Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1920-08-27

"That place is going to be remem-
bered by me-" he said. II have been
out here only once since the night /
made bet l was not afraid to sit on
the bank here for an hour. They've
got q good many stories of this place
in town. I had been drinking little,
don't do it steady, but once in while
I get out. You've got to do it to keep
the house going happy. Give the wife
something to talk about My wife
would rather scold me than eat, and
she loves her food
0We were at the White Pigeon, hav-
ing good time but thinking of going
home, when some one started on this
Hartley house story. Everybody had
something to say, and said that there
was no ghost that could scare me, at
least no ghost that ever was within a
hundred miles of Hartley. That's
where [ made a fool of myself. I've
got to admit that's where | made a
fool of myself.
II bet five dollars / would sit an
hour on the bank at this place. | for
L
made the bet Anyway, they didn't
bother me. We got an automobile and
drove OUT here The fellows left me
at the pool and went mile back.
They were going to take my word for
it. l was to stay an hour and then
start walking back. At the end Of an
hour they would start toward me and
pick me up. They had beer and sand
wiches. l had couple of bottles and
some cheese and crackers.
81 wasn't afraid of that place. I'm
not afraid of any place unless 4 get
to thinking about this one. 1t was
along in October. A hoot-owl was
somewhere back of me, and there was
whippoorwill up toward the house.
"Tm used to hoot-owls and whip
poorwills, but hadn't drunk more
than half a bottle Of beer before even
these things began to sound different.
'The current Of the river kept knock
ing at the big rock at the up end Of
the pool, and you began to think that
things were reaching for you out of
the dark. I'd have given ten dollars to
quit, but got SO that I didn't want to
move. / felt safer sitting still.
''Then / began to hear things that |
don't suppose were making noise at
all. 1t may be it was rabbits in the
bush. I nearly died when | heard a
cry about fifty feet back of me. ! did
hear that. guess ferret had got
rabbit. You know how a rabbit cries
like baby.
'sI was sitting in the open, and l
thought I'd feel better if I got my back
up against something. So / crawled
over to some bushes and sat down be-
hind them.
"Maybe 1 had been there half an
hour, feeling scary and uncomfortable,
when I heard regular yell. There
wasn't any fooling about that. 1t
sounded like some one being hurt but
yelling not so much, because Of the
hurt as because he was mad.
you've heard fellows talking about
their hair standing on end. never
knew what it really meant before, but
my hair just stood right up. felt
like some one was trying to scalp me,
and I was goosef1esh all over.
"It had been dark on account of
clouds, but just then the moon came
out and lighted up the place. There
was man standing on the edge of the
pool, just about where I had been sit
ting. He was leaning with both hands
on cane and standing perfectly still.
He didn't seem like man. He looked
like one, but you had feeling that he
wasn't one.
81 don't want ever to be so scared
again. / didn't know who had yelled,
but / thought this man had, and /
didn't think he was man. / thought
he was ghost. I'm not saying what
I think now, but Ii I had to, I'd say
that I saw the ghost OF this place
and anybody that wants to laugh can
laugh. He can come down here at
night and get cured of laughing.
81 couldn't move for while. The
man stood still, leaning on his cane.
watched him until l began to feel
that could use my legs again.
don't know why I was so scared, but
was. I crawled away through the
brush for a hundred feet or so. Then
got up and ran.
81 heard that yell behind me again.
I'll bet nobody around here ever ran
mile as fast as / did. I scared the
| fellows who were waiting for me. They
didn't poke any fun at me. They
looked at me and got that automobile
started. I.paid the bet, but they didn't
have any laugh on me. There isn't
one of them would come down here at
night now"
when was this?" asked.
-Four or five years ago." said the
plumber. "Some time in October"
We came to the house, and he went
into the laundry to fix the pipes.
'It doesn't look haunted around
here he said as he perceived the
tangible jovialtty of the place, "but
you've got to get me out before dark"
That was virtually the complete sub
stance of the Hartley house ghost
the picture Of man leaning on cane
by the edge of the river. Romance
had to be content with it.
One evening in late October, which
had turned chill and brought up high
wind, Mr.. Sidney produced new
phenomenon. He had strange flash
of strength. When l went to his room
after dinner / found him walking about