The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1913-05-13
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Copyright, 1912, by Harry Irving Greensl

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ment when North had caught his last
fieeting glimpse of the Flying Man dis
appearing into the southwest in the
rays of the early morning sun, moth
ing had been heard or seen Of him.
Day by day the scouting air fleets
ranged the mountain tops, whirled
past precipitous cliffs, swooped down
into valleys and gulches, alighted
upon points of vantage that they
might scan other heights with their
powerful glasses, but all their efforts
remained unrewarded. Either he was
in close hiding somewhere amongst
the recesses of those vast Businesses,
had met with some disaster remote
from the abode of man or had taken
himself far afield to haunts where his
life was in less jeopardy than SO close
to the swift air crafts Of his relentless
hunters Day by day the impotence
of the eager aviatOrs grew more and
more chatting. and nothing but the c.
lossaI size Of the reward prevented
many from returning to fields which
offered more certain if less dazzling
prizes. But the immensely Of the for
tune that dangled before their eyes
still held them and they remained to
scour the country day after day in
wide flights that each time grew
more and more perfunctOry. Then one
| morning, when some of them were
actually preparing TO leave for good,
| news came that caused them to prick
up their ears a bit and decide 10 loi-
ter a while longer, for from Quartz
vile, two hundred miles away, came
the report that a citizen had seen
roOsting upon a far distant Crag a
strange, winged figure, half manlike,
half birdlike, but whether it was the
Flying Man or not the observer was
no able to positively testify because
of the great distance, although he was
strongly inclined to the belief that
it was no bird. Then from Lode City,
not far from QuartZyille, there also
came rumor. An old man awakened
at night by the squealing of his pig
! had lighted lantern and, gun in hand,
! FASTENED to the pen with the thought
that some wild creature of the noun
| tains had descended in search Of fresh
meat, only to find the sly empty and
no trace of the missing porker, yet
| a moment later he was sure he heard
a faint squeal from far up in the air.
From another place came the news
that a belated traveller had heard a
raucous cry from above and in q
great fright threw himself behind a
rock, from which, a moment after
wards, he heard through the dark
ness the whistle of powerful wings.
But so unsatisfactory were the differ
ent rumOrs, SO vague, and emanating
from SO many different quarters that
the awaiting ones soon began 10 ac-
cord them but little credence, little
later ceasing to place any confidence
in them whatever. Then after several
of the aviators had actually departed
in disgust there came a seething mes
sage from Dentonville, two hundred
miles to the westward, so full of tor-
ribie details that none who read even
the eXpurgated report Of the papers
could doubt but that the Flying Man
had again been located and had once
more shed human blood, this time
with a fiendishness of which he had
heretofore been only suspected as be-
ing capable. The victim this time was
a middle-aged negro woman who lived
with her husband in a lonely place
two miles beyond the town, the prin-
cipal narrator being the negro him
self, q rather simple minded and
peaceable man of good repute, who
made his living by doing odd jobs in
his vicinity. His report Of the occur
renee as taken in shorthand by a
newspaper reporter and after having
been expurgated, read as follows:
Il done lef de house early in de
mawnin' TO to done some wuk TO-
Mistah Lewis, who am buildin'
fence ovah on his place erbOut two
mile away. l done got finish at foah
erclock and starts TO- home. When
l gets up cius to de house l done no.
tice dar's something dat ain jes'
right, TO dar amt no noise inside.
Alters when l comes home befo' I
can heah dat woman o. mine er meek
in er racket, singin' or whistlin' er
slammin' dem dishes erbout lax she
were gwine bust 'em up, but dis time
it am so still l could heah my haht
er beatin' lax a drum. l STAINS daF
for er minnit a-wonderin' what am
de trubbil, an den I tries de do 1t
am locked. Den I tries de back do
an dat am fasten' too. I tries to
peek in de windows, but de curtains
am down an I begins to get suspi-
cious, tho I amt neYah seen no
tracks of any other man aroun' ma
place since We been married. But
is gettin' mad all 0Fah an l pouns
on de do and I says, Woman, yO'
open dat do or Use gwine bust il in
wifi a rock At dat I heahs little
SCUM inside an picks up big stone
an smashed de lock an den I steps
inside quick. Oh, Cord, what er sight!
Dere a-settin' on de kitchin' table
all hump up, war de debbil hisseif
wifi his wings folden ovah his haid
an his chin a-hangin' down en- a
winkin' an blinkin' at me VIII eyes
as big as ma ifs, an daT on de flo
Lawd, folks. I can't t0le yo' what !
sees. / jes' screech out a screech
an flies TO de barn an locks myself
inside an grabs de pitchfawk an
peeps out er crack. Well, pretty soon
out comes dat ole debbiI, still a-blink-
in an looks eroun', but he dOan' see
muffin an SO he flaps his wings lax
er rooster an tries TO fly. But he
can't get often de groun', an bimeby
he climbs up on de fence an meks
a little hop an dis time off he goes
poundin' up IN de air slow an heavy
lax a turkey buzzard. l waits until