The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1897-04-21
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DEATH ON A PALE HORSE.

lQey nau Deeu nuutluS uullHS lue udy
and, after supper, while smoking in
the doctors office, which was small,
isolated building located in corner of
the front yard, they noticed a skeleton
in an open closet. 1t was the skeleton
Of a very large man and perfectly
articulated. The night was little
cold, and one of them remarked, as he
lit cigar and seated himself before
the fire:
''Now, if we had jug of Bourbon,
we would be fixed.
"Well, suppose we send after bot
tie ?" said another.
To the objection that they had no
one to send, George Wilson said:
"Send the Stiff" nodding his head
toward the skeleton.
"Just the thing" replied the first
speaker. ''My old white horse knows
the road to town, and, if started, he
will go straight to Jack Campbell S
saloon and stop
They all laughed as picture of the
ghost on the white horse come into
their minds, and one of them insisted
that the idea was too good to pass
without being carried out.
eco and get the horse he said,
"and I will write the note. y
The dare devil, never thinking as to
the consequences, wrote short note
to his friend and placed it in an en-
velope. The letter was sealed and
addressed to Mr.. Campbell and then
tied to the bony skeleton S fingers.
Then they securely fastened the skel-
eton to the well-cincbed Spanish sad
die. The old horse did not much like
the looks of his rider, and when he
was turned loose he started towards
the town of Washington in gallop.
Washington was at that time the
capital of the Republic of Texas, and
a great crowd had assembled in the
town to witness congressional debates
and discuss the latest news from Mex
leo. The young men, after watching
the horse and his horrible looking
rider for moment, turned and went
back into the office, not without some
misgiving as to the result of such a
haremscarem piece of deviltry. They
had hardly seated themselves in the
doctors comfortable Office before the
fire when the report of a pistol reached
their ears. followed by most unearth-
ly yell. They did not learn until the
next day just what happened.
An old planter by the name Of
Holmes was riding slowly along on his
way from town to his home, when he
suddenly found himself, as he said,
face to face with a genuine ghost. He
did not lose any time in asking ques-
tions. It was light enough for him to
see the hideous thing pretty plainly.
He was game man, but he afterwards
said that he was scared out of his
senses. The old white horse was
trotting slowly along and there sat the
grim monster bolt upright in the sad
die. He could see its grinning teeth,
hear its bones rattle, and he imagined
that his eyes were two balls of fire.
He shouted something, but it kept
coming and seemed to be riding right
at him. He did manage to draw his
pistol with shaking hand and fire.
The flash and the report frightened
the old white horse, and he sprang
forward in a gallop, and then the old
bones ratified as if the devil himself
were shaking them. The farmer s
horse needed no urging. AS much
frightened as his master, he wheeled
in his tracks and started back to town
with the speed of the wind. Mr..
Holmes looked back and saw the white
horse close to him, and it looked as if
the terrible monster was reaching out
it's long bony fingers, eager to clutch
him and tear him to pieces. His own
horse happened to be a good one, and
under the stimulant of fright and his
masters spurs he managed to keep in
the lead. As soon as the farmer
reached town he began to fire the re-
naming shots from his pepper. box
and shout for help.
It was early and the stores were
still open. People rushed out on the
sidewalks, and when they saw man
riding at the top of his horses speed
and some terrible grinning white
object on white horse, riding after
him, they did not know what to make
of it. The negroes shouted "Ghost !"
and then one man fred shot at the
thing. That was the signal for a gen.
eral uproar, and scene of excitement
and CONSERVATION such as Gen. Hous
ton said "was never equalled outside
of the Internal regions" j." Mr.. Holmes
would have stopped in front of the
hotel, but his frightened horse enter
tained different ideas on the subject,
and ran On around the plaza. It never
occurred to single individual that
the thing they saw was human skel-
eton.
Congress was in session at the time,
and The members rushed into the
street, supposing that nothing less
than the vanguard Of Santa Annals
army had surprised the capital. In
those unhappy times every one carried
arms and as Farmer Holmes came
around the second time with his white
hair streaming in the wind and death
or the devil on his white horse in hot
pursuit, the Texans opened fire. Pts
tolls, muskets and shotguns were
emptied into the pack of bones, and
they could be heard rattling and crack
ing above the stentorial yells of the
flying farmer. Strangely enough, not
one shot of the first volley struck the
white horse. Hounds, of which there
were forty packs in the town, joined
in the pursuit, while the engineers of
the two steamboats, lying at the wharf
turned all the steam in their boats
boilers into their whistles.
"What in the devil is it p said
Gen. Houston to the secretary of war.
"Order out the Rifles and capture the
thing. They are not afraid Of the
devil himself"
Women and children were screaming
and the negroes were praying. At a
corner of the street the farmers horse