{"product_id":"2940013000124","title":"The Headless Horseman: A Strange Tale of Texas","description":"The stag of Texas, reclining in midnight lair, is startled from his\u003cbr\u003eslumbers by the hoof stroke of a horse.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe does not forsake his covert, nor yet rise to his feet. His domain is\u003cbr\u003eshared by the wild steeds of the savannah, given to nocturnal straying.\u003cbr\u003eHe only up rears his head and, with antlers overtopping the tall grass,\u003cbr\u003elistens for a repetition of the sound.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAgain is the hoof stroke heard, but with altered intonation. There is a\u003cbr\u003ering of metal the clinking of steel against stone.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe sound, significant to the ear of the stag, causes a quick change in\u003cbr\u003ehis air and attitude. Springing clear of his couch, and bounding a score\u003cbr\u003eof yards across the prairie, he pauses to look back upon the disturber\u003cbr\u003eof his dreams.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the clear moonlight of a southern sky, he recognizes the most\u003cbr\u003eruthless of his enemies: man. One is approaching upon horseback.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYielding to instinctive dread, he is about to resume his flight when\u003cbr\u003esomething in the appearance of the horseman some unnatural seeming holds\u003cbr\u003ehim transfixed to the spot.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWith haunches in quivering contact with the sward, and frontlet faced to\u003cbr\u003ethe rear, he continues to gaze his large brown eyes straining upon the\u003cbr\u003eintruder in a mingled expression of fear and bewilderment.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhat has challenged the saga to such protracted scrutiny?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe horse is perfect in all its parts a splendid steed, saddled,\u003cbr\u003ebridled, and otherwise completely caparisoned. In it appears nothing\u003cbr\u003eamiss, nothing to produce either wonder or alarm. But the rider? Ah!\u003cbr\u003eAbout him there is something to cause both something weird something\u003cbr\u003ewonting!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBy heavens! it is the head!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEven the unreasoning animal can perceive this and, after gazing a moment\u003cbr\u003ewith wildered eyes wondering what abnormal monster thus mocks its\u003cbr\u003ecorvine intelligence terror stricken it continues its retreat nor again\u003cbr\u003epauses, till it has plunged through the waters of the Leona, and placed\u003cbr\u003ethe current of the stream between itself and the ghastly intruder.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHeedless of the affrighted deer either of its presence, or precipitate\u003cbr\u003eflight the Headless Horseman rides on.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe too, is going in the direction of the river. Unlike the stag, he does\u003cbr\u003enot seem pressed for time but advances in a slow, tranquil pace so\u003cbr\u003esilent as to seem ceremonious.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eApparently absorbed in solemn thought, he gives free rein to his steed\u003cbr\u003epermitting the animal, at intervals, to snatch a mouthful of the herbage\u003cbr\u003egrowing by the way. Nor does he, by voice or gesture, urge it\u003cbr\u003eimpatiently onward, when the howl bark of the prairie wolf causes it to\u003cbr\u003efling its head on high, and stand snorting in its tracks.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe appears to be under the influence of some all absorbing emotion, from\u003cbr\u003ewhich no common incident can awake him. There is no speech not a whisper\u003cbr\u003eto betray its nature. The startled stag, his own horse, the wolf, and\u003cbr\u003ethe midnight moon, are the sole witnesses of his silent abstraction.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHis shoulders shrouded under a serapé, one edge of which, flirted up by\u003cbr\u003ethe wind, displays a portion of his figure his limbs encased in \"water\u003cbr\u003eguards\" of jaguar skin thus sufficiently sheltered against the dews of\u003cbr\u003ethe night, or the showers of a tropical sky, he rides on silent as the\u003cbr\u003estars shining above, unconcerned as the cicada that chirrups in the\u003cbr\u003egrass beneath, or the prairie breeze playing with the drapery of ms\u003cbr\u003edress.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSomething at length appears to rouse from his reverie, and stimulate mm\u003cbr\u003eto greater speed his steed, at the same time. The latter, tossing up its\u003cbr\u003ehead, gives utterance to a joyous neigh and, with outstretched neck, and\u003cbr\u003espread nostrils, advances in a gait gradually increasing to a canter.\u003cbr\u003eThe proximity of the river explains the altered pace.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe horse halts not again, till the crystal current is surging against\u003cbr\u003ehis flanks, and the legs of his rider are submersed knee deep under the\u003cbr\u003esurface.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe animal eagerly assuages its thirst crosses to the opposite side and,\u003cbr\u003ewith vigorous stride, ascends the sloping bank.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eUpon the crest occurs a pause as if the rider tarried till his steed\u003cbr\u003eshould shake the water from its flanks. There is a rattling of saddle\u003cbr\u003eflaps, and stirrup leathers, resembling thunder, amidst a cloud of\u003cbr\u003evapor, white as the spray of a cataract.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOut of this self constituted nimbus, the Headless Horseman emerges and\u003cbr\u003emoves onward, as before.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eApparently pricked by the spur, and guided by the rein, of his rider,\u003cbr\u003ethe horse no longer strays from the track but steps briskly forward, as\u003cbr\u003eif upon a path already trodden.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA treeless savannah stretches before salvaged by the sky. Outlined\u003cbr\u003eagainst the azure is seen the imperfect centaurean shape gradually\u003cbr\u003edissolving in the distance, till it becomes lost to vi","brand":"Purple Cow Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47082025091312,"sku":"2940013000124","price":5.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013000124_p0.jpg?v=1763575159","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013000124","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}