The dpte shows when thi? "p'-mir -nc fa1'°n. Cornell University Library PS 2169.K7S12 The sabertooth-.a romance of Pu'-in-Bay Ji 3 1924 022 064 327 "Proverbs are short sentences drawn from long experience." — Cervantes, THE WORLD'S BEST PROVERBS and- SHORT QUOTATIONS FOR PUBLIC SPEAKING, LITERARY WORK, AND EVERYDAY CONVERSA- TION .•. ARRANGED BY SUBJECTS By GEORGE H. OPDYKE, M. A. Cloth, illustrated, . . . . . $1,00 Full leather, full gilt, in a boj, "'" . V . i.so laird & Lee, Publishers. Chicago, U. S. A., CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY GIFT OF Mrs, A. D. White The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924022064327 THE SABERTOOTH a TRomancc of pwUin^i&n^ BY STEPHEN KINDER ILLUSTRATED CHICAGO LAIRD & LEE, Publishers u A ^sr<]^\^ Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1902, by WILLIAM H. LEE, in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. A Broken Mirror Brings Good Luck, 7 II. An Irish Promotion, . . . .15 m. On a Sky-Rocket, 20 IV. Higher Arithmetics, . . . .24 V. The Beginning of an Art Collection, 30 VI. The Children of the Glaciers, . . 33 VII. A White Squall, 38 VIII. The Rescue, 45 IX. Put-in-Bay, ....,, 52 X. Old Stone, ', 58 XI. Planked Whitefish, .... 68 XII. A Quiet Afternoon 74 XIII. Fossils, 78 XIV. Ships that Pass 84 XV. The Power of a Voice, . . .96 XVI. The Passing of Mr. Dupont, , . .102 CONTENTS — Continued CHAPTER PAGE XVII. The House that Jack Built, . . Ill XVIII. An Enchanted Rock, . . 118 XIX. Smith's Ghost, . . 124 XX. A Fish Story, . . 134 XXI. Mr. Stuart's Revelation, . 140 XXII. A Medicine Man, . 147 XXIII. The Sabertooth, . 154 XXIV. A Narrow Escape, . . 158 XXV. Old Stone's Story, . . 164 XXVI. Three Guesses, . 175 XXVII. A Man of Letters, . . 185 XXVIII. A Strangle Disappearance, . 195 XXIX. The Power of Money, . . 200 XXX. In a Trap, . . . . . 209 XXXI, A Marked Man, . 217 XXXII. A Welcome, . . . . . 225 XXXIII. Mark's Story, . . , . . 231 XXXIV. Planning the Raid, . . 247 XXXV. The Battle in the Cave, . 254 XXXVI. Conclusion, , . . . . . 265 THE SABERTOOTH. CHAPTER I. A BROKEN MIRROR BRINGS GOOD LUCK. There lies before me on my desk, as I write, a sin- gular object, the mystery surrounding which has never been solved; yet its known history and the manner in which it came into my possession are so closely con- nected with the strange adventures my friend and I passed through one summer, that if at any time I am in doubt as to any of the details, I have but to look upon this shining thing, to have all pass before my eyes with perfect distinctness. The object is a piece of polished ivory, yellow and waxen with age, and worn as if with endless use. It is a single tooth. Harmless enough it is as it lies there, but curved and deadly as the shining scimitar of a Moor, the fang of a saber-toothed tiger, an animal as extinct as the glacial era before whose approach it perished from the earth. In addition to the associations connected with this strange relic of a past age, it has a value to me in being, as far as I can learn, the only unfossilized specimen 8 THE SABERTOOTH. known to the scientific world. This greatly increases its interest to me, as I have been a student of such things since the time when, as a lad, I wandered beside a river, idly skipping smooth, flat pebbles over its shin- ing surface, and chanced to notice in one of them, em- bedded, a shell-like form that excited my curiosity. I carried my little pebble home that day, and sought of many persons the answer to the riddle it contained, before I found one who knew it, and who set my feet upon a path which, in time, led me into the adventures which I am about to tell. For I heard from him the story of the glaciers, and was fascinated by it, and through all the vicissitudes of early manhood I shaped my life, as much as possible, to be at or near places where I could study the traces the wandering floods of ice ground into the rocks". Thus it happened that after some years of varied ex- perience I found myself apparently buried alive in a railroad office in one of the prosperous and growing cities on the shores of Lake Erie. I; like many another young man, dazzled by the glittering prize of a general- managership, had been lured into this modern cata- comb, hoping to set my feet on the ladder of fame, the first round of which I vainly imagined was before me. Put after a long period of honest toil and faithful ser- A BROKEN MIRROR. 9 vice, a day came when I began to have doubts as to whether I had chosen the right path to fame; and reck- oning up the matter, I found the net results of my efforts were meager pay and added burdens. The out- come of my self-communing was the conviction that for many years I had been a fool, and I immediately be- gan a flank movement. ' * By a judicious use of what is known to those initiated into the mysteries of railroad work- as the "slow arm," and by keeping a careful eye on the movements of the agent, I managed to shift the bulk of my work to the desks of the less acute of my companions. This gave me plenty of time to cultivate the friendship of the chief clerk, a lesser god, who to a great extent con- trolled the destinies of our little world, and, by paying vigorous court to him, in time I rose to the office of cashier. On this dizzy eminence I expected to perch until my days were over, since to the next, post of honor above me was firmly glued my honest friend, the Chief Clerk, much more robust physically than I and of a long-lived family. Thus I found myself situated, one raw and dingy day some years ago. My life was a dead, dull round of reports and abstracts, statements and balance sheets, 10 THE SABERTOOTH. interspersed with the pleasant occupation of counting driblets of money- from the grimy hands of draymen. There were no bright spots for me but the monthly visits of the pay-car; no excitement except dodging the Travelling Auditor, and no prospect of release from my slavery this side of the grave. But, as often happens, when the night is darkest day- break is near; and there came a day so weighted with destiny for me that many times I have thought over every moment of it, and searched each action and word of mine for some thing to account for the good fortune which gave to me Mark Carling's friendship. I have even tried to drag the truth out of Mark himself, but the good fellow will only say that the good fortune is all on his side, as all the world except myself can see; which is very good of him, but does not satisfy my con- stitutional desire to classify facts and to reach conclu- sions by logical deductions. It was about two o'clock in the afternoon, and pan- demonium reigned in the dingy old office, for the chief clerk, in spite of the din, was taking his usual after-din- ner nap behind his desk. The switch-engine was but- ting cars around the tracks, and the house-men were pushing their clumsy trucks with thunderous sound over the rough floor outside, while inside the "over- A BROKEN MIRROR. 11 and-short" and "abstract" men were playing ball with a wet copy rag, and the remainder of the clerks bawled their political opinions at each other or amused them- selves by shooting pins and pens about the room. Our messenger boy, Theodore — comnionly known as "The It" — was taking exercise behind th© stove, using the coal scuttle as an Indian club. There was little doing in my department, and I sat with my chair tipped back against the wall and my hands over my ears to shut out the noise, my eyes idly wandering over the grimy win- dows, the smoke stained walls and the festoons of sooty cobwebs which dangled from the ceiling and waved to and fro in the hot and stifling air. In the middle of all this uproar, as I was wondering what evil fate had cooped me, a lover of nature and a student of her ways, in such a corner of Bedlam, the door opened and Mr. McFadden, our worthless,, drunken, merry Irish janitor, came in with a small mirror I had given him to clean. Catching- sight of "The It" at his exercise behind the stove, Dennis pre- sented the glass, and with his odd chuckle called out, "Teedore! Look at the monkey!" But "Teedore" was not destined to enjoy a sight of the monkey as he was at that instant struck in the rear by a flying pin, and let go of the coal scuttle in mid air to grasp his anatomy with both hands. 12 THE SABERTOOTH. The abandoned scuttle, guided by the hand of an over-ruling Providence, struck the glass in McFad- den's hands, smashing it to bits and forcing the frame over his head. AH hands, startled by the crash, turned in a moment of breathless silence to perceive the smug face of the unterrified Dennis neatly framed and hear him shout, "Here's another monkey!" In the roar of laughter which followed McFadden's sally, I recognized a new note, and turning saw stand- ing just within the door a young gentleman who had followed the unlucky Dennis. My mind has gone back so often to this moment, that no subsequent familiarity with the subject of it can efiface from my memory the picture of my friend as he appeared to me then. Indeed it is not strange that I was so impressed with his appearance, for wherever Mark goes, heads are turned to catch a second glimpse of him. It is not his great height that compels atten- tion, although this is several inches over six feet, nor his great bulk, for it is so well proportioned to his height that only direct comparison with other men shows him to be the giant he is. But it is his face, with its ruddy skin and breezy look of riotous health, his kindly smile and honest eyes, which bring him the con- A BROKEN MIRROR. h fidence and friendship of every good woman, and maki. men, weary of the strife of the world, long to get within the circle of his cheery influence. All this, of course, I did not come to know till later; at the time I saw only a tall, well dressed, welUgroomed young man, with such a kindly, pleasant face, and so much indication of strength that unconsciously I gave a sigh of relief, as one is apt to do when laying down some burden. He had come upon a little matter of business ; some freight was overdue which he wished looked up and hurried, and the men outside had directed him to me. In giving me some necessary data the gentleman let fall that he was building a yacht, the work on which was delayed for want of the missing fittings. This touched me in a tender place, for if I have a weak spot, a blind side, it is for boats. I much mistrust that I was born with a boat in each hand and water on the brain. It is so with lovers of ships and the sea, that the shib- boleth once spoken, all barriers of class go down, and mind grapples with mind in friendly battle over con- troverted ideals, and thus it was in our case. We were soon so immersed in coefficients and diagonals, dis- placements, wetted surfaces and other delightful mat- ters, that it was with difficulty my caller tore himself away. 14 THE SABERTOOTH. Before leaving, however, he handed me his card, in- troduced himself, and asked if he might call again to finish the discussion. I assured him, of course, that his visit would give me the keenest pleasure, and in lieu of a card, which I lacked, I gave him on a piece of paper an impression of the Company's receipting stamp, a relic which he has kept to this day. After he was gone, I examined the gentleman's mod- est card and noted the name"Mark Carling," which I repeated over to myself until it became familiar, but from that day my friend has been to me, and shall here- after be to you, my dear reader, just "Mark." CHAPTER II. AN IRISH PROMOTION. Mark's first call was followed by others, until he fell into the habit of dropping in every day to talk over with me the progress he was making with his boat, and he would have me go with him to look it over when- ever there was an opportunity. Often he would come in, brimful of some new idea and want me to go right along with him and "never mind" my work, but quickly recollecting how matters stood with me, he would check himself, and sit down beside me for a long time without speaking, as if puzzling over something. One diay, after an unusually long spell of thinking, he tossed up his head, and presenting to me a face broad and smiling and full of triumph, burst out with, "I've got the combination at last." Of course, I could not help being glad he had the "combination," seeing the pleasure it gave him, and I said as much, but not knowing just what he had been brooding over, I could not enter fully into his joy, and showed the fact in my face. I supposed, of course, that his combination had IS 16 THE SABERTOOTti. something to do with the yacht, and expected him to give me the details of it at once, but instead, he took me by the arm and motioned to the office door, indicat- ing mysteriously that he had something to communi- cate to my private ear. Once outside, he drew me to a secluded spot behind a pile of sugar barrels and looked me in the face. Waving his hands several times he said, "Like it?" Following his example I looked straight into his coun- tenance, then at his hand, the thumb of which was pointed to my corner of the office, and answered, "No!" I tried to control my face and voice as I uttered this little word, but all the long years of drudgery and petty tyranny rose up before me, and I am afraid I showed some of the long-repressed disgust and hatred of it that filled my heart. My pride came quickly to my rescue, and I sought to turn aside the matter, but my friend would not listen to me, he was so filled with glee. He did not again refer to the matter of his combination, but shook hands with me twice and then started hurriedly towards town. After a few steps he came back to shake hands again, like a lover who cannot tear himself away after the first kiss. I was much in the dark over his singular actions, and IRISH PROMOTION. 