Page:New Brunswick Magazine Issue 1.djvu/63

care, the party removed all the moss around the green ridges, and when they had done so there remained the bones of two skeletons, with the substance of much of the bony structure nearly wholly absorbed by the growth it had so greatly enriched.

A few other articles were found. There were a small bottle or flask, the remains of leather boots, and some metal buttons, so corroded that little remained of them. On one of the buttons, however, which by some chance in its surroundings was better preserved than the others, what appeared to be figures were seen. A careful examination subsequently disclosed the number "101".

This meant that the skeletons were those of soldiers of the 101st regiment. How long had it been since that body of troops was stationed in St. John? None of the party could remember it. Some old people to whom the surveyors afterwards went for information declared that the 101st had not been at this garrison since the early part of the century.

Several gentlemen, among them the Messrs. Drury and Gilbert, took a deep interest in the discovery, and one of them wrote a letter of inquiry to the War Office in England. The reply received was that the 101st regiment had left St, John in the year 1809; that previous to its departure two men had deserted in the winter; that no trace of them was afterwards found; and that an entry to that effect had been made on the roll and returned to the office in due course.

The story was a plain one. The fugitives had sought the shelter of the woods in the bitter cold of winter, had sat down with their backs against the tree and refreshed themselves with the spirits in the flask. Waiting for a favorable chance to pursue their journey, they had become drowsy, dropped asleep and never awakened. The wood was little frequented in those