The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow

[FOUND AMOXO TIIE PAPERS OF THE LATE DIF.DKICH KNICKEEBOCKES. 1 II was, as I have saia, a nue autumnal day; the sky was clear and serene, and nature wore that rich and golden livery which we alway s associate with the idea of abundance. Tlie forests had put on their sober brown and yellow, while some trees of the tenderer kind had been nipped by the f rosts into brilliant dyes of orange, purplo and scarlet. Streaming files of wild ducks began to make their appearance high in the air; the bark of the squirrcl ruight be heard from the groves of beech and hickory nuts, and the pensive whistle of the quail at intervals from the neighboring stubble field. The small birds were taking their farewell banquets. In the fullness of their revelry they fiuttered, chirping and frolicking, from bush to bush and tree to tree, capricious from the very profusión and variety around them. Thero was the honest cock robin, the favorito game of stripling sportsmen, with its loud querulous note, and the twittering blackbnds flying in sable clouds; and the golden winged woodpecker, with his crimson crest, bis broad black gorget, and splendid plumage; and the cedar bird, with its red tipt wings and yellow tipt tail, and its little monteiro cap of feathers; and the bluejay, that noisy coxcomb, in his gay light blue coat and white underclothes, screaming and chattering, nodding and bobbing, and bowing, and pretending to be on good terms with evei-y songster of the grove. _As Ichabod jogged slowly on his way his eye, ever open to every symptom of culinary abundance, ranged with delight over the treasures of jolly autumn. On all sides he beheld vast atoro of apples, some hanging in oppressive opulence on the trees; some gatheredj into baskets and barrels for the market; others heaped up in rich piles for the eider press. Farther on he beheld great fields of Indian corn, with its golden ears peeping from their leafy coverts, and holding out the promise of cakes and hasty pudding; and the yellow pumpkins lying beneath them, turning up their fair round bellies to the sun, and giving ampie prospects of the most luxurious of pies; and anón he passed the fragrant buckwheát fields, breathing the odor of the bee hive, and as ho beheld them, soft anticipations stole over his mind of dainty slapjacks, well buttered and garnished with honey or treacle by the delicate little dimpled hand of Katrina Van Tassel. Thus feeding his rnind with niany sweet thoughts and "sugared suppositions," he journeyed along the sides of a range of hills wliich look out upon some of the goodliest scènes of the mighty Hudson. The sun gradually wheeled his broad disk down into the west. The wide bosom of the Tappaan Zee lay motionless and glassy, excepting that here and there agentleundulation waved and prolonged the blue sliadow of the distant mountain. A few amber clouds floated in the sky, without a breath of air to movo them. The horizon was of a fine golden tint, changing gradually into a pure apple green, and f rom that into the deep blue of the mid heaven. A slanting ray lingered on the woody crests of tho precipices that overhung some parta of the river, giving greater depth to the dark gray and purple of their rocky sides. A sloop was loitering in tho distance, dropping slowly down with the tide, her sail lianging uselessly against the mast; and as tho reflcction of the sky gleanied edong the still water it seemed as if the vessel was suspended in tho air. It was toward evening that Ichabod irrived at tho castle of the Heer Van Tassel, which ho found thronged with the jn-ido and flower of the adjacent country. Üld farmers, a spare, leathern faced race, in homespun coats and breeches, blue stockiiigs, huge slioes and magniflcent peuter buckles. ïlieir brisk, withered littlo dames, in closo crimped caps, long waisted gowns, homespun petticoats, with scissors and pin eushïons and gay calicó pocketa hanging on the outside. Buxoiu lasses, almost as antiquated as thcir mothers, excepting where a straw hat, a fine riband, or perhaps a white frock, gave symptoms of city innovations. The sons, ia Bhort square skirted coats', with rows of stupendous brass buttons, and their hair generally queued in the fasliion of the times, especially if they could i)rocure an eelskin for the purpose, it being esteemed throughout the country as a potent QOurisher and strengthener of the hair. Brom Boiies, however, was the hero of the scène, haring come to the gathering, liaving come to the gathering on his favorito steed Daredevil, a creature, like himself , full of metal and mischief , and which no one but himself could manage. He was, in fact, noted