Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1895-04-13
MYSTERY or MlPLEVILLE BAY


Uncle Noah Pye was old and weather
wise Luckily for him, he had been IN
slustrioiis in his youth and had made his
pile long before the accident happened
which bound him, an invalid, to his chair.
He had icllcd his last trce, and leaving the
farm to the care of his son had moved into
the village of Maplcvillc, where, MS he re-
marked he could see summat. His
house, owned by himself, WIS situated on
tho point of small, beautifully wooded
bay, where from his window he could sec
kkiffs canoes and other small craft Gid
ing about inshore, and in the distance the
more stately ships and propcllcrs crossing
the lilnitlcss lake.
In the days Of his prime and vigor Mr..
Pyc had been well known and respected
farmer, n man whose word was his bond.
In fact, there had been at enc time talk
of electing him reeve of the township,
this project being frustrated only by his
own excessive modesty.
Nav, I'd ruther not. Thank ye all the
same Somehow I've got to be Uncle
Noah round hereabouts, an l guess Ill
Jest stay Uncle Noah l like to live in my
own way, yc see, giyin lame dog hist
over stllc now an again, an | like to
send bag o potatoes here an there where
it's wanted In the winter time, when
works scarce an family GROWN up. Ef
were to help any poor cuss along as kin
do now, ye'd say was after his vote. Nav,
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 moro scry
ice than the reeve. He became the village
oracle, consulted on all matters of general
and individual Importance, his long ex-
periencc and shrewd perceptions being of
invaluable benefit to such as were guided
by his counsels, Illustration and disaster
invariably following as result of neglect
ing to follow his advice Even as wealth
er prognosticator he could be implicitly
relied on When Uncle Noah predicted
rain, it rained; when he promised fine
weather, the sun shone out in fulfillment
Stil there were many long, lonely days,
which, when he was tired of reading, he
spent gazing out upon the bay and the
lake beyond, now familiar and dear MS
tho face of friend. He had never been on
the bay, but he knew every dangerous
deep and shallow in it. He had given
names of his own to the long green islands
VI DulruSHSS lnttu lay hioHS tuc bppOsltC
shore, like crocodiles basking in the sun.
In winter he watched with interest the
sleighs being driven over its frozen sur
face In spring he bcheld the ice crack and
heaye and break and float away in great
gray islands to be lost in the blue simmer
of the lake. These We're punctually recur-
ring and ever to be expected phenomena,
But of late a new and most unusual APP
pearance had caught his attention and
held it there.
He had observed, casually at first and
aftorward more particularly, that ut one
spot, about a quarter of mile from the
shore, the water remained strangely tran
quill when all around were white caps driy-
en- by the breeze.
This being first noticed, however, i'm
mediately after the clearing out of the ice,
Uncle Noah concluded that the cause of
this must be cake of ice held by some
tangled weeds, having long roots in the
mud below.
But as the days passed, and the sun
grew warmer, and navigation opened, and
still that particular spot remained calm as
glass when tie waters around were in mo
ton, his curiosity became aroused concern
ing the why. ana the wherefore of this
phenomenon.
AS yet he had mentioned the matter to
no one not even 10 his daughter, who kept
house for him, although for full month
his eyes had haunted the spot by day and
by night. 1t drew them to it with a sort of
fascination. 1t was the first thing he looked
out upon in the morning. He peerod
through the shutter Stats and took n last
look Of the place before retiring every
night, his mental summing up being;
The queerest thing ever seen. | cant
make that blamed thing out nohow'
At last his curiosity developed into
sort of alarmed awe. A storm of unusual
1erceness, a loosened fury of wind and
rain, broke over the lake. The ships were
scudding close reefed before the wind; the
fleeing waves were white with foam; even
on the bay the spray flew like drift in
winter All day the storm ragged, and
Uncle Noah sat staring at that one spot,
sluggish and unruffled amid the elemental
commotion Toward evening the wind
took off, the waves subsidized, and the con-
trast between this unaccountable calm and
the watery agitation became 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 awoke and
could not go to sleep again. He painfully
got upon his crutches and moved to the
window and opened the shutters. There
was a light, warm breeze blowing; the
full moon stood high overhead; the bay
was ripping and sparkling in its light
But in that weird spot tho moons face
rafiqpta1 n a hrOnh Vollpxxr HIM
Uncle Noah sat down in his accustomed
chair and looked out with growing excite
ment What On earth meant that sullen
calm over there amid all that sparkle and
notion And-what was that Why
whose was that dark figure away over on
the hill gazing intently across the bayf
Uncle Noah could keep this thing to him
self no longer. He pointed the place out
to his visitors, each ane of whom explained
the phenomenon 10 his own, but not to
Uncle Noah's, satisfaction. Then strange
whispers began to creep about the village
absurd speculations, some averring that
hidden treasure lay buried there The
eyes of all Mapleyille were turned to the
bay
Look here, Mr. Fullar, what do ye
make out this here business to be? Ye
ought to know summat, said Uncle Noah
to a man who had called in one day about
the sale OF some lots.
This man had come to Mapleyille some
l2 years ago and being a man of means
bad married the daughter of well to do
farmer and become ono of Mapleyille's
prominent men. He was delicate, clcrkly
looking man, pale of yisage, well featured,
but with q trick of CHANGING furtiyel. at
ono when surprising himself unobservcd
Uncle Noah had never taken to him much
He always declared that when Fullar
talked to him he could see another man
looking out of Fullar's eyes from behind.
But he was one of the "big bugs" OF
Maplcville, a neighbor in way, and as
Uncle Noah put it, whatever the man was
80 long as he conducted himself like
white man ought to, it was none Of lis
funeral So, while instinctiyoly detecting
the duality of the man, he always treated
him civilly, this morning particularly 30
as he pointed with his finger to the SHIN
mcring inlet.
What business?" asked Fullar, his eye
Glowing the indicating finger.
''Don't you sec? Haint you heard about