Glenn.

"Get along, you stupid creatures!" cried Joe, applying the lash with
some violence. But the horses regarded him no more than blocks would
have done. Immediately in front he perceived a dark object that
resembled a stump and turning the horses slightly to one side,
endeavoured to urge them past it. Still they would not go, but
continued to regard the object mentioned with dread, which was
manifested by sundry restless pawings and unaccustomed snorts. Joe
resolved to ascertain the cause of their alarm, and springing to the
ground, moved cautiously in the direction of the dark obstruction,
which still seemed to be a blackened stump, about his own height, and
a very trifling obstacle, in his opinion, to arrest the progress of
his redoubtable team. The darkness was intense, yet he managed to keep
his eyes on the dim outlines of the object as he stealthily approached
And he stepped as noiselessly as possible, notwithstanding he
meditated an encounter with nothing more than an inanimate object. But
his imagination was always on the alert, and as he often feared
dangers that arose undefinable and indescribable in his mind, it was
not without some trepidation that he had separated himself from the
horses and groped his way toward the object that had so much terrified
his pony. He paused within a few feet of the object, and waited for
the next flash of lightning to scrutinize the thing more closely
before putting his hand upon it. But no flash came, and he grew tired
of standing. He stooped down, so as to bring the upper portion of it
in a line with the sky beyond, but still he could not make it out. He
ventured still nearer, and stared at it long and steadily, but to no
avail: the black mass only was before him, seemingly inanimate, and of
a deeper hue than the darkness around.