St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1878-05-04

Of the supernatural in it. It is quite
possible that an angry old man may COM
NIT a murder and die Of fright"
eyes, you are right; if the tale ended
there, there would be nothing to doubt;
but what am going to tell you, l am
afraid, will be scofed at by my skeptical
young friends, who disbelieve every
thing they do not see or hear"
"That's meant for me" said Joe, with
a laugh. "Never mind, uncle; 60 on
with your story"
eyes, my boy, now I come to the
marvellous part. Every year, as the
hands of the clock point to the hour of
midnight, travelling carriage, with four
horses, driven by headless coachman,
leaves that village, and passes down the
London road"
"He must be clever if he can see to
drive without his head" interrupted
the still skeptical Joe.
"That cannot explain; some ghost
seers say that it is possible for people in
clairvoyant state to read from the pit OF
the stomach at all events, a dead man
NAV be possessed of faculties that we do
not understand for man becomes con-
siderably altered when he is dead"
"He does, admit"
"And if you allow that dead man
can drive at all, the small matter of a
head more or less is of very little i'm
portance."
"Just go.
"You know that when man dies he
becomes spirit.
"That's rum" said Joe.
"No, sir, it's not rum, nor whisky
either and, if you cannot listen to my
story without endeavoring to turn it
into ridicule, I had better leave of" re-
piled Uncle Ben, who was as peppery
as his ancestor.
ooh pray go on, uncle" exclaimed
all the listeners. "We'll try to keep
Joe in order.'
Well, as was saying, this apparition
made its appearance once year, as the
clock was striking twelve. Many OF the
villagers had heard the tramp of horses
and the rattling OF wheels as the ghostly
cortege went by. Now and then some
favored individual witnessed the head
less driver, as he whipped lis horses or
toward London. But, in all cases, The
coach passed too quickly for any one t
see whether the old gentleman wa:
really inside or not"
"And did no one ever see him ~ ask.
ed one of The party.
"You shall hear. I will confess tina
until the night when the incident which
) am about to relate took place, | was a
great an unbeliever as any of you, and al
| ways treated the whole account as al
old weman's tale, only fit to frighte1
children. But, one evening, as sa
s saoking with some old friends, one 0
them, devout believer in everythin!
supernatural, began to talk about tn
f family legend. I, as usual threw ridicul
: upon the affair. I Mortified some Of tn
company by stating my intention G
| venturing out to wander down the road
l and see if [ could meet the phantom
"A cavalcade. I swore that if I did L woul
ask the old gentleman to give me a lift
J and offered to bet a e100 that the Who'll
7 legend was a pack of lies"
"And did you go?"
: "Yes; although some of the NOR
e superstitious of the party tried to pre-
. vent me, persevered, and wandered on
g into the night ready to meet with ghos
or goblin"
s "And did you meet them ?'
"Just as 7 emerged from the lane tn
village clock chimed the three quarter
" and | sat down upon a moss-covere
l milestone to wait and watch for tn
phantoms that come like shadows-.-s
depart The mig int was chilly, and, a
I wrapped my cloak around me, bega
to shudder, as I wondered if, by an
possibility, there could have been an
truth in the strange story that I ha
T heard. I gradually felt, like the man i
the play, that all my courage was oozin
out at my fingers ends"
"Oh, uncle, afraid !' cried one of tn
boys. 800.
eyes, my boy, I must confess it, 70
the moment I began to wish I was BAG
in the comfortable dining>room.
Suddenly the clock struck the hou
of midnight. 49,.
GAS the last echoes died away, I hear
in the distance sound like the noise @
, carriage and horses rapidly approach
ing. My blood began to curdle in m
veins; it came nearer and nearer; and
at last, ] saw curious, old-fashione'
vehicle coming toward me at a furiou
, pace.
"For a moment / was speechless, but
mastering all my courage, cried out t.
the coachman to stop. He did SO, ant
then, to my intense surprise, I saw tina
his head had been severed from tn
trunk. The CHASTITY head lay by his sid
ON s. tho noach-hax which narhan