The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-02-27
HAUNTED TO HIS DEATH
Killed Friend in a Brawl and COnjured
Up a Brain Phantom That Caused
His End.

Ou you ever see a haunted man,
a man who really fancied himself
followed by a specter, and whose
every momen was endured in ago.
ny and dread? No? Well, some years
ago. out in a little mining town in
Montana, l ~encounted such a wretch,
and the miserable fellow left such an
impression upon me that 1 have never
forgotten him"
Charles Grice, a civil engineer, en-
gagged in general contracting work,
drew the circle Of listeners closer
about his chair with the strange be-
ginning of his yarn.
1T was all of fifteen ear ago, l
guess, Wnen l. a very young chap,
worked as one O. the ASSISTANTS to a
mining engineer in Ion
tana. Our party toiled up and down
extended for fifty miles, and seldom
did our camp remain in the same
place for two days on a stretch.
1T was a wild. clustering night late
in August, and u tents were -itched
on a broad shelf of rock with a sheer
wall of granite rising hundreds of feet
on one side and a gloomy abyss. which
seemed to be the gateway to the bot
tOmless pit, on the other.
Our chief had chosen the spot,
as the mountain range back of US af-
forded protection from the storm
which threatened to break, but / as
sure you, gentlemen, tie place was
gloomy and dismal enough to give
anybody the blues.
w built a big fire in the space
between the Tapping canvas tents,
and when night fell and hadow as
black as ink gathered in the gulch
and seemed in the thick heaVlnesS
to roll and tumble in vapory clouds
as they reached out to the top of
the mountains, we were all glad
enough to gather around those glow
ing fagots and take comfort from their
brightness.
AS the night grew older the dis
turbed elements took on a more bois-
ferrous activity until finally the wind,
as it came in angry gusts through the
dark wilderness Of the rock, actually
shrieked and hoWled like tortured
demons and each occasional raindrop
sounded like a hiss as it splattered on
the ledge.
we were a melancholy bunch, sit
ting around that fire, and when sud-
denly one of the redmen. after peering
out into the dark enVeloping the mar
row path edging to precipice leading
to our amp, Sprang to his feet, point
ed a shaking finger ahead OF him and
cried, Look there's somebody running
UP that ledge! we all jumped up, and
depressed as we were with our dreary
surroundings, fell to trembling like so
many school girls.
I'VE followed with our gaze the
direction indicated by our redman,
but for a moment could see nothing.
Then a white splotch showed family
against the and Ome
tarily taking on proportions more
distinct, at last resolved itself into
a white shirt. We could see the shirt
before we could make out it's wear
er, but in less than a minute the whole
form of the running man was within
our range of vision, and in less time
thar it takes to tell it the stranger was
in our midst, shaking like an aspen
leaf and expressing the most abject
fear I ever saw reflected on n coun-
tenance.
The man was tall and heavy set,
and above the black beard which
fringed his chin in a thick, unkempt
mass. we could see the deathly pal
Tor of a drawn naggard face and
mark the restless CLEAN or dark, sun
ken eyes. He wore heavy boots, their
tops strapped over blue trousers; a
white shirt, badly soiled, and a gray
coat. The shock of raven hair which
covered his head was Wind-tosSed ana
disheveled, and his hat was missing,
and on a whole tbs fellow made a
most startling picture.
IL we were oil SloIi lie "S 1iiA
with wide, inquiring eyes, the man
dropped on his knees, buried his head
in his arms. which he had placed on
a bundle of sacks, and sobbed out,
For Gods sake, a me from that
horror 1t has been pursuing me for
hours through the mountains, and 1t
means my destructiOn!' The extraor-
binary remark caused us all to reach
for our guns, as we thought that rob-
bers were after our unexpected guest,
but peer as we could through the
darkness down the winding path we
could Sc nothing, and no other sounds
came to our ears save the deep SOB
bing of the stranger n the moan
of the gale.
There's nothing out there that
l can see,' said our chief, letting his
gun slip back into its holster, ana
if there is it can't ouch you here.
The confident words seemed to reas-
sure the unknown to a degree, and
raising his chalky face. he thanked
the chief with a mute expression,
which for a m lessened the cast
of fear on his features. one of the
men handed the poor wanderer a flask.
and the fugitive placing the bottle TO
his lips, drank greedily of its contents.
Handing the flask back to its own
er. our guest got up from his knees
and seated himself on a nail cask, but
we noticed that he seemed careful to
get in the very center of the circle as
though seeking protection from some
unseen enemy
w sat in silence for awhile, the
strangers elbows on his knees and his
face resting in the palms of his horny
hands, but at last the boss spoke ana
asked our visitor what his trouble was.
The man drew himself UP straight and
looked around at the faces showing in
the freight. He said nothing at first.
but. after heaving a deep sigh he told
as weird a tale as l had ever heard.
He said that he was being hound
ed by a ghost-the ghost of a man he
had killed during q brawl in a gam
bling den in Idaho. and n specter
had been following him for DAYS. and
In his mad fear he had gone aimlessly
from place to place.
"T stabbed that poo fellow the
said, u culver Of renorse in