The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-02-09

"a y :. NJ 9hS1 ny a.
When you stand for the first tin {
at Fort Raleigh. by the granite slab
erected TO commemorate the vents
that took place nearby, you feel Such
a sense OF disappointment that You
cannot hide it from yourself. A small
gearing in the dense woods-the cut
line of ancient e~arthworks marking
the form of "the fort that. Master
Ralph Lane had at the north end Of
the island"-and that is all
Well-all hat O see. But the
ghosts OF the past come, croWGing
around You, from every tree, from
every bush their forms emerge. and
y0qr brain rings with their stories of
neroism and hope and struggle. and
YOU feel that you stand on holy
ground, sanctified by failure nobler
thar all subsequent success. Each
tells his tale, vanishing into mystery
profound, a mystery that was fascinat-
ed and perplexed historian and poet
alike.
On Roanoke Island today you VIII
find q . of ghosts that few
spots can equal: three ndre years
cannot lay their unrest. time cannO
wipe from the present the memory OF
the past. For where some old tragedy
has occurred ghosts will be definite
and vivid in direct ratio to the poiS-
nancy OF the event. and as new gener-
atiOnS come the ghosts will change
form and merge into almost unreC-
ognizable new shapes in accordance
with new experiences n memories
Of more recent events.
A few hundre Yards from Fort
Raleigh stands a gnarled and ancient
live oak. We stopped a to
look at 1t and admire a mass Of poly
podium growing on the bark.
That's a haunted tree" said nv
friend. You couldn't pay me to
come I'D this road alone at night.
Twas last summer one night I had to-
so by it and lust before I reached the
tree l saw q mar ster from behind
It and start towards me. I didn't Day
10 attention to him till he got out in
the road and I saw him against the
sky. HE HAD NO HEAD. 1t was right
smooth across from shoulder to
shoulder. You don't believe q man
al fly? Well. you wait till YOU see
what I saw"
That might when the moon rose
above the Mays Head sand hills and
polished the waters of Roanoke Sound
with silver. / walked up and sat
down under the tree. l lit nv pipe.
Suddenly there came to mind q para
graph in John Whites report:
THE eight and twentieth. George
Howe. one of cur twelve assistants,
was slain by divers avages. which
were come oyer to Roanoke either
on urpOs to eSpy our and
what number we were or else to hunt
deer, whereof We're many in the island.
These a being secretly hidden
among high reeds. where Oftent!1neS
they find the deer asleep, and 50 kill
them, eSDied our man wading in the
water above. almost naked. and
without any weapon. saw only 4 small.
6orked stick, catching crabs there
withall. and also being strayed too
miles from his and shot
him in the water. where they gave
him sixteen wounds with their arrows,
and after hey had slain him with
their wooden words, they a his
head to pieces and fled over the water
to the main
/ got 10 and went home in high ex-
element. told them i lac seen tao
headless man. for / had been present
at the death of George Howe. slain
August the 2Sth. 1887.
Another big live oak standing just
outside the town of Manteo has q
terror for the belated pedestrian or
ever a man in COMPANY with a horse.
Standing at the angle of two roads
that run through dense underground
and oyerarching branches,-blacll as
ink even on moonlight nights.-the
tree holds a position visible
in three directions. The spirit Of 4
child hOyerS arOun invisible, but
waling, mourning pitifully III the
night, and at-times the trunk Of the
tree CLOVIS with q pale phoSphOrtS-
cence. Many people have heard and
seen it. ! was not SO fortunate.
Last summe the ghosts of Roanoke
forsOnk the trees. the lonely roads and
woods. and came to tOWn.-lnVaded
the virtuOuS lumber OF ManteO itself.
The first person who saw and heard it
was Mrs. -. but / won't name
her. she might be sensitive, for Sh2
went to bed with q bad fit of nerves
when it happened. But she was
not the only one. Each new Specta-
tor added q new horror and gave a
new explanation. It was a large
White bird with q wOman's head arG
arms and streaming hair,-mOurninS,
crying, shrieking in agony. 1t leaned
over your front gate. and its inartiCii-
late pleading froze the blood. 1t hov-
cred around the courthouse tower