Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-09-20
CHAPTER Y.

| Four miles to the north of Ormsby lies
| the valley Of Ravensdale, extending due
| east and west, with sides steep and wall
| like.
| The eastern end opens out upon the sea
| beach. and here the width Of the valley Is
| greatest, the distance across being about
half mile. Farther inland the breadth
contracts, and the sides approach each
| other tin they meet In a narrow leafy gorge,
| whence issues the slender, silvery Ravens
| bee.
The only sounds that disturb the stiffness
are the melancholy murmur Of the sea.
| and the occasional tinkling Of sheep bells.
In the middle Of the s dale and distant LIS l,Loa
| the eminence that for centuries has borne
the name Of Ormfell, an eminence circular
at the base. about hfty feet in height, and
| covered with green turf.
! Upon this hillock Idris was now gazing
| with deep interest.
| 1t was a beautiful summer morning. and
with Beatrice for his companion he had
come to take view of the tumulus, pre-
liminary to the task of breaking into it at
night.
ito tell us that this Is artificial eleva-
| ton Nature never carved out this pyra-
| mid; 1t has been raised by the hand OF
man. This is the lofty tomb spoken of on
| the runic ring. Within the heart of this
| tumulus We shall find all that remains of
| old Orm the Viking.
| Beatrice shared fully in his enthusiasm.
l She had seen the mOunQ many d tIHIt, Jul
now the words on the runic ring had in
| vested the spot with new and mysterious
| charm.
| for the picturesque, she said. They could
| not have chosen prettier place for the
grave of their hero.
"Ay close to the sea. that he doubt
| less loved well, as became Morse Viking
And here for ages he has remained in soil
| tary glory. with the surge forever murmur-
| ing his requiem.
:.This is certainly tremendous mass of
earth to pile over poor mortal" said
Beatrice contempla ting the mound.
Every vassal was supposed to contribute
one helmet full of soil to the grave Of his
chieftain.'
Judged by that test Orm must have had
a pretty numerous following" said Beat
rice.
"Or else each follower contributed more
than the orthodox helmetful o, they could
toll as well as fight, these old Norsemen.
They were not afraid Of work
MAY the old Morse blood in us never die
out. them!
"Amen to that! But 1 see an upright
stone browning the apex of our fell. Let US
examine it. There may be runes upon IT,
Idris extended his, hand to Beatrice and
assisted her up the side of the mound Ar
rived at the summiteihe closely inspected
the stone which WAS six-sided pillar,
about four feet in height. black in color,
relieved here and there by curious red con-
volutions.
so far as can see" he said. this pill
| lar does not betray any@'mark of tool It's
hexagonal shape, them, is due to nature.
The stone is basalt.swjlich often assumes
| a six-sided form. These red spirals are ap-
parently sandstone IT is evident that the
mass of basalt. ofowhich this pillar is
fragment was forced upward in an igne-
Gus liquid state through a bed of sand
stone, taking up some of the latter in its
passage. Hence these red convoluted
bands. -u#t
81 have heard that there is only one place
in E,nrppo where baSHlf of this character is
! to be found said Beatrice. land that is In
a certain valley OF the Crimea."
1T may be So The old Morse people are
said by some historians ito have been of
Scythan origin, and to have migrated from
the region of the Crimea Perhaps they
carried this piece of basalt with them.
| 1t may have been baituion. or holy stone.
| in fact" continued 1dris, as he removed
| some moss from the foot of the pillar.
there can be no doubt about it. Look on
| this side. and you will see why sacred
character was attributed to It. Tell me,
| Miss Ravengar, what does this red streak
| resemble?'
| wOnderment. why have l never noticed
| it before? curved sword. with blade.
hilt and cross-guard, as perfect as If drawn
| by human hand.
Just So And history says that the an
| cient Scythians worshiped scimitar-an
| appropriate deity for a barbaric and war
| like race. This hexagon. stamped with the
| image of their god. would be holy In their
| necessary companion in all their mfgra-
| tons
| Beatrice, not doubling the truth of Idrfs'
| theory, gazed with feeling almost akin to
| awe upon the mysterious stone which the
| superstition of far-on age had elevated
| to the rank of deity Eternity seemed to
be it's attribute. In its presence she and
| Idris were but as the quickly eVaporatlng
| dew; long after their bodies should nave
| crumbled to dust this altar would remain:
| A silent contemporary of the rise and ran
L r1yfyy ho
| and fall of many to come. II ever stone
| was eloquent on the evaneScence OF all
things human, surely this stone was
Such were Beatrices thoughts. while
| IdriS, more prosaic, was on his knees, re-
moving the earth from the foot of the pill
lar. and scraping the surface of the stone
| with his penknife in the hope of finding
runic letters engraved upon 1t, but In TINS
| he met with disappointment: each race OF
| the hexagon was free from inscription.
II was hoping he said, rising to his
| feet, Ito come upon some epitaph. such as.
| L. Magnus, raise this stone to the memory
| of my sire, Orm which would give me
| proof that l am on the right track, since,
| after all, my opinion that this Is the tomb
of the Golden Viking is purely conjec-
! turaL''
They descended to level ground again.
| and Idris- proceeded to walk slowly around
the base of the hillock. endeavoring to take
no more than a foot at each step.
| THE circumference IS, roughly speaking,
about one hundred and fifty feet" he re-
| marked, when he had completed the cir
cult. 1.-THE diameter, therefore. will be
about fifty. and the center about twenty
five feet off,
IF you have that distance, or nearly that
| distance. of solid earth to bore through.
| you have hard task" said Beatrice
! my work will be of a much lighter ma
ture trust. If this tumulus has been con-
| structed like the generality of its kind,
| there should be stone chamber In the
center with stone passage leading to 1t
from the side of the mound. Earth was
piled over the mouth of the passage, but
marks usually taking the shape of two
| upright stones, Were left to indicate the en-
| trance" ,7sW
What point Of the compass did the
Norsemen favor when constructing the en-
| trance passage of their tumulfT
| east" sDFr
This is the easternmost point, nearest
the sea- said Beatrice, moving onward
few steps; and full OF their enterprise, she
cried, Let us try to find the guide
stones"
They carefully surveyed the eastern
curve of the base. beatrice probing with
the point of her stfnshade, and Idris with
the ferrule OF his walking stick. among the
long grass and bracken that grew In pro-
fusion at the foot OF the hillock. Their
search, however, was without result.
| Il am at fault eopmS." said I0rfS cor.