Lexington gazette. [volume] (Lexington, Va.) 1871-1962, 1905-01-04
" y Y y W
A GHOST
IN THE CAB

'~@N NNotiAt0y anu " hd
time to 60 home. SO thought cabb
No. IL, shivering in his rusty ovel
coat. He had watched the electri
light on the corner unit. it's rim
OF rainbow needles seemed to sta
his eyes and the big shadows on tn
street below it to shake with tn
sold.
mot fare this whole blaste,
night" he muttered, reaching dow
and pulling the blanket from hi
horse.
As he did so he felt the carriag,
give a great jar on its springs. II,
turned quickl " Some one had funs
himself into the seat behind him.
"What do you want?" said III,
cabby roughly.
There was pause; then a voice
came through the darkness, thick
and nasty as gurgle of black oil:
Drive me to Judas Withers'
and, in the name of heaven, drive
FAST"
Judas Withers has been dead
and his soul with the devil this
many year." answered the cab
man, staring behind him.
"The house still stands, but |
have lost my way. Go on, you foolw
The figure reached over and,
catching the whip from its place,
gave the horse lash. The old beast
plunged forward, banging and rat
Ting down the street, while the
cursing cabman tried to clutch at
the reins, but hand, chilly and
clinging as the belly of a snake,
fastened on his wrist, and the thick
voice came close to his ear:
"Now will you show me my way?"
The driver sank into his place
again, while the old cab rocked like
a ship.
On they rushed, past closed stores
and lamplcss blocks of houses, now
ripping and wrenching across the
car tracks and now swinging along
the deserted road, on 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; / see it nowW And the next
instant the cab was empty.
"My fare" yelled the cabman,
leaping 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 a vague blackness,
the house Of Judas Withers, tenant
less but for the old wife, who still
chung like some pale lichen to its
stones. Perhaps she, too,
was dead. The cabby did not know.
He did know, though, that Judas
had been a misery carcass,
yrudging the very skin that hung !
lis bones together.
The house stood back from the
Dad and was surrounded by gar I
len, now lying gray and lonesome .
lnder the moon. As the cabby peer
d toward it he saw the figure of a
nan come into the moonshine. 1t
prang across the open space in soft
caps like a great black bubble, its g
very movement full of a dreadful "
itality. Then it was gone. As the
river himself turned to go he saw a
tiny red spark flash out from the
ouse before him, and one after the "
Their the windows on the lower floor a
lowed red, as a crawlin" blotch of u
Darkles will eat across SCOT. III
The man was there-the man who 81
we'd him money-and all fear fled
ut the fear of loss. The cabby tied re
is horse and went creeping up the el
ath under cover of the hedges. u
hen he reached the house he rails III
himself gently and looked in at ca
lie of the windows. Before him lay
| empty room. On the floor, thrown
ON a window opposite, was great
leckered flag of moonlight-noth-
6 more, nothing but those blue
uarcs in the darkness. III,
Suddenly the cabman ducked his VI
ad, for he saw that a man had su
ided into the room. lie carried III.
candle high above his head, and =,
) great pale face was bloated and IN
ose as a card. u
The cabman crouched low. A cr'
st of wind set the fir trees whis- or
ring, and a shutter slammed far ''l'
ay in the house. :,
Guess I'll get out of this, he TN
Uttered, rising. But he did not IN
for the figure that stood in tbe Nh
ldlelight had turned its back to ca '
window and was digging among pc
bricks, ripping and scratching
e leopard, while his long shadow
wed on the ceiling above him.
Thief said the cabman be- ~
zen his teeth, pressing his ear to . ,he
broken panes. "There is treas. '"e
hidden there-perhaps gold, 81,
haps"- Just then the man in WI
gave joyful grunt.
lie lifted an iron box from the
he had been digging. There . ven
J no key in the lock, but at his ''e =
oh the cover flew open, and out 9
red the contents-blue, green 81,
gold, like a glittering rush OF ''el n