The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1881-10-01
their bodies rising like cloud into tn
damn air.

seemed to be acquainted with 1t, for they
presently pulled in their horses to eau
tious walk. As soon as the equipage drew
near enough | hailed the postillion upon
the foremost horse and inquired the way
to Erlachen. | was sure this man must
have heard me, but he made no reply,
neither did he turn his head in my direc-
ton.
By this time the coach was abreast of
me. | walked along, keeping pace with
it, and repeated my inquiry to the guard
upon the box. To my rage and amaze
ment, he too neither made reply nor look
ed at me. | wondered if had come by
chance upon all the deaf mutes in the
country out for an airing.
turned my attention to the coach, and
perceiving dimly that it was occupied by
a number of people, shouted into the
window, which, strangely enough, | found
to be without glazing, and reiterated my
question There was no reply, and appar-
emily no notice taken of nae whatever,
l now began to perceive something very
extraordinary about the whole equiPage.
By the strong light from the lamps | saw
that the housings Of the horses were rot
ten, aud nearly filling apart. The dresses
Of the postiIlions were of the fashion OF
half century before The yelyets, trim
med with gold and lace, seemed dropping
from their limbs with age and decay. The
coach itself was Of an aEtiquated pattern
and very ruinous. The iron work was
rusted in holes, and the leather covering
had peeled into tatters which tapped in
the wind. All this was more astonishing
since the crest Of noble family was yisi-
bic upon the panels.
My amaEement was augmented a. my
sight became better accustomed to the OBJ
security. The mute poslillions had the
same terribly white faces, the sane corpse
Ike expression which | had seen before in
the SIX men who had passed me. Oace
when the light fell strongly upon the
features Of the one upon the rear horse, |
was horriied to see that il was absolutely
aud Gndeniably the face Of a man long
dead.
Is reeled tack from the intoicrable
shock Of this discovery, my gaze rested
apon the occupants Of Ehe interior Of the
coach. These consisted Of au old mau in
an ancient court dress, wig aud ruffies, a
young girl Of twelve or fourteen, and
lady, some years her senior, atiircd in white
silk, long lace veil, aud q profasioa Of
jewels All three sat 10 opposite corners
Of the spacious seats, bols upright, and
staring blaakly iH,o each other eyes, With
exprcssionless, dezd.whiIs faces. reeog
niEed, By some inner sense rather than by
sight, that these thrse shapes, ike those
Of the Postillions, we're those oF beings long
dead
Never shall | forget the horror Of that
momeat, brief as it was, during which that
grotssque sad ghassly assembly remained
before ny fascinated gaEe Tue next in
staaI the equipage passed BY, leaving me
Feeling aud tosscTiag in the rad.
Bot this vas Dot The 6Hsle Of the dreary
drama Of that night. The vehicle had
gone bsyood ms hardly its own length
when there was terrific confusion Of
sounds, cries, earses aud groaus iniernin-
glsd, aad The coach vas overturned into
the road with tremendous crash.
The lights siiA continued to burn, and
IN the glare | saw = number Of dark hg
urcs, which ] recognized as the mea 10
ioTros,eEs dress who had passed me few
momeuts before, engaged 10 desperate
struggle with the p0s;illions. Heavy. sick.
ening blows we're dealt. followed by awful
cries Of agony, aud presently | saw the
three servants, outssFesched aud bleeding,
in the road
Ia moment more the coach door vas
tora open and 1 saB its occupants dragged
cut Thee began another horrible sIrug-
gle. The old man was struck down and
she youngcr Of the two girls quickly suf
fered the same fate. The elder Of ;he two
seemed TO make more desperate resist
anee. could see her flying hishsr aud
thiEher amoug the men, her white face aud
white dress cleaning phosphoresecnily 10
the semidarkncss. | could hear her aw-
ful cries add see the downward blows Of
the glittering knives. A, last she was
seiIed there was a renewed struggling
among the dark figures, long, shrill
scream that seemed 10 SAID away in mourn
ful echoes over the barren tree tops, aud
when | saw her again she was lying upon
the ground with a red cash in her breast
WIN any enc ask me why did not in-
terpOse or make some effort toward reseu-
ing the girll The very sight Of those
ghostly figures with their white faces
writhing in aud out Of the darkness, would
have paralyzed bravcr man than |.
was spell-bouRd aud frozen; could neither
move hand nor foot, nor utter a syllable.
| could only stare with fascinated gaze at
the wieTd and dreadful scene, quivering as
if with an ague, knew then as know
now, that | was witnessing no mortal com
bat in which human beings were engaged
aud human creatures were SHINING and
suffering. 1t was an unreal struggle
among the dead, aud | had no power either
to interfere or to fy.
The whole scene occupied but few
seconds. While / stood petri6ed the
sounds suddenly ceased, the lights went
out aud the dim figures of the men aud
the two girls vanished in the winking OF
an eye. Where they had been, nothing
was now visible but the wet and shining
road aud the black background of the
forest.
Then the spell seemed to leave my mus.
eles spring forward toward the spot
only TO be stricken by heavy blow full il
/ the temple aud to fall insensible in the
road.
When | again became conscious it was
broad daylight and the sun was shining il
my face arose, stiff and sore, and look
ed around me bewilderedly The event.
of the previous night were still fresh in my
memory aud inyoluntarily looked fol
traces Of the terrible scene | had witnes'
sed. But none were visible no wrecked
coach, no blood stains, no tattered gar
ments, nothing but the rain-smootheC
earth, marked only by my own footsteps
My head felt very painful, and putting
my hand to it found that had received
bad cut on the temple. On searching
for the cause, | discovered a number o
rusty chains depending from the tree owe
my head One, with heavy links, httl
lower than the others, in line with m,
forehead 1t was this which had given M
my wound. | had fallen directly beneatl
the tree where the robbers had been hang
lzl L.