The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1879-03-13

dous bound regained the friendly thicket,
and then fed like deer" through the
woods.
Alter this melancholy day the specter
was more than ever Stunned. Nobody
knew whether any body bad ever exam
ined it, or had ever been close enough to
it tn tell exactly what it was.
In less than two years the harmless
thing had Tin one sense of the word)
many diabOlicsl attributes forcibly tied
ts its narrative, as the tail of homeless
dog is sadly familiar with old, battered
tin-pans.
One winter night truly awful tenn
pest ragged in the lake region, and Lake
ceneca had TO bear the brunt. Each one
of the schooners, barges and ssibosts
upon it had made good harbor, except
the staunch schooner Alss," having on
board cargo Of sundries, and crew of
Mr.. Latin, skipper, two other men and
boy. One of the crew was a negro
named Stone, but commonly called
Pete Mig"
During one of the flashes of lightning,
the crew saw the Wandering Jew /"
about ten fathoms from their bow, bear
ing down upon then.
Pete Mig" was very superstitious
darkey, and the specter 90 scared him he
lost his presence of mind. A sudden,
mighty sea swashed over the deck, and
"Pete Mig" went overheard. Another
fash granted his shipmstes to see him
meet his enemy they grappled, then all
was blackness again. They were seen 10
more. The furious storm threatened so,
the ship was SO fastened by the blast,
nothing could he done to save the poor
castaway, except to throw overheard a
couple of planks which CHANGED to be
loose upon the deck.
One afternoon last summer l was
sketching near Starkey. During an
interval of rest, while slowly walking
along the beach, saw in the sand and
gravel piece of bone, which l kicked
and unesrthed a human "right" humerul
of the African type. Much surprised, ]
searched and made an important discov'
cry. Wishing to have the skeleton fol
my own private collection of anatomical
curiosities, and being DESTROYS of avoid
ing all scandal, covered up my d find
and told nobody about it.
At the noon of night, when unlaiC
ghosts are said to arise, ! reached ny
treasure>trove. 1t was there so the ole
saying about the movements Of ghost
is quite wrong. Working briskly 70
about ten minutes, l obtained a negro
skeleton, tOlerably well preserved.
was in close contact with a section of
maple tree whose roots clasped a lsrg
stone, over which they had grown in tn
forest.
| hsd heard the tradition of the specie
of the lake, and also of the drowning G
the negro. now Irmised that the ne
gro, clinging even IN death to the tree
was washed ashore and buried in th
beach by the tempest, where be had lai
undisturbHd till, by chance, found h
bones.
l half dreaded to strike match, but
did 50, and, surely enough, I saw tn
ancient terror OF the lake. The markst
sharp ak were still visible upon i
showing how somebody had once rudel
and fancifully carved it into a sort of
caricature OF man it was SO balance
that 1t would stay just about so, an
seem to walk upon the rolling waves.
Dear reader, if you should ever Wis
my office you may see the old darkey
skeleton behind yonder green curtain j
the cabinet. l suppose my neighbors,
they should happen to read this sketcl
will now stop wondering where and no
| got the quaint piece of wood and b
stene, which chiefly ornament my bac
yard.
, The venerable Society Of Antiquarian
is quite welcome to the historical infol
, nation conveyed in this narrative, whic
is founded on fact.