for preferring vicious animáis, given to all kinds of tricks which kopt the rider in constant risk of his neck, for he held a tractable, weJl broken horse as unworthy of a lad of spirit. Fain would I jmise to dweil upon the world of charms that burst upon the enraptured gaze of my hero as he entered the state parlor of Van Tassel's mansion. Not those of the bevy of buxom lasses, with their luxurious display of red and white; but the ampie charms of a'genuine Dutch country tea table in the suinptuous time of autumn. Such haped up platters of cakes of various and almost índescri bable kinds, known only to experienced Dutch housewives! Therewas the doughty douglmut, the tender olykoek and the crisp and crumbling cruller; sweet cakes and short cakes, ginger cakes and honey cakes and the whole family of cakes. And then there were apple pies and peach pies and pumpkin pies; besides slices of ham and smoked beef, and moreover delectable dishes of preserved plums and peaches and pears and quinces, not to mention broiled shad and roasted chickens; together with bowls of milk and cream, all mingled higgledy-piggledy, pretty much as I have enumerated them, with the motherly teapot sending up its clouds of vapor f rom the midst - heaven bless the mark! I want breath and time to discuss this banquet as it deserves, and am too eager to get on with rny story. Happily, Ichabod Crane was not in so great a hurry as his historian, but did ainplo justice to every dainty. He was a kind and thankful creature, whose heart dilated in proportion as his skin was filled with good cheer, and whose spirits rose with eating, as some men's do with drink. He could not help, too, rolling his large eyes round him as he ate, and chuckling with the possibility that he might ono day be lord of all this Bcene of almost uniniaginable luxury and eplendor. Then, he thought, how soon he'd turn his back upon the old school house; snap his fingers in the f ace of Hans Van Ripper, and every other niggardly patrón, and kick any itinerant pedagogue out of doors that should daré to cali hita comrade! Old Baltus Van Tassel moved about among his guests with a face dilated with content and good humor, round and jolly as the harvest moon. His hospitable attentions were brief, but expressive, being conflned to a shake of the hand, a slap on the shoulder, a loud laugh, and a pressing invitation to "fall to, and help themselves." And now the sound of the music from the common room or hall summoned to the dance. The musician was an old gray headed negro, who had been the itinerant orchestra of the neighborhood for more than half a century. H13 instrument was as old and battered a3 himself. The greater part of the time he scraped away on two or thi'ee strings, iccompanying every movement of the bow with a motion of the head, bowing ilmost to the ground and stamping with liis foot whenever a fresh couple were to start. Ichabod prided liimself upon his dancing as mucn a) upon his vocal powers. Slot a limb, not a fiber about )iim was idle; and to have seen his loosely liung frame in full motion and clattering about the room, you would have thought St, Vitus himself , that blessed patrón of the dance, was figuring before you in person. He was the admiration of all the negroes, who, having gathered, of all ages and sizes, from the farni and the neighborhood, stood forming a pyramid of shining black faces at every door and window, gazing with delight at the scène, rolling their white eyeball3 and showing grinning rows of ivory from ear te car. IIow could the flogger of nrchii s bo otherwise than animated and joyoui? the ladv of his heart was his partner in the dance and smiling graeiously in reoly to all his amorous oglings; while Brom Jones, sorely smitten with love and jealousy, sat brooding by himself in one corner. When the dance was at an end, Ichabod was attracted to a knot of thesagerfolks, who, with old Van Tassel, sat smoking at one end of the piazza, gossiping over former times, and drawling out loag stories about tho war. Tliis neighborhood at the time of which I am speaking, was one of thoso highly favored places abound with chronicle and great men. The British and American line had run near it during the war; it had, therefore, been the scène of marauding, and infested with refugees, cowboys and all kindsof border chivalry. Just t .ifficient time had elapsed to enabla each story teller to dress up his tale with a little becoming üction, and, in the indistinctness of his recollection, to make himself the hero of every exploif. There was the story of Dofïue Martling, a largo blue bcarded Dutchman , who had nearly taken a British frigate with an old iron nine pounder from a mud breast