El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-02-27
An Animal Story
For Young Folks.


"HE snow smOthered everything
into silence; that is the mys-
terious ghostIy way of snow. It
( had showed all day in short. sharp
! Iurries, ana It's any, the knife blade
or.easter," had helped it, but they
could not silence the jewellers Fverv-
Where the marshes had been dotted
with mu1tled, laughing figures pIOddfng
and playing knee deep the high pitched
I song Of skates filled the air, trying to
drown the angry mutter Of the sea on
a shallow shore
One Of the last of the skaters n
plod home through the snow along the
road that led to the marshes, suddenly
turned, and pointed into the darkenfng
SKY He had seen, for an instant flap
ping IN from the eastern sea. some
great, silent. white thing flying. As
ne turned to follow il with his ewes if
crossed the last lingering ray of light
IN the west and became a dim sill
houette- Then it vanished into the
gloom
One Of the party suggested that it
was a wild swan but was silenced by a
friend who stated that swans wings
7 make a noise like a music bOx'-Which
they do-Whereas the wings of this
ghost thing made no sound at all.
Further argument was, however cut
snort by one of the party STUMBLING
over a clump Of brown and Wftherad
rushes, and by the apparitiOn there
from Of a rudely awakening and very
much startled hare. who bolted for all
she was worth westward into the dusk
leaving behind a little yell from the
skaters to help her on her way
Then suddenly the shout was silenced
and the men looked at one another as
indeed they might, for scarcely had the
hare vanished into the mist OF the fall
ing snow, than there sounded upon the
air a long and piercing and a most pa
thetic scream It was like the scream
which hare makes when in distress
That hare, said the first speaker,
has been caught by something. Pm
going to see. May get free dinner,
after ALL
Suddenly the skater stopped dead
with a gasp. Through the gloom ahead
had come a long rasping hiss. and two
huge, fiery eyes turned suddenly in
his direction. Behind the eyes he could
just dimly make out great, padded.
white form with vast wings that
flickered but made no sound.
The skater shouted for help. And IN
a flash, the apparitiOn had vanished,
leaving behind the hare, lying stone
dead with her heart pierced on either
side as if by a stilettO. Then the
skater grabbed the hare and fled as
fast as he could founder back to the
road Re had seen a ghost at last, a
real one, and did not wish to see it
again
An hour later. a wildfowler-one Of
those east coast marshmen, who exc out
a precariOus livelihood by killing the
various kinds Of wary. hardy fowl
crouching behind a gateway beside a
pool waiting for wilk duck, heard sud
denly that quick whistle of wings which
fOretells the approach of any of the
duck kind The man, with numbed
hands, raised his heavy muzzzle loader
There came a chorus of terrified
quachs, and a frantic Whistling Of fear
driven piniOns sWerVing wildly. and
climbing madly into the heavens. At
III =
came hurting down, and hit the half
frozen water with a splash, and the
wild fowler could see that he lay there
quite dead.
The wildfowler lowered his gun in
a hurry. but it was not he who had
killed the bird. He had not fired at
all, had not touched the trigger even /
The drake had just, apparently, been
killed by nOthing-Or-by a ghost
The last impossible idea had barely
crossed the superstitious mans mind
when he became conscious that he was
not alone. It was a sort of feeling that
gone, truly, but he was not alone, |
Something else was there also, some |
thing which
Good heavens"
The exclamation was spoken as the /
man looked up. checked some great :
white shape that was suddenly hover /
ing in the pale moonlight above the /
pOol-abOve the duck, in fact II /
heard the voice. 1t paused. 1t turned J
its great head and glared down upon |
the dUmbfOunded wildfOwler with huge, /
saucer like, flaming eyes. An angry hiss [
like the hiss Of some big snake, I
sounded through the gloom, and before /
you could wink. the spOOklike form was (
gOne-sO was the Wildfowler in the op- !
pOsite direction.
Somewhat later silent as an evil /
spirit, a great white shape Tapped out /
Of the snow shower that was NJust /!
passing, and settled soundly on the !
open snow by the shore. 1t was the |
white ghost which had already given a |
powerful fright to two men that night |
The moon burst out Just then, turn l
ing everything to silver. and showed |
moving swiftly downWards on a long (
slant across the heavens, a huge black 1
wedge, or inverted V. It was an i'm /
mense saggle" of the big. grey WHO /
Till then the white figure on the I
snow, which looked as if 1t we're 1
sWathed in layers and layers Of cotton 4
wool, had remained mOtiOnleSs as a !
figure carved in marble Now, how /
ever the ghost form rose, and as the 1
moon caught it. one could realize for 1
the first time the enormous size of its /
long piniOns, and had time to wonder 4
at the absolute silence with which they 4
beat the air, so different from the 1
rush OF the wings OF the geese, which 4
could be heard afar off.
Inen man ran, stumbling falling. /
sliding. muttering. The white ghost I
met him with flaming eyes and a /
deadly warning hiss. Next moment it /
was up and coming at him, its beak
swapping with fury.
The man stopped. flung up his gun and
tlred- Then he ducked as the great
white form, all spread eagled and
clUtching, went whirling past over his
head, and fell, coughing in almost
human fashion on the snow some yards
behind him.
An old snow owl-the terror Of the
wild swan-lay dead on the ground.