Year: 1878

-
named Louden, who died last summer,
but had declined to qualify. For some
reason Or other It would seem as
'lif Iopdea had either taken um-
bragg 'at this refusal Of Hammond, or
else was 50 partial to his society that he
could not rest quiet in his grave until he
had enjoyed once more walk with him
after night. Accordingly, on the night of
the 4th Of November last, as Mr.. Ham.
mond was returning from q visit to one OF
his neighbors, the old man I.ouden, fresh
from his grave near by, fell in with Mr..
II. on the way, and accompanied him as a
silent COMPANION for q considerable dis
tance. At least here is Mr.. Hammond's
story to that effect, us follows:


CATER had been out OF the house and
walked, say two hundred yards, at point
In the road where lays black walnuttop|
blown down, discovered some one walk
ing towards me, and in momenthe was
SO near me that ] Involuntary put out
my hand, so as TO lay 1t on him,a found
that / could not. /, however, con-
tinued walking with him along the
the road until came to the gate Of the
lane that leads into my house. ] knew
all the time who 1t was, and recognized
distinctly Mr.. Louden. Although was
not home at the time OF his funeral, |
saw him dressed in black clothes, with
shoes on, in his bare head and with a.
handkerchief tied under his chin, His
eyes, mouth, teeth, @hislefs and general
expression OF his face were as distinctly
outlined to me-, AS they were the last
time I saw him before his death. did
not speak to him, nor he to me, but all
the time along the road he continued to
walk, keeping up with me, and | confess
was walking pretty fast. At the gate
spoken OF had TO slip my hand around
the post to unfasten the quite, and did
so very quickly, passed through so as to
avoid having further company with him;
but quick Us | was, when | had closed
the gate, l found that he Was stillsnear
me, At this | was compelled to place
both hands onlyihat, for allitliat1 could
do 1 felt it rising, as though it would
leave me. could distinctly hear the old
man walking, could see his motions, and
II SO disposed could have touched him.
The lane from the main road to my house
is about two,or three hundred yards long,
andlat a point in the. road where ] had
newly graded it to avoid little hill, aud
where the ground is lower than any 9th:
or point on the road my companion
seemed to stop and hesitate, as though he
would speak to me, and then turned and
walked rapidly away III the direction Of
the graveyard where he was buried. The
distance to my house not being far, was
snon within the house, relating this Won
dcrful phenomenon to my family. Why
the old gentleman should be disturbed, or
why hc should seek me, especially, TO re-
late any grievances from which he may be
suffering, l cannot stirlnise, but the facts
are as have related them TO you, without
exaggcration or cquivOcation."


The story was told to u reporter OF the
GAINESVILLE Enterprise, and told, too, in "a
calm, quiet style. that carried conviction
to the reporter as to Mr.. Hammond'sdcad
earnestness in the matter.


at may have been aperson ofthe neigh
borhood, or hallucination OF his own
mind. His neighbors. express the utmost
confidence In the integrity and honor OF
Mr.. Hammond, and so confident is he In
his belief that lie would go before Justice
OF the Peace and testify to what he saw"
n 1t, hardly seems necessary to seek any
very profound explanation of Mr. Ham
mond's delusion, since it seems by the ad-
mission Of his neighbors that he has been
somewhat strangely affected for some time
past. According TO tho EnsetPrae he i"has
during the last summer suffered from
trouble with his lungs, and has indulged
in some strange conversation regarding
his disease, having had his lungs carefully
examined by Dellaire and Wheeling ply
sicians, and after having had an expres-
sion OF their opinion Of diseased condi-
ton, he asserted that should the trouble
continue, he would have them cut out and
the diseased part takenof


Now man might be quite respectable
lin patt 81 moral character and talk in such
style rs this, but he could hardly be con-
sidered very steady about the head. After
such expressions he could hardly expect
people. TO believe that he enjoyed visit
from old man Louden, even II he should
swear to it bciorca Justice of the Peace and
get ever 50 many OF his neighbors to vouch
for his character, as a man OF truth, The
simple fact is that Mr.. Hanmonds is
added in his upper story. That is all
there is OF it. l.