work, only that his gun burst at the sixth discharge. And there was an oldfgentleman who shall bo nameless, being'too rich a inynhcei ío be lightly mentioned, who, in the battle of White Plains, being an excellent master of rlefense, parried a musket ball with a small Bword, insomuch that he absolutely feit it whiz round the blade, and glance off at the hilt; in proof of whieh he was ready at any time to show the sword, with the hilt a little bent. There were several more that had been equally great in the field, not one of whom but was persuaded that he had a considerable hand in bringing the war to a happy termination. But all these were nothing to the tales of ghosts and apparitions that succeeded. The neighborhood is rich in legendary treasures of the kind. Local tales and superstition8 thrive best in these sheltered, long settled retreats, but are trampled under foot by the shifting throng that forms the population of most of our country places. Besides, there is no encouragement for ghostü in most of our villages, for they have scarcely had time to finish their first nap and turn themselves in their graves, before their surviving friends hare traveled away froin the neighborhood, so that when they turn out at night to walk their rounds, they have no acquaintance left to cali upon. This is perhaps the reason why we so seldom hear of ghosts except in our long established Dutch communities. The immediate cause, however, of the prevalence of supernatural stories in these parts, was doubtless owing to the vicinity of Sleepy Hollow. There was a contagión in the very air that blew from that haunted región; it breathed forth an atmosphere of dreams and fancies infecting all the land. Several of the Sleepy Hollow people were present at Van Tassd's, and, as usual, were doling out their wild and wonderful legends. Many dismal tales were told about funeral trains, and mouriing cries and wailings heard and seen about the great tree where the unfortunate Maj. Andre was taken, and which stood in the neighborhood. Sorue mention was made also of the voman in white, that haunted the dark glen at Raven Rock, and was often heard to shriek on winter nights before a storm, having perished there in the snow. The chief part of the stories, however, turned upon the favorito specter of Sleepy Hollow, the hcadless horseman, who had been heard several times of late, patroling the country; and, it is said, tethered bis horso nightly among the gravea in the churehyard. The sequestered situation of this church seems afways to have made it a favorite haunt of troubled spirits. It stands on aknoll. surrounded by locust trees and lofty elms, from among which its decent, whitewashed walls shine modestly forth, like Christian purity, beaming through the shades of retirement. A gentle slope descends from it to a silver sheet of water, bordered by high trees, between which peeps may be caught at the blue liills of the Hudson. To look upon this grass grown yard, where the sunbeams seem to sleep so quietly, one wonld think that there at least the dead might rest in peace. On one side of the church extends a wide woody dell, along which ra ves a large brook among broken rocks and trunks of fallen trees. Over a deep black part of the stream, not f ar from the church, was formerly thrown a wooden bridge; the road that led to it, and the bridge itself were thickly shaded by overhanging trees, which cast a gloom about it, even in the day tinie; but occasioned a fearful darkness at night. Such was one of the favorite haunts of the headless horseman, and the place where he was most frequently encountered. The tale was told of old Brouwer, a most heretical disbeliever in ghosts, how he met the horseman returning from his foray into Sleepy Hollow, and was obliged to get up behind him; how they galloped over bush and brake, over hill and swamp, until they reached the bridge, when the horseman suddenly turned into a ekeleton, threw old Brouwer into the brook, and sprang away over the treo tops with a clap of thunder. This story was immediately matehed by a thrice marvelous adventure of Brom Bones, who made light of the galloping Hessian as an arrant jockey. He affirmed that on returning one night from the neighboring village of Sing Sing he had been overtaken by this midnight trooper; that he offered to race with him for a bowl of punch, and should have won it too, for Daredevil beat the goblin horse all hollow, but just as they came to the church bridge the Hessian bolted and vanished in a flash of fire. All these tales, told in that drowsy undertone with wliich men talk in the dark, the countenances of the listeners only now and then receiving a casual gleam from the glaro