246 THE JERSEY COAST. 



after her. I pulled her in all I knew how, and no 

 mistake ; but it was no use, and I felt the front wheels 

 strike, lift, and go over him, and then the hind 

 wheels, but I couldn't stop her. That was a heavy 

 load, and enough to crush any one, and as soon as I 

 could fetch the mare down for she had stalled to 

 run I jumped out quick enough then, you may bet 

 your life. I tied her up to the fence, although she 

 was still so uneasy I daresen't hardly leave her, and 

 hurried back to see if I could do anything for Jackey. 

 Would you believe it, there was nothing there ! I 

 tell you I felt the wagon go over him, and what's 

 more, I looked down as I passed and saw his clothes 

 and his hair straggling out over the snow, for he had 

 no hat on ; though I noticed at the time that I didn't 

 see any flesh, but supposed his face was turned from 

 me. There was no rise in the ground and not a 

 cloud in the sky ; the moon was nearly full, and there 

 wasn't any man, and never had been any man there ; 

 but whatever there was, the mare saw it as plain as 

 I did." 



" Now let's turn in," said a sleepy individual, who 

 had first been nodding over Bill's statement of pub- 

 lic wrongs, and had taken several short naps in the 

 course of his ghost story ; " and as there was some- 

 thing said yesterday about a smoke driving away 

 mosquitoes, for heaven's sake let's make a big one ; 

 the infernal pests kept me awake all last night." 



This was excellent advice, and not only was an 

 entire newspaper consumed in our common sleeping 

 apartment, but a quantity of powder was squibbed 



