The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1862-07-25

other, 'thout tipping over"
"Pooh," said Dean, "I've killed moose on
Chesuncook when the waves were so high
that you couldn't stand on the shore and look
at 'emr'
might tell good many queer anecdotes of
their relating but, in order to properly indi-
cate their emphatic words, should be obliged.
in obedience to certain conventionalism. to
have recourse to the use of dashes, and so
frequently, that your supply, dear Pres, s,would
be exhausted
Still, cannot refrain from repeating little
ghost story of Jacks which, with Deans ex-
PLANTATION, may be of use to mediums of the
present day, and our good city, Excepting the
intensives, give the story in Jacks language.
We was warping boom across Eagle Lake
one time at about one o'clock at night, and twas
the darkest night ever saw. When we were
about in the middle of the Lake, we see a face
bigger than ony of ours and it was all on fire.
thought it was the devil and so did all the
boys, but we didn't feel much scared and SO we
sung out something or other to him. He only
answered by two raps on a kind of brass bell.
kept coming nearer to the headworks of the
boom. Such eyes you never saw, they were
just like Goals Of fire and his mouth was full of
bright smoke. Some of the fellows began to
get little bit skeery and one or two of them
thought the boom bs iud ought to be seen to,
land for all we kepe-nollering, he didn't do
nothing but rap, rap, rap, on that bell of his.
tell you it wasn't very pleasant to see him
spit fire not more'n twenty rods from you and
so / took up my rifle and, thinks /, old boy
you'd better stop putting. The boys said I'd
better not fire, cause he might get mad and
then there would be no stopping of him. But
took up the old gun and aimed at his eyes
and said, I'll give the devil his due anyway
and the cap flushed and went out. When |
seed it warn't no go, tell you boys didn't /
draw on my vocabberlary? But when that cap
went out, the devil went out too, for that was
the last We see of him."
We all guessed in turn what might have
been the cause of the apparition, and although
one suggested that the supper might have
raised his satanic majesty, and another said
that whiskey had more to do with it than
birthstone. it was plain that the conversation
was fast drifting to the land of the dim and
wierd.
And now came Deans revenge.
Don't you know how that came about.
Jack?"
Jack was little shy, but said, after awhile.
"No, nor you either'
"Oh, yes, my boy, and this is how it was.-
You know kept the cooks boat on that drive.
don't you? Well, one night when it was ter
rible dark, Twas rowing with Bill j to the
headworks with night luncheon. We rowed
still and could hear every word you said on
the boom. When we had got pretty near Bill
struck match TO light his pipe, and we heard
you begin to talk about 'what's that?- And
Bill knew it kind Of made his face look strange
like, and he made me keep lighting matches
and he would hold them up to his face as he
was smoking. And we could tell you were all
scared, and so we hept coming nearer, till, at
once, we heard your cap snap; and Bill, he
says to me, as quick as lightning, Pull to the
left; pull as If you were going home, pull
And then we rowed round for a little while.
and Bill says, That was mighty narrow
squeak for me, wasn't it? II he'd fred'--
And so you never knew what it was afore that
frightened you, didn't you, Jack?"
Jack was bent down minute by the laugh
ter at him, and then said,
"By thunder, Dean Murch, come to think of
il, wasn't on that drive at all must hdr
heard about that ghost l wasn't on the
drive r
Nor either p said Dean.
Do you wonder that have never forgotten
that evening of wonderful stories and the trials
of river wit
1t is with just such tournaments of Dragging
that the river-drivers keep up their spirits in
their hard work, and, although, like Jack.
they "draw pretty freely on their vocabulary"
their stories are like old wine
1t is eight miles to the southern outlet of
Chamberlain Lake, and we then come to Round
Lake or Telosis. 1t is noticeable peculiarity
of these lakes, that they have most perfect
checdur de .trise around the shores. The
fringe is of drift wood, piled up when the wa
ter is high in the spring of the year, and the
water is rendered higher from the fact that the
lumbermen have placed, at most of the outlets.
dams to give them better supply of water for
the spring driving. Were it not for this fringe
of dead trees, the Lake Chamberlain would be
one of the finest of our inland lakes.
Telosis, or little Teos, is only couple of
miles in diameter, and is noticed here only be-
cause it is on our way to Telos Lake beyond
This lake has attracted good deal of atten-
ton, from its having been the cause of the Te-
los controversy. This war with the st. John
people was spoken of in former letter and
need now be merely alluded TO. Telos is said
to be the Indian word for "end of the way,n
since in former times it was necessary to carry
across into Webster Lake, Telos being the end
OF the way of the River ST. John. Let your
high-school readers see what the Greek word
tetos means, and let them look into this curl
GUS analogy. On the shores of this lake
found, imbedded in the mud, an old French
dress-sword. The blade was broken in two,
and one portion was lost, but the finish of the
remaining half was discernable, even through
the rust of many years. How did it come
there, on the banks of that inland lake?
G.