Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1917-01-11
GHOST STORIES
TOLD BY SOLDIERS
IAN INVISIBLE SOMETHING SET
THEM BEFORE MY EYES, THEN
sNATcHED THEM AwtY"
ONE saw A SEVERED HEAD MOVE
DardanelIes Veteran Declares He Saw
Man Blown to Pieces Become
Whole Again.

London.-The mellow twilight was
melting into darkness. A hundred or
so soldiers were sitting in the quiet,
pretty grounds of military hospital.
The conversation had drifted to
ghosts. By degrees it became clear
that on all battlehelds ghosts have
been seen.
II was on sentry-go outside barn
in France" said blue-clad hero, a
man of serious turn OF mind, be-
tween 80 and 40 years Of age. "a full
moon was shining 80 brightly in a
cloudless sky" he went on, that
could see to read newspaper"
Presently, far away, I heard
hound give tongue; heard Just one
faint note. recognized the deep.
mournful bay at once as that of
bloodhound. I picked up my rifle. but
couldn't see anything.
1.-THE country around was nat and
treeless, and in other respects open.
and even a hound two or three hun.
dred yards away could hardly have
escaped my notice.
well, suppose I continued to
search for that hound for a good FIVE
minutes. But not living thing any
where, and, except for the voices of
companions talking softly inside the
barn, nothing to be heard. Every.
where dead calm-a dead quiet;
everywhere the silence of the grave.
Then something happened that caused
me to drop my rifle and froze the
blood in my veins.
Not half a dozen yards away a
brace of bloodhounds, coupled to-
gether and with tongues hanging out
of their mouths, galloped past with
music as loud, as clear, and, in way.
as sweet as a peal of church bells.
The dogs came into being before me.
AN invisible something set them
before my eyes: an invisible some
thing snatched them away again.
Il saw them for about the space Of
20 seconds. Then the deep quiet
again.
Moments went by before | could
pick up my rifle and move from the
spot where l was standing. At last
managed TO stagger into the barn.
The place was lit by couple OF
small smoky lanterns, and most of
the men were reading.
They laughed, remarking that /
was so white that l might have been
mistaken for a nice healthy corpse.
Il asked them if they had heard
n n IN n or,
cept the fall of my rifle.
Then l told them the story. They
fell to duscussing it from a practical
point of view.
The conclusion arrived at was that
l had really heard a distant hound
give tongue, and then, as had search
ed the country before me for the ami
NAL, l had fallen into a momentary
dose or stupor and dreamed or imi.-
sined the rest.
The next man to tell a story was
one who had fought at the Oar
danelles. early one morning." he be-
gan, Il was on outpost duty with
pal. In time there came an enormous
shell, and my friend was killed His
IL
body and lay in all directions.
He was about so yards from me
when the thing happened, and the
ghastliness of it all fairly rooted me
to the ground.
AT length. as l stood like an image
Of bronze, with eyes riveted on the
head, l noticed something that scared
M hap
moving; there was no mistake about
that-it was rolling over and over.
very slowly, and making for its body.
Now the face was hidden in the dust
on the ground, now looking up at the
sky.
Then l noticed the arms and legs
were moving, too. The fingers OF the
hands were stretched wide apart, dig
ging themselves into the ground and
levering away; the toes of the big
boots were getting bite waere they
could, then giving shove, and thus
the legs were shifting.
in time all FIVE reached the trunk
at precisely the same moment; it had
been a neck-and-neck race all the
way, anu, iloteu W tnlSJ WAS gazing
on a complete coip:e.
Il went and exa' Mned it, and as far
as l could see 1t WA not so much as
bruised. Just the shock of the ex-
plosion had wrenched the life from II.
II Skinned it. l didn't stop before
had covered the mile that separated
me from my company.
Il told the fellows ali that had hap
pened, and some of us went back,
bit gingerly. to give the remains a
burial.
I'VE found the corpse exactly as l
had last seen 1t. calm, beautiful, unin-
jured.
Yet saw all have said saw as
clearly as see yonder trees"
y believe you," said hardened
campaigner. II myself have seen
things as bad when shells have been
bursting near me and bullets whistl,
ing past my head and l haven't had