17 was pondering over them one drowsy afternoon not long after, &s I added up my cash book. The abstract- clerks, with their endless calling and checking were droning away, but Aside from this the office was un- usually quiet. In the middle of a long column of fig- ures I became aware of the presence of "The It," who was trying to attract my attention without coming within reach of my arm, as he had learned by sad ex- perience- that nothing is so dangerous, as well as deaf, as an "adder." When I had finished my addition and carefully ruled the total with red ink, taking extra time and pains to do so, as nothing is so demoralizing and subversive of discipline in a railroad office as to allow a subordinate to hurry you, I signified to "The It" that he might communicate his message, which he did to the effect that I was to appear before the Agent, and while my conscience was clear, I could not help feeling more or less alarm at this unusual summons, and "The It" was justified in his wriggles of delight at my discom- fiture. The news of my predicament flew quickly round the room, and as I started for the "carpet" I was followed by looks of pity and malicious pleasure from my friends and enemies, respectively. 18 THE SABERTOOTH. I made my way to the desk of the Agent who was, or pretended to be, very busy with his papers. I stood up straight and stiff and braced myself for the shock of the coming blow. In his own good time my superior -finished his writing, signed his name carefully, and straightening up in his chair caught sight of me, appar- ently for the first time, giving me a^ Roland for the Oliver I had just applied to the poor "It." How well I 'know that affected indifference, and the glassy stare that follows it; it is the trade mark of a railroadman the world over. "Ah! Hum!" began the Agent, pointedly forgetting to offer me a chair. "Er, — Aw, — Mr. Arrowsmith" — he continued, seemingly embarrassed with what he had to say — much to my surprise, as to my certain know- ledge it was no hardship to him to give his men a dress- ing down, or amputate their official heads — "The, aw — Company," he drawled on, keeping me in suspense to the last moment — "has decided to appoint a City Agent and, recognizing your wide acquaintance with the ship- pers and long service, has selected you for the place. The management regrets the condition of business will not warrant an increase of your salary at the pres- ent time, but they hope you will use every effort to make it possible for them to grant this at some future IRISH PROMOTION. 19 time. I wish you success in your ijew field. Here is a letter of introduction to your new chief, the Commer- cial Agent." So this was the bee, sting and all, that was buzzing in the "Old Man's" head. No wonder the words choked him, for they were the first ones I had ever heard him utter, that gave me pleasure. Well! Small favors are not always unacceptable. At least I was not "fired." And I was to be given a welcome change, although — Hum — Haw — Er — Aw! — the condition of business (which was working every- body to death), would not warrant any more expense to the Company for my services, (which were suddenly discovered to be of some value.) CHAPTER III. ON A SKYROCKET. I entered upon my new duties next day, but I was not destined to earn the promised increase in pay in that position, or any other. Almost the first person to congratulate me on my advancement was my new-found friend, Mark Carling, who seemed delighted at it, and rejoiced with me over the fact that I had escaped the drudgery of the dreary old office. He asked me many questions about my new place, and after beating about the bush for some time, inquired with some hesitation, if they — meaning "The Powers That Be" — had made the salary satisfac- tory. This was the first time the subject of money had ever been mentioned between us, and I could see that the dear fellow was in torment lest I should take offense at any suggestion of the wide financial gulf which sepa- rated us. I was obliged to admit the truth, but told him of the glittering promise which had been dangled before my admiring eyes with so many hums and haws. w ON A SKYROCKET. 21 My story had an extraordinary effect upon my friend. As I proceeded with it his face clouded and flushed with anger, and when I had finished he shouted "The d old skinflints! I'll fix them!" And turn- ing abruptly on his heel, he rushed away leaving me gaping after him, foolish and alarmed._ I always have a dizzy spell whenever I think of the next few months of my life, for I reached the end of them as breathless and astounded as if I had spent the time astride of a skyrocket. In that brief space I was successively "hummed and hawed" into and out of one office after another in the old Company, until I landed at last iti the position of Assistant to the President, with a gorgeous office, a private secretary, nothing to do but look pleasant, and a piled-up stack of letters testifying -to my valuable ser- vices in each of my preceding positions. Of course, I have not the least doubt that every word in the letters was true, but I could not remember very distinctly just what I had done to deserve the high praise they con- tained, as my motion upward had been rapid enough to -affect my eyesight, and the perspective of my progress as I look back at it has a curious monotony, much re- sembling the teeth in a fine comb. But I have often read in the newspapers of similar cases, where gifted 22 THE SABERTOOTH. railroad managers rose rapidly in the same way as I did, through their own unassisted merit. I never supposed for a minute, however, that this was so in my case, for the constant presence of my friend Mark caused me to mistrust that it was his great, hand that was in the dish and stirred it so vigorously, although he never mentioned it. He seemed to take so much pleasure in my prorno- tions, and enjoyed so keenly coming into each of my new offices, that I had not the heart to spoil his fun. He would sit down in each chair in the room to see if it was comfortable, and try my desk to see if it was a good fit. He pressed all the push buttons just for the fun of seeing what manner of genii would appear, and conducted himself all round in a way which in any other man would have been objectionable, but his jolly face and gentle, kindly manner disarmed all criticism and sent the grumblers away rejoicing. When our season of hilarity and apparent madness had reached its climax and landed me in a position en- tirely outside of my experience and beyond my honest capacity, I called a halt and taxed my friend with being the cause of my spectacular vaulting through the ser- vice. ' He admitted his responsibility, with a humorous look ON A SKYROCKET. 23 of guilt on his countenance, but argued that he needed some place to loaf in, and that he had taken a fancy to my present quarters and wanted some congenial person there to talk to when he happened in. I understood fully that under Mark's trifling manner \he was trying to conceal his generous wish to better my condition, and to put me in a position more nearly approaching his own. I appreciated his delicacy and kindness thoroughly, but I could not bring myself to accept from any man, even from him, anything re- sembling a gratuity. I resolved at once to resign my position, and this I made him understand with all the skill and consideration for his feelings I could com- mand. It cut me to the heart to disappoint him, and my voice failed me as I saw his face fall and signs of deep emotion gather in it. We sat for a moment in silence, then Mark rose, and drawing his chair near to mine, he took my hand and begged me not to make my decision final until I had heard the story of his life, when if my mind was still unchanged, he would step aside and leave me free to do that which seemed right to me. CHAPTER IV. HIGHER ARITHMETICS. "The story of my life," Mark began, "runs back and is entwined witii that of my father so closely that, to make mine clear, I must go back to his. First, I must say to you that the name by which you know me is not my own, but one assumed by my father's direction in my boyhood as a protection from annoying sycophants, and to guard against possible danger from designing persons, but I have borne this assumed name so long that my real name would sound strange in my ears. "My father is John Broadhead, and you, perhaps, have heard of him. He made the first beginnings of his, now great fortune, as a contractor for the construc- tion of railroads, and in one of his ventures he was left, by the sharpers at the head of the enterprise, to hold the bag, while they made ofif with their ill-gotten spoils of stocks and bonds. "In my father's struggle to rescue from ruin his little savings, all of which he had put into his contract, he acquired a certain knowledge, which he quickly put to good use in accumulating a reasonable fortune, after 21 HIGHER ARITHMETICS. 25 which he attempted to retire from business, and did so as far as possible, but the possession of great wealth brings with it care and responsibility and he is often forced to return, unwillingly, to the battlefield of finance, and in this way has gained undesirable noto- riety. "I was his only child and stood to be spoiled by the flattery of the parasites who naturally gather where the spoil is great, but my stern old father was determined that, so far as his efforts could go, I should have an even chance with the children of the poor to be a 'man.' "To make his task easier, he hid me away under my assumed name, and allowed me to grow up as a child of nature, with little interference in the way of disci- pline, but with the most careful watch over my physi- cal welfare. "I grew up as you see me, too large and too strong for my own comfort. And when my school age canie, it was discovered that my mind had no capacity for book learning. I knew every bird, beast and insect in the neighborhood. Every tree and flower was a famil- iar friend. In short, I learned to read the book of na- ture, but the books of men have always remained sealed mysteries to me, and I spent in acquiring the 26 THE SABERTOOTH. simplest rudiments the time other children take to com- plete a college course. This has always been a hard- ship to me, as I have an insatiable craving for informa- tion only to be gained from books. "My father was sadly disappointed in this, as he had hoped to see his son take the position in the world from which his early poverty and busy life had debarred him. But he took the matter philosophically, and said it would not make much difference, as it was not neces- sary for me to be a genius. "My mental incapacity was so great that it led my friends to believe me little better than an idiot, and they would have been sure of this but for one thing. Some- where in my otherwise benighted mind there is a clear streak, the action of which is singular, and unaccount- able to me. The physical sensation of this peculiarity is that of a hole in my head from front to back, with an opening at each end and, seemingly, through this hole all sensations must reach my brain which in an ordi^ nary man passes through the five senses. i "But the hole has its uses. It reminds me of one of those machines in which you drop a nickel, and after a whirring and grinding of inward machinery, out pops a card giving your weight, a photo of your sweet- heart, etc. This hole is open, and the matters, large HIGHER ARITHMETICS. 27 and small, which go to make up the sum of my life, float in and out until some chain of circumstances is complete, when there will be a clicking and rattling in my head and out will pop an opinion or statement that has many times raised suspicions as to the genuineness of my idiocy in the minds of my friends, and saved me from being packed off to an asylum for the feeble- minded. "When I had outgrown my boyhood, I begged my father to give me some occupation to keep time from hanging heavy on my hands. He asked me what I would Hke to do, but I was not ready with an answer, as I had given the subject no thought. In my youth I had, at different timeS, yearned to be a street car con- ductor, the engineer of a locomotive, or the captain of a steamboat, but manifestly, none of these was just the thing now, so I asked my father to advise as well as help me. "Well, my boy," he said, "as long as you seem to have no head for books it will be useless to think of a profession, so we will have to find an occupation. How would you like to be a railroad man?" My acquaintance with men in the railroad business being limited to gazing from afar at brass-bound con- ductors, grimy engineers and the like, I could not re- 28 THE SABERTOOTH. spond with enthusiasm to this proposition; but my father went on to say that the kind of railroad man he meant was a little different from these. " 'There is,' he said, 'a branch of railroading which pays pretty well and is not overcrowded. I have been in it, more or less, for many years. It requires very little brains or skill, but some capital, and a slight knowledge of a 'higher arithmetic' You can add one and one together and make two, can you, Mark?' I acknowledged that this was not beyond my powers, and he continued : 'Well, I will teach you how to add one railroad to another and make many — dollars!' "Not to be tedious, I will only say that the celerity with which I learned my father's little rule, and the suc- cessful use I made of it, was a source of surprise even to him. "And now, my dear Dick, this brings me to the point of my appeal to you. You can see by what I have told you that I have lead a lonely life. So lonely has it been that at any time I would gladly have given every dollar of my wealth for the sympathy and com- radeship of a congenial friend; and I have sought everywhere, and always, for a companion who was high-minded enough to forget my money and find In me something to compel his affection, and, at the same HIGHER ARITHMETICS. 