The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow

When the good folk of Sleepy Hollow got together around the fire on dark and windy
nights, their talk often turned to a mysterious
being who had been seen riding along nearby
roads.
"He was a Hessian cavalryman who lost his
head in the Revolutionary War," one said. "A
cannonball took it clean off."
"He's a ghost, the commander of all the evil
7
Around the Fire

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

spirits in these parts," another claimed.
Nobody knew for sure. But many a farmer,
out late at night, would see this apparition go
swooping past-an enormous, terrible figure
mounted on a powerful stallion. He was the
Headless Horseman!
"His body's buried in the churchyard," said
one man, who claimed to be an expert on the
subject. "At night he rides out to the battlefield
where he was killed to look for his missing
head. Toward dawn you'll see him go tearing
through the Hollow as fast as he can ride. He
has to get back to his grave before daybreak."
One of those who listened most closely to
these ghostly tales was Ichabod Crane. Ichabod was the town's schoolmaster, and a man
who thought he knew a thing or two about
ghosts himself.
Ichabod, indeed, looked something like a
crane. He was a tall, lanky young man with
long arms and legs, hands that dangled a mile
8

The Town's Schoolmaster

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

out of his sleeves, and feet like shovels. His
small head was perched on a skinny neck. He
had huge ears and a long, pointed nose that
made his head seem like a weather vane pointing the direction of the wind. Many said he
looked like a scarecrow from some cornfield.
Now, Sleepy Hollow is one of the most peaceful spots in the world. It's a hidden valley
along the Hudson River that's just as quiet
and drowsy and dreamy as it can possibly be.
Some say a German doctor, practiced in witchcraft, put a spell on the Hollow many years
ago. Others claim that it was the scene of the
powwows of an Indian sorcerer even before
Henry Hudson sailed up the river that bears
his name.
"This is a haunted spot," an old farmer whispered to Ichabod one night. "The sky is full of
meteors and shooting stars. And there's nightmares that will slip into your dreams."
During the day, Ichabod didn't have time to
10

"This Is a Haunted Spot."

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

think of ghosts and spirits. He was busy running his little one-room schoolhouse. If you
went by on a warm drowsy day you might hear
the murmuring voices of his pupils reciting
their lessons. Or you might hear the stinging
whack of the birch rod as the schoolmaster
laid into some misbehaving student.
But Ichabod didn't like having to punish his
charges. If the child was weak and cried just
to look at the switch, the teacher let him off
with a warning. When he had to beat a tough
young lad for mischief, Ichabod assured the
boy that the lashing was "for your own good."
Ichabod liked his pupils. When school was
out, he would even become the companion and
playmate of the older boys. And he would
sometimes walk the younger ones home, especially if they had a pretty older sister or if their
mother happened to be a good cook.
He always tried hard to keep on good terms
with the families of his pupils. He had no

12

~~"""
~

A Companion and Playmate

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

choice. His salary was very small, and his appetite was very large.
''What's for dinner?" were often the first
words out of Ichabod's mouth. Though skinny,
he could swallow a huge meal the way an anaconda snake does.
As part of his pay, he would room and take
his meals with the farmers whose children
went to his school. He lived with each family
for a week, then moved on. Over the year, he
made the rounds of the neighborhood, all his
belongings tied up in a big cotton handkerchief.
Farmers in those days sometimes thought
that schooling cost too much, or that schoolmasters were just lazy drones. To make the
burden lighter, and to make himself useful,
Ichabod would help his hosts with their chores
whenever he could. He helped the farmers to
make hay. He lent a hand when they mended
their fences, took horses to water, drove cows
14

Rounds of the Neighborhood

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

to pasture, and cut wood for the winter fire.
"Let me take care of the little lambs," he
would say to the mothers. And he would sit for
hours with one child on his knee, at the same
time using his foot to rock another in its cradle.
One of Ichabod's great pleasures was to pass
long winter evenings sitting by the fire with
the farmers' wives as they told tales of ghosts
and goblins. They would talk while they spun
wool and roasted apples in the fireplace.
"That field down yonder is haunted," someone would say.
"There's a goblin that lives under that
bridge," another would claim. "I've seen him
with my own eyes."
Ichabod had his own tales to tell. He had
read books on witchcraft and could relate stories of omens and the odd sights a person could
see in the night. He would tell of the dangers
of comets and shooting stars. Sometimes he
16

'fl

~14.

