The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1900-10-31
THE STRANGE VISITATION.
ST. Louis

~ ibou'o WI
II Is seldom anything occurs IN the
life of the average rural agriculturist
TO break the routine of his generally
monotonOus existence, but when such
an event does occur, whether il be OF
Joy or sadness, it IS apt to be looked
upon as an epoch in the lives Of those
concercncd from which to date. So,
even unto this day, it is u common oc-
currencc among the older citizens of
the county of Denton, Texas, when
the subject of spoOks or other super
natural phenomena are under discus
sion to hear II remark: "Wcll
that beats all since Jones's ghost"
And Jones's ghost occupies n position
considerably above that of The aver
age ghost in that it is doubtless the
only case on record wherein the testi-
mony of his ghostship was accepted in
the settlement of an estate and is a
part of the public records of the above
county. AS n number of the parties
closely connected with the following
occurrences are still living, | will sub
stitute fictitious James for the real:
In the year 1877 there resided on a
farm in the county of Denton Mrs.
1IuUlt OolCo, a. "lioh Will WV SOlio,
Frank and John, nearly grown, and
several smaller children. Wilma
Jones, deceased, had been 4 hard
worker and successful farmer and
stock raiser, and at his death had be-
queathed to the widow and her child
rem q model farm, well titled and stock
ed with the best the country at the
time afforded, together with a valua-
bic tract of land in the southern part
of the State.
The following spring, after his death,
a considerable number of their horses
strayed away from their accustomed
range, and, the country at that time
being sparsely settled, were soon lost
track Of and the usual course Of m
quiry served to elicit no information
except hat the band had been seen
headed south.
Early in the fall, after the crops had
been garncred, it was decided that
Frank, the eldest, should make an en-
tended trip to the southwark and en-
deavor if possible to locate the truant
stock, as their entire loss meant a SER
lous blow to the family eXchequer.
On a bright September morning as the
rising sun vas painting with lavish
hand the fading green autumn Frank
Jones drew the double cinch to an
easy notch under his faithful horse,
and, bidding his mother and John
farewell, sped away to the southwark,
never to return again in the flesh.
There was yet plenty of work to be
done on the farm, and time which
otherwise might have dragged weari-
ly to the lonely widow was Glled with
labor and pleasant anticipation of the
absent oncs's early return. Days
passed III rapid succession and an oc-
casional letter from Frank, describing
the beauties of the country and his
own hardships in travelling alone
through such unsettled regions, fur
nished food for discussion in the fading
twilight. At last Il letter came which
stated that he was on the light trail
and would soon ovcrtakc the slowly
rctrcating herd. This was the last let
ter ever received. He was then some
two hundred miles south of the home
place and they began to speculate up
on the day of his probable return.
Allowing for delay for grazing the
stock en- route homcward, a day was
set which it was considered, barring
unforeseen accidents, should give him
ample time for the return Journey.
The appointed day came, but with 1t
ii came no Frank and no tidings; nor
the next, nor the next, and as the days
heightened into weeks the anxious
mother, with mOiStCncd eyes. daily
scanned the dusty trail to the south
ward.
The country at this Time was none
too safe from ma.audlng bands of In
dams and horse thieves were more
plentiful than now and cared little for
human life when a cavey.yard was at
stake. These possibilities were anx-
iously discussed by the distressed fam
lily and inquiry was made by letter
at various points along the route from
which letters had been received from
Frank. But all their inquiries came
to naught. They did not know whether
he was still going 5outhward on the
trail or had ovcrtakcn the stock and
vas even then on his return.
On the night of November 7 there
came a sound as of footsteps on the
front porch. After the usual custom
the family had retired early. The fire
had been burning IN the wide stone
chimney TO dispcl the chill November
winds and its dying embers were cast
ing titful shadows on the wall. The
footsteps approached The door, a hand
turned the knob and someone entered.
John was a light sleeper and, being
aroused by the sound and the draft
through the open doorway, awoke and
raised himself partly on his elbow.
He saw the dim outlines of q man
and, reaching for his revolver, he de-
mandcd, "Who's thcre?" The famil-
lar voice of his brother answered him
and he came and sat down at the foot
of Johns bed. They conversed to.
gether in low tones for some time,
but, not caring TO disturb his mother
at that hour John vouchsafed the infor-
nation that his room and bed were
ready for him just as he had left it,
as neither had been occupied during
his absence. The dim outlines and
retreating footsteps vanished through
the opposite doorway, hen all was
still. John wondered q little that he
heard no further noise from his broth.
er's room, but, thankful for his safe
return after so many days watching
and anticipating her joy when in the
early morning he would tell his moth
er the glad hews, he soon fell asleep.