The Washington times., 1912-05-08

=, iran out, and in a moment / learned
what had happened. The Hon. Arthur
killed.
4 BY and by the overseer, Mr.. Ford,
rode slowly back to Guanaboa. re-
IN his saddle, as as If he had ID ridden a hun
dred miles. His hands and face were
az scratched and bleeding and his
Stt SiSStthes were we're torn Hts face face. was vas. as
pad swallowed a lot of stimulant that
PIE was able to tell his story. We were
deeply sorry for him, because in some
TO blame. Although he. as overseer.
should never have given countenance to
any such hazard, my father uttered no
wssd ,sariSip, Of irSeiproach though saw that he
1t seems that the Hon. Arthur had
heard vivid descriptions of tae cave and
the sink-hole. down which 1t was said |
Idea there was, too, Of Spanish treasure.
This took hold of him, and he made
wager that he would go down.
there were three strong men to lower
the rope, and the rope was stout; but |
the unforeseen accident occurred. Mr. |
Ford, who held the rope nearest to the |
pammed against boulder. In some |
WAY his feet slipped, and next moment |
there We're only three holding the rope
for %h6h S sne1r Mas Foed the weight sg
the rope to prevent himself from tum-
bling into the abyss
Such was his position that he was un-
hple to draw himself back; and then one
pf the negroes, with more zeal than
sense, let go the rope and rushed to
the overseer's aid. He succeeded in saw
ing him, although Mr.. Ford said after
ward that he was not in the least dan
ger; but in the brief second between re-
leasing his hold and reaching Mr.. Fords
etde the two men who were left found
n IN IL e., hold y Atrl,A
of two men. Just as the third negro
elutched Mr.. Ford they gave a yell OF
warming and the rope tore through
their hands
The overseer leaped upward and for
ward. and at the same time a cry arose
from the black depths. Then there
was SILENCE, while they all waited for
1t came after an interval of about
I've seconds-a hollow thud, which
eehoed in sullen boom through the
Shot out Of the hole in shrieking.
whirring cloud, and at that the super
btitious negroes turned and ran out of
the cave and into the bush. yelling
cannot describe to you the awful
effect which this tragedy had, not only
upon the household at Guanaboa, but
-. visited this cave myself with some
friends, but had been much too nervous
to 80 near the sink-hole.
hIne cave, opened lnto cllH OF vol
canic rock, and led inward for a dis
tanee Of about sixty yards, where it
kuddenly expanded into what we called
the ogre'S dining hall" This was
circular hole in the roof. Through this
natural window you could see the wild.
bananas and other bush foliage waving
against the blue sky, while inside tho
Night.
Beyond the "ogre's dining hail. the
tunnel suddenly declined. Becoming
sleeper at every step, it suddenly ended
In a perpendicular drop. of the. sink
hole. II you threw a stone down you
had to- wait what seemed an eternity
before IT struck bottom. Like that stone
The Hon. Arthur had fallen!
It was beyond realization. My nights
were spent in dreaming of that black.
black pit, with strange things crawling
over his smiling face.
Only the night before the accident we
had all been to dance at a neighbor-
Ing estate. The Hon. Arthur and I had
sat out on the verands in. the moon
light. and when I thought of him lying
at the bottom OF the sink-hole his face
was just as 1t had been that night. He
had told me much about himself. and
how he had not agreed very well With
o name seldom mentioned). 1t appears
that his lordship wanted him to marry
somebody-an affair of prestige and 20
sttion-and he had refused. remember
abruptly and asked:
Would you marry man who didn't
love you for yourself?"
a- The day after the tragedy all the
planters and oVerseers for scores of
miles met at Guanaboa and went to the
cave to see what could be done about
recovering the body. Nothing could be
done, however. The negroes absolutely
refused, to enter the place, While there
were many of the Hon. Arthurs frisnds
who were willing and eager to be low
cred to the bottom, It seemed to be an
unnecessary risk.
after that fall, in the natural course of
things, and so far as burial went he
was as completely buried as any one
could be, The party sat for hours In
perfect stiffness, listening for any sound
that might be taken as excuse for ac-
tion, but none came save the drip OF
the bats. FINALLY, my father stood up
IN that awful place and read prayer
or two from a prayerbooK which he
had, brought, with him: Then the party
returned to Guanaboa, thoroughly
chilled in bone, blod and spirit.
The AFFAIR cast a gloom over the es-
tate, a gloom which has not yet been
lifted for various reasons. Ny father
took II very much to heart, and 1t is
from that day that I count his rapid
decline, Mr. Ford went about his work
Ias usual, but he did not come near the
house, keeping to his own quarters down
/ could see that he suffered, and took
perhaps an unduly large share of the
blame to himself; vet ! could not meet
him with. the words Of assurance and
. sympathy which so often rose in me
On the other hand, ! am afraid that
reeolled from him on the rare occa'
si6ns when business compelled him tc
visit my father.
My father saw this, and one day he
called me into his office and said:
! brRosalie,, this thing hurts. You know
that. But you make 1t hurt more wher
you put 1t on poor Ford like that II
ever a man needed sympathy and gen
e tie handling it's Ford Tn not very
long for this world myself, lass, and Id
like, to see YOU settled"
q He did not let me reply, but just
smiled wsarily and told me to run of
aRd play.
IS conquered my aversion TO the over
eeSr, and his gratitude awoke a kindlieT
feeling In my heart When he asked