Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-03-04
THE CRAZY SCOUT.

| Chattanooga and Lookout mountain. The
| Army of the Tennessee was pressing the
Confederates closely, and it was neces-
sary to preserve strong picket lines at all
times, and keep the scouts constantly on
the lookout to avoid surprises.
The picket lines Of Bragg's army ex-
tended several miles, in order 20 watch
the different roads leading to Chatta-
nooga.
North of Stevenson was a range of
mountains known as Walden's ridge,
which was covered with dense growth
Of oak and hickory. The country was
| sparsely settled, there were few roads, o.
even pathways, and the heavily wooded
ravines and hillsides were wild and
rugged in the extreme. There were caves,
waterfalls, wild game in abundance, and
everything pertaining to q country re-
mote from civilization.
70 stand all night on pisket duty in
some lonely ravine, where there was no
sound save the babbling of mountain
rivulets or the weird signing Of the winds
among the trees, was anything but pleas
| ant.
My company was among those detailed
| for this duty, and the first night we were
| stationed in dark, gloomy ravine at the
foot of Walden's ridge. One of the picket
| posts was under a large oak tree at the
very darkest, most uninteresting spot on
| The entire line. We went on duty at s
| o'clock at night, and there would be nc
| relief until o'clock the next morning
| 4 young man, brave and watchful and a
| general favorite in the company, was as
signed to the post under the giant oak
| The night passed without incident, but
| when we were relieved next morning Pri-
vate Thompson, the young man stationed
| under the tree was missing. His gun
was broken and lying near the tree, and
| there were indications that a brief strug
gle had taken place, but nothing more to
tell his fate. There were no blood stains,
| and his disappearance was mystery.
| Nothing else was talked of during the day
by the members of the company, and
| here was great anxiety to learn the fate
| II the brave young soldier.
| The second night Private Baugh was
assigned to the post under the tree. He
laughed at the mystery when left alone,
Dut his voice trembled slightly, and it
| vas apparent that he would have preferred
some other place in the line Again the
| right passed without any demonstration
| n our front, but when we were relieved,
ne face of every man in the company
urned q shade paler when it was known
hat Baugh had also disappeared, leaving
lis gun behind. Here was genuine
MYSTERY, and it attracted the attention of
he officers of the regiment. A squad was
| ,etailed to examine the locality by day
| light, but a careful search revealed moth
.ng. The officers decided that the mys-
tery would not occur again, and the picket
line was formed for the third night.
When the relief came on the third morn
ing the man under the oak was again
missing and his gun lying broken on the
ground. What was to be done? The mys-
terry must be solved in some way.
Sergt. Brown volunteered to take the
dreaded post on the fourth night and
| promised to solve the mystery. He was
Il tail, well formed man, giant in
| strength and stranger to fear. Promptly
! at 8 O'Clock that night he took his posi-
! ton under the old oak, whose branches
| seemed to hang lower, as though they
would envelop the spot in still deeper
mystery. The men and officers of the
| company felt confident of Sergt Browns
| ability to penetrate the mystery, which
| had cost us three good men, and were
| eager for morning to dawn. At last the
relief came, and every mans face blanched
| when it was learned that Sergt. Brown
| had disappeared. His gun was there,
| bent and broken, and there were signs Of
desperate struggle between two or more
men, but nothing to tell the story of his
fate.
Bushwhackers, Federal scouts, wild
animals, everything was suggested which
was believed possible to account for the
disappearance of the four men. The mat
ter soon became the one topic of converse
ton in the army and by the officers of our
| regiment it was reported to Gen. Bragg.
He ordered that five or more men be
stationed at this post with instructions to
remain perfectly quiet, keep careful
LOOKOUT and discover if possible the fate
of the absent men.
/ was one of the five detailed by our
captain for the duty. We stationed our
selves in small circle within the shadow
Of the oak, and stood like so many statues
during the long night. Once we heard a
noise like some man or beast creeping
through the dense underground toward
us. The uoise stopped suddenly, a mo-
ment later it was heard receding, and that
was all. When we were relieved the next
morning the mystery was as great as ever.
The captain ordered US on duty again the
following night, and we then agreed upon
4 different plan. One man was stationed
on the post, three of us climbed up among
the lower branches of the big oak tree.
While the fifth man was stationed behind
4 clump of bushes twenty yards away.
II was bright starlight night and NOV
ing objects could be discerned at a dis
lance of several PAGES.
Not sound broke the stiffness until
near midnight. when myself and COM
panions in the tree distinctly heard the
sound of something moving stealthily to-
ward the man standing beneath Us. Once
we caught a glimpse of giant form NOV
ing slowly forward with almost noiseless
tread.
The decoy picket evidently had not
heard the noise. as he remained motion
less. When within ten feet OF the man
under the tree, the mysterious being sud-
denly sprang forward with the agility of
cat, and our comrade was borne to the
ground in an instant Our first thought
was TO leap to the ground and rescue him,
but we determined to await developments
il the hope Of learning the fSte OF the
three missing men.
The mysterious being was man. or
rather giant, roughly clad and wearing
long, unkempt beard and hair. He seemed
10 be unarmed, save his enormous
strength, but with cord our comrade
was bound aud gagged before ne could
make an outcry. The giant, who had Ut
tered No word, then gave crunt Of salts
faction and lifting the helpless soldier 10
his shoulder started away at a rapid pace.
Dropping 10 the ground, we were joined
by the other member of our squad. and
the four Of Us started N pursuit OF the