The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1909-08-01

loose, friable earth; then it divided and
subdivided into rootlets, 6bers and fla
ments. most curiously interviewer.
When carefully freed from soil they
showed a singular formation. In their
ramifcations and doublings back upon
themselves they made compact net
work, having in size and shape an
amazing resemblance to the human fig
ure. Head, body and limbs We're there;
even the fingers and toes were distinct
" defined; and many professed TO see
in the distribution and arrangement Of
the fibers in the globular mass repre-
senting the head a grotesque suggestion
of a face The figure was horizontal;
the single great root had begun to
divide at the breast.
In point of resemblance to the human
form this image was imperfect. At
about ten inches from one of the knees,
the ella forming that leg had abruptly
doubled backward and inward upon
their course Of growth. The figure lack
ed the left foot.
There was but one inferenee-the OBJ
vious one; but in the ensuing excite
ment as many courses of action were
proposed as there were counselors who
did not know what to do. The matter
! was settled by the sheriff of the coun-
ty, who. as the lawful custodian of the
abandoned estate, ordered the root re-
placed and the excavation filled with
the earth that had been removed.
Later inquiry brought out only one
fact of relevancy and significance: Mrs.
| Harding had never visited her relatives
in Iowa, nor did they know that she
was supposed to have done so. Of Rob
| ert Harding and the rest of his family
/ nothing is known to this day The
house retains its evil reputation. but
! the replanted vine is as orderly and
well behaved a vegetable as a nervous
person could wish to sit under of a
pleasant summer night when the katy
! dds CRATE out their immemorial reveal
| ton and the distant whipporwin signi-
fies his notion of what ought to be
! done about it.
A Man With Two Lives.
This is the queer story of David Viii
liam Duck, related by himself. Duck
is an old man living in Aurora, Illinois
where he is universally respected. He
is commonly known, however, as ''Dead
Duck
In the autumn of 1866 I was a
private soldier of the Eighteenth In,
fantry. Ny company was one of those
stationed at Fort Phil Kearney, com,
manded by Colonel Darlington. The
country is more or less familiar with
the history of that garrison, particular
ly with the slaughter by the Sioux OF
a detachment of nearly a hundred men
and nf1icnrS-ont nC0aninG--f hr0Il frf
disobedience of orders by its comman
der, the brave but reckless Captain
fFetterman. When that occurred, / was
trying to make my way with important
dispatches to Fort C. F. Smith, on the
Big Horn. AS the country swarmed
with hostile Indians, I travelled BY
night and concealed myself as best
could before daybreak. The better tC
: do so, went afoot, armed with Henry
rifle and carrying three days ration:
in my haversack.
''For my second place of concealment
1 chose what seemed in the darkness
a narrow canon leading through range
, of rocky hills. Flowing out of thi.
was creek of no considerable sizo
bordered by cottonwood trees and large
powders that had been detached from
the slopes of the hills. Behind one OF
these, in clump of sage-brush, I made
my bed for the day, and soon fel
asleep. It seemed as if I had hardly
closed my eyes, though in fact it wa
near midday, when 1 was awakened b.
, the report of a rife, the bullet striking
the bowlder just above my body. 4
band of Indians had trailed me an,
had me nearly surrounded; the sho