The Hitchhiker

One-minute review: On the national highway between Baltimore and New York City is a particularly dangerous intersection at which many accidents have occurred. Dr. Eckersall was driving home form his country club one night when he saw a beautiful girl in a gown hitchhiking. He stopped. She said she needed to get home to 35 _____ Street in Baltimore. Dr. Eckersall asked her to get into the back seat of his car because his front seat was filled with golf clubs.

She said from the back seat, “I hope it’s not too far out of your way.” The doctor harrumphed, put the car in gear and drove to 35 _____ Street. When he pulled up and said, “Well, here we are….” he turned around and the girl was missing. She had vanished.

Flabbergasted, the doctor knocked at the door of 35 _____ Street. A tired-looking older man  answered. The doctor began: “The most amazing thing has happened….” When he had finished his story about the missing hitchhiker, the tired-looking man nodded. “I know,” he said. “Several people have stopped and told me the same story. That girl was my daughter. She was killed in an automobile accident two years ago.”

Famous Ghost Stories. Ed. Bennett Cerf. New York: The Modern Library. Random House, inc. 1944.