San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-01-12
'ghe Daily gi9ht.
SATURDAY. JANUARY. II. 1889.

passed in great haste, apparently at the rate
of twelve miles an hour. Heseemed to grasp
the reins of his horse with firmness, and APP
peared to anticipate his speed. He seemed
detected, and looked anxiously at the pas
sengers, particularly at the stage driver and
myself In a moment after he passed us the
horses ears were up, and bent themselves for
ward so that they nearly met.
'Who is that manp said 1; che seems in
trouble"
"Nobody knows who he is, but his person
and the child are familiar to me. | have met
him more than a hundred times, and have
been so often asked the way TO Boston by
that man, even when he was travelling di-
rectly from that town, that of late have re-
fused any communication with him; and
that is the reason he gave me such look"
'But does he never stop anywhere?"
81 have never known him to stop any
where, longer than to inquire the way to
Boston, and let him be where he may, he will
tell you he cannot stay a moment, for he
must reach Boston that night"
We were now ascending q high hill in
Walpole; and as we had fair view of the
heavens, was rather disposed to jeer the
driver for thinking of his surtout, as not a
cloud as big as marble could be discerned.
"Do you look" said he, Sin the direction
whence the man came; that is the place to
look. The storm never meets him, it follows
him" ,..I "rt-
We presently approached another hill and
when at the height, the driver pointed out in
an eastern direction little black speck about
as big as hat
'There," said he, sis the seed storm; we
4, &. ,l,or
us, but the wanderer and his child will go to
Providence through rain and thunder"
And now the horses, as though taught by
instinct, fastened with increased speed. The
little black cloud came on rolling over the
turnpike, and doubled and trebled itself in
all directions. The appearance of this cloud
attracted the notice of all the passengers; for
after it had spread itself to great bulk, it
suddenly became more limited in circumfer-
ence, grew more compact, dark and consoli-
dated. And now the successive flashes of
chain lightning caused the whole cloud to
appear like a sort of irregular network, and
displayed thousand fantastic images. The
driver bespoke my attention to remarkable
configuration in the cloud; he said every
fash of lightning near its center discovered
to him distinctly the form of a man sitting
in an open carriage drawn by black horse
In the meantime the distant thunder gave
notice of shower at hand, and just as we
reached Polleys tavern, the rain poured down
in torrents 1t was soon over, the cloud
passing in the direction of the turnpike to-
wards Providence. In a few moments after,
a respectable looking man, in a chaiSe
stopped at the door. The man and
child in the chair having excited some little
sympathy among the passengers, the gentle
man was asked if he had observed them. he
said he had met them; that the man seemed
bowildored, and inquired the way to Boston;
that he was driving at great speed, asthOugh
he expected to Outstrip the tempest; that the
moment he had passed him a thunder Clap
broke directly over the mans head and
seemed to euvelop both man and child, horse
and carriage 81 stopped" said the gentle
man, "supposing the lightning had struck
him, but the horse only seemed to loom up
and increase his speed; and, as well as could
Judge, he Travelled just as fast as the thunder
cloud"
This was all could learn at that time, and
the occurrence soon after would have be-
come with me like one of those things
which had never happened" had | not, as
stood recently on the door step of Benefits
hotel in Hartford, heard a man say, There
goes Peter Rugg and his child he looks wet
and weary, and farther from Boston than
ever" | was satisfied it was the same man |
had seen more than three years before; for
whoever has once seen Peter Rugg can never
be deceived as to his identity.
peter Rugg" said l, land who is Peter
Ruggp
s'That," said the stranger, sis more than
any one can tell exactly. He is a famous
traveller, held in light esteem by all inn hold
ers, for he never stops to eat, drink or sleep.
wonder why the government does not EN-,
ploy him to carry the mail"
'Ay," said bystander, "that is thought
bright only on one side; how long would il
take in that case to send letter to Boston
for Peter has already, to my knowledge, beer
more than twenty years travelling to that
place"
But" said I, "doeS the man never stoE
anywhere; does he never converse with any
onel | saw the same man more than three
years since, near Providence, and heard 6
strange story about him. Pray, sir, give me-
some account Of this manp
Sir" said the stranger, ''those who know
the most resi- ect,ng that man say the least
| have heard it asserted that heaven some
times sets mark on man, either for judg
ment or a trial. Under which Peter Rugs
now labors cannot say"
''You speak like a humane man." said
''and if you have known him so long, pray
you give me account Of him. Has his ap
pearance much altered in that timer
"Why, yes. He looks as though he neve
ate, drank or slept; and his child looks olde
than himself, and he looks like time broke
off from eternity"
"And how does hor.e lookP said l.
LAS for his horse, he looks fatter an
gayer and shows more animation and coul
age than he did twenty years ago. The las