The times., 1898-12-18

It is nearly miles away. Arrived at the
spot, you will find a boiling. bubbling
fountain springing out of the very center
of a well-shaded and grassy slope, which
shelves gently down to the river only
few hundred feet away. The water APP
pears to be blue as indigo but when dip
ped up in a glass it Is found to be clear
and sparkling as a diamond. From the
spring the water hurries away to the river
tunbling over in its haste series of pret-
ty terraces, and q L last losing its tiny flood
in the larger stream. Just here the river
is swift, and the decaying ruins of an old
water min may be seen. The rude mason
ry and parts of the heavy woodwork re-
main moss covered. crumbhng, and yet in
4 good state Of preservation when 1t is
considered that they are relics of old
Spanish occupation, built by Spanish
hands. Your guide will tell you that
long time ago a band of Spanish gold
hunters settled here. Where the spring
now bubbles up they sank their shaft. and
they built the mill TO wash and clean the
ore One day when the men were at work
in the mine a mighty roar was heard and
n tremendous column of water shot from
the shaft. hurting miners and tools high
in the air. Rushing in a resistless torrent
TO the river the angry waters carried
away every soul in the settlement, the old
mill and almost every vestige of human
hab!tation. BY means of anvils the spring
has been sound to depth of 1.5oO feet,
but no bottom has been touched. The
Spanish miners had cut into a subterra-
mean river.
The legend which hangs about myster-
ious cave In the very heart of the Ozark
region might inspire a writer with
thoughts as strange as those which Rider
| Haggard writes down in his pages. In
| Stone County, Ark. IS miles from rail-
| road, there is high ridge. a sort of back
| bone of the Sherman range of the Ozark
| Mountains. running from Big Flat. in Bax-
ter County. to Sycamore, u boat landing
| on White River.
| For twenty miles mountain road runs
| along the crest of this ridge south and
east. through q magnificent forest of
| stately white oak, hickory and pine, un-
| til it reaches the bluff of the White Riv-
| er and descends olthe river by n series of
| long, sweeping curves. For mile or
| more on either side of this road before
| the level fiat ons the river is broken by
| the hundreds Of little canyons and gulches
running north and south. the grass grows
shoulder high, and deer and timber
wolves turkeys and quails and countless
| squirrels enjoy Immunity here from the
pot hunters who frequent the domains
nearer to civilization.
! About midway between Big Flat and
Sycamore an unusually large canyon
makes off towardothe north, sloping gen.
tly at it's head from the level plateau
of the great ridge, and the occasional
hunter who finds his way down the gulch
pushes though a. tangle of hazel, giant
| grapevines andii the usual underground
common to the mountains of Northeast
Arkansas 1t is on the east side of the
lonely guIch, about 15o yards below the
| head, that the low, narrow opening OF
the mysterious cave gapes In forbiddine
silence at the intruder. But the legend
| Fancy, If you can, a vast tract of fertile
country centuries before Columbus. A
race of sturdy people dwelt here. They
titled the soil, fought their enemies. and
built great mounds, Their pride was ir
their health and strength, and in all the
wide domain there were fewer sick, halt
and blind than might now be found in a
small city Once in every five years these
unfortunates set out upon a journey, they
knew not to what bourne. Guided by the.l
holy men, the melancholy procession
! wound over hill and down dale. across
rivers and through gloomy and almost i'm.