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Show I U i - 1 I Phantom's Warning ! ' n ' J , 1 s H j About IliV hnml lirnrtli In Its rus- M I tnmnry mnnncr tho family linil assent- B j J hlcil nftor tho pvcnli s inr-al, anil Hon- H 1 1 ry Cm roll, the city cuiihIii. como to tho K I j country to restore iuiIIhk health, found J '; his lh at visit Into a Kentucky homo !j not bo dull ns ho had nntlelp.ttocl. The conversation lulled. Silence was broken only by the Mr king of tho clock. Suddenly Cnni.ll henrd tho faint pit-a-pat of a galloping horse on 1 the frozen turnpike. Ho 'walked to tbe window overlooking the road, and tho sharp air bore the sumd more clearly to him. ,, "I wonder who that enn he, riding bo wildly at this time of night?" he H- Jl asked. B j "Somo drunken fellow going homo, 1 H. . suppose," said Mr. llankln. Indifferent : ly. but with a slgnlllcaut look at bin B, "Ho rides llko n wild man!" o claimed Carroll. "Come hero! Look r. at him! Ono would think both man and boast wero hunted wero lleelng j , from tho devil himself" HB' Martha ran to tho window and HB gnzed for a moment at tho fast-dlsap HB pcarlng horseman. "Papa, maybe It's H our ghost 'Ilob tho lidor' and Aunt HS Dinah onco met." Tho mournful bay of foxhounds ills- HH lurbed by tho hoof boats and tho sug- M eestlou of a chase gavo her remark n j ' Mngo of color. Both Mr. and Mrs. H ' Rankin had kept their scats while tho H I j rider passed, and now tried In vain to HH r j Uft tlie gloom his nppenrauce had loft ; to Passing. Carroll noticed this nnd half laughingly Inquired If .Martha's Bj Chost was a reality. "Not at all; simply a stupid old story of tho negroes," said Mr. Han- HH kin. Ho spoko In nn unconvincing HH ' manner, however, nnd the llrcsldo HH group relnpsed Into n moody silence. HH i Carroll slept little that night In tho HH feat room assigned to hlin. Among HH too old plcturos on the walls, which HH Jo cnsually looked oor as ho tin- HH ., dressed, ho wns struck by a tarnished HH I portrait of a girl who closely resent- HH ': blod Martha. No name was written on H the worn gilt frame, hut on tho dust- HH covered hack ho found scrawled, HH- "Marthn Nankin, 1S30.' Hven when HH i Carroll put out tho light that face HH stood between him nnd sleep. Tlioso HH eyes haunted his brain. .So, too. did HH tho flying horseman and the trouhlod HH face of his host and tho remark of tho HH JoutiR Martha. HH Tho brilliant, fitful sunlight of a HH cprlng day a I rayed into wmtor was HH streaming into his room ore Carroll HH awakened. The rcfroFhlup bath nnd HH ; the wholesome smell of the country HH cleared his head, and he smiled at tho HH foolish fancies of tho night. -Careless- HH ly ho ran down the broad stairs of tho HH t-lately mansion In n manner calculut- HH 'd to startlo into life the sweet-fared HH dames and tho starched-rolhired sol- HH dlers of tho revolution whose portraits HH Finllcd from their gilded frames stud- HH t'lng the hallway Hh Martha's remark about Aunt Dinah's HH) V'z'i'' ' '' ' y ' yyA HH WWW ', W 'vASL HH ''M ' ''A'' & HHf '4u'hw I rNSPl Hj i LL q HHJ '1 The dim figure of a horseman dash- HHJ J Ing Along. HHJ -jhost remained In Carroll's head, HHJ- ixiwever. and having nothing to do, ho HHJ JI trolled out to tho cabin o hear her HHJ ft) dtory. It was Aunt Dinah's favorlto HHM I'j v yarn, and she unbent with right good HHB I will, proud of having tha itr&ngor HH (! couflln for a listener. HHB HJ "flood I.awd, honey, an' you nch- HHl ihnlly alnt heahed dat talo? Mifm HHBflHHk Uaxtha wuz hor name, an' sbo loved Mars Hob Oregory, what had a heap o' lino horses. ;io hop' comln' an' comln' heah ter see Miss Martha twcll everybody said dey sho' would marry. Den dey had a fallln' out an' ho didn't ocmo no monh. Miss Martha didn't let on, but sho snrtlnly dttl love Mars Hob, an' kep' plnln nn' plnln' away twell sho wuz nigh ded. Ono Sunday dey all went to church nt do Cross Hoads. 