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Show W TF (Written for The Tribune.) -f- !Eack In 1SD3 a coal mine at Almy, Wyo., suddenly belched forth a great cloud of dust and debris, and as It did so many a poor fellow met his death in t Its dark, airless depth. But as time went by t)ie rebel mine il . wan put to rights again, and other men if jft - ' went down Into Its dark rooms to work. Wj ) . They1 went prepared to meet with i lM v strunEC sights as a result of the ex- I mfu plosion, but the sight of men delving .? A,' In the gloomy recesses whose funeral Aj j they had attended a short time before F 9 ' I wa3 one lat tne" were not pre- . M" I pared to linger over. Yet, If all tales J -'mr- be true, such sjj;hts were to be seen In I JHE that troubled hole In the ground; and K. 1 because of that u number of miners quit I rHxj their work. jBi This was a piece of news that caught Bl and held the attention of many of the Jb1 remaining workers underground ae a I-Hn snake catches and holds that of a bird, ' nnd before It had traveled far It was B garnished with a wealth of detail that made It very Interesting in view of the proverb that says a rolling stone . gathers no moss. Brlclly, the story ran HP something like this: H, Jack Ilooker straightened up from his Hi work to run his sleeve ucroes his sweat- mk- lng brow and give his overallH a hitch, HBSL! when a stranger appeared In front of jjR him aa If by magic. The man was do- llH ing the work of a miner, and gave iJaR neither word nor look to Jack, not even IPiHr when spoken to; and no sound answered the stroke of his pick. At MWk this Jack felt nn Inclination to decamp iMW tug strenuously at him, but before he t w could obey It a contrary feeling J 111 gripped him, and he saw his own hand r III reach forth and pass through the man's -j r body as though a column of smoke, j f Yet, even that failed to attract the f 1 EU , stranger'. notice. It also failed to hold iiL.v J tlie m'ner's- 'ot t moment tarried he to inquire the reason why, and for a Uljfi time lifted dust was on the trail by Bp which he went hence. HI f That was the story. But Hooker was M not there to verify it, so It had to stand .Sr. np on Its own bottom, or fall. It stood. EM But many there were among the hardy JM By 1 sons of toll, burrowing In the ground at V, H j Almy, who bore It little reverence. A te Some even went so far as to grin and n whistle In its face, but others met it H , t with reppoctful silence. They also, from WLa tj ' time to time, sent strange looks Into dark places, as much as- to say: "Is Klw It there?" I) m! ffi The engineer who ran the hoisting t' fi W machinery and shoveled coal Into the Lm ejj flowing moutli of the furnace was one HifY of these. At least, he gave an involun- HM $ tary performance one night that B ,tj. would Indicate ai much. Tho donkey W &Pa driver started him. That worthy W InE? ibounced into the engine-room nt mld-I mld-I Aflffi 1 nlSht, when the engineer and a few h l? tr companions were taking their meal, and ff aiUi "with bated breath said something had I 'Oi kn taken the donkey's hay. L -JjJJ "Hay!" shouted the engineer, his eyes BHj big and his Jaw hanging loosely to his Hl V "Yes, sir; it's sure gone," was the Hjl 1 response of the boy. I The group of diners lost their appc- HU V tito and looked strangely at one an- HH1 pj , other. Then, after a few words, they HJI f Avc-nt out to Investigate, and found the MJII: ' donkey driver's announcement true. II V JWlth the exception of a little tliat was Tjll (Btrewn about the hay was gone. But the rope with which it had been tied Into a bundle was left behind. Stranger still, it was knotted, just as when it went around the hay. Hence, the mule's x supper muBt have quitted Us gripping band in an evil way. Certainly things thereabouts bespoke as much, and taking this fact homo, the engineer and the donkey driver left that mine after the fashion of Hooker, except that they waited till the changing of the shifts. But their departure was little noted. The next' night, two new men slipped Into their places, and coal-mlnlng and the story of Hooker's leave-taking continued con-tinued as before. But of the story, the new donkey driver knew naught. Neither did he know aught of the mysterious disappearance of the donkey's hay. But the engineer must have known. At any rate, he wore a grinning face and demanded a ghost. Ills predecessor" had been favored with something In that line, and he hoped that no partiality par-tiality Mould be shown. Didn't know such things were still to be had, but thought they had gone with other shadows when the morning of modern enlightenment broke upon the world. But ao ho was mistaken he hoped he would not be slighted. This was his mood when the new donkey driver Interrupted the- midnight mid-night "meal with the announcement that the donkey's hay was gone. At this tho new engineer's hand, freighted with food, slopped midway between his mouth and his dinner pall, and his mouth refused to cloeo. Other hands and other mouths did likewise, for again a little group was dining In the engine-room. But with an exchange of glances the spell was broken, and their hands