Passing Long Evenings Sitting By the Fire

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

would scare those ignorant people by telling
them the world actually turned around-and
that without knowing it, they spent half their
time upside down!
It was pleasant telling these tales while sitting snug in a chimney corner. The room would
glow with the heat of the crackling wood fire.
And of course no ghost dared to stick his head
inside.
But walking home afterwards was another
story. Then all the terrors of the fables took
form around the timid schoolmaster. Fearful
shapes and shadows loomed along his path in
the snowy. evening. Seeing the light of a distant window, he wished he were back safe inside.
"Oh, keep away from me!" he would exclaim.
But it was only a bush covered with snow, not.
a ghost.
''What was that?" he whispered. But it was
merely the sound of his own feet breaking
18

Fearful Shapes and Shadows

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

through the snow.
It got so that he dreaded even to look over
his shoulder, in case someone was following
him. But there was one spirit that Ichabod
Crane feared more than any other. It was the
one the old farmers' wives called the Galloping
Hessian of the Hollow.
Sometimes, very late at night, walking
through some dark, shadowy glen, Ichabod
would suddenly hear a rushing blast come
howling through the trees.
"It's only the wind," he would tell himself.
But he could never completely convince himself that it wasn't-the Headless Horseman!
2

In addition to teaching school and helping

out around the farms where he lodged, Ichabod Crane was the singing master of the
neighborhood. He earned many bright coins by
20

Singing Master of the Neighborhood

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

instructing young folks in the singing of
hymns.
On Sundays, he was very proud to take his
place in front of everyone at church and lead
his little group of chosen singers.
"I think," he would confide to his friends afterward, "that our hymns this morning really
outshone everything else about the service.
Don't you agree?"
Certainly you could hear his voice above
everyone else's. It carried half a mile, to the
other side of the mill pond. And they say that
to this day on a quiet Sunday morning the
faint notes of Ichabod Crane's high voice still
echo in the air near the old church.
An educated man, Ichabod was a gentleman
with tastes and knowledge way beyond what
the rough country men could brag of. He
proved to be popular with all the girls and
women of that rural neighborhood. Whenever
he came to visit, they were likely to set out

22

Popular with All the Girls

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

extra cakes and candies, and to make use of
their best silver teapots.
Ichabod went out of his way to encourage
the good opinion of the ladies. He would talk
with them after church on Sundays. He would
gather grapes for them from the wild vines
that overran the surrounding trees. He would
recite for their amusement all the sayings
carved into the gravestones in the churchyard.
"Here lies my wife, and let her lie," he read.
"She's at peace and so am I." And all the ladies
woul4 giggle.
He would go walking with a whole group of
them down by the mill pond, while the bashful country bumpkins hung back. These young
men were shy as sheep, and envied Ichabod's
elegance and easy way with the girls.
The ladies thought Ichabod a man of great
learning. He read to them from a History of
New England Witchcraft. Witches and magic
were subjects that he believed in most firmly
24

Shy as Sheep

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

himself.
Wise and educated as he was, Ichabod still
loved weird and unusual tales. Living in
Sleepy Hollow whetted his appetite for legends
of ghosts. The more wild and strange the story,
the more likely he would swallow it.
Often after school he would lie in the clover
near the gurgling brook and read for hours
about witches and goblins and ghosts. It would
already be growing dark by the time he headed for home. Every sound of nature spooked
his excited mind. The cooing of a whippoorwill
from the hillside, the croak of a tree toad, the
hooting of an owl, even the rustling of birds in
a bush made Ichabod's hair stand on end.
Fireflies scared him. A beetle might bump
into him in the dark and he would jump ten
feet, sure that he'd been touched by a witch.
The only way he could make it home was to
sing his hymns, which he thought would drive
away evil spirits-or at least drown out the

26

Lying in the Clover

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

noises they made.
"There goes Ichabod Crane," a farmer in
Sleepy Hollow would say to his wife as they sat
by their house at night. "I hear that scrawny
schoolteacher's voice again."
But however many fears and frights came
over Ichabod, they were merely the terrors of
his own mind. Though he'd seen many
specters in the darkness, and even been pursued by the devil in various shapes, daylight
always put an end to these evils. His life was
actually a safe and pleasant one.
Until one day his path was crossed by a
being who has caused more trouble for mortal
man than all the ghosts, goblins and witches
put together-a woman.

