The herald., 1895-03-25
HE WAS
BOUND TO CROSS TEE
DARK RIVER

The following singular and almost in.
credible narrative is vouched for as being
truthful by several citizens of Atlanta.
Mr.. f. Mize among others, and by numer-
Gus residents of Dekalb, in which county
and but few miles from Atlanta the To-
Gus in quo of the remarkable manifesto
tion described below is situated
No attempt Is made to account for the
phenomenon on either natural or super
natural grounds
Il livo," said the farmer as he slowly
cut huge hunk of tobacco from his plug
''about a mile from place which. in
times before the war, was known as the
Burt place, because family by that name
had first cleared the land and built the
house on it. was boy then-a very
small boy-but remember we'll the elder
Burt. He was stern. dark man with q
most violent and vindictiye temper. re.
member ons Sunday at meeting when he
nearly wore out big black snake whip on
one of his mules His family were all
afraid of him, and his neighbors avoided
him when he got into one of his fits of
passion. And yet, outside of this, he was
a good citizen, good father, q devoted
husband and noted for his open handed
liberalty 1t was his fiendish temper
which ruined his whole life In olden
times reckon they would have said that
he was possessed of a devil. and he was
a devil of temper.
"Well," resumed the farmer after mo-
ment's rumination, 1.-THE Burts owned
several niggers, and among them was
likely, lively gal named Jude, who was
IL, cxol
Burt Perhaps 1t was the consciousness
of her superiority to the regular field
hands, perhaps sympathy with her mis-.
tress, who usually received the full force
of Burt's wrath when one Of his spells
overlook him, but whatever the cause
may have been the effect was that Jude
gave her master some sinpudence and
earned his dislike. From that on whenever
he few into rage. Jude came in for
large share of the storm and was frequent
ly threatened with a severe whipping.
III thrash the life out of you Burt
is reported to have said to her one day
Sc Ef ye do, I'll h'ant ye, sho's my
names Judel' the impolitio reply Is said
to have been.
Burt flew into paroxysm Of rage, in
sane in its violence. He had the unhappy
girl strung up and himself beat her until
his strength was exhausted, and he was
man of powerful frame. When she was
taken down, Jude was senseless She was
put in an empty oorncrib and given no
food. In day or two she died, probably
from the effects Of the beating, maybe
from the want of attention and food, per-
haps from both causes Well, now comes
the singular part of this business Jude
was buried In little clump Of pines just
across creek which ran in front Of the
Burt mansion, about 200 or more yards
distant. Jude had said that II Burt exc
outed his threat she would 'ha'nt him.
She kept her promise. Oh, you needn't
laugh don't attempt to account for it,
but it 8 a fact, and there are 500 people in
my county who will tell you the same
thing. 1t wasn't a month after Jude had
been buried before rumors began to circu-
late about wonderful ball of fire that ap
peared at night at the Burt place. Inves-
tigation followed Then the truth came
out, and the community were almost ready
tolynch Burt. believe legal proceedings
were taken. At any rate, he changed SO
that no ole would have known him. He
grew thin, pale, with terror stricken look
always on his face One day he suddenly
packed up, sold his place, and with his
family went somewhere in South Carolina.
But the wonderful light did not cease
when the Burts left. tbs seen even now
and although all trace of Jude's grave has
long since vanished the light serves to
show the exact spot in which she had been
buried"
"How Is thats'
"Well, the light, which is a ball Of pale
red fire about the size of a cocoanut moves
along about five feet above the ground
and never falters or hesitates." q i~ g.
Maybe it's a marsh lightP"" 7o1
"Marsh lights don't sail along in the
teeth of high winds and stand still in
particular places No, it's no marsh light.
whatever it is. The people who lived
there some years ago-in 1889, think-a
most respectable family, were not a bit
afraid of the light and used to watch for
it's appearance. They were all asleep one
night after they had just moved there,
when they were awakened by peculiar
sensation. Looking out into the yard,
they saw this ball of light shedding pale
glow around and perfectly stationary. The
head of the house went out to investigate,
when the light moved slowly away to-
ward the grave. 1t led him across the
creek up to the hill to the clump of pines
and disappeared in the spot where Jude
was buried. 1t has often appeared since,
and there are people who come from all
parts to see it. Scientific men have seen
it and gone away puzzled What do l
think it isP Well, think it's nothing
more nor less than Jude's light. That's all
anybody has ever made of it, But it's q
fact all the same. WE'LL good day. AT
lanta Constitution.