Show THE MYSTERIOUS TWIN STRANGE HAPPENINGS OX MOLT YOXA1I Laban Hlltern Disappearance anSI Miraculous Materialization From Time to Time What do Ye Spose n Feller Conll See ef Me Went Fur Off Array Ynmler SomcTsf and Laban Vent Ofl on it Iro tracted Jouruej of Discovery BY MAURICE THOMPSON Copyrighted 1S95 by Maurice Thompson Thomp-son I heard a story when I was last in the region of Mount Yonah which is not far from the celebrated falls of Talulah and the beautiful Tuccoa cataract Truth ± il persons vouched for the verity of i and I shall give i as it was told to me I Larkin Kilter an Ignorant but respectable ble and highly respected mountaineer At the same time let me state that some sme what similar stories have before this been printed but not this particular one and partcular while I make no claim to originality I do offer mine as the only correct version of the facts from ony perhaps all the other stories have been drawn in whole or in part Larkin Kilter was nearly 70 years old when he gave me the account and I wish that I could set it down exactly in his own words so simple so positive and withal so unquestionably truthful I am not able to do this however I can but tell i as I remember i cn When Larken was 15 years old he had a twin brother named Laban and they two loved each other so that they were never quite happy when separated even for the shortest while They worked together to-gether on the little mountain farm owned by their father they fished together in the mountain streams they hunted together to-gether in the dusky mountain woods and they slept together in a rude bed under the leanto shed behind the cabin Poor as they were they were absolutely contented con-tented and joyous for they had no ambition ing ambi-tion beyond the simple life they were liv ingThere There was a singular fact which in the case of these twins distinguished them distngished one from the other Larkins hair was black Labans was red otherwise the two boys were exactly alike And so up to their 16th year they lived a if bound together to-gether with an invisible thong Where one went there went the other what ta ban did that Larkin did and from night till morning and from morning till night they were side by side Hearty strong and healthy they felt no need of luxuries luxu-ries or any change of habit or surround ings THE RUNAWAY One Sunday morning the twins were sitting together on the top rail of the worm fence that inclosed the cabins yard I was spring and the mountain woods were green to the very tops of the peaks birds sang everywhere roundabout round-about and the perfume of flowers sweetened sweet-ened the air Suddenly Laban ran his I fingers through his curly hair and said What do you spose a feller could see e he went fur off away yander somers I He pointed across the hazy mountain I range eastward Larkin looked at him curiously Somehow the words had in them a strangeness and a touch of sadness sad-ness yet Laban was smiling Away off yander the boy repeated hat closing his eyes where the sky comes down Larkin laughed for want of other adequate ade-quate means of expression then after awhile a-while said Nothin more to see over flier an ther air here How dye know demanded Labia Do you know whats away off yander Larkin did not know and therefore he sat silent Nor did Laban pursue the subject further save to say I air gwine to go see Goodby With these words he jumped clown on the outside of the fence and strode away along a little mountain road which ran past the cabin In a moment or two he was out of sight leaving Larkin sitting there somewhat dazed and stupid The act was something so unlike anything ever before done by Laban that to his brother it was almost stupefying and when he quite disappeared 1 seemed as if a dim cloud had passecj over the morn ing and sun queer The bird songs sounded far off LOST How long Larkin sat there on the fence he never could say however i could not have been more than a minute and then he sprang down and ran after his brother with all his might calling his name loudly He went on and on until he was tired then he stopped and thought How foolish he had been I was all a mere trick of Labans he con eluded so he trudged back home confidently I con-fidently expecting to find his brother there ready t laught at him But at the cabin there was no Laban The family took fright at once the thing was so strange they ran all over the thinly settled country coun-try inquiring at every house No one had seen the missing boy and never a trace of him could they find It was as if he had vanished into air or been swallowed swal-lowed up by the earth What could be done The resources of poor moutain people are few Every member of the family strove hard especially es-pecially Larkin to get some clue to this mystery They went to all the towns within their reach and made diligent search they ransacked tie woods the thickets the caves and the ravines of the mountains In fact their search was exhaustive ex-haustive and they kept it up even after all hope was gone THE RETURN i Three years passed by Larkin had I grown almost to manhood lonely and i miserable longing all the time for his j twin brother One dayit was a Sunday he stood leaning on the little rickety yard gate in front of the cabin and while with his