AN. INFORMAL "EVENING Asr HOME"
"But it might scare some of you fellows.
persisted Tony.
"A ghost story I ha, ha, " laughed everybody. " Just bring
your ghost out of the closet, and we'll put him through until
he'll be the one that's afraid."
" All right then, here goes, " answered Tony. •" As I said
before it's a ghost story,—but it is a real personal one, mind you,
and I'll swear it's true."
" I started over towards the Barrens one afternoon for a walk,
taking a gun along, of course, for company and incidentally to
shoot squirrels with if the opportunity came. Well, I wandered
around for a longtime, killing a little game and a good deal of
powder, and finally realized that I had come a good ways and it
was about time to ' light out for home.' ,So I took my bearings
and sailed away like Parker's House Boat on the Rail.' But it
was up hill and down hill, and it wasn't long before I was puff
ing worse that Parker's Mule,' and wishing for a rest. I was,
therefore, mighty glad when I came out into a clearing a moment
later and saw a house. As I approached, I saw a farmer fixing
the fence around the house, as I thought; but coming a little
nearer I saw he was nailing the gate fast. This seemed rather
strange, since the house was a fairly good one for the place, ex
cept that it looked as if it had been vacant for three or four years.
So I stopped to talk to the farmer a little while, and casually
asked him about it. He looked sort of surprised a moment, and
then replied, Wal, now, I'll tell ye that them folks what lives
here don't never come back no more. They stay until arter the
furst Holloween, and then they jist git out as fast as they ken''
' But what about Halloween ? ' I asked. Do the students bother
them ? " Stoodents ! Lord no, not stoodents, but ghosts ! ' ex
claimed the old chap. Why they tell me it's chock full of
ghosts 'n speerets, 'n divils of all sorts 'n sizes 'n shapes ! ' No
sir'ee I wouldn't stay in thet house fur a forchin ! ' Well, I
jollied the Rubenstein up a while and then came on home."
" But somehow I couldn't get the absurd notion out of my
head. I never did believe in ghosts, and this seemed particularly
ludicrous. But, you see, I didn't known then what Ido now."
" Well, .I kept thinking it over, and asked a few other farmers
about it a day or two later, and they told me the same thing.
Ghosts ! Why there never was such a thing. Halloween ! Why
It's a ghost story, "