The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1886-08-25
THE MASTER OF THE MINES +!
BY ROBERT BUCHANAN.
.oosrrSuKD FROM OrR LAST Issrn
CHAPTER xI.


frosty days. when breath as cold as stee
crept from the red sunrise OF the north: bu
ever and again the trumpet Of the tempest
sounded westw lrd and southwark. and the
ocean rose up before it in mountains of furi
Gus storm.
To stand on the seashore, or on the wealth
er-worn cliffs, at such momonts. was an ex
perienee not to be forgotten. With a sount
of crashing thunder, with sheet-like fashe:
of flying foam, the mighty pillows came roll
ing in; while far away, in the eye of the
wind, the clouds gathered and balefuI ray.
came and went, as If from the under world
Again and again, during these storms, tht
men forsook their work in the mine and clus
tered on the wind-swept crags: for the sounC
beneath was too terrible, and at each crasf
of the waters over head the solid roofs O.
rock seemed about to topple in.
A new life-boat had cDme rossnd from Fal
mouth during the summer; ii was manned
chiefly by workers in the mine, and | was
their captain. We had tried the boat agar
and again in light weather, and were proaC
of her as life boatsmen could be: so that
when need came we were ready to do al
that human hands could do for the succor OF
| shipwrecked souls. Fortunately, few vessel.
came that way to need our aid in time OF
peril, for the great ships gave that lonely
| shore wide berth, knowing its many perils
Sometimes, however. coasting-yessel
| heavily laden, came ashore on the outlying
| reefs, but, thanks to our sturdy boat with
| out much loss of life
On the afternoon of the 22d day of Novem
| Der, IS, there occurred such phenomenon
as l have seen only once in my life, and
scarcely expect to see again. The ocean was
| dead calm and black as ink the sooty clouds
| with sheets of MINDLESS vapor trailing right
| down to the earth and water, kept stationary
in sort of sinister twilight: and the air was
| full of an extraordinary stiffness, in which
the concussion of the slightest sound-a cock
1 growing, goat bleating, human voice cry
ing-was heard for miles away.
| l had just been down the mine where ]
| found the men had ceased working, and had
| gathered in knots, whispering together. Fol
| all through the dark galleries and passages
| there came, from time to time, curious
| tremor, like the shock of an earthquake-sul-
| len, sinister terrible, making the heart, for
| some unknswn reason, stand still with fear.
| Nor was this sound to be accounted for by
the dashing of waves above that subaqueous
darkness since there was not breath OF
wind, and the sea lay in sullen, moveless
folds, scarcely vibrating.
What is it, my lads?' had asked accost-
ing the first group of men, who were clus-
| tering on the central platform.
AS | spoke the tremor came again, so that
| the walls seemed tumbliDg over, the hard
| ground rocking under me- with vibration
which seemed to send nameless terror into
my very blood.
| My uncle, who was there with the others,
shook his head ominously.
| ''We dawn't rightly knaw," he said: but
we ha' hard 'un again and again, sounding
like that Seems threatening like, and ha'
hidden the gang knock off wark for to-day"
| knew that it was useless to demonstrate.
| for the men were evidently full of supersti-
| tious dread, which, If the truth must be told,
could not help sharing. They threw down
| their pickaxes and shovels and followed me
| up the shaft.
| We found johnson there, who seemed as
tonished at our appearance, and, when told
| him what had taken place, looked savage.
You're spelling the men, Trelc wney," he
said. Guess such nervous fancies are only
| fit for an old woman. Why, the seas like
miil-pond, and there amt breath of wind"
"If you think it's only fancy" replied,
'come down with me and try. I'll give you
a tive-pound note if you stop down there
| half an hour
He shrunk back and shook his head angri-
ly- while the men, clustering round u.s. greet
ed my speech with laugh.
II shall report this" he cried, viciously.
"a pack of cowardsr'
And he walked off. amid an angry murmur
from the men, who detested him cordially.
/ AS the afternoon passed, and the dull lead
| en- twilight increased, we saw, looking sea-
| ward. the phenomenon to which have al
| luded; ttCo suns, one round and purple, the
| other pink and ghostly, floating in the va
| pors to the west. Both were quite rayless,
and they hung as it were some fifty yards
| from each other. Both seemed so near to us
that one would have thought it possible to
reach them with bullet from gun.
| / cannot express in words the strangely
depressing and vaguely alarming effect of
this phenomenon on myself and all who wit
messed it. Nor was the effect lessened when
| the DINNER of the two suns suddenly disap-
peared, and the other changed in a moment
from purple to jet black A jet black ball
IN the midst of waste of leaden gray.
| "Lawd save usr' cried Martin Treruddock,
an old fisherman, and one of our life-boats
crew. '.Lawd save us! 1t looks like judg-
ment, mates-like the Last DayT'
This, indeed, was the thought which was
| passing through all our minds. We stood
looking in suspense till the black sun disap-
| peared, and total darkness came; and then,
| with no little foreboding. we scattered to our
| homes.
But in the night, as we lay sleeping in our
beds, we learned that what we had witne ss-
| ed betokened, not any supernatural disturb
| ance, but the gathering of such a tempest as
has seldom been seen. before or since, on
those shores. 1t came with fearful lightning
and close-following thunder, followed by
drops of black and hideous hail; and then,
"A
rushed from the sea. lay in my bed in the
cottage, thinking every moment that the
house would come down, shaking as it did to
| its foundations, or the roof be blown away;
and every minute the blasts-grew more terri
tic, not coming in broken gusts as, during or
dinary storms, but in conclusions of solid air,
| which struck the walls with blows as OF a
battering ram, and made every stone in the
| structure clatter liks a loose tooth.
Presently. saw my uncle, partially dress
ed and holding light. enter my chamber.
sHugh. my lad, be you asleep?'
/ sAs If any one could sleep on such night
| / thought yesterdays portent meant some
| thing. The storm has cone!'
/ Mother be fTighted badly he returned.
| s'She be praying, lad, dawn T the kitchen.
Lawd save us; bark to tflat!'' he added, as a
fash of fiery lightning filled the room, and
wind and thunder mingled together in awful
reverberation.
There was no resting in bed, SO slipped
on nv clothes and went down with my uncle
to the kitchen. where ] found my aunt full OF
superstifious terror. She had got out the old
Bible and, having opened at random, was
reading in low voice from one of the
Psalms did my best to alIay her fears. but
succeeded very badly
For the greater part Of the night we re-
manned sitting up. The thunder and light
ming lasted well on till morning, and when
they ceased Ii became possible for the first
time to realize the frightfui violence of the
gale 1t was, as | afterward learned we'll
defined cyclone.
With the first peep of daylight, l seized my
hat and moved to the door
s.Wilar best gawing. lads' cried my aunt.
down TO the shore. Its high spriRg,-
tide, and / want to see If the life-boat's
snug
Ma. ma she cried, ssstawp yarr'
But only smiled at her fears. and hasten
ed away. No sooner had l left the cottage
than the wind caught me, and almost dashed
me from my feet; but / stopped my head,
and plunged right on IN the teeth of the gale.
The day was now breaking. with lurid sulier
RAYS, behind my back. Short as the distanc<
was to the seashore, ] thought should nevel
reach it, so terrible was the fury of the blast
More than once had actually to lie down
on the ground and let 1t trample over me
And with the blast came hail and heavy rain
binding me, shifting my cheek like whip
cord. and drawing blood, so that could
scarcely see yard before my face
At last gained the cliff, and here ha(
much ado to prevent myself from being iiffet
up bodily and blown away But / threw