Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1901-08-10
'><O'@<@>~-~>>>s'~
The Daily Short StoIy|
THE YELLOW CARAVAN. (
BY BARRY PAIN.

t>N~~@~~>N.~~
IL BY BARRY PAIN.
q The conversation having now taken a
mystical turn, stories of the familiar
type naturally began TO be told. There
was, of course, the story of the singu-
larly cool beaded man who wakes one
night and sees distinctly before him the
apparition of his brother in Australia;
the apparition vanishes, and the pro-
prietor of the cool head makes n note
of the time. BY the very next mail he
receives the sad news that at the very
moment when lie saw the apparition
his brother But why go on? You know
how those stories always end. Then
there was the dear old narrative in
which it is n dog that sees the ghost.
The man sees nothing, but the dog sud-
denly flies in bowling terror. The usu-
al family ghosts, whose appearances
betoken death. had their innings. And
after each stale and Improbable lie the
narrator made the regulation remark:
81 merely give you the facts. do not
profess to explain them" This in its
turn produced the absolutely inevitable
response, the Shakespearean misquota-
ton with reference TO the contents Of
heaven and earth and philosophy.
And all the time the melancholy little
man in the corner had sat silent, listen
ing attentively and without comment.
But at last when a lull came in the
mystical and imaginative output he
Strengthened himself up in his chair,
cleared his throat and told the story
which is here given in his own words.
1 wonder now-perhaps some of you
have heard the story of the yellow car
AVIAN of Torley dale. No? L had rather
an interesting personal experience in
connection with that Certainly, if you
wish to hear it 1 have no objection at
all.
1 was stopping with an uncle of mine
who lives near Belham, a village in the
dale, and il was there that l heard the
tale first. y road runs through the bot
tom Of the dale, and along this road
one winter night many years ago came
n yellow painted caravan drawn by a
white horse. With the caravan was one
man only, an old gypsy, n tinker by
trade. According TO all accounts, he
was an evil old man and n hard drink
er. 1t was a terribly cold night, n biz
card was blowing. and the roads were
in bad state. At public house where
he had been drinking he had been
warned not to go farther. 1.-The devil
himself couldn't stop me from getting
into Belham," he answered in n surly
way. He got on his box and went of
Early next morning the caravan came
quietly into the village street and stop
ped. The driver sat motionless. but his
hands still held the reins, and it was
ut first that he was, asleep He
was dead-had been dead for some
hours.
Since then. from time to time and al
ways on a winter night, travellers from
Belham have met a yellow caravan
drawn by n white horse. TheIdriver is
an old man, who sits huddled up, with
his head dropped forward as If he were
asleep. Sometimes it goes creaking on
its way, sometimes it disappears sud-
denly. Once shepherd who met it
walked right through it and described
his sensations afterward. He said IL
was like passing through n cold mist.
Every one in the neighborhood believes
in the apparition, and in winter they
shir1 being on the road to Belham
alone at night. 1 have heard children
frightened by the threat that if they
were not good the yellow caravan
would come for them.
Well, the story, which was told to me
with much more detail than 1 have
given You. made a good deal of impress
sion on me.
One afternoon while 1 was on that
visit TO my uncle 1 walked out some
miles to call on an old antiquarian, in
whose work took great interest He
would not let me so. but persuaded me
to stay to dinner. When 1 hesitated,
be chaffed me about being afraid of |
meeting the yellow caravan on my way |
home at night. AS n matter of fact, 1 |
was afraid; but, like most towards, I |
was most afraid of being thought a
coward. After dinner the conversa- |
ton turned on ghostly subjects. He |
told me of several similar apparitions |
to the yellow caravan to be seen in diff |
ferent parts of the country. By the |
time left 1 was perfectly certain that |
should meet the caravan and had |
quite made up my mind what to do.
1 had gone a couple of miles on my |
road home without meeting any one
when came to a point where the road |
turned sharply. There 1 heard the
sound of wheels coming very slowly |
along toward me. My first instinct |
was to run back as hard as could go. |
But L managed to stand my ground, |
and with my stick firmly grasped 1
waited.
Round the corner came the white !
horse, it's head down. Behind it, clear
in the moonlight. was the yellow cara
van, with the driver huddled up as IL |
be were asleep. but still holding the
ems. The CHASTITY thing came STEALTH
" toward me. AS it passed / made
,t1t at tho hnrsn with my s.ticL-