Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1882-06-29
THE PLOTS TALE.

PART,I0rHE CoBBLER's STORY.
~Come sit thee down. my bonnie. bonnie
Come sit thee down by me, love,
And viii tell thee many a tale
OF the dangers of the sea, love-.
old Song.
Nine-and- twenty-it is now nine
and-twenty years since 1 brought the
Sea Swallow from the coast of France
to here. We lay a night off the Isle of
Man and took in some cargo. Well,
you know, I did not belong to the
Swallow but was only engaged to
pilot her from Brest to the Southend.
You see, ia was brought up to the sea
when l was young. Well, we lay off
the Yellow port about nine O'Clock; this
was in the month of August, and it was
dark. | recollect it was low water, for
the Swallow could not come in to the
rocks, so Charlie Cook and j had to
come ashore in a small boat. We left
John Shaw, Ronald Kerr, Duncan
M'Donald and Rob Campbell aboard of
her; they all belonged to the gang, and
knew the den. g.
"NeXt morning the Swallow was
taken by the white OWL which had
been on the look out for her. They
made prize of the ship, and all the
hands were transported. Well, poor
Charlie disappeared day or two alter,
and nothing was heard tell of him for
seven long years, when his skeleton was
found on the shore.
"Now, | have been informed for GER
tain that the Swallow had run her car
60 before she was captured by the
'Owl, for she was empty when taken,
and during the chase she threw nothing
overheard.
"The only other man who knew the
den@was Charlie Cook, and he was
drowned, as 1 told you.
'.Well, the thing which has puzzled
me this last nine-and twenty years back
Is, ''where can they have slowed away
that cargo?' Now, 1 was born and
brought up on this coast, and have
come and gone among the smugglers all
my life, but | have never been able to
make out nor have l ever got the
slightest hint as to the Whereabouts of
this cave.
"The Revenue officers made strict
search along the coast, but found moth
ing. Then, when all was quiet again,
the fishermen and smugglers about the
place began to search, but discovered
nothing. This was done over and over
again, but all to no purpose. Lastly,
after Charities body was found, the
searching parties began anew; they
even went the length of digging this
time, but had no better luck than for.
merly. Now, have always had no.
ton that the cave lies among the black
rocks-it was under them that Charles
body was found-and it has always been
nv opinion that he fled to the den for
shelter, or to secure the plant; but then
there are scarcely any caves among the
black rocks, and the few that are to be
found are very small. Many and many
long summer night have 1 spent along
those rocks looking for the cave; but
oich! oich! I never got anything but
sore bones, a sick heart, and an empty
stomach for my trouble"
Such was Dan M'Alister's oft-repeated
tale. He was now old and frail, and sat
on stool before little window which
commanded an excellent view of the sea,
cobbling old boots; but oftentimes the
boot slipped down between his feet, his
arms rested across his knees, and he
leant forward, gazing earnestly for
hours at a time, at the ships passing to
and fro upon the bosom of the deep
then with a deep-drawn sigh he resumed
his labor.
| surprised him in this attitude one
day, and said:
isYou seem to take great pleasure in
looking out at the ships?"
"Gosh, mani" he replied, 'I believe
l would not live three days if I could
not see the sea; it is my only delight"
He was very deaf, but exceedingly
long-sighted. Sometimes in summer,
he wandered for whole days on the shore
looking for no one knew what; he
scarcely knew himself. l had spent my
summer holidays for four or five con-
secutive seasons with this old man, and
again and again have heard him recite
his mysterious story.
Early one morning in midsummer,
as strolled on the beach l noticed Du-
gald-Dan's SON, now sharp lad about
seventeen years of age. with black curly
hair and bright black eyes-rigging out
his little boat, ss The Star of Argyll" as
If preparing for some secret expedition.
So walked close up to him and said,
4" Hilloa. Dugald, my boy, where are
YOU bound for so earlyP" He gave me
q queer look and replied:
"IIl tell you, but you must not laugh
ct me?"
=, WHY should / laugh at you--what
are you up toP"i
mo, Nor you must not tell anybody, |
either: not even my father"