Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1907-01-15

shells, pieces of broken glass and the
like were massed on each side, but the
place of honor between them was occn- /;
pied by pyramid of four skulls; in the
orbits of the top one piece of oyster shell
had been placed, and the pearly surface
rejecting the light from the candle gave
it an appearance that would have been
ludicrous if it had not been CHASTITY.
| glanced in terror at Psyche, to see
what effect this grisly show had upon
her. She was smiling and swaying her
head gracefully from side to side to the
low murmuring music of her own voice.
Then l perceived that the poor creature
must indeed have lost her reason, unless
her pleasure in the face of such repulsive
mementoes of mortality was due to utter
ignorance of life and death.
1t was a kind of pagan hymn she sang.
When it was finished she drew me closer
TO the altar, and with a sweep of the
hand drew my attention to the surface on
which her relics were mounted. fresh
surprise confronted me; the block was
covered with pieces of gold laid side by
side as close as they would go. l took
one up. and found it was a Louis dor of
1876. l reckoned there were nearly
hundred of these pieces in row, and
the block being square, this cover repre-
scented a sum of about 10000, if all the
pieces were of the same value.
Ny establishment as | held the coin in
my hand being observed by Psyche, to her
great delight. she led me 70 that end of
the cave which was less affected by the
explosion, and pointed to another of the
gold pieces let into hole in the wall On
the chalk below, written in rude charac-
tiers with a piece of charcoal, we're these
words:
ITO Peter Beamish-French Peter and
his lads leave you this for present,
as specimen of the lead, in the square
chest, which you give US for our sheer
out of the French Hoy. Let this be
warning to you to play fair sext time
you go a wreckin' J"
From this evidence it seemed TO me
probable that these rascals, after quarrel
ing over the spoil taken from the French
HOY, had eparated-French Peter and
his party going to the caves, my great
grandfather with his crew resting in the
house above, and that the gunpowder had
been accidentally fred causing the fall
of the cliff and their own humiliation
in the very moment of their triumph.
| stood lost in wonder over this last
discovery | did not question my right
as proprietor of these caves with the
land above to appropriate tie fortune
found upon it, and my imagination leaped
at the use l might make of 1T to obtain
the hand of Miss Duncan. That prospect
intoxicated me, and for the moment it
seemed as if the unholy spirit of the
dead wreckers whose bones were before
my eyes had taken possession of me.
From this state of abstraction l was
aroused by a gentle touch upon my arm,
and turning my regard from the gold
that had so fascinated me. l found
Psyche looking into my face with trou-
bled solicitude, unable to understand my
preoccupation, and why l had forgotten
her.
said. "You shall be saved before l think
of anything else, poor Psyche p
Poor Psyche ~ she echoed. in the
same tone, with a smile chat reflected
my pity.
There was no time to lose. Old Peter
might at any moment return 10 Bonport
ard hear of his sons accident, and the
inquiries that had been made for him.
|. at least, must get up to the cottage
before he arrived
The alteration in my manner. as the
necessity for immediate action occurred
to me. was perceived at once by my
watchful companion, and comprehending
that for some reason | wished to get
back into the other cave quickly, she
guided me witt, swift steps back to the
inclined plane by which | had descended
so precipitately, and showed me some
notched steps which she herself must
have cut in the chalk. With surprising
agility she ran up the slope; | scrambled
| laboriously after her. and she once more
gave way to a light laugh at my expense
as she stood at the top waiting for me.
We passed through the gap and began
| the descent into the large cave. But
| now | found the difficulty and danger
| greater than in climbing up. | made
| Psyche take my hand. fearing that an
| inadvertent step might start a boulder
from its place and roll it down upon her :;
! and well it was that l took this precau-
| ton. for before we were half way down
my weight tilted a block and the rubble
| motion. and these starting others in
| their course the greater mass moved for
| ward and Numbered down in a perfect
| avalanche to the bottom. Happily the
| great block on which | drew Psyche back
at first movement remained firm. Gradu-
| ally the tumult ceased, and The cloud of
dust that choked us subsidized; but still at
| intervals block fell with Il sudden thud
| upon the ground below. Psyche chung
! close to me- with her frail arm raised as
| if to ward off anything that might fall
| from above. But in this | am certain
| that the dear little creature was con
| cerncd less for her own protection than
| for mine; her upturned hand was over
nv head. not her own. and she kept il
raised until the peril was past. Then
/ she looked at me. nodding gravely, and
| turning her arm showed me an old scar
| on il. from which | concluded that this
| was not the first nor the worst slim of
| the cliff in which she had oeen concerned
/ The track she naoitually followed was
| now obliterated, and we had to find a new
one. Rubble and dust lay thick every
| where. and one or two huge fragments
had been detached from the side, but the
timbers had preserved the n,ain body of
the large cave. and the roof inaeed looked
safe and sound. In the lesser cave no
| damage whatever had been done and
there. to her great JOY. Psycae found her
/ iackdaw, who had probably hoped of
from the other on the first soma of dan
| ger.
And now l had to make Psyche under
/ stand that we must go up The shaft and
| leave the cave. She quickly comprehend
/ ed that / could 90 as l BAD come. but
/ she was utterly unable 10 grasp the idea
| that she also Was TO go. Ii vas more
/ incomprehensible to her, who knew no
other place than that in which sSe lived,
/ than the suggestion of quitting this planet
/ for another would be to me. Indeed such
| incomplete. defective explanation as
/ could make by signs or gestures she was