of a pipe, sunk deep in the mind of Ichabod. He repaid thein in kind with large extracts ïrom his invaluablo author, Cotton Mather, and added many rnarvelous events that had taken place in his native state of Connecticut, and fearful sights which he liad seen in his nightly walks about Sleepy Hollow. The revel now gradually broke up. The old farmers gathered together their families in their wagons, and were heard for some time rattling along the hollow roads, and over the distant Lüls. Some of the damsels mounted on pillions bebind their favorite swains, and their light hearted laughter, mingling with the clatterof hoofs, echoed along the silent woodlands, sounding fainter and fainter, until they gradually died away - and the late scène of noise and f rolio was all silent and desorted. Ichabod only lingered behind, according tothe custom of country lovers, to have a tete-a-tete with the heiress; fully convinced that he was now on the high road to success. What passed at this interview I will not pretend to say, for in fact I do not know. Something, however, I i'ear me, must have gone Wrong, for he certainly sallied forth, after no vory great interval, with an air quite desolate and chapfalle - Oh, these woinen! these womenl CjM that girl have been playing off any of her coquettish tricksf - Was her encourageinent of the poor pedagogue all a mere sham to secure a conquest of his rival1' - Heaven only knows. nut I! - Iet it suiïico to say, Ichabod stolc forth with the air of one who had Ixh'ü sacking a henroost, rather than a fair lady's heart. Without looking to the right or left to notice the scène of rural wealth, on which he had so often gloated, ho went straight to the stablo, and ith several hearty cuffs and kicks, roused his steed moot uncourteously from the comfortablo quarters in which he was soundly sleeping, dreaming of ruoHiitains of corn and oats, and wholo valleya of timothy and dover. It vra the very witchmg time of night that 'i. !:], heavy hearted and crestfalle; . p; i : 1 his travel homewards, along i . sides of the lofty hills which rise above 'j'arry Town, and which ho had traversed so cheerüy in tho afternoon. The hour was as dismal as himself . Far below lüm the Tappaan Zee 6pread its dusky and indistinct waste of waters, ivith here and there the tall mast of a sloop, riding quietly at anchor ander tho [ land. In the dead hush of midnight, he could even licar the barking of the watchdog from the opposite shore of the Hudson; but it was bo vague and faint as only to give an idea of his distance from this faithful companion of man. Now and then, too, the long drawn crowing of a cock, accidentally awakened, would sound far, far off, from Bomo farm house away among the hills- but it was like a dreaming sound in his ear. No signs of life occurred near him, but occasionally the melancholy chirp of a cricket, or perhaps the guttural twang of a bullfrog from a neigh boring marsh, as if sleeping uncomfortably, and turning suddenly in bis bed. All the stories of ghosts and goblins that he had lieard in the afternoon now came crowding upon his recollection. The night grew darker and darker; the stars seemed to sink deeper in the sky, and driving clouds occasionally hid them from liis sight. He had never feit 60 lonely and dismal. He was, rnoreover, approaching the very place where many of the scones of the ghost stories had been laid. In the center of the road stood an cnormous tulip tree, which towercd like a giant above all the other trees of the neighborhood and formed a kind of landmark. lts limbs were gnarled and fantastic, large enough to form trunks for ordinary trees, twisting down almost to the earth, and rising again into the air. It was connected with the tragical story of the unf ortunate Andre, who had been taken prisoner hard by, and was universally known by the name of Maj. Andre's tree. The 2ommon people regarded it with a mixure of respect and superstition, partly out of sympathy f Or the fate of its ill Btarred namesake and partly from the tales of strange sights and dolëf ui lamentations told concerning it. As Ichabod approached this fearful tree he began to whistle; he thought his whistle was answered; it was but a blast Bweeping sharply through the dry branches. As he approached a littlo nearer he thought he saw something wliite lianging in the midst of the tree ; he paused and ceased whistling, but on looking more narrowly, perceived that it was a place where the tree had been acathed by lightning and the white wood laid bare. Suddenly he heard a groan - lus teeth chattered, and his knees smote against the saddle; it was but the rubbing of one huge bough upon another, as they were swayed about by the