The Beaufort tribune and Port Royal commercial. [volume] (Beaufort, S.C.) 1877-1879, 1877-11-01

useful shadow it must have been to them,
said to myself. How could any one
discern them, as they lay there on the
sand, watching for their boat Peering
into the shadow with this thought on my
mind, felt my heart for a moment al
most cease beating, for there on the
sands, in that very shadow, man lay
asleep, apparently. The next moment
it occurred to me that Jacob, wearied
out with his days work had fallen asleep
down here. He had done 80 once before,
poor fellow, though that was before
nightfall.
approached very cautiously, thinking
perhaps he might be playing practical
Joke on me, as he used to do sometimes
in the old days.
But it was not Jacob. The sleeper,
whoever he was, was not 80 tall he was
slight, and elegantly dressed, apparently.
But went no nearer. Something thrilled
me like an electric shock-a weird
and preternatural telegram. This was
the man whom Jacob had pointed out to
me, lying here prone and insensible.
And where was Jacob?
Then gathered courage and ap-
preached him. touched him with my
trembling hands, but he did not move.
It was Death, then, keeping watch by
the moonlit shore-Death that had lured
me on to come down and meet him here,
terrible and face to face. I turned and
fled down the sands, wildly, with flying
feet, to escape the vision of terror that
chased me as I went.
At my own Threshold, stunned and
fainting, sank upon the stepping g-stone.
A figure standing in the doorway stopped
and lifted me up.
"Why. Matte ! why, how is this, my
lass? I thought you safe in bed !"
withdrew from the embracing arms !;
I stood aloof, shivering and gasping.
"I have been downtown to the sea-
shore"
"And something has scared the wee
woman" said Jacob, in his most win
some and soothing tone. "Well, rest a
bit. rest a bit, poor little birdie"
The sweetness and softness of his
voice as he said these words seemed to
me like that of one who feels the hour Of
eternal separation draw near. He came
toward me.
I held up my hands beseechingly.
"Do not come near me now, Jacob. Oh,
not now, for have seen-I have seen a
terrible sight down on the sands. Stephen
Risdale-"
Jacobs face gathered color, his eve
shot fire. "Did he insult You, the vii
lain ?" he said.
"He is Dead" I answered, sharply
and suddenly.
"Dead p repeated Jacob. ooh,
come away, come away, Matte; the
moonlight has made you daft"
"I wish that it had" I cried, bitterly.
ooh, wish that it had"
Jacob picked up his hat, which Lay
upon the shore.
"Come, Matte, he said, "let rs 60
down that way again; it's some i'll
shadow, I doubt. has unsettled your
nerves. Come %
He took me by the arm, not roughly,
but hastily, and hurried me up the road
at breathless pace. 1t was not long
before we came to the great shadow Of
the rock where I had seen the figure
living. But it was not on the spot where
1 had left it. A strange relief, the light
ness from a terrible load, came to my
heart-it seemed as if I had really been
dreaming.
Jacob laughed. You fairly scared
me, little woman," he said.
At that moment I heard rustling in
the bushes fringing the foot of the rock,
and turning my strained eyes thither, 1
saw figure sitting there. 1t made the
blood tingle in my veins, that sight, for
this dropping recumbent shape was q
living man, at least.
It was, indeed, Stephen Risdale, and
when Jacob awkwardly but determinedly
drew near, we saw that he was stunned
and bruised, that the frill of his shirt
was torn, and the splendid diamond was
gone from his breast.
Looking down from the rocks at that
moment saw the broad warped face OF
Jigger Jim. He nodded to me know
ingly, putting his finger to his lips, then
uttering one of his ear-splitting yells,
scrambled out of sight.
"What sort of idiots are all you people
here" gasped the victim, as the ape
like figure disappeared, "that you let
crazy dog like that prowl around with.
out keeper?"
Jacob made some gentle answer. He
was thinking, perhaps, of the hard words
he had spoken that evening. He touched
the injured man tenderly with his strong
hands, and helped him to his feet.
"We are all idiots, more or less, I be-
lieve," said Jacob.
Stephen looked about him warily.
"He was coming back to finish the job,
I suppose, if you had not come to the
rescue"
We took Stephen Risdale to our own
house that night and cared for him ten
derby.
1t was long before he fully recovered,
but nursing him was real pleasure to
me. I was full of rejoicing. This man
who might have been a vision OF terror
to me all my life, this man whom we had
so strangely and unwittingly rescued
this was but man after all, and not a
fend. Sickness cleared away some fogs
from his brain, and rendered his mental
vision clearer. He had done wrong; he
was willing to make restitution. That
acquisitiveness which is the moral con-
dition of shrewd business man melts
like frost in the fever of illness.
Stephen swore that he would have Jig
ger shut up from further harm-doing,
and he did so. But the diamond which
Jigger had secreted bafled all search.