The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1898-01-28
SCRANTON, MISSISSIPPI FRIDAY. JANUARY 49,

We could see the glaring eye-balls and {
.he white teeth, while the long arms
swung about wildly" ,
After the shock had passed the cat
Llemen mounted their horses and rode !
to the cabin Of "a Mexican hcrder, who '
had been in the employ of the dead
man. Here old man Dolan, who had
been graduate OF Trinity College,
Dublin, made an attempt to explain
the strange scene that they had wit
messed. Mr.. Dolan had studied med
icine in Paris, and he was also some
thing Of a philosopher. "Man," said
he, 'iS Il creature Of habit. Put a
corpse on it's feet and it will walk.
The Greeks were well acquainted with
this startling fact, and the great
Frenchmen were not discovering any
thing when they demonstrated it by
actual experiment. We have just
witnessed an earthquake" added the
wise Irishman, "and in its violence
the grave was opened and the dead
man thrown upon its feet. Being
creature Of habit, it doubtless stag
gercd step or two before it fell"
The cowboys shook their heads and |
puffcd their cigarettes in silence un-
til daylight. With the rising sun
they regaincd their courage, and be-
ing somewhat ashamed OF their hur
ried flight they concluded to return
to their camp and investigate the
strange occurranccs of the previous
night. They found the shallow grave
open and the corpse lying on its face,
some ten feet away. Never" said
one who was present, "did mortal ever
wear on their faces such look OF be-
wiIdcrment and CONSERVATION"
Scarcely Il word was spoken while
they dragged the body back to the
grave and once more covered it with
that Texas soil which old Hog Wallins
had cursed and sw0rc he would not lie
dead in. The cattlemcn returned to
their various ranches. never dreaming
that they had not witnessed the end
of the strange affair.
On the very next morning a Mexican
galloped up to the house OF Mr.Thanct
and shouted: "Thr grave won't hold
him. He is out. lie is loose again"
Mr.. Thanet could hardly believe the
frightened mans story. but he col
lcctcI four or five Of his ncighbors and
returned to the mountains for the
purpose of interring for the third
; time the remains OF the man who had
sworn while living that he would not
lie dead in Texas soil. They found
the body lying only few feet from
the open grave. There was Il great
yawnirg crack in the earth. Tho
grave made a part of this crack, which
extended for considerable distance
along the side OF the mountain. A fteI
/, looking for some moments at tlii'
, mound in the earth, evidently made
, by recent seismic convulsiOn, the
! cattlcmcn concluded that it was use
less 10 try to make Texas soil contain
. the body Of man who had cursed 1t
They induced a Mexican to drag TIN
r. now hideous and repulsivc object to
deep gulch, and then in silence the.
4 occupied few moments in rollinI
I. rocks and logs upon it. People wer
+, given only two days and nights il
i which to wonder whether or not the
would ever hear again Of the body o
n Hog Walins.
A terrible storm swept over tn
!. mountains. 1t never occurred to an
n one that Il volume OF water Of sutfil
# lent potency to move the corpse fror
II beneath the rocks and logs would pou
through the gulch, hut something q
n that kind must have happened. Tw
" cowboys found loathsomc objcc
is covered with mud lying against
- great rock on the side Of canon
70 the mountains. These cowboys la
N only a few days before hell ped pile I'll
i. rocks and logs upon the body OF lie
n Wallins in this same gulch few hui
"a drcd yards above the place where the
10 were now standing, and one OF the
NJ said: "Since the earth lie cursed wi
!, not hold him, let us sec II dre will d
hc YOUR him" After covering the hi
no eous 0t ject with grass and brush th'
ct touched a match to the heap and th'
d. gallo1ed away.
re 1t is not known who carved the
W markablc inscription on the r0
hc which was blackencd by the flames
X. the funeral pyre, but it is supposed
LOS have been a cowboy well known in t
,k. cattle camps OF the Rio Grande by t
iii rather misunderstanding sobriqt
,as of "Vinegar Room"
,cd The old cabin In which the m
'hc Wallins lived Is still standing, q
orc the Mexcans in the neighborh0od
nh. clare that his ghost can be seen pro
,cd ing about almost any night. i
.cs whole face Of the country about
eir louise has been dug up by treas'
ox. hunters, who firmly believe that
70 strange character left u large sum
the money buried somewhere near o's 7
nm idcnce. 1t Is well known that nc v
I'm. a very rich man, but no one IN d
,vc country ever became In the least
,,,,.r with him. and II Is not knO