The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1874-05-07

OF the IflSnIIul 1HlaSlnln9S blaI Dau
: oppressed my mind, when a shrilI, un-
! earthly scream, seemingly from the
: depths of the dark forest, broke upon
our ears.
"Gott in himmel vat's dat? shout
: ed Muttinger, springing to his feet
and grasping me by the arm.
| felt each separate hair rise on end,
and my heart, after q sudden bound,
) ceased to beat. Muttinger stood with
open mouth aud suspended breath,
) his eyes glaring wildly in the direc-
tion whence the unearthly sound
} came.
Another wild d,blood-curdling scream
nearer than the first, caused Muttinger
to spring forward, still holding to my
, arm. AS we reached the space be-
tween the mouth of the hut and the
boiling place, there dashed suddenly
past-us in the rear of the blazing fire,
white horse, bearing a gigantic fe-
male form, with flowing garments and
long, white hair streaming on the
wind
i l was speechless and fixed to the
spot. Muttinger gave one agonized
yell and bounded from me, as the
phantom horse wheeled round the
campfire towards us, and another
remember that Muttinger disappeared
[ reeled to the punchoon bunk, falling
upon which plunged my head under
the straw and blankets.
Whether I became suddenly insens-
ible from fright, or the liquor l had
drunk stupeffed my senses, 1 never
was able satisfactorily to determine.
But in that moment ended my expert
| ences of that fearful night
When awoke to consciousness it
was to feel the strong grasp of some
one who was trying to draw me from
4 my hiding place, and from whom, with
screams of terror, struggled to es-
cape.
.'Why. whatin the name of creation
| Is the matter with you, Willy? Who's
been here? Where's Muttinger ?p were
the first words l comprehended.- -
Looking up, | found myself in the
hands of John Wolfe, who regarded
me with utter astonishment.
Rubbing my eyes and looking round
for moment, began 10 comprehend
the situation. It was bright daylight.
Mr.. Wolfe had returned and / was
safe. The fire was out, and only the
half-burned logs and chunks remained
from which the thin. blue smoke
curled up into the bright morning
sunlight. There was strong smell
of burnt sugar in the air, and the ket-
ties were cold and black, some of
them half-full of charred sugar. AS
Mr.. Wolfe surveyed the scene in utter
disrnay, he repeated his question:
Why, what upon earth has hap
pened What has become of Muttin-
ger?"
He's carried off by the old squaws
ghost !" was the only solution / could
give to the mystery and, having by
this time become wide awake, [ re-
lated to Mr.. Wolfe the frightful events
of the night as they occurred.
| had hardly finished my narrative
before several persons from the adj
Joining camps arrived. Each had
marvellous story to relate of strange
noises heard and strange sights seen
in the valley during the night. One
had heard the most Unearthly screams,
another had seen the ghost of the old
squaw careering madly through the
woods on her white horse; while an
other told that, as he and two or three
others were playing cards by their
campfire, the phantom steed and its
ghostly rider dashed almost over
them, frightening the party almost out
of their senses. Others from different
parts of the valley came in. each with
some fearful tale of the ghostly do
ings of the night.
1fBut what has become of Mnttiager,
was the general inquiry, and / was
obliged to reherse my story, as afford
ing the only explanation of his mys-
terious disappearance. The fearful
anxiety on that individuals account
was finally relieved by the arrival of
one of the Slough boys, from his
fathers camp on the opposite side of
the Mahoning, about half mile dis
tant. From him we learned that about
midnight Muttinger came running
into his fathers camp, SO paralyzed
with fear tina. he could scarcely artie-
ulate-his eyes glaring wildly, his face
pale. and his clothes torn and drip
ping wet. In answer to their ques-
tions, he only ground out something
about the old squaw's ghost, and soon
fell to the ground in a hard convuI-
sion. They forced some whisky down
his throat, rolled and rubbed him, and
sent for the nearest doctor, who had
been with him since daylight, but who.
had little hopes of his recovery.
All this not only corroborated my
story but, in the minds of the super
stitous sugar-makers, confirmed the
ghostly legends that had been current
among them and the excitement
throughout the valley became intense.
Fortunately, it was about the breaking
up of the sugar-makiDg season, or
much loss would have been sustained
by the immediate abandonment of the
camps which took place. Many could
not be prevailed upon 70 remain an
other night, but packed up and left
that day, while those who were una
BILE to leave so precipitately took good
care not to be alone after nightfall.
Muttinger, partially restored from
the effects of his fright, was sent home
but for several days he was in a very
precarious condition. 1t was many
weeks before he was considered to
have recovered his right mind. His
account of the appearance of the ghost,
its pursuit of him through the woods,
and his narrow escape by crossing
stream-which he did by
pluRging into the half frozen Mahon-
ing nearly up to his neck-was traly
and was as religiously be-
lieved by most of his hearers as by
himself.
There were some incrednlous per-
sons, however, who laughed at the
story of the old squaw's ghost, aud
gave different explanation of the
events of that memorable
night. For Graves, who made the
bet of a jug of whisky with the boast
ing Muttinger, was known to be a
most incorrigible wag and practical
Joker. 1t had been ascertained that
farmer Sapp's white fillY was missing
from the stable that night; and it was
that the farmers daughters
one of whom was Joe's sweetheart
had assisted him in getting up a
ghostly costume, similar in every re-
spect to that in which the old squaw'S
ghost made its night-ride through the
sugar camps of the Mahoning Valley,
Joe Graves stoutly denied any
knowledge of that nights doings; but