Charlevoix county herald., 1914-03-14

arm to stop us. He advanced eau
tiously, and holding out the torch at
arms length, the light fell upon the
yellow water as it poured down into
the black gulf upon which our stand
ing-place abutted. The flame of the
torch was drawn down by the current
of air as if it had. been at the blast
hole of furnace. Raising his voice
to overcome the noise of the water,
Brace called out
We're got to go down there|
you are not afraid, Lola ?" ] asked.
She shook her head, and gave my
hand another little squeeze.
Brace led up off the rock, keeping
the water still on our left, and there
was some more downward clambering
for a few minutes. Then we came
TO a stand, and he showed me lateral
opening about four feet in height.
1--WE goes through there he SAID,
then he produced flask, poured out
a dram, and handed it to me. ] offered
il to Lola. Another shake of the head,
and another little squeeze.
| emptied the cup, and Brace helped
himself.
There amt no need to get our
selves in muck over this job. Wen
put our rubbers on" he said, "the
wet drips through"
/ took out the overcoats from the
bundle Of rugs and we put them on.
Then l strapped the roll Of rugs on
my shoulders again.
Brace touched my shoulder and
pointed upward to couple of faint
L IN, he ~
What is it," / asked.
The sun ketchin' the tops of the
peaks" he replied.
He took a couple of torches from
the bundle he carried and began to
light them at the end of the one he
had last used.
Won't you wait little--it will be
light in half -an-hour 2" | said.
Not down there" he replied; cts
pitch dark at noon in that almighty
hole. Now" ne added, when the
torches were well lit; take one OF
these, kick the snow well OFF yOlu
feet, keep one eye on me, and tother
on the rocks, and leave the rest 10
Providence.
With this last injunction he stopped
down, and passed through the open
ing. We followed, but slngly, for We
needed both hands to make the peril
Gus descent.
The FIRST thing | noticed in passing
under the great block that bridgeu
the awful chasm was the comparative
silence. We could no longer hear the
rushing of the stream on the Other
side, only the dull roar of the water
as II struck the bottom of the canon
some thousands of feet below.
braces voice was startlngly dis
tinct when he spoke.
~ on tell me the thing is on the
other side of the ropes, my GEL he
said
She answered yes, and we Went
slowly forward and downward alons
the narrow and Jagged ledge, oul
faces toward the gntterlng quartz,
seeking interstices and projections fol
hold To our hands.
We were getting away from the
fall, but at a certain point the nat
ural path returned toward it in
zig-Zag along n lower projection. Al
the angle which offered little wider
standing space, we stopped.
This here hole was fust showed me
by the Kids mother" said Brace; "it
had served her father for a cachette
in quite the early days of this coun-
try's glory.
"A cachette," he explained, is
place where you keep things snug
Almost every miner, before the Wig /
ilancc Committee nomenated me .
Judge. had a cachette This was mine,
and many a ounce I've brought down .
1 har
it's wonderful safe. You will allow
that no one could find his way down .
here in the dark" | shuddered at the .
thought of any one attempting such
fearful venture, and from here right
up To the hole is fair straight line,
so that no light could com down with
out its bein' seen; but that amt the
only safeguard; as you shall see.
Come on, sir
We made our way loot by foot
along the narrow ledge Tor some dis
lance, still descending. When Brace
again halted. the light Of his torch
revealed the yellow stream falling
silently through space, few feet be-
fore him. That silent fall impressed
me with a sense of the awful depth OF
the gulf beside us.
The ledge ended abruptly where
Brace stood; a recess in the wall al
lowed ample standing-room for us
three.
"rhe greaser never got no furder'
down than this; but it weren't fur
enough for me-" said Brace. IL had
my idea of gettin' right down TO the
bottom Of this hole, where these
waters must have carried tons o
gold"
But the ledge ends here
1T do, but he added lifting his
torch. 1T goes on again over there"
The light fell on jutting projec-
ton of quartz upon the opposite side
of the chasm, distant at least twenty
feet.
"But you cannot leap that"
Correct, end / amt gOin' TO try
He laid himself upon his face, and
stretched him arm down the chasm;
when he arose, he had cord in his
hand. Pulling this in, he drew mp two