3
''Miss Van Tassel," Ichabod Crane said one
evening. "Your voice was just marvelous
28

Miss Van Tassel

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

tonight. You are certainly making great

progress."
Ichabod had just finished giving his little
group of singers their weekly music lesson.
Katrina Van Tassel, the young lady he spoke
to, looked at him through her eyelashes.
"Thank you, Master Crane," she said. ''You
are too kind." She threw him a very sweet
smile, which he quickly returned.
"Please give my best wishes to your mother
and father," Ichabod said, as she started for
home.
"I will," answered the girl. "I'm sure they
would be happy to have you visit sometime
soon."
The schoolmaster's adam's apple moved up
and down. He blushed with happiness. He
kept staring down the road long after Katrina
had disappeared, imagining her in his mind's
eye.
"Katrina," he sighed to himself.
30

"Katrina," He Sighed.

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

Katrina Van Tassel was the only child of one
of the most prosperous Dutch farmers of those
parts. She was plump as a partridge, and as
soft and rosy-cheeked as one of her father's
luscious peaches. She was famous for her
beauty, and just as famous for her family's
riches, which she would someday inherit.
Of course, not everyone saw her through
rose-colored glasses the way Ichabod did.
"That little snip?" one farmer's wife said of
her. ''Why, she's a flirt and she's stuck on herself. Just look at the way she dresses."
It was true that Katrina liked to dress up in
the bright gold jewelry that her great-grandmother had brought from Europe. Her skirt
was shockingly short for those days, all the
better to show off the prettiest foot and ankle
in the neighborhood.
Ichabod had a soft spot for all women, so it's
not surprising that he fell for such a pretty girl
as Katrina. Especially when he found out how
32

Famous for Her Beauty

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

rich her family was.

''Welcome, schoolmaster," boomed old Baltus
Van Tassel, when Ichabod paid the family a
visit. "Katrina has spoken very highly of you."
Katrina's father welcomed Ichabod with a
hearty slap on the back.
"Sh-she-she has?" Ichabod stammered.
''Why, of course she's by far my most talented
singing student. Her voice is just like a
nightingale's, I declare it is."
"Oh, she's full of stories about you," Van Tasse1 said. "She says you're the smartest man
she ever met."
''Well, I don't know about that." Very pleased
with himself, Ichabod looked down at his big
feet.
As soon as he had a chance, he also -looked
all around the Van Tassel farm, which stood in
a fine spot on the banks of the Hudson River.
The barn was as big as a church, full to overflowing with grain and hay. Rows of plump pi34

A Hearty Slap on the Back

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

geons cooed from its roof.

Sleek fat hogs were lounging comfortably in
their pens, or strolling out now and then to
sniff the air. A flock of snow-white geese, along
with a squad of ducks, drifted lazily in the
pond. Several big turkeys went gobbling
around the farmyard as if they owned it.
And to top it off, a magnificent rooster strutted across the yard. He flapped his wings, and
crowed with pride and happiness. Then he
scratched in the earth to find some grubs for
his family of hens and chicks.
''My, what a fine farm you have," Ichabod
told Katrina's father. "I can't help admiring all
your animals. They're so handsome, so well
fed."
In fact, Ichabod's mouth was watering.
Everywhere he looked he saw not animals, but
food-ham and bacon, beef and sausages.
When he looked at the pond, he saw geese in
their gravy and ducks swimming in an onion

- -~ --:::-...- ~

~-

.;::'"""~

36

~-

-;r""' -

''What a Fine Farm!"

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

sauce.
Seeing the pigs, he imagined them roasted
with apples in their mouths. He thought about
turkeys stuffed and brown from the oven.
He could even see the rooster plucked and
cooked, lying on its back and ready to be
carved.
''You have a good eye for livestock," said the
proud Baltus Van Tassel. "Come into the
house. My wife has been dying to meet you."
Everything about the house told Ichabod of
the family's wealth. Outside were harnesses
and nets for taking loads of fish from the river.
Huge bags of wool stood ready to be spun into
yarn.
Inside the walls were hung with colorful Indian corn and strings of dried apples and
peaches and red peppers.
"This is our best parlor," said Mrs. Van Tassel, proud to show off her home to the schoolmaster. The polished wooden table shone like
38

"Our Best Parlor"

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

a mirror. In the corner she opened a cupboard
so that Ichabod could admire their treasure of
old silver.
When he'd concluded his very pleasant visit,
Ichabod headed home on foot, determined that
someday these rich fields, these orchards
loaded with fruit, would be his.
''Who knows?" he said to himself. "I may
even sell everything and invest the money in
an enormous piece of land out west. They say
that's where fortunes are to be made these
days."
Yes, he could see it already. He and the lovely Katrina heading out on a loaded wagon for
Tennessee or Kentucky, or lord knows where.
He even imagined that they already had a
family of children who would go with them.
But it was one thing to imagine himself
courting the rich and beautiful girl-and quite
another thing to win her heart.

