Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury [Connecticut]) 1903-1917, 1904-05-20
CHAPTER VII.
GHOST OR WILD MANI

MdIlllI lOOkCu lOuS dC those gro
tesQue footprints in speeches. won
der. For two weeks he had watched
for them in old log roads, along the
banks of streams, in the muddy spots
OF carries, and upon the sandy shores
of lakes, in vain. He had found all
other kinds of tracks in plenty, hoof
prints of moose, deer, and caribou,
the oval ones Of bear, and the rounder
but sharper claweds tracks of lynx and
Wildcat-but none like these. And
now on bright moonlight night, the
nondescript creature had walked up
to within two rods of where he lay
sleeping!
The effect on Dr. Sci was almost
ludicrous He gazed at them, grew
pale, and with a We've got to get out
of here, and quick, too" started for
the tent
Here he comes; run. doctor, run,
shouted Martin, his sense of humor
rising above his establishment, as he
followed the doctor, who had covered
the distance with leaps. Then each,
grasping a rife, and followed by the
guides, returned to those tracks. And
now for the first time, SO plainly out
lined were they in the deep sand, it
was possible to better guess what man
ner of creature made them.
''It's a gigantic ape" asserted Mar
tin, bending over them: but Levi,
kneeling, shook his head.
Its some one wearin moccasins
with claws on EN-. kin see whar
the seam comes" he said.
1t was not reassuring, and both Mar
tin and the doctor glanced furtively
into the forest near at hand, and then
up to the gravelled point where the
stream entered. Then following Levi
and avoiding the tracks, halting often
to listen and look at one more distinct
than the rest, they came to this point
and the end of the tracks. Here a
faint furrow showed where a canoe
had grounded and been lifted out on the
beach
Its a white man. asserted Levi,
in a positive tone; ian Injun always
lands a canoe sideways"
S.And why?'' queried Martin, to
whom this was news.
cause it don't. strain EN- SO much,
an leaves no sign
.tThis chap wasn't fussy about the
signs" INTERCEPTED the doctor, land
if it's the beast saw that night on
the Moosehorn, I've had enough of his
society,"
"Thetracks are the same beyond ques-
tion," said Martin, and it locks like
case of follow, but how he has kept
along with us for ten days without
discovery is curious. " And the thought
of such a savage man etealthily follow
ing one upstream, down-stree m,
across 1a,5e enG carry a good 100 miles
of wilderness. made Martin nervous.
I'm rot gong to blc out j-lst yet"
he added, as they retraced their steps
to find their fire out and breakfast
ruined. Eut that mattered not; in
fact nothing was thought of or spoken
about all day except those hideous
tracks and the liseHhood that their
mailer might be lurking in the forest
about No attention was paid to the
lake, rippled and shining in the sum.
light, the birds. piping defiance to all
powers of darkness, or aught else of
beauty. Both canoes made an entire
detour of the lakes shore at least
three times, while their occupants,
oblivious even Of the trout leaping
out here and there, scanned the shad-
ows, paused oft to listen at every tri-
fling sound. The entrances to two
long, unused log roads we're examined,
the stream where they first entered
the lal e followed back mile, and the
one where the tracks began and ended
explored a little way, but no sign or
sound of this wild man found. Like
a thief at night he had come ashore,
stolen up to their camp, returned, en-
parked, and where he was hiding no
man could guess.
When nightfall drew near, the doc
tor became nervous. II shan't sleep a
wink tonight" he said plaintively, as
he watched Levi building a fire, and
as the woods grew shadowy and darker,
he kept close to the fire. Not for I'M
told wealth would he have walked into
that sombre, silent forest one-half mile
alone-no, not even SO rods.
Jean also was as scared as the doc
tor. Like many of the half-breed guides
who lead sportsmen into this wilder
ness, he believed most wild animals to
be endowed with human cunning and
devilish malice as well; that they might
initiate human actions, and certainly
couldyhear and understand human con-
verse. He was positive bears could
walk upright for miles and pantheFs
cross lakes on logs. using sticks for
paddles. He was certain that this wild
man who had followed them was a
combination of man and beast, huge,
hairy ape maybe, or mixture of bear,
panther, and man. Moreover, he be-
lieved in ghosts.
The piratical paddle handle found by
Martin, the moose skull perched on
the ledge, the night cries of looms on
the lakes or wildcats in swamps, were
all evidence of ghost existence and
meant for death warnings, and when
he heard them, he invariably crossed
himself.
4lo;~