The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1896-01-26

to me than finding Pullman car with
out a passenger, or without a Niger
porter; and with the bed-clothes soak
/ ed with water, and the bell-cord almost
/ too rotten TO bear its own weight.
There wasn't thing to be seen
through the car windows, for they
we're thick with dirt. So, wanting To
get some idea Of the locality that we
/ had got to. ! went out OF the rear plat
form again, and getting down on the
lower step ! leaned cut 10 have look
AL around. Just then we started a
round another curve, and what with
my fingers being little numb, and
what with the swaying Of the car, /
lost nv hold, and was shot oil that
train ike a mailbag that is chuck
ed on to our platform when the
Pacific express goes booming by.
Luckily / fell into a snow bank and
wasn't seriously hurt. However, the
shock stunned me for a While, and
when | came to, and found that / had
no bones broken, and that my skull was
all right, picked myself up and start
ed to walk down the track till | should
come to a house. After walking, as /
should Judge, about half mile, ! came
to East Fabiusyilfe, where there is a
little tavern, and mighty glad | was to
see il. / knocked the landlord up and
got TO bed, and it was noon the next
day before | woke up.
There wasn't any train to Jericho
until after o'clock, so not having any
thing to do, / looked up the landlord,
and found he was an old acquaintance
Of hNrt b4A of
mons. When / told him that / had
come to Fabiusville by a night train,
he sort OF smiled, and / could see he
didn't believe me. ] don't say that the
train stopped here ] said, for the
last saw of it was a mile or so up the
road, where / fell off the rear platform
into snow bank. But all the same, I
did come most of the way from Man
Illus last night in Pullman sleeper
Then YOU must have come on
what the bows call the ghost train,
says Hank.
"'What trains that, :? says |.
"'Why, it's the ghost of the train
that went off the bridge on the Musk
ahoot river. The boys do say that ev-
cry once in a while there is a train
made up OF a locomotive, baggage
car, and Pullman sleeper, that comes
down the road hustlin', and goes off
the Muskahoot bridge into the river
/ never saw no such train myself, but
there's lots of folks living along this
road that have seen il, and you'd have
hard work to convince 'em that ii isn't
the ghost of the wrecked train. Come
to think of it, that there train was
it's probable that her ghost was out
for an airing, as you might say.
Wen, when ! came to think the
thing over, I came TO the conclusion
that Hank was right, and that the
Pullman with the wet bedclOthes and
the rotten bellcord, was nothing more
or less, than the ghost car. How
ever, / din,t Say much more to Hank
about il n the time, for tie less a man
talks about seeing ghosts the bet
ter ii is for him, If he wants to be
considered a reliable man. But as soon
/ as ! got back TO Jericho I went to see
| the Division Superintendent and told
him the whole story
/ See here he said, when ] had got
through, I suppose / ought to report
/ you, but considering that you were
not on duty last night, and that you're
not a drinking man as a general thing.
! sha'n't say anything about it. But
| if Tou1l take my advice, you'I not tell
| that ridiculous story to anybody else
Then YOU think ! was drunk and
dreamed the whole thing, do you?' !
asked
4 don't think So says he, I'm sure
Of II. Ike just been over the division