Waterbury evening Democrat., 1908-09-15
4 TURBULENT GHOST,
Noisy Nocturnal Rounds of an
 Invisible Visitor.
QUEER DEATH OF OLD JABEz.

The uncanny Incident That Disturbed the Quiet of an Old Virginia Home. A Nightly Tramp That Never Ceased ! Until the House Was Demolished. q am not exactly prepared to say that l believe in ghosts" said the old i gentleman from Virginia, but at the same time, in view of certain things that have been told me by persons whose regulations for veracity do not admit of doubt, l cannot allow my self to ridicule the ideas of others who do believe In an occasional return to earth of the dead.
 "There is one case in particular that 1 know of personally and that can be vouched for by number of citizens I in the upper counties of my state, and !, that Is the case of old Uncle Jabcz l Martin, who knew number of well to do farmers in Fauquier as well as in Spottsylvania, Rappahannock and other counties in the northern part of the state. Uncle Jabe.' as most every one who knew the old fellow called l him, had considerable of the nomad In Lis disposition and led wandering, pastoral life. He was always willing to work when any one needed his serv- Ices and did good deal of rough car pentering in return for meal O wittles and a shakedown,' as he ex- pressed 1t, and as he was pretty well known in the land of his pilgrimages it was a rare occurrence when he was not given a welcome.
 "If old Uncle Jabe thought more of one family in the state than he did of another it was the Greens. Virginia, as all know, is full of Greens. An es- timable crowd they are, and nearly all of them consider themselves as relat- ed in some degree of consanguinity to the others of that name The Greens of Virginia is the finest tribe of that name in seven states. was the con- stant boast of Uncle Jabe, and above and beyond any other Green anywhere he placed Marse Dickie Green of Eau quier, and that is where my ghost story. if you will please to consider 1t as such, begins.
 "One wild night in the mosth of Oc- tober not very long before the war the old wanderer made his appearance at Squire Greens. Mir Green was called squire by virtue of being justice of the peace. Jabe wanted his usual meal O wittles and shakedown, and 1t was at his service, as usual, and after good supper he sat on the back steps of the house, smoked his old pipe for awhile and then went to bed
 Squire Green was engaged in some work that kept him up until midnight, and as the clock struck 12 he heard a heavy sound on the stairway. It seem, ed as If some one was coming down the steps with heavy irons on the legs The sound was carried to the door, which was opened noisily and then closed with terrific crash
 Thinking it strange that old Jabez Martin would be guilty of making ou1u uhhCSCsSuiy hoiScs tuC o4uiiC rushed to the door and opened 1t. The moon was shining in all its beauty and everything was perfectly calm and nobody in sight. Back again went the surprised squire and up into the attic chamber, where Martin always slept when he made his calls. He found everything calm and quiet there. Ii was the quiet of death, for old Uncle Jabe was lying supine on his back with his glassy eyes staring right up to the ceiling, where the squire left him until the morning
 "When he related the circumstances in the morning It seemed that every othe one of the house had been dis turbed by the uncanny noises. The strange part of it is that next night the same sounds were heard again even to the slamming of the door, and an investigation proved that there was no person to make them. There were no towards in Squire Greens family but the noises disturbed them, and