The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1906-05-10

ana buried under couple OF trees ia,it
across The road from The mouth Of the
tunnel Then lhc line wne stopped and
work wns abandoned the doad men
resting under the lines on the hillside
forgotten. and jhe tunnel oilosged to on
up
Our line passed near the old one. and
The story Eot out amonE the men OF how.
on a certain moonlight night. tho ninc-
teen formed Ia Inc with their picks on
their shoulders and marched into the
tunnel. or course we an said we didn't
believe a bit OF A. but the men lid. ana
you couldn't hire one Of them TO pass
along that road after dark. not even ar
tf q Saturday night spree. Even the
bosses fought shy Of that section Of the
road. and II they had to pass It al night
they made n long detour over the hill
to get around t. ! passed up stories OF
CHASTITY shapes which went on night shift
az midnight and even expressed wish
that I could hire them. to the horror OF
my foreman, who fully believed all the
stories ne heard and who had seen the
results OF carey's attempt Mt the pitcher
further back along the line.
zone night was at one OF the outiy-
ing camps and was held up until quite
late. They tried to persuade me to stay
over for the night and the engineer in
charge offered me bunk in his tent,
but my wife and little girl had just ar
rived from the north and were staying
at a farm house back at the main
camp Ihad a good team, and although
the road was deep with mud and quite
rough there was n brilliant moon.
ordered the team IN spite OF the protests
OF the men. You will have to pass the
old cemetery at the tunnel said Carey.
who was with this gang. I laughed at
him and drove off, but Il had set me
thinking and II wasn't long before I
was whistling to keep up my spirits.
Sometimes the road ran under the trees
end IL was dark as Egypt. then the moon
lit up the path untll could see every
rut and store. and made good time. for
/ was IN a hurry to get home and did not
spare the team. tried to make myself
believe there was nothing To- fear as I
neared the old tunnel. Lut the night had
changed to a gray mist which made all
the country CHASTITY and dim IN the
moonlight. and as ! raised the hill to the
old tunnel the horses BEGAN 10 show
signs OF fear.
Nineteen Dim Figures.
Il looked at my watch. 1t was few
II minutes to midnight Away up on tho
hillside a dead tree silhouetted against
the sky made cross. dimy visibl,
through the mist, which crrled up from
the road until 1t seemed like steam. NJ,
team staggered along. halting until
used the whip; then as we came abreas
OF the graves on the hillside they stop
ped trembling with fear / whipped then
up, but only made the team back int,
the ditch at the side OF the road. An,
then through the mist came a line o
figures, dim enough for me to count then
as they passed over the road and up tn
hillside into the old entrance of the tun
nell. Nineteen Of them. every man o
them with a pick or shovel on his shoul
der, some carrying dirier pals. al
slouching along with the steady gait o
the italian workman as he goes to hi
shift
Il was spcechless, shivering will
fright and dripping with perspiation
ana the team WAS absolutely helplcs
with fear. iust as a horse will sometime
scare Ia the dark. More 70 rnlieve m.
own strained nerves I sprang out of tn
blackboard ana went to their heads. pat
ting them and talking to them until a
last I was able to lead them past tn
spot. Then / whipped up and drove owe
that road as hard as | dared until
reached the fam house l didn't tel
that story that night. but l am stil
wondering II It Is true. / am sure
saw that line Of aim figures through tn
mist, ana II you can account for it so
can do more than l or any Of the peo
pie to whom have told the story