politician; electioneered; written for the newspapers; and
finally, had been made a Justice of the Ten Pound Court.
Brom. Bones, too, who, shortly after his rival's disappearance,
conducted the 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 some to suspect that
he knew more about the matter than he chose to tell.

The old country wives, however, who are the best judges
of these matters, maintain to this day, that Ichabod was spirited
away by supernatural means; and it is a favorite story often
told about the neighborhood round the winter evening fire.
The bridge became more than ever an object of superstitious
awe; and that may be the reason why the road has been al-
tered of late years, so as to approach the church by the border
of the mill-pond. The school-house being deserted, soon fell
to decay, and was reported to be haunted by the ghost of the
unfortunate pedagogue; and the plough-boy, loitering home-
ward of a still summer evening, has often fancied his voice at
a distance, chanting a melancholy psalm tune among the tran-
quil solitudes of Sleepy Hollow.

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