Ghosts #97

Synopsis

A Very Special SpiritIn 1955, author, lecturer, and self-styled "Ghost Chaser, B. R. Tinsdale began work on his final tome, "A Guidebook To Haunted Houses". Soon thereafter, Tinsdale received a letter from one Eustis Pratt, the curator of the Major Morgan Museum, in Greensboro, Georgia. The museum, something of a shrine for Major Morgan, has fallen on hard times, and is close to shuttering it's doors. Pratt feels that it's lack of inclusion in Tinsdale's book could be the final nail in the museum's coffin. Pratt relays the tale of Major Beaumont Morgan, a Civil War soldier who fell prey to a Union army ambush, and died in the very room Tinsdale and Pratt now occupy. Following his death, the ghost of Major Morgan could be seen, either roaming the halls of the museum, or on horseback, riding through through the neighboring fields,ever searching for his troops, to rally them to battle. There hasn't been a sighting of Morgan's ghost, however, in forty years. According to legend, though, Major Morgan's ghost only appears to perpetuate the memory of his doomed battalion. Pratt reveals himself to be the ghost of Major Morgan. Morgan's horse passes through the wall. On horseback, Morgan's ghost chases Tinsdale around the museum. With a mighty swing, the ghost slashes Tinsdale clean through with his saber, but the ghost blade seemingly passes harmlessly through the famous "Ghost Chaser". Nonetheless, Tinsdale drops dead to the floor. The next morning, Tinsdale's body is found by the real Eustis Pratt. The coroner lists the cause of death as heart failure, possibly as the result of some massive traumatic shock. When the police investigation turns up the letter from Pratt to Tinsdale, Pratt notices that it is not written in his hand, but Major Morgan's. The letter is put on display alongside Major Morgan's diary, becoming the museum's biggest draw in years.The Incarnadine Bridge!Caught poaching game, Tully Mason receives a beating from Roy Dusek. As Dusek departs, Mason, in a...