The Coeur d'Alene press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1906-1907, 1907-01-14
A GaIIegO'S S!slter


Cuban told the officers tint the CONN
was hired and would doubtless be used
over and over agaiI, the corpse being
buried without covering whereupon
q Portuguese remarked that a similar
custom prevailed In bis native country.
He went on to explain tlat in Lisbon
the coffin Is substantially made, cover
ed with red leather ard studded with
a profusiOn Of brass nails. The lid has
hinges so that It may be opened and
ehut like n trunk When funeral pro-
! cesslon reaches the grave at the Pra-
zeres cemetery the undertaker's men
lift the coffin Id take out the corpse
and lower It, The empty CONN remains
where 1t is III GaIcgo, a native of
Gallicin, IN Spain comes and takes II
away. With this preface the Portu-
/ glese told the following story:
! One rainy afternoon the guard at the
gate OF the Prazeres cemetery, who had
paid more attention TO keeping from
getting wet than attending to his du-
ties. glanced up the road and saw a
suspicious box lying on the ground on
one side OF the road close under a
wall. The rain had driven every one
inside and there was not person In
sight. Doubtless SIN gglers had been
carrying the box and having been sur
prised or frlghtc t.. had dropped 1t
and run away.
Now, the guard was dapper little
fellow VINO to enact some
pie or sH drew Ills sword
am wa r,E the road toward
the ho" 1--we. 7 and again he
world pause nlid about him, as IL
expecting % zoe 10 person or per
sons emerge fCm ding places to re-
sumo their burden But nothing stirred
except the branr,c Of the trees with
the wind. and No ing was heard ex-
cept the pattcr o. he rain. The day
was dark and since II was late In the
afternoon II glDoI was beginning to
settle over e"n"-tl ,ng There lay the
box, oblOng "a %, FIVE or six feet
In lc1Sth, two IDLY, in breadth and
height. From hit lmugglng theory he
began to have feNrs from the box IT,
self. II might be IN internal machine,
but he rather dreaded something SUI
pernatural than 4 echanlcal
He advanced another dozen yards.
bent forward ana peered through the
deepening gloom It the object which
30 profoundly IT. rested him. He saw
that the box was oblong, covered with
red leather anu etudded with brass
nails, II was c3iIin. But this did not
conflict With his theory. More than
one smugeier had carried dutlable
goods into the cemetery In a coffin and
Hidden them { re til he could get
them away. TIE officer advanced
few steps, wh"l he again halted, ter
ror stricken. i,le lid OF the coffin was
opened from within. and a corpse look.
ed out
Here was so. ething no sword thrust
could lnIure The guard turned and
took to his heels, never stopping till he
had reached t"e cemetery. There he
called to his comrades to 10 with him
to see corpse that for some reason.
having heen abandoned instead of TAX
en- In and de ,ently buried. had opened
Its coffin.
The men, not realizing that powder
and ball ar, not ineffective In such
cases. seized their carblnes and march
ed out of the gates. their doughty com.
mander leading the way. But he had
no sooner csne to view up the road
than he saw the corpse advancing with
his coffin on his shoulder. Turning,
his face hlGnched. his eyes starting
nom their sockets In terror, he ran
straight through the ranks Panic IL
easily communicated. and the men,
seeing their commanders flight and a
tall spectr"l looking creature coming
toward them bearing his coffin, broke
and ran IA fast as their legs would
carry them
Rushing into the cemetery, they soon
collected tho men employed there ana
told them that q deserted corpse was
coming 10 bury itself All gathered AT
convenient distance from the gate to
watch the specter's entrance and see
how he would dig his own grave aud
by what slpernatural means be would
sc the earth over him. But when the
corpse reached the gate he set his oot.
I'm ON the ground on one end under a
covering md looked up at those watch.
Ing. fiege was something more hu,
man IN his appearance than had ap-
peared - the officer under the lnfiu-
ence Of hts imagination, and he was
emhol1ened TO advance a few steps
and cg'l out
''Who are your
"a GallegO, What's the matter with
you peorleY'
"pId gu come out OF that comm
"Yes"
What were YOU doing inside OF itY'
II was carrying II to the shop after
q funeral and the rain came on. I'm
victim of lung trouble, and, fearing
10 get wet, set the CONN down. open.
ed the lid and got In Hearing some
one approach stealthily. thought a
trick was to 10 played on me-that
would DO locked In. So just lifted the
I'D 10 see, didn't understand what