Los Angeles daily herald., 1873-11-14


the bosom of the waters! AS | stood
spell-bound, with all my nerves
stretched to full tension, and my
gaze eagerly fixed on the sea beneath
my feet, | felt Il strange feeling come
over me, as though something were
behind or at my side.
At first, if my life had depended up
ON it, could not have had the power
of will or body to turn around. A
strange terror had overcome me, and
my feet seemed rooted to the ground,
but, at length, with strong effort OF
determination, turned, and beheld Il
sight that filled me with horror A
CLEAN of the watery moon now stole
out from behind cloud, and disclosed
the dark figure of a man, or what
seemed to be a man, standing erect,
but in an attitude of expectancy on
the verge of the cliff. From whence
he had appeared, and when, | was
quite unable to say, as / had not no.
ticed his presence before, but he stood
there, wrapped in an old-fashioned
mantle of some darker NATAL, with
his head bent downwards, SO that l
could see nothing as yet of his face.
Suddenly the roll of the drum re-
commenced, and with a quick motion
of his head, he gazed long and ear
nestly out to sea.
Never shall / forget that face. To
this day | can recall no individual
feature but the eyes. There are times
indeed, when you are quite unable to
take in, as it were, more than one
particular of a mass of events; and it
was so now. | can distinctly remem-
Der this mans eyes, for they were re-
markably brilliant and glowing; what
the rest of his face resembled cannot
tell, already was [ so confused as to
external sensations and appearances.
Suddenly | saw, moving from the
shadowy mist which now almost COW
cred the ocean, the outline of a large
and stately vessel, gliding almost i'm
perceptibly through the water, but
displaying no signs of vitality, except
the prolonged roll of the drum, which
rang out with startling effect upon the
still night air. AS l noted its quiet
onward progress, l saw for the first
time, to my horror, that she was
steering straight upon the reef which
lay along the cliffs at my feet.
tried in vain to call loudly, to warn
those on board of her; but my voice
died in my throat, and do what |
could, was unable to bring forth a
sound. In an agony of fear, turning
towards the figure at my side, I saw
him standing on the edge of the cliff,
holding at arms length above his
head great light, which flickered
fitfully over the troubled sea below.
Nearer came the phantom ship, un-
til the bow of the vessel nearly touch
ed the rocks, when, throwing off the
horrid spell that like nightmare
had bound me up to this time, | cast
myself in front of the mysterious fig
ure, and in my terror tried to arrest
his attention by grasping the long
cloak, which, blown backward by
the wind, had almost touched my face
as | stood.
Then for the first time / knew he
became aware OF my presence, and be-
fore l could prepare myself for resis-
tance, he had thrown himself upon
me. The next moment we We're strug
Cling together on the very verge of
the cliff. In vain did | exert my
strength, which is not inconsiderable,
to shake off his grasp; for it was Of
iron, and felt as helpless as child
in his embrace. This could not go on
long. Already l felt sick and gid
dy; a few more seconds and I should
have lost my senses. At length, with
a vigorous and last effort, ! threw Off
my antagonist, who, missing his pre-
carious footing on the crumbling cliff,
disappeared suddenly, as if the black
night had finally engulphed him.
Then | seemed to hear voices and
grinding crash-but afar Off, mistily
as from another land; for felt l was
becoming unconscious, my senses
were leaving me, and although l
knew it not, 1 must have swooned.
1t was several weeks before | recov
cred consciousness. When | did SO, l
found myself in my own room, weak,
and prostrate, after sharp attack OF
brain fever, through which my old
Madeline nursed ME with a devotion
| shall never forget. 1t was to her in
deed, that l am indebted for my life;
for l was as helpless as a child for
many day after that memorable
evening.
1t was a long time before | gained
sufficient strength to walk by myself
on the breezy cliff in search OF health;
and it was during my convalescence
l heard the following story, of which
/ give the outline, from Madeline;
and as it throws some little light on
the events l have endeavoured to re-
late, will give it here as briefly as |
can:
About a hundred and fifty years be-
fore this time, there was lonely cot
tage high upon the hillside, i'll such
desolate part Of the country that no
tenant had been prevailed on to stay
in it for any length of time, and the
walls were left to tumble in ruins,
which they did very effectually as
years rolled OH and it still remained
empty.
One day it was rdmored in the vii
lage that a peasant, passing the cot
tage the previous night, had seen
light in the dilapidated windows, and
the dark figure of a man standiug by
it, looking out to sea. This rumonr
did not prove unfounded'as stranger
was observed day after day, but gene
rally towards the evening, wandering
along the cliff-now far away from
the village, now close to it; but al
ways with his eyes-and wonderful
eyes they were described to be-fixed
eagerly on the sea beneath his feet.
Months went on like this, and the
summer days succeeded each other
with eventless regularity, when night
in the middle OF August, as the vii
layers were talking over the sleepy
events of the sleepy day in the little
Fonda, the best the town could pro-
duce, Miguel Herrera, one of Mado-
lines ancestors, she used to tell me,
burst in on the startled senses, as