40

He Could See It Already.

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW.

4
Ichabod had heard of the knights of the
olden days who went out to defend their ladies.
They had to fight giants and dragons, and do
battle with sorcerers. Then they had to climb
stone walls and break through iron gates into
the dungeons where the poor damsels were
being held prisoner.
''My task is just as difficult," the schoolmaster said to himself. "I must try to win the heart
of the beautiful Katrina. And she's such a fickle girl, forever changing her mind. I never
know if she's serious, or only toying with me."
And that wasn't all. Like the knights of old,
Ichabod had foes. Not dragons or giants, but
flesh and blood rivals. There were many young
farm boys who thought they were the ones who
should marry the fair Katrina. They were jealous of each other, and especially jealous of an
outsider like Ichabod Crane. Ichabod knew
42

Flesh and Blood Rivals

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

that they would gang up on him if he tried to
woo the gir1 he loved.
"I'm always ready for a fight!" cried the most
frightening of all these rivals. His name was
Abraham Van Brunt, but his friends shortened
that to Brom. And because he was so strong,
so powerfully built, everyone called him "Brom
Bones."
Brom was known throughout the country as
a hardy young man with dark, curly hair and
a handsome face. He was bold and liked his
fun.
''You should see him ride a horse," Ichabod's
friends whispered to him. "And when he says
something, that's it. Nobody dares to question
him."
Brom Bones was a rough man, but not a
bad-tempered one. He and his friends loved to
have fun, and would go around the countryside
looking for good times. He would wear a fur
cap with a fox tail hanging down.
44

Brom Bones

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

"Ay, there goes Brom Bones and his gang!"
an old lady would say, when the whoops and
cries of the band of ruffians woke her in the
night.
When someone played a prank, or a fight
broke out, everyone knew Brom Bones was
likely to be at the bottom of it.
This rogue had already picked out the girl
for him. It was none other than the lovely Katrina Van Tassel. He didn't know much about
getting a girl to like him. He was gruff as a
bear when he approached her. But she seemed
to like him anyway-at least, sometimes.
None of the other rivals for the love of Katrina dared to approach her when Brom Bones
came to call at her house. If they saw his horse
tied out front, they rode on by. His reputation
as a brawler was too fierce.
Ichabod recognized that it would be foolish
for him to challenge Brom directly. But he took
advantage of his position as Katrina's singing

46

A Band of Ruffians

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

teacher. It gave him a perfect excuse for paying attention to her and visiting her at home.
Katrina's parents were glad to have the
schoolmaster come by. They indulged their
only daughter, and paid little attention when
Ichabod and Katrina went out walking around
the farm in the evening.
We can't know what it was the two talked
about as they walked. But we can be certain
that Ichabod used all his learning and charm
to try to win the fickle Katrina. And he surely
thought that he was making some progress. In
fact, he might have imagined that his dream
of marrying her and inheriting the Van Tassel
riches was about to come true.
The neighbors noticed that Brom Bones's
horse was not seen very often tied to the fence
outside the Van Tassel home any more.
"That Ichabod Crane had better watch out,"
they said. "Bones is not a man to cross."
Everyone knew that Brom Bones and Icha48

Out Walking

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

bod Crane would have to face each other sooner or later. Brom wanted to settle the matter
like the knights in armor did, by fighting Ichabod face to face.
"I'll double the schoolmaster up," he said,
"and lay him on a shelf in his own schoolhouse."
Well, Ichabod wasn't about to give him the
chance to do anything like that. He never let
Brom rattle him. He never rose to the challenge of his cruder and stronger rival.
Brom Bones tried to provoke the schoolmaster by playing practical jokes on him. Brom
and his friends would come storming past Ichabod's peaceful schoolhouse on their horses.
They stopped up the chimney and made the
building fill with smoke during singing
lessons. They broke into the school at night
and turned everything upside down. Ichabod
wondered if a group of witches might have had
a meeting there.
50

Turning Everything Upside Down

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

Always, Brom looked for a chance to embarrass Ichabod when Katrina was around. Once
he took a mangy old dog and taught him to
whine and howl in a very funny way. He sent
this dog to sit outside during singing lessons
and howl when he heard Ichabod's voice.
The summer passed, and still the two rivals
never fought it out. Now it was a fine autumn
afternoon. Ichabod sat at his desk in the
school. In the drawers were all those forbidden
things he'd taken from his pupils-half-eaten
apples, popguns, and many, many paper tossing balls.
His students were hard at work. Ichabod
had given one of them a taste of the birch rod
not long before, so they were on their best behavior. The schoolroom was peaceful.
But the quiet was soon broken by the arrival
of a man riding a wild, half-broken colt. He
came clattering up to the school like some important messenger.

