St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-08-08
A GHOST SlrlR..Y.
An Army Officers A4xentuxo Zxiz1R
n SpOoh.


Sitting one evening witfaa 'pungy office
who has already made nSeaf6lisUihgnishe5t
for cool courage and a Observation-Disclosures
and whom his brother soldiers consider tn
best pistOl-shot in the army, the converSa
ton happened to turn upon the almost uni
versal belief in the supernatural.
We discussed the genii Of the tales of tn
East, the witches and ghosts so general,
accepted a century or two ago. Suddenl,
e. turned 10 me and said. Perhaps yOl
may be surprised if l tell you a true ghos
story, one l can vouch for MYSELF" Know
ing him to be a confirmed slleptic upon al
supernatural subjects, l smilingly aSsented
You need not smile;" he continued I'M
experience was enough to shake the nerves
of the bravest man living and to have rem
dered a timid one mad.
Some six or seven years ago, shortly
after graduating from the Military academ,
at West Point, l was sent with my com
mand part of company of heavy artillery
to take possession Of the little fort Oh Bed
loe'S island. in the harbOr of New York
the island, You will remember, on which
BartholdiS Statue of Liberty is to be placed
The place had long been deserted, hat
acquired an evil name, was known to b(
the resort of thieves and smugglers, and tht
New York police said was the headquarters
of desperate gang of river pirates 1t
was. indeed. to break up this nest ot
scOundrels who had found that, being United
States property, the old fort was never
visited by the police, that l was sent to take
possession of the island.
1T was gray raw day in November:
rain had fallen early in the afternoon, and.
when the boats containing my little
command reached our destination, cold
fog hung oyer the harbor and the rising
wind howled about the old barrack, adding
to the gloom and increasing the dreary
desolation of the widowed old walls 1t
was already O'clock and daylight be-
ginning to fade, so L made the necessary
preparations for the night as rapidly as
possible. Inside the tiny fort there was a
house, but i'll so dilapidated a state that but
one rOOm-a large one, which had probably
once served as meSS-rOOm-waS habita5le,
and this the bare floor, broken ceiling, and
walls from which the paper hung in rag
ged stripes made uninviting enough. In
this, however, being the best. nv trunk
was placed, a stove put up, which was soon
roaring in cheerful way, lamp lighted, a
bed. bedding, table and two chairs brought
i'll, and | started on q tour of inspection.
had told my sergeant to prepare the quar-
tiers for the men iii 4 long, low building out
side the fort which seemed in fairly good
condition. Soldiers are rapid because Sys-
tematic workers, and before nightfall all
were made comfortable, and a supper
served to them which did credit to the com
pany's cooks. l visited and inspected every
part of the iSland-a mere Speck in the har-
Dor, as you knOw-loOled into the old case
mates, went through the ruinous old house
from cellar to attic, examined bolts and
doors, then, having given orders for the
night. closed the great gate leading into the
fort and retired to my quarters.
81 certainly am not either timid or an
Imaginative man. but there was something
to the last degree depressing in the place
that night. The wind, which had driven
away the fog, howled and moaned in the
deserted place; the rats trooped up and
down within the partition walls and there
rose a strange. earthly smell, which re-
minded me, l scarce know why, of new
made graves. Now and then some sea-
birds scream could be heard, or the distant
roar Of the fOg-hom Of some passing ship
was added to the signing and grooming of
the wind. l sat down and read the two
newspapers 1 CHANGED to have III my pocket
wrote out few memoranda. then opened
my trunk, lifted out the tray, which placed
upon the little table. put number of az
ticles of daily use on a shelf. and then, al
though it was still early, not more than 10,
] believe, l made my toilet for the night
turned out the lamp, and jumped into bed.
/ had placed my pistol. self-cocking Colt
of the largest size, under my pillow, but no
sooner was the lamp out and all WAS dark
than the tales told by the New York police
came fOrcibly to my mind. and l almost re-
GREETED not having posted sentinel inside
I IA
myself for such absurd apprehensi0ns. Still
1 could not sleep. Half a dozen times |
was just DOING of when rat scurrying
along or the wild scream of some passing
Sea-gull would arouse me with start TO
toss and fret for another quarter of an hour.
cat last sleep came; calm, peaceful
dreamleSS sleep. How long | slept l have
no idea; perhaps for an hour. perhaps for
two. Then from within my very room. of
which l had seen every window barred,
every door bolted and locked, there came a
long, low, moaning cry, ending with a
Shrek so horrible, 50 CHASTITY, that I am not
ashamed to say that as l rose in my bed.
my heart seemed to stop for a moment and
my hair rise, stiffened on my head.
sit was but for moment. A faint light
from the waning moon came in through one
Of the shutters, and, as l rose. there also
rose across the room long. white figure.
What? | saw it start from the floor and
grow to mans size or more, and, as gaZed,
heard that dreadful Shrek! What? No
matter. 1t was q something. and with its
presence returned all my combatiVenesS and
anger; hot fiery wrath was my only feel
ing.
''Some Scoundrel, said to myself. is
playing me a trick. Some of these pirate
Smugglers have arranged ghost for me.
have they? Well, We'll see who can play
ghost the best.
GAS / rose l had taken my six-shootel
from under the pillow and now called out,
who are you? What are you doing there.
you scOundrel?' No reply. Who are you?
Answer or I'll shoot Still there was ST.
lence. Ny pistol was pointed little above
the center OF the figure and again / cried.
Answer or III shoot No answer came
and pulled the trigger. / was sure of my
aim, but yet the bullet seemed to bury itself
harmlesSly into the wall beyond Lower
ing my aim l sent another bail somewhat
lower and then third almost TO the ground.
Still the figure neither moved nor spoke.
There it stood, white, CHASTITY. and SEEM
ingly uninjured by lead. AS the third shot
left my pistol leaped from the bed and
rushed upon the shad0wy form. 4 box of
cartridges lay upon the table and these |
thrust into the breast-pocket of uY-night
dress. Cooking my revolver rs L ran, | tried
to seize the intruder with my LEFT hand.
Ringing myself with all my force upon him.
Horrors! An instant later l was thrown
down, down, knew not how far OF where.
The floor seemed to have opened and swal-
lowed me up. With q crash l came to the
bottom of the pit, bruised, bleeding, and in
utter darkness.
Confused, half unconscious, 1 struggled
INV foot o,,I o,,oo ,,,ora 4I,a,.o oo,,,,