The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1895-09-24

In her gartlcn the church people rcfusin
to let her lilo in consccratctl ground
For II week after 300 was repaired sho
run like ~ charm. Then they put her back
OH our run, and Pete took her again. Wo
started out the first night with IL heavy
train, and hcin front brakeman my place
was ON the ears next To tho engine. 1t
was raw and foggy. the kind of weather
to make u man feel nervous i'll spite OF
himself, especially when goin through
These mountains. i was thinkin of this
when L heard Pctc blow for brakes, or
rather as if there was somcthin on tho
track. l edged over to the sidc of tho box
cars between which l WAS stantin, and
holdin on to the grab irons tried to sec Whit
was tho matter. Just then | felt n soft
bump and SAW somcthin tumble down the
bank. That IN animal, thought /, but
when tho train stopped and we all went
back to look for il not thing could bc
found
"'That's mighty funny said Pete.
I'm sliro hit II cow
"'Cow:' said the flagman. Why, there
amt Il cow within 20 miles Of here since
Granny Whittakcr's was killed.
Then the Same thought seemed to strike
all of us as the fireman remarked that this
WIS the exact spot where tho old woman's
IpN lhitl pCtIl hlllpU. I>ODOuN wanted TO
seem afcarcd. but We all hustled back to
the train, not Sayin n word, cxccptin Pete
who begun curSin the old woman, her COW
and cows III general. All Of il sudden tho
undcrbruSh ratified. and there stood Gran
ny Whitaker.
Now, I'm not tcllin YOU fairy tale, or
maxim anythin up. I'm just tclln what
i saw, and don't mean to try "a explain
it, but there stood tho old woman vito had
been dead for weeks, pointin her finger ct
Pete. Then she disappeared rs quick as
she come
''Grabbin u lamp, Pete rushed into the
woods and searched all around, but not IA
sign of u human bcin could be found. /
tell YOU that frightened us all hut Pete.
He sworc it was ~ trick, and that he'd got
even with whoever was tryin to fool him.
Next night the Same thing happened,
cXccptin no one but Pete tried to find the
mysterious COW or tho old woman, who
appeared ut the ditch tho Same rs before
Pcto fired IL pistol ut her, but sho only
Missed and vanished. The third night Pete
asked me to ride in tho engine with him,
and although it WIS against the rules did
as he wanted for tn tell tho truth was
afcarcd to stay by myself.
Everything seemed TO go wrong that
night. We were nearly an hour late ecttin
n coal car jumped the track. causin 40
minutes delay. In tryin to yank it on n
drawhcad was pulled out, and VIC had to
rig up u chain couplin. Then somcthin
beneath the boiler worked loose and Pete
tinkcrcd at il 20 minutes before ho made
repairs. OF course all this didn't improve
his temper, and by tho time we got on a
steady run he wiS grumblin and cursin
pretty lively.
We'll, when WE reached that stretch of
track where we'd killed the cow there was
the brute on the ties as usual ONLY old
Granny Whitaker was stantin beside it. J
saw hat as plain as | sec YOU sittin on
that kcg this instant. Pete was crazy mad.
and instead of rcvcrsin he ripped out a
curse. put on full head of steam, and
the engine give II jerk which nearly
knocked mo off the tank. l reckon wo
were goin 30 miles an hour when the pilot
struck 'cm.
Zip! Bump! The COW went nyin down
the bank Then Pete give IL yell Lookin
past him, / s;iw sumcthin crlwln over tho
pilot and steam chest. 1t was Granny
Whitaker. Maybe I wasn't scared. She
reached up and graspcd the sand rod and
turned her eyes on Pete. God, how hor-
riblc she looked!
"Thcn sho bcckoncd to him. and would
NOh ''iiNNN ~ NV Sot UP anu tTaWlcU OuG
on the footboard toward her. Tho fireman
and me WAS pnirllyzcd We couldn't say "A
word or move finger. The engineer
moved slowly toward tho old woman, and
she stepped backward, sccmin to influence
him by her eyes. Back, back, on to tho
steam chest. thcn-on To the pilot and then
around in front of the boiler cut of our
sight She led him. y second later we
heard Il yell.
That broke the spell and betwcon tho
fireman and mo we shut off steam and
blowcd for brakes. The terrific speed at
which We were movin caused us to go Il
considerable distance before wc stopped
but as soon rs the train slackcned we
jumped off and run forward Pcto WASH {
there. We didn't think he would be- We
found him II mile hack. and there WASN'T
whole bone in his body. Tho next day
engine 200 exploded within 81 feet of the
spot where we found Pete.
"Now, as said. saw these things with
my own eyes. and m not tcllin you any
yarns. but the downright truth Some
time if ] get chance III tell you about
another spook, but | guess you don't want
any more tonight
did not.-Chicago Tribune.