52

Clattering Up to the School

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

''Master Crane," he announced. ''You are invited to a party. It is hoped that you will grace
the house with the honor of your honorable
presence, most honorable sir."
"A party?" Ichabod said. "But where?"
"A party, a merrymaking, a festive event,"
said the man, full of his own importance.
''Yes, but who invites me?" the schoolmaster
asked again.
''Why, the honorable Master Van Tassel," the
messenger announced. "This very evening. At
his honorable home, What will I tell him?"
"I'll be there!" Ichabod shouted. "I'll most
certainly be there."

5
"All right, children," said the schoolmaster.
"That'll be all for today. You can go home now.
Run along."
The boys looked at each other in amaze54

"Run Along."

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

ment. The teacher never let them out early. He
was more likely to make them stay late at
school until they finished some boring lesson.
But not today. Today it was rush, rush, rush.
He didn't even make them put their books
away. And when they knocked over benches in
their eagerness to leave, he didn't say a word.
In a flash they were out of the school and running across the village green, shouting with
joy and ready to have fun.
The gallant Ichabod was brushing and tidying up his best suit-actually, it was his only
suit. He spent half an hour in front of a broken mirror that hung in the schoolhouse, slicking his hair and trying to look stylish.
Because he imagined himself a knight in
shining armor, he decided that he must arrive
at the Van Tassel party in style.
"I need to borrow a horse," he told the
farmer he was staying with. "And, of course, a
saddle."
56

His Best Suit

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

That ornery old Dutchman, Hans Van Ripper, looked at him through narrow eyes. "I
guess you could take Gunpowder," Van Ripper
said. "But you'll have to ride him with a firm
hand. He's full of mischief, that horse. He has
the devil in him."
Ichabod assured the farmer that he was a
skillful rider, though in truth he'd only been on
a horse a few times in his life. And so, sitting
on this majestic mount, he rode out in quest of
adventure.
"Let's go, Gunpowder," the schoolmaster
said. The horse gave him a dirty look before he
began to clomp slowly down the road.
Gunpowder was a broken-down work horse.
He had the neck of a goat and a head like a
hammer. His tail was all matted with burrs,
and he was blind in one eye. But no matter
how old and worn out he looked, he was a
horse full of mischief.
"Onward, noble steed," Ichabod said to en58

"Onward, Noble Steed!"

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

courage the animal.
They made a good pair. Ichabod rode with
short stirrups, so that his knees were up to the
top of the saddle. His sharp elbows stuck out
like grasshoppers'. He carried his whip upright, like a lance. As the horse jogged along,
Ichabod's arms flapped like a pair of wings.
The sight the horse and rider made as they
shambled out of Van Ripper's gate was an odd
one indeed.
It was a beautiful autumn evening. Frost
had nipped the trees, turning their leaves to
brilliant orange and purple and red. Wild
ducks streamed past high in the sky, heading
south. Squirrels scampered around gathering
beech and hickory nuts for winter.
As usual, Ichabod's thoughts turned to food.
"What a lovely crop of apples this year," he
said to himself. "Look at that great heap waiting for the cider press. And those pumpkins
would make some tasty pies."
60

Upright, Like a Lance

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

.
'

' 1!

'

'

:i '
".

Passing by some beehives, he couldn't help

but think of a stack of steaming pancakes, and
Katrina's dimpled little hand pouring honey
over them.
It was quite a journey to the Van Tassel
farm, all the way to the other side of Sleepy
Hollow. Along the way Ichabod could see the
peaceful waters of the Hudson reflecting distant mountains. By the time he approached
the farm, the sun was setting in the west,
turning the sky pink and gold.
''Why, what a crowd," Ichabod observed to
his host. "Everyone in the region seems to be
here tonight."
"Of course," said the jolly Master Van Tassel.
"The inore the merrier, we say. Have a good
time, schoolmaster. Later we'll have dancing."
Ichabod looked around at the leather-faced
farmers, with their homemade coats and huge
shoes. Their wives wore plain country outfits
that were very old-fashioned. The young ladies
62

''What a Crowd!"

