The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1908-08-07
FOX'S FREE LAUNDRY
By HARRY IRVINE GREENE


q AnAhs lAP - NhAiNlg hAAAho tAN i
common herd that eat by rule, swear
by note and sleep inst because the
sun does For breakfast he always !
has soup and ice cream, for his lunch |
nuts, for dinner eggs on toast and
breakfast food. When he sweaTs he
does not yell out the old standard for
mula for profanity. but instead speaks
gently, beseechingly and originally, so
that those who hear his voice and
not his words think he is blessing
them AS for sleeping simply be-
cause II is night, he considers that
merely fad. He always gets TO bed
at eight o'clock in the morning. rises
at SIX IN the evening, and says he
feels better for It.
But about the house 1t had once
been vain place. with four lightning
rods. kennel, a summer kitchen and
laundry, but the kennel had gone
TO the dogs, and the rods were eaten
to the core with hungry rust, and the
kitchen and laundry had been boarded
up and padlocked 50 long that the
memory of man runneth not 70 the
contrary.
The outside walls were blisteYed by
the sun, the gate squalled If one even
looked at it, and the lawn badly need
ed haircut. But Fox liked the place
all the better for those reasons, and
when his furniture came he put the
cook stove in The parlor the organ in
the bathroom, and fixed for himself a
cozy chamber in the kitchen. Then
he was ready to begin housekeeping
He rose promptly at six o'clock In
the evening of the second day. ate his
breakfast, and. taking a chair. went
out and propped it against the laun
dry to superintend the rising Of the
moon. This function called for the ac
, compartment Of a quiet smoke, anG
drawing a cigar from his pocket anC
lighting the butt, Fox placed the othe
end in his mouth and began TO enjo,
it. You probably have no idea, he says
=, how much better a cigar tastes whel
smoked in that manner. While b.
was wondering why people will insis
upon burning them the other way, th
= moon-round, yellow, and looking lik
/ the bottom of FURNISHED copper ke
tle-arose and started west as fast q
she could 60. Fox sat watching he
/ until she got over his head and h
{ was left in the shadow Of the buildin
and then--a very unusual thing *
him at that hour-he grew drowsy.
D When he awoke he knew it was lat
e but no more. The moon and stars be
vanished, and it was as black as Il
wing of crow.
IL He sat peering about, that not
ing might escape his eyes, and with b
y. ears set to catch the slightest noif
7r when of a sudden from behind hi
n and inside the laundry came most e
ID trancing sounds, First, there was
IS, series of low swishes, like snal
le crawling across leaves, and after th
W a long, soul-felt, quivering sigh. Dee
d, ly interested at once, he pressed /
TO ear against the clapboards and
It. tened with dilated eyes to the soun
1d that came from within. For a til
all was silence; then they came aga
y, and with them a moaning and gros
ing, a clank and rattle the low SC
m. hiEs Of feet, whispers, gibberish
ne another sigh
Of All night long he sat there listeni
I'D listening to those uneanny soun
BE. within, and the sobbing wind and 81
ting sheets OF rain without. Then, j.
in before the sun sat up in bed a
ng thrust one red eye above the rim
the world, the clouds dried their ey
lat and the wind died with a gasp, a
fr. within the room was nothing but
he throbbing silence. At this Fox thr
An, open the door and by the morning Iii
scanned the room anew.
Chairs. tubs, boiler and wrin
were undisturbed, and he could
cover nothing that he had not noti
before, except that the walls had b,
or covered with an oxide Of chrome yell
mp evidently intended to be but an un,
Wh coating, yet which, for some reas
Try had never received a covering.
lch Much perplexed by the mystery,
yer fully determined to meet his sui
ask ing tenant face to face, Fox went
yea an electrician, who put a big arc Il
Aed IN the center Of the ceiling and a pl
ON button on the wall Then, when nj
'ulu again settled over The world '
II broad pinions spread. he took his cl
itiy INTO the room and patiently sat
Dai- aight through, hearing not so N
lop. As the echo Of a groan TO cheer
ere And for the four succeeding nil
nlrd ne sat in similar unhappiness, but
the lhe fifth--just one week from the
ana occurrence, a Monday-the ghost C
Gov again. and for an hour they groa
the and sObbed in unseen comrades
on Then, Just at one oclock--as a roo
aln' crew, a cat squalled, the toads croa
and the clanking reached its heig
Fox, feeling q hang-dog shame at
life treachery pushed the button and
ring room was instantly a-dazzle with i
Eagerly he swept his gaze around
who Agile as the electric current
Iohn the ghost was quicker. Already it
10 is vanished, riding upon the last de-
an ing shadow. but as Fox had been