Free trader-journal. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1916-1920, 1919-08-14

location combined at once with the
other fear OF being swallowed up In all
this savage green life, without hope OF
finding ones way out again into the
sun. fought my way in but very
few yards when both these fears
clutched hold of me with u sudden hor-
ror, and the perspiratlon poured from
me; | could no longer distinguish be-
tween the way had come aud any
other part of the wood. Indeed, there
was no way anywhere!
l must have battled through the
vcritnble inferno of vegetation for ut
least an hour-though it seemed life
time. Clouds Of particularly unpleaS-
amt midges filled my eyes, not to speak
of mosquitoes and Il peculiar kind of
persistent stinGing fly was adding To
my miSeri"s, when at last, besrlmrd
and dripping with sweat, | stumbled
out, with IA cry of thnnkful,Nss, On to
comparatively fresh air and some
thing like brond avenue running
north and south through the wood. II
was indeed dcuSely ovcrgroWn, ana
had evidently not been used for many
wears. StiIl, it was comparatively
puSSHhle, and one could at least see
The sky and take long brcaths once
more.
Still there was no sign of n house
anywhere. Presently, however, AS |
stumbled along | noticed something
looming durkly through the matted
forest on my left that suggested walls,
Looking closer, / saw that 1t was the
ruin Of small stone cottage, rootless,
and indescribably swallowed up in the
pitilcSs scrub. And then. near by, |
deserted another such ruin, and still
anothcr-all, as II We're. sunk In the
terrible gloom of the vegetation, as
sometimes, IN low tide, one can dis
Germ the walls of Il ruined village II,
the bottom Of the sea.
Evidently | had come upon q long
abandoned settlement, and presently,
Oh some slightly higher ground toxhe
left, thought | could make out the
hulf-Submerged walls Of ii much more
ambitious editice Looking closer |
noted, with II thrill of surprise the
beginning of Il very narrow path, not
more than foot wide. leading up
through the scrub In its direction
Marrow as 1t was, it had clearly been
kept open by the n0t-intrequrnt pas
sage of feet. With Il certain eerie feel
uug, | edged my way into it. and, after
following II for a hundred yards or SO,
found myself close to the ruOilcSS ruin
of spacious stone house with some
thing of the appearance of an old Eng
fish manor house. Mullioned windows,
timely maSoned, opened In the shat
tered wall, and an elaborate stone
staircase, in the interStteS of which
stout shrubs We're growing, gave, or
once had given, an entrance through
an archcd doOrWuy-an entrance now
stoutly disputed by the gliStening
trunk Of Il sum-elemi tree and endless
mattcd ropclile roots of giant vines
and creeperS that writhed like SCRIP.
| cntS over the whole elihce Forcing
my way up this staircase, found my
self in Il stone hall some sixty feet
/ long, at one end of which ynwncd Il
! huge fireplace, its tue mounting M
/ tlIrou.,h Il finely carved chimney, still
standing firmly at the top Of the
/ southern gable.
! How had this almost baronial mag
/ niiicence come to be in this far-aWuy
corner Of n desert island? At first
! concluded that here was relic of the
brief colonial prosperity of the Ea-
hamaS, when its cotton lords lived
like princes, with II slave population
for rctainers-days when even the
boothlacks in Nassau played pitch
andtoss with gold pieces; but as |
considered further, it seemed to me
that the style of the architecture and
the age of the building suggested an
earlier date. Could it be that this had
been the home Of one Of those early
eighteenth century pirates who took
pride in Haunting the luxury and pomp
of princes, and who had perhaps mad"
this his headquarters and stronghold
{ Tor tnp storage OF MS lbGl bll me TO-
turn from his forays on the Spanish
Main? This, as the more spirited con-
lecture, naturally preferred, and, in
default of exact information, decided
to accept.
The more I pondored upon this
fancy and remarked the extent Of the
ruins - including several subsidiary
Outhouses--and noted, too, one or two
! chOked stone StaircaScs that seemed
to descend into the bowels of the
EARTH the more plausible 1t seemed.
In one or two places where ! SuS-
pected underground celIars-dungeonS
for unhappy cnptives belize, or strong
vaults for the storage Of the treasure
i tested the floors by dropping heavy
stones, and they seemed Enthusiastically
to reverberate with hollow rumblng
sound but | could find no present way
of getting down into them. AS | said
the starcases that promised an en-
trance into them were choked with
debris. But promised myself to
come some other day. with pick and