'ccpon' her. When dey como back hor maw, Miss Kllen, found hor on do floah In do parlor ded. Sho had shot herself In do cornor by do He clasped her In his arms and whlt , pered: "I won't go home to-morrow." window, whnr sho an Mars Rob uster set "Wall, doan't Jes' rockelleck, but folks do say Mars Ilob died jes' nftor. Anyway, ho took her death mighty hard, 'causo It wuz his fault, an' ho ought to havo made up with her. Ho uster rldo 'bout do country on his big goblin' Jes" llko mnd. Ono night I seed him go by heah like nil do devils wuz followin'. Do nox mnwnln' dey found him by do crick. hl3 big geldln' stnndin' over him. He had shot hlssof In de heart. "I dunno. chile, but over slnco den dey say Mara Hob rldo by heah when sweethearts oh do county fall out. I seed him onco when Mars Walker an' Miss Mary lingers had dero trubblo but dnt's nnuther talo. honey. Any. waj, folks doan't como ills away nights no monh." And so Aunt Dinah rambled on, rnger to toll other stories of the past. Carroll kept the Incident In his mind for a while, and then let It drop as a dnrky superstition. Ho devoted himself him-self to the task of building up bis health, going hunting, riding to neighborhood neigh-borhood fox meets, driving, Martha to dances and parties, and In other way Illllng out tho routino of life in tho country. In' following this social round ho found that tho chnso after health can Bomotlmos be made n cheerful occupation, oc-cupation, especially with a girl llko Martha to help one. Ono nftornoon, as Carroll and Martha Mar-tha wero ruturnlng from town they let their horses tnko their own pace and settled themselves comfortAly back on the buggy sent and listened to tho hum of tho wheels nnd drank In tho charm of tho country. Looking dreamily Into Martha's oyes n tho carriage rollud homoward, the question, which ho had as yot put to himself only vaguely, enmo to him, ' Does she llko mo?" Ho dared not trust himself to nsk as to lovo. While he was turning nbout this, to him, startling suggestion, n young farmer of tho neighborhood horn Carroll had often Imagined to bo covertly fond of Martha cantered down tho road toward tnein. Ho pulled up sharply, bowed to Carroll, and directed to Martha Mar-tha a fow commonpluco Inquiries nbout her family, tho crops and tho next party to bo glvon. Carroll thought ho saw a blush steal over her chouk as tho young man talked, nnd aftor ho had rlddon on, hnlf In Jest, but n bit In earnest, he nsVed If that woro hor sweetheart. Thu blush mounted higher high-er as hu denied it. Carroll unreason-Ingly unreason-Ingly nnd Jealously Insisted that ho was, and finally Martha poutlngly suggektod that in anv event It was a mattor that did not concern hlin. Tho clouds nnd fallen. Carroll had had his quostlon answered. '. fTZS " ;. ."aw At cupper ho announced to his host that his health wns now fully regained nnd thnt nn urgent letter from homo would take him away tho following mornlnx. Mr, and Mra. Hnnkln ex pressed regrei. Martha coldly said nhe a sorry, and continued tho meal In silence. That night Cnrroll retired early to his room, but not to sleep. His prlJo was deeply hurt, nnd ho was Ind-g-nant. Ho cnllod himself "Idiot1" and other pleasant things. "Sho didn't havo the heart to say sho was sorry I Lovo! Uosh!" Finally, putting on a light overcoat, ho stnrted for a walk upon tho pike. It wns near midnight when ho turned again Into tho llttlo valley. Tho full light of tho moon wns obscured by a mist which roso from tho river and spread over tho vnllcy. Tho brooding silence of tho night was broken now nnd then by tho distant cry of n fox nound, tho low neigh of a horse, or tho tinkle, of a sheep boll. "Clackoty chick! clackcty clack! Thoro was homo In on Carroll's ears the distant sound of a galloping horso upon the turnpike. Could It be tho phantom of Aunt Dinah's story7 "Clackety-clack!" Tho horso was coming nearer. Tho forgotten talo sprang vividly Into Carroll's mind, and ho felt the chill of the unearthly creep over him. Sweethearts had quarreled! Tho phantom rldor wns due! Hang' Crash! Crash! and Carroll saw a wildly speeding horseman Hash across tho bridge and como up tho road toward him with uncontrolled gait. Carroll, forgetting all of tho improbability im-probability of tho tale, ran to the road-sldo road-sldo and tried to scalo the stone fence. Uut It wns too high for him to scalo In his nervous condition, nnd ho crouched against It, his oyos glued upon tho over-advancing figure. It thundered along. Now it was almoBt upon him. A vision of a horso of thoroughbred build, with foam Hying from Its mouth, with flanks heaving, nnd of a darkly clad rider with gazo fixed ahead, a cloud of dust, a sound of distant hoofbeats, and Carroll, completely com-pletely cowed, fled townrd tho house. On tho veranda ho met Martha, strangely pale. Ho clasped her In his arms and whispered: "I won't go homo to-morrow." Wnlter S. Hlatt In Now York-Times. |