Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1895-07-04


she had not proceeded many PAGES when
she was brought to q sudden halt. There
was no opening. At the end OF the cave
appeared huge rock, while scattered
in all directions were pieces of splin-
tered granite that had evidently been
recently deposited there. Both Mary
and Blake, after vainly trying 60 find
the opening, returned to the boat and
rowed round to the side of the island,
where there was another landing place.
both appeared thoroughly acquaint-
ed with every part Of the island and
selecting one of two paths that came
down to the beach they darted mp it and
soon reached the crest of q hill. From
there they locked eagerly around, hut
warasd their gaze. The wi ate
looked as if it had been rerel Scn
by some violent upheaval I4 Gre
uprooted, and great rocks ", ever
turned in all directions Nmaiy Mary
and Blake, assisted by O'Brien and his
companion, searched for traces Of Skin,
ner and his crew. Vainly tho first two
sought what to them were familiar land
marks.
'sSeeing that it was useless TO remain
longer On the island, the four deter
mined to row back to SINNERS house
in the hope of finding some of the snug
glers there, but ON their arrival the
house was found just as O'Brien had
left it. As soon as twas light the whole
party returned to SINNERS island, but
their further search revealed nothing OF
"a startling nature. There We're certain
~ many pieces of boards, broken barrels
and fragments of bales strewn IN al
directions, but no trace of a human be-
ing. The whole party We're forced to the
opinion that the powder magazine had
by some means exploded, blocking up
both entrances to the cave and i'll all
probability burying all the smugglers in
the ruins
"Both Mary and Blake told their sto-
res to O'Brien. Captain Skinner and
his band had carried on most extensive
system Of smuggling, the goods being
taken from cenfederates i'll all parts OF
the country. These goods were first con-
veyed to his store and then concealed in
the underground passage. whence they
were taken to the little cove and ferried
in boats, of which the smugglers We're
in possession of quite fiotilla. to the
island, where they Were concealed in
the caves with which the island was in
tersected. The smugglers were in league
with several residents in the vicinity,
who camo to the island at stated inter.
walls for the goods and distributed them
all over the country. Their Immunity
from arrest had made them bold, and at
the time Of the explosion there must
have been many thousand pounds worth
of contraband goods on the island.
Regarding Mary's lovers, it appears
that there was an understanding be-
tween old Skinner and his lieutenant,
jackson, that the girl was to become the
latter's wife on her twenty first birth
day. A strong attachment had mean
willis sprung up between young Blake
and the girl, an attachment which at
length ripened into secret engagement.
BY somemeans unexplained this engage
he determined to be revenged on his
successful rival 1t was the voices of
Mary and Jackson that O'Brien had
heard in the chamber under the bar
room. jackson was expostulating with
the girl for what he called her duphc-
ity. She prevaricated with him in order
to gain time, and after pacifying him
to certain extent went to warn Blake.
who was on the island. Jackson must
have suspected her intention, for soon
after his return to the bar he induced
Skinner to close up the place, and, to-
gether with the rest of the band, to ac-
company hmm in pursuit of Mary and
Blake. The latter two, who were on the
island, saw the approach of the band
and rushed to the mouth of the cave to
secure their boat to escape to the main
land, but when they reached the beach
they found that the boat had disap-
poared, the smugglers having drawn it
back by the cable to which it was at
tached before starting in pursuit. Being
we'll acquainted with every part Of the
island, they managed to hide for some
time and must have just got down to
the cave again as O'Brien and his com.
panion started on their trip They
thought the boat somewhat heavy, but
knew it could be occupied by none Of
the smugglers' band, for they were all
on the island, with their boats moored
at the second landing strongly guarded
"You know what happened after the
arrival Of O'Brien. l may simply add
that there was no more smuggling car
ried on in this section; that no trace was
ever found of the buried smugglers, nor
has any OF their treasure ever been dis
covered. Mary and Blake were married
soon after these tragic events, O'Brien
acting as best man. They settled down
to farming not a hundred miles from the
scene of the old smuggler's operations,
and, for all know, some Of their de-
scendants may be living there STILL"
Such was the story told me by the old
fisherman as we sat in our boat at the
mouth of Skinner's cave Chicago
Times Herald.
You're Another.
A good story is told about the smart