Democratic Sentinel, Volume 14, Number 1, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 January 1890 — The Ghostly Drummer. [ARTICLE]

The Ghostly Drummer.

A story is told that in the early davs of Washington, during one of the British expeditions against the colonists, a number of soldieis, one of them a drummer boy, attempted to cross the Potomac River at h point sonth.of Little Falls, three miles above Georgetown, Va. Just before the Maryland shore was reached the boat was overturned and tbe drummer drowned, and ever since persons rowing over the spot where he went down can hear the muffled notes of the drum, as his spiiit plays the dead march. The place is generally given a wide berth by thorn who know ot' the story. An incident which is said to have occurred many years ago served onlj' to strengthen the hold the superstition has on the minds of the credulous. One day a fisherman, more bold than his fellows, had been dropping bit line just above the place where the drummer is said to have (.onedown. He had fished a.l day with tbe lire >ry notes of th j drum sounding in his ears, nnd, growing wear/ of the monotonous rat-a-tat-iat, exclaimed: “D it, can’t you play some other tune?” No sooner were the words spoken than all sound ceased. A moment later the waters beneath seemed to part, and the boat, with the fisherman still in it, slowly sank from sight, the man making no attempt to escape his fate, and since that time no trace of either tbe fisherman or his craft has been discovered. His friends witnessed the occurrence, but were too horror-stricken to do aught for his relief until he was beyond ihe r aid.