The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1908-02-13
GHOST MOOSE
WEIRD PHANTOM THAT RoAMs
MAINE FOREST.
Remarkable Stories Of Spirit Animal
Told by Guides-AII Sorts Of
Disturbances Caused by
His Antics.

If the stories of guides to the north
of here can be relied upon a ghost"
moose is at large west of Molunkus
river and is creating all sorts Of dis
turbances. Whether the spirit Of a
moose roams the forests, or whether
the animal is of flesh and blood and
educated to the ways Of man, 1t mat
tiers little so long as he has completely
terrorized the guides.
The phantom was first seen, so re-
port has it, by n Sandy Hill, who
was in charge of a party of Massachu-
sets sportsmen camped beyond the
old Patten stage road. The crowd
was out one afternoon when the
moose suddenly showed up within
range of the guns of three of the party,
and they fired simultaneously. The
moose dropped, and it was noted that
he looked at his slayers with mild,
fearful eyes. AS there was no time to
dress the animal, it being late in the
day, the carcass vas hung on a tree,
bled and allowed to remain over night.
Next morning the moose was gone,
and his tracks plainly showed that
he had walked off.
The following night the party was
aroused out of a heavy sleep by a
deep breathing at the door Of their
shanty. There, with his throat cut
and his mournful eyes fixed on them,
stood the very animal they had shot
less than 4S hours before. Sandy man.
aged to come out of his stupor and
fire his rifle and again down came the
moose. This time he didn't stay
down. Still gazing at them with his
awful eyes he arose and fitted back.
ward into the forest. Daylight plainly
revealed his tracks.
This was the last Sandy's party saw
But he hadn't taken himself off the
face of the earth by any means, for
Burt Peggins, who has a trapper's
camp west of Ashland, received a visit
from the "critter." According to his
story he had come in from his traps
just as the moor was rising and was
standing his gun against the cabin
when he felt a hot breath on the back
of his neck and turned to look into the
nose of a moose with its throat cut. He
was so startled that he darted within
the cabin and banged the door after
him. Peering out of the window he
saw, so he says, the ghostly intruder
pick up his rifle with his teeth, pull
the trigger and discharge it. Then the
apparation vanished. Peggins didn'
get over the shock for three days.
Arthur Hill was coming in from
Mud Pond when he almost stepped OF
the moose lying in a copsee of fir. HI
fired point blank, but missed and tn
moose grasped his gun and evapor
ated. He hasn't seen either since; bu
when he got home he found moos'
tracks at his door and discovered tina
some animal had made a wreck of hi
cabin. The door wasn't wide enough
to admit the body of a moose, blu
there were no other tracks in tn
snow.
The strangest story is told by Harr,
Porter. He was out for a moonligb
drive with his best girl when VI
horse dropped dead from heart dis
ease. He was five miles from tn
village and the situation was emba1
RAISING. He took the horse from tn
thills and was STOPPING owe to remov
the harness when he heard the SCUM
of heavy breathing and turned. There
in the thills stood the phantom moose
Porter says that without knowini
what he did he harnessed the ANNA
climbed back beside his best girl an
took up the reins. They got to tn
edge of the village in record tim
when the moose stopped and signife
that he wished to be released. S
Porter took off the harness and Wake
the rest of the way. Porter has neve
shot a gun in his life.