The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-05-12

u
/ in this forlorn country
"Eut do you know who he isg'
Like enough he'll be a man from Eng
And you have seen him before. You
.'.Once agon. maybe in six months. when
he travelled just as he's doing now took
a car just the same"
Did he sleep here last night2'
Deed, an I'd not Ike 10 say.
But you surely know whether he slept
90 your house" ] added. looking straight
Just like enough" said the buxom.
slatternly, good-loOkins dame, with that
evasion Of direct answer so character
lstic Of the race. Then she laughed, and
made for the yard in response 10 a call
so I thought would keep my own cOun-
sci for the present
Ny intention was 10 walk by easy stages
10 Waterford. where a steamer would take
me 20 Milford Haven, and home. had
proposed leaving that very day, but now
] burned TO pay another visit 70 those
mysterious ruins and inspect the place
by daylight. Starting early, therefore the
next day. I covered the four miles in good
time. and approached the castle. as had
left H. from the high land y great
change Of weather, however. which had
set In the previous night. gave II very
different aspect. a strong southwest gale
had sprung up. and was increasing every
minute. Heavy seas were roaring around
the cliff. whilst the wild ragged clouds
streamed in mad haste across the heavens
At length I stood for the first time among
the actual ruins. The tempest howled and
whistled through them with sound at
one moment like deafening thunder and
the next with wailng means and cries as
If the ghosts Of n thousand shipwrecked
mariners were shrieking for help, OF seek
ing refuge amidst the crumbling walls.
The scene was sublime-awful. ! strobe
out to the extreme verge of the promon-
tory, and, turning, squatted down on some
projecting rock. 1t formed an apology
for a shelter, whence IL was quite posi-
BILE to make rough note of the scene
on a sketching pad. 1t was a ticklish cor
ner. and nearly overhung the precipice,
but with steady nerves Ike mine ] feared
no danger.
Soon engrossed in sket ching. ! had no
eyes or thought for anytring else. Hence
IL was a minute perhaps before ! was
conscious that a sudden pressure against
the back of my left shoulder. was not
due TO the violent wind. But as l half
glanced round in that direction, life was
almost startled out of me at finding an
arm and hand striving 10 shove me Off
my balance In the instant ] looked,
tremendous jerk from II all but sent me
headlong over the cliff. But / caught at
the wrist and then beheld the crouch
ing form Of a woman close behind me
Happily. however l retained my grip,
and was upright In a second, the woman
clinging fast 10 me, and struggling Vio-
lently still to push me over. she had
seized the back of my collar with her
other hand but by main strength /
swung round with her, and we both fell
in a heap on the turf just beside the
rocky projection.
"You internal ficnd," / exclaimed. Let
go, or I'll choke the life out Of you" and
as We again struggled to our feet, she
striving TO pull me toward the precipice,
/ recognized the face and masculine form
of the woman, Maine. She shrie1ed out
some impreca ton, and for another min
ute or so we swayed about in a deadly
embrace. She had the strength of ttg-
ress, and / know not how the contest
might have ended. but for my getting
my right hand free, and striking her a
straight between the eyes. She staggered
and hateful as IL seemed to thus assault
a woman; ! followed up up. my blow with t 1, a
was no doubt a life and death struggle
If l had not knocked the senses out of
her her murderous intention might have
proved successful. AS 1t was there she
lay, prone and helpless.
at was a narrow escape" said the peo-
pie at the inn, but considered by ali as
due to the supernatural. The boyle, and
the boyle only was responsible. Similar
catastrophes had happened before. only
secrets. less lucky than 1, had never re-
turned to tell their tale. Now and again
the body Of one of them had been seen at
the foot of the cliffs-only one had been
recovered when floating off the headland,
for none of the natives dared approach its
shore or neighborhood within mile.
Later in the day ! found the constabu-
larry even taking the same view, but after
much persuasion, and full recital of all
that / had seen and knew of the place,
the inspector agreed to take two Of his
first thing the following morning.
That night the storm grew into hurri-
cane, but morning brought some abate-
ment, otherwise we could scarcely have
faced the elements. The havoc wrought by
them was not fully revealed, however,
until from the high ground some mile in
land at the rear of them, we could get
full view of the castle ruins--or rather,
what remained of them.
The inspector and his men, with a stray
Cling contingent of a few of the moro
courageous of the inha bitants of Bally-
Narack, who followed the expedition.
broke out into babel OF tongues as they
beheld the scene. More than half the
headland of the Raven Rock, with great
portion of the walls of the castle, had dis
appeared. swallowed up by the devouf1ng
ocean, still roaring in mighty pillows
against the remaining bluff. The ledge,
the cave, and the adjacent ground had, as
IL were, been bitten clean out, together
with the spot where had left the sense
less form of that horrible and murderuus
woman. Nothing remained locally to prove
the truth of my story. Some dsbslieVed
it, therefore, or pretended to do so, but
many little circumstances convinced me
that the people at the inn had more than
a suspicion of the existence of that mys-
terious laboratory.
Before l left Bally-Narack news came
that the body of an old greybeard, clothed
in the remnants of a strangely adorned
robe had been picked up on the shore
Sulie ullleS from the raven ROCK.
| have never visited those parts since
but l indirectly heard that nothing had
ever been seen or known of the woman.
Her figure was still regarded as that of
the boyle, on which elemental disturbances
would, of course. fall harmless. At the
same time, the tradition seems to have
died out-the boyle has disappeared.
For many year after that strange and
romantic adventure, l kept a sharp look
out for the name of Nascano in the neigh
borhood of Soho. but l have never met
with 1t since. nor the one bearer of II
whom / saw in Ireland. 1t was only the
other day that l hunted up the notes and
sketches made all those years ago. and
embodied them in the above story | was
led to do this by CHANGING on the follow
ing newspaper paragraph
"A curious trial will ere long create
widespread interest in India II appears
that a certain well-known dealer in Jewels
resident IN the Hill district many years
ago supplied an enormous diamond to
form the eve Of an idol to he set up in
Hindoo temple. Quite lately, by some mis-
chance, the idol fell. and the conclusion
dislodging the precious stone. shattered II
in two pieces. This proved it TO be spu-
rious. The aforesaid dealer who supplied
it consequently will be arraigned for this
nefarious outrage on the sacred religion
nf ha 10 &c cai f,a a,