Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1883-09-26
The Haunted Lol.
There it was again.
That horrid scream.

to straighten out, and it proved yer
liable puzzler, and took many lon;
months before L at last got the ghos
laid. And then it was by the meres
acciden that-but / have not yet tol,
the story.
In most old mills there are old mel
who have been for years among thos,
who daily went their rounds, and OF
Saturday nights smoked the pipe o
peace meath the shadow of their owl
Intel. In the Peacock, however, ther,
was but one of these old fellowsIGeo
Wood by name-a faithful old fellow
who had seen the first spade full oi
earth dug which made a way for the
heavy foundation, and he had almost
literally counted each brick as the
walls slowly rose to their 'four-story.
and-attic" height. Somehow the Pea
cock had always difficulty in retaining
its hands, various causes having opera.
ted to keep them changing, but George
had, through all the years of disaster
or prosperity, faithfully and regularly
answered at the gate to the morning
roll call. He had worked in all parts
of the mill and at all times of the day
or night, and was as familiar with all
the ins and outs of the labyrinthine
cellars and the cobwebby lofts as ii
was possible for any one person to be.
When l was first startled out of my
composure by this most unearthlv yell,
and failed to find its cause, | sought
George and asked if he had any idea of
the cause, or if he knew anything of its
origin. While L was yet talking with
him, near one of the converters, the
most heart-rendiIg scream again
sounded, apparently from the rag room,
which was on the top floor of the east
wing. 1t sounded loud and shrill, clear
above the clatter of the mill machinery.
Ugh. The marrow in my bones seems
even now to freeze into a painful solid
ity as | think of it. There was pecu-
liar varity about it that was both start
ling and fascinating. Indeed. the
thing came to have such horrid faSci-
nation for Inc that / caught myself
listening for it and speculating as to
the probable character of the next per-
formance; for, that it was human felt
quite well satisfied-thOu9h who could
be playing the disturbing prank L could
not for the life of me determine.
At times it was the wall of a lost
soul, at another it was cry of terror,
then it would be as though in the agony
of despair, but the most flightful of all
was a yell of demoniac rage, which
seemed to ring and echo through the
remotest parts of the mill, and for a
time completely upsetting the nerves of
every one within its walls, and depriv-
ing them of all fitness for their work.
Another popularity of it was that
once outside the building-even a few
feet away-not sound could be heard.
L hunted high and low, but had so
far failed to find it. 1 grew more and
more determined that l would find it
and stop it, or I'd own myself dead
beat and leave the mill; for that some
thing must be done was evident. /
could scarcely keep together enough
hands to keep the mill running. And,
outside, it was the talk of the town.
| studied the wind, read books on
demonolOgy and witchcraft, expert
mented with all kinds of hideous sound
ing whistles, but had not arrived at
anything which gave even clue to
the mystery. Night work in the lofts
was at a complete standstll, could
get no one to work UP there.
What! Go up there! Why, Mr..
Green, I'd sooner die than do it,
I'D die with fright" said another
So i sought Wood i'll my desperation,
hoping &c strike a trail which my
minds eye had but dimly seen that
evening. I'll let George tell the story
in his own words, merely promising
that lie had a quaint delivery, which
gave a peculiar charm to the narration,
although 1t was OF no advantage to me
i'll unraveling the all-absorbing mys-
tery.
GEORGE WOODS STORY.
"Lemme see, twas bout in AZ
reckon, thar stood right over thar on
what was then the river bank, two
story frame house, which used to be
used Tor tavern; SO they sed, AZ least,
though it hadn't but two rooms up
stairs an two down so far rs | know.
But it was a drinking and fitin' place,
bein' kind o. headquarters fur the
raftsmen AMI other hard nuts that
bloDg bout rivers and river towns.
Us boys were all feared o. that house,
an wouldn't none of us go nigh it if
we could git round it any way. Peo-
pie used TO pint thar fingers at it an
look kind o. mysterious and shake their
heads whenever it was mentioned. l
guess 1t was q purity tough place, and
that many murder was committed
thar that nobody never knowed about.
"'Long i'll the winter, or late in the
fall o. AZ, handsome, big stranger
came 10 town huntin' Tor his brother.
He sayed they was goin' to Mexico to-
gether, and that Jean had come down
the river first, with some lumbermen,
an was to write when he got here.
But they never got nary word, and
finally the brother came down to look
after him. There was some ugly stories
floating about, but nobody seemed in
clined to take much part, for in truth
most was afeared to git ole Greasy,
the owner of the shanty, down on 'eln.
Well, one evening the stranger strayed
in there, intendin' to keep his eyes
open and his head clar and mebbe he
would find out sump'n bout his
brother. He had been thar praps an
hour, when there was a terrible rum |
pus III the shanty-a big fight was ap-
larently agoin' on. Soon a crowd of |
Us boys congregated and stood with |
open eyes and stretched ears, but about |
all we could hear was a lot of cussin'; |
and one thing heard the stranger say,
You killed my brother and now you
want to murder me.
They tit out to the door, and busted |
it open, and three men, with clubs in |
their hands, appeared pounding over
he head of the stranger. They killed |
lin right before our eyes. He told |
em that every drop of his blood and |
his brothers should grow into a demon
% torment them, and that nothing |
should grow or prosper on the cursed |
pot"
Boss, that wall stands on the very
spot where he was killed. AM, boss,
you kin believe it or not, but, sure as
you are liyin' man, that mans sperit |
walks along that wall every night at |
twelve O'Clock, and if you'll take the |