The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1909-08-14
"a beaver or a r1asAra1,


In another moment mans head
appeared above the surface and then.
with a wild look at me and my boat
not 20 yards distant, he gave a con-
vulsive sputter and disappeared again
with a plunge like that of a porpoise
playing under the bow of ship.
The water was bitterly cold, for II
was now near the end of October. and
there was a chill in the air which
toretold the coming of snow, yet al
though 1 patrolled the spot for near
ly half an hour and had a clear view
of the river and shore for fully mile
In every direction, the figure did not
CHAPTER xxi.
An Unexpected Swim.
For time it seemed to me that the
fellows life must have been lost and
that his body had hoated down the
stream with the current, which in
creased steadily in force as it neared
the falls, some two miles below
| Whence he had come did not
know, for l could not conceive that
man would be swimming in the river
at this time Of year, and, just as l was
about to row ashore and report the
effair to those who could institute
= proper search for the body, an idea
flashed into my head and served to
explain the matter in short order.
The ghosts, or at least the mon
who impersonated them, had always
disappeared from sight at this point
on the river bank. and, doubtless, they
had dived into the water and found
shelter somewhere under the shore.
II this were the case, a man might
easily enough have ventured out from
his hiding place, and, upon seeing me,
returned and waited until the coast
was clear again.
I pulled in close to the shore, and,
padding slowly along under the over
hanging bank, l soon discovered a
broad flight Of stone steps lying en-.
tirely beneath the surface of the wa
ter, and leading apparently to some
sort Of tunnel or cave.
AS l made this discovery l had no
doubt that the mysterious figure had
seen had emerged from this sunken
tunnel, and, upon encountering me,
had returned to it with all possible
haste. l certainly had no desire to fol-
low him through the submerged en-
trance to his place of concealment,
but i determined to GUST him with
out delay, and leaving my skiff at the
boathouse, l returned for a final re-
connoiter before summoning gang
of men to dig down from above and
lay bare the subtcrranean vault to
which the submerged stairway doubt
less led.
Clambering up on the knoll that
overlooked this part of the river,
cast my eye in every direction up and
down the stream, keeping as close a
watch as possible on the entire land
scape, and, even sooner than I had
expected, I was rewarded by seeing
the fellows head again emerge from
the water about 20 feet off shore.
AS he shook the drops from his face
and glanced about him apprehensive-
ly l crouched low down on the ground,
back of a brush, and watched him at
tentively from this point of vantage.
His countenance was so distorted
with the cold and the water in his
eyes that I could not have recognized
him even If l had seen him before,
and he seemed to swim with great diff
ficulty, doubtless because of the icy
chill Of the water; but he went brave.
ly about it and struck out manfully
for the shore, which he reached in a
few sturdy strokes.
AS he got into shallow water and
made his way to the land, could see
that he was fully dressed, even to his
shoes, and that he was shivering VIC.
lently from the effect Of his exertion
and the exposure to which he had
been subjected.
was almost on the point of calling
out to- him and offering him such as
sistance as I could render lest he
should collapse before my eyes, when
discovered that he, himself, had
made provision for this contingency.
From under q growth Of underbrush
he hurriedly extracted heavy ulster
or storm coat, and, taking flask from
one of the pockets, he raised 1t to his
lips and drank long and greedily. This
done, he drew the coat nervously
about his shaking limbs, and, with a
hunted sort of look in every direc.
ton but mine, so that l did not get a
view of his face, he ran at top speed
along the shore and finally disap-
peared in the trees at the turn Of
the river.
It would have been futile to have
followed him, and I once more be-
gan to look about me before calling
for aid and having the cavern, or
whatever it was unroofed. The lawn
at this part of the grounds was kept
in especially good condition, as it lay
almost directly in front of the house,
and scattered about 1t were numerous
flower beds and c!umps of shrub
berry.
In going over this area carefully and