Democratic Sentinel, Volume 10, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 June 1886 — The Colonel’s Story. [ARTICLE]

The Colonel’s Story.

BY CAPTAIN JAMES MONTFORD.

■‘No dog was at the threshold, great or small; No pigeon on the roof—no household creature, No cat demurely dozing on the wall, Not one domestic feature. ■“Tho centipede along the threshold crept, The cobweb hung across its mazy tangle, And in its winding-sheet tho maggot slept, At every nook and angle.” — Hood. “The person who passed through ihe war without meeting adv entures which thrilled his blood, or mysteries -which chilled it, must have been a very' queer individual.’' “We all met with adventures enough, Colonel,” I replied; “but they flitted past so vaguely that very little is remembered by the great majority. What was noticed has now become historical. Every table groans beneath the weighty of that great mass.” “Umph!” said he, sitting down in his chair. “But what is to become of the mass of events which the historians of to-day would swear at, eh?” “That must furnish entertainment for those who will listen. But I see you have a story; I’m not pne of the sneerers, I promise you.” “Well,” said the old gentleman, laughingly, “the tale will diminish in the telling, hut I will relate it plainly.” “There was an old ruined house upon the plantation of a gentleman named Murray, in Tennessee, which had gained a celebrity for being the harboring place of the spirit of a giant soldier, who was said to have fallen under disgraceful circumstances during the War of Independence. “The gentleman who owned the place at the date I am speaking of disclaimed all knowledge of the ghastly warrior, and, indeed, scouted the idea altogether. “The house, which I shall attempt to describe after a moment, had been erected by a gentleman of French descent called Gaston; but whether that was a family name or not I do not know. “According to the story, he had two sons, and, as very often happens in romances, they both loved a lady, the daughter of a neighboring thane. “The elder son was unsuccessful in his suit, his brother marrying the lady and bringing her home to his father’s house. “As might naturally be expected, the disappointed suitor became very jealous of his brother's good fortune, and, being of a fiery disposition, his anger rankled into a stern determination to be revenged. “Both young men were patriotic, and immediately joined the revolutionary forces at ihe first ringing of the bell of freedom. “Gaston, as I shall call the elder, concealed his hatred from his brother; but, watching his opportunity, killed him. “Accounts differ as to the circumstances, But the act was so cautiously carried out that no one suspected Gaston of the crime except his brother’s wife, who was probably in possession of knowledge which satisfied her as to the real assassin. “Soon after his brother’s death Gaston returned to the plantation to pass a few weeks with the bereaved family. “Then it was that his brother’s wife accused him distinctly of the crime, and warned him of exposure as soon as his mother, who had become very ill upon receiving news of her son’s death, recovered, ’ and was able to sustain this still more ter- ‘ rible disclosure. .. • “The several narrators whom I have heard relate the legend give a very full account of the Scene, and Gaston’s -uncomfortable position after the accusation. “However, upon’ finding that neither threats nor promises, could restrain her tongue, he watches hie opportunity until he finds her one night in a solitary part of the ✓mansion, when he strangles her neatly, *nd buries the corpse in the cellar beneath the house. “There is..great excitement the next day, and a strict search is instituted, but without a satisfactory result, and the family at last •decide that the young lady has, in a moment of mental disorder, thrown herself into the lake (a very beautiful sheet of water, which I have seen) not far distant from the planfation. ‘'Soon after, Gaston returns to the army; . but his good fortune has deserted him. His guilty conscience preys upon his body and mind, and in a slight skirmish he displays the most unmistakable cowardice. “As a fitting close to his career he is court-martialed,' found guilty of cowardice and treason, and executed by martial law. “Such is the substance of the story I have heard related several times. The negroes who dwell within a dozen miles of the ruined house firmly believe the legend, with all its embellishments, and no sum of money would bribe them to. enter the house after nightfall, .and even under the full light of the sun they look upon the place with awe. “In 1882 I was stationed for the space of three months at a point about half a mile from the Gaston ruin, and passed it regularly several times a week. “It was a low, weather-beaten structure, -entirely dismantled, and overgrown with creeping vegetation, which was fostered by

the dampness of its situation; for it had been built in a hollow, but little above the level of the lake, which was about a mile distant. “It extended back for a considerable distance, but had, in the daytime at least, nothing romantic in its appearance. “I often wished to pay a visit to the inside, but leisure was wanting for a long time. “But one afternoon, shortly before sundown, I was returning to my barracks by the road which pa-Sid the house, when one of those sudden thunder-storms so common in the country arose. “I was entirely unprovided for it, and as the huge drops pattered upon my head, whde the play of lightning overhead was startling from its intensity, I forced my horse through the thin hedge that fenced the premises. “The ruin now bore a different aspect. The bright flashes of lightning seemed to burn their way through the walls for an instant, only to be followed by gloom still more terrible. “I felt a tremor of fear as I dragged the unwilling steed in through the broken walls, and I was not made tnore comfortable by the groaning of timbers, and falling wood inside. “Leading the horse into one corner, where he would be protected by the wall from the full force of the storm, I crouched down at his side. “The storm which followed was terrible; the rain fell in sheets, the t muder was almost deafening, and the wind seemed determined to tear the crime-concealing walls f om their foundations.

“My horse was a young animal, and had become very excitable. I found myself liable to be crashed by him at’any moment, and was at last forced t > leave the shelter whiili his body promised, and creep away through the darkness to some further corner of the building, out of the reach of his heels “The floor was full of pitfalls; but, taking a quick glance at my surroundings by the momentary flashes of lightning, I neared the opposite side, where a portion of the upper floor which still remained would shield me from the storm. “Suddenly there was a blaze of flame, under which I shrank back appalled. “It came just in time, however, for in front of me, and yawning before my feet, was a large ragged hole in the broken floor. “I at the same instant caught a glimpse of a tall figure not more than three feet distant. “His features became so impressed upon my mind iu that instantaneous glance that, had I known him for years, the knowledge would have added nothing to his description. “A very tall man, with a dark face, exceedingly handsome* but with wild-looking eyes, that curdled the blood in my veins. I shivered with apprehension, and, with a scarcely human cry,*the specter, as in that fearful moment I thought it to be, leaped across the chasm and seized me by the throat. “I struggled with the desperation of madness to release myself; but, whatever his appearance might be, the muscles seemed formed of steel. “He forced me backward toward the hole; but the instant I was falling the floor gave way, and we fell downward into the gloomy cellar beneath. * * * * * * “The storm did not continue long,” said the Colonel, after a short silence, “and the horse found his way out of the building and to his quarters. “When I awoke from my faint I found half a dozen of the boys bending over me. “I lay upon my back in a pool of water in the cellar of Gaston’s house. “I related my story before I was well out of the place, and from the ill-disguißed grins with which it was heard I realized that my veracity was suspected. I never related my difficulties of the night afterward. “It is my opinion that the tall specter was some adherent of the Southern cause, who had sought shelter there for the same reasons as myself. “At any rate, it added another legend to the house of Gaston.”