The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1912-02-29
Our Illustrated Story
EXPOSING THE GHOST
By PERcIVAL S. PRINCE

the specter He remained with the
night shift, and shortly after midnight
there was a cry of alarm in the yard.
and he rushed out to find the men all
staring at the huge smokestack.
There in the swirling wreaths OF
smoke flOated the dead engineers i'm
age. Once or twice the specter van
ished only to reappear again. and for
twenty minutes the men stared. Then.
as If moved by single impulse, they
went to their lockers. and an hour
later Ted and the old watchman We're
left alone In the yard.
The day shift went to work, as usual.
but 1t was not long before the men
grew uneasy. There were no appari-
tions in the daytime. but they felt
nervous at the thought that the spirit
of the murdered man hoyercd over the
works.
At the noon hour they talked it over,
and when the whistle blew for the re-
turn to work they went to the office In
body. They found Ted busy with
some bits of glass covered with red
paint. He looked up as the spokes-
man entered
Better make 1t short" he said quiet
ly. Il suppose you do not want to
.-eep en- working in a haunted foun-
dry"
"That's right" declared the leader.
I'VE can't stand It,"
"Think you can hold out through the
afternoon" he asked. I'VE are going
to give little ghost party tonight
Keep at 1t until knock OF time comes,
and the two shifts will have supper
together"
won't that ghost be around to-
night" demanded the leader suspi-
,iously. ut may be all foolishness,
but you saw 1t yourself last night"
II hope to again this evening"" he
said. That Is where the fun will
come. Like to be ghost yourself to-
n;ght?'
Something in Teds manner con-
| vinced the committee. The members
went out into the yard and advised a
return to work. All the afternoon
there was an evident dislike Of going
into dark corners alone, and the cngi-
neer shivered every time the draft
made the furnace roar, but they all
stuck to the work and ihared in the
party at 6 o'clock.
at will be dark enough by o to
have the party" declared Ted "Whcn
the whistle blows come into the yard
and don't be afraid"
Just before 8 Nettie and her father
came whirling up, and few minutes
later the whistle blew its summons.
| The men trooped into the yard and
gathered about In little knots whisper
ing to themselves. Presently from the
stack there arose n dense white smoke.
and almost Immediately the ghost Of
the dead engineer appeared. With a
cry the men drew together and a mo-
ment later Madison, the spokesman of
the morning, came toward Ted.
'The boys want to know II you are
going to keep your word" he said
roughly. "You said you was going to
fix that ghost"
$50 am" said Ted evenly. II said,
too, that l was going to make a ghost
of you. Look up"
With a shrek Madison fell to the
ground, writhing in terror. There In
the smoke wreaths was his own face
Ted's face followed and In turn q
dozen Of the others. Then tho light
died away, and Ted mounted the steps
of the office.
Boys" he said in a voice that peno-
trated every part Of the yard. II prom.
ised you that I would lay that ghost.
think have done SO. 1t was q clever
stage trick. The strikers are using
Jones' hall across the street for their
meetings. You can see that the tower
Is about level with the stack. When
fresh coal was put on and the smoke
was heavy 1t acted as a screen for a
magic lantern in the tower. That was
all there was to 1t. When they went
up to work the lantern tonight I had
the police there to catch them, and my
own man worked the lantern for this
little seance. One Of the men they
caught was the engineer himself. He
is no more dead than am. Are you
satisfied to 80 back to work? We have
a big contract, and want to know that
you boys Will stick"
"You bet we WILL" came the chorus,
and Ted turned to Nettie.
Lets so over to the house and have
our own celebration" he suggested.