The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-10-22
ton Of Mr. Hulick's existence was unable TO
AnaMar hahnitelv % 1 anid nnthinur

| human being that know Of In these parts cou
now. But his sperit could And his sperit ha
got the inclination TO do IT,, too. don't doub
tha.A mite. Often and often I'vo heard Eli threat
| en- to do something like that Many and man!
a time when we've been going through some Gem
etory looking az the stones and inscriptions Eli ;,
should ever put anything as bad as that abov
my head Ia come back to earth and chop il int,
sE1ts hsn that be 9 he 4 S @ ddn
mighty determined. and that's Just what he,
done. ! thought good deal Of tina, angel o
and everything. thought the whole thing wal
| lust as nice as could he, and l didn't bcgrudg,
one cont OF the $500 paid you for IT, but evidently
| 30 he's stuck to his word and come back and sliv
cred II, The only thing for us to do now is tc
better II he hacks the next on up we'll hav,
70 keep on trying, l reckon I'LL we strike some
thing no does Ike I'm tawfny sorry no didp',
died ought to have asked him about II, i sup.
pose but was 80 upset at the time that didn't
think OF anything.
by the time | could elicit from Mira Hulicl,
all the information she could give me in regard
to the mutilated tombstone, II was pitch dark.
night but was there bright and early the next
n mTIn,Ihs, Inc widow had not exaggerated
been on the warpath with yenren nnS 'e fop ths
marble slab and its decorations were completely
demolished The report OF this extraordinary
dcsecraton Of the resting place OF the dead travelled
with telegraphlc rapidly BY noon ali the popu-
i"t9n who were not blind or bcdrdden had made
trip TO the Hateful spot, that they might be oye-
witnesses Of the remarkable occurrence. sym
patty with the widow was most pronounced. and
condemn Els spirit in no uncertain Language
for thus dospoling his own tomb Strange 10
say. not one OF all the people congregated there
expressed an oplnion contrary 10 Mrs. HulIck's
theory that ELS spirit was the culpriL No
body even thought Of nttrbuting the vandalism
in order TO understand this remarkable phase
OF the incident 1t will hc necessary 10 take into
consideration where we lived. We were In a lit
tie town in southern OHIO at point where hun
drcds Of slaves were hustled across the river dur
ing war times and concealed in places OF safety.
no b tese ds1sneS % t On "F bo to the
main where they landed our town. In time,
became quito colorcd settlement These negroes
were saturated with the innate superstition Of
their race. Contact with the whites did not
10 eradicate it On the contrary their beliefs
and customs took stronger hold upon them
az the years passed and IL WIS not long unit
the spell of their charms and incantations began
10 exert q. strong influence over the white, popu-
can make bigger fool Of himself than a super
stitious Niger 1t IL supcrst,ious white man.
You take the ignorant white people in all thos"
flourish, and they are more hesotted in their silly
fear than the colored race themsclve$ 1t was
lust so in our village where fully one half Of the
white population consisted Of uneduCated Irish
and German families who had moved up from
Cincinnati and added Their, own racial legends
ho6gobllns that already enthrnled us
II, myself, had imbibcd grewsome tales by the
rs attack on Eli Hulicks monument T Inherent he emf
common-sense was beginning TO assert itself
but II was as yet only pulling weakling, and
must confess that |, in common with The rest
OF the excited population. had more or less faith
In tho prowess OF ELS spirit Anyway, / had
lust cause to believe in it, for pronted from is
dered by Mrs. Hullck to turn out another $500
stone and set 1t as soon as possibly could. KYLE
anIi 49, sYrtNn I,Y-tk H.,
Of April the second stone was ready TO be placed
in position We had both fairly outdone ourselves
and the new stone was superior, If such thing
were possible, TO its predecessor.
heard ard HH Kyle @@ SS day "f Ss
hard put to II to think up something better.
Il knew Kyle was right in this assertion, and
everybody else knew II, but somehow Eli 8 spirit
held different opinion on the subject, and within
less than week after that stone was erected, II,
too, had been knocked INFO smthereens Ex-
cepted tho strangc manifestation "a sign that
sSs SSs d9nE no. to the
Make another stone Mr.. Jackson she com
manded and Try yoVi level best this time to get up
something tina, Els spirit will approve Of. 1
utes peace till he's satisfied
u, IN May PVT up my third Tombstone let,
perhaps ELS experience with the genuine article
had proven unsatisfactory and that he had de
they were nothing more than marble limitations
But plainly II was not the angels that were the
cause o. y, the ds!lIoagce toE within few days
second This was becoming intensely interesting
for mc reckoning from financial basis. Each
income thereirom Of 500, winch meant at least
5000 month. net after deductlng the cost OF the
marble and Kylc's labor When got the fourth
Iiulick whereby agreed to furnish all the stones
she might need in the future at a, discount Of
twenty-five per cent from the regular price. /
thought this nothing more than right consid-
ertng that the chanres were that should have
TO keep on supplying them 10y 50 long time that
expense incurred by Ellis spirit provided each
onslaught were paid for at its face value.
ELS sfSve at the ae Of one mSnh Es
took us up TO November BY that time the stu",
,on had become Mrs H%lG !, he'd
And mo-, only was she becoming impoverished
financially by the drain, a worse trouble had
prosperous farmer in the neighborhood who had
long been awake 10 her charms, was exceedingly
anxious to marry her Mrs Hulick herself
trac. but her conscience would not allow her TO do
so un, Ellis spirit had been, eppeascd, She
good income ' derived rom their source' SYM
pathized with her greatly.
The night after ! put up the ninth tombstone
1 decided upon bit of daring that would have
anybody into my confidence. All through the
spring and summer while my sculptured images
and marble shafts were being ground into nothing
ness, not person in all the country round
had dared approach the lulick graveyard after
twilight fell Many Of the more timorous went
SO far as 10 turn their eyes from the spot when
they drew near il even in the daytime, and it was
a popular belief that Il ANYBODY should look that
way in the night and chance TO ElIs spirit
at work, he would be promptly blinded for his
temcrity. l. Of course had swallowed all these
tales with avidity, but in spite Of their depressing
effect my horse sense had continued 10 grow GpiCr
and when the ninth stone had hccn placed in
position decided that it time 10 go over 10 the
graveyard and find out Just what was happen
ms there. II was cold, chilly night when
made my first trip.
The air was thick with mist and fog and il was
so dark | could scarcely my hand before me-
You may imagine that my sensations we're any
thins but pleasant, but hraced up with Ii swg Of
whiskey had brought along for Use in case Of an
emergency. and prepared to watch the night
through. | took up my position fair and square
against the monument for was bound that moth
ing should happen without my knowledge For
hours a deathlke stiffness rrgrc Then. along
about O'Clock. heard the Slushng Of feet IN tho
soft mud Looking behind mo whence the sound
proceed led, ! saw a faint blur Of Eight tWInkiiuE
through the mist My hair stood on end and | lost
my breath for a moment, but quickly remember
ing that Ellis spirit would not I've apt to sup around
in rubber boots nerved myself for the encounter
\ fcw more steps and the light was brought 80
tH.t iI,af