dove Into their dinner palls with greater celerity than before. They also wolfed their food, as they had not done earlier In the meal, while their ears reached at every sound, real or fancied. Also, one man was too ill to return to his work after the mealtime intermls-Ffon, intermls-Ffon, and was, therefore, obliged to go home. But not eo with the engineer. One o'clock found him at his post, whistling llkt a nightingale. It also found him making an unusual amount of clatter with everything he handled. Yet, there were no!f?es. alien noises, that broke through his" carol and Its accompaniment accompani-ment and struck him dumb. Then, no matter how he stretched his ep.rs, all was still, strangely still; and no matter mat-ter how often his eyes went around the room they were wide and eager with alertness. And when he fed the furnaco coal-morbid coal-morbid fancy faces, flitting human faces, appeared In the streaming smoke and flame that licked the black belly of the boiler. Fancies though they were, he clapped the furnace door over the sight and sent a look around the room as if for reassurance. Then, as he stood -listening, the laboring engine sobbed nnd sniveled like a lost child; the homing cable moaned and whined ns It snaked its glimmering length up out of the ground; the freighted cars Croaked and cackled like croning witches; tho night wind, stirring softlj, trailed its long skirts around the shell of a house, as restless as a lost soul, gasping, struggling voices came in husky whispers from the half-light of nook and corner, thpn the rush of skurrjlng feet; and in tho i coping si lence, when the silence came, the signal bell sounded like the crack of doom I Glad was the engineer when morning came. In tho sunlight his spirits rose, and he looked back unon the visitations visita-tions of the night and laughed. They were the children of his fancy, ho knew, but with such people stalking through one's imagination, why . The .sentence .sen-tence running in hid mind refused to complete itself and his thoughts passed over to the stealing of the donkey's hay. That was no fancy. It was certalnly a reality, but no mystery. It could only be done by some man some playful fellow having a. little chostly fun at the expense of the superstitious miners. But It was fun that ought to be stopped, because because It Interfered with business. And this train of thought probably ran to a conclusion in the engineer's en-gineer's mhid. At any rate, he slid the window open, the next night, from which a good view of the dump could be had. nnd during the frequent stops of the machinery he went to tho window and looked out. As his head went through the opening he could see the donkey's hay bundled at the hltchlnff-post where the animal took Its midnight meal, and, by looking In tho opposite direction, his gaze fell down tho stairs that led to the dump and tho engine-house thereon. So the prank-player was almost cortaln to bo seen If the watch should be kept up, and this the engineer rcemed determined deter-mined to do. But with each survey of the field the calm, moonlit scene gave no token of an unwelcome visitor tUl the night was well advanced. Then, as he approached the window, he suddenly found himself stuck to the hearth, his heart, after one mighty bound, standing still, his whole being fixed, frozen Into a living statue. There were footfalls on the stalr3T But In a moment life thawed the rigid man, and ho sent a glance over a line of retreat that opened at his back; but his early boasting held him to the spot and he gave his ear to tho open window. win-dow. Up the stairs the footfalls were coming. com-ing. The man's head began to reach up to the level of the window as a snake'3 reaches up out of the grass. Slowlj' his neck stretched till his glance went down the stairs; then his head came back as If by relieved elastic and he went to the floor like a rag. A column col-umn of white stood upon the stairs! The moonlight was falling around it In a ghostly glamor, and to the reaching head at the window It turned a face nn calm and white as the face of the dead. The long, flowing beard of the patriarch swept down from Its chin to Its breast, and Its eyes were holes In Its head. Thls the engineer saw In the swift glance he nave it. The rag on tho flower struggled across .the room and sank down In the dim light of the furnace beside a keg of nails. Tho It stared without seeing at the glow under the boiler. The signal bell called "Haul away," but the Inert thing only tried to squeeze farther In between tho keg and the wall. Again and again the bell clamored, but the rag made no reaponse. It neither lifted its eyes nor turned Its head. Chunks of gold fell from the living grate and turned to ashes In the pit; the needle of the steam-gauge climbed up from one figure to anothei ; the water in tho glass sank below its rightful level; but the eye that should have traveled from one of these to the other held to the furnace as the needle to the star, as blind In Its loyalty as a bat In the sunlight. sun-light. The signal bell snapped and snarled savagely, but the nerveless man only sank deeper and deeper into his little corner