The San Francisco call., 1908-10-11
TRUE GHOST STORIES TIE 6r :TttA 44z


my senses, I crept back to the barn to
see my faithful horse. for feared that
the dreadful run, coupled with the heat
of that August night. might have
meant injury to him. Although a
voracious eater. l found that he had
not touched the provender that had
been placed in his trough. Still trem-
bling and with muscles twitching he
stood dejectedly in the far corner OF
his stall.
After a restless night in which 1
found little sleep I went out again to
the barn, and there I'm the dawning
light that came through his stable win
dow lay stretched broadside- upon his
straw bed Dan Logan. stiff and motion
less His equine spirit had surrendered
to the emissary of the green fields of
the horse hereafter. and his own shade
had gone to join in the gambols OF
other spirit steeds that gallop by night.
The death of my favorite horse, to-
gether with the experience of that
night, bore heavily upon me. but for
several reasons l kept the story of that
ride and the cause of my horses death
to myself. For me to have told or my
experience would have made me the
brunt of a tantalizing jest for every
man and youngster on that plantation
NY silence brought it's own reward
Not many weeks had passed when true
evidence of that unaccountable mystery
developed.
The store where I had been employed
had been crowded with customers fol-
lowing a payday. / had closed the
front doors of the building and had
settled down for a few moments rest
before putting out the lights. A num-
Der of my friends and other employees
had fingered in the store talking over
the famous Sullivan -Kilrain fight. Sud
denly there was a beating and rafting
at the front doors, but before / could
open the way for the excited visitor
he had bolted around to the rear of the
building and rushed in. We expected to
see a crazy man or one bent on get
ting a doctor, but 1 recognized him at
once as being an assistant overseer
from one of the neighboring .planta-
tions.
He stood for a moment speechless
and trembling to his toes.
Boys" he said at last, 'it was a
ghost!-it was a ghost=I tell tell
you, it was the real thing"
Members of the party looked quizzic-
ally at the frightened man and then ex-
changed glances with each other.
Whether they thought him drunk or an
escaped lunatic, I knew that the man
was suffering from the result Of a bad
scare and 1 believed, too. that 1 knew
the cause of his, fright. 1 came to the
fellows rescue from derisiOn and dis
comfort by telling them all quite Sc
riously that the man had seen some
thing and that / had seen the same
thing
When he had become more composed
he related the story of his experience,
which, in substance. was repetition OF
my own, with the exception that his
horse had apparently not noticed the
apparition and had been driven into
speed by the free use of whip and spur
"A big, white horse continued he.
''saddled and bridled, with a rolled
blanket cup, and long scabbard for a
gun or sword" It had approached him
at the head of the swamp and had fol-
lowed him into the canefields, appear
ing and disappearing as if by magic.
The uncanniness OF our dual expert
ence dawned upon me; and then, to the
strained attention of those present, I,
for the first time. told OF my adventure.
After theorizing at some length upon
the mystery OF the ghostly charger that
was then haunting the highland swamp
we planned a trip of investigation for
the following day BY inquiry we
found one OF the oldest settlers who
had lived on small farm in the high
land district since before the civil war.
The old gentleman did not at first show
a willingness to be bothered by inquisi-
tive strangers. but after few COM
monplace remarks we asked him a
question that disarmed him, of all res
ervation-
asked him II he had ever known