The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-10-18
PROFESSORS GHOST STORY.
MIR. WENDELL OF HARVARD TELLS
AN UNCANNY TALE.

AhNAtCA w tAO AtCOnl-
panied a Matter-Of-Fact New Eng
lander on Lonely Ride Through
Bit of Woods in the Early Dusk
of Late summer Evening 49, A
Queer Happening to His Horse In
His Subsequent Absence.
From the Boston Transcript
Authentic ghost stories are apt to have
less point than the ghost stories of litera-
ture. Hamlet's father does not revisit the
glimpses of the moon for nothing. Banquo
has every cause to trouble the feast ana
the conscience of Macbeth, and so on.
Tales which have no claim to classic dig
nifty follow these standard examples. The
other world in fiction does not reveal itself
unreasonably In the telepathic recor Is
of our friends who believe in psychcal
research something similar may often be
observed. The phantasms of the living,
for example, if you once grant Them may
generally justify themselves by something
better than caprice. With the few ghost
stories, however which come to one )
knowledge, neither from literature nor
from scientific classifcations, nor from
mere hearsay, the case is depresslngy
different. 'The apparitions seem either
very unreasonable or governed in their
conduct by lines of reasoning totally for
eign to any human habit
Such at least was the case when about
seven years ago a curious thing happened
in small town on the coast of New Eng
land The incident has no rational mean
ing. At the same time it produced on The
people concerned an impression sufficient
ly marked to make it worth recording It's
very lack of meaning, perhaps, gives it A
tantalizlng oddly of its own.
Toward, the end of one August a gentle
man started a little after 8 O'Clock in the
evening to call on some friends who lived
mile or 50 away. He drove himself in
an ordinary buggy, and his horse was an
everyday animal from a country stable.
His road, with which he was perfectly
fafniliara led down hilI at the foot
of which it curved toward a belt of low
woods, through which 1t proceeded for
perhaps a quarter of a mile. After
emerging from these woods it passed
through a region of stone-walled pastures
to the village, at the edge of which his
friends lived
These friends We're sitting indoors, for
the evening, though rather less dark than
usual was distinctly chilly. Their house
was quite new-so new, in fact, that the
fence which now separates the grounds
from the highway had not yet been put
up. In place of it a rough board fence,
of the hight of an ordinary country rail
fence, had been knocked together for the
moment This structure, however, was
by no means firm; the boards which COM
posed it were hastily nailed to posts at
a considerable distance apart.
At $50 or so, the visitor arrived at his
destination. He was a man of education
and intelligence. and of unusually sim
pie and regular habits He certainly was
not possessed of much imagination; nor
was he generally excitable. You would
have called him, perhaps, agreeably mat
ter-of-fact in temper. His friends, then
We're surprised to observe that he was
in a state of distinct agitation. Were ii
not for this evident disturbance of mind
and had hel been inuthe least inclined to
fantastic, pleasantly, they would have
been disposed to think the tale he told
them a good-natured hoax. Whatever the
facts really were, however, it was per
fectly clear that this man told them cN-
actly as they had presented themselves
to him.
He had driven down the hill, he said
without adventure, and nothing had hap
pened until he had reached the edge of the
There he had been startled by a sudden
movement of his horse. which stopped
short, and apparently in terror, SHE'D to
one side of the road. Looking to see
what had startled the animal, which was
now trembling, he perceived, close to the
front wheel of his buggy, the figure of q
man. This man wore a -brimmec
hat which tapped little over his face
and his body seemed draped in a Ions
cloak, or some such unusual garment
Altogether, in the dim light, he had al
unusual look. He said nothing; so the
man in the buggy addressed him, asking
him what he wanted. He made no an.
swer, and no movement whatever. Mean
while, the horse kept edging away from
him. Disturbed by this state of affairs
the driver whipped the animal, which
started ahead rather wildly To his in
tense surprise, the figure remained close
to the wheel. AS the horse dashed on
the figure Cgiided on, at a pace which nc
ordinary man could pretend to keep up
yet without either a sound or an obvious
motion. Then, as the drivers eyes grew
more used totthe dim light the figure
thus gliding swiftly beside him. seemed
half transparent, At one or two points
where the woods were thin he could see
through the thing-whatever it waste
the stone walls, and the trees behind it
He whipped the horse again and again
ana the morse, Wnlcn seemed thoroughly
frightened, went at full speed. Still thell
unearthly companion glided on, until, just
as they We're emerging from the woods
it suddenly disappeared.
That was the whole story. A fact which
atterward transpiTed was not at thai
time known to any of the company. Al
this moment, the spot where the thing
vanished Is a small country lot, covered
with a tangled growth of low pines ant
underbrush. century or more ago, Il
appears, this lot was a burying ground
Whatever the excited gentleman hat
really seen his agitation was rather pain
full. After about half an hour, however
it began to subside under the influence OF
sympathetic talk, and presently he said
goodbye to the company. He was to
leave that part of the country the next
day. and he wished TO make another fare
well call or two before proceeding home
So everybody took friendly leave of him
as they supposed, for the season.
Not more than a minute or two elapsed
before he returned, Something, he said
had happened to his horse in the dark
ness he could not quite make out what
the matter was; he should have to ask fol-
a lantern. So lantern was procured, and
the whole company, whose curiosity was
thoroughly aroused, went out with him
to see what had occurred