29 time, have those qualities of mind which I lack, but so much admire. Forgive me, Richard, if I become a little personal, but little did I think on the day I opened your office door, just in time to see Dennis so neatly framed, that Fate was leading me straight to my affinity. "I will 'not spoil your sweet innocence, nor make you vain, by telling you my first impressions; but, seriously, Dick, I was pained and distressed to see you wasting your life among such unsuitable surroundings. I longed to do something to change this, but under- stood fully that to offer you any direct assistance would defeat my aims and destroy our budding friendship. While puzzling over this, my 'nickel-in-the-slot' head handed me out my brilliant scheme of promotion, the carrying out of which has been immensely gratifying and amusing to me, but is now turning out to be a fiat failure; and I beg your pardon for my clunjsiness, and hope you will not let it affect the future of our friendship." CHAPTER V. THE BEGINNING OF AN ART COLLECTION, I hastened to assure Mark that I appreciated fully the kindness of his motives, and that what had hap- pened had in no way lessened my regard for him ; but, that I was still of the same mind with respect to the position, and could not possibly bring myself to retain it. This decision, to my surprise, did not seem to em- barrass Mark, as he asked me at once if I could see my way clear to do him a favor. It was hardly neces- sary for him to ask this; and, upon my assuring him that he might call upon me for anything in my power, he went on to say that, in order to carry through his plans for my advancement, he had been compelled to buy the railroad I had had the honor to serve so con- spicuously, and that it was on his hands. It was a good road, he said, but a little too big for a plaything, and apt to prove a nuisance by taking up too much of his time. All the railroad he really needed, Mark added, was enough to keep his private car on, and get him annual passes, and what he wished 30 AN ART COLLECTION. 31 me to do was to buy up one of the smaller railroads leading into the city and give him the privilege of shunting his car on to it. Of course, I expressed my entire willingness to ac- commodate him in such a small matter and to comply with his modest request; but, I was pained to say, that he had overlooked an insignificant detail in his calcula- tions. — ^which was a temporary embarrassment on my part in the matter of funds, and that I was shy a few milhons of the dollars necessary to carry out his little scheme. Hereupon he hastened gravely to assure me that he was not joking, and that he really meant what he said. The road he had in mind was for sale, and would make a valuable feeder for his road, and he needed some trusted friend to buy it in, and afterwards he would consolidate the two. It would not take any money, he urged; all I need do was to put on a bold face, go to the owners of the road, and get their price for it. "You do this, and I will furnish you with a letter of introduction to these people which will insure you respectful treatment. After you get a price set, come back to me and I will offer through you all I think the road is worth. If you are shrewd and cautious, it will not be necessary for you to bother your head about money matters for a long time to come.'' 32 THE SABERTOOTH. To cut this short and let me get at our story, I will say that Mark proved a true prophet. When the people I went to see caught sight of Mark's magic piece of paper, they at once became as polite as a bas- ket of chips, and I had no trouble in carrying out a transaction which involved about a million dollars for every single dollar I possessed. We were able in a short time to send to a firm of lithographers for samples of their most artistic stocks and bonds ; and, by the time good sailing-weather came, we had the two roads tucked up in the same bed, under a neat and brand new blanket mortgage. My days of drudgery and slavery were over, thank God, and I was rid of the old office forever, and had laid away securely, in a safe deposit vault, a choice collection of works of the lithographer's art, as valu- able, if not as handsome, as an equal number of the "bid masters." CHAPTER VI. THE CHILDREN OF THE GLACIERS. It is not to be supposed that my meteoric career as a rarikoad officer, with its picturesque financial finish, had escaped attention; on the contrary, I found myself the object of considerable notoriety. There was, also, strong indication that Mark's identity was suspected. We were pursued by newspaper men and others until we concluded to slip away till some new sensation had taken our place as the nine days' wonder. Mark sug- gested that we take a trip up the lakes in his yacht, an idea that suited me exactly; and we there and then fell into a pleasant discussion of the trip. The whole summer was before us in which to carry out our plan, but Mark was so familiar with every inch of the Great Lakes that the journey would have little of the charm of novelty for him. So I cast about for something which would make the trip interesting to both of us, and a thought occurred to me which was destined to lead to some remarkable results and affect our futures in a very decided manner. You will remember, from his story of his life, Mark's 33 Bi THE SABERTOOTH. description of the difficulty he had in mastering books and the ridiculous 'hole-in-his-head.' Never was a baser libel self-inflicted. The truth about him was this: With all the opportunity to gratify his appetites, which the possession of great wealth gives, and in spite of the eflorts of servile flatterers to corrupt him, my friend had kept himself unspotted and unspoiled. He was simple in his tastes and ways as a child, and was like- wise as modest and shy as a maiden. It is true books had no meaning for him, but I never knew any one so positively greedy for information which could be ac- quired from any other source. With this he had a mar- velous memory, and a wonderful power of digesting and assimilating the knowledge thus gained. I remembered this peculiarity of his mind, and asked him how he would like to spend the summer reading the story of the Ice Age, as written on the rocks of the islands of Lake Erie. Mark caught at my suggestion, and asked me, eager- ly, to tell him something about the Ice Age, of which it seemed he had never even heard. So, during the evenings of the few days we spent in preparing the yacht for our trip, I told him the wonderful story of the battle of the giants of Frost and Heat. Procuring a map, I showed Mark first the region CHILDREN OF THE GLACIERS. 35 about the Pole, to which the Frost King slowly re- treated after his defeat, and where he now lies, sullen and forbidding, biding the time which he knows will surely come when old E^rth will nod again, and he will be free to sweep down once more over this doomed land. I told my friend how, at some time in the dim past, our planet. Mother Earth, grown weary with endless journeying through space, dozed, and let her head droop forward, shading her temples from the fierce gaze of her master, the Sun. How the Frost King, then as now, ever waiting and watching, saw his oppor- tunity and sent forth his captains, the icy winds and overwhelming snows, to assemble his mighty hosts, the glaciers, in the Laurentian range of mountains. And, when all were ready, he led them forth with all the majesty of omnipotence and the deliberation of fate, grinding, crushing and destroying ail in his path — over- -turning mountains, laying low the hills, and obliterat- ing the fair valleys. Trees, flowers and birds, all per- ished before the glaciers' icy breath, and men and ani- mals, save those accustomed to perpetual cold,, fled southward to escape destruction. One glittering column of ice was thrown forward from the northeast, plowing a mighty furrow — in which 36 THE SABERTOOTH. now lies Lake Erie — and meeting a second phalanK, which, starting in the north, moved down over Mich- igan. Uniting, the two pressed southward until their victorious march was stayed by their enemy, the Sun, — the vanguard halting, and perishing, on the banks of the Ohio. In vain the ftiighty masses behind pressed forward. In vain their grim and blustering King sent his icy winds roaring through the land. His gentler but mighty adversary sent the warm South Wind to trace a magic line, to which he could come, but which he must not cross. Thus the battle raged for countless centuries, until old Mother Earth, awakening, slowly raised her head, deprived the Frost King of his power; and he drew back, inch by inch, and foot by foot to his home in the frozen North, sending forth great floods to complete the ruin already wrought, and to conceal the marks of his retreating footsteps. But, cunning as he was, the sleepless eye of Science has discovered and laid bare the story of the Frost King's terrible advance and lin- gering retreat. In its westward march the Laurentian glacier was met and halted by a range of hills which marked the vanishing slope of the Cincinnati Arch. But, gather- CHILDREN OF THE GLACIERS. 37 ing fresh strength, the mighty mass at last swept over and destroyed the hills, grinding them down to mere ragged stumps, and carrying their rocky fragments along, as weapons for another strife, — only to lay them down, shattered and useless, in valleys far to the south- ward. When the glaciers had vanished from the land, kind nature, seeing the raw and gaping wounds of the noble hills, now laid so low, in pity threw a mantle of sweet water over them and placed a wreath of forest trees upon their brows. And thus, from the bones of the vanished hills, have sprung, Minerva-like, the beautiful Children of the Glaciers, the islands of Lake Erie, the story of whose birth is written on their faces in letters so plain that "he who runs may read, and a wayfaring man, though a fool, may not err therein." This was the story we planned to read the coming summer, but the hand of fate interfered, writing be- tween the lines of it incidents scarcely less curious, to which this story owes its existence. CHAPTER VII. A WHITE SQUALL. Our preparations finally completed, we arranged for an early morning start, and, to save delay, we slept on board the yacht. Mark's yacht, the "Rush," which was to be our float- ing home, was a steel cabin sloop of the cruising type. She was larger than is common in this description of vessel, as she had need to be, to accommodate her' giant owner; and the most noticeable thing about her, aside from her fine lines and enormous sail area, was the unusual strength of all her fittings. Every line and rope on her were an extra half-inch in thickness, and her tiller was like a tree trunk; but neither rope nor tiller had a thread or splinter to spare, if, in a moment of excitement, Mark threw his full strength upon them, when common rigging would have broken in his hands like rotten string. The polished woodwork and glittering brass fittings were kept in beautiful order by a crew of that hardy race of sailors and fishermen of the "unsalted" seas, the Bay Shore French, a strange people, who still 38 A WHITE SQUALL. 39 cling persistently to their ancient homes where their ancestors were left like seeds dropped by accident from the hands of La Salle and Hennepin — their numbers apparently increasing but little, though stubbornly re- fusing to be obliterated by the fast multiplying Saxon. The men were all somewhat undersized, but wiry and strong, with piercing black eyes and straight black hair which betrayed the Indian blood in their mixed ancestry. The skipper, Amie Sicard, (better known as "Jiminy George," from his habit of beginning, ending and sandwiching in every sentence he uttered, as often as his well-trained ingenuity could suggest, his favorite expression of "Py Chiminy Chorge,") was a master- mariner of unsurpassed skill in the navigation of sailing craft in narrow waters. His early training in the "pond boats" and "gill-netters" of fishermen making him alert and 'quick beyond the comprehension, even of men who learned the business on the old lake schooners, them- selves a race of men who knew not the meaning of the words "sea room," but spent their lives mostly between head weather and lee shares. The remainder of the crew were either sons or nephews of the skipper, and he exercised over them the authority of parent as well as of master. 40 THE SABERTOOTH. Our steward and cook was Mark's factotum, Pete, a man of curiously mixed Bay Shore French and African blood, whose name I have understood was Pierre Col- orbeau, but I have never heard him so called. It was generally Collarbones, Collarbox, or Collarbutton, or any one, or as many of these epithets, as came handy to the speaker. All of them were acceptable to Pete, providing an occasional quarter came with them, for he had served Mark as porter on his private car and under- stood the value of tips. We were awakened in the morning by a hail from the tug which had come to tow us out of the river; but, with our large crew, there was no call for our services, so we spent considerable time idling over our toilets, and when we, got on deck, where we went to pass the time while Collarbones prepared a dainty breakfast, the yacht was well on the way to the lake. We found the yacht moving rapidly under the power- ful pull of the tug, and the mainsail, which the skipper had ordered hoisted, was fluttering in the strong draught caused by our motion; but, although the foam was flying from our bow, outside the disturbance caused by our wake, the surface of the river, save where here and there little "kisses" of air touched it, showed that the prospect for wind was decidedly poor. A WHITE SQUALL. 