The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1897-07-24


Nancy met me rs passed the thrcl'h-
old. Her sweet face WAS puckcrcd and
lined by anxiety. Mother" She gaspcd.
lis so III. Please conc TO her al once. /
am frightened"
entered the paror. Upon the couch
lay Mrs. Gerard. Her eyes were closed:
her breath came and went in short
Gasps; her pulse was rapid and feeble.
AT my suggestion Nancy left the room
TO procure some aromatic spirits of am
monia. Before she returned Mrs. Ge-
rarl opened her eyes.
Mark" she murmurcl family
"whcrc is he? This faintness will pass;
but my chilh-Mr. Livingston, find INV
child"
hundred her instantly, fearing hys-
terra. The sight of the lad. reflected.
would still her poor ilu,trrin~ heart
more quickly than all the drugs in
Christendom. Mark, OF course. was with
| Dcmctrius had left the two at the
back of the house, building Il small
! sloop upon plans furnished by me. The
Greek was no mean mechanic, and Mark
had proved an enthusiastic apprentice.
Dcmctrius found busily at work, but
the boy was not With him.
The impassivity of the Greek, us re-
cited the facts, annoyed me. lie leis-
urcly assumed coat and waistrnat and
proceeded to put away his tools.
Don't alarm yourself, sir; can find
Mr.. Mark. lie is around somewhere"
Somewhere! OF course; but wherein
'llc ran down to the sands to get
some fresh water for his aquarium"
THE sands! Good God, man, and we
IRE standing here! Follow me-"
ran at top speed to the waters edge.
Yes, he had left his bucket and wan
dcrcd north, searching, probably, for
shells in the masses of seagrass and
kelp which Il recent storm had flung
upon the shore. noted his footprints
i'll the wet sand. and close beside them
the large, lccply-indcntcl tracks Of
burlington.
Pcrdition! What if l arrived too
late?
To the south the sands stretched
widely flat for miles, Il superb high
way, fringcd with low sand dunes; to
the north were the cliffs, jutting prom
ontorics Of red sandstone. honey
combed with caves. These caves could
be entered only Mt the lowest tides,
and were favorite haunts of the boy.
In their dim rccesses were exquisite
mcdusn, pink, purple and green, star
fish, echinodcrms. monstrous abaloncs
and other mnrvcls. One cavern, to
which the Portuguese had given the
melodramatic title Pirates cave. had IA
mighty fascination for Mark. lie
listened to the yarns of the ancient
mariners and believed implicitly, with
the glorious faith of youth, thnt chests
of doubloons, dead mems bones and 9TH
or relics of Spanish buccaneers were
nwniting discovery. Upon the Pacific
slope. especially in springtimc. tidal
waves are not infrcquent and Mark had
received strict orders from his mother
never to venture alone into the caves.
1 make no doubt that he ignored these
commands whenever opportunity
served.
AS ran, vagabond thoughts whirled
like dcrvishes through my brain. l
recalled the prUvcrbial patience and
cunning of matlmcn. Burlington, armed
with powerful field glasses. must have
watched and waited possibly for
full monthly for this very chance. From
my knowledge OF the lran shutldcrrd
to think what foul use he would make
of it.
When reached the end of the snnd I
paused. A cove was directly in front OF
mc-in fact, Il succession Of covcs, shell
tered, each one, by frowning hendlands.
A
bio from the shore; AND already the
waters were tapping idly at the base OF
the cliffs. Sragulls screamed overhead
The wet sand was hIooh-rcd with sun
set reflections. The sun itself was be-
low the horizon, the day dying fast
and the short spring twilight stealing
swiftly from lundward.
Scrambling across the rocks, 1
scanned anXiously the scmcirculnr
cove in front of me. No human being
was in sight. Ilurrying on. | struck
again the sand, and on it the footprints.
These l followed to the mouth of tho
Pirates cave. Thcrc--whcrc the pcb-
bles hid the tracks-'thc spoor was lost.
My worst suspicious were realized
listened intcntly for the murmur OF
voices. Then, slipping Off my shoes,
stepped noiselcssly forward. My right
hand grippcd the stock Of pistol
which lat the urgent request of Gcrard)
! carried habitualIy in my pocket. Tho
cave had two chambers, an inner and
an outer, the latter lighted by a small
aperture in tho roof. | remembered,
with "a sudden gust of hope. that it WAS
possible to crawl through this aperture
and regain the cliffs above. | had per-
formed this feat myself at much per-
sonal Inconvenience, but Mark made lit
tie of it. Here. then, was Il loopholc OF
escape.
The silence, acccntuatcd by the drip
and tricklc Of water, was horrible. A
more appropriate stage setting for
tragedy could scarcely be conceived.
The tlanls walls, Shiny with fungoid
growth, harborcd no echo. What
nymph, indeed, would haunt SO fearful
a grot? The pools Of water courted
bloodstaincd hands. And in the deep
crannies and assures were hiding places
for 4 hccatomb Of victims.
am no coward, but horror smotc me
in the face.
AS glitled in the shadows to the en-
trance Of the inner chamber l heard
peculiar noise-a fretting Of garments
against rocks. Pistol in hand, plunged