A herd of a hundred horses--or three times the number--pasturing upon a
prairie, although a spectacle of the grandest kind furnished by the
animal kingdom, is not one that would strike a Texan frontiersman as
either strange, or curious. He would think it stranger to see a
_single_ horse in the same situation.
The former would simply be followed by the reflection: "A drove of
mustangs." The latter conducts to a different train of thought, in
which there is an ambiguity. The solitary steed might be one of two
things: either an exiled stallion, kicked out of his own _cavallada_, or
a roadster strayed from some encampment of travellers.
The practised eye of the prairie-man would soon decide which.
If the horse browsed with a bit in his mouth, and a saddle on his
shoulders, there would be no ambiguity--only the conjecture, as to how
he had escaped from his rider.
If the rider were upon his back, and the horse still browsing, there
would be no room for conjecture--only the reflection, that the former
must be a lazy thick-headed fellow, not to alight and let his animal
graze in a more commodious fashion.
If, however, the rider, instead of being suspected of having a thick
head, was seen to have _no head at all_, then would there be cue for a
thousand conjectures, not one of which might come within a thousand
miles of the truth.
Such a horse; and just such a rider, were seen upon the prairies of
South-Western Texas in the year of our Lord 1850 something. I am not
certain as to the exact year--the unit of it--though I can with
unquestionable certainty record the decade.
I can speak more precisely as to the place; though in this I must be
allowed latitude. A circumference of twenty miles will include the
different points where the spectral apparition made itself manifest to
the eyes of men--both on prairie and in chapparal--in a district of
country traversed by several northern tributaries of the Rio de Nueces,
and some southern branches of the Rio Leona.
It was seen not only by many people; but at many different times.
First, by the searchers for Henry Poindexter and his supposed murderer;
second, by the servant of Maurice the mustanger; thirdly, by Cassius
Calhoun, on his midnight exploration of the chapparal; fourthly, by the
sham Indians on that same night: and, fifthly, by Zeb Stump on the night
following.
But there were others who saw it elsewhere and on different occasions--
hunters, herdsmen, and travellers--all alike awed, alike perplexed, by
the apparition.
It had become the talk not only of the Leona settlement, but of others
more distant. Its fame already reached on one side to the Rio Grande,
and on the other was rapidly extending to the Sabine. No one doubted
that such a thing had been seen. To have done so would have been to
ignore the evidence of two hundred pairs of eyes, all belonging to men
willing to make affidavit of the fact--for it could not be pronounced a
fancy. No one denied that it had been seen. The only question was, how
to account for a spectacle so peculiar, as to give the lie to all the
known laws of creation.
At least half a score of theories were started--more or less feasible--
more or less absurd. Some called it an "Indian dodge;" others believed
it a "lay figure;" others that it was not that, but a real rider, only
so disguised as to have his head under the serape that shrouded his
shoulders, with perhaps a pair of eye-holes through which he could see
to guide his horse; while not a few pertinaciously adhered to the
conjecture, started at a very early period, that the Headless Horseman
was Lucifer himself!
In addition to the direct attempts at interpreting the abnormal
phenomenon, there was a crowd of indirect conjectures relating to it.
Some fancied that they could see the head, or the shape of it, down upon
the breast, and under the blanket; others affirmed to having actually
seen it carried in the rider's hand; while others went still further,
and alleged: that upon the head thus seen there was a hat--a black-glaze
sombrero of the Mexican sort, with a band of gold bullion above the
brim!
There were still further speculations, that related less to the
apparition itself than to its connection with the other grand topic of
the time--the murder of young Poindexter.
Most people believed there was some connection between the two
mysteries; though no one could explain it. He, whom everybody believed,
could have thrown some light upon the subject, was still ridden by the
night-mare of delirium.
And for a whole week the guessing continued; during which the spectral
rider was repeatedly seen; now going at a quick gallop, now moving in
slow, tranquil pace, across the treeless prairie: his horse at one time
halted and vaguely gazing around him; at another with teeth to the
ground, industriously cropping the sweet _gramma_ grass, that makes the
pasturage of South-Western Texas (in my opinion) the finest in the
world.
Rejecting many tales told of the Headless Horseman--most of them too
grotesque to be recorded--one truthful episode must needs be given--
since it forms an essential chapter of this strange history.
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In the midst of the open, prairie there is a "motte"--a coppice, or
clump of trees--of perhaps three or four acres in superficial extent. A
prairie-man would call it an "island," and with your eyes upon the vast
verdant sea that surrounds it, you could not help being struck with the
resemblance.
The aboriginal of America might not perceive it. It is a thought of the
colonist transmitted to his descendants; who, although they may never
have looked upon the great ocean, are nevertheless _au fait_ to its
phraseology.
By the timber island in question--about two hundred yards from its
edge--a horse is quietly pasturing. He is the same that carries the
headless rider; and this weird equestrian is still bestriding him, with
but little appearance of change, either in apparel or attitude, since
first seen by the searchers. The striped blanket still hangs over his
shoulders, cloaking the upper half of his person; while the
_armas-de-agua_, strapped over his limbs, cover them from thigh to spur,
concealing all but their outlines.
His body is bent a little forward, as if to ease the horse in getting
his snout to the sward; which the long bridle-rein, surrendered to its
full length, enables him to do, though still retained in hand, or
resting over the "horn" of the saddle.
Those who asserted that they saw a head, only told the truth. There is
a head; and, as also stated, with a hat upon it--a black sombrero, with
bullion band as described.
The head rests against the left thigh, the chin being nearly down on a
level with the rider's knee. Being on the near side it _can_ only be
seen, when the spectator is on the same; and not always then, as it is
at times concealed by a corner of the serape.
At times too can a glimpse be obtained of the face. Its features are
well formed, but wearing a sad expression; the lips of livid colour,
slightly parted, showing a double row of white teeth, set in a grim
ghastly smile.
Though there is no perceptible change in the _personnel_ of the Headless
Horseman there is something new to be noted. Hitherto he has been seen
going alone. Now he is in company.
It cannot be called agreeable;--consisting as it does of wolves--half a
score of them squatting closely upon the plain, and at intervals loping
around him.
By the horse they are certainly not liked; as is proved by the snorting
and stamping of his hoof, when one of them ventures upon a too close
proximity to his heels.
The rider seems more indifferent to a score of birds--large dark birds--
that swoop in shadowy circles around his shoulders. Even when one
bolder than the rest has the audacity to alight upon him, he has made no
attempt to disturb it, raising neither hand nor arm to drive it away!
Three times one of the birds has alighted thus--first upon the right
shoulder, then upon the left, and then midway between--upon the spot
where the head should be!
The bird does not stay upon its singular perch, or only for an instant.
If the rider does not feel the indignity the steed does; and resists it
by rearing upward, with a fierce neighing, that frights the vultures
off--to return again only after a short interval of shyness.
His steed thus browsing, now in quiet, now disturbed by the too near
approach of the wolves--anon by the bold behaviour of the birds--goes
the Headless Horseman, step by step, and with long pauses of pasturing,
around the prairie island.