The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-01-15
POP DRAPER'S WOODEN LEG
SOLVED THE MYSTERY OF a HAUNTED
HOUSE IN H. MAINE woods.

HOUSE IN THE MAINE WoODS.
Draper and His BOYS Had Conc Into the
Wilderness to Snare Rnbbits-The FAITH
er's Struggle with What Had Boon
Considered n Supernatural Object,
MILFORD. Me. Jan. 1l.-So long as a dead
hare will bring five cents In the Bangor marked
and a spool Of copper wire CAPABLE OF making
six snares can bo purchased for II cents. no
backwoods family has reason TO go hungry.
This season rabbits have been so plentiful and
easy to get that several men have quit work In
the pulp mills and gone to the woods H. Gotta
money in an easy way. II is n poor hunter who
cannot snare and shoot fifteen rabbits n day.
while twenty-five aud even forty are not an
unusual number. The little animals are hung
aloft out OF the reach OF foxes and allowed to-
freeze, aud when "a sledload issnnred the rabbits
are taken to market and exchanged for cash.
The Draper family. consisting OF Albert
Draper, q veteran OF the civil war, and his
three grown-up sons, who have been occupy
ing an abandoned and tumbledown farmhouse
on the edge OF Sunk Haze meadows. had n res
marknble adventure last week. in which dead
rabbits. live spooks and several other natural
and supernatural manifestations figured cons
spicuously. Tho house had four square rooms
on the first floor. In the centre was q gigantic
stone chimney, topped out with brick and proA
vided with four frcplaces, capable of taking q
stick Of cordwood without cutting. One OF
these rooms was heated and used as a living
and sleeping apartment for the Diapers. willis
the rest Of the building was converted into
a refrigerator for freezing dead rabbits. AS,
their father was old and wore q steel-pointedl
wooden leg as a memento Of Gettysburg. the
boys left him about the place to do the houseAI
work while they went forth to Stay rabbits.
At the eud of the first days work the boya
brought in sixty-two rabbits, which they hun9
up in the open rooms TO freeze. During supper
the old man told them about some strange,
noises he had heard In the chimney while they,
were away. He said the sounds were like thossl
made by a peevish fat hog when he is aroused
from sleep or like the meanings OF a man Ii
Is suffering from q mincc- pie nightmare.
Chimney swallows" said Bort, the oldestN
Harry. the second son, thought It WAS due to-
bats. and the irreverent William suggested
that the noises were probably the result Of too
much Bangor split" whiskcy which the old
man had taken to cheer his lonesome hours,
It was finally decided that the strange mani>i
fcstations were caused by draughts among tho
cracks OF the great chimney. An hour afteE
the fireplace had been piled high with hack-l
matack logs and all had gone to bed. the old.
man poked Bert in the ribs with the brad of hiSJ
wooden leg and said:
"Harkl Dye hear that? Dye call that air
chimbly swallers ?" They were all awake in a,
moment and went TO Iuarrening and arguing
about the cause of the sounds which every one
heard plainly. Bert took the rabbit hound JeGi
by the collar. dragged him to the room on the
opposite side of the chimney and yelled: Sig
bolted through a window, taking glass and
sash along, aud remained outside al! might,
noises in the chimney had subsidized, and ALI
went to sleep.
gone from the pole upon which they had been
lett 70 freeze, ana ,Jen got a sound beating f9H'
him feel real comfortable. During the next
Day and night no sounds Of a distressing ma
second morning. when nine rabbits We're
missed from the c0ld-storage, room. JeN re-
the rest Of lis life, .' and II the entire stock Of
frozen meat was put upon. shelves in a closet
Erunts ana growIs at odd intervals. though
they generally ceased as soon rs the family beI
gan to wrangiG about what caused them.
For Il week the boys shot and shared rabbits
and the old man Kept house. while Jef, having
; become e lean and rGd-eyed from much running
animated shadow. carefully avoiding the room
where the rabbits had been, stored and pre-
v~estigate the chimney. The, old man grew
more cheerful every, day. and the boys began ton
plan how they should spend the rabbit money!
The tragedy came one Sunday afternoon
when the, veteran was alone in the great house.
He had filled the fireplace with dry pitch pine
stumps, which sizalcd and roared up the chim-;
ney. and heated the room unit, the white fr9stl
mehed and ran down the window panes. The
chimney had been unusually noisy all day. and
after the pine wood had made the stones and
lime glow with a red heat. the old man iancied
he heard the steps o. some creature mOvinGl
about in the opposite room. He limped acrosSi
the front entry and. throwing the door upOn.
came face to face against a young bear tha6
snarled and made II pass ut him. Thei
old man. having, no weapon but al
heavy cane, struck tho bear across the
head and leaped back to the front stairs, climb-l
ing from the lower stop to the top of the pOstI
which supported the balustcr rail. The beari
rose on his launches and waddled forward
with his mouth open and his tongue hanginei
out. AS he placed his forepaws on the bqluster'
post aud reached up to bite. the old man leapedj
in the air and came down with his full weight
driving his steol-clad leg two feet. into the openi
mouth of his enemy, They rolled about on thei
hall floor for a few moments until the veteran
could u~nStrap his wooden leg. when he hoped
on one foot TO the warm living room and began
to inspect his scratches ana mend his clotheS.l
After dark the boys found their father lying
on the bed in a dead faint from fright and loss
with a wooden leg thrust far down It's throat.
and on "A shelf in tho side Of the chimney which
faced the. cold room was IA warm bears, ncsU
lined with furry fragments Of dead rabbits,
The bear had gained access to the house by
lcaping on the roof OF an adjoining shed and
climbing to the top of the great chimney. in the'
bottom Of which was a convenient den.
Upon the recovery Of their father the boys led
rabbit hound. Jefr, to the dead bear, hoping
At the body timidly. gave II long how. and
breaking his collar fed from the house, nevaP
stopping until he had reached his old homeS
zen miles away.
VIJTIRJE STITJSTICS.