Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1891-02-13
PLOTTED BY A GHOST.
A LOST MAN AND A STARVING BABY
SAVED BY A SPIRIT.


A LOST MAN AND A STARVING BABY
SAVED BY A SPIRIT.
The Shadow of Dead Father Leads a
Wandering Horseman to the Deso1ate
Home Where Little Girl Was Slowly
| Famishing-A True Story.
| checked my horse, and after one long,
/! streaming look around owned to myself
that was lost. I had suspected the fact
/ some time since, but had stubbornly fought
I down the suspicion, though my horse evil
/ IDENTIFY realized. With patient endurance
ne plodded along, resignation plainly ex-
pressed in the droop of his tail and ears.
In place of the ranch, the hearty welcome,
pleasant words bed, supper and fire had
expected to reach by sunset, there was
nothing to be seen before, behind on either
hand, but the dead level of the plain.
There were paths in plenty; in fact, the
trouble was there were too many-all mar
| .ow and winding, for whose meandering
r,gsere seemed not the slightest excuse, ex-
cept the general tendency to cTooaetness
most things, animate and inanimate. alike
possess. But it would have taken the in
stinct of a bloodhound or trailing Indian
to have said which paths had heen made
| by horses feet or those of cattle.
| Now that the sun was gone, found my
| knowledge of the point of the compass
| gone with it. AS I sat perplexed and wor-
ried the gloom of twilight gathered fast,
and the chill of coming rain smote me
through and through, while in the distance
there was the roll of thunder.
SPIRIT APPEARS.
| 1t was now quite dark, and very dark at
that, though at short intervals close to the
horizon a faint CLEAN of lightning showed,
| too distant to cast brightness on my path
and only sufficient to intensity the black
ness about me.
| All at once saw man walking about
| fifteen feet in front of me. Yes, know
said it was intensely dark, but all the same
repeat it. l saw a man walking in front
| of me, and, furthermore, | could see that
he was large man, dressed in rough but
well fitting clothes; that he wore a heavy
red beard, and that he looked back at me
| from time to time with an expression of
keen anxiety on his otherwise relaxed feat
| ures.
'Hallop' cried, but as he did not halt
| concluded he did not hear me. AS second
hail produced no result Ispurred my weary
horse up to overtake the stranger. But,
| though the gray responded with an alac-
rity most commendable under the circum-
stances, soon found that this strange pc
destrian did not intend to let me catch up
with him. Not that he hurried himself
He seemed without any exertion to keep
good fifteen feet between us.
Then began to wonder how, with the
intense darkness shutting me in as four
black walls, was yet able to see my
strange companion so clearly, to take in
the details of his dress, and even the ex-
preston of his face, and that alta distance
more than twice my horses length, when
could hardly see his head before me. l
am not given to superstitious fancies, and
my only feeling was of curiosity.
FOLLOWING A GHOST.
We went on in silence for nearly half an
hour, when, as suddenly as he had appear
ed, he was gone. looked around for him,
half afraid, from his instant and complete
disappearance that had been dreaming,
when l perceived that I was close to
small, low building of some sort. 1 refined
in. and shouted several times, but not the
slightest response could 1 hear, and at last
I rode boldly up and tapped on the wall
with the butt of my riding whip. Then,
as this elected no sign of life, concluded
that T had stumbled on some deserted
house or that it was the abode of my &C.
centric FRIEND SO, dismounting and tying
the gray, resolved to spend the rest of
the night under roof or to find some good
reason for continuing my journey.
| felt my way along the wall till I
reached door, and trying this and finding
that it yielded to me- I stepped inside,
striking match as did So Fortunately,
/ carried my matches in an air tight case,
and as it was dry the one struck gave me
a light at once. I found myself in large
room close to fireplace over which rude
shelf was placed, and on this mantel saw
an oil lamp to which I applied my match
On the hearth was heaped a quantity of
ashes, and over these crouched child,
little girl of or 6. At the end of the
room, which was plainly and scantily fur
pished, lay a man across bed, and as I
raised the lamp saw that he was the same
had been following; but there was some
thing in his attitude and face that struck
me as peculiar, and | was about to go for
ward and look at him when the child, who
had at first seemed dazed at the light, fair
ly threw herself upon me-
"Have You anything for Nelly to eat?"
she said, and then, sob, Nelly so hungry!'
THE DEAD MAN.
l ran my hand into my pocket and drew
forth what had been a paper bag of choco-
late candy, but was now a pulpy, unap-
petizing mass. must confess to child
ish fondness for sweets, which I usually
carry in some form about me. I handed
the remains of my days supply to the
child, and then walked over to the bed.
Yes, it was the same man, red beard,
rough clothes, but setting off the magnifi-
cent frame to perfection; the same man,
but dead, long dead.
took his hand only to find it stiff and |
cold, while his face had the dull gray as
pect never seen in the newly dead. AS I |
stood gazing down on him little hand |
touched mine.
"Nelly so hungry!" said the child.
"Have you eaten all the candy?" asked |
her.
eyes, yesl But me hungry, for me had
no dinner, no breRlzus, no supper, and |
papa won't get up"
The house, which consisted of the large |
room smaller kitchen and a shed, where |
found a quantity of hay and fodder, |
seemed quite bare of food, but by dint of |
which Nelly informed me was there, and
in it. two fresh eggs. These I boiled for
her. When she had finished I soothed her
to sleep on bed l made for her before the
fire. Then after had put my horse in the
shed room and fed him I performed as
we'll as | could a service for the dead.
When day dawned was able to discern
at some distance from the house a line of
telegraph poles, and taking the child with
me followed these to the nearest town.
where notified the authorities Of the death.
The dead mans name was Frederick
Barnstaple. He was an Englishman, so
found, a recent arrival in those parts. His
daughter was restored to her family across
the water, and is now pretty girl of II.
! have never told this story before, but l
am ready to take an affidavit to it's truth.
It all happened about thirty miles from
alias.-Philadelphi Times
An Early Chinese Compass.
Du Halde, in his history of China, says
the Chinese used a compass similar to the
mariners compass as early as 1910 B. G.
Renandot disputes this, however. 1t is
certain, though, that they knew the use of
the magnetic needle, as Marco Polo saw
them on the northern confines of China in
1865; and the Arabian sailors, some centu.
ries before that time, were in the habit in