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

111111

might put on a fancy ribbon or straw hat

they'd bought in the city. And the lads tied
their hair back in short pony tails, which was
the fashion of the time.
"Here comes Brom Bones!" someone shouted. Many of the party looked out to see him
come thundering up on his magnificent horse,
Daredevil. This was a horse, hardly even broken, who galloped with such wildness that he
often came close to throwing his rider. Just the
kind of animal Brom liked.
Ichabod didn't pay much attention to the entrance of his rival. He'd spied something that
interested him more--and I don't mean all the
pretty girls who were there that night. No, Ichabod had seen the food!
Platters were heaped with cakes that only
Dutch housewives know . how to bake. There
were doughnuts and sweet cakes and shortbread.
"Help yourself, Master Crane," said Katri-

64

"Help Yourself, Master Crane!"

I I/II

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

'. ~t::;:
~.~

na's mother as she laid out more goodies.

"I don't know where to begin," Ichabod told
her, though he'd already made a good beginning. "It all looks so good. Shall I have apple
pie or peach pie or pumpkin pie?"
He decided a slice of each would be the best
choice. He went on, piling his plate with ham
and beef, with roast chicken and broiled fish
and heaps of preserved peaches, plums, and
pears. In fact, there wasn't a dish on the table
that Ichabod didn't try.
"Delicious," he said, and took another
mouthful. Nothing made him happier than
eating. As he chewed, he rolled his eyes and
chuckled to himself.
One day, he thought, this will all be mine. I'll
snap my fingers in the face of Hans Van Ripper
and all those stingy farmers. I'll be master of
this house. No more school teaching then.
"Eat up," said old Baltus Van Tassel. "It's
time for the dancing!"
66

"Delicious"

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

The fiddler was a gray-haired old man who'd
been playing music in the region for fifty years.
He ran his bow across his battered violin, nodding his head in time to the music. He stomped
his foot every time a new couple was to start.
''May I have this dance?" Ichabod said to the
lovely Katrina. He held his breath waiting for
her answer.
"Certainly," she said. Ichabod's heart leapt
with joy.
Ichabod prided himself on his dancing as
much as on his singing. When he danced, his
arms and legs shook, his head and hips rolled,
every part of him moved to the music. His
lanky body clattered around the room as if he
were having a fit.
Tonight he was in bliss to be dancing with
his sweetheart. He rolled his eyes at her, and
she answered with smiles and winks.
All this time Brom Bones, jealous as he
could be, sat in the corner by himself. He

68

Bliss to Be Dancing

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

brooded and frowned as he watched the

dancers. The more Ichabod and Katrina
whirled around the room, the more angry
Brom Bones became.
6

When the dance was over, Ichabod joined

Baltus Van Tassel and some of the older folks,
who were sitting out on the porch talking
about the Revolutionary War, which in those
days was not long over. There had been fighting between the British and Americans near
Sleepy Hollow. Everyone had a favorite story
about what had happened to them.
"I almost captured a British warship all by
myself," one old Dutchman said. "I would
have, except my gun jammed."
"I blocked a musket ball with my sword,"
said another. When the others laughed, he offered to show them the dent in his sword as
70

Everyone Had a Favorite Story.

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

proof.
When each one had had a chance to tell
what a hero he'd been in the war, the talk
turned to ghosts. For these were people who
lived near Sleepy Hollow. Everyone knew what
strange and frightening things happened in
that hidden spot.
"Have you ever seen the woman in white?"
one old man asked. "She haunts the Hollow
near Raven Rock. You'll hear her shriek on
winter nights when a bad snow is coming. She
died in an icy snowstorm years ago."
"The Headless Horseman has been out and
about lately," said another man, puffing on his
pipe. "I've seen him."
"As have I," another added. "He was riding
past the old church on the hill."
"Did you hear," said Master Van Tassel,
"what happened to old Brouwer?"
His friends said they had not.
"He never believed in spirits and such. But
72

"The Headless Horseman Has Been Out."