After a time a man came hurrying from the mine. "What In hell's up?" he demanded. The thing behind the keg came to its feet. It turned a wild look in the direction from which the voice came. Then it ran townrd the man, crying, "Oh. Billy, Billy. I've seen It! There!" And his linger pointed at the open window. win-dow. Billy's eyes suddenly ringed thorn-selves thorn-selves with white and his Jaw dropped. He gave a look to the open window, but stopped for no further explanation. explana-tion. Down at the foot of tho dipping tunnel tun-nel a few. men were loafing near the standing cars, wondering- what had happened to stop the running of the cables. Suddenly they turned their faces up the dark incline and stared, and as they did so two puffing men came into the ring of light that fell from their flaming hats. The first said, "He seen ltt" and the other moaned, "Oh, my Godl" A full explanation followed, and the men looked at one another. Then, after some discussion, they concluded to go up and investigate, and up they went, armed with picks. They searched every nook and corner of the engine-house, every part of the dunljJ. passed up and down tho stairs, but no trace of the white visitor could be found. Even the donkey's hay was untouched. "You'd better take the Keely cure," said si leader in the mob, turning to the engineer. "I once knew a man a3 had 'cm bad, so bad that he could knock "em off the bed with a stick and then they'd come twlstln' up his arm; but he -went down to Salt Lake and took the cure, and now he'fl dealln' faro in Park City, as steady as a cloclt The cure will straighten you up, too, and you better take It, cl6e God only knows what you'll be seein' next." Thus It happened that the engineer became the butt of much fun, but many took a serious view of the matter, strenuously Insisting that "sumpum" had been seen and that the donkey's hay had been taken. To the latter number belonged the engineer, of course; but the next dny he began to wonder if he really had seen anything, or was It all imagination? imagina-tion? He hardly thought It was the thing stood there so plainly, turning Its while face to him. Ugh! he could see It yet. But, be it something or be It nothing, noth-ing, he would find out now. So. the next night, he took a double-barreled shotgun up to the mine with him. Each barrel carried a heavy load of buckshot, buck-shot, and when It had grown quite dark he placed a board at the head of the stairs, on which was scrawled: "Bowar. Enny man cot playin' the Ghost here god help him. Heel be shot." And In front of the board he placed a lighted lantern so that the scrawl could easily be read. With this arrangement the engineer felt quite safe. Surely no man would be so foolhardy as to Ignore the warning. warn-ing. Still, from time to time, as he poked his head out of the window and swept the scene with a glance. It was very still so still that the bark of a dog came up to him from the valley below as distinctly as If he were within a few feet of the animal making the noise and the moonlight slivered all things and threw their shadows on the ground. But he had made few visits to the window when footfalls came to him as before. Again ghostly feet were upon tho slalr. On and on they came. Were they going to walk right over the lantern lan-tern and the warning scrawl? As this question swept through his mind the man grabbed his gun and pokfd It through the open window. Ic then found a resting place upon tin sill. The hammers lifted and nervous fingers crept to ready triggers. Then the man's head reached for tho window. win-dow. In an instnnt it came back with a jerk; tho gun Jolted his shoulder; Its muzzles blazed; the piece fell to the floor and the man, wild-eyed, dove Into the open earth. To the miners delving at the bottom of the decline he came, panting. "Oh, ' it was a man, a man," he moaned. "I saw him throw up his arms and fall as tho shot tore his breast open. Oh, my, God! my God!" Again the miners gathered round him and In halting, moaning speech ho told his story. The listening group looked one at another, and their eyes were wide and curious. What could it all mean? Again they would go up and Investigate. In-vestigate. They found the dump unpeopled, the donkey's hay untouched, as they made their way to the stairs. But, there1. I there! what was that? A white figure lay at the foot of the stairs. It gave no sign of life, and the moonlight moon-light glistened on thft ground at Its side. Seelnpr thlc, men said "Blood!" and grouped themselves at the head of the stairs. There they craned their necks and wondered. At length one of their number went down. "Oh," he exclaimed, aa he reached the bottom, "it's Mrs. McBride's billy goat. He's been comin here night after night with his two wives to eat the donkey's hay. They were pet animals and ran at will about the place. No doubt they were all three here, but you only caught the foremost wfth eye and gun. These are the arms you saw him throw up as you pumped the lead into him," concluded the man, tapping the Ions homs of the animal with his foot. "Oil!" chorused the group at the top of the stalro, as they came tumbling ! down. |