The globe-independent. (Hagerstown, Md.) 1943-19??, 1949-07-28

was struck up, and the soldier adj
mitted defeat, saying that he wish
ed he could die for Saidee. But Sal
dee had better idea; why not live
for her! So they schemed for his
desertion from the army. He hid
in the deep, dark, trackless gorge
below the tavern, and Saidee took
him food, and warned him to hide
if the hunting army came near, by
sounding the cry of the wildcat The
army hunted three days, and then
decided that the soldier must have
met with i'll fate, and moved on.
The soldier came out of hiding, built
mountain cabin, married his be-
loved Saidee, and lived happily, as
far as we know, ever after.
But the folks of South Mountain de-
clare that to this day, at midnight,
one may see the hiding soldiers tiny
campfire in the gorge, and hear the
cry of the wildcat, Saidee's warning.
1t is indeed impossible to give
even a summary of the strange tales
once told in this area, for the book
is filled with a great variety of queer
and chilly happenings. Three out
standing occurrences, beings, ghosts,
or whatever they were, have been
reported so often, and by such a
varied group of see-ers, that they
are worth mentioning
First was the "Black Dog" 1t
was only referred to as the Black
Dog, for in reality, no one ever
knew actually what it was. 1t usu-
ally appeared at midnight, as some
traveller was passing by the gorge,
alone or in the company of just
few. Then the strange being would
appear, sometimes looking like
huge bear, again like a great dark
mass, but without sound or tracks,
would pass along before, or to one
side of, the traveller, only to sudden
ly disappear again This creature
was seen by many, many people of
South Mountain, but was never
touched, or seen by day, and not
trace of its existance could ever be
found, except for the short glimpses,
by frightened travellers, at midnight.
The other two ''ghostlike" visit
ors were: the white Woman"
whose appearance denoted the COM
ing of death; and the "Headless
Man" Both of these were seen re-
peatedly, and both were greatly
feared
In the old house itself, for nearly
a century, there was a constant
stream of queer happenings. There
were lights on the old battlefield at
midnight, on nights that were other
wise pitch-dark. Sometimes this
light shone on the old house so
brightly that it attracted attention
from the folks inside And strange
sounds were heard nearly every
midnight. Mrs. Dahlgren reports all
the strange stories that were told to
her, and does not attempt to inter
pref, or explain. A few of the sto-
rieS ended with their own explana-
ton, for those of our day who do
not believe in ghosts One man was
terribly frightened by seeing form
he thought surely was the ghost of
a very wicked old woman, and he
told how he thought it was of such
huge size, and such terrible appear
ance. But he was bold man, and
went to get better view of the
thing" when he found it to be
sleeping cow.
And another man found that what
he thought was a fiery ghost of a
departed neighbor, was only stump
of "Fox-fre."
But most of the stories are told in
good faith really believed by those
who told them, and, to those who
believe, are hair-raising.
One man walked near the gorge
one night, when he became depress-
ed with the feeling of loneliness and
fear. Then he saw another man
some distance in front of