Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1895-05-28

BY william pIvAD.


murky waters with the azure blue O
Old Ikmpa Bay, stands the oldes
house ia the traditional history of The
cracker inhabitants along the bank.
Of that picturesque and famous little
stream.
just how long it has stood there, al
it does, amidst wild tangle of bust
and vine that grow and Chamber about
the gnarled and twisted trunks OF gu
ant live oaks, is mystery, for not one
among the gray and grizzled denizep'
of the piney woods who claim to have
long since lost track of their ages
from Wength of years, can recall q
time when the "old house down the
river, as the place was Familiarity
known, held an occupant save innu-
merable owls, bats, lizards and snakes
but bit of history handed down by
word of mouth from sire to son, as u
were, casts a faint CLEAN of light
upon period when new pine logs
glistened in the tropic sunshine and
human voices mingled with the
smashing of the surf in place of the
silence and decay that now DER
spreads the lonely spot.
The bit of history, Cor rather tradi-
tion,) mentioned, says that years
and years ago when the Florida gulf
coast was infested by Spanish pirates,
the Manatee river was the rendezvous
of several of these murderous bands.
They cruised about upon the high
seas in swift, lugger-rigged vessels,
proving upon merchant craft that
passed between the Tortugas and
Florida reef, and after pillage and
murder found safe retreat from pur-
suit in the labyrinth of channels and
passes leading from the open gulf to
the mouth of the river
1t was these maurauders of the sea
who builded the house as a place of
carousal and carnality. To it they
brought their stolen booty, together
with unfortunate female captives who
were saved the horrible fate of walk
ing the plank" for more terrible and
revolving deaths.
Their vessels moored safely in the
sluggish current of the river, free from
detection and storm, full sway was
granted unbridled passion, while muir.
der and othercrimes were accompanied
by clinking of glasses and the music
of guitar and castinet.
Large treasures of gold were buried
near ~ house, and when the store of
provisions and drink dwindled away,
the women were put to death and lots
drawn among the men to determine
whose spirit should stand guard over
the hidden wealth, for it was their Gus
tom to shoot member OF the band as
he stood with folded arms above the
treasure, and whose spirit was believed
to haunt the spot as long as the riches
remainelN
Justhow much of the above tradi.
ton is true is understandable further
than the fact that pirates did find ref
uge in the mouth of the Manatee river |
more than century ago; but the ma
tives believe all that is told, and more
than that, that the spirits of those who
were thus left behind frequently enact
over the scenes of the past. So strong
is the belief that none ever venture
nearer than the rivers winnings bring
them on some hunting or fishing expe-
dition to the islands across the bay,
hence the old house has remained un-
disturbed by the hands of man,
crumbling monument to some unau-
thentic past.
Excitement was rife among the res
idents of Palma Sofa and Palmetto,
two little hamlets nesting respective
ly on the south and north banks about
a mile from the mouth of the Manatee
river, when one evening just before
long column of blue smoke
was seen to issue from among the tree
tops directly above the old house and
wend it's way skyward through the
quiet atmosphere. Such sight had
never been witnessed before. Gaunt
cracker" women who co an-sied from
cow-pen gaps for herds of scanty milk
givers, awakening echoes through the
dreamy twilight Of the fiat woods, cast
nervous chances frem whence the
smoke issued, and hurrying through
work ran homeward. Children were
bundled off to bed and hushed to
quietness by suspicious whispering,
when the old folk gathered before
their respective Ifireplaces to discuss
the probable cause of the smoke, and
their memories anew for un-
canny stories of the pirate house.
1t was while the writer was spend
ing winter at. Palma Sofa that the
even tenor of native existence became
rtA @ed, and record of years of sereni-
ty broken.
| had.never believed in the super
natural since my father took me to a
5eance when Youngster, and the