San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1886-06-21

and gently tapping the boats sideI Annie
took of her gloves and trailed her fingers in
the water; then she leaned over and looked
down into the emerald depths below, while
my eyes again swept the prospect inland.
Everything was diStinguishable from the
sea, the lOw-lyiny flats stretching black and
deSOlate beneath the warm summer sky-the
village, which, from my present point of
vantage, seemed but a handful of houses
thrown in a hollow, just beyond the cottage
where destiny had placed me. | also per-
ceived now that there We're numerous other
cottages scattered about the mOrass, and
finally, that there was one large turreted
mansion rising up from belt of greenwood
What house is that?' asked
That? Oh, that is the masters house"
1.-The masterP'
Yes; Mr.. Redruth, the master of the mine.
Besides that" she added, hes the master o
the whole place
"DOes he live thPreT'
"Yes; a good part of the year"
anybody else"
The MISTRESS
"Fhat'S all?'
"Yes; except at holiday times, when the
young master comes home from school. He's
home nOlC.
Having suspicion in my mind, asked
her what the young master was like, and she
gave me an accurate description of the boy
had encountered few hours before. said
nothing just then of my adventure and, aft
er this, we fell to dreaming again. Annie
looked down into the sea, while | watched
the shore, past which we were aZily drift
ing. Suddenly my eye was attracted to
huge black mass, which rose like an ominOus
shadow between me and the horizon. ask.
ed Annie what 1t was, and she replied:
"rhe mine
To her the word had a world Of meaning;
to me 1t had none. 1t simply awakened in
me keen desire for knowledge, which inn
mediately wanted to crafty.
THE miner | said. II never thought
about the mine before, or we might have
gone to see it, Wen pull in and 90 now;
shall WEI"
To my amazement she half rose from her
seat, and put out her hands, as if to stop me.
No, no" she cried, we won't 20 there
not to the miner
Her face was white and she was trembling,
though she was wrapt in the suns rays as in
a warm mantle of gold.
whats the matter Amie?' asked. "Are
you atraid?"
Yes" she said, Il am afraid of it, be-
cause know it is cruel. 1t is like great
black mouth; 1t seems to ask you to come
down. and then it brushes you and you die.
l have seen strong men like my father 20
down into it happy and laughing, and then
afterward have seen them brought up dead,
all so black and changed and dreadful. Oh,
don't talk about it, can't bear itw
She shivered again, and covered her eyes
with her trembling hand, as if to shut out
the sight
During this conversation, had been pull
ing steadily onward, so that the boat was
now. Opposite the cliff SurmOunted by the
mine. turned the boats bow shOreward;
then, after stroke or two | rested on my
oars and looked up.
We were now right below the cliff, and the
view from our point of vantage was strange
indeed
On the very summit of the crags | saw the
mining apparatus Overhanging the sea. First
a chimney, smoking lOftily at the top; then
another, smoking less lOftily halfway down;
then, lower down. almost close to the sea in
fact a third smoking chimney, connected
with what appeared to me to be a small min
ing office. On one side of the cliff, tall lad
deTs were placed, to enable the miners TO
ascend from, and descend to, the store; and
he must have sure foot and strong hand
who could comfortably tread those ladders,
round by round, the sea roaring under him,
and almost fiinging its spray after him as he
went higher and higher. Taking in the
whole external apparatus in one view, chains
and pulleys, chimneys and cottages, posts
winding N hp tnr-
ed over the whole face of the cliff, like the
spreading lines of an immense SPIDERS web,
while in some parts mules and their riders
were trOtting up and down rocky track
where the pedestrian visitor would scarcely
have dared to tread.
turned giddy, even at sight of it. | rub
bed my eyes and looked again at my cousin.
Her trembling agitation had passed off,
and she was looking at me.
at was silly of me to talk like that" she
said; but can't help it. Sometimes, when
l think O. them poor men that have been
brought up, and remember that father is
there, 1t Almost makes me screamp
But there's no danger" said, "nOIDr'
There's always dangerp she returned.
tom PenruddOck said so, and told father,
but he only laughed. All, but I've seen 9TH
ers laugh tOo-them as is lying now in the
churchyardW
This conversation, sad as it was, had its
fascination for me. 1t made me want to
know more about the mystery of the mine.
What | saw, indeed, was not the mine itself,
but only its outer machinery. The main
shaft, Annie told me, opened down into the
solid earth, from the body Of the cliff, and