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

one night he was riding down that road by the
glen where the trees grow so thick over the
road that it's dark even during the day. The
Horse1nan chased him over hill and dale until
they reached the bridge that crosses the
stream down there. At that point, the Horseman turned into a skeleton and flew over the
trees with a clap of thunder. Old Brouwer tumbled head first into the stream."
The men nodded at this new tale, a lesson to
those who don't believe.
"I met that silly Headless Horseman once,"
a voice said. They all looked. It was Brom
Bones.
"I was riding home one night, when I saw
him," he continued. "I offered to race him, bet
I could beat him. And I would have. Daredevil can beat any horse-alive or dead. But just
as we reached that bridge, the Horseman
pulled up and vanished in a flash of fire."
Ichabod was impressed by these stories. He

74

Vanished in a Flash of Fire

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

added some of his own, telling what he had
seen on his nightly walks through Sleepy Hollow.
Soon the time came for the party to break
up. Farmers gathered up their families in
their wagons and set out for home. You could
hear them rattling through the quiet night as
they went. Some of the girls went off with their
boyfriends. Their laughter sounded fainter
and fainter until it gradually died away.
The house grew quiet. Ichabod was the last
to leave. He lingered to talk with Katrina, certain that he had won her heart.
We'll never know what she said to him. But
she must have given him bad news, for he soon
came out of the house looking as sad as any
man ever looked.
Had the fickle Katrina been playing with
him all along? Had she used him just to make
Brom Bones jealous? Heaven only knows.
But her answer was written on Ichabod's
76

Ichabod Was the Last to Leave.

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

gloomy face. He trudged out to the barn to
fetch his horse, who was sound asleep.
It was very late at night when Ichabod started on his somber journey home. The countryside, which had seemed so cheerful earlier,
was now dark and dismal. The night was so
still that he could hear a watch dog barking
from all the way across the river.
Now all the stories of ghosts and goblins
that he'd been hearing came back to him.
''My goodness, it sure is dark out tonight,"
he said to himself. Just then clouds moved in
to cover the stars, and it grew darker still.
He was approaching the darkest, loneliest
part of Sleepy Hollow. A man had been hanged
from the big tree that stood beside the road.
They said his ghost lingered there. As Ichabod
drew closer, he began to whistle. And someone
whistled back!
No, it was only the wind through some
branches. For a moment he thought he saw
78

The Darkest, Loneliest Part of Sleepy Hollow

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

something white in the tree. But it proved to
be a place where the wood had been split by
lightning.
Suddenly he heard a groan. His teeth chattered in fright. But it was just two limbs of the
tree rubbing against each other. Ichabod
passed by. Nothing happened.
But up ahead, the road was even darker and
spookier. He had to cross a little stream that
everyone said was haunted. Nobody liked to
cross that stream after dark. As Ichabod approached it, his heart began to thump.
"Come on, Gunpowder," he said. "Let's hurry
up."
He gave the horse a few kicks in his ribs to
make him move faster. But the horse would
never do what his rider wanted. First he
banged into a fence sideways. Then he
plunged across the road into a bramble bush.
When he came to the stream, the stubborn
horse stopped dead. Ichabod nearly went fly-

80

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

ing right over the animal's head.
As he righted himself in the saddle, the
schoolmaster heard a sound. He peered into
the darkness. Deep in the shadow of a grove
he was able to make out a black and towering
shape. He couldn't see what it was, but he
imagined it to be a gigantic monster ready to
spring on him!

7
Ichabod's hair stood up on his head in terror. It was too late to turn and run. What
should he do?
"Who-who are you?" he stammered.
The being did not reply.
''Who's there?" Ichabod repeated.
No answer. Ichabod nudged the stubborn
Gunpowder into motion. He closed his eyes
and began to sing one of his hymns.
A loud noise made him look around. The
82

A Black and Towering Shadow

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

creature had moved out to the middle of the
road. Even in the darkness, Ichabod could see
that it was a rider, an enormous figure on a
powerful black horse. And he was following
along behind the schoolmaster as he went.
"Giddy-up, Gunpowder," Ichabod said. "Let's
go." He hurried on, hoping to leave the strange
horseman behind. But the other kept pace
with him.
Next, Ichabod tried slowing down to let the
dark figure pass him by. But the stranger
slowed down, too. Ichabod tried to sing his
hymn again, but his mouth was so dry that he
couldn't get a note out.
What he hated was the silence of the creature. It made not a sound, but rode along, mysterious and menacing.
They both went over a small hill. Now, viewing his fellow traveller against the background
of the sky, Ichabod was horrified to see that
the horseman had no head! Even worse, he
84

