Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-12-10
THE DISMAL SWAMP.
A HUNTERS TALE OF AN INDIAN IEG-
 END OF A GHOST SHIP.

He Saw It, and. Contrary to the Legend,
 stiii Lives-The Story as It Was Told by
 the Indian Guides-A Wild and Weird
 Scene Visited by Terrible storm.
 ''Do you mean to say you never heard of the ghost of the Dismal swampy', said nm old Georgia travelling man the other cvcn- ing. "No, I don't mean the Indian hunter and his ghostly sweetheart, that arc celc- brated in the old school readcr poem. Ii Is not so well known n ghost as that pair, but 1t is infinitely moro grcwsome. It Is a regular Flying Dutchman of tho swamp, and to sec 1t brings death within a year, sure as yellow fever. Two seen 1t, or a part of 1t, but I suppose it's because didn't get a real good look Ut it that am hero now.
 ''I was hunting in the little Dismal when came near solving the mystery of tho swamp. It is a wonderful county for a man who loves the picturesque and mys- terious in nature. Where the forest closes in on the river there is a wild, solemn beauty that appeals to the imagination, especially in the cool, gray light of tho morning or in the warmer light of the afternoon, that gives the color of the at- mosphere to the surrounding wilderness
 
 wind on and on out of sight into the shad- ows on either hand.
 Just about sunset climbed one of the trees and took look about. You must remember that up to that time had never heard anything of the swamp ship; but, looking of in the direction judged thnt the lake must be, was almost certain saw the topmasts of n big vessel mingled with the tanglo of the trccs- It seemed to Dc fully half . mile away-too far to tell what sort of a craft 1t was-bnt one mast was gone at the croSstrecs, and tho other cantcd over like a part of an old crumbling wrcck. It was beautiful outlook from my perch, the sun gliding the tops of tho trees and then sinking out of sight through their branches. lighting up all the west like n great conflagratiOn and turning tho black still waters of the bayou blood rcd. There were thrcc buzzards circling through the sunset quadrant like meats in a sun beam, and as 1t got darker they settled down like black shadows seemingly on tho very mast of the old wreck.
 1T went down and told the Indian guides what had seen, and then they act cd scared, sure enough. They assured me that they loved me like a father, and that they were utterly devoted to me so long as l had q plug of tobacco left, but they gricvcd to say that I was a dead man. told them was naturally sorry to hear that, but cravcd to know what blight I had incurred from watching m unusually | fine sunset from tho top of a tamarack | tree. They said that it was not n matter that was good to talk about, especially at such time and Placc, but that since was doomed might well be told about | 1t, and lighting their pipes after suppcr was over they all lay down by the fire and | told mu the story of the ship.
 | They said 1t was two mems lives br- | forc the stars fell. which would bring it | about the close of the Revolution, the great meteorological shower of lS33 serving as a calculating point for dates all through the south, that the buccaneers from the West Indies were very bad and equally plenty | of the coast. Ono in particular was Uf q most evil rcputation, dcvilisk pirate with | n black beard and eyes like flrc coals in | the back of II chimney. n description that | corrcspondcd very well to that of the mo- tOrious Spade Bcard, so I nodded my head | and told them that he was q particular | friend Of mine. They seemed rather stag | gcrcd at my assurance, but proceeded with | the story, which was that this two legged sen serpent had fallen in with q British | merchantman, bullion laden, under con | voyof frigatc. \ storm came mp and separated the trrasurr ship from her escort, l and the buccanCcr. falling in with her in | e | and murdcring all hcr crrw secured the treasure and made of under cover of the | storm, his own vessel being almost dis mantlcd In the adventure. He ran inside the sea islands. but the storm continued tC | increase in fury, such as was never known | bcfOrc or since along the coast, and finally | culminatcd in q gneat tidal wave, sent, Oi | coursc, for the pirates just punishment. l that OvcrilOwcd the island barrier and ear. ricd the robber vessel, with all her black hearted crew, up through the reaches oi the swamp river, over the tree tops. miles | inland, where the rccCding waters left her. l While the Indians were telling the story with lowered voices and mysterious gestures the night had fallen. and them | had come up a rcgular southern thunder storm. IL interrupted the tale, and wC tipped up OUT boat for shelter and staked down our tarpaulin over it. When WIG had riggUd up this shelter and the wind was bowling like panthCrs through the trcCs, | the Indians, a a sort of cheerful accom-, | panimcnt tO the storm, continued thciI | tale of how at intervals the pirate vessel had been scCn on stormy nights. rotten, crumbling wTcck, sailing the swamp, | down the bayOus that were scarcely wide enough fur her mnsts to pass through the trees, and then again how she would ris. | and fly over the tree tops.
 All her sails and rigging were gone they said, but the swamp moss had grOwr to the spnrs in their place, and the crew o ghastly CorpsCs could Dc seen in the top. and on the yards, reeflng the swamp saili with live snakes and cheering all sorts o blasphcmy to each other every time light ming struck the masts- Death fires, th' Indians said, floatcd over the rotten decks and grecn lights glowed through the gap ing seams of the hull, and the pirate cap tain, with one arm torn of at the shoulder and ono side of his head carried away by [ round shot, would flrc nOisclcss brOadside. from the rusty cannon on the deck, whil' the lightning flashes seemed to especially pick out the wrcck their mark, thOugl they went straight through it withOu
 damaging |; in the least. No one, the In
 dians assured mU. ever lived mon than
 year after sccing the phantom, which Wa
 very encouraging. us thought had secI
 q part of 1t that very afternoon.
 The storm that night was fearful. I'm
 lightning licked through the trccs lik
 whiplashss and fircd the forest in half | dozen placcs- But then the rain cam
 down and put out the fire and churned ul | the water of the bayou till the black wate
 was turned to white foam.
 You may bet I kept an inyoluntar.
 lookout for the phantom pirate, but tn
 only glimpse had of her was once whei
 a sheet of steel blue lightning flooded tn | whole of the western sky Then couli
 have sworn I saw the same leaning mast | the broken cros strees outlined against tn
 heavens, and at the moment I would no
 have sworn but that there was n corps
 struggling with the snakes in tho rig
 ging ng"-washington Post.
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