Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1908-08-14

! mo, can T. say tnaL 1 ever ulu.
"Well, you're a singular sort of man
to have phenomenon Ike that oc.
curing under your eyes every day,
and not investigate it,
II dunno, maybe So
Hasn't any one in these parts
aver investigated it?"
We'll. now, since you ask, Pear
sons boy-right rromisin' sort of lad
was Jeff--he did kind O. lay in wait
:ur the pesky hoop one evening long
side yonder rock, half way up the
ALL"
When was this?"
| About last May. eff ! reck'lect."
And what happened? What did
he find out?'
well, now, p'r'aps he found out
something and p'raps he didn't. Can't
say"
Cant say! Why not?"
| "Well-you-see - jeff. he never
spoke no more after that pesky hoop
came a-rollin' un to where he was
waitin' 'longside o the rock. Jest
| SAIcW NY AIS uduuo dA SoAC al ulLosAA
down the hill ahead O. the hoop like
he was bein' chased by some sort O.
devil or mother, an hid himself away
In the OF straw stack over there"
Singular"
| Wees, ct was sort o singular. An
when me an his father dug him out O.
| the stack he was plumb daft, an he
| amt ever spoke since then. ssut I
dunno whether ct was somethst' aboTt
| the pesky black hoop that did ct, or
whether he was sort o struck by the
| lightnin' as he got up in front O. the
rock to git a good look at the hoop,
! for, you see. ct was durin' 'lectric
storm that JEFF lay in wait up thar on
the hill, an me an his father was
talkin down here about what a big
TOOL he was, when We saw a streak o
ightnin' hit the rock whar he was
waitin'. an then jeff came a-tumblin
down the hill in front O. the pesky
hoop, an hid in the OF straw stack"
did any one. after that. attempt
to get close view Of the hoop"
mot that know Of Pearson's boys
trouble has kind O scared everybody
away, an we jest let the hoop roll an
keep out of it's road. We're generally
O the opinion hereabouts that the
devils business amt none of ours"
With this rural philosophy, the old
farmer turned and went into the farm
house. leaving the tourist with whom
he had been conversing standing very
much perplexed, gazing off at the sky
| line Of long slope that began among
clump of trees about quarter of a
! mile away and ended at the bank Of
the river that wound by the old farm
ers domain.
Every evening at shutdown for al
most year past black hoop about
four feet In diameter had been seen
to appear on the skyline of this slope
at a distance of some 40 feet from
the clump of trees at the top, and roll
rapidly down the incline, to vanish
like an appacition within a short dis
lance of the river below.
What this mysterious black hoop
was, no one knew; and since JEFF Pear
sons misfortune no one had attempt
ed to investigate the phenomenon.
The old farmer had even advised the
tourist to leave the matter severely
alone; but James Moor was deter
mined to investigate for himself, and
he started off towards the slope, when
suddenly, from point about 40 feet
ha1~ a nj, Nf of ho tn Of
the incline, the black hoop-appear
ing as unaccountably as if drawn out
of thin air-began its usual evening
descent, just as if thick barrel
hoop, lying fiat high up on the slope,
had suddenly erected itself from the
the hill. Only, when this mysterious
black wheel had arrived within 20
feet of the river below, 1t vanished as
suddenly and as strangely as it had
come
Three times before James Moor
had witnessed this remarkable phe-
nomenon, but he was not less amazed
at witnessing it for the fourth time
In fact, the thing grew more uncanny
at each successive occurrence, and the
tourist felt almost grateful that he
had not met with the hoop in it's de.
scent If he had, he might now be
hiding in the old farmers straw stack!
Yet, now that the phenomenon was
over for the day, he could safely inyes-
tigate the track Of the black hoop. So,
setting off, James Moor climbed to the
top of the slope and carefully exam
ined that particular spot where the
apparition always made its appear
ance, but he discovered nothing I'M
usual in the ground thereabout, it be-
ing like all the rest of the uncultivated
land in those parts-covercd with
short grass, with few pebbles and
stones scattered about, and here and
there a gopher or squirrel hole.
Slowly and painstakingiy he made
his way down the incline in the late
track Of the mysterious circle, ending
his investigation at the bank Of the
river near which the apparItion had
suddenly faded into nothing-and end
ing it in vain, for the nature Of the
manifestation remained as profound a
mystery as before, and as uncanny.
Returning to the farmhouse, he fell
into a deep meditation about the mat
ter; after which he dropped asleep,
to dream that the black hoop was
made Of smoke, and was bowled every
evening down the slope by an invis-
ible fend, who invariably vanished at
the rivers bank, taking the hoop with
him, into a nice, clean hole in the
air.