Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1914-01-22

and human. In substance he said:
my name is J~ones-Simon X. Jones,
and ! have a small place about five
miles out In the country on the old
Creek road. l live there with my wife
and little girl eight years old--Oh. In
the name OF God, men, help me-help
me save her-my daughter-my dar-
ling-all right, I'll try and be calm,
boys, for I know you will all do what
you a for me.
1T happened IN hour ago-tust about
but 1t seems a year already. / was
coming across a field and happened to
glance up at the III to see what time
it was and I saw him-yes, / saw him
the Flying Man, for Of course had
heard Of him-I guess everybody In
the world has. He was up, way up.
mebby a thousand feet, and didn't
look very big and at first l thought
he was some funny kind Of a hawk.
then l got a better view and saw 1t
was a man. There was no chance Of
its being a flying machine, for I've
seen them and they don't flop their
wings. I ran then-ran as fast as
l could, looking up at him over my
shoulder. He saw me too, for he COM
menced to come down In great circles
like an eagle does when he ia soaring
off a cliff into a canyon, and he was
getting in on me closer at every
swoop. But l had a good start and
beat him to the house by quite a bit
and rushed In and locked the doors
and, showed my wife in a closet and
then took down the gun-an old mus.
ket that I always keep loaded with
birdshot. This was Just about noon
time and my daughter was at school
half a mile away. Well, everything
was still for a while, a kind of q
creepy still with nothing but a few To-
Gusts singing. still. still-still as q
graveyard at high noon In midsummer
seemed as II l had never known 1t
to be so still, then l heard something
light on the roof and 60 pat, pat, soft
like, as If somebody was trotting
around on 1t barefoot, and then I
knew he was up there and looking
around. Then that sound stopped and
for a while everything was quiet as
death again outside and / was stand
ing against the wall where I could e
both windows in front of me and with
my ears-well l guess I never listened
so hard before. l could even hear the
flies buzzing on the pane clear across
the room and hear my wife breathing
behind the closet door. Pretty 500
l heard him try the kitchen door very
soft, but I had locked 1t and the next
I heard Of him he was fooling around
out in the woodshed. That made me
get cold, for l thought he was after
the ak to smash in the door, but
after a while he seemed to 90 out Of
there and for a long time there wasn't
a sound-I don't know how long, 1t
seemed like ar hour, but l guess 1t
was mebby five minutes. Anyway I
got so that I couldn't stand
still any longer, so l pulled off my
boots and tiptoed out into the kitchen.
I peeked out of the windows, but
couldn't see anything, and after look
ing and listening for a while l crept
back soft as a cat into the parlor.
and my God, menl There he was
with that awful face pushed tight
against the window pane and those
great June bug eyes Of his looking
straight in at me. I don't reckon I
was ever SO scarf before in my life
know I wasn't. l Just lost control Of
myself, let out a yell and blazed away
at him. He ducked like a fash and I
don't reckon I hit him, for l was too
scarf to take aim. Next thing I re-
member I was cooking my gun and
couldn't remember whether l had
loaded 1t or not, so I tried 1t with the
ramrod-it Is an old-fashioned muzzle
loader, you know--and found that I
had. Must have put in the shot first,
though, for when l tried to shoot IL
later only the cap snapped.
well, I kind of pulled Myself to-
gether and went sneaking around
again sweating and trying to keep up
my spunk by telling myself IL I ever
ROL duOlhcT bHOI ~ uIHl ho " ucNCi 81
around bothering people again in this
world. Next l saw of him he was
about a hundred yards away ove by
the stone pile and was lifting UP q
rock that must have weighed seventy
five pounds. While I vas wondering
what he was up to he got 1t In his
arms and made a hop or two.a and them
great black wings shot out, and up
he went flap, flap, circlin' around and
getting straighter overhead every min
ute till he was 80 straight up I
couldn't see him any more from the
window. Must have been a couple Of
hundred feet up when I lost sight Of
him. Then of a sudden I got cold
all over again, for I knew what be
was up to now-knew 1t OF well as II
he had told me. And I wasn't mis-
taken neither, for about a minute
later came a smash-bang and that
rock come through the kitchen roof
like a thousand Of brick and knocked
the stove all to smithereens.
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