Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1886-09-23


the atmosphere Itself appeared wrapped In
livid blue hame, and the rain fell like shot up
ON land and water in an incessant torrent
@Had my position been less terrible-had
the scene been less awful-I should doubtless
have felt my discomfort intolerable As 1t was,
lost all sense of everything but the sublim-
ity OF the storm. How long had stood under
partial shelter, ct the mouth of the cave, / can
not say A binding fash OF lightning sud
denly drove me backward as if had been shot
and, for some minutes, feare that had lost
my sight forever. However, recovered, and
fearful OF q repetition of the shock, resolved,
at all hazards, TO penetrate deeper into the
cavern
IL groped my way for perhaps, ten feet
through what seemed 10 be narrow, vaulted
passage, with uneven floor, and could just
touch the sides with my extended arms. Then
IL twidened, evidently, very considerably, but, to
what extent, can not say, for the darkness
became impenetrable even to the lightning q
glare; and how far the cave extended was
mere matter Of conjecture. Certain assures,
however, in the walls, too methodca TO be
natural, attracted my attention as l touched
them with my extended fingers; and, still
cropping my way onward, / at length fairly
| started with surprise as my hand came IN con-
| tact with o piece of cold iron, which soon
made out TO be large ringbolt, apparently
covered with rust
st was now evident that tho place had been
| came greatly excited What l tn ought If l
| have stumbled upon some cavern long disused
and forgotten, perhaps filed with treasure as
rich as that discovered by Ali Baba of Arabian
storyY' What would not have given for a
Lightly fancied that l was surrounded by q
magazine OF costly fabrics, by chests of gold
| and silver coin, by bags of Spanish doubloons,
| by treasures incalculable / gave the rem to
my ever too vivid imagination, and forgot
| cold, hunger and fatigue, forgot the actual
/ l,A.S IL a
| est fancies-all suggested by the discovery Of
| rusty ringbolt fastened to the wall OF rock
| "A light! a light!' exclaimed aloud, and with
| frantic energy. Richard, at Bosworth Field,
| shouted not for a horse more frantically than
did for light to explore my newly discov-
| cred domain.
Il must have advancefnA considerable dis
tance into the cave, thougt " is impossible to
| say how far, since in the thick, palpable dark
| ness, the way may have seemed longer than 1t
| really was; but amidst the darkness, and a
sort of indescribable grave-like stiffness, /
could distinctly hear the bowling of the wind
and the pealing of the thunder without, while
the sound OF the angry waves, dashing against
| the solid wall of rock, seemed to come be-
meath where / stood In one of the lulls Of
| the tempest heard the church clock in the
| neighboring town strike ten, and also the peal
| of bells which were always rung at that hour.
A strange, mysterious sense of awe came over
me as thought how was entombed alive in
the bowels of the earth, and yet sensible to
outside sounds and influences.
@As my excitement died away, my weariness
increased / felt an overpowering sense Of
drowsiness; and, feel ng about me, l discov-
cred something which believed to be a sail
or's large chest Upon this l seated myself,
and cold, wet and hungry as l was, 1 fell
sound asleep.
CHAPTER ~.
Il awoke with sensation of numbness, and
q thorough chillness pervaded my frame from
having slept in wet clothing, i presume. l
had no idea Of the time. 1t was still, Of course,
perfectly dark in the cavern, but for aught
knew it might be broad daylight outside. The
storm appeared to have considerably subsided,
and l stretched myself with shudder, my teeth
chattering with cold, and was about to rise and
grope my way back to the entrance, when
heard the church clock strike again Icounted
the strokes. Ii was midnight After all, had
slept but two hours. All the romance of my
position was gone now. sighed to think how
mSny hours had Yet to wait m as doSgs az & and
Of trying to compose myself to sleep again,
when perce we'd faint, blush glow q short
distance from me, which resembled the light
of luclfer match just kindled fixed my eyes
upon it with sort OF amazement and indie
Unable terror. It grew larger and brighter,
and ] soon perceived that it was the glare of
fame shed on tho floor of the cave from an
aperture in the wall of rock about ten feet
from me. Tho light it gave was soon suffi-
cient TO enable me to scan the dimensions aud
appearance of the cavern in which was seat
ed. ] Judged 1t to be twelve feet square and
six feet in height At one end perceived the
narrow passage by which had entered; the
walls were damp and covered with slimy
mildew, and the only article the place contain
ed was the chest on which sat While was
making tn survey, the light had grown bril-
| liant and steady but all remained still as the
grave save the monotonous plash of water, as
| IL were, far down beneath m =, and now and
| again the sound OF gust of wind louder than
usual-the last effort Of the subs ding tempest
Ny ears intent even 10 pain, caught no sound
within the cave but the beating OF my own
heart My first thought was TO retrace my steps
as silently as possible and so gain the open
air, for was fearful, If the light had been kin
| died by smugglers IN an adjoining cavern, l
might, IL di covered by them be taken for spy
from tho excise on coast guard, and be put to
death before l could make any explanation |;
but in spite of my fears curiosity had firm
| hold of me, and crept softly to the aperture
| and peeped through.
"No sooner had done 80, than was struck
| powerless with astonlshment and terror. The
| light came from a quaint, old-fashioned horn
| lantern, with fantastic figures painted on its
semi-transparent sides, which was suspended
| from the roof of q cave very much larger
than that in which stood This cave was lit
orally loaded with spoil Boxei, bales, and
from those of the present day-werc piled one
on the top of another, high up against the
walls, all around it. Within these, again, were
boxes AMI ca ketl, such as are used 10 hold
specie and jewelry, but all were OF grotesque
and old-fashioned make; while stacked in
stands shone compete armory Of ancient
flint fre!ocks, pistol, cutlasses, and battle
axes.
"I saw all this in the glance Of o moment
for now my gaze was riveted upon the figures
of two men, of gigantic stature, who we're re-
clining in q half sitting posture on mass of
rock, apparently sleeping. Beside one Of them
lay an old -fashionel night tele scope, such as
recollocted having seen once at museum,
whore It was ,scribel as being specimen of
the earliest attempts at the manufacture OF
these instruments.
HProsently one of these mon yawnel, shook
himae {, and rose TO his feet and ,hen woke
his comrade, who rose also Both must
have stood at least six feet six inches
high, AMI both wose attired in sim
liar fashion, such a. | hal nowhere
seen save when worn by the conventional
smuggler, pirate and robber Of the nielo-
drama Ponderous kea-boots, with immense
FUN .l-shapod tope, roaohed to mid-thigh, aud
their bodies were clad in garments OF coarse
| canvas, shaped somewhat like Highlander's
kilt White petit coat-trousers appeared be-
| meath this kilt which were tucked into the
| boots. Each wore broad belt, slung eros
ways from the shoulder, from which O huge
hanger depended, and each carried q pair Of
| heavy, clumsy pistols in a narrower belt which
confined their waists.
Tho one who carried the spyglass placed it
through a small round hole in the rock. which
l had no doubt afforded view Of the sea, and
he then peered through the tube long and in