76 THK FOGY DAYS AND NOW; 



if I made a dash I might become entangled in these stylish 

 appendages and upset the young Ladies or something else, and 

 the only resort I could think of was like old Adam, to try and 

 j)ut the trouble off on some one else, so turning to the sufferer 

 I said: "Miss Martha, I am very sorry, this thing would never 

 have happened if it hadn't have been a wild duck." This excuse 

 brought down the house with a roar of laughter, and even the 

 stately Senator smiled and remarked that the young man 

 should be pardoned at once, and the pardon was at once gra- 

 ciously granted, and instead of the miserable culprit, 1 at once 

 became the hero of the occasion. 



I now want to tell you a story. It may at first appear a 

 little marvelous, but I have earnestly tried to give the truth all 

 through this little book, and as I am now a white haired man, 

 am persuaded that I have borne a respectable name for 

 veracity, and would therefore regret, at this late date, to be con- 

 sidered a competitor of the Baron Mon Chaussen. I trust the 

 reader will at least be kind enousjh to oive the statement the 

 benefit of what the law recognizes as ' reasonable doubts." 

 The strange story is about a remarkable and very deep old 

 well on the top of old Fort Hill, on the John Calhoun place. 



It is said that, in olden times, several battles were fought 

 around this old fort, and reported that many human bodies 

 were thrown into the old well. It has never been used since. 

 In our day, there was much superstition about this old well, 

 especially among the negroes, who gave the place a wide 

 berth after nightfall, but as to the facts of which we are 

 about to state, I, and others now living, were personal 

 witnesses. 



In that day, if a person would go to this old well after sun 

 set, and leaning over so as to throw the voice down to the bot- 



