The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1878-03-14

foiuss lb CdlHe nearer and nearer; and,
1 at last, L saw a curious, old. fashioned
vehicle coming toward me at a furious
| pace.
| /" For a ,s,omeht 1 Vas speechiess, but,
mastering all my courage, cried out to
the coachman to stop. He did SO, and
then, to my intense surprise, I saw that
trunk. The ghhstly head lay by his side
on the coach-box, which perhaps ac-
counted for his being able to hear my
cries.
AS the carriage stopped he sprang
to the ground, flung open the door. let
down tho steps and signed for me to
enter. By this time my nerves were
well braced up, and jumped in without
any fear
"Upon entering the coach and taking
my seat found myself opposite an old
gentleman who was dressed in the cos
tune of the commencement of the reign
OF George III. Upon his head was an
oId-fash1oned tle-wig, and in his hand
was naked sword which was still COW
cred with blood. His face was of an
unearthly pallor, and had upon It a
soured, scared look, which did not make
him very pleasant-lookihg travelling
Companion.
For some time we sat face to face,
and when I found that he did not ap-
pear to take the slightest notice Of me.
| began to be tnore at my ease. At last
L thought it would be very uncivil to
ride IN the old gentleman's coach with
out speaking to him, and I also felt in
cllned, as L had never before met with
real ghost, to make his acquaintance.
80 |, by way Of opening the conversation,
said:
CA splendid night, sir.
"The elderly party III the tie-wig made
no reply.
"' In hurry to get to town, t pre-
hiine? | am very t1iuch obliged to you
for the lift
''Still no answer. After this we both
sat for some time in silence; the ghost
seemed buried in thought, and I re-
mained watching him with great interest.
At last, the night being chilly for the
time of year, and the coach having about
it peculiar atmosphere like that of a
vault, began to feel extremely cold,
and drew out once more my flask of
brandy.
"The eyes of the old fellow lit up an
twlnkled with excitement, as he saw me
drink. I offered him the bottle: he &C.
cepted it with a low bow, and followed
my example.
"'Thank you,' said he; Z have not
tasted such good family brandy for many
day He then drew out his snuff box
and offered me pinch. Not daring to
offend him, I took one, but I carefully
let 1t drop Oh the floor Of The carriage
when his eyes we've turned away.
"After a second nip the old gentle |
talk; he complimented me upon my
brayery. in daring to stop his carriage.
year, driven along this road wltnou5
ride with him; and, through me, he |
would be released from all further pun
ishment, which was to last until some
brave fellow accompanied him IN his
drive and conversed with him.
"For this release he heartily thanked |
me, and said that, for my courage, I
should be lucky to my business specula- |
tions; and, as you are aware, he turned
out true prophet"
"Did you talk about anything else ?"
asked Joe.
"Oh, yes. My old friend had as
much curiosity as woman" said Uncle !
Ben, who, [ need not say, was an invet-
crate bachelor. eve had conversa-
ton about London. It appears that he
had been great beau in his time, and
he considered himself an enormous IA
vorite with the ladies. He wished to !
know who was the reigning toast, and
was much disgusted when I told him
that toasts had gone out of fashion,
" Was that all ?"
ooh, no. He told me where the best
civet and pomatum was to be bought,
and who was the best peruke- maker;
and was still more surprised when [ said
that no one wore wigs now, except law
yers and coachmen. He asked if travel
ing was as dangerous as ever; though he
confessed that he had not been much
troubled lately by the knights of the
road. He said that one rode up to stop
him twenty-five years before, but the
sight of his headless driver had SO
horse and disappeared as if he had had
twenty Bow-street runners at his heels.
"Did you not ask what became of
him on the other nights of the year,
when he was not out for his drive.
Z" He said that, in company with the
innumerable shades who were condemned
to occasionally visit the earth for crimes
committed during their past lives, he
passed his time lowering round his old
haunts, longing to become visible to his
descendants, and to assist them in times
of trouble, but unable to do SO. AS we
conversed, the time rapidly slipped
away; and at length the lamps of Lon
don became visible in the distance. Af-
| ter thanking the old man for his cour-
| tesy, I suggested that I might now
| alight, as [ had great many friends in
town that should like to visit; but he
shook his head.
"No, no, said he; Eve are at the
mercy of my coachman; he has the en-
tire command during our drive, and he
will only stop at the place we picked you
up. See, he is turning the horses round;
we are about to return.
eff the journey to town seemed short,
tine journey back was still shorter The
old man told me hundred anecdotes Of
the people of his time. He had been
staunch Jacobite, and he told me all
about the young Cavalier, and painted
the March to Finchley" in words that
did full justice to Hogarths picture.
The statesmen, wits, and soldiers of the
last century appeared to stand before me
in the flesh, and never enjoyed a drive
better than the one had with my ghost
ly ancestor.
sAs the clock struck one, we pulled
up at the old moss covered milestone
where 1 first stopped the coach. Once
more thanking me for the inestimable
favor had done him, the old gentleman
signed to the driver to open the carriage
door. got out, and, as I turned round
to bid him good-by, [ found that tie
whole cavalcade-coach, horses, driver,
and Id gentleman-had vanished into
thin a.r, and was alone"