"I do believe in spooks...

... I do believe in spooks... I do, I do, I do..."

Okay. I don't. But a lot of people do. And especially in spooky places.

Like at the Historic Fort Wayne. They say that the sally ports - labyrinths of tunnels deep in the 150 year-old walls of the forts - are haunted. And you could almost understand why. Dark as pitch - even in the daytime - except for what light you bring with you and what little squeaks through the gun ports. At nighttime they are suitably and justifiably spooky.

Very late one night, during the recent Civil War reenactors' drill there, one young and brave soldier thought he would spend the night, sleeping in one of the sally ports. There are, at the top of the walls, air vents. A couple of us climbed up and serenaded the lad, through the vent, with faint and eerie harmonica music for a few, and we trust spooky, minutes.

And then we merrily went off to bed, safe in the barracks. In the morning, it was discovered at first call someone was missing! The fellow who was spending the night in the sally port wasn't there. Or anywhere else. Not a sign at all. His car, we found, was still there.

We were more than a little concerned.

After some searching we found him in a room in the large barracks... innocently and soundly sleeping away. He had come back in, sometime during the night, not being able to get comfortable on the stone in the damp and cold. And so found a quiet, warm- and safe - corner to curl up in. Ultimately, he saw to it they the joke was on us!

At least once, on these weekends, we often will take midnight candle-lit tours of the sally ports. Following is a photograph of Dan ("Old Pete") Conklin, Randy ("Previs") Perry, Jim Cary and Mark Heath... with a friend. We were doing some paranormal investigating and found that, maybe - just maybe - the sally ports are haunted by spooks after all. But somehow, we sensed that are "friendly"...