The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1903-02-03

cumstances, l can truthfully say that
it is a rare treat.
There was no noise except the foot
fall of the horse. The entire absence
of jar was something particularly
pleasant. According TO my way oI
thinking it was an ideal method OF
locomotion.
Strange as it may seem, 1 no longer
had any fear of the fitting thing of
the air that lowered alongside the
horse, and / decided once more to
break the ice of conversation, and
called out; "A pleasant evening,
stranger"
At this he turned, and, floating up
to my side, brought his face so close
to mine that l felt his breath.
1t came to me like a blast from the
Klondike, and seemed to freeze me
to the bone. l regretted hat l had
spoken, for he sent his icy exhala.
tion thrice into my face and each
time it seemed colder. ] tried to de-
tect the charmed house smell that al
ways goes with u ghost, but feel
bound to say that peculiar odor was
absent. ] win, however, state for the
benefit Of the reader, that | was suf-
fering from a bad cold, which 10
some extent may account for my in
ability to detect II.
While / was wondering what would
happen next, it happened before ]
knew it. | suddenly found myself
on the other side of the big gate
that bars the road about u quarter
of a mile from my house. The gate
is always kept shut. and it is n great
bother to open il, but on this occa-
sion. just as I was about to halt To
u~nfasten Il, I found that I was al
ready through. The fact of being on
the other side of q gate was some
thing altogether novel to me, and no
one who has not had the actual ex-
perience can possibly get any idea
of the extraordinary sensation of be-
ing on the other side of a gate when
you are quite well assured in your
own mind that you never got there.
Rather than involve myself in u
maze of complications or contradic-
tions l will consider the gate Incl
dent closed, and pass on TO the other
extraordinary things hat happened
between the gate and the house.
Before proceeding a hundred yards
I became aware Of the circumstance
that the various parts Of the harness
were melting away. The collar and
names dissolved into n~othingness,
the bride was whisked into space,
the tugs followed suit. and the traces
did not even leave their own name
behind. Yet in spite of this the We
hicle moved right along as before.
and turned up the winding path to-
ward the stable as well as if every
thing was in its normal condition
and my own hand was guiding the
lines.
When il came to a halt under the
shed l got out and went to bed quiz
city, not mentioning the events of
the night to my spouse, as / did nor
care to harrow her feelings with
such uncanny subjects.
In the morning, however, while the
matter was still fresh in my memory,
l told her everything that had hap
pened, and expressed my determine
tion to write a full recount of the
same and forward it over my sigma
ture to some scientific journal, that
these strange happenings might not
be lost to the world. Her only reply
was to inquire the time of my arr
rival home and my retirement TO
bed. / definitely fixed the hour at
one o'clock, which she disputed at
once, and dropped the subject, not
caring for Improbable controversy
with a I knew in my own
mind, however, the absolute correct
ness of my statement regarding the
hour, as 1 distinctly remembered
having heard the clock strike one
no less than four times in succession.
So satisfied was ! that such a plain
mathematical demonstration would
be lost upon her, being but a woman,
as | have before remarked, l did not
mention it.
Later on she called my attention
20 the fact that the harness which /
had described as having vanished in
to the night was in reality piled at
the foot of the bed, and that my
clothes were hanging on a peg in the
stable. This was indeed to my mind
a strong confederation of my story,
but she did not so regard it, and was
unkind enough to suggest that when
| sent my account of it to a scientific
journal / should mention also that
had attended a banquet the even
ing before, given in honor of the
election of a United States senator
from Nevada, where more than 50
cases of champagne had been SON
sumed prior to the time that / had
been called upon to respond to u
toast. / mention the circumstance
as requested, although the connee-
ton between il and my strange ex-
perience on the lonely moor is no.
apparent to me.
In revising my manuscript / notice
that it mentions the removal by the
ghost of five separate wheels from
the buggy, which may be regarded
by some AS an inaccuracy. A gentle.