The Fremont weekly journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio) 1867-1877, 1870-09-16
SflisteIlaneons Solutions.
UNDER THE SEA

lHs UNDER THE SEA.
They were scrambling down the
rocks, gay, chattering procession
pretty Kate with her captain; DR..
Gray supporting his invalid wife;
Helen, Isabel, Tom and their mid
shipman cousin; last of all, Esther
Vane-alone. 1t seemed to her
morbid fancy right, that it should
be so. Henceforth she must be
alone-always. o 01
The little guide trotted On in ad-
vance-his round, ten-year old face
wearing the vacant look SO strangely
common to that part of the Maine
coast with its glorious scenery.
There the ocean is considered sim
ply a vast depot of herrings and
''porgy oiI' and the mountains as
untoward obstacles in the way Of
primitive husbandry. 'Blast 'em, l
wish they was fat" the natives say,
as their plough encounters the boul-
der at their base, and if they look
aloft at all, is to calculate the perch
es of ''medder land" which might be
made to occupy the same area, if
they were out of the way. a
The party felt on the eve of great
things. Having arrived only the
day before, Mount Newport, with its
wonderful reach of sapphire sea, the
bluffs, the lakes, in their setting of
dark blue hills, were still to them
the images of things not seen. This
was their first excursion, they had
dedicated to the "Grotto," or "Dev-
ills Oven," as the coast people term
it-a sort of a submarine cave, un-
yelled and accessible at low tide on
ly, and a great wonder in its way.
The path grew sleeper. Careful
ly they followed its windings, step
by step; sorefooted Kate accepting
the help she didn't need, for that
pleasure in being guided and watch
ed. And now the little guide paus-
es, and with freckled forefnger
points round a projection Of rocks.
All crowd to the spot. All! there it
is. The cave of the mermaids. A
shrek of mingled surprise and en-
chantment burst from the party at
the sight.
Beneath the low-browed arch the
rocky floor rises, terrace after ter
race, till in its highest recess it
meets the roof above. A floor for
the mermaid to dance upon; q floor
Of pink caroline, cleaning here and
there throu III pools of emerald wat
er left by the retreating tide. And
each of these tinny lakelets seemed
brimming with foWers-the flowers
of the ocean-green whorls, like
chestnut flowers; anemones with
their dahlia bloom; brown and rosy
IMAGES, among whose tendrils bright
fish darted and played, and snails of
vivid orange clustered; broad leaves
of brilliant dye swaying and undula-
ting with the motion of the pool,
minute specks of life flashing every
iridescent hue. No earthly garden
was ever so gorgeous. The rocky
shelves were dimpled with hollows
softly, exquistedly curved. No
fancy of the old clasic days seemed
too fantastic or too fair for the spot.
The imagination instinctively kind
led into pictures, and saw the sea
nymphs sporting in the foam; bold
tritons winding their shells; mer-
maids playing at hide and seek; nix
les and mocking water sprites peep
j ING f:ocnrn. ff.onn the basin-all dream land
and wonder land opening, and the
common earth put aside and far
away.
With cries of delight the party
scattered through the cave. There
was room for an army. 1t was hard
to realize that with the returning
tide the space must fill, the gateway
close, and leave no resting place for
human foot. 1
'Yo said the tide was going down
didn't you little boyp'
"Ye-ah."
you're sure"
"Ye-ah."
"That's nice" cried Isabel. "Then
we can stay as long as we like.
Oh! do somebody come here and see
this"
She was lying with her face al
most touching the anemones. No
body responded to her cal-each
had found some other point of inter
est. Tom had fished up a sea-ur-
chin and was exhibiting it. Kate
and her captain, in niche of their
own, at safe whispering distance,
were absorbed in each other. Es-
ther had climbed to the topmost
ledge, and was sitting there alone.
For the first time in six weary
months a sensation of pleasure had
come to her, and she was conscious
of but one longing-that they would
all go away and leave her to realize
it. With some vague hope she got
out her color box and portfolio and
began to sketch. At least it kept
people of, and furnished an excuse
for silence.
And so an hour or more passed
by, She heard, as in a dream, the
chatter of the others, their questions
to the little guide, his short, jerky
replies. The pools were all explor-
ed; the urchins and anemones had
been tickled with parasols, and made
to shut and open, and shut again;
the young people began to sigh for
further worlds to conquer, and Mrs.
Gray to consider it very damp.
''Little boy, isn't there something
else near by which we would like to
see?"
"Guess so"
swell, what is it? Tell US please. P"
} "There's the Heads, ] guess"