Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1894-12-17
MYSTERY OF MAPLEVILLE BAY

pllt lbls LGAOIS Allt hhHBOh1O
which bound him, an invalid, to his chair.
He had fClled his last tree, and leaving tho
farm to the care of his son had moved into
the village Of Mapleville, where, as he re-
marked, he could see summat- His
house owned by himself. was situated On
the point of a small. beautifully wooded
bay, where from his window he could sco
skifTs, canoes and other small craft Gid
ing about inshOrc and in the distance the;
more stately ships and propcllers crossing
the limitlcss lake.
In the days of his prime and vigor Mr..
Pyc had been n we'll known and respected
farmer. a man whose word was his bond
In fact, there had been at one time talk
OF ClCcting him reeve of the township.
this project being frustrated only by his
own excessive mOdcsty.
Nav. Id ruthcr not. Thank We all the
same. Somel~--- I've got to be Uncle
Noah round J. lboutS. an l guess Ill
Jest stay Unclc Noah. like to live in my
own way, We see, givin lame dog a hist
over a stIle now an again, an l like to
send bag o potatoes here an there where
it's wanted in the winter time, when
works scarce an family CROWN up. IF
l were to help any poor cuss along As kin
do now, ycd say was after his vote. Nav,
1 thank We kindly. but I'd ruther jest be
Uncle Noah
Nevertheless, now that lie had lost the
use of his legs. he was really of more serv-
ice than the reeve. He became the village
oracle. consulted on all matters of general
and individual Importance. his long OK
pCricncc and shrcwd perceptions being OF
invaluable benefit TO such as were guided
by his coUnselS, Illustration and disaster
invariably following rs result of neglect
ing To follow his advice. Even As n wealth
or prCGnustiCatOr he could be implicitly
relied ON. When Unclc Noah predicted
rain, ii rainCd; when he promised fine
weather, the sun ShOnc out in fulfllmCnt
still there were many long, lonely days,
which, when he was tired Of reading, he
spent gazing out upon the hay and the
lake beyond. now familiar and dear rs
the face of friend. He had never been on
the bay, but he knew every dangerous
deep and shallow in il. He had given
names Of his own to the long green islands
of bulruShCS that lay along the opposite
shore. like crOcodilCs basking in the sun,
In winter he watched with interest the
slCighS being driven over its frozen sur
face. In spring he bchCld the ice crack and
hcavc and break and float away in great
gray islands to lie lost in the blue shimmCr
of the lake These were punctually rCcur-
ring and ever 10 lie expected phenomena.
But OF late Il new and most unusual mp
pCaranCc had caught his attention and
held il there.
He had observed. casually ut first and
aft, rwarl moro particularly, that at one
spot. about = quarter Of a mile from the
shor,', the wafer remained strangely trnn.
quill when all around were white caps driv
en- 10y the hr1czc-
This Icing first noticed, however, i'm
mc;linJslv after the clearing ont OF the =,
Uncle Noah concluded that the cause ~
this must l.C 4 cake of ice held by some
tangled weeds. having long roots in the
mUi below.
But - The days passed, and the sun
cr,w warIlrr, and navigation opened. and
still that particular spot remained calm aS
glass when the waters around were in NO
tion, his curiosity became aroused concern
ing the why and the wherefore OF this
phi, uomCr0n-
~ yet liz. had mentioned the matter t.
no our not even 20 his daughter who kept
house for him. although for n full month
his eyes had haunted the spot by day and
by night. Il drew them to ii with Il sort OF
fascination II WIS the first thing he looked
ont upon in the morning. He peCrVd
through the shutter stats and took n la!
look OF the place before retiring every
night. his mental summing up being:
Tho quCCr"~t thing ever seen. Cal. I
make that blamed thing out nohnw."
~
sort of alarmed awe \ storm of unusI i
1erccness. a luO>cncd fury Of wind i
rain. broke over the lake. The ships W, r.
sCuddiuz close rycfcd before the wind; the
ficCiu., Waves WEE white with foam; ". Il
on the bay the spray flew like drift in
winter. All day .hc storm ragged, AID
Uncle \uah sat staring ut that one spot.
sluggish and unrUtl:Cd amid the elemental
commotiOn. Toward evening the wind
traSt between this understandable calm and
the watCry agitation bCCam" less marked
But all next day Uncle Noah could not
dismiss from his memory the picture of
that still surface, that unnatural peace
amid the war of wind and waves At
night he dreamed of it and awokc and
could not go TO sleep again. He painfully
got upon his CrutChCS and moved 10 the
window and opened the shutters. There
WAS Il light, WARM breeze blowing: the
full moon stood high overhead; the bny
was ripping and sparkling in its light.
But in that weird spot the moons face
was reflected i'll broad yellow blur.
J-nclc Noah sat down in his accustomed
chair and looked out with growing excite
mCnt What On earth meant that sullcn
| calm over there amid all that sparkle and
| motion: And-what was that: Why,
| whose was that dark figure away over on
the hill gazing intently across the bay:
| Uncle Noah could keep this thing to him
self no longer. lie pointed the place ont
| to his visitors. each one OF whom cXplainCd
the PHENOMENON TO his own, but not Il
| Uncle Noah'>. satisfaction. Then stranEg
| whispers began TO creep about the village
| absurd speCulatiOns, some aycTring that
hidden treasure lay buried there. The
| eyes of all Maplevillc were turned to the
bay.
Look here, Mr.. Fullar, what do "
| make out this here business to be? It
ought to know summat. said | ncle Noll
| to a man who had called one day about
the sale OF some lots
This man had come to Napleville somt
u years ago, and being man OF mean-
had married the daughter of a well to IL
| farmer and become one of MaplevillC'
prominent men. He was a delicate, clerk |!
looking man, pale of viSagc we'll featured
but with 4 trick of CHANGING furtively n
one when suppOsing himself unObseryed
Uncle Noah had never taken to him much
He always declared that when Fullal
talked to him he could see another MAI
looking out of Fullar's eyes from behind
But he was one of the big bugs o
Maplevillc, a ncighbor in Il way, and, n
! Uncle Noah put it, whatever the man was
so long as he conducted himself like
white man ought to, it was none of hi
funeral So, while instinctively detecting
the duality of the man, he always treate'
him civilly. this morning particularly 81
as he pointed with his finger to the SHIN
mcring inlet.
What busincss:" asked Fullar, his ey,
following the indicating finger.
Don't You see? Hain't you heard abou
that there spot that keeps quiet when al
round it's rippin an tearin like mad
Why, the hull town is talking about it. 1"
Uncle Noah's eyes he spoke wer
upon the place; otherwise he must hav
noticed how CHASTITY white his visitor ha
grown how terror stricken were tho eye
fixed on the same spot as his own.
DO We know" he continued, 'l'v
half n notion to get Jim TrudgCOn to 6
down an see what's below that there dcN