The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Its said that Sleepy Hollow is a peculiar bewitched town. Some mention its strange nocturnal shrieks and howls its haunted valleys and streams and the ghostly woman in white but most people talk of the Headless Horseman. Unlucky travelers are frightened by a giant ghostly soldier that rides through the night headless. Ichabod Crane a teacher is captivated by these tales. He doesnt realize they might be more than simply stories until late one night as he makes his way home through Wileys swamp. What is that ominous gloomy apparition behind him on the horse? What does it hold in its hands then? And why was teacher Crane never again spotted in Sleepy Hollow?