An Enormous Figure

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

was carrying the head, that should have been
on his shoulders, in the crook of his arm!
Now Ichabod gave Gunpowder some fierce
kicks to get him going. They galloped down the
road as fast as the horse could run. But the
specter came chasing right behind. Both of
them were riding like the wind, throwing up
stones and sparks as they went.
In his mad rush to get away, Ichabod paid
little attention to where he was going. Now he
discovered that Gunpowder had taken the
road that led to the bridge so famous in all the
ghost stories. It was the one just down the hill
from the lonely churchyard where the Headless Horseman was said to be buried!
Gunpowder was running in a mad panic,
and they actually managed to gain some distance on the awful pursuer. But just then Ichabod felt the girth come loose on his saddle!
He tried to hold onto it, but the saddle
slipped and then fell off. The phantom horse

86

In a Mad Panic

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

behind them trampled it into the dust.
"Oh, no! Hans Van Ripper will be furious
when he finds I've lost his good saddle,'' Ichabod gasped.
But he quickly realized that he had more
terrible problems to worry about. One of them
was trying to stay on Gunpowder's back. First
he slipped to one side, then to the other. Sometimes he was jolted so hard on the horse's
backbone, he thought he'd break in two.
But what was that up ahead? He saw
starlight shimmering on a brook. He saw a
church on a hill. And he saw a bridge. It was
the same bridge where the Headless Horseman always disappeared!
"If I can just reach that bridge," thought Ichabod, "I am safe."
At that moment he heard the black steed
panting close behind him. He imagined he
could even feel the horse's hot breath.
"Go, Gunpowder, go!" he shouted. He gave
88

Panting Close Behind Him

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

the bony horse another kick.
Old Gunpowder sprang onto the bridge. His
hooves thundered over the planks. As he
reached the opposite side, Ichabod looked behind to watch the horseman vanish in a flash
of fire just as he was supposed to.
Just at that moment he saw the goblin rise
up in his stirrups and hurl his head at him.
Ichabod tried to dodge the horrible missile, but
too late. It crashed into his skull!
Ichabod tumbled into the dust. Gunpowder,
the black steed, and the goblin rider passed by
like a whirlwind.
The next day old Gunpowder was found
without his saddle, munching grass by his
master's gate. Ichabod did not appear for
breakfast. Dinner hour came, but no Ichabod.
The children showed up at school, but not their
schoolmaster.
'What could have happened to Ichabod
90

Hurling His Head

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

Crane?" wondered Hans Van Ripper. "And
where is my saddle?"
His neighbors helped him look. They found
his saddle trampled in the dirt. They followed
the tracks of horses' hooves leading to the
bridge by the church. On the bank of the
stream they found Ichabod's hat. Close beside
it was a shattered pumpkin.They searched the
brook, but did not find the schoolmaster's
body.
Ichabod left only a few possessions behind,
some clothes, a rusty razor, and a few books.
In the back of a book about dreams and fortune telling were some sheets on which Ichabod had tried to write a poem to the fair Katrina. Hans Van Ripper burned these sheets
and Ichabod's books along with them.
"I'll never send my children to school again,"
he swore. "No good comes of learning to read
and write."
At church on Sunday, everyone was talking
92

A Shattered Pumpkin

LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

of Ichabod Crane and his mysterious disappearance. Folks went down to the bridge to see
where the cap and pumpkin were found. They
talked over all the stories they'd heard. Finally they decided that Ichabod had been carried
off by the Headless Horseman.
And with that, nobody troubled any more
about the matter. They moved the school to another spot and hired a new schoolmaster.
Years later, an old farmer claimed that Ichabod Crane was still alive. The schoolmaster
had moved to a distant part of the country and
kept a schoolhouse there. He had studied law,
had become a lawyer, had written for newspapers, and had even been elected judge.
Brom Bones, who soon after the disappearance married the lovely Katrina, always
seemed to know something about the matter.
Whenever anyone mentioned the pumpkin, he
would burst into laughter.
But the old farmers' wives were the ones
94

Brom Bones Married Katrina.

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

who knew best. They were certain that Ichabod had been taken away by some spirit. They
often told the story around the fire on a winter's night.
The deserted schoolhouse, they said, was
haunted by the ghost of the poor teacher. A boy
walking by there on a summer night would
sometimes hear a distant voice singing a
hymn, the sound drifting sadly through the
quiet of Sleepy Hollow.

96

Telling Stories of the Old Schoolhouse