41 While we were at breakfast the boats reached the "gas buoy," where the tug dropped our line, and, shrieking a parting salute, scuttled and squatted its noisy way back to the city. We caught a slant of wind which carried us well cut into the lake, where it failed, leaving us becalmed about midway between Bar Point and Turtle lights, with the shores of Pleasant Bay and Monroe marking the western horizon, and West Sister Island looming like a low-hanging cloud to the east. Old Erie seemed asleep. Not a wrinkle disturbed the oil-smooth water. The yacht swung slowly round and round with the eddying of the currents under her. The sky was like brass, and the sun shone with such terrible force that a misty haze rose and trembled at the horizon. The heat was that of a furnace, and the shifting of the boat compelled us to change our positions every few minutes to keep in the shade of the sails; and Mark and I went overboard a dozen times to cool off. Between swims we kept CoUarbutton busy concocting cooling mixtures of ice and other things. It was too hot to eat, sleep or read, and, after hours of it, the effort of pouring libations down our throats became wearisome. At last, in despair, Mark had the 42 THE SABERTOOTH. awning rigged over the cockpit, and stretched' himself out under it, one long leg festooned over the tiller, and lay there, alternately dozing and wrhistling for a breeze. I, following his example, lay down on a locker in the cabin, where it was at least shadier if hotter than on deck, and I escaped the glare of the sun on the water. The skipper had been uneasy all day, and tramped back and forth like a caged beast, from the end of the "horn" to the tafifrail, and back again to the mast, with an occasional trip up the rigging to the spreader, or down into the cabin for a peep at the barometer. He had all sail taken in except the mainsail, and would have furled that, if Mark had not stopped him, as he wanted the benefit of what shade it gave. ■ The heat continued to grow more and more oppres- sive Until about four o'clock, at which hour we still lay as we were, grumbling and gasping. I remember that my eyes were fixed on the tell-tale compass overhead, and that I was idly watching its position, which showed the yacht at the time to be headed about south, when, suddenly, a heavenly draught of cool air came in through the port deadlights. Almost instantly I heard a crj of alarm from some- where forward. I saw Mark spring up as if stung, and heard him shout to me "Shut the deadlights, Dick! Jump for your life, man! For God's sake, be quick!" A WHITE SQUALL. 43 But, before I could make a move to leave the locker, the yacht rolled over on her beam ends as jf some mighty hand had seized her by the mast. I was thrown like a ball to the lee side of the cabin, and fortunately landed in good position to work at the ports; which I did with trembling haste. But down, down went the boat, inch by inch, until, by the time I reached the last deadlight, the water was spurting through it in a solid stream and I knew that death for us all lay in that dark fountain. I struggled in vain and with all my strength to shut the swinging disk, but it was beyond my strength, and I shouted again and again for help; but it seemed that in the shrieking of the squall overhead no one could hear me. A thousand years passed by me and I labored like one in a dream. At last, in despair, I gave up the struggle with the port, and thrust my arm to the shoulder through the opening, . and clung to it, half drowned, but assured that I had shut off most of the water. And very much relieved I was when Mark ap- peared at the hatch to call me on deck, and, seeing my predicament, came to my relief. We crawled, or rather climbed, on deck, as the boat lay over with the mainsail nearly buried in the sea; and such of the crew as were not struggling to launch the dinghy were perched on the windward gunwale. 44 THE SABERTOOTH. It was impossible to do anything to help the yacht until the wind eased ; we could only hold on, and watch the struggle' between the squall and the five tons of lead on the bottom of our keel, with our lives trembling in this novel balance. Although the squall lasted, all told, but a few min- utes, it seemed an eternity before we felt the yacht rise a little, and knew that life had won in the frightful con- test. Slowly our good boat lifted, and soon we were able to reach the halyards to lower the mainsail, and as we did this the yacht righted herself. A PBRRY RBr.IC. CHAPTER VIII. THE RESCUE. We were left in a dreadful mess, and the skipper rushed about the deck, driving the men to the work of clearing up with perfect volleys of "Py Chiminy Chorges," and the number of changes he was able to ring on his favorite exclamation was simply astounding. Poor CoUarbutton, whose face looked as if it had been chalked, went below to straighten up the be- draggled cabin, and Mark and I, after changing our wet clothes, discussed our singular mishap. The squall that had struck us came cool from the eastward, with- out a sign of warning in the way of clouds or rippling of the water. It had lasted but two or three minutes, leaving us becalmed as before, with the same bright sky, yet with even greater heat, all of which was very difficult to account for. But even as we talked there sprung above the west- ern sky-line a black thunder-head, which, by the time, we were snugged down with a double tuck all round, developed into a stiff black squall, with heavy rain, which cleared and cooled the air and brought a good 15 46 THE SABERTOOTH. strong blow from the southwest; but, as we were well prepared for it, and it was fair for our course and boomed us along at a gorgeous pace, we only enjoyed it, until the short, sharp sea for which Lake Erie is noted got up and kept us in a continual shower bath. We held for Green Island light, the wind over our starboard quarter, the boom well cut to port, and a hand forward to keep a lookout for trouble. I am particular about this, as we sometimes have been cen- sured for what followed. Owing to the heavy clouds, night fell early, and was very dark. Our side-lights were burning brightly, but the wind in the rigging and the creaking booms and noisy sea made hearing difficult. We made our land-fall nicely, and concluded to go to the south of Rattlesnake Island and jibe around. I was at the "stick," with Mark sitting near me. The skipper had gone forward to see all clear for the shift, when out of the darkness ahead of us we heard a shout, which was followed by the sharp command, "Hard up with your helm!" from Jiminy George, which sent Mark flying to the bow and caus6d me to throw my whole weight on the tiller. The yacht swung, and the boom went overboard with the speed of a baseball bat, bringing up with a THE RESCUE. 47 wrench, which threatened to tear the deck out of the boat. The boom had scarcely landed before I heard screams and a crash forward, and felt a shock which made the good "Rush" tremble in every part, and I knew we were into something, but it was too dark for me to determine what. I heard Mark call to me to "Lay her aw^y, Dick! Keep her full!" and it was my business just then to mind my Job, so I did not see what was afterwards described to me. It seems that a party from the Islands had taken a trip to West Sister Island in a naphtha launch, which, with the fatal uncertainty of that tricky breed, had broken down on the way home, and the party had been bouncing about in great discomfort for some time, in no great danger from the sea, but liable to bring up on the rocks at any time. Not expecting to be out after dark they had brought no lights, and were drifting in darkness when our lights appeared. We were headed all right to pass them to port, but they shouted for help, and, owing to the noise of the gale, their hail had been taken for a warning, and our skipper had ordered our helm hard up to avoid fouling; but, unfortunately, brought about that which 48 THE SABERTOOTH. he sought to prevent, and our sharp cut-water had gone like a cleaver through the frail side of the launch. When Mark left me so hurriedly, he sprang to the bow, reaching it just at the moment of collision, and, taking in the situation at a glance, threw himself upon the deck, and reaching down seized the sinkiiig launch in his iron grasp, his knotted and mighty muscles nearly torn asunder by the strain of the heaving and twisting vessels. But with set teeth, and the perspira- tion starting in great beads from his face, he, held the launch uiitil the last of its precious cargo of human lives was safe upon our deck; then, his grasp relaxing, the wreck, like a plummet, dropped out of sight in the seething waters. The passengers of the wrecked boat, who had wit- nessed this exhibition of Mark's wonderful strength, and who owed their lives to it, were profuse in their thanks to him; but with his usual modesty he passed it oH as of no consequence, and invited them into the cabin, where he gave them stimulants, and made them as comfortable as our means would allow. Fortunately, the time of their great peril was so short that the ladies had escaped with but slight wetting, and the men we were able to supply with dry garments. After every- thing possible had been done to rtiake them comfort- THE RESCUE. 49 able, and their nervousness and fear had somewhat worn away, we introduced ourselves to our guests. We learned that we had the pleasure of entertaining Miss Margaret Fosdick, the owner of the launch, her mother, Mr. Leon Dupont, and Mr. John W. Stuart. Miss Fosdick impressed me as being rather tall, and, as near as I could tell by the uncertain light of our cabin lamps, her eyes were a dark gray. Of her fea- tures, I could not at that time, nor have I since, formed any accurate opinion, as it was the refined, high-bred expression of her face, rather than any doll-like regu- larity of feature, which gave to it its greatest charm. Her figure was slender and willowy, with a movement of that graceful ease which comes of careful training. With all this, there was about her that suggestion of frailness, which in a man implies efifeminacy, but in a woman makes men long to cherish and protect her. By far the most striking of our guests was the, one who introduced himself as Mr. Leon Dupont. I have in my time seen many handsome men, and I shall never cease to look upon Mark as my beau-ideal of manly beauty, but I never before saw one so god-like in per- fection of proportion, coloring, and regularity of fea- ture, as was this man. His form was perfect, and his face might have served as a model for some Phidias. 50 THE SABERTOOTH. It was crowned by jet black hair, which lay close and straight upon his head, but, recovering at the ends, curled in a way that gave him the appearance of being crowned with a wreath. His eyes were large, black, and lustrous, and his teeth were positively dazzling. But, with all this perfection of beauty, there was some- thing a little repulsive about him. I could not then say what it was, but laid it to the glittering of his eyes and teeth, which in some way brought to my mind the thought of serpents. The least impressive of all the strangers was the man whose only claim to a place in our memory of that night seemed to lie in his somewhat commonplace iname of John W. Stuart. I have tried many times to hit upon some peculiarity by which I could describe this gentle- man, who afterwards became our very warm friend, but he eludes me, and I can only say that he was remark- able for the entire absence of any feature of manner, dress or speech, which would attract attention or linger in the memory. He was evidently a person, however, of very pleasant manners, who displayed courage in the moment of danger, besides great tact in soothing and quieting the ladies in their very natural alarm. The remaining distance to be sailed, from the scene of the collision to the Bay, was so short that there was THE RESCUE. 51 Opportunity for little more than a formal exchange of courtesies, and presently our anchor was let go, in the very spot, possibly, where once had lain the anchor of Commodore Perry's ship. Our guests hastened ashore to their hotel, and left us to take stock of our day's adventures, which, we were obliged to admit, were both more numerous and exciting than we either expected or, indeed, had really craved. After a good lounge and smoke on deck we turned in, promising ourselves an early renewal of the ac- quaintance so singularly begun that night. I do not know what Mark's thoughts were as he drifted into slumber, but before my eyes there floated a vision of a pair of dark gray eyes and an intellectual face, framed .* by a halo of soft brown hair. It kept sleep from my eyes a long time. CHAPTER IX. PUT-IN-BAY. One of the chief pleasures of yachting is early rising. Nature always has her best rewards for him who comes first to her shrine. And nowhere is the sunrise seen to better efifect than from the deck of a vessel which has made port in the darkness. To an observer so placed, there is all the charm of perfect novelty in the sur- roundings, which, coupled with the early morning mists that partly veil the landscape, give an impression of withheld delights, which adds zest to present enjoy- ment, and whets the desire for a closer acquaintance with the scene. The view which met our eyes as we came on deck in the morning was one of surpassing beauty. There lay before us the small but almost landlocked harbor of Put-in-Bay, so rich in historic memory, with its low, tree-covered -shores and jutting headlands, which em- brace within their sweep the island of Gibraltar, with its base of massive, chocolate brown rocks, and crown of forest trees, above which peeps the castellated tur- ret of what was once the summer home of a famous millionaire. 