The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1881-09-28

BY this time the coach was abreast
of me. l walked along, keeping pace
with it, and repeated my inquiry to
the guard upon the box. To my rage
and amaze, he too neither made re.
ply nor looked at me. / wondered il
| had come by chance upon all the
deaf mutes in the country out for an
airing.
Il turned my attention tothe coach,
and perceiving dimly that it was oc-
cupied by a number of people, l
shouted into the window, which,
strangely enough, / found to be with
out glazing, and reiterated my ques-
tion, There was no reply, and ap.
parently no notice taken of me'what-
ever. 81 s
/ now beganto perceiyesomething
very extraordinary about the whole
equipage. By The strong light from
dtheslamps fsaw thaf the housings of
the horses Nsfe iotteh and. nearly
falling apart. The dresses of the
postillions were. of the fashion ofhalf
a century before. The velvets,
trimmed with gold and lace, seemed
dropping from their limbs with age
and decay. The coach itself was of
an antiquated pattern and very ruin
Gus. The iron work was rnsted in
holes, and the leather covering had
peeled into tatters which tapped in
the wind. All this was the more as
tonishing since the crest Of noble
family was visible upon the panels.
My amazement was augmented as
my sight became better accustomed
to the obscurity. The mute postil-
lions had the same terribly white
faces, the same corpse.like express.
ion which | had seen before in the
six men who had passed me. Once
when the light fell strongly upon the
features Of the one upon the rear
horse, l was Mortified TO see that it
was absolutely and undeniably the
face Of a man long dead
AS l reeled back from the intoler-
able shock of this discovery, my gaze
rested upon the occupants of the in.
terror Of the coach. These consisted
Of an old man in an. ancient court
dress, wig and ruffles, young girl of
twelve or fourteen, and lady, some
years her senior, attired in white
silk, a long lace veil, and profusion
Of jewels. All three sat in opposite
corners Of the spacious seats, bolt up
right, and staring blankly into each
others eyes, with expressionless,
dead-white faces. I-recognized, by
some inner sense rather than by
sight, that these three shapes, like
those Of the postillions, were those of
beings long dead.
Never shall ! forget the horror Of
that moment, brief as it was, during
which that grotesque and ghastly as
sembly remained before my fascinat-
ed gaze. The next instant the equip.
age passed by, leaving me reeling
and tottering in the road.
But this was not the finale of the
dreary drama Of that night. The ve-
hicle had gone beyond me hardly its
own length when there was a terrific
confusion Of sounds, cries, curses and
groans intermingled, and the coach
was overturned into the road with a
tremendous crash.
The lights still continued to burn,
and in the glare l saw number of
dark figures, which l recognized as
the men in forester's dress who had
passed me few moments before, en-
gagged in a desperate struggle with
the 7postillions. Heavy, sickening
blows were dealt, followed by awful
cries of agony, and presently | saw
the three servants, outstretched and
bleeding, in the road.
In a moment more the coach door
was thrown open and l saw its occu.
pants dragged out. Then began an
other horrible struggle. The old
man was struck down and the young
er of the two girls quickly suffered
the same fate. The elder of the two
seemed to make a more desperate re.
sistance. could see her flying
hither and thither among the men,
her white dress and white face gleam-
ing phosphorescently in the semi
darkness. l could hear her awful