The Charlotte Democrat., 1896-08-13
BOYS AND GIRLS
DEP I.

whn b overspread the heavens aud sh-d
faint radia cu on Ihe tumbsiOh.s in the
lonely giavey ard a.,d the hong rank
| grass " h ch fl 'urI>bts in th. city OF the
irai Ab-o silence reigned VIII. II
NJ u" MooI, turm'r o. Benton own
sh,p, strobe sturiily along the highway
which passed The graveyard and over
which Farmer Frsnch's team went flying
the night b. fore. Moon had not heard
OF the ghost, Or il hv-had il d-d not scare
him. He was per:.c ly familiar with the
lonely road, for he had travelled it for
years. He knew just where The uld
church was, fJr he had spent many
hours in its shadows, and he ielt no
quaIms about passing the deserted grave
yard which he had so often passed after
dark Moon walked boldly ahead, his
thoughts on business venture which he
contempla. ed, when suddenly he heard q
wild roar and rumble like 10000 bolts of
thunder. Sotting in amaz sment be look
ed up and the sight which met bis eyes
turned him sick and giddy. All the
blood in his body seemed turned to ice
and bis brain reeled.
Fifty feet before him he saw a ghost,
! figure feet tall. with a Towering white
robes and patriarchial beard which
rea ehed its waist. Az be gazed, stupefied
and almost insane, Moon observed that
| the figure was transparent, and through
it be could still see the dim outline of the
old church looming up in the darkness.
In it's right hand the awful apparition
| grabbed q club, murderou', fearful. And
as it swept toward Moon, as though borne
on the wings of the wind, and the thun-
derous roar continued, he sank to the
earth and knew no more until he awoke
in the farmers house surrounded by his
friends with doctor bending over him
| In broken words Moon told the awful
story of his fright and of the ghost which
| had almost berett him of re ason, swooned
at the memory of the fearfnl object. Ever
since he has been under the constant
care of physician, and his condition is
grave.
When this tale was spread broadcast
throughout the neighborhood the coun-
tryside seemed to flame with desire to
trace the mystery to its source and dis
cover the cause of the apparitions which
had so terrified French and Moon. Meet
ings were hurridly held and passes Or
ganised to hunt down the spectral crea>
ture with the long white beard and men-
acing club. Many farmers and hired
men positively refused to join the expe-
dition when they had learned of the fate
of Moon, but enough brave men were
found to make goodly showing, and
armed with shotguns and rifles they set
out Friday night to hunt down the ghost.
A leader was chosen, and he divided the
men into squads of three to four, posting
them at various places along the roat
near the old chu' 'chyard. Each squad
wa. ordered to challenge the ghos. shou d
IT appear aud Oh its tai ure 70 hal To IRE
directly ut il. With these instructions
we'll understood the men separated and
waited for Developments, which they
felt sure would como.
When the main party was thus diVId-
/ ed some OF the watchers were not 80 oolo
az they had been at the outset. The lit
! tie groups kept close together and Whlieo
> away the anxious hours telling ghost
stories and wi.ed tales of apparitions OF
, bysone years. The history of the luck
less old man, whose ghost they though
= they were awaiting, was recounted oy
, those who had known him, and the hor'
rible story of his murder by robbers wa'
e retold. That be had come to haunt th,
0 nei ghborhood where once he toiled ano
t suffered all were agreed, and the fac
3 that the tall ghost carried club wa
r taken to indicate that he was to be aveng
9 ed upon the coustryside for bis sudds
o taking off. While these stories Wer
Q causing shudders to chase up and dow
b the spines of the more timorous IN tn
10 party, John Martin, a farm hand, star
d led one of the groups with cry, "Iher
le it isl" =,
ID Less than twenty feet away stood tn
% ghost, evidently looking directly at tn
9, watchers. Its long arms hung motlon
at less and in one hand was grasped II
g club. 1t did not attempt to approac
es the group of men huddled there IN II
I'D darkness with hands slightly clutche
ip their shotguns, and hearts beating
,ft loudly they could almost be heard. Ma
of tin was the first to recover himself. hs'
ed ing bis shotgun to his shoulder he caiie
an in loud voice: "Who stands thereI spea
be or fire." No answer came from Il
ed spectre, but instead one OF the long art
ng slowly raised and the figure began
he almost imperceptible advance This W
th- enough for Martin and his friends. Fo
,ut shot guns rang out at once ana lonr loa
he of buckshot passed through the VIII
figure and ratified among the tree t,un run
ITO behind it. In fash the figure disa
ul6 D6Af60 anu (oEhuC6oB A0OAO
ost before, supervened.
ose The noise of the guns aroused the o.
tht er watchers in distant spots and To
Be lanterns could be seen flashing amo
ASS the trees as they approached where
the ghost had been seen. meeting '
,eir held and Martin and his friends reia
re- their adventure Extra caution was
by dered and all tbrough the night the n
lew lay around in the darkness near the
ost. serted churohyard watching tor the gn
is which did not come.
eds. The next night the party was again
uud organized and under the same directl
diy watched once more and once more
all awful apparition was seen. 1t was
t. as ther away than on the first night, ant
,ad> it approached the thunderous roar ~i
hen Mocn aud French had described
left, plsiply beard A yoliy OF shots was
pc, through the spectre when it came wit
hose firing distance. bat they whistled tnro
it as harmlessly ss before, and at
that :...,t IN "a ohoat disaDDeared.