Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-02-04
THE STORY OFLOvE POINT.
SAD but Romantic Legend from Kent
IRIand-The Two Lovers.


CENTREvILLE, Md, Jan. 30.-The scene
around Love Point, the northern ex-
tremity OF Kent island at this time is one
reaching to sublimity in it's grandeur.
Huge masses of ice, wind-driVen and tide
riyen, lie heaped upon the shores, while
around the iron pillars OF the lighthouse,
situated about midway in the mouth of
| Chester river, the ice is piled in immense
blocks 30 and 80 feet high. At distance
the mass assumes the appearance Of an
! iceberg, rejecting in a thousand rays all
the cOloTs Of the rainbow. To those liv-
ing in this building this season of the
| year is traught with much peril. The
heavy northwest gales sweep from over
the bay with frightful velocity, and the
swift tides flow past with irresistible
| force, breaking the ice and heaping it
mountain high. To lie all night aud hear
| the stfaining and crashing, and feel the
| house shake and creak and tremble, and
| to know that a horrible death may at any
moment knock at the door is not the most
| agreeable thing in the world to the in
mates. Near this point, and southwark
along its shore, the wrecks OF many good
and staunch vessels are strewn, and their
| timbers lie rOtting among the rocks and
| shells, with which the bottom is covered.
Naturally it is not at all surprising to oc-
casiOnally hear quaint and wonderful sto-
| tory of this bit of bay coast. 1t is fact
! not very generally known that In the inn
| mediate vicinity of Love Point there is an
unfathOmable guilt, whose depths no mari
ner, however venturesome and enterprs-
| ing, has as yet sounded. The lead-line
has been "heaved" in vain for some token
! OF the bottom, and old sailors have come
to steer clear of its locality, and speak of
it only with breath rather bated and some
| superstitiOus fear. OF course, this would
not be the nineteenth century did there
not exist few very incredulOus people
who insist upon the story being a myth,
and defy proof to the contrary. But how
ever little truth there may be in it's exist
ence. very pretty and touching story is
told, which has this mysterious abyss for
a centre piece.
Many years ago. modern tradition has it
"a time far back enough to escape the
memory Of the oldest inhabitants-there
dwelt on this isle, upon whose four shores
the waves beat nth mOnOtonous surge all
day long and through the silent hours of
the night, two families, who had inter-
changed no kindly word or feeling for
many years. Each succeeding genera
ton took up and perpetuated a deadly
feud which had existed since the earliest
settlement of the colony. ButlOve laughs
at hatred as well as it does at locksmith,
and truce had been called be-
tween two members of the re-
spective fresides. AS the comedy
shape and laughing eyes of the daugh-
ter Of the one family had attracted the adj
miTatiOn of the son OF the other, so had his
manly form and still manlier character
compelled return of the same feeling.
Admiration, once awakened, quiekened
into ardent love. Clandestine meetings
were frequent, and at last the young
lovers determined to brave the righteous
anger OF their parents and launch upon
the sea of matrimony. An elopement was
planned, and all the details arranged.
One night the trembling lassie and her
lover embarked in neat little craft for
the residence of a minister some distance
up the island. The night, at the time
OF their departure mild and clear,
became overcast with clouds. The
wind began TO blow, and every
minute but increased the fury of the
storm. When nearly of the neck OF land
making out from the mouth OF Chester
river the boat sprang a leak, and the
water poured In rapidly. Finally, seeing
that all endeaVOr WAS useless 10 thWarC
the fate which confronted them, the lover
threw down his oars and clasped his
sweetheart in his arms, declaring that as
the wrath of their parents on land, and
the wrath OF the elements on water,
were directed against their union,
they could, at least, die together in
each others arms. The boat filed swiftly,
and the white. despairing faces Of
the youth and maiden slowly sank
beneath the heaving waves. They had
been seen from shore during the bright
ness OF "a lightning flash, with their arms
entwined and their faces hid upon each
others shoulders, just sinking beneath
the water, and the spectator, an old,
gray-headed negro, had shivered as with
ague, and believed ever after that he had
seen two spirits rise from the waves and
beckon TO him. When, in the morning,
their absence was known a search was
made. The old negroes story had been
circulated, and the grief-stricken parents
knew then the fate OF their loved ones.
The spot where they had persisted was
reached, but poles or chains were not
long enough to reach the bottom in
one particular spot, and everyone in
stinctively felt that the bodies Of the lost
ones were, indeed, lost forever. Ever
since a mysterious dread has existed OF
this spot, and some have been heard TO
declare that every night, just at the hour
when the lovers were lost two forms
with white, cold faces, rise from the wa
tiers, embrace each other, and then slowly
sink down again, while a sweet and
weird melody nils the air. The above le-
Rend has given the nrme OF "Love Point"
to the northern extremity.