52 PUT-IN -BAY. 53 So much of the view as was nature's handiwork left nothing to be desired, and the kindly mists of the hour obscured the creations of man and his vile jigsaw, which have been planted about the once beautiful water- front to stop the daily rush of round-trippers from the many excursion boats. The view out of the Bay was also very attractive, for in every direction appeared other islands, and reaches of water equally beautiful. The whole completed a pic- ture so like our ideals of the coral islands of tropic seas that we involuntarily strained our eyes to discover some palm trees along the distant beaches, or a native canoe upon the intervening waters. But the place of the palm trees was occupied by sturdy oaks, and that of the canoes by no less picturesque fishimg-boats. We sat long over our morning pipe, feasting our eyes on the rare loveliness of the surrounding scene, and idly recalling the eventful yesterday. Finally Mark raised the question of our occupation for the day, which naturally brought on a discussion of our plans for car- rying out the purpose of our journey, the study of the glacier marks. We finally decided that it would be well to spend some time in learning from the permanent and older inhabitants of the islands all that was known of the 54 THE SABERTOOTH. glacial history of the group, and at the same time, if possible, to get assistance in locating the most inter- esting evidences of it, allowing this to shape our future movements. Mark suggested that courtesy demanded we make an early call upon pur guests of the night before, to ex- press our interest in their welfare. There could be no two minds between us on this point, so we agreed to devote our first day to the purpose, and' after duly pre- paring ourselves for the visit, by donning our nattiest yachting clothes, we were set ashore in the dinghy. We landed at the dock near the electric car which was to take us to the hotel, and in starting away I col- lided awkwardly with somebody, and, turning to apol- ogize, I discovered a trembling, bowed old man who stood before me, tottering, although leaning on two thick canes. My hasty excuses died upon my lips, however, be- fore a withering look from a pair of piercing eyes, which showed themselves from under slow lifting lids, and deeply corrugated brows, like a pair of diamonds in the hollow sockets of a skull — a look which made my flesh creep with its deadly animosity, and in its fiery vigor belied the appearance of extreme age and de- crepitude in its sender. 56 THE SABERTOOTH. I turned abruptly and joined Mark, who saluted me with the exclamation, "I say, Dick, did you see old Noah on the dock?" emphasizing his remark by insert- ing the point of his elbow among my ribs. Now a nudge from Mark Carling is almost as serious a matter as a gunshot from an ordinary man, for reasons which by this time ought to be well understood, and it took me some time to disentangle the ofifended ribs from my other insides and pump air into my collapsed lungs. The first moments of restored use I devoted to reviling him and his entire ancestry, while he danced about me shouting apologies and cursing his overgrown muscles. While we were clearing up the wreck of my once manly form, our car left; and, while waiting for the next, we entertained each other with our impressions of the poor old fellow who had been the cause of the double shock to my physical and nervous organiza- tions. Mark insisted that it was the peculiar coloring of the old man, a universal faded gray, in the hair and skin, and tattered clothing which had made him noticeable. But, while I agreed with this in a general way, I in- sisted that the color was what Dickens would call "whitey brown." Yet it was not the color that lingered in my mind, but the wonderful eyes and a secondary PUT-IN. BAY. 57 recollection which was gradually creeping back to my mind. I slowly recalled the singular fact that I, a young and vigorous man, had collided violently with a feeble old man and been thrown aside like a bolster full of feathers, with the sensation ,of having run against a rock that had remained unshaken and unmoved. OI,D STONB. CHAPTER X. OLD STONE. We made our little journey without further mishap, and, although the sun was blazing fiercely, a cool west wind was blowing through its wide porches when we reached that curiously overgrown, but comfortable and not unpicturesque hostelry, "The Victory," which is so pleasantly situated on a high bluff of the western side of South Bass Island, overlooking Green Island and its familiar lighthouse and the broad waters of the lake. Here, in a secluded portion of one of the broad and shady piazzas, we found, surrounded by a circle of friends. Miss Fosdick and her venerable father, Judge Fosdick, once Chief Justice of one of the neighboring states, whose fame as a jurist and authority in law is wellnigh world-wide. After the greetings and first formalities were over,-, Mark turned to Judge Fosdick, and, in his frank and manly way, apologized to him for having destroyed the launch and placed in peril the lives of those dear to him. 58 OLD STONE. 59 "Never mind, my young friend," replied the old gentleman, "I know perfectly well that the accident was unavoidable, and, now that it is all over, and my wife and only child are safe, I am glad the launch was sunk. I was always afraid of the treacherous thing, and will now get a good, substantial steam yacht, with a suffi- cient crew and trustworthy machinery, a thing I would have done long ago, had Margaret not become at- tached to her little boat and been disinclined to give it up." Mark and the Judge drifted from this into the sub- ject of boats, leaving Miss Fosdick and myself to enter- tain each other. We felt instinctively that our minds were similar, that each would likely' measure the other, and "out of our mouths we should be judged." So, with unconscious caution, we confined ourselves at first to formal platitudes. I dwelt carefully on the beauty of the weather until I saw an opportunity to lay the burden of the conversa- tion on her, which she evaded by asking coolly, with just the shadow of a twinkle in her eye, the hackneyed question, "Is this your first visit to the Bay, Mr. Arrow- smith," I saw that it would be useless to try further to draw Miss Fosdick, and that, if any progress was to be 60 THE SABERTOOTH, made, I must lower my guard a little, and said, "I have often been down with the 'rush line,' and, until now, was under the impression that I had before visited the Bay, Miss Fosdick." "Oh, then," she replied, "you know the Midway, and the bathing beaches, have been baptized with native wine, and had your tin-type taken. Tell me, Mr. Ar- rowsmith, which of the bathing places you like best — the Steam Whistle or The Bell?" "I would like to gratify your curiosity, Miss Fos- dick," I replied, "but, for truth's sake, I am compelled to admit that I have a, perhaps culpable, dislike to public bathing suits, and have always managed to enjoy this number on the Island's list of attractions by proxy. But, if an expert opinion on the subject is necessary to my future success in polite society here, I will hasten to undergo the ordeal. But, perhaps you, who ought to have a thorough familiarity with the subject, will kindly furnish me with a second-hand opinion which I can palm off on the unsuspecting as my own." I saw by the look of horrified amusement on the face of my fair tormentor that I had scored ; and Mr. Leon Dupont, who had seated himself, with what seemed to me offensive familiarity, close to Miss Fosdick, and had meanwhile been eyeing me as if I was a poacher on his OLD STONE. 61 preserves, burst out with, "What an Idea! I am sure, Miss Fosdick, you ought not to listen to such a prop- osition." — "Oh, no," she replied sweetly, "I can see nothing blameworthy in Mr. Arrowsmith's ambition to shine in good society, particularly as I lay the flattering unc- tion to my soul that I am included in his mental inven- tory of those who are to compose his 'polite society,' and I can well understand his reluctance to pay such a dear initiation fee. But, jesting aside, Mr. Arrowsmith, you will find life in the Islands much like Caesar's ancient Gaul, divided into three parts. The 'rush line,' as you call it, and those who minister to its cravings; the 'half backs,' if you will excuse my borrowing your football simile, which seems to fit so aptly, that smaller, and naturally more select, army of summer visitors at the hotels, club-houses and cottages; and, last but not least in my estimation, the 'full backs,' the natives or permanent inhabitants of the islands, to whom we sum- mer birds are either nuisances or objects of prey. I have, often wondered what life is like to these people before and after the short excursion season. What do they do with themselves all through the long winter, when the gales and ice shut them off from the rest of mankind? It must be very lonely for them here." 62 THE SABERTOOTH. She ceased speaking; and her face assumed a thoughtfulexpression, as if she was trying to enter into the homely hves of the islanders, and, not caring to disturb her, I sat drinking in her delicate beauty, when Mr. Dupont, who evidently was unused to being set aside, broke the pleasant silence by asserting that "Tl^ey are a cheap lot of fishermen and the like, and beneath the notice of a gentleman." Now, before the summer was over, I came to have my own opinion of Mr. Dupont's conception of a "gen- tleman," and also to experience the gentle and unos- tentatious courtesy of his "fishermen" and the like, and to consider his criticism the height of praise. But at that time, his unkind words, although uttered in a musical voice and with perfect manner, jarred harshly upon us both; and to soften their effect I said, "Miss Fosdick, on landing from the yacht this morning I met an elderly man, and was very much struck by his appearance; he reminded me strongly of the Ancient Mariner, and I have little doubt he is familiar to you. Will you kindly tell me who he is? I might say I met him in the 'rush line,' but from his appearance — " Here I was interrupted by Miss Fosdick's sweet but hearty laugh, which attracted the attention of the others who turned to learn the cause of it, and she, with the OLD STONE. 63 light of merriment dancing in her eyes, said "The ex- pected has happened. The question has been asked. Mr. Arrowsmith says he was very much struck by our Permanent Reception Committee, and wants to know who it is." I was somewhat puzzled, and so was Mark, at the laughter which followed, and we both looked inquir- ingly for an explanation until Miss Fosdick came to our relief. "Gentlemen," she resumed, "you may con- sider yourselves as having been admitted to the priv- ileges of good society in the islands, in due and ancient form, by its self-constituted master of ceremonies, 'Old Stone,' who niet you, as you say, at the 'rush line.' As to who Old Stone is, I am unable to enlight you any further than to say that, so far as I can learn, he is a poor, eccentric pauper, of curious habits and very old; so old that no one on the island can remember when he was not here, nor does he seem to have any relatives or friends. His most remarkable peculiarity is his color- ing; his skin, hair and clothing all having faded to a curious colorless shade, which seems to blend so per- fectly with his surroundings as to make him almost invisible. He is fully aware of this, and one of his little tricks is to plant himself directly in front of some stranger and invite a collision, which is usually disas- 64 THE SABERTOOTH. • trous to the other person. This Is particularly danger- ous at night, and they tell the story, that at one time it became such a nuisance, the village trustees made a law requiring him to wear a headlight after dark, and rather than submit to such an indignity the old man ceased to haunt the frequented parts of the Island at night. There are many stories told about Old Stone; perhaps some of the gentleman can throw further light upon the subject." Mr. Dupont was the first to give us further informa- tion by saying: "I, like every newcomer to the Islands, was struck by Old Stone's appearance, and, like the rest, I investigated him a little; but I found that aside from his peculiar appearance, and the stock stories current about him, there was nothing to be learned, and that he is really what he seems, nothing but a crazy old pauper, with a great capacity for ab- sorbing strong liquor, of which he is very fond, I dropped the subject when I came to this, and I believe it is about the point where everyone loses his interest." "Excuse me, Mr. Dupont," broke in our quiet .ac- quaintance, Mr. Stuart, "but I for one was not satisfied to stop at that point, to which, as you say, I came, in my search. There were certain things I fell upon, which aroused in me a deeper interest, and I continued OLD STONE. 