The Hayti herald. (Hayti, Mo.) 1908-1922, 1912-04-18
THE PRINCIPAL
WINNER
BY F. A. Mitchell
Copyright by American Press Asso-
citation. 1911.
BY F. A. Mitchell


OF hankcrs. noticed coffin lying moi
far from the road.
That evening in camp Captain Tim
berlake was chatting upon the events
of tie day with the adiutapt' and the
major of h!S regiment. talking about
who had been killed, who wounded
bow the SHaniards fought and how
they had the advantage of the Amer
leans in the matter Of arms ;aid smoke.
less powder. when Tinbcrakc spoke
of the Strange sight Of coffin lying
beside the road
If men have not tho curiosity Of wp
men, and the statement has been de-
MED by the latter. they have u trait
equally peculiar. Men. especially those
who lead evcntful lives. are prnur to
bet about everything which is Il mat
ter of opinion or hazard The uucs
tion came up between these officers
whether there was corpse in the Cof
fin or whether there was not One of
the party had noticed q crmctcry ON
the way not far from til" tine of
march and suggested that funeral
had been interrupted by the fight. the
mourncrs had fed and the coffin spilled
out of the hcarsc. There was doubt
less al unburicd corpse in it,
Now. the outcome of this suggestion
did not result. as might have been OK
pected. in the burial Of IL corpse. but
a bet. Tho ma inr made the suggestion,
and Captain Timberlakc offered TO bet
him $40 even that the coffin was
empty.
The stakes having been put up. Cap
tain Timborlakc called Pat MulCahey. a
recruit picked up just before leaving
the States. and told him to go back
half mile and look out not far from
a bridge over creek for Il coffin. He
was to discover whether 1t contained a
corpse or whether 1t was empty.
A full moon stood about an hour
high and made all nearly as light as
day. a dcsutory firing was still going
on. but had nearly died out. Pat
crossed the bridge and about hun.
drcd yards beyond saw the moonlight
reflected from number of points Oh
the brass ornaments on the coffin. Pal
went on till he got near enough to see
what the object was, then stopped. a
coffin probably with dead body in 1t
at night in lonely spot did not appeal
to him. He was wondering how he
could determine what he had been Or
dered 10 discover without getting any
closer to the caSket when the lid seem
cd to lift of itself. and the moon light
ed up a white face.
"Howly MOTHER cried Pat, crossing
himself. and. turning, beat Il haSty re-
treat Reaching the other side of the
creek. he paused for another look be.
hind him. What he saw froze the
marrow IN his bones. The corpse was
coming with its coffin on its shoul.
der
Pat tried to run, but for a time his
legs refused to carry him. 1t was only
when the spcctcr reached the hither
side of the bridge and seemed to be
coming right down on him that his ter
ror had different effect. and with a
howl he set of like the wind for camp
Captain Timbcrlnkc. the major and
| the others were sitting in Il circle wait
| ing for the decision OF the bet when
Pat approached. As he drew near
them the soldier reNSscrted itself. and
he slowed his steps till he came down
to a walk Approaching the group, he
saluted
We'll Pat" said his commander,
"whO has won?'
"If We place sir what's the bct;"
"The major bets the coffin has n
corpse in it. bet that it is empty"
"1'hc corpse was in il when | win'
there. and now its ont Of It,"
What do you moan?"
"Thc corpse got ont when ! was
lookin' ut the coffin. and now he's com
in with II on his shoulder"
There was a burst of laughter.
"Oi got mo pay in me pocket" phil
ing out a roll of bills. "Orll bet ii all
that he is"
Several mon standing about. ready II
take advantage of the grccnhOrm. coy
cred his money 10 to |. The bets had
barely been made when n man with q
coffin on his shoulder approached and
asked half in Spanish and half in Eng
lish where he could get pass.
There was another burst Of laugh
ter.
The captain looked around for Pat
He was nowhere To be seen.
"T'vc won and Pat has won" said
Timbcrlakc. "NOw we'll hear III s mans
story. But first let me tell you some
thing I happen to know. The pool
class of Cuhans hire coffnS for thciI
dead. The body IS placed in the coffin
before the funeral and taken to thu
cemetery IN it. There il is removed
) and buried without any covering
. Since the lid Is not screwed down they
use hinges. This man was not Going
Ia n funeral; he was carrying the cas-
+ kct away from cemetery after tn,
, CORPSE had hncn taken ont of IT,
"You are right" said the Cuban. 81
was carrying the coffin from the rpmc
terry when III" battle hcgan To escape
| the bullets | lifted The lid and got In