Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1853-03-30
CHAPTER XII.
Iris a history

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We learn it and believe. SoUTHEY. I
mercy on me how did you live when the !
great, rough creature carried you away and !
set you down at the awful mouth of Ruggle's
Cavei l know | should have died with ter
ror upon the spot" said Layinia Welby to
Columbine in a conversation they had on the
evening after the scrimmage recorded in our
last chapter.
True | was frightened almost out Of my
wits" replied ColumbiHe, !" but | did not
quite faint, much less die of terror ; indeed
begin to think myself quite a heroine, such
as we read of in Romances and Novels, at
least / felt quite like such when my unknown,
silent friend rushed out to my rescue and
knocked the villain over with his club"
"Oh /! / reckon you did feel brave as a sol
der then, now didn't you ? And you don't
know who he was ?" e~nquired Layinia.
"I hayn't the most remote idea" answer
ed Columbine.
Was he masked ?"
Yes ahideous, hairy mask, such as VIC
read Of in the plays" replied Columbine.
90! l know that would have frightened
me half to death | am sure | should not
have looked upon him as a friend. And he
never spoke a word ?"
No not a whisper-he just led me 81
lcntly away to the door ofmy home and there
left me, without so much aS-adieu," replied
Columbinc.
"Well, my dear Columbine, / mustsay that
you are q creature both of misfortune and
fortune ; for you never meet with i'll luck,
but what some kind and providential cir
cumstance brings you relief from your d.
lemma," said Lavinia.
" If some kind circumstance, as you say,
would show me again my dear Baptiste's
face / should think 1 was fortunate once in
my life at least"
"You speak truly and feelingly, Column
bine, but be Of good cheer for you will see
him again when the war is over and then,
o. how happy you will be you will see
him every day and call him husband! l de-
clare will almost envy your happiness, my
little friend"
"Ah me / have almost ~dcspaired ever
seeing him again be will soon be gone a
way to South Carolina, and perhaps he will
be killed in the battles besides, father hates
him so bitterly that he says he intends to
shoot him if he ever sees him at our house
again ; so you see there are so many obsta.
cles in the way that | am excusable for des
pairing and yet more, you know he wrote
mo that he was disgraced, and | reckon h
thinks | would not wish to see him again
but if he is basely disgraced | would love t.
share the odium with him, and if possibl
alleviate him of it all. O! this war, thi
war, Lavinia, is a cruel thing p and Column
bine buried hor glowing face in her hand
the afternoon and started home, with he
mind burthenod with her sore and trying a
%flictions. On her way she had to pass j
sight of Ruggles Hill and it's frightful cave
A creeping chill of horror ran through he
frame as she looked upon the rough outlin
of the rugged hill, and as sho cast a hurrie
glance at the blackened door of the Torie
prison house. She recalled the moment whe,
a short time before, she was held there b,
fore its stony jaws by a rutfain's hand read
TO plunge her into its cold, dark and gloom
cell ; she recalled the feeling of that momen
and a terrific, paralyzing chill ran over he
and her heart beat q low, faint and flute
ing pulsation. She hurried on from the fea
full precinct with a light and n~oiseless ste,
fearful that she would be assailed again b
her enemy and confined in the subterranea
prison. While all these unpleasant feeling
wero most powerfully working on her ina
lnation she was struck with magic terror I
the appearance Of a man, whose natural fe
lures and color were concealed by a fou
sooty black that was thickly spread over b
face, springing out from the thick cluster
bushes that lined the path, and confrontir
hor with his brawny arms and hideous vi
go ibhOu opCdhlI1J dilu WITHOUT Ger
mony, he seized her, and regardless of h
frantic cries for mercy he carried her arour
to the north side of the Hill and forced h
into the Cave of which she had such unspca
able terror
1t now becomes us to speak more defnit
ly of Rugglo's Cave: Before the war cor
menced it was rarely visited by the hare
mountaineers, owing to the fact of a supe
stitious notion being rife among them of i
being visited by supernatural agencies.
was u common belief that beings from Il
spirit world congregated there and held the
mysterious councils within its gloomy char
bers. The origin of this belief was dat
back to the earliest settlementof the countr
md grew into almost an absolute certain
after the first generation, and became a te
ror to tho nursery maids, and through the
the opinion was instillcd into the susceptit
minds of the young. Many were the tim
that sodate old grand-fathers and prim {
grand-mothers gathered the young lads a
lassies OF the mountains around them a
told them, with many omenouss shakes of tn
heavy heads, the tales Of terror connect
with the haunted cave. The origin of Il
superstition was not without foundation
the beginning for DO it known to You, q,
tie reader mine, that there had been strar
like
- Clanking fctters-low mysterious croan
Blood crusted daggers, and uucofiu'd bones
Pale gliding ghosts, with fingers dropping gore
And blue flames dancing round the dungeon do,
heard and seen about the precinct in Gu
ton. Some of the " sights" reported to h;
been seen about the haunted hill it nav
we'll to notice
An old negro servant passing by it al
night, saw lowering about the mystic doc
blue and lambont light, wavering and oui,
ing, as if held and swayed by an inyisi
hand. Now blazing out with a hurried ola
and then sinking down like q diving taper
Cash out again with redoubled intensity, Z
closing tho black and rugged rocks that
about the portals ofthc cave. The old ne
trembled with fear at what he saw, and
like q youth to his masters kitchen. veil
at every bound" Lor' Il massy Lor
massy !! F! L1r' 4 masSy - and fell spr
ling ON the floor, to the CONSERVATION of
family with which he lived. After a ]
breathing spell he told what he saw '
dSoply colorod oxagsaration added ther
An old grandmother, who acted as doc
cas- to the noighborhood, was passing by