05 my investigation until I came upon some curious facts. In the first place, I have reason to suspect him — " Here Mark and I noticed Mr. Dupont start violently; and he, seeing that we had observed his confusion, arose and pleading an engagement, excused himself. After Dupont's departure, Stuart continued: "Let me see. Where was I? Oh yes! I have reason to believe that in addition to his affection for raw spirits the old man is an opium eater. I became interested in his strange way of stopping and standing immovable in odd places, and like a chameleon taking on the color of his surroundings; and I have concluded that these are no other than opium sleeps. I experimented a little also in the matter of his semi-invisibility, and, by practicing on what I learned, I am now safe from collisions, as I can distinguish him readily at any time. I am sometimes troubled with sleeplessness, and often take long walks about the island at night to escape the tedium of my trouble, and I constantly meet Old Stome shuffling about in all sorts of out-of-the-way places; and, being able to see him readily, I have amused my- self by ambushing him until I believe he positively hates the sight of me. "There are other little oddities about the old man, among which are his fondness for the caves of the 66 THE SABERTOOTH. Island, in which he spends much of his time, and the fact that while his craving for drink is well known, nobody seems ever to have seen him eat anything; but this is not so strange as his entire housekeeping ar- rangements, which are a threadbare mystery. "Let me think. Are there any other oddities? Oh, yes: Once in a long while, when certain conditions prevail with him, which I believe have some connection with his use of opium and spirits, the old man falls into a sort of trance and tells a curious story, of which I have heard garbled versions, but never the original; and it is this story more than his appearance or odd ways that, I imagine, is responsible for his reputation of being crazy; but aside from this he appears to be sane enough, and is wonderfully shrewd in matters per- taining to the weather and other natural phenomena. "I can think of nothing more to add to my already long story; but perhaps the Judge, who has visited the Islands for many years and' known Old Stone longer than any of us, may be able to enlighten us further." The Judge, thus appealed to, thought a moment and commenced: "My acquaintance with Old Stone has led me to take an interest chiefly in his origin. I have al- ways had a taste for anthropology, and love to examine faces for the purpose of discovering the primitive type OLD STONE. 67 from which they come. I began the study of Old Stone more than forty years ago, and, from what I gathered from the first settlers of the islands and neigh- boring mainland, I am led to conclude that he is the last survivor of the native races, the Indians, who once undoubtedly peopled these islands. His broad and high cheek bones, and oblique set eyes seem to deter- mine this, but, owing to his great age and faded color- ing, he has lost exact resemblance to anything human, and must be classified by himself." ' 'ROUND-XRIPPBRS.' CHAPTER XI. PI,ANKED WHITEFISH. As the Judge concluded, Mark turned to me and said laughingly, "I think, Dick, we shall have to include Old Stone with the other rocks we are to study this summer, don't you?" A light remark this was, and lightly uttered, but what heavy matters sometimes hang on cobwebs. The idle purpose born in these few words was destined to aiifect the future of nearly all who heard them. Of course we could have no premonition of this at the time, and the only outward effect it then pro- duced was a look of interest in Judge Fosdick's face, and he said enquiringly to Mark: "I take it, gentle- men, that you are interested in the geology of the islands. It is a fascinating subject and I have given it some thought; but, of late years I have not been able to get about and give it much attention, and I fear I have fallen behind in my knowledge." As her father spoke, an expression of pained surprise came into Miss Fosdick's face; and when he had con- cluded, she took him to task for having withheld from her the fact that the islands possessed material for sound mental and physical occupation. PLANKED WHITEFISH. 69 While the good Judge was undergoing a gentle scolding from his daughter, lunch was announced, and Mark and I rose hastily and excused ourselves for hav- ing stayed so long; but the Judge insisted that it had been the pleasantest morning he had spent in years, and nothing would answer but that we take lunch with him. "Since I gave up active life," said he, "I am eften very lonely. I have lost track of the affairs which ex- cite the passions and ambitions of men, and in which I once played a not unimportant part, and am now obliged to occupy myself with the quieter, though no less interesting world of books. The chief drawback to this I find, however, is the scarcity of congenial companions. Students are far rarer than diamonds in this matter-of-fact age and country, and when I find one I grapple him with hooks of steel. So, gentle- men, you must make up your minds to give me the benefit of a large share of your society while you are on the island." For reasons of my own, connected with a pair of dark-gray eyes, I was secretly delighted with the good impression we had made upon the Judge. And, as we went to freshen up our toilets before going to the table, I noticed that Mark moved about with an extra spring in his step, afld hummed a happy little tune to himself. 70 THE SABERTOOTH. Now all this was somewhat curious as neither of us were impressionable men, and heretofore had taken little thought of ^the fair sex; in fact, we were both rather diffident in the presence of women. But the romantic interest which surrounded our introduction to Miss Fosdick, coupled with her rare, strong character and intellectual mind, had melted away our shyness and established a feeling of companionship which put us entirely at our ease. When we were seated at the table, Judge Fosdick said : "I have a special appetite, which our good host gratifies as often as circumstances will permit, for a certain delicacy. But, from the difficult and exacting conditions surrounding its production, the occasions for enjoying this treat are rare, and you have fortun- ately happened upon one of them. "In all the Great Lakes is found a fish which attains true perfection only in their clear, cold waters; and its wax-like flesh, and exquisite flavor, when properly pre- pared, are acknowledged by even the most expert gour- mands to be the supreme summit of culinary efifort; compared with which the famous terrapin, or canvas- back, are as sunflowers to a rosebud. But to reach this high perfection, the whitefish, for such it is, must almost leap from the water to the fire, as every inter- vening moment detracts in some degree from its relish. PLANKED WHITEFISH. -71 Here the Judge turned to the colored waiter and said: "Is the fish ready, Sam?" "Yes, suh; yes, suh. Just come, suh," replied the affable Samuel, who at once sped- away, and while wait- ing his return the Judge continued: "The Chinese have a custom of eating raw fish, and ' at their banquets, as a mark of courtesy to the guests, the fish are carried, alive and swimming in a tub, around the table, so that all may be assured of their perfect freshness. And, among the true lovers of the whitefish, there has grown up a custom curiously sim- ilar to this." Just at this moment, as promptly as if answering a familiar cue, appeared the grinning Samuel, bearing higl| a yard of thick plank which showed the marks of previous acquaintance with the fire, but scraped smooth and clean, and bearing upon its surface the form of an immense fish, which Sam dispjayed to each of us in turn and then vanished with it to the kitchen. In due time Sam returned with the glorious fish, which proved to deserve all the praise the Judge had lavished on it. While we were discussing this tooth- some delicacy, the Judge said: "I have made a little discovery of my own in regard to planked whitefish, of which I will give you the benefit. You know, per- 72 THE SABERTOOTH. haps, that the chief industry of these islands, aside from entertaining summer visitors, is the cultivation of grapes, and I have learned that the modest 'dry cataw- ba' wine which is made from them is a not unpleasing accompaniment to the fish, and I will ask Sam to fill your glasses." With the exception of Mr. Dupont, who had joined us at lunch, we found the Judge's suggestion very satisfactory ; but Dupont scorned the modest and harm- less native, and asserted strenuously that good wine could be made nowhere but in his native France. Just before we rose from the table, Mr. Dupont spoke to Miss Fosdick in a low voice, and, when we had adjourned to the porch, she asked us if we would like to see her choir. We both asserted briskly that we would be delighted, but evidently showed by our blank looks that we did not exactly understand what it was we were expected to take interest in, and she said, in explanation : "It is my belief that every one should ■have duties to attend- to, to keep him out of mischief, and, in support of my theory, I have taken it upon my- self to provide and maintain a choir for our church at home. I chose this particular way of being useful, be- cause, while not a musician myself, I am very fond of vocal music." PLANKED WHITEFISa. 7S "My present choir consists of some twenty boys, and the task of keeping them interested is somewhat intri- cate, as you may imagine, and I do not know how I could manage it without the help of Mr. Dupont, who humors and trains the boys, and is our soloist. We are obliged to devise continually some excitement or new form of entertainment, and this year I have them here for a week's camping; but I have been nearly frantic every minute of it, for fear they will all break their necks or drown themselves." After a short walk along the bluff, we came upon the boys in their pleasant camp, and were greeted with a sort of college yell, which they shouted at us with the shameless audacity of their years. They swarmed about us with oppressive familiarity, treading on our feet with affected innocence, and pelting us in the back with anything handy, until we were glad to retreat; but not until Mark had invited them to take a sail with us next day, to which proposal they assented with perfect volleys of gleeful slang, in the middle of which we made our escape. Then, taking leave of our friends, we two returned to the Bay. CHAPTER" XII. A QUIET AFTERNOON. vVhen we reached the Bay the excursion boats had all departed and the "Midway" was emptied of its throng of pleasure-seekers. Nothing remained to tell of their presence but scattered papers and fragments of food littered about on the grass. We noticed, however, that there was considerable stir about the drives and walks, but the people we met dififered in appearance from the excursionists. There were a number of phaetons and pony-carts passing up and down the drives, and the little steamers running to the other islands seemed to be filled with people pass- ing from one to the other. We afterwards learned the meaning of this change. It seems that in the absence of factory whistles and town clocks the good people of Put-in-Bay have been obliged to tell the time of day by other means. And this they do by observing the people passing by their doors; and it is said they have become so expert in doing this, that during the summer season those who are fortunate enough to own watches or clocks never wind them. 71 A QUIET AFTERNOON. 75 In the early morning hours the natives make their way to the main street to do their shopping and gos- sip about the weather, the grape crop, and^other homely matters, with a deal of local politics thrown in. Then comes a shifting back and forth of the permanent sum- mer visitors, who seem to enjoy exchanging visits at this time of day. But the arrival of the first boat is a signal for the disappearance of all save those who, like the stalwart men that blow the whistle and ring the bell at the bathing beaches, must remain at their posts to meet and minister to the coming hordes of excur- sionists that fill to overflowing ther little park or plaza on the shore of the Bay, and make glad the hearts of the dispensers of native wine and other cheap refresh- ments. After the boats are gone, the summer residents ap- pear once more, but this time to drive or stroll about the island, or gather at some hotel or club house for the usual evening's entertainment. On our way to the wharf we passed the shattered and decaying willow-tree whicTi constitutes the only monu- ment that marks the neglected resting-place of the officers of Perry's fleet, who sacrificed their precious lives to a thoughtless and ungrateful country. But no tomb of marble or monument of brass could ever serve lu i^ccp diivc uic iiiciuuiy ui lucsc uictvc men su' wen as do the blushes which burn the cheek of every true American who gazes upon this sad sight, and feels the mute protest of this decaying willow and these ne- glected graves. Not finding our dinghy at the dock, and the yacht being moored out of hail, we stepped along to the boat- house and were put aboard the "Rush" by the. son of the proprietor, a lad named Walter, with rosy cheeks and freckled face, whose pleasant ways won him a place in our esteem before we had been there many days. Despite the pleasure of the long and happy day just past, we were glad to get back to our snug and pleas- ant floating home, which looked so cheery and so com- fortable. The exquisite order in which everything was kept, and the smiles of welcome which shone in the faces of our men, made the return from a short ab- sence a pleasure to be looked forward to with great satisfaction. Our good Pete Collarbox beamed upon us with so much fervor that he nearly wilted down our linen, amd quite outdid himself in preparing a dinner which tempted us to hearty eating, in spite of the op- pressive heat and our late elaborate luncheon. We warned Collarbutton of what was coming on the A QUIET AFTERNOON. 