The record-union., 1897-01-31
GRAVEYARD GHOSTS.
Some Strange Stories Told About
Forton and Its rIystery.


Forton and Its r!ystery.
Behind the creek lies an interesting
memento of the old French war, a
Walled-in space where lie buried count
less prisoners who died during cap
tiVity. Most Of the graves are name
less mounds, but there are three head
stones. The inscriptions upon these are
naarly undecipherable; one bears the
name of Eugene - (the remainder
cannot be read). This spot is sacred, no
one ever enters it; but alongside, in a
smaller walled space, convicts were
buried, and This is utilized as prac-
tice ground for buglers, for here is the
most out-of-ithe- corner obtainable
for practice, and diabolical are the
noises that the learners make. A hum
dred years is a long time; il is interest
ing, therefore, to note the respect still
paid TO the graves of brave F'renchmen
in a place where space is very valuable.
All sorts of legends crowd around
this lonely spot. 1t is, of course,
haunted; and in the cid days no sentry
there would keep at his post at mid
night. Flogging as d preventive of the
terror was useless, and eventually the
sentries had to be doubled. Nowadays
the ghost is seldom seen, and even
when it appears no two accounts agree
as to what its form may be. Its latest
authenticated appearance was at the
time of the last Fenian scare about
fifteen years ago, when a guard was es-
tabliShed to look after the magazine
hard by and the sentries had orders to
shoot anyone who did not halt at the
challenge.
1t was on a winter evening, deep
snow upon the ground, and all had gone
well till after midnight Then sud
denly there came a sentry's challenge,
and almost immediately the report of a
rifle followed shortly by another. The
guard turned out, racing hither and
threher in the snow, raising hue and
cry, first in this direction, then in that
Az last things settled down, and when
the captain of the guard investigated
the matter he learned from the sentry
that a large, black Thing had jumped
over the graveyard wall and run at him
on all fours when he challenged. He
fired, whereupon the Thing" rose to its
feet and, running sometimes on all
fours, sometimes upright, rushed
try and the guard Arrived at the
creek it pinged in, king the ice. and
though the pursuerss waited long moth
ing was ever seen of it again. The cap
tain, but half believing the story. vet
thinking that some attempt may have
been made, went and looked for the
traces OF the footsteps, which were visi-
Die enough in the moonlight And now
comes the extraordinary part of the
story: For some twenty wards there
would be mans footprints, then. for a
space, those Of a large animal: some
times the one, sometimes the other. but
never the two together!
Thus the Forton mystery. The ice
was broken and the creek dragged the
next day, but nothing was ever found
No satisfactory solution has ever been
discovered, for the footprints began
suddenly in the center of the old burial
ground, and led thence toward the mag
azine, sometimes man and sometimes
beast, until they ended on the shores of
the creek.
There are other ghost stories hang
ing around this spot, but they are most
ly greWSome and horrible, rather than
interesting. One, however, is worthy of
mention, since it has a pathetic tender
ness about it not usual in the ghost
story, though it is only remembered
nowadays by five badgers" after the
second gallon. Once. long ago the two
sentries We're surprised to see a woman
coming toward them in the twilight.
1t seemed early for ghost, and while
they still pondered and hesitated she
came up to them and said something in
a foreign tongue-Spanish, they took it
to be. They tried to explain that they
did not speak her language, but she only
smiled sweetly and sadly and walked on.
They lost her in the cleaning. but pres
entity, as they argued whether or no she
were a ghost one of them the bolder
Of the two, peeped over the wall into the
burial ground, and saw her standing
over one of the graves. And beside her
stood a French officer in uniform, so
near that they could see his face, and
they saw him kiss the woman as she
came to him, and they heard him speak
ing words of love. Thereupon the other
sentry, who was not a sentimental man,
pluckcd uD courage and leaping over
the wall. too, shouted out some coarse
joke. and with the shouting both the
officer ana the lady vanished Thereupon
he fired, and both Of them ran for it,
meeting the guard before they had gone
many steps. and the Sergeant of the
guard, coming back with them, looked
over the wall too. No one was visible.
but on one Of the graves were some tall,
white flowers that had not been there
before They dared not go nearer then.
but in the daylight they went to look
closer. The flowers had vanished: and
all that they ever found was a soiled
piece Of paper on which was written:
"Jusqu' la morte-et apres''
However. ghosts are never seen now
adays and they say that the buglers
and the vicious rattle OF the Maxim
have driven them away.-Good Words.
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