348 



RECREA TION. 



thin' white walkin' toward the North end 

 about 40 or 50 yards from where it crosses 

 the channel of the river. I supposed my 

 eyes had fooled me, but when we went un- 

 der the bridge and out on the other side, I 

 looked back and saw it again, kind o' dim 

 and uncertain, but a somethin' just the 

 same. The more I thought about it the 

 more it bothered me, and by the time we 

 had landed at the hotel I'd made up my 

 mind I was goin' to find out what it was. I 

 did. If I hadn't I wouldn't know so much 

 to-day, but I'd be a better lookin' man." 



" Remarkably unlucky, you were," broke 

 in the Doctor. " You had no beauty to 

 spare, but from him that hath not shall be 

 taken even that which he hath. What was 

 the sex of this spectre? Was it adult and in 

 its right mind? Make your tale as realistic 

 as possible and don't cause yourself to ap- 

 pear any more foolish than the facts war- 

 rant." 



" It didn't show its age, sex, or state of 

 mind, meetin' it for the first time. Would 

 you expect to get chummy with a ghost 

 right at the start? Far as I know it was of 

 age and its mind was all right; the sex 

 doesn't make any difference. You let me 

 tell my story and then you can whet your 

 wit while I go to sleep. I went up to the 

 house for a shot gun and some BB shells, 

 got a boat out, and rowed back to the mouth 

 of the river. When I was about 200 yards 

 from the bridge I pulled in my oars, took out 

 a paddle, and paddled up toward the mid- 

 dle of the bridge. The moon was shinin', 

 but some clouds nearly hid it and for a time. 

 I thought I shouldn't be able to find the 

 ghost; but after a while I saw it standin' 

 about 20 yards from the North shore. I 

 paddled up to within 40 yards of it and then 

 it showed signs of life. It made me feel 

 mighty queer. I didn't know what to do, 

 but while I was thinkin' and watchin' it, it 

 began to walk slowly away. I thought may- 

 be the thing was tryin' to lead me off into 

 the swamp, and that made me mad. I 

 picked up my gun and shot it and it dropped 

 down out of sight." 



"What! You shot it, you blood-thirsty 

 reprobate!" exclaimed the Doctor. 

 " Griggs, the man who would shoot a ghost 

 would slander his father. Why didn't you 

 mesmerize it, or put salt on its tail? If you 

 killed it the Society for Psychical Research 



should have you indicted for murder. I 

 think the moon had touched your head. 

 Ghosts don't drop when they are hit; they 

 fade away." 



" Mine didn't fade away. It dropped 

 down behind the close board railin' of the 

 bridge, and everything was quiet. Then I 

 got scared. Suppose I had killed someone? 

 Suppose one of Billy Langsdale's children 

 was lyin' there, peppered with my goose 

 shot? The longer I waited the worse fright- 

 ened I got. After a while I paddled up to 

 the bridge. Its floor at that place was only 

 about .6 feet above the water, so I tried to 

 climb up. I had an arm over the rail Of the 

 bridge and was pullin' my body up, when 

 somethin' white jumped up like a jack-in- 

 the-box and struck me a blow on the cheek. 

 The force and suddenness of it knocked me 

 clear back into the water. When I got to 

 the surface I struck out for the boat, climbed 

 in, and put some hundred yards between me 

 and the bridge. Then I stopped to think. I 

 was afraid to go back to the bridge and 

 couldn't stay where I was all night, so I 

 rowed down to the hotel, wiped the blood 

 off my face and neck, tied up the cut, and 

 went to bed. But I couldn't sleep. Every 

 time I dozed somethin' white seemed to 

 jump up by my bed, and I'd grab the blank- 

 ets to keep from bein' knocked on to the 

 floor. Finally I gave up tryin' to sleep and 

 just waited for daylight. 



" The sun wasn't up high as I pushed off 

 from the landin' and headed my boat for 

 the river. When I got to the bridge there 

 was nothin' unusual to be seen; everythin' 

 was as quiet and still as usual. Even with 

 the daylight to show the thing up I was 

 afraid to climb over the rail of the bridge, 

 so I landed at the North end and walked 

 across. About 50 feet from the shore I 

 found the ghost. What do you think it 

 was?" 



" Probably the spectre of one of your big- 

 gest fish stories," suggested the Doctor. 

 ' They are stronger than anything else in 

 this region." 



" No, sir, that ghost was still alive. It lay 

 there with one wing broken and its long 

 beak and white feathers smeared with blood 

 — an immense white heron. Then I shot 

 and killed the only ghost I ever saw, and 

 maybe it was just as much of a ghost as 

 anything ever is." 



