Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1881-04-09
rHE HAUNTED ISLAND.

s. THE HAUNTED ISLAND.
Accepting an invitation from
yachting friend to go on summe
cruise, some years ago, we found
ourselves, one balmy afternoon, sail
ing along the iron-b0und coast O
Maine, and enjoying the beauty o.
the scenery, with the ocean on oul
. right, and innumerable islands
some of them bold and rocky, 9th.
Q ers green and inviting upon our
i left.
r My friend, whom shall call Dale
: Drummond, was a man of 35, and
5 had been a sad wanderer since, at
5 fifteen he left home to go to the ma
Wy as a midshipman.
Though all that knew him felt
that he had a history of deep inter-
est, there were none who cared to
ask him of the past, and, excepting
! that he came of good family, and
at twenty-five had resigned from
the navy to enjoy fortune left to
him, little was known regarding
him.
"You run in among these islands
DrummOnd, as though you were in
open water" / said, seeing how, as
thought, recklessly he steered his
pretty schooner yacht among the
dangerous sunken rocks and many
islets that were now upon every
side, for we had headed in shore.
81 know these waters as | do my
mothers face, and better, for 1 have
never seen her since | was a mere
child" he answered, and after mo-
. I hn VNnirfn6 fn
lordly villa league away:
"Do you see that mansion yOn-
der, looking out from that forest ?'
] answered in the affirmative, and
then added:
"a second one, too, a league down
the coast"
"Yes, in the one l was born, in
the other 1 had my hope for the tu-
ture dashed to the earth forever"
"He spoke bitterly, and l saw
] that he was much moved, as he
gazed upon the two old houses, both
of which, as we drew nearer, SEEM
ed crumbling to decay.
Colonel, we'll drop anchor under
| the lee of yol.der Withholding is
land, which if / remember is said to
be haunted, and if you care to ac-
company me, we will go over and
have look at the old homesteadS,
for / have not been here 1Or twelve
years."
OF course 1 was only too glad to
go, and half an hour after we land
ed on the main shore, and ascending
to the cliff above, found ourselves
in what had once been the hand |
some GROUNDS of a fine old mansion
but which now was desolate and
time-worn.
"There is my home; no one dwells |
there now, for my father cut me off
from my inheritance, and left the |
place to distant relative in Eng |
land; and yet strange to say, yOnd- |
er homestead is mine, for it was left |
me by the only being | ever loved
but have not dared come here un-
til to-day"
We stood together, gazing upon
the two mansions whose broad lands
Joined together about half way be-
tween the homesteads, and being in
a communicative mood, DrummOnd
went on, in his easy way:
"I'll tell you the story colonel,
though never speak of the past. as
it is sad to think of it, can assure
you.
81 was born in that old place, as
told you, my father and mother
coming there year before my birth
and they were English.
"Of his past, or my mothers, my
father never spoke, and remem-
Der him as a dark-faced, stern man
of 80, and nearly double the age OF
his wife.
she never went from home, lived
in luxury, seemed to possess unlim-
tied means, and was a very stern
silent man, while my mother was
sad-faced woman; and up to my 18th
year, when she died, l remember
she often wept and seemed ever to
have some deep grief at heart.
"Procuring a tutor for me, my
father felt that he had done his du-
ty by me, and was allowed to do
just as pleased and / hunted or
fished more than / studied.
"One day / went, from a motive
of dare-deviltry, alone to yOnder is
land, which every one Stunned on
account Of it's being said to be haunt
ed by the ghosts of crew lured to
wreck there bya false beacon.
81 found no ghosts there but /
did find a perfect little fairy, a
maiden of 10 years of age, and five
years my Junior.
"Her father had lately moved to
the other homestead, you see therei
and having dWelt on the sea shore
in England the little Fidele was
perfect sailor; and alone, in her light [
canoe, had fearlessly padded over
to haunted island, which as you see
is mile from the mainland.
81 at once made her acquaintance
and sailed her back home, with her
canoe in tow, and from that day,
children though wu were, we hunt {
ed tished, sailed and read books; for I
when away from her studies she [
was as wild as young Indian.
IA few months after our meeting
/ received my midshipman's war {
rant, and left home to enter the ma
Wy; but each year got short leave;
for there was not naval academy [
in those days; and my every visit {
but infatuated me more with the {
little Fidele Claire-for such was [
her name.
"At length I came home when in
my twenty-secOnd year, and then it
was / asked Fideleto be my wife; for
she had grown to be a beautiful mai
den of seventeen, and under skilled
governess was accomplished and re- |
fined, though her untamed spirit {
would often break out at restraint.
"Like me she had no mother, and
her father, like mine, was hermit |
IN his own house and 7 had noVar I