Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1878-01-09
TUMWA, WAPELLO COUNTY. IOWA, JANUARY 9
the click of the strangers pistol and
saw his uplifted arm.
"Have mercy, meinheer," he groan-

saw his uplifted arm.
"Have mercy, meinheer," he groan
ed, "I dare not 60 on"
~ give you three seconds to 60 on,
replied the stranger, sternly. zone !
'In Heavens name, spare" implor
ed the guide, almost overpoweret
with fear, "look before me in tn
road and you will not blame me-"
The stranger looked. At first b,
saw something white standing mo
tionless in the center of the road, bu
presently q fash of lightning lit vi
the scene, and he saw that the white
figure was indeed CHASTITY and fright
full enough looking to chill the blood
in the veins of even the bravest man
If his blood chilled for q moment
therefore, 1t was not through any feal
that he felt for his ghostly interpreter
for the next instant he set his teeth
hard, while he whispered between
them just loud enough to be heard by
his terror-stricken guide:
"Be it man or devil ride it down
I'll follow. Twow
With cry of despair upon his lipi
the guide urged his horse forward at
the top of his speed, quickly followed
by the stranger, who held his pistol
ready in his hand.
In another instant the guide would
nave swept past the dreadful spot,
but at that instant the report ofa pis-
tol rang through the dark forest, and
the stranger heard q horse gallop of
through the woods riderless.
Finding himself alone, the stranger
raised his pistol, took deliberate aim
at the ghostly murderer, and pressed
his finger upon the trigger. shsi
The apparition approached quickly,
but in no hostile attitude. The
stranger stayed his hand. At length
the ghost addressed him in voice
that was anything but sepulchral:
"Here, Wilhelm, ye move out of
your perch this minute and give me
a helping hand. I've hit the game
while on the wing, havn'tI?,
The stranger was nonplussed for .
moment, but recovering himself, he
grumbled something unintelligible
and leaped to the ground. One word
to his horse and the brave animal
stood perfectly still. By the snow
white trappings Of the would-be-
ghost he was next enabled to grope
his way in the dark toward that indi-
vidual, whom he found bending over
black mass, about the size of man,
on the road.
As the tiger pOunces upon his prey,
the stranger leaped upon the stoop-
ing figure before him, and bore it to
the ground.
81 arrest you in the Kings name,"
cried the stranger, grasping his pris-
oner by the throat and holding him
tight. "Stir hand or foot until l have
you properly secured, and I'll send
your soul to eternity"
This was such an unexpected turn
of affairs that the would-be ghost
could hardly believe his own senses,
and was handcuffed and stripped of
his dagger and pistol before he found
time to speak.
care you not my Wilhelm?" he
gasped
"No, landlord" replied the indi-
vidual addressed, "I am not. But l
am an officer of the King, at your
service, on special duty, to do what
have tonight accomplished. Your
precious son, Wilhelm, whom you
thought was leading an innocent
sheep to the slaughter, lies in the
road, killed by his fathers hand"
Two weeks later at Bruchsale Pris-
on, in Baden, the landlord of the sign
of the Deer and the Ghost of the Rob-
Der of the Black Forest, who was the
same identical person, having been
proven guilty of numerous fiendish
murders and artfully contrived rob-
berries, committed at different times
in the Black Forest, paid the penalty
of his crimes by letting fall his head
from the executioner's ak, since when
travelling through Schwartzwald has
not been so perilous to life and purse,
nor has there been seen any Ghostly
knight of the Road in that section of
the world.