The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1896-05-30
A GHOST IN THE CAB.

1t was past midnight; the city streets
were deserted, and it was time to 90
home. So thought cabby No II, SILVER
ing i'll his rusty overcoat. He had watch
cd the electric light on the corner until
its ring of rainbow needles seemed to
stab his eyes and the big shadows on the
street below it to shake with tho cold.
Not Il fare this whole blasted night!"
he muttcrcd, reaching down and pulling
the blanket from his horse.
As he did so he felt the carriage give
great jar on its springs He turned
quickly; some one had flung himself in
to the seat behind him.
what do you want?" said the cabbv
roughly
There was pause, then II voice came
through the darkness, thick and nasty
rs Il gurglc of black oil:
Drive me to Judas Withers', and, i'll
the name of heaven, drive fastn'
Judas Withers has been dead and his
soul with the devil this many Il year, +"
answered the cabman, staring behind
him.
The house still stands, but 1 have
lost my way. Go on, you fool!''
The figure reached over, and catching
the whip from its place gave the horse
Il lash. The old beast plunged forward
banging and rafting down the street,
while the cursing cabman tried TO clutch
at the reins, but a hand, chilly and
clinging as the belly of snake, fasten-
ed OH his wrist, and the thick voice
came close to his ear:
Now will you show me my w;ly?"
The driver sank into his place again,
while the old cab rocked like ship
On they rushed, past closed stores and
lampless blocks of houses. now ripping
and wrenching across the car tracks and
now swinging along the deserted road,
Oh and on, until the pavements had been
left behind and the frost looked back
from the ruts like million little green
eyes
At last came the command, "Stop, l
see it now!' and the next instant the
cab was empty.
"My farer' yelled the cabman, leap
ing down
There was no answer. He looked
about him. 1t was very dark where he
stood, but the waning moon, with its
gnawed and crumbled edges, hung on a
line with the fir tops. Before him rose /,
vague blackness, the house of Judas
Withers. tenantless but for the old wife
who still chung like some pale lichen to
its moldering stones. Perhaps she, too
was dead. The cabby did not know. He
did know, though, that Judas Withcrs
had been a misery carcass, grudging
the very skin that hung his bones to-
gether.
The house stood back from the road
and was surrounded by garden, now
lying gray and lonesome under the
moon. AS the cabby peered toward it he
saw the figure of a man come into the
moonshine. 1t sprang across the open
space i'll soft leaps like great black
bubble, its every movement full of IA
dreadful vitality. Then it was gone. AS
the driver himself turned to go, ne saw
tiny red spark flash out from the
house before him, and one after the 9TH
er the windows on the lower floor
glowed red rs crawling blotch of
sparkles will eat across SCOT.
The man was there-the man who
owed him money-and all fear fled but
the fear of loss. The cabby tied his
horse and went creeping up the path
under cover of the hedges. When he
reached the house, he raised himself
gently and looked in at one of the win
dows. Before him lay an empty room.
On the floor, thrown from Il window
opposite, was a great checkered flag of
oonlight-nothing more nothing but
those blue squares in the darkness.
Suddenly the cabman ducked his
head, for he saw that man had glided
into the room. He carried a candle high
above his head, and his great pale face
was bloated and loose us IL curd.
The cabman crouchcd low. A gust of
wind set the fir trees Whispering, and "a
shutter slammed far away in the house.
Guess I'll get out of this" he NUT
tered, rising. But he did not go, for the
figure that stood III the candlelight had
turned its back to tho window and was
digging among the bricks, ripping and
scratching like leopard, while his long
shadow clawed on the ceiling above
him.
Thief said the cabman between
his teeth, pressing his ear to the broken
panes. There is treasure hidden there
perhaps gold, perhaps" Just then
the man inside gave joyful grunt.
He lifted an iron hoy from, tl,o bolo