Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1910-01-28

What we want is the fellow who made
the ghost"
The bivouac was nerve racking. The
old house apparently had a bounteous
rodent population and the little beasts
scampered back and forth in the walls
with spooky gambols. Every window
in the house ratified and the pail Of
emptiness that always hangs heavily
In deserted human habitation rested
"a dead weight-in the air.
Two blocks distant the elevated
trains rumbled DULY by. and the
morning parade of the milk wagons
had not yet begun-to touch the Wis
ions Of the night with the realities of
the day.
This is too much for me-" cried one
Of the detectives. Let get out and
take a breath"
The little group, all except Johnny,
arose with alacrity. He stopped alone
In the old house, and tried to keep hts
eyes open and, failing, wondered why
he didn't advertise the newspaper bust
ness as a cure for insomnia and accrue
cash thereby, when
What's that2" asked Johnny Of
himself. He heard with joyous ears
a scraping and sliding in the closet OPP
posite, where he had picked up the
gold and amethyst garter 1t sounded
as If the Dashboard were being forci
bly, removed, or, rather, as if someone
were endeavoring to slide it back and
as If the board were sticking in an I'M
accustomed and stubborn fashion.
Johnny looked for a convenient cor
ner in which to duck. He couldn't fit
into the drawers of the chiffonier or
the bureau, and the bed. stripped Of
all its coverings, even of the mattress
and pillows, was fiat against the wall.
On chance Johnny crawled beneath
it, with one eye fixed steadily upon the
closet door.
He had not long to wait Stealthily
the door opened, and through the crack
came CLEAN Of a pocket electric
f1ashlight. The man who was holding
the light whirled 1t hastily around the
room, scanning it closely as if to make
sure he was unobserved.
"Oh," groaned Johnny and skunk
closer into the corner rolling himself
still more tightly into ball, and pull
ing his coat up over his fiery head The
intruder walked over to the bureau
drawers and began to search hurried
ly. They were empty, and at this dis
covery in each successive drawer the
man flung them shut with a gesture Of
disappointment.
The voices of Johnny's returning
companions echoed through the corri-
doris and their footsteps sounded on the
stairway. The intruder put out his
light and started for the closet. The
dawn was now so far advanced that as
he passed the window Johnny distin-
gutshed his features clearly. He must
have been at least fifty years Of age, a
rather stockily built man, of good ap
pearance, with a tired face and dark
hair, thicllly streaked with gray. He
hurried into the closet and shut the
door behind him, and Johnny heard
again the struggle to slide the panel
into place.
who called, SOM" asked the fat de-
tective, jocularly, as he entered the
room. Did they leave cards for the
hull Of us? Say, where is that brick
top, anyway"
Johnny, with considerable wriggling
and squirming, came out from beneath
the bed.
Funny how laundering much easier
it is to get under a bed than out from
underneath it," he commented, rubbing
the dust from his knees.
you didn't get chased there, did
you, now?" came the question. Were
you seeing things, or what?"
ST saw enough" retorted Johnny
Guess I saw more than you did, and
it didn't cost anything for the vision,
either. Here, Farley, let's have a
light; where's that pocket contraptton
of yours?"
Farley brought it out, and Johnny,
glorying in the Importance of knowing
something that the others did not, and
reveling in the curiosity and impa-
thence of his fellows, strobe majestical-
ly into the closet. When Johnny had
ANYTHING tucked away in his Uranium
that he was crazy to tell as other peo-
pie were to hear, he puffed out to the
dimensions of the tabled frog. That
was the time when Johnny was really
funny, and more provocative Of risibil-
itv than any Of his ever-ridiculous
yarns.
Entering the closet he scanned it's
calcimined sides closely, running his
slender, g-nailed fingers carefully
down the wall Then he hit the base
board. The group around watched III
tense silence.
ooh, John, cut it out and open up"
snarled CORN. CORN was one Of
Johnnys best friends.
(To be continued.)