midnight Perrormnnce OF bunker
Irevyn. Artist. TO Discharge the ObhEationu
orh wager. ana the Rumpus II Raised All
Along the Ghntiet. Notably on sixth Avenue
AS the hour of midnight struck n white figure
appeared In the doorway and passed silently
out into tho dim-lit street. Three other figures,
clad in tho ordinary garb of civilization, peercd
out into tho night and thus ndjured it:
You make a lovely ghost, bunker"
Tuck up your mighty when you cross tho
cutters. It's been raining, you know"
Remember the course. Once around tho
block and no abort cuts"
Don't Iinger by the wayside. old man."
eff you meet any Of your girl friends on the
avenue, deah boy. pass by with n distant bow"
Come back soon. We shall miss our While"
"Step softly, II you please, and l don't think
I'd whistle or sing on the way II l were yon.
1t wouldn't be nice to disturb the neighbors."
Don't let the wind &C. under your skirts,
chappie, and do try to manage that shirt train
moro gracefully"
"Now. run along. Don't stop TO play. Come
right back here. Wen 10 waiting for you.'
There was q moment silence while The figure
in white sped noiselessly along the street toward
Fifth avenue. Then said ono of the thrco fg.
ures In the doorway to tho other two:
Poor old Dunkerl I wouldn't be In his shoes
for a small batch OF coin"
"Shocs!" chucldcd another. He hasn't got
any on. Nothing but a pair of moccasins."
mighty lucky to have those" grumbled tho
third figure. !"The stipulation was that he was
to do 1t with nothing but his natural graces of
person and n niRhtshtrt."
BE ye accordingly wary of being too cock
sure" said the first speaker sanctimoniously.
'pullet, you have the soul of a yellow dog"
"Bet Dunkorrl wish he had tho body Of one
before he's through" retortcd the grumblcr,
whosc name, being Honn, had by IN easy and
natural transformation become Pullet. He.
bunker Brown, Smithson, alias "Tho Kid"
and Paris Greono had met in Grcene's studio,
In one Of tho eide streets between Fifth and Sixth
avenues, that Saturday night, to drink beer and
decide the future Of American art and transact
other important business, in the course Of
which the Pullet and Brown had engaged In q
hot dispute over a question from Shakespeare,
both being absolutely certain. bunker Brown.
as one of his friends once said, was afflicted with
tho chronic certainty of youth. In this case
the Pulct was just as sure. Therefore they re-
viled each other in a manner which would
have been totally inexcusable except between
intimate friends, while the two others cheered
them on. After various offers to bet had been
made and accepted. bunker said hotly:
-No, l don't want to bet you. l want to
Low you what a blasted idiot you are, so that
yOu IL HeNtT lOTSeO u ENON, 1 II tel you. Inc
man that loses has TO go around the block in a
nightshirt and nothing else at midnight"
You're on replied the Pullet.
Then the Kid went Town to his rooms,
brought back his Shakespeare and showed
bunker beyond doubt that the possibility Of the
Roman Emperor's clay being used to stuff q
hole rs a wind buffer was mentioned in Ham
let" and not in Julius Cesar." All that the
loser said was:
Lend me n nightshirt, Greene"
Tho nightshirt was produced. Also a pair
of moccasins, to which the Pullet was inclined
to object, but he gave way before the insist
ence Of the others. Glad in this simple garb,
the Loser Of the 1,h wager prepared to go forth and
as the Pullet put it, adding heartlessly:
And that's not from Julius Caesar either,
Promptly at midnight bunker Brown glided
out as the sheeted dead. Eastward, toward
Fifth avenue. TIE street vas deserted. He
making his course for the block through to the
avenue, down to the next street, through that
left the worst Of his journey to the last, as Sixth
avenue was, pretty sure 10 DO infested with
street cars, human beings, and other undesira-
1T is in the hands of Providence. said
any policemen or dogs. Thank heaven. these
moSsasins go quietly .r,. ST.,
fer Father Father Reilly H,'RiH Rosie. I've s ssen nee d ssaa
befoOre me eyes,
The voice came down from far above. A glance
looping over the sill Of a top.foor window. Evi.
IDENTIFY she bad tainted. and Brown caught him
smash. as 10 accelerated his pace a little.
Windows began to open behind him., and Wild
eoniectures resarding him were banded to and
fro across the street. but his pace was good,
and the remarks were growing faint in the dis:
lance when a spot of light described a graceful
IF I could only haul him OF and take his
bicycle" was DunkeT's first thought. ~,
amended second thought. .
TINT a'T MSse,i, NO d ESv t EE0sP 10 ud Rnn Ger But IL
The whselman was now very nenr. He
siSeMalf sis snd 9 nea ths fSIn Sr Y Efi %b 5is4re 8 Ge b 5he
SSt, fiPsed The then Sstta he o. slG fssf! "" {he C w6ssi iur %ss
e us si feet RESTING iii I@ on t the eSrh G Pssd ?' for enT G snS:
not II word, but bunker recognized the I'M
SPOKEN Interrogation and bitterly, resented It;
as he whizzod by the man. ~ YOU heart
None OF y9gr damn business! Go on! II you
lie was close upon the corner when there
foated back to him the wheelman's retort In a
What are they, snakes or alligatorsi"
wasted. bunker didn't reply. but rushed around
the big house on the avenue. He was asleep,
standing up, against the stone fence. All night
Whtcnlnen learn LDls accomplishment Dun
kcr didn't wake him, but he woke himself and
inyoluntarily stepped out into tho middle Of tho
sidewalk and stretched out his arms TO clasp
this silent vision.
"Oh. you will, will your whooped bunker
In a fury of recklessness. I'm show you" and
he smoto the night watchman 80 powerfully
under the chin that that worthy laborer col
lapsed In n heap against tho fence and re-
manned there emitting foeble gurgles until the
policeman came along ten minutes later and
threatened to arrest him for drunkenness, but
concluded II was insanity after hearing his
| diEiDlutRi tale from his npnrly lisiDinfel inw
bunker rGioiced rs he fed onward. A wom-
An on the opposite side OF the street shriekcd,
md rushing Into an areaway began to pound
upon tho door for adlnittancc. An elderly gen
tleman on Dunkcrs side stepped hastily into
the roadway, where he stood breathing hard nm
til a cab nearly knocked hin over.
81 own the earth" cxultcd the runner. This
being an amateur ghost liz II cinch. II any
body comes my way IN throw n scare into him
tbatll turn him pea green"
Hardly had he turned tho corner when oppor-
tunity smiled upon him. A messenger boy
with pockcted hands wandered along whist
ling; a Coons Look Alike to Me.
III inject some speed into him. said the
amateur ghost to himself. 10 the messenger