breeze. Ho passed the tree in safety, but new perils lay before him. About two hundred yards from the tree, a small brook crossed the road and ran into a marshy and thickly wooded glen, known by the name of Wiley's fciwamp. A few rough logs laid side by side served for a bridge over this stream. On that side of the road where the brook entered tho wood, a group of oaks and chestnuts, matted thick with wild grape vines, threw a cavernous gloom over it. To pass this bridge was tho severest trial. It was at this identical spot that the unfortunato Andre was carrtured, and under the covert of those chestnuts and vines were the sturdy yeomen concealed who surprised him. This has ever since been considered a haunted stream. and fearful are the feelings of a schoolboy who has to pass it alone after dark. As he approached the stream his heart began to thunip; ho Burmnoned up, however, all his resolution, gave his horse half a score of kicks in the ribs and attempted to dash briskly across the bridge; but instead of starting forward, the perverse oíd animal madk a lateral movement and ran broadside against the fence. Ichabod, whose fears increased witn tne aelay, jerked tñe reins on the other side and kicked lustily v.ith the ; contrary foot; it waa all in vain; his steed started, it is true, but it was only to plungo to the opposite side of the road into a thicket of brambles and alder bushes. The schoolmaster now bestowed both whip and heel upon the starveling ribs of oíd Gunpowder, who daslied forward, snufïling and snorting, but came to a stand just by the bridge, with a suddenness that had nearly sent his rider sprawling over his head. Just at thia moment a plashy tramp by the side of the bridge caught the sensitive ear of Ichabod. In the dark shadow of the grove, on the margin of the brook, ho beheld Bomething huge, misshapen, black and towering. It stirred not, but seemed gathered up in the gloom, like some gigantic monster ready to Bpring upon the travelor. The hair of the affrighted pedagogue rosT'di his head with terror. What was m done? To turn and fly was now too late, and besides what chance was tbene of escaping ghost or goblin, if such it was, v. ich could lide upon the wings of the wind' Summoning up, thereiore, a show of courage, he demanded in stammering accents, "Who are you?" He received no reply. He repeated liia demand in a stiü more atritated voice. Still there was no answer. Onco more he cudgeled the sides of the inflexible Gunpowder, and, shutting his eyes, broke forth with involuntary forvor into a psalm tune. Just then the shadowy object of alarm put itself in motion, and with a scranible and a bound, stood at once in the middle of the road. Though the night was dark and dismal, yet the f orm of the unknown might now in soma degree be ascertained. He appeared to be a horseman of largo dimensions, and movmted on a black horse of powerful frame. He made no offer of molestation or sociability, but kept aloof on one side of the road, jogging along on the blind side of old Gunpowder, who had now got over his fright and waywardness. Ichabod, who had no rclish for this strango niidnight companion, and bethought himself of the adventure of Brom Bones with the galloping Hessian, now quickened his steed, in hopes of leaving him behind. The stranger, however, iniickened his horse to an equal pace. Ichabod pulled up, and feil into a walk, thinking to lag behind - the other did the same. His heart began to sink within him; he endeavored to resume his psalm tune, but his parched tongue clove to the root' his inoutli, and he could not utter a sta ve. There was something in the moody and dogged silence of this pertinacious companion that was mysterious and appalling. It was soon fearfulJy acixmnted for. On mounting a rising ground, which brought tlie tigure of his iellow traveler in relief against tho sky, gigantic in height and muliled in a cloak, Ichabod was hori-or struck, on perceiving that ho was headless! but his horror was still more increased on observing that tho head, which should havo rested on bia shoulders, was carried befoxe hiru on the pommel of his saddle! His terror rose to desperation ; ho rained a shower of kicks and blows upon Gunpowder, hoping, by a sudden movement, to give lus companion the slip - but the specter started full jump with him. Away, then, they dashed through thick and thin, stones flying and sparks flashing at evcry bound. Ichabod's flimsy garments llutiered in the air, as he Btretched his long, body away ovex his horse's head, in the eagêrness of his flight. They had now reached the road which turns ofï to Sleepy Hollow; but Gun'powder, who seemed possessed with a demon, instead of keeping it