, 1889-03-10
A PHANTOM OWN
Terrified Farmer Watched Him As He
Turned Up the Soil Perfectly

Terrified Farmers Watched Him IS He
Turned Up tho Soil Perfectly
In the northwestern corner of Lower
Merton township, Montgomery coun-
ty, Pa, a terrible hubbub has been
raised by a phantom farmer, who is
nightly seen blowing in a field The
apparition was first discovered about
three weeks ago by a farm
hand who was returning late
from counting a pretty maid
Emerging from a wooded path
way that skirted an old forest for
miles, this rustic was startled to hear
a sepulchral voice commanding a
team to halt He looked in vain about
the place for a moment or two, and
was about moving or again when the
same sound fell on his ear. A shiver
crept down his spinal column as he
heard the creaking Of an unseen har-
ness, and this terror was far from
being allayed by the whinny of a
horse almost directly before him. AT
that moment the new o stole over
the neighboring tree tops, and in its
misty light the rural swain plainly
saw the phantom farmer. II was
clearly outlined against the dark back
ground, and its two hands held in
steady grasp the projecting handles of
n pillow. Before II marched n pair of
spirited horses, dimly outlined in the
misty light, their heads erect and
their eyes flashing fire rs they moved
hastily along. Tho young man waited
another moment to reassure himself,
and was about to take TO his heels
when plowman, horses and pillow sud
denly vanished Then he, too, fed in
wild alarm.
At Silas Browns corner grocery on
the night succeeding this the young
man, Albert Cooper by name, told
this startling story. Brown, like
many of the loungers in the store,
smiled incredulously, and advised
Cooper to reform" A discussion
arose, in which hot words were ex-
changed, and several bets were made
that Cooper was drawingthe long bow.
The upshot of the matter was that the
crowd adjourned TO the alleged scene
Of the ghosts operations TO verify or
disprove Cooper's tale.
They had not long to wait. With
out the noises that had warned Cooper
the night before, the phantom farmer
appeared before the eyes Of the sever
men who sat upon the fence, or, to be
more accurate, who almost fell from
it in terror. His long white hair and
beard streamed in the passing wind.
No hat was on his head nor could any
portion of his face be seen except the
glistening eyes. These shot out from
a height Of more than seven feet from
the ground, indicating that the spec
trail granger was taller than the aver
age Of human kind. About his body,
which could not well be traced, there
was a phosphorescent glow which
dazzled the eyes of the terrified spec
tators and shown far ahead of the
steadily moving horses. The pillow he
leaned o n seemed Of skeleton frame,
but ii tossed off the soft, moist earth
as easily ms n steamer turns the river
waves. On he came, the horses seem
ing TO exhale fire, their heads erect
and arching, and footballs as firm and
clear rs any the watchers ever heard.
AT tho corner of the field they turned
obediently at a word from their spec
trail driver, and again passed before
the aifrighted spectators, who there
upon fled In haste.
On the following morning n crowd
OF rustics determined to go to the field
and sec whether any trace of the far
mer could DO found. AS they came
In sight Of the inclosure ono OF the
number exclaimed in astonishment:
'Tn be burned if the thing doesn't
pillow, u enough" He was right.
One-half Of tho field had been gone
over, evidently by no novice The
burrows were not quito so broad as
those made by an ordinary plowman,
but they were less ragged and more
deep, and were as straight Us the most
experienced eye could make them. A
day or two after tho same group went
out to view the fields again, and this
time they found that the phantom had
finished his work. The owner of the
field was one of the number, and he
took a solemn oath hat he had not
turned a sod in the inclosure.-St.
Louis Globe-D Democrat.