The Republican journal., 1881-06-23

every limb, for fully ten minutes. Then
l took step forward, when instantly it
vanished vanished like a candle blown
out stepped back again; but it was
some time before | could find the exact
spot and position from which it was visi-
bic. At last, there it was, the weird
reddish light, ffickerlng away as before.
Then L screwed up my courage, and
made for the rock but the ground was
so uneven that it was impossible to steer
straight, and though | walked along the
whole base of the cliff, could see moth
ing. Then | made tracks for home, and
| can tell you, boys, that until you re-
marked it, | never knew it was raining
the whole way long. But, holloa what's
the matter with Tome"
What, indeed? Tom was now sitting
with his legs over the side of the bunk,
and his whole face BETRAYED excitement
so intense as to be almost painful. "The
tiend would have two eyes. How many
lights did you see, Dick? Speak outw
"Only one"
"Hurrah q cried Tom, "that's better "
Whereupon lie kicked the blankets into
the middle Of the room, and began pac-
ing up and down with long feverish
strides. Suddenly he stopped opposite
Dick, and laid his hand upon his shoul-
der II say, Dick, could we get to Sasas-
sa Valley before sunrise p
Scarcely" said Dick.
Well, look here: we are old friends,
Dick Wharton, you andI Now, don't
you tell any other man what you have
told US, for a week. You'll promise that,
won't you?"
could see by the look on Dicks face
as he acquiesced that he considered poor
Tom to be mad and, indeed, was my
self completely mystitied by his conduct
| had, however, seen so many proofs Of
my friends good sense and quckness OF
apprehension, that thought it quite pos
sible that Wharton's story had had a
meaning in his eyes which | was too OBJ
tuse to take in.
All night Tom Donahue was greatly
excited, and when Wharton left he beg
ged him to remember his promise, and
also elected from him description Of the
exact spot at which he had seen the APP
partition, as we'll as the hour at which it
appeared. After his departure, which
must have been about four in the morn
ing. turned into my bunk and watched
Tom sitting by the fire splicing two sticks
together, until fell asleep. suppose
must have slept about two hours; but
when awoke, Tom was still sitting work
ing away in almost the same position.
He had fixed the one stick across the top
OF the other so as to form a rough t, and
was now busy in fitting a smaller stick
into the angle between them, by manip-
ulating which, the cross one could be
either cooked up Or depressed to any ex-
tent He had cut notchcs, too, in the
perpendicular stick, so that by the aid Of
the small prop, the cross one could be
kept in any position for an indefinite time.
"Look here, Jack" he cried, whenever
he saw that | was awake, ''come, and
give me your opinion. Suppose | put
this cross stick pointing straight at Il
thing, and arrange this small one so as
to keep it so, and left it, | could find that
thing again if | wanted it-don't you
think so 2" he continuedneryously, clutch
ing me by the arm.
"Well," answered, lit would depend
on how far Oft the thing was, and how
accurately it was pointed. If it We're
any distance, Id cut sights Oh your cross
stick then Il string tied to the end of it,
and held in a plumb line forwards, would
lead you pretty near what you wanted.
But surely, Tom, you don't intend to To-
calize the ghost in that way?'
~ QUILL see tonight. old friend-vou'll
see tonight. I'll carry this to the Sasas-
sa Valley. You get the loan of AIadisons
croWbar, and come with me; but mind
YOU tell no man where You are going, OF
what you want it for"
All day Tom was walking up and down
the room, or working hard at the appara-
tus. His eyes were glstening, his cheek
hectic, and he had all the symptoms of
high fever, ''Heaven grant that Dicks
diagnosis be not correct" thought, as
returned with the crowbar; and yet, as
evening drew near, found myself imper-
ceptibly sharing the excitement
About six o'clock Tom sprang to his
feet and seized his stick. III can stand it
no longer, Jack" he cried; cup with your
crowbar, and hey for Sasassa Valley
To-nights work, my lads, will either
make us or mar us, Take your six
shooter, in case we meet the Catfres.
daren't take mine, jack" he continued,
putting his hands upon my shoulders 81
daren't take mine; for if my i'll luck sticks
to me tonight, | don't know what |
might do with it,"
Well, having filled our pockets with
provisions, we set out, and as we took
our wearisome way towards the Sasassa
Valley, l frequently attempted to elicit
from my companion some cleW as to his
intentions. But his only answer was,
''Let us hurry on, Jack. Who knows
how many have heard OF Wharton's ad-
venture by this time. Let us hurry Oh,
or we may not be first in the field"
Well, sir, we struggled on through the
| hills for matter of ten miles, till at last,
after descending a crag, we saw opening
out in front of us a ravine so sOmbre and
dark that it might have been the gate of
Hades itself: cliffs many hundred feet
high shut in on every side the gloomy
boulder studded passage which led thro
the haunted detile into Catfreland. The
moon rising above the crags threw into
strong relief the rough, irregular pima
cles of rock by which they were topped,
while all below was dark as Erebus.
THE Sasassa Valleys said I.
YES" said Tom.
| looked at him. He was calm now :;
the flush and teverishness had passed
away; his actions were deliberate and
slow. Yet there was certain rigidity in
bis face and glitter in his eye which
showed that a crisis had come.
We entered the pass, stumbling along
amid the great boulders. Suddenly |
heard a short, quick exclamation from
Tom. "Thats the crag," he cried, point
ing to a great mass looming before us in
the darkness. "Now, Jack, for any favor
use your eyes. We're about a hundred
yards from that cliff, l take it; so you
move slowly towards one side, and III do
the same towards the other When you
see anything, stop, and call out. Don't
take more than twelve inches in a step,
and keep your eyes fixed on the cliff
about eight feet from the ground. Are
you readyg"
..les:v | was even more excited than