up, made an opposite turn, and plunged headlong down hill to the left. This road leads through a sandy hollow, shaded by trees for about a (juarter of a ïnile, where it crosses the bridge famous in goblin story; and just beyond swells the green knoll on which stands the whitewashed church. As yet the panio of the steed liad given his unskillful rider an apparent advantage in the chase; but just as he had got half way through the hollow the girths of the saddle gave way, and ho feit it slipping from imder him. He seized it by the pommel, and endeavored to hold it firm, but in vain, and had just time to save hiinself by clasping oldGunpowder round the neck when the saddle feil to the earth, and he heard it trampled under foot by his pursuer. For a moment the terror of Hans Van Ripper's wrath passed across his mind - for it was his Sunday saddle; but this was no time for petty fears; the goblin was hard on his haunches, and (unskillful rider that he was) he had much ado to maintain his seat, sometimes slipping on om; sidr, sometimes on another, and sometimes iolted on the high ridge of his horse's back bone with a violence that he verily feared would cleave him asunder. An opening in the trees now cheered him with the hopes that the church bridge was at hand. The wavering reflection of a silver star in the bosom of the brook told him that ho was not mistaken. He saw tiie walls ot the church dimly glaring under the trees beyond. He recollected the place where Brom Bones' ghostly competitor had dieappeared. '4lf I can but reach that bridge," thought Ichabod, "I aru safe." Just then he heard the black steed panting and blowing close behind him; he even fancied that he feit his hot breath. Another convulsivo kick in the ribs, and old Gunpowder sprang upon the bridge; hethundered over tlio resounding planks, he gained the opposite side, and now Ichabod cast a look behind to see if the pursuer ehould vanish, according to rule, in a flash of tire and brirustone. Just then he saw the goblin rising in his stirrups, and in the very act of hurling his head at him. Ichabod endcavored to dodge the horrible missile, but too late. In encountered bis cranium vvith a tremendous crash - he was tumbled headlong into the dust, and Gunpowder, the black Reed and the goblin rider passed by Jike a wliirlwínd. The next morning the old horse was found without his saddle, and with the bridle under his feet, soberly cropping the grass at his master's gate. Ichabod did not make his appearanceatbreakfast - dinner hour carne, but no Ichabod. The boys assembled at the school house, and strolled idly about the banks of the brook; but no schoohnaster. Hans Van Ripper now began to feel some uneasiness about the fate of poor Ichabod, and his saddle. An inquiry was set on foot, and after diligent investigation they carne upon his traces. In one part of the road leading to the church was found the saddle trampled in the dirt; the tracks of horses' hoofs deeply dented in the road, and evidently at furious speed, were traced to the bridge, beyond which, on the bank of a broad part of the brook, where the water ran deepand black, was found the hat of the unfortunate Ichabod, and close beside it a shattered pumpkin. The brook was searched, but the body or tne schoolmaster was not to be discovered. Hans Van Kipper, as executor of his estáte, exaniined the bundie which contained all his worldly effects. They consisted of two shirts and a half, two stocks for the neck, a pair or two of worsted stockings, an old pair of corduroy email clothes, a rusty razor, a book of psalm tunes full of dog"s ears and a broken pitch pipe. As to the books and furniture of the school house, they belonged to the community, excepting Cotton Mather's "History of Witchcraft," a New England Almanae, and a book of dreams and fortune telling, in which last was a sheet of foolscap inuch scribbled and blotted by several iruitless attempts to make a copy of verses in honor of the heiress of Van Tassel. These magie books and the poetic scrawl were forthwith consigned to the llames by Hans Van Ripper, who, from that time forward, determined to send his children no more to school, observing that he never knew any good come of this same reading and writing. Whatever money the schoolmaster pos?essed, and he had received his quarter's pay but a day or two before, he must havo had about his person at the time of lus disappearance. ïho mysterious event caused much speculation at the church on the ing Sunday. Knots of gazers and gossips were collected in the churcliyard, at tho bridge, and at tho spot where the hat and pumpkin had been found. Tho stories of Brouwer, of Bones, and a whole budget of others, wcro called