Feliciana sentinel. [volume] (St. Francisville, La.) 1877-1892, 1880-02-14
THE GHOST OF THE PECOs.

| -" 'o'o W dlCH IoIlON ) Is owned eNclC
Slvely and the copyright reserved by tn
. officers of the United States army, and
: is only by special permission of the fra
: trernity that The Tribune claiu,s the ri. h
TO publish at this time.
Among the officers il moments of con
VlFlal indulgence, allusions to eth,
Ghost of the Peco>' are of no freGuen
occurrence, and it is noticeable that al
each reference to the august Shade tn,
pace OF the tagging dccanter grows tas
ter, and the mirth and ,jnIity more free
and unrestrained, us if indeed the very
name Of tho phantom possessed stiuula.
ting properties. With this intros'uc sio,
the story proceeds.
Some many years ago. when Colorado
was territory witt! Leadvillc undrea NJ
ell OF, and New Mexico was known only
as Il country of Mcxicans, Indians an |.
'}csnits, with military Gu. tonment
here and there scattered over the coun-
try, three officers, Captains Carrol! and
Rcade, and Lieutenant AinsHe, mirbt
nave been seen by the skulking Apache.
riding at full speed alnrg the road which
crosses the Rio del Pecos, between Las
Vegas and Santa Fe, now the regular
stage route between the two places. The
season was autumn, the sun had gone
! down and the silvcry orbed moon was
slowly rising above the heads Of the
travellers, casting Il food OF light in frort
| "t the t. aml'ing hools of their steeds,
While the wind, seeming to gather
strength as the evening advanced, began
to bend the tops OF the tees lining the
road, wcirdly signing and moaning
through the leafless branches like hu-
man soul in distress.
Onward went the hurrying horsemen-
two miles, five miles, when in an Instant
it seemed that the clear face of the sky
was obscureu by black, angry-lookinc
cl"nds; the moon disappeared beneath a
dusty pail, and a terrific peal of thunde
awokc the 'chocs Of Ihe night followed
by drcnching shower Of rain. which
seemed to increase in violence every in
slant. The wind seemed to take fresh
courage, and the hu"e limbs trees be
gan to break aud fly through the air.
See here, boys" said Carroll, shouting
in his companions ears to make himself
heard amid the din and roar Of the hulri
cane this Will never do. Peoro's ranch
is five miles from here, and We may all
be Killed before we get there. We're |
only haif mile from the river and the |
old church, and in that we'll make our |
camp for tt o night
The fri oh tnnnI II al, I |
horses were given the spur; the river
was reached, crossed. and the horSemen
the door Of Tie Old chapel.
Standing there amidst the darkness like a
sentinel. 1t had been built several ye rs
before by tne,Jesuits, who, fudiug that
it WAS practically useless from its out-pf-
the-wHy location, had deserted it., and it
WAS now ia It going to dcc;l".
Bring !our horses in and tie them to
the altcr,' continued Carroll. it may be
bu5 necessity knows no
law, and we can't let the poor bea is
stand ont in :lIis Storm
/ his was done. and the officers took Il
survey Of their quarters, congratulminy
themselves upon hclug secure from tie
aging elements outside. The chapel
lad when first butt been hung around
With tapestry and paintings, which low
lulg i'll rags from the walls; most of the
and benches had been split (
Up and used for tircwool by some pret;l-
DRY band Of Indians: only one of the I
many windows remained whole, the rest
larInG been shattered and the pieces ~
ny alb at on the floor, while ,ilsr above l
he pu pit ouehalf of II marble tablet re-
nained fastened to lie wall, with Ora
10 the remaining part Of the inscript- 1
III chlSrlrh i'll it. Tho whole scene was t
leSolatc and ,lreary, and t
ombincd with tho bowling of the storm |
utsidc, left its impression on the minds i
t the imprisoned officers, provoking not t
ven Il jest or humorous rcma k. Quiet {
' spreading their saddle blankets in the ,
orner underneath the unbrokcn window.
hey hadc each other Coed. night and i
'avlhg the horses paving at the Cther {
nd OF the church, were soon asleep. Ain |
lie and Rcade slept soundly the whole
light, and Carroll must tell his story S
inself, as it was delivered the next day [
, his companions III the mess table and t
is wondering bed fellows that nig ht q
4 suppose l must have slept until per c
hps one O'clock he said, when awoke
lth the feeling that somebody was call II
lS my namc. 1 raised myself on my cl- t
wv and looked around. My two com \
nions were slecping peacefully, and Il
pom my speaking to them made no M I
rcr The storm outside had almost "
own over, the rain had entirely ceased, II
'd OF the previous appalling hurricane