Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1893-03-23


anxious to visit the old mansion
but owing to the present state Q
the weather decided to put tn
journey of until the next day. A
was gazing ont over the water.
gust of wind blew the fog clear o
the cliff, and there. to my intens
surprise, | distinctly saw smok
rising from the chimney of the oil
house. 1t was just for an instant
however, for Immediately the olt
house, chimney, cliff, and all wer,
shrouded in the impenetrable fog
The day wore away heavily ans
night found me anxiously awaitins
for the morrow, to begin my ex
ploration on the old cliff. Irelated
to Mr. Wendell what | had seer
from my window, and he seemed tc
listen with extraordinary attention
At my proposing that he should
join me on my trip of the next da,
he readily agreed to 60, as he had
already planned one for the same
day.
During the night a long, low
sound seemed to penetrate my very
dreams. The sound was repeated
at short intervals, and was aroused
by 1t from my semi-sleepiness to
activity. threw the easement
wide open and stepped upon the
balcony. The fog was still intense
ly dense. The noise was repeated.
and | recognized the sound of fog
horn. Surely it came from tn,
cliff. The husky sound of mems
voices came through the mist, and
then all was still. Next morning
1t breakfast | related to my new
made friend what I had heard dur
ing the night. He merely nodded
md replied that he had also heard
it.
The sun struggled through tn,
mist soon after nine o'clock, and
Mr.. Wendell and | set out on our
trip to the old house. Our time
vas mostly spent in climbing over
rocky ledges and wading through
immense puddles of water and mud
On reaching the cliff we found that
it was separated from the mainland
by a sheet of water which was then
about three feet deep and would at
high tide be far over our heads.
Wadlng across it we hurriedly
scrambled up the irregular side OF
the cliff, as we wished to return be-
fore the tide hemmed us in.
The old house made an imposing
picture in the sunlight, and the
foam-tipped ocean beneath with the
mellow blue of the sky above made
most beautiful background. We
easily gained admittance through
the decayed boarding of the grand
front door. / would have spent all
our time in one room, gazing at the
antique carvings and associating
romances with everything that
caught my eye, had not my com
panion hurried me on from room to
room. His eyes seemed never to
rest on anything for more than an
instant. He acted as if he had lost
something and was making a hur
RED search for it. At last we came
to the kitchen of the house. NJ,
friend uttered an exclamation and
sprang to an immense fireplace
which took up almost the whole oi
a side of the room. ! stopped al
one of the windows to comment OF
the magnificent scenery which wal
sppead open before me. The hote
was not visible from the window and
the interception of the cliff shut of
this remarkable view. AS | gased
out noticed a sailboat far out al
sea that was beating roundabout
course toward the cliff. 1t seemed
to me as if the boat was trying tc
keep out of sight of any one who
might happen to be in the vicinity
IF the hotel.
The boat slid down the coast nm,
I'll it could not be seen by those al
the hotel, and then putting about
it came swiftly back under the le,
If the cliff. called the attent tior
of Mr.. Wendell to these strang.
actions, and together we watched il
in silence until it had disappeared
from view under the cliff. NJ,
friend rushed to the other side oi
the house to see if the boat went by
but it did not. Surely there was
something mysterious in this. The
boat could not have contained pleas.
ure-seekers, for no one would ever