Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1913-12-09
storage of goods was a mystery.

formed the shore. Here he was more
at home. for he had been brought up
near the water. Naturally his eyes fell
upon the irreguIarity that marked the
shore. There were many protuber-
ances. many lndentations. He de-
scended to the sea level and. the tide
being at the ebb, noticed a place where
the waite. washed in under the rocks.
John wondered how far In 1t extended.
He couldn't tell without going in un-
der the rock. and this was impossible
without a boat or raft unless he
swan, and the water was too cold for
swimming.
The boy pondered on what he should
do. Should he 60 on home or remain
and try to solve the mystery? Curiosity
held him. He would 60 back to the
house and see If he could not look
into the cellar through the crack at
which he had listened. He did so. but
the cellar was too dark for him to see
anything. His mind reverted to the
overhanging rock. and he went back
to have another look at 1t. The rising
tide had partly covered the place, and
he knew that 1t would be nearly
twelve hours before the water would
give him an opportunity to examine 1t
again.
he resolved to improve the interval
by securing n boat or building raft to
use in his investigations. Going to
wood near by, he saw plenty of fallen
timber, and after walking several
miles to a house where he was given
some breakfast he returned and car
ried sufficient wood to the shore to
make q float. he laced the piecessto'
gether with twigs and when the tide
subsided in the afternoon put his raft
into the water and padded to the
rock in question. Lying fat. he pulled
himself in under the land some twenty
feet when he came to an iron door.
1t was fastened with an iron latch.
which. being covered by water at
every tide, was so rusty that he could
not move it. He scuttled out, got a
stone. returned and by hammering
opened the door. There before him lay
a subterranean passage leading In the
direction Of the house.
Not having a light, the young discov.
erer did not attempt to investigate any
further. Besides. be had no mind to
be caught In a trap by an incoming
tide. He got out as quickly as possible
and. sitting on rock. bethought him
self what next to do. He concluded
to 20 Oh home and consult with some
one about his find. He was not sure
but that there was something In 1t for
him, and he wished to find way to
get It out.
John was n secretive boy. and. though
he told about his experiences In the
city, he said nothing about the house
by the sea. In a few days. armed
with some carpenters tools and
candle. he went back to 1t and. closing
the shutter behind him through which
he entered. took up part Of the floor,
went down into the celler and found
Il full of box,S and bales.
BY this time 1t occurred to the boy
that the house was storage depot for
smugglers. he found door In the
celler leading into the passage to the
water and presumed that the goods
we're carried In by that route. Re
placing everything as he had left 1t. be
made his way to the nearest port OF
entry and. calling for the collector. told
him that he had discovered depot for
smuggled goods. He was too smart to
give any clew to 1t till he had made
terms with the government. This neces
STATED some correspondence between
the officials and the government. and
It was finally agreed that Of any SNUG
gled goods that John should point out
to the revenue officers half the amount
accruing by confiscation should go to
him.
These preliminaries having been set
tied, John led the officers to the house
and showed them the goods. But,
being desirous of capturing the SNUG
glers, they placed a watch in the house
and waited for them to come again.
It was several weeks before the un-
suspecting men fell into the trap.
When they did they found both the
egress by the passage to the sea and
the one up into the house stopped.
They were all taken Just after they
had deposited new. valuable boat
load of goods.
Johnny received small fortune for
his information. BE decided to go to
college and Is now lawyer with
good practice. Inquiries as to the
lonely house resulted in his learning
that the parties owning 1t had gone
abroad many years before and left II
to be sold as 1t stood. It changed
hands several times without being oc-
cupied and was finally bought by the
Crawford mentioned by the sInugglers
as an available depot for smusgled
goods. He had grown rich by this
means