77 morrow, and told him to be ready to satisfy the utmost cravings of twenty hollow boys; at which poor Peter rolled his eyes up to the skylight and groaned in hor- ror as he thought of the havoc which might be created by such a crew of savages among the children of his bosom, the fittings of the yacht. Mark also told the skipper to be ready to get under way at any moment after the party arrived, and poor George dropped many a "Py Chiminy" from his over- flowing heart, as he thought of possible scratches on his shining deck and polished woodwork. We sat upon the after-deck and watched the shadows creep out from Gibraltar, which was mirrored in the glassy waters of the Bay, and smoked our pipes, as is the privilege of the male, but gossiped over matters that had passed much after the manner of the fairer sex. We differed somewhat in our estimate of Mr. Leon Dupont, whom Mark was disposed to look upon as a good fellow; but I, who had been thrown into closer relations with him, for some reason, possibly his un- conscious air of ownership of Miss Fosdick, had con- ceived a prejudice against him. Over this matter we were still disputing when we turned in for the night, and we kept it up until Mark's replies became more and more hazy and at length ended in a snore. CHAPTER. XIII. FOSSILS. The next morning, as we came on deck, we saw a rowboat approaching the yacht, in which was seated our friend Mr. Stuart, who came aboard and joined us in our early smoke. After a little discussion of the merits of various brands of tobacco, and styles of pipes, in which each, of course, praised loudly his own favorites, Mr. Stuart said: "I was an interested listener to your conversa- tion yesterday, about the rocks and glacial markings of the islands; and, if you will pardon the suggestion, and not think me too presuming, I would like to offer you my humble services as guide. I have spent my summers for several seasons in the group, and, while as fond as ever of their soft and dream-like beauty, their novelty, has by this time worn somewhat away. I long for some pastime to occupy my days, and over- come the tendency I have to pass sleepless nights. "In my solitary rambles about the islands I have noticed many curious things, which were as Greek to my untrained eyesr and have gathered from the 38 FOSSILS. 79 island folk all the information concerning them I could ; but this was not much, and the best I could do was to bear the facts in mind until such time as I could* run across some person who was interested in such things, and you may imagine I was pleased to hear you men- tion the subject yesterday." Now, here was another piece of good luck for Mark and me. Not only was a guide ready at our hands, but a pleasant, congenial man at that, and one who, from his symptoms, would quickly become a glaciologist af- ter our own hearts, and we nearly overpowered the un- emotional Mr. Stuart with assurances of our pleasure at having him join us. We begged him to give us some account of what he had discovered; which he did in an interesting and un- assuming manner, ending his story by saying to me: "I have noticed one thing in particular, whiclM would like to have explained, as I cannot account for it satis- factorily. The rock of all the islands, except that of Middle and Kelly's Islands, appears to be the same; that is, with a seamless structure, and putty-colored when freshly exposed, but weathering to a rich brown, and almost without fossils. The rock of the two ex- cepted islands are full of these and seem to be of a different kind. 80 THE SABERTOOTH. "I noticed particularly the absence of fossils in the rocks of this island, as I searched for them carefully, and a long time without success, until, one day, I hap- pened to be out on Peach Point after a heavy storm and came upon some broken fragments, and, by further search, finally found perfect specimens of three vari- eties." Complying with Stuart's request, I gave him a little insight into the nature of rocks; but, as this is not a treatise on geology, what I told him must be looked for elsewhere. Being very much interested in the sub- ject myself, I suggested to Mark that we row over to Peach point and beard the wild Spirifer Plicatus in his native .jungle. No sooner said than done. The dinghy was drawn up to the side of the yacht, and all tumbled into her, and Mark, taking the oars, quickly set us ashore on the Point, where we were soon deep in an absorbing search. We found a number of more or less perfect speci- mens, and, while examining them, Stuart touched my arm, and ,pointing to what appeared to be a ragged, jutting piece of the neighboring rock, said: "There is Old Stone. He is in one of his sleeps ; and mow will be a good time to take a close look at him." I looked long and earnestly at the object pointed out FOSSILS. 81 to me as Old Stone for some semblance of humanity, but in vain. Calling Mark, we crept quietly to within arm's length of the old man; and even at this short dis- tance, the only detail to be distinguished readily was the two immense, rough canes or clubs upon which he leaned. It positively made the flesh creep, and the shivers travel up and down the spine, to look upon the shape- less mass defore us, and force the mind to believe that within it there lay concealed the form and soul of a human being. The old man's clothing, if the bunched and tattered mantle of rags and patches which hung about him could be dignified by that name, might once have had some form and color, but the ravages of time and end- less exposure to the elements had removed all traces of either. He wore no covering on his head; and his long hair and beard fell in a matted and knotted tangle over his back and breast, uniting, and continuing the outline of his head and shoulders in such a way as to give the beholder the impression that there was no head on the shapeless body. But for the little show of flesh escaping the over-whelming hair and beard, or surrounding the shaggy eyebrows, the semblance would have been complete. 82 THE SABERTOOTH. And the color of all this; who could describe it? I tried to recall the names of obscure shades in an at- tempt to find one that might apply in this strange case, but when I was on the point of giving it up, my eyes fell upon the bunch of fossils I carried in my hands, and I started as if shot; for, in their translucent, stony bodies, which age had faded white, and which the suc- ceeding eternity had robbed of even that hue, lay the answer to the riddle of the old man's color. I raised my hand and lay one of the fossils against Old Stone's person. Hair, flesh and clothing all matched it in color, and glancing round at my com- panions I saw by their startled faces that the strange and unaccountable similarity affected them as it did me. The mesmeric influence of the presence of my hand must have disturbed the old man; for gradually his eyes unclosed and stared at us, round and .sightless as those of a dead fish ; but, the fact of our presence slowly impressing itself on his brain, a spark of light crept into them, which quickly burst into a fierce blaze of hate and animosity; and the bowed and crooked form of the aged man suddenly shot up straight and tall, overtopping even Mark, and, for an instant, there stood before us the figure of a vigorous and lusty giant, re- minding us strangely of an ancient savage, clad in dress of skins, and brandishing a knotted war club. But over FOSSILS. 83 it all there seemed to be a veil or mask of misery, de- crepitude and poverty. We had scarcely time, however, to take in this curi- ous sight, before the towering form shrunk again like a pair of collapsing bellows; the fierce and warlike countenance took on a cunning leer, and, before we had time to catch our breath, our ears were saluted with the practiced whine of the professional mendicant, begging us in feeble tones for a little money to save him from starvation. We watched this wonderful transformation;" and started at the end of it as from a dream, gazing at one another in amazement, until Mark, who was the first to recover, thrust a few coins into the old man's hands, and led the way in silence to the boat, where once the spell was broken, we chattered like chipmunks over the recent spectacle. Stuart informed us that we had been favored with an entirely new feature in Old Stone's eccentricities; as he had never seen or heard of such an exhibition of ferocity and vigor in the old man before. Mark was particularly struck by Old Stone's great height and the unsuspected bulk of muscle which had been disclosed; but my mind was full of a vain effort to connect the old man's strange coloring with some known phenomenon. CHAPTER XW. SHIPS THAT PASS. We scarcely had time to finish our lunch with decent deliberation, when we heard a chorus of yells from the shore. And, realizing that the savages — or, begging their pardon, the boys, — were on hand for their sail, poor Collarbones' eyes rolled up until only the whites of them showed, and he shuddered visibly. In addition to the dinghy, the yacht carried at her davits a sailing dory, and, stowed on deck, a tiny but powerful naphtha tender, which Mark would have along, in spite of the room it occupied, to take us into narrow channels, or tow us when the wind failed. All of these boats were sent ashore to bring off our guests. There was a southwest wind, light, but promising to hold, and the weather was bright, but not unpleasantly warm. We had included in our invitation for the sail all those whom we had met the day before; and, with the exception of Judge and Mrs. Fosdick, who sent their regrets, they had all honored us by accepting. In addition to the boys and their sponsors, Miss Fos- SHIPS THAT ^P ASS. 85 dick and Mr. Dupont, there were several ladies, and, of course, Mr. Stuart. We were naturally somewhat crowded with so many boys ; but so we would have been on an acre of ground in their company, for the whole twenty were every- where at once, peeping, prying, and asking questions, making audible comments in the cabin about our most private possessions, hauling on the ropes and getting under the feet of the men on deck, until Mark threat- ened to string them like a lot of fish and tow them behind us in the water. After this they quieted down a little, sat in rows along the scuppers, and instructed our men in seamanship, roaring out briny orders culled from their favorite authors of the "ten cent" class. When we were well under way, Mark asked the boys if there was any place to which they wished to go, and they were a unit in preferring the jnodest request that he take them to Canada and fill the yacht with a cargo of spirits, and let them smuggle it into the United States. But Mark was compelled to tell them that while he was anxious to please, previous engagements would prevent him from spending the following ten or fifteen years in the penitentiary, and he must beg of them to modify their demands. 86 THE SABERTOOTH. The boys finally compromised by choosing to be taken into Canadian waters, so that they could go home and boast that they had been in foreign countries; so we passed out between Middle Bass and Ballast islands, and made a broad reach up the lake toward Middle Sister island. This course brought us in plain sight of every island in the group, and, about four o'clock, placed us in the very focus of the greatest stream of water-born commerce in the world; which, at this point, curiously enough, lies exactly on the boundary line between our country and Canada, and probably on the very site of Perry's victory. By this time we had all shaken down into our places. The boys were mostly forward, gazing at the countless vessels of all sorts which crowded us on every side. Mark sat to the windward of the tiller, with Miss Fos- dick next to him. I sat beside her, with Stuart on my left, and on the opposite side of the cockpit Mr. Du- pont was sandwiched in between the other ladies, look- ing dissatisfied because he had been separated from Miss Fosdick. Mark was in his element. I had never seen him appear to better advantage than he did that afternoon, on the deck and in command of his own vessel. He looked like a Viking of old, with his giant form and SHIPS THAT PASS. 87 strong face, with its halo of gold-tinted hair. I could see that his manly beauty impressed itself most strongly upon Miss Fosdick, and I must confess to feeling just a tweak of envy. Mark, as I have said before, was usually somewhat diffident and silent with women, but his tongue was loosened by the harmony of his surroundings that day, and he entertained us eloquently with interesting com- ments on the scene about us. "No one," said he, "Except, perhaps, a few lighthouse keepers about the islands, has a full comprehension of the extent of the shipping that passes within sight of this place. If Lake Erie had been a sheet of solid granite instead of water, and ships could have plowed through it, so constantly is the lake crossed and re- crossed in all directions, that, long before this, the solid rock would have been ground to powder. Or, to put it another way, if what these vessels carried had been moved in wagons over the same granite rock, their iron tires would have worn a chasm in it longer and deeper than the canon of the Colorado. "And nowhere in all my travels have I ever seen a more picturesque variety of vessels. Just look at them. Steam yachts and sail yachts; great side-wheel passen- ger steamers, old-fashioned schooners, with their dingy 88 THE SABERTOOTH. canvas, enormous cargo steamers, pushing their five hundred feet of length along, and