The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1898-01-06
NTHEN l came into possession of
wv Hollis Point on the Maine coast,
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tecting quiet cove or bay on either
side. The land was useless for agricul-
lure and the whole place of little value
except as a summer residence. The
rold winds from the ocean tempered
the heat of summer most agreeably, but
In the winter they howled across the
promontory like invisible fiends, and
shrieked and moaned through the nu-
merous caverns and assures of the rocks
like the echoes of departed souls.
But the most curious part of my pos
sessions consisted of an ancient legend,
and yellow map, supposed to locate
the treasures of Capt. Kidd, the famous
pirate. The map or rude diagram was
offered as evidence to the correctness
Of the legend. The piece Of paper had
been handed over to me by the former
owner of Hollis Point with the remark:
This goes with the house. You'll
hear the story soon enough from those
who believe in Capt. Kids treasures
I am not interested in such subjects
The legend, however, may serve you
some purpose as writer, for I assure
you IL is original enough.
l had not been long in my new place
before the complete story was related
to me by Blarney, who supplied us with
fresh fish through the summer. In his
own words the story was as follows:
81 don't like to tell this story to yer
IF it's goin' to cause you any feelin's
of uneasiness, but bein' the master here
now, it's right that We should know
It's in that house, an perhaps in the
same room ye occupy, that the old
pirate captain lived fur many night
He used to come here and stay as long
as he pleased. His little ship used to
anchor in the right cove there, an no
storm could do her any harm. The first
time he came to Hollis Point he killed
the master of the house, an his men
made merry with wine around the. old
mans corpse. After that nobody darst
to live in the big mansion, and it stood
empty, except when the pirates
dropped into the bay and stayed for
a few days. Nobody ever knew when
they were comm or when they were
goin'.
Sometimes they'd lug up big sea-
chests to the house, an the fishermen
along the coast thought they must have
money and jewels in 'em. They never
seemed to take the chests away ag'in
So one night after the pirates left, a
party of fellows organized to go up an
peek inside of the old mansion. Well
1t was pretty dark, and they stumbled
along half feared to death. an when
they got to the door nobody darst open
1t. If some of the pirates happened to
be stayin' behind to guard the treasure
1t would go hard with 'em. They were
just gettin' ready to back out of the
whole business when one of the old
shutters opened with bang. Every
body started to run, but it was only the
wind, an one of 'em said as much. Then
one fellow climbed up on barrel an
peered inside of the window. He got
just one glimpse inside, and then
none too quick, for big crow flew out
of the window with a loud cav, and
Topped away into the darkness.
'Now here's the curious part of the
story. That crow had somethin' in its
bill, an when it opened its mouth to
cav the thing dropped. One of the fell
lows caught it as it was blowing away,
an tucked it into his pocket. Without
KNOWN anything about this the fellow
that had peeked into the window said
that he'd caught glimpse of the ghost
of the old master who had been muir
dered by the pirates years before. He
was sitting in his old arm chair, writn'
with pen on piece of paper. He didn't
have no light, somehow the room was
all ablaze. On his knee sat big black
crow. While he was looking at the
ghost the bird took the paper into his
birds comm made the man duck his
head an drop down.
We'll, sir, when he had told this the
Teller that had picked up what the crow
had dropped held out the paper an
asked him if this was the paper the
ghost was writin' on. You can bet that
them fellers studied that paper care
fully, but fur long time it puzzled 'em,
They couldn't make head nor tail out of
st. But finally they understood it. 1t
was a map showing where the pirates
had hidden their treasures. The poor
murdered master had come back to get
revenge upon the pirates. He had writ
ten out full directions of where the
money was hidden, an the crow had
started to carry it to some one who
would hunt for the treasures.
THAT was clear enough, an them fell
lers started in to look fur the money.
It was easy TO locate the spot back of
the house where the chests had been
put. II was in big hole which we call
the Devils Hole to-day, because so
many have lost their lives there. Some
think that the crow stole the paper
from the master before it was com
pleted, an it was the work of the devil
to entice good men into the black pit.
At any rate, them fellers mostly lost
their lives there. They let one down by
a rope, an he didn't return. Then an
other went down after him to see If he
had found the treasures an was stealin'
off with 'em. When the second one
didn't return right away everybody was
axcited an they all wanted 10 90 down