Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1909-12-06

IeIlDK To ulul6GlI dlt4lOSl l14u0A0ts .
SIS mos dere now. GoIly. won't Mr.
Henry be mad when he fms dem
whoppers gone? He'll s'pect me. too.
but kin he prove it? Lemme see.
guess I'll tend ter hab a chill. an
nanny III say rs been drefful sick
all night. kin play possum. Yer
bet kinr'
And Grant almost chOked with
laughter over his plan for deceiving
the rightful owner OF dem whoppers.
He climbed the rail fence in the
dense shadows of the magnolia tree
and. dropping softly on the other side.
found himself among the vines. Grant
stopped over one of the largest in the
patch.
"Dese yere watermillions is mon
sous temptin'.'' he said. Muster been
a big watermillion like dis yer dat
tempted Ebe. Golly. 'nough ter tempt
Gable hisse'fI Lemme see. 1 don't
b'Iieve / cud tote more'n one of desc
whoppers. Golly. dough. eff eats one
den kin tote two, one in my stomich
an one in my hans"
Having reached this conclusion,
Grant raised the melon as high as he
could, then threw it to the ground.
The melon broke, and he proceeded to
gorge himself. He was so absorbed
that he started and yelled when
hand fiercely grabbed his wool.
flush your yelling. Do you want to
wake the dead?' exclaimed a hollow
voice. Grant began to shiver. He
screwed himself round till he caught
- l.. frhn thing
tall and clothed in white. but what
startled Grant most was that it SEEM
ed to carry its head not on its Shout
ders, but under its arm. Grant was
certain that it was a ghost. Again II
demanded, do you want to wake the
deadT'
"Oh, no, sahw Grant faItered-
You're stealing melons. Do you
know where the wicked go when they
are dead%' And the ghost clutched
him by the throat.
"Oh, Jerusalem, Iemme go, femme
gor' cried Grant. III never take de
melons ag'in. Lemme go. femme go"
"Start, then" said the ghost in a
solemn voice. IF l catch you here
again you'll wish you'd never been
born" And the ghost gave him kick
that knocked him down.
When Grant scrambled to his feet
and cast a breathless look around the
figure was nowhere TO be seen. This
sudden disappearance was awful. He
paused a moment, with his jaw drop
ped and his knees trembling. and then
he was tumbhng headlong over the
fence and scudding toward the quar-
ter. BE avoided the fence corners
now as much as he had sought them
half an hour before. In fact, he only
felt safe in the lightest path he could
find. From every tree and patch OF
shade he expected that white figure
to start. When he reached his NAM
my's door he was In a wretched con-
dition.
What's der matter wifi yer?" Han
nah demanded when she had drawn
him In and shut the door. Did Mr..
Henry kotch yer? What skeered yer?
Did dog git arter yer. honeyr
NO." Grant stammered; mo; de
g'osses got arter me-"
'Well, never"
"G'osses: Whar wus dey"
what dey do ter yer, chile?" was
chorused on all sides.
Grant related his adventure to sew
eral wondering listeners. and when he
had finished an old woman remarked:
ST alters told yer dat field was haint-
ed. Now yer see hit is. 'Tain't TO be
suspected dat sogers what fit TO dey
kentry and died noble defs is goin' to
let dair rest be disturbed by any mig
ger dat chooses to go into a patch to
steal millions. Yer jis' keep out O. dar
AFTER this. Some night one o. dem
g'osses git der clutches on yer. and
dyer know what'n happenT
"Wha-t?' asked Grant. with stand
ing hair and bullying eyes.
Hell drag yer right down IN dc
grave with him. SartiD sho."
''Yo' bet, Sister Sally" they all said.
shaking their heads.
Was there q ghost? We can only
say that Mr.. Henry seemed very much
tickled at something the next time he
saw Grant.