dragging after them a half mile of barges, each nearly as large as the steamer. And, see that string of whalebacks, for all the world like a row of swimming pigs. And' — Forward there!" he shouted, changing his voice so suddenly that we all started; "here comes the 'Northland,' George! Have all hands stand by to keep those boys from going over- board and look out for her wash!" The men all jumped and gathered the boys into a huddle well inboard, while we watched the beautiful steamer, a perfect copy of an ocean greyhound, with raking stacks set fore and aft which had suddenly ap- peared from behind a dingy cargo boat and rushed by us at railroad speed, her hundred ports looking like as many eyes behind gold spectacles, and throwing an immense bow wave, which struck and tossed us like a row boat in a gale. But, thanks to Mark's quick eyesight and prompt action in laying away the yacht and taking the wave head on, we escaped without wet- ting; but not without a great shaking up, which the boys enjoyed tremendously. After she had stopped dancing, Mark put the "Rush" about, and headed south, close hauled. The wind hold- ing well we figured to bring up a little to the east of SHIPS THAT PASS. 89 West Sister, and have the wind free for a run home in the evening by moonlight. When we had settled comfortably on our new course, the subject of the islands naturally came up, and we tested each other's powers of memory by trying to name them all. While engaged in this harmless but idle pastime. Miss Fosdick called upon me to make good a promise I had given her the day before, to tell her something of the glacial history of the islands which we were there to study, as she wished to join us in our labors as much as possible, and it was necessary for her to have a general idea of the subject before be- ginning. I was somewhat loth to comply with Miss Fosdick's request, as I dislike a priggish display of learning on the part of any one, and am usually careful not to fall into the error myself; but we had two or three hours before us, which must be filled up, and as the boat was too crowded for anything like a tete-a-tete, time was likely to pass a little slowly unless something of inter- est could be hit upon. By chance I was the victim first selected, and, as the others joined Miss Fosdick in her request, there was nothing I could do but put aside my scruples, and I inflicted them about as fol- lows: 90 THE SABERTOOTH. "In the first place, you must 'not suppose for a mo- ment that I am a professor of geology or anything like one. I am just an amateur, who has a crook in his mind for rocks and fossils, and the habit of observing them. So, if I make any blunders, don't view me with a critic's eye, but pass my imperfections by. "To begin with, when only a lad I was always inter- ested in the rocks and other features of any landscape that came under my observation, and I used to treasure up the things I noticed. But I had no one to set me on the right track, until one day I came upon a little vol- ume, which gave a geological history from the creation to the present age of the country with which I was familiar, and which was such a stretcher for my mind that it took me some time to get it back to a good working size for everyday matters. But,this was the very treatment necessary to enable me to comprehend the wonderful events which gave us the fair islands about- us ; and I must ask you to believe me, when I say that the story of the Ice Age is a fairy tale far beyond human invention, carrying its own proof, writ- ten in letters so deep, on a scroll so wide, that it long escaped the comprehension of even the most learned men; and it was but as yesterday that Agassiz discov- ered the key to the mysterious handwriting of the SHIPS THAT PASS. 91 glaciers, and a new science was given to the world. As yet, however, it is but in its infancy, though all the more interesting for that, as this allows an opportunity for any one to make observations arid construct his own theories, which the experts may sneer at, but can- not crush with incontestable authorities, as these, so far, do not exist to any great extent. "I may take advantage of this fact to furnish you some surprising theories of my own; so, I warn you not to accept what I say as final, but consult some other authority and construct your own. "It seems, however, — ^not to give too much impor- tance to these preliminaries — that at some period in the past, variously estimated at from twenty thousand years to twenty millions or so ago, for some cause, as to the exact nature of which there is a wide differ- ence of opinion, but in my opinion due to the high tem- perature prevailing under them, the isothermal lines bent badly and sagged away down to the southward, letting the polar ice cap slide this way, until the gla- ciers stood mountain high over the upper half of North America, down to a line coinciding surprisingly with a more modern boundary between the North and South, which you know as the 'Mason and Dixon' line. "The similarity of these ancient and modern bound- 92 THE SABERTOOTH. aries seems to have escaped the attention of the other 'authorities,' so I modestly lay claim to the discovery; and I might take up considerable of your time with certain deductions I have made, upon the effect this fact has had upon the history of our country; but de- ductions are cheap, and you can make your own from the raw material near at hand. "The effect of sliding over the country a cake of icei, averaging perhaps two thousand feet in thickness, was, as you may imagine, very marked, and the marks are to be observed everywhere by men of practiced vision. And nowhere within the reach of easy travel as plainly as in the islands which lie about us ; and it is these we have come to investigate. "There are other matters in connection with the geol- ogy of this neighborhood which are of great interest and of the highest importance to the whole world. One io particular holds so much portent for the future that it probably at some time will affect the destiny of the entire human race, certainly of a large portion of it. "Mark has just called your attention to the enormous burden of commerce, which flows so easily over the waters of the Great Lakes, between the West and the East. And I will ask you to imagine the effect upon the world if this great stream were cut off and compelled SHIPS THAT PASS. 93 to find an outlet in the Gulf of Mexico. What a shift- ing of the population, wealth and industry of the world such a revolution in business would bring about. And yet, a very slight movement of the Earth's crust near this point would cause all this. And, there is nothing, ttnless it is the sea, which is so unstable, and con- stantly changing, as this crust. "In every part of the world, and perhaps here, only so slowly here that there has not been time to measure it, the crust of the Earth is constantly rising and falling, as if an uneasy giant were imprisoned within and were trying to escape. "A rise of less than fifty feet at the crest of Niagara Falls, or a corresponding subsidence at the southern end of Lake Michigan, would send the surplus waters of the Great Lakes down the Mississippi River, reduc- ing Lake Erie to a marsh, and completely cutting oflf the inland commerce from its eastern outlet. The Chi- cago drainage canal is a proof of this." I might, like the Ancient Mariner and the Wedding Guest, have fixed my sufifering listeners with my glit- tering eye, and remained there talking to this day, while their raven locks turned white, and the bloom faded from their youthful cheeks. But, I was "crossed off," and my opportunity lost; but 'Woe to the daugh- 94 THE SABERTOOTH. ters and sons of men, when I ride free on my hobby again." Mark interrupted me by saying in a voice full of ap- prehension: "Dick, you are a prophet of evil, and altogether an unpleasant person to listen to. When is this distressing performance to begin? I have a couple of little railroads in the East, and if the danger is im- mediate, I want to go ashore right away and have them sold, and buy a few water lots in New Orleans." I noticed now that the ladies in my audience had paled visibly at the picture I had conjured up; and when I hastened to assure them that several million years might elapse before these things were likely to come to pass, they sighed with evident relief, and Miss Fos- dick crushed me to the earth by insinuating this was probably one of the home-made theories of cheap geol- ogists I had mentioned at the beginning of my story. "Anyway," she said, "we won't be here to attend the performance, and I for one will not worry about it." Mr. Dupont thought it was all nonsense and silly, and moved that we change the subject; but, I am pleased to say, he was alone in this ; and the rest of the party plied me with questions and arguments until we were interrupted by the staccato noise of the boys' club yell; and, turning to look at them, we found they were SHIPS THAT PASS. 95 saluting the setting sun, which was just halved by the sharp line of the Western horizon and, volcano like, spouting fountains of red and gold into the clouds above, which dripped and glowed in flaming splendor. ON A GBOLOGV EXCUBSION. .CHAPTER XV. THE POWER OF A VOICE. When the upper rim of the burning orb had vanished, and the grays and purples had replaced the gilt and crimson in the sky, there arose a clamor among the boys, gradually becoming a distinct chant; and Mark and I were suddenly reminded of our duties as hosts by the unvarnished criticisms which were being uttered. So Mark shouted down the hatchway : "Stand by, Col- larbox, to serve the guests!" an order which was fol- lowed by a storm of delighted cheers from the boys. On his appearance with the preliminary appliances, all grown hands turned to help Pete wait upon the boys, which was an easy job as long as bread, meat and such solids were being handed round; for they were evidently saving their capacity to accommodate other things. Then Mark whispered a second order to Col- larbutton, who immediately disappeared below, and, with the help of a man or two, straightway hoisted on deck two large freezers of icecream, and followed them with buckets of lemonade and a dozen huge cakes. At the sight of these there arose from the boys a 96 THE POWER OF A VOICE. 97 chorus of satisfied "Ahs," and so rapid were the calls for fresh helpings that poor Collarbox had to give up, with a crippled arm. Relief parties had to be organ- ized to carry on the work of refilling plates, until every crumb of pastcy and particle of cream had disappeared. When everything in sight had been eaten the graceless scamps complained of hunger, and we were obliged to shove into their gaping mouths every fragment of food the boat contained; and not until this had been done did they desist from their clamor^ngs for more and sub- side into gratified chuckles and boastings as to who had Teaten the most. By this time we reached our turning point, and, the mainsheet eased off, we headed eastward for home in the wake of the moon, which had risen and was filling the world with its pale, cold light, frosting the heaving waters of the lake into glittering snow-drifts, while the ripples of the yacht's wake ran-ofif in wavy lines of light. To me the soft surface of water is, in daylight, like the warm caressing arms of a gentle mother; but at night when the moonlight dainces on it, Pseem to see the skeleton figure of Death, who ever lurks so near, brandishing his bony arms and clutching at me with his fleshless fingers. Of course I did not afflict our fair 98 THE SABERTOOTH. guests with this ghastly fancy. We slipped softly along in happy silence, all hands seemingly under the spell of the night's beauty, when, suddenly, out of the silence came a long, thrilling, swelling note of music, as if a hand had pressed a single key of some great organ, sending a thrill of delight through all who heard it, which gave way to a state of dreamy pleasure, as the note ceased, and after an effective interlude the boys burst into a storm of melody, their youthful voices giv- ing a weird and plaintive sound to the music. Yet so true and sweet was it, that it seemed as if some master- hand was touching a great instrument. And thus they continued, with chant and anthem, until the world seemed flooded and echoing with harmony. But suddenly they ceased and silence fell upon the yacht. The wind had dropped until not a ripple marred the fair face of the water, and we barely moved through it, without even a lapping at the bow. The stillness lasted until it became oppressive, and, when we were at the point of breaking into speech, there arose the music of a single voice, thrilling our hearts and bringing moisture to our eyes with its throb- bing and impassioned pleading. Not loud or powerful, for, if it had possessed these qualities in addition to its exquisite beauty, its fortunate possessor would have' THE POWER OF A VOICE. 99 had the world for his kingdom, and several chapters of this modest tale would rnever have been written, but so sweet and appealing, that it filled the breast of each listener with a yearning sadness. There was a mes- meric power in voice, suggesting the soul of the singer was imprisoned, vainly striving to free itself and ex- pecting sympathetic help from the hearer. It was the voice of Dupont; and, little as I had liked him for his snaky looks and snobbish ways, I could have embraced him, then and there, so strong was the effect of his voice upon me. -- I turned to note if my companions were similarly affected, and saw them sitting as if in a trance, until the last waihng note had passed into silence, when, one by one, they seemed to awaken, and I noