The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1901-04-26
u. ~"uer rnose peculiar circumstances


There was no noise except the football
of the horse. The entire absence of iat
was something particularly pleasant. Ac
cording to my way of thinking, it was an
ideal method of locomotion
Strange as it may seem, | no longer had
any fear of the fitting thing of the air
that lowered alongside the horse, and
decided once more to break the ice of con.
versation and called out, a pleasant
evening. stranger"
AT this he turned and, floating up tc
my side, brought his face so close to mine
that / felt his breath
1t came to me like a blast from the
klondike and seemed to freeze me TO the
bone. | regretted that l had spoken. fot
he sent his icy eNhalation thrice into nv
face. and each time it seemed colder.
tried to detect the charnel house smell
that always goes with 4; ghost, but fee
bound to say that peculiar odor was alb.
sent. | will. however. state for the bene.
fit of the reader that I was suffering from
a bad cold, which to some extent may ac.
count for my inability to detect it.
l mention these seemingly trivial cir.
cumstanccs that people who are disposed
to cast discrcdit upon my narrative may
be sienced in advance | propose fully
to foreStall any one who rises up and
charges me with fictitious invention.
While considering the proposition of of.
ferinS the ghost a chance To work for me
in the summer months and live in the eel.
lar. where he could cool the milk during
the swetcring periods, l noticed a queer
thing about the horse. The animal that
a moment before was trotting leisurely
along had suddenly disappeared. His har
ness was attached to the shafts and the
bride stuck out in front as if there was
a horses head inside of it, while the rest
OF it was bulged up to conform to the
figure of the animal that had so lately oc.
cupied it. hut the faithful beast. which
had never before deserted me in an cmer.
gency, was nowhere to be seen. His alb.
sence, however, was not material, for the
vehicle went along as easily and as rapid.
ly as ever and it struck me. since the
horse was gone. a trif1e smoother
While | was wondering what woulG
happen next it happened before | knew it.
l suddenly found myself on the other side
of the big gate that bars the road about
quarter of n mile from my house. The
gate is always kept shut. and it is n
sion, just as | was about to halt to un-
fasten it, | found that l was already
through. The fact of being on the other
side of gate was something altogether
novel to me. and no one who has not had
the actual experience can possibly get any
real idea of the extraordinary sensation
of being on the other side of n gate
when you are quite we'll assured in your
own mind that You never got there Nv
hold on the English language. while if is
generally sufficient to enable me to convey
ordinary meanings. is quite Inadequate to
the task of demonstrating to the reader
the real situation, partly because of the
total uneXpectedncss of it and partly be-
cause the other side of the gate at once
became no longer the other side, but this
side, so to speak. and the side | seemed TO
have vacated Immediately became the
other side. and | became so COMPLETELY
mystified that | was unable and still re-
tain that inability, to tell which side of
the gate | was on. whether this side or
the other side or both sides.
Rather than involve myself in n maze
OF complications or contradictions | will
consider the gate incident closed and pass
on to the other extraordinary things that
happened between the gate and the house.
Before proceeding hundred yards
became awareof the circumstance that the
various parts of the harness were melting
away. The collar and names dissolved
into nothingness, the bride was whisked
INTO space, the tugs followed suit and the
traces did not even leave their own name
behind. Yet in spite of this the vehicle
moved right along as before and turned
up the winding path toward the stable as
well as if everything was in its normal
condition and my own hand guiding the
lines.
When ii came to a halt under the shed.
| got out and went to bed quietly. not
mentioning the events of the night to my
Spouse. as | did not care to harrow her
feelings with such uncanny subjects
In the morning, however. while the
matter was still fresh in my memory. |
told her everything that had happened
and expressed my determination to write
a full account of the same and forward it
over my signature to some scientific Jour
nal, that these strange happenings might |
not be lost to the world. Her only reply |
was to inquire the time of my arrival |
home and my retirement to bed. | def !
nitely fixed the hour at | o'clock, which |
she disputed at once. and | dropped the |
subject not caring for improbable con- |
troversy with a woman. | knew in nv |
own mind, however, the absolute cor |
rectncss OF my statement regarding the |
hour, as | distinctly remembered having |
heard the clock strike no less than four
times in succession. So satisfied was | |
that such a plain mathematical demon
stration would be lost upon her. being but
n woman, as | have before remarked, |
did not mention it,
Later on she called my attention to the
fact that the harness which | had de-
scrbed as having vanished into the night
was in reality piled at the foot Of the bed
and that my clothes were hanging on
peg in the stable. This was indeed to nv
mind strong corrohoration of my story.
but she did not so regard it and was I'M
kind enough to suggest that when | sent
my account to scientific journal | should
mention also that | had attended ban
quet the evening before. given in honor of
the election OF n United States senator
from Nevada, whore more than 80 eases
Of champagne had been consumed prior
to the time that ! had been called upon TO
respond TO toast mention this cir.
cumStanco as requested. although the CON
nection between it and my strange expc-
rience on the lonely moor is not apparent
to me.
In revising my manuscript | notice that
1t mentions the removal by the ghost of
i've separate wheels from the buggy.
which may he regarded by some as an in
lccuracy. A gentleman for whose onin-