to mind, and wlien they had diligently considered them all, and compared them with the symptoms of the present case, they shook their Iiead8 and came to the conclusión tliat Ichabod liad been carried off by the galloping Hessian. As he was a bachelor, and in nobody's debt, nobody troubled his head any moro about him; the school was removed to a different quarter of tho IIollow, and another pedagogue reigned in lus stead. It is true, au old farmer who liad been down to New York on a visit soveral years after, and from whom tfais account of tho ghostly adventure was received, brought home tho intelligence that Ichabod Crane was etill alive; tliat he had left the neighborhood partly through fear of the goblin and Hans Van Ripper, and partly in mortification at having been suddenly dismissed by tho heiress; that he had changed his quarters to a distant pait of the country; had kept school and studied law at the same time; had been admitted to the bar; turned politician; electioneered ; written for the newspapers; and, finally, had been made a justice of the ten ponnd court. Brom Bones, too, who shortly after his rival's disappearance, conducted tlie blooming Katrina in triumph to the altar, was observed to look exceedingly knowing whenever the story of Ichabod was related, and always burst into a hearty laugh at the mention of the pumpkin; which led somo to suspect that he knew more about tho matter than he ehoso te teil. The .k country wives, bowever, are the best judges of these mattere, . maintain to this day that Ichabod u spirited away by supernatural means; and it 3 a favorite story often told about the neighborhood round the winter evening fire. The bridge became more tlian ever an object of superstitious awe. and that may be the reason wliy tlie road bas been altered of late years, so as to approach the church by the border of the mili pond. The school house being deserted soon feil to decay, and was reported to be haunted by the ghost of the unfortunato pedagogue, and the plow boy, loitering liomeward of a still summer evening evening, has often fancied his voice at a distance, chanting a melancholy psahu tune among tho tranquil solitudes of Sleepy Hollow. POSTSCRIPT. FOt'XD IN THE HAMUWKJ'i ..NQ OF J1K. knickerboct: .... The preceding t:lo is giren, almoet ín the precise words ir. which I hcard it related at a corporation meeting of the ancient city of the Manhattoes (New York), at wnich were present many of its saest and most illustrious burghers. The narrator waa o pleosant, shabby, gentlemanly old l'ellow in pepper andsalt clothes, with asadly humorous lace; and one wlioru I strongly suspected of beiag poor - lie made such efforts to be entertaining. When liis story was concluded there was mucli laughter and approbation, particularly f rom two or three deputy aldermén, wlio had been asleep the greater part of the time. There was, however, one tall, dry looking old gentleman, with beetling eyebrows, who inaintained a grave and rather severo face throughout; now and then folding his arms, inclining his head, and looking down upon the floor, as if txirning a doubt over in his mind. He was one of your waty men, who nevar laugh but upon good grounds - when they have reason and the law on their side. When the mirth of the rest of the company liad subsided, and silence waa restored, he leaned one arm on the elbow of his chair, and sticking the other a-kimbo, demanded, with a slight but exceedingly sage motion of the head, and contraction of the brow, what waa the moral of the story, and what it went to prove. The story teller, who was just putting a glass of wino to his lips, as a refreshment after his toils, pauscd for a moment, looked at his inquirer with an air of infinito deference, and lowering tlu. glasa slowly to the table, observed that the story was intended most logically to prove: "That there is no situation in life but has its advMiitages and pleasures - provided we will but take a joke as we finl it: "That, therofore, he that runs races with goblin troopers is likely to have-rough riding of !: "Ergo, lor a country schooliruistor te be refused tlie iiand of a Dutch lieiress is a certain step to liigh preferment in the state." The cautious old gentleman knit hÍ8 browa tenfold closer after this explanation, being sorely puzzled by the ratiocination of the syllogism; while, methought. the one in pepper and salt eyed him with something of a triumphant leer. At length he observed that all this was very well, but still he thought the story a little on tho extravagant - there were one or two points on which he load his doubts: "Faith, sir," replied the story teller, "as to that matter, I don't believc one-half of it myself."