Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1907-11-21
A pHAN TOM TOE.

practical robber and should have tai.
en- file lock aud bolt from on this
door for the purpose Of entering here
iii the dead Of the night. at,stracting
all my property and perhaps murder
Ing mes ! thought the dog had very
cutthroat air about him" Now, had
never had amy sncF idea until that
mencnt. for my host was a fat (asl
Dutrhmcu are fat, stupid looking fell
low. Who / don't believe had sense
enough 10 understand what d robbery
or murder meant. but somehow or
other whenever we have anything real
III to annoy us tand 1t certainly was
not pleasant to 70 to bed in n strange
place without being able to fasten
ones door, We are snrc 20 aggravate
1t by myriads of cllimeras Of our owa
brain
So ON the present occasion. III the
midst of a thousand disagreeable rev.
cries some Of the most Wild absureii-
ty. ! jumped very gIoomily into bed
In wing first put out my candle. and
soon fell asleep, perfectly tired out
with my days riding.
How long | lay asleep | don't know,
but ! suddenly awoke from Disagree
able dream ef cutthroats, ghosts and
long, winding passages In IA haunted
iiIn. An Understandable feeling, such as
never before experienced, hung upon
me. ii seemed as If every nerve Iii my
body had d hundred spirits tickling it.
aud this was accompanied by 80 great
heat that, inwardly cllrsing mine
hosts sauerkraut and wondering how
the Dntchmen could endure such poi-
sou. WAS forced To Sit up In bed 10
cool myself The whole OF the room
was profoundly dark, excepting at one
place, where the moonlight, falling
through ii crevice tn the shutters, threw
ii straight Lire OF about. an inch or so
thick upon the floor clear. Sharp ,and
Intensely brilliant against lae dark
ness. leave you 10 conceive my loI'-
rof when, upon looking at this said
line OF light, saw there a naked hui
man toe nothing more.
For the first instant thought the
vision must be some effect OF MOON
light, then that ! was only half awake
and could not see distinctly. So | rub
bed my eyes two or three times ana
looked again. Still there was the ae-
cursed thing plaii, distinct immova-
ble4~nnrblelike ia It's iixedness and
rigidity, but lii everything else horri.
bly, human.
ain not an easily frightened man.
no one who has Travelled so much ana
seen 50 much and been exposed to 50
many dangers as ] have should be.
but there was something 50 tfntisilal
In the appearance Of this single toe
that for ii short time could not think
what to do. SO | did nothing but stare
at 1t in d state OF utter hewildcrnent.
AT length. however. al the toe did
not vanish under my steady gaze. /
thought might as well change my
tactics. and remembering that all mid
night Invaders, lie they thieves, ghosts
Dr devils. dislike nothing 50 much as Il
good noise | shouted out IN loud
voice:
who's thereg"
The foe Immediately disappeared Ia
the darkness
Almost simultaneously with my
words leaped ont of bed and rushed
toward the place where | had beheld
the strange appearance. The next in-
slant ran against something and felt
an iron grip round my body. After
this have no distinct recollection ef
what occurred. excepting that ii fear.
ful struggle enss,ed between me and
my unseen opponent: that every now
and then We were violently hurled to
the door. from which we always rose
again Ia an instant. locked in d dead
II embrace: that we tngged and strain
ed and pulled and pushed, | In the
eonvnlsive and frantic energy az i
fight for life. be TOR BIZ this time had
discovered that the intruder was hui
man being actnateI BY some passion
of which was ignorant; that we
whirlei round and round and round.
check Ia cheek and arm to arm. In
fierce contest until the room appear
ia ID whix round with us, and that ait
inst Il dozen people Tiny fellow traveller
among theEl, reused, suppose. BY our
repeated falls. came pouring into the
room with lights and showed me
struggling with 4 man having nothing
on hut 4 shirt. whose long, tangled