The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1899-09-29

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 ann
monia. Before she returned Mrs. Ge-
rard opened her eyes.
mark" she murmured. family
"where is he? This faintness will pass;
but my child-Mr. Livingston, find my
child"
humored her instantly, fearing hys-
terra The sight of the lad, reflected.
would still her poor futtering heart
more quickly than all the drugs in
Christendom. Mark, of course. was with
Demetrius. l had left the two at the
back of the house, building n small
sloop upon plans furnished by me. The
Greek was no mean mechanic. and Mark
had proved an enthusiastic apprentice.
Demetrius found busily at work. but
the boy was not with him.
The impassivity of the Greek, as re-
cited the facts. annoyed me. He leis-
urely assumed coat and waistcoat and
proceeded to put away his tools.
Don't alarm yourself, sir; can And
Mr.. Mark. He is around somewhere"
Somewhere! Of course; but where"
"He ran down TO the sands TO get
some fresh water for his aquarium"
"The sands! Good God, man. and we
are standing herel Follow me-"
ran at top speed to the waters edge.
Yes, he had left his bucket and wan
dered north, searching, probably. for
shells in the masses of seagrass and
kelp which recent storm had flung
upon the shore. | noted his footprints
in the wet sand, and close beside them
the large, deeply-indented tracks of
| Burlington.
Pcrdition What if l arrived too
/ late?
To the south the sands stretched
widely flat for miles, superb high
way, fringed with low sand dunes; to
the north were the cliffs, jutting prom
ontories of red sandstone. honey
| combcd with caves. These caves could
| be entered only at the lowest tides,
and were favorte haunts Of the boy.
In their dim recesses were exquisite
mcdusp. pink. purple and green. star
fish, echinoderms. monstrous abalones
and other marvels. One cavern, to
which the Portuguese had given the
melodramatic title Pirates cave. had "A
mighty fascination for Mark. He
listened to the yarns of the ancient
mariners and believed implicitly, with
the glorious faith of youth. that chests
of doubloons. dead mems bones and 9TH
er relics of Spanish buccaneers were
awaiting discovery. Upon the Pacific
slope, especially in springtime, tidal
waves are not infrequent and Mark had
received strict orders from his mother
never to venture alone into the caves.
l make no doubt that he ignored these
commands whenever opportunity
served.
AS 1 ran, vagabond thoughts whirled
like dervishes through my brain.
recalled the proverbial patience and
cunning of Inadmen. Burlington. armed
with powerful field glasses, must have
watched and waited POSSIBLY for a
full month"; for this very chance. From
my knowledge of the man l shuddered
10 think what foul use he would make
of it.
When reached the end of the sand |
paused. A cove was directly in front of
me--in fact, Il succession of coves. shell
tered, each one, by frowning headlands.
! At high tide these coves were inaccessi-
BILE from the shore; and already tSe
waters were tapping idly ut the base Of
the cliffs. Seagulls screamed overhead.
The wet sand was blood-red with sun
set reflections. The sun itself was be-
low the horizon, the day dying fast
and the short spring twilight stealing
swiftly from landward.
Srrambling across the rocks.
scanned anNibusly the Semicrcular
cove in front of me. No human being
was i'm sight Hurryng on. I struck
again the sand, and on IL the footprints
These | followed To the mouth Of the
Pirates cave. There-Whete the peb-
bles hid the tracks-the spoor was lost
My worst suspicious were realized.
listened intently for the murmur OF
voices. Then, slipping Oft my shoes,
stepped noiselessly forward. My right
hand gripped the stock of n pisto
which (at the urgent request Of Gerard,
| carried habitually in my pocket. The
cave had two chambers, an inner ant
an outer, the latter lighted by small
aperture in the roof. | remembered
with n 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 lii
tie of it. Here, then, was a loophole o
> escape.
The silence, accumulated by the drill
and trickle of water, was horrible. ,
more appropriate stage setting for
tragedy could scarcely be conceived
. The dank walls, shiny with fungoiC
growth, harbored no echo. Wha
nymph, indeed, would haunt so fearful
n grot? The pools of water courte'
blood-stained hands. And in the dee
crannies and assures were hiding place
for n hecatOmb of victims