Show 1 y 3 FLOYD GIBBONS Iff l I t A Adventurers Adventurers' d venture s C Club I u ur b 1 i r i fC f i. i I I if SO I. I i L The Ghost o of 0 the Piano Q By FLOYD GIBBONS Famous Headline Hunter YOU ou know boys and girls every time I make up my mind min that r there arc areno no such things as ghosts somebody comes along I. I with a story that makes me mc a bit doubtful Now its it's Richard Bouker who throws the monkey wrench into my supernatural musings Lets Let's go along with Dick an and see what happened to him that wet December night in 1932 Dick was a member of the CCo Civilian Conservation corps camp located at Speedwell Tenn when he had the greatest thrill of his hla life He had been heen In town I 15 miles from camp and had missed the camp truck and was faced with the necessity of walking the long weary miles back to camp Now Dick says that taking a long hike with the stiff shoes the government issues to the workers Is not so hot But he had limped along about five miles of his way before things began to get serious It was long after sundown and he was hungry tired and sleepy and the dreary prospect of ten long weary miles over the eloping doping hills of northeastern Tennessee was pretty Ing Then It began to rain Big drops fell fen at first but before Dick had gone another half halt mile It came down In sheets He looked around him for tor shelter No friendly lights glimmered through the rain In n this desolate desolate desolate deso deso- late stretch of ot country but a n little off the road Dick stumbled onto a deserted de deserted deserted de de- cabin callIn and ond pushing upon the sagging door he went vent Inside f The Storm Almost Came In With Dick rr J Dick says he Just made the cabin In time because as he stepped Inside Inside Inside In In- side th storm broke In nil all Its fury A cra crash h of thunder startled him with Its splitting ear suddenness suddenness and the flash of ot lightning that followed seemed se med to come right into Into the ridden dust-ridden cabin after him But at least he had shelter and he started to look around aroundhim aroundhim him as IS well as he could The cabin though obviously deserted for years still held some signs of human habitation As he groped through the darkness he bumped Into a large piece of furniture that seemed to take up most of the room He explored It with his hands and to his surprise found It to be of be-of of all things things things-a a grand piano In the flashes of lightning Dick could see that the Instrument was In a sorry condition The ivory tops of the keys had long since disappeared geared but hut otherwise It stood there like a silent sentinel guarding the spirit of that departed artistic soul who had bad brought such a fine Instrument ment went Into this desolate country A ANew New Kind of Canopy for the Weary Traveler But Bul Dick was not In a mood to conj conjecture about what happened to the owner of the piano His Ideas were more practical The roof was leaking steadily and the wide spread of the grand piano plana made mode an excellent excellent excellent excel excel- lent cover for his tired bod body He climbed under It and exhausted as he I was was wn soon fast asleep I Sleep What a panacea for all our Ills Outside the storm howled the rain beat a ceaseless tattoo against the grimy window window win win- dow panes the wind shrieked through the trees and the thunder and lighting roared and flashed as though furious at the loss of their human victim How long Dick slept he does not know but he does know that the 4 thin thing that awakened him was not a part of ot the storm He opened his i f y I t r F Fl V o r l ll I Iii T i Strange Eerie Music Came From the Old Piano Plano yes eyes slowly to the sound of oC strange eerie music coming from the old piano 1 f Maybe It Was Pretty Pretty but but He Wasn't in the Mood Well theres there's nothing that should frighten anyone In the sound of a n piano and yet et as he lay there trying to pierce the darkness with his eyes Dick says he could feel the hair on the back of his neck actually rise in horror At first he lie thought he was dreaming but the music music music-If If you ou could call It that was that was real For the life of him Dick cant can't explain why he knew no livIng living liv liv- ing person was before that keyboard But he says he did know It He wanted to reach out and feel the feet that should be near the pedals But he was afraid of what he might not find He la lay there breathlessly Instead Instead waiting waiting for a lightning flash to prove what prove what he already knew The lightning flash came and Dicks Dick's s 's worst t fears tears were realized lie lle was alone DIone In the room Curiosity Conquers Over Ghostly Fear A And yet the music went on It sounded Dick says as though a little littlechild littlechild littlechild child were ere practicing Curiosity overcame his fear He drew a n lone match out of ot his pocket et and struck It As the tiny fl flame me lit up the dim shadows the music suddenly ceased The match flickered so In his shakIng shaking shak shak- ing hands that It was hard to tu see but even In that poor light he saw something that made him drop the match In sudden terror A pair of eyes eyes eyes-a a few feet from his face stared face stared fixedly at him Wham Dick went out that rickety door like a bat out of Hades He forgot all about his sore feet and the and the tho storm and everything All he wanted was camp and the company of something human Cam Cami the morning and a group of cec workers to Investigate the Ghost of of the Plano Piano They were hard boiled In the bright sunshine and by golly they brou brought hl the ghost rl right ht back with there thlIn I Yes sir that ghost meowed owed when they found her so they brought her back to camp and made her the mascot and you Just ought to see that ghost punish a u dish of cream And that boys bos and girls Is the story of how the Gh Ghost st of the Piano Plano became another version of ot the Kitten mitten on the Keys Kes e Service |