Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1907-05-31

distance until, at length. the fellow 70
sponded In . grui voice and without
turning his head.
wal! 1t may be true an It may be
not! All know is what / heerd up to
Hoskins'. / don't take no great notice
o ghosts an dch. But them men
knows what they seen the night after
the Wilder Bruce's boy died, an /
know that ye couldn't git one Of 'em
on the place again with q team O
steers! No, sir! Known as they do,
the character O. man that ole Carney
was, an the way he as good as muir.
dered that poor lad with his cussin'
an quarrelin' an fallin' OF his boss,
stead o. goin' to the stable an sad
din up himself. Ike any man would
that want too lazy to take on his
coat when he ct, It amt no wonder
they believed what the Wilder Bruce
tole EN- more'n q year ago!"
He paused here and hicked q hy
from the horses neck with . der.
ferrous cast Of his whip.
What did the Widom Bruce tell
them" asked anxiously, fearing that
his communicative mood would leave
him.
wal, she come over here from Eng
land with her boy 'baout the time ole
Carney was a-buildin' his haouse, an
she SEE, as soon rs she seen 1t, that
1t was goin' to be Jest like them places
over IN England where them docks
an sech fellers live, that sooner or
later someone nd die q H'lent death
there, an then the place nd be liant
ed same's the docks places mostly is.
20 course, we didn't pay no special
attention to her.
when her boy went up to the place
to work, 'baout year ago. she took
on terrible, an allus said no good 'ud
come Of II, an that somethin' would
surely happen. But they want no
other way out Of 1t, fur they didn't
have bite to eat nor q rag to wear,
an II the boy hadn't decided to accom-.
nodate Carney's folks | guess they'd
ha' starved.
I'VE see," he continued, In explana-
ton, "old Carney wouldn't never give
q cent to anybody that was able to
earn It, an when the parson come to
him an asst him to help the wilder, all
he SEE was, Send that big hulk Of q
boy up here an I'll give him a Job an
good pay SOC he kin support his
mother like q man, he SEE, but I
won't give her q damn penny so long
a. he's able to work an earn it. he
ssE."
But You haven't explained yet why
the men left" persisted, for we were
nearing our destination and my time
was growing short.
I'm a-gttin' to that" he replied.
I'VE see, Carney was such a mean,
stingy cuss that, what with his drink.
In an gamblln' an other vices, the
wilder allus claimed he'd never rest
easy In his grave. When the boy was
killed she carried on like crazy wom-
an, an swore the place would allus be
ha'nted less the estate did the honest
thing by her an give her enough to
pay her fur the loss Of her son. That
night, more fur fun than anything
else, lot Of the fellers that was a.
settin' daown to Hoskins' went up BY
the haouse 'raound midnight, but they
didn't see nuthin'. The mex night
that's after you come-they all went
up again, an tell you they all come
back a-fyin."
What did they see?" | asked. with
renewed interest, as a sudden idea en-.
tered my head.
That's more'n / know said the
man, turning and looking me squarely
IN the face, but they said they seen
two ghosts, one fur the old man, an
one fur the boy, aout under the trees
In front of the haouse right where ole
Carney fell Of his boss! Every one
OF EN- seen the same thing, an when
nine men agrees to a dot on thing O.
this kind it's pretty hard, even fur a
church member, not to believe II.
They'll all tell We the same story.
The boy was a-swayin' back an forth,
Jest as he did after the boss kicked
him, an the ole man kind O. hoverin'
an bendin' over him like he was in
the saddle a-cussin' him again. The
fggers was perfectly plain, all in
white, but them that stayed to look
long enough said ye could see the
trunks o the trees an other things
right through EN-, too"
81 suppose they all came back to
Hoskins' after seeing this wonderful
sight" / remarked.
You bet they did, an they come a.
runnin', too" said the man. q never
seen a scarder lot O men in my life"
Made pretty good business for Hos.
kins that night, eh?" | ventured.
Wal, guess it did" he rejoined,
with a grin. An it'll keep right on
maxim good business fur him, too!
Them fellers won't git over talkin' O.
that fur month O. Sundays"
How did they get home that
night!" / continued persuasiyely.
His grin broadened as he cbuckled