Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1914-02-26

came a rumor An old man awakened
at night by the ~squealing of his pig
had lighted q 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 sty 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 a
great fright threw himself behind a
rock, from which, a moment after
wards. he heard through the dark
ness the whistle Of powerful wings.
Bat so unsatisfactory were the differ
ent rumors, SO vague, and ~emanating
from SO many different quarters that
the awaiting one soon began to &C
cord them but little credence. a 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 D~entonville. two hundred
miles to the westward, so full Of hor-
rible 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 flendishness Of which he had
heretofore been only suspected as be-
ing capable. The victim this time wal
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
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:
81 done lef' de house early in de
mawnin' TO to done some wuk TO-
Mistah Lewis, who am buildln' a
fence ovah on his place erbout two
mile away. I done got finish at foah
erclock and starts TO- home. When
l gets up clus to de house I done no.
tice dar's something dat ain jes'
right, TO- dar amt nc noise inside.
Alters when l comes home befo' l
can heah dat woman O. mine er meek
in er racket, a singin' or whistlin' er
slammin' dem dishes erbout lax she
were gwine bust EN- up. but dis time
it am SO still / could heah my haht
er beatin' lax a drum. I STAINS dar
for er minnit a-wonderin' what am
de trubbil, an den I tries de do. 1t
am locked. Den / tries de back do
an dat am fasten' too. I tries to
peek in de windows, but de curtains
am down an | begins to get suspi-
cious, tho I amt nevah seen no
tracks Of any other man aroun' ma
place since we been married. But l
is gettin' mad all ovah an I poun's
on de do and l says, Woman, yo'
open dat do or Use gwine bust 1t in
wifi a rock At dat I heahs a little
SCUM inside an l picks up a big stone
an smashed de lock an den l steps
inside quick. Oh, Cord, what er sight!
Dere a-settin' on de kitchin' table
all hump up, war de debbil hisself
wifi his wings folden ovah his haid
an his chin a-hangin' down an a
winkin' an blinkin. at me wifi eyes
as big as ma ifs, an dar on de flo
Lawd, folks, l can't tole yo' what
sees. l jes' screech out a screech
an flies to de barn IN locks myself
inside an grabs de pitchfawk an
peeps out er crack Well, pretty soon
out comes dat ole debbil, 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
he am mos out er sight an den l
goes a-shoutln' TO- help. So help me
Lawd, dis am de truf eff | done get
hanged TO- tellin' it."
The confederation of his story by
the whites who had hurried to the
scene in response to his suffered
story had convinced all of the entire
truthfulness of the narrative. and the
wires had Immediately spread the
grewsome news far and wide. Extra
editions of the local press were upon
the streets almost before the tele-
graph key had ceased clicking, and
again a nameless horror and %unspeak-
able rage filled the hearts Of all who
read. For although the papers sup
pressed the most grewsome Of the
details, enough remained to make
even the stoutest-hearted Of those
who read the story through shudder.
Upon the field the aviators were CIV
Ing their machines a last test with
nervous haste, working silently, fierce
Iy. horror and hatred stamped deeply
upon their faces. Doris. rushing
bareheaded across the block which
separated the Fulton home from the
little park where the airships rested,
thrust a small package into North's
hand Just as he mounted his seat.
81 Just heard the awful news and
knew you would start Immediately
and without waiting for anything. So
Ii Just picked up the FIRST things I