Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1901-11-14

7 YELL, now, / tell you, boys. this
III spirit rappin' business amt in
III my line Never did go much
on it. and | was always willin'
to give it the 'go by with the rest Of
you until the night when No IS missed
that holdup down near the canyon.
Never told you fellows just how that
thing happened, did /? Well, the reason
| didn't make my little speech then
holds good now only am goin' to give
! 1t to you. and you can laugh and be
hanged,
You all know that night afore tn g
capture OF Spike McCree's gang at the
canyon that smooth faced duck came
in town and rented the big hall over
Sherlie's to give a spirit rappin' evil
bition and git messages for the women
folk from the unseen world" With his
clean shaved face and pious look, the
women fairly worshippei the little
man. He had been here once or twice
afore, so | went over with the girl
that's Mamie, my wife now-and cOu-
pie OF her friends to see the little man
do his turn. | saw it, and darped if it
didn't give me the creeps-that ere
plaster hand Vaughn and rappin' top Of
sheet of glass and the room darkened
and as still almost as death itself
Well, | quit afore the game was over
and turned up at the station here for
was on the night shift. It's a lonely
job, bein' telegrapher at a small sta
ton like this way up here. and | got to
thinkin' and wishin' Mamie would give
DIP goin' to them affairs. when suddenly
4 y, nrn 10 Ia
| heard Mamie's voice.
Great snakes. | bet turned green
and white at once. 1t sounded like one
OF them voices from that unseen
world" the little man was tellin' Of
hanged il it didn't. | rushed to the door.
jerked it open. and there stood Mamie
herself and two Of them women folks
We'll, smotherin' Moses, | thought
had taken fit. when all at once | re-
Imembered that the women were goin'
down to Hunkers on the midnight ex-
press which in those days used to take
in w~ter here. | had clean forgot, too,
that Mamie was goin along. In they
came after givin me a hard look. cause
\ guess had acted queer, and just then
II gets word over the wire that the ex-
press was two minutes ahead of schc0-
ule time.
In she rolled in few minutes. with
old Teddy Bloss at the engine lever and
Bob Fox firm | found just a word
with both as ] gave the con" his re-
ports. Then | piled Mamie and the
women into the coach and came back to
the office.
Now, Hunkers is good seventy-fve
mile from here and the canyon just
about fifteen mile this side. FoXdale,
just afore you enter the canyon. was
pretty well filled at that time with rail-
way workers, who were fixin' the new
iron bridge outside the town. Well.
goes back to me desk, and after the
usual messages were off. though it is
ag'in the rules, lay down for a nap
and fixed my clock with the alarm to
rattle off in an hour.
There was a good hour and half
before the next train was due 1t was
just little after midnight when / lay
down. could not have slept long when
suddenly | awoke all in sweat with
excitement. | had dreamed that the
spirit rappin' gent was gettin' mes
sages from Mamie for me and she had
Just been killed in a holdup wreck
somewheres. When | wakes enough to
know just where | was. had laugh
to myself and lays down again. But
woke again, and this time | could swear