Show RUNAWAYS f When I was a lad about nine years old I and a neighbor-boy neighbor a li litIe little little lit lit- tle tIe older planned to leave our happy homes home and seek our fortune abroad at least that is what Adolphus did in the story book upstairs We agreed upon this the more readily as our respective fathers had that day refused to let us go on a fishing trip up the river on account of the high water So Bill and I sat down behind a haystack in the corner of the barnyard and proceeded to be disappointed Bill said it was a mean shame I I said so too Bill said he knew that those Bassit boys would just go down and fish all the fish clear out of the river I added fuel to this fire by hy declaring that I h d seen the whole bunch of them go by this morning morning with their fishing poles We both agreed that we had about the meanest fathers that anybody ever had and that we wouldn't split any anymore anymore anymore more old kindling or drive any more old cows to pasture W Worse or e lead to worse and finally Bill hit upon upon upon-it it that it would be just the thing for forus forus forus us to run away That suited me and so we agreed that when my father left that afternoon for a cattle ranch in in the south I should come to Bills Bill's house give three cat calls at the back gate and then he join me and we A would set out for town Just then old Elias a negro whom my father had working for him walked out from behind the haystack and sauntered saunter saunter- ed over towards the house At first we were afraid that he had heard us but he looked quite unconcerned and we soon forgot all about him r My fathers father's farm lay along the high bluffs and wooded banks of the upper Mississippi A large clearing of several hundred acres had been I. I made and between this and the town there was about six miles of dense f timber This forest was a playground hunting ground fishing ground in fact a place of inexhaustible pleasure resources for us boys The road i ran through the middle in a zig zig- zigzag zag course so that one could not see a arod arod rod ahead for the big trees and dense underbrush Great white rocks rocksy y were scattered through the woods One especially large around a bend bendin in inthe the road which we knew to be about half way through we called old Reliable because if we got ot lost it seemed to take but a little while to find it and then we were all right again Bills Bill's home lay farther away from the river but in the same large clearing All I I had to do to get to it was cut down through the corn patch skin through the rail fence and take a aside aside aside side path through a cabbage field Well that afternoon about five o'clock my father went away old Elias went went out into the field to plow and nd my mother tired with a day days s swashing washing which then hung on the line was asleep The coast was clear I emptied my bank hank of all its contents content contents about about seventy five cents which I Ithen Ithen Ithen then considered a pile pile and and nd hurried through the open to Bills Bill's house Bill was waiting and together we turned our faces towards town It only takes about two hours of good walking to bring one to town but by hy the time we had ambled about half way through the woods and climbed every tree in which we thought there might be he birds' birds nests it was wa's sundown It soon grew rapidly dark and we hastened to reach the road so that we could continue our journey without trouble Neither of ofus ofus ofus of us us us' was was the least bit dismayed at the gloom in fact we concluded that the darkness would he be pretty handy to hide us if we were followed Besides Besides Be Bp- sides we knew the road perfectly and we were not afraid of any anything anything- thing thing- so so sowe we told each each other At last we turn turned d the bend hend where we wp could seethe seek see k i- the old oid rock Was it a fancy of mine that the rok had changed hanged its shape hape It was as white as usual but certainly something was wrong o about it I could see but indistinctly through the dusk but hut it looked much sharper and stood hi higher her out of the ground Before I had had time tiTIe to say anything the rock began hegan to swe swell and something g very much like two white wings waved up and down This was the first intimation to Bill that anything was wrong and he stopped short As for myself my feet were getting cold and my knees shook I was but hut a small boy boy after all and it didn't take much to frighten me Finally that awful l thing quieted down again this time to its usual size Bill was the first to speak or rather whisper Tom did you you see see that that that- but hut just then the rock began to shake again and wave those awful wings It went up and down as if it were trying to rise up out of the ground and seize us That was enough We Ve fled fled and and fled towards home Those three miles were worse than any nightmare I ever have nave had V Wo We stumbled in the dark and fell and every time we looked looke over our shoulders w we could see that tall white thing with waving arms in black forest recesses behind us us Our cries awakened the birds at roost and they set up a screaming that we attributed to the ghost I nev never r in my mv my life felt such a relief as I did r 5 r. r when we emerged from those spooky woods and nd found that the thing n no no longer followed us but stalked up and down III in the edge of the forest a i just as if we would ever have the notion to come back My home was gp the nearest and I made for it it What became of Bill I never tried to find out I myself did what every other boy that sees ghosts does I li sneaked into the house crawled into bed and completely buried myself under the covers I was wai- pretty pretty tired anyway and then 1 1 saw that thing v J 1 l lin r runder in every corner I 1 heard it walking around the house and tapping on n I Ithe the window pane Then again I made a desperate effort to dispel my A fears and try to think what it could have been But I found little comfort comfort com- com 1 I 1 fort in thinking It might have been a giant that stayed ou out under that rock and scared back boys who ran away it might have been a big white r bird that made those awful screams because it couldn't fly I thought of pr r everything white I had ever heard of It is isa is-a a fact that I didn't thi think k of t 1 anything black If I had so thought I might have guessed everything Jr But I didn't think of anything black and that is why it wasn't till the t next morning that I got the least inkling of what the thing was Old 1 Elias came in at breakfast and he looked at me so steadily and kept giggling giggling gig- gig f sf gling so much lunch that 1 I began to wonder if he knew anything about it My j ij curiosity was getting g-etting the better hetter of me but old Elias saved me the trial of inquiring After breakfast out in in the yard h he asked me Honey Hon f ey fY yo go las' las night Now that question was as my face evidently showed and so I had nothing to say He r see no did yo I looked up and the expression on his face w was s enough to satisfy me I was mad clear through at myself and everybody everybody every- every b i body hody else I stalked away into the barn loft and stayed there y You Oll see ee this was the end of it all Old Elias had heard us and 7 watching hi his chance he had taken a sheet or two off the line and had followed us The rest is clear But I tell you home is a sweet swee place when a fellow is in such a fright as we were in that night r f L a Nellie Nellit Goss 1 |