The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1907-06-20

~ hand was laid upon my
n shoulder and 1 found myself
confronted by Jimmy Burke.
He and 1 had met frequently at the
club, but he was such a strange fellow
that had never conversed much with
him. However, this night he appeared
to be in talkative mood, so accept
ed his invitation to dine with him.
We were soon in private apartment
enjoying light repast. AS soon as we 7,
had partaken of said repast jimmy
motioned for waiter who removed
the dishes and brought us several I'M
ported cigars. AS ringlets of blue
smoke .curled upwards, Burke said:
~Silence is great boon to mankind.
The majority of persons talk too much.
Now I am not loQuacious person,
but, as you may know, there are times
when it seems to be q relief to talk to
some one about personal matters-to
be short, I've lately had an experience
that weighs upon myl mind. If you
have no objections I'll relate it," As l
offered no objections he lit q fresh
weed and related the following nara
tive:
"Those adventures of Bobby Crewso
and Gordy Pym were not so mon
strously absurd as to be beyond the
possibility of reality. You take this
little adventure that am about to re-
late; there's not one in thousand who
will consider it an actual experience.
However, l relate it for your especial
benefit, amusement, or to prepare you
for surprises.
"It was sultry summers day; and
the sun shone SO hot that l cooked
few eggs, fried them, on rock by the
roadside. / then resumed my way. L
was p!odding along the highway down
in the Oklahoma strip..of the United
States. At the time l was book
agent, and carried copy ofi.the book
L was taking orders for. AS the heat
was blistering warm l concluded to
rest beneath some shady elms. l
glanced about and not over forty PAGES
from the road 1 esp1ed an orchard in
full bloom. Accordingly [ was soon
seated beneath the old dproverbial apple
tree. AS said, it was hot day, and
ere long was peacefully slumbering'
When awoke the first thing wished
for was a drink of water. Arising
was supremely pleased to observe
nearby, the old we'll with the moss.
covered bucket A few seconds later
I drew the bucket up, filled with the
sweetest of all liquids. Then l bal
anced the bucket on the trough anC
was about to drink when it fell from
my hands, breaking into thousane
pieces. [ turned to see ii another
bucket was near; when again turned
towards the we'll it had vanished-i1
its place was spring. L was mightll!
surprised, but being thirsty l seized
broken tomato can to drink from.
picked it up hurriedly and imagin'
my surprise to see it miraculousi.
transformed into goblet of gold.
stood conjecturing on its value unit
rustling overhead attracted my at
1ention. Looking upward l saw al
eagle rapidly descending towards me
L dropped the golden goblet and pre-
pared for the eagles attack. l
swooped down, took the goblet in it
beak, and soaredupwards leaving m
with nothing to drink from. Howev
er, the little pool of water was ther
and laid down to quench my thirs
Alas! my lips touched ice! l was de
termined to cool my now almOs
parched lips, SO l drew out my pocket
knife and Clipped off chunk of ic'
The ice was so cold that | dropped
and as it struck the ground it was sha
tered to fragments. l stopped an
uathered few of the pieces-they ha
turned into glass. / felt myself grow
ing dizzy so I laid down; my eye
closed, and was soon sleeping.
"It was dark when l finally emerge
from that fainting slumber. l aros
and began to walk. A vibrating ligl
in winding ravine attracted my a
tention. i slowed my pace. l neard
rumbling sound. I trained my ca
and, lol melodious strains OF heaven