eyes bent upon the ground he reflected upon the past suddenly a footfall foot-fall startled him He looked up and there stood Laban brightfaced and smiling Howre ye Lark gayly the young wanderer called out extending his hand He was well dressed his re hair had been cut short and upon his lip shone a young moustache almost as red as his hair I hairHows pap an marm he added and I i his voice had a cheery loving ring An I hows Becky an Jinny It was a joyous meeting that followed I when all the family rushed out upon La ban and hugged him and kissed him and almost deafened him with questions I Where had he been What had he been doing What did he go away iike that i for And all these fine clothes where I I did he get them Laban was glad to see them he was I vivacious and talked a great deal but I somehow he managed never to answer a question or tell anything about his past II history They prepared for his benefit an extra good dinner of chicken eggs Johnny cake and butter and fruit pie He ate heartily and praised the cooking I Then he got up from the table and said Ill just step out and see the old well I all the time Ive been thirsty tme As he spoke he passed through the I cabins rear doorway Some time elapsed and he did not return Larkin went out ito i-to look for him He was gone had disappeared I dis-appeared utterly as before leaving not the faintest trace behind In vain they again searched for him All that they i agan learned further was that after leaving his fathers cabin he called at a neighbors neigh-bors and spent an hour in pleasant chat i evading as he had done at home any I disclosure of what he had been doing while away When he left this neighbors neigh-bors house he did not say where he was going but they took it for granted that < he was returning home j STRANGE APPEARANCES j After this nine years went by without further knowledge of Laban In the I meantime Larkin married and set up housekeeping in a cabin over the hill a mile from his fathers He and his wife were happy with a brood of children gtherng around them and they prospered pros-pered well a prosperity goes with sim i t pie mountain folk But Larkin could not j forget Laban all the while he longed to see his twin brother and the longing I longng was touched with a strange superstitious i feeling I was Impossible for the sim pieminded man to drive away from his imagination a haunting halfghostly fear i that Laban had never really appeared that he was dead and that it was but his I spirit that had visited them on that memorable mem-orable day Doubtless Larkn Ijrooded too much over thisSUbject but he was not a nervous nerv-ous or sentimental man On the contrary con-trary even when I saw him in his old age he was strong and singularly matter offact in his disposition At the end of nine years Laban suddenly sud-denly and inexplicably appeared again This time he spent three days with his kindred most of the time at Larkins house showing great fondness for the children As before he was neatly dressed dress-ed and quite uncommunicative regarding regard-ing h business a whereabouts during tJ > C d < his absence He appeared exhuberantly cheerful and happy but without warning or good bye he once more vanished completely com-pletely After this he reappeared four times at unequal intervals always in a jolly mood always prosperous in his look and always silent as to his personal history since leaving home In telling me about it Larkin Hilter said that the way in which Laban avoided disclosing his secret was most mysterious and indescribable I was this more than all else that made his erratic visits so depressing In their effect upon his kindred Why would he not tell No one who ha ever known him could I for a moment believe that he was leading I an evil life of which he dared not speak I But why this mystery of appearance and disappearance I What most impresed me was when I was told that Laban had several times appeared I ap-peared in the neighborhood without going to see his fathers family or his brother Larkin There could be no mistake about this for many of the neighbors had seen him and talked with him The last time that Laban came back was when Larkin was CS years old and white haired Laban however still retained re-tained an almost youthful look and his hair was bright and red as ever He wore a suit of gray clothes very fine and neatly fitting When he appeared Larkin was sitting on the front door sill smoking a cob pipe in the autumn sunshine Hello Howre ye by this tme Lark I was the same beloved voice and Larkin Lar-kin looked up Laban bare headed with his hat in his hand was standing still in the middle of the road I was noon and the sun shone strong upon his smiling happy face Mrs Hilter heard his cheerful cheer-ful voice and ran to the door almost fall ing over her husband in her hurry Wher whers he at she crIed ear erly getting a glimpse of him as she stumbled j In the confusion of the moment when Larkin was catching his wife to keep her from falling Laban disappeared and has never since been seen or heard of I I have told this story to many persons per-sons but never one has been able to offer i a probable solution of its mystery L I kin Hilter is alive today nearly SO years old and is yet exnootlng another visit from Laban MAURICE THOMPSON I I |