The Yazoo sentinel. (Yazoo City, Miss.) 1878-1916, 1891-04-02
LAYING A GHOST.
~ WILL r. PoSD.

An old friend Of mine, retired SCI
captain, has house overlooking thu
Nauows. near Fort Hamilton. II wa
built from his own plans, and Is chiefly
remarkable for square structure rising
from the roof, generally taken for
an observatory, but which is really the
old mans sanctum, known as "the
cabin. The privileged visitors are his
grandsons and nephews, who obtain en-
trance by going on the lawn and shout
ing ship ahoy," meeting with the reply
''ahoy therem then sis the skipper
aboard" and the answer TO this query
settles the matter Of whether
they will be admitted or
not. II they are, story Is the
natural result, and as the old gentleman
is an enthusiastic sportsman, he has many
"reminiscences Of the sea. have several
times been one OF the audience and not
one of the least interested by any means.
The boys had been spending the sum
mer in the Adirondacks last year and on
their return speedily made n visit to
"the cabin - where the captain and
were seated. The usual ceremony was
gone through, the boys reported the
events Of the holiday, or, as he termed
il. "ovcrhauled their log aud then
without any asking, the Old gentleman
said "Boys, | have story about
Raqucttc Lake tina. is worth hearing.
Did anyone tell you about the ghost |
caught thero''
''Ghost," echoed the boys, "what was
IT,"
~ suppose it was about twenty years
ago, " began the old gentleman, "when
| found myself with friend
at Raquette Lake, after prolonged
fishing trip in that most lonely
region. For a week or more luck had
not been ours aud we had moved from
Saranac to Raquette Lake, in hopes of
finding some big fish worthy Of our steel.
Arriving at the hotel in the evening, we
had supper, and then sSught tie piazza
where we found a mutual friend to whom
we applied for infoE, ton about the
good man to epgAe droyeing his re-
marks with, u pistol the )ne fault
superstition BE- box of $4.lep bisgs, e !,
I'm q take you over 6 thb
! Pool rs they cal It, although the best
fish are said TO lay there. .e.sa.xs
"Why notln we asked, ''r~
"Atraid of the ghost, was the reply.
'What ghost3'
Our friend laughed. "Well, the local
story is somewhat indefinite. Many years
ago young couple came here on their
honeymoon, and spent good deal Of
their time in fishing. In the woods, bor
dering the pool, was gypsy camp, and
by some means the young fellow incurred
the enmity of the gypsy woman, and
was cursed by her. The following week,
bride aud groom were drowned ia the
pool by the accidental upsettiug of their
boat, and their bodies were never recov
cred. The gypsy's curse is said to have
doomed them to eternal wandering, like
her own nomadic race, and local ira
dition says, the ghos. Of the girl in her
husbands arms Is still to be seen in the
pool at night, aud evil follows to those
who are unlucky enough to see them.
al laughed at the story, although,
like all sailors, | was superstitious to a
certain degree, and would not have liked
the daily appearance Of shark along
side, or have tempted Providence by
catching Mother Cary's chickens, any
more than many other sailors who know
what these things mean.
"As was saying, | laughed at It, but
my friend, a younger man 10y ten or
twelve years, jumped at the chance of
some excitement, aud declared we muss
investigate. The next day we engaged
our fisherman. and made arrangements
for him TO rent us q light canoe, which /
we could keep on the lake front, for our 4
own use. independent OF the large boat /
we used with him. We fo2nd the fish ,
ing very good, but the fish were not /
extraordinarily large, SO at last we pro
posed 10 our guide 20 take US to the .
pool To our amusement he fatty, but
civilly refused to DO so, aud so Que day
we went alone, and dared the dangers,
probable and improbable 1t was pretty
nook, with deep. black water, the hills
rising to considerable height, clothed /
with hemlocks and frs We caught
one good fish, a ton-pound piekerel, [
and number Of lair sized ones.
The next day it rlined in torrents and /
the next: then about noon il slowly /
cleared away, and as the sun went down
not cloud was to be seen, and the water /
was like glass.
"'what a night for fish, said my /
young friend; let us take the canoe and 4
try the pool; the fish ought TO rise as
soon as the moon comes up
Nothing loath, got my pole, and
away we went. starting from the house
about eight o'clock. Arriving az the
pool. we waited until the moon rose. and
then we ished, soon having three beau
ties in the boat As we began to feel
rather tired at our long day, we started
home early. az the paddle, whea sud
denly nv friend said, pointing behind
me. Look. see there, what Is it,
liurriedly turning. 1 saw something
moving across the moonlight about
three hundred feet away, swimming
over the surface Of the water. rising and
falling as a swimmer would, then it
sank
.''what On earth was itr again asked