The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1881-05-27

Curtis had built bridge under water,
and that he had walked on It! AS if a
man, without arms, could build q
bridge, and walk on it, without seeing
it.!
Curtis, however, soon put an end to
all conjectures and doubts by walking
over the bottom of the pond, from one
side to the other, in various directions,
and by wandering about in the middle
in such way as to prove to every one
that there was no mystery at all about
the Black Pond, and that it was nothing
but q wide and nearly circular piece Of
water, with q good hard bottom, and
was not four feet deep in any part.
The news of this discovery by Curtis
Blake made great sensation in Dan
ford. Some people felt little ashamed.
for they had taken good deal of pride
in telling their friends, when they went
visiting, about the wonderful pond, near
their town, which had no bottom; but,
on the whole, the towns-people were
very glad of the discovery, for now they
could freely enjoy the woods. and many
persons were astonished to find what .
delightful place it was for picnics and
afternoon rambles.
As if no portion of mystery should re-
main about the Black Pond, even the
color of its water was Investigated and
explained. Some scientific gentlemen
from city not far away, who came to
Danford about this time, and who heard
the story of the pond. went out there
and examined into the cause of its inky
hue. They said that it was due, like
the darkness of the water of many
creeks and pools, to the overhanging
growth of pine, hemlock and similar
trees which surrounded it. They did
not explain exactly how this darkening
process had been carried on, but they
said it probably took hundreds of years
to make the pond as black as it now
was, and nobody doubted that.
But although the woods and the pond
became favorite summer resort with
the Danford people, it was in winter
that they really enjoyed the place the
most. Then the Black Pond was frozen
over, and it made the finest skating
ground in that part of the country. And
its greatest merit was its absolute safety.
Even if small boy should break through
which was not likely to happen-any
man could step in, or reach down and
take him out. The ice was generally SO
thick that there was scarcely three feet
of water beneath it, in the deepest
parts.
On fine days, during the cold months,
people came out to the pond in Car
riages and on foot, and they had gay
times, with their skating, and their
games on the ice. But they were hardly
so gay as the folks who could not come
in the daytime. but had to do their
skating in the evening. On moonlight
nights, the pond was beautiful, but the
skaters came on dark nights, all the
same, for lamp-posts were set up in diff
ferent parts of the pond (holes we're cut
in the ice, and they were planted firmly
on the bottom), and thus the pond was
made as bright and cheerful as the mer-
REST skater could desire.
Among the merriest skaters was Cur
tbs Blake, for skating was one of the few
things he could do, and Mr.. Faulkner
gave him a capital pair of skates.
But this was not all the reward he re-
ceived for solving the mystery of the
Black Pond. Several of the leading cit
liens, who thought that the town owed
him something for giving it such pleas
ant place of resort, consulted together
on the subject, and it was decided to
make him keeper of the woods and
pond. He had couple of old men I'M
der him, and it was his duty to see that
the woods were kept in order in sum-
mer and that the pond was free from
snow and distractions in winter.
And thus the great mystery of the
Black Pond came to an end. But there
we're elderly people in the town who
never went out to the pond, and who
believed that something dreadful would
happen there yet. There used to be no
bottom to the pond, they said, and they
should not wonder if, some day, it
should fall out again.
eyes," said Curtis Blake to one of
these, ST expect that will happen-just
about the time my arms begin to grow. "
John Le,0ees, in st. Nicholas.