Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1897-10-29
BERENICE'S HAIR.
BY CHAS L. HILDEETH.

Foil twenty miles from h. a.
land to hcadland Rtmortln bay
curves in a silver green crescent
spotted with rocky is let's, un'
inhabited except by the gnlls III d
gunnets which wheel and hutteI
all day long about aud above IhriI
b ,rreu, seagirt villages. There is
neither town nor hamlet nor sc
much even aS a f~herman'S hot
anon the whole extent Ot the
shores. For (be ta' is 700 >ballo"
md too hick, heset with shoals
aud lodges % render s 'fe the visit
nf the smallest 'rawler or smack
As Sou stand npOn rbe hill over
looking the narrow, i'll kept road
which leads fro St.Glles t. Wind
sor. along be- ~nOreS Ut he bay,
yoa may Natcn tue white "inRed
sloops ana scbOoneTs gOlug free ol
tdching against a head Wild, b0'
YOU will never see one OF ihen
making a reach lpto RdmOrtin BAY
1t is indeed All i'll Omeued place,
and more than one mackereler
loaded TO the hatches, has ground
ed upon these evil shoals, au'
gone to pieces in the next north
east gale.
But what was chiefly given
K ,motin ba\ its ug y reputation II
space of beach covered ouly a
extreme high tide aud bare at al
other times, known as the Sun
down Sands. II Is = wide graylSh
hued surface, running outward
some forty yards to the fringe o
tumbIing turf, which, during mos
seasons of the year, approaches III
nearer the road, a mere wagor
track sklrting the shore at TIM
point upon an ancient stone Wall
A perIlOus spot it Is, too, tor To-
highway abuts sharply upon 10
sands, without railing OF pArapet
scare five feet above the grim ex
lpanse, which Quakes and tremele
from moment to moment, wit
mysterious hlssings and groau
ings, which seem to proceed iror
unseen covers below. There ar
grewsOme stories of foot passer
ers VINO have fallen oft the wa
and been swallowed up, the
piteous cries mingled with th
eerie sbrleks of the night heron, o
the far-heayd, melancholy whooI
ings of the owl'amOng the bIancl
, of the blasted cypress upon th
D adjacent hillside, IL is said, tot
that au honest farmer, drtvin
s homeward from st. Giles mark
, by this road, lost his way in th
darkness, and was never MOI
beard of-uelther man nor hors
p nor vehicle.
, Standing upon the ancient VA
' you might throw upon the smoot
surface of the SundOwn Sands
|, pebble. button, twig, and
Is YOU gazed 1t would sink from sig
in a moment, leaving all as blan
an secret as before.
A sad aud desOlate spot it
even upon the brightest mi
summer nooaday. Tue stOra
writben eyprest on the hillside
II the only thing resembling tree
n shrub IN sight. Sparse mottlin
II of whlLhered grass 6nd wretch'
/, sustenance among the rocks. DLI
cluwps of blubber weed and clio
r of sprawling algae cling upon Il
the SURVIVOR rocks beyond t
rim of the SundOwn Sands. Naug
else has nature-all bsautiher
~ abe Is-been ahle to work upC
this mournful place.
HaIf a mile over the hill the
is an ancient many gsbled DIV
ling, surrounded by evsrgree
facing upon the main road. FIR
the upper windows a glimpse
the SundOwn Sands aud the
road skirting them may be
tanned.
The young girl that stood at {
of these windows, marine glass
hand, scanned the section of
road, visible from her posltl'
with palo face and breathl
anxiety. She was tall and sisn
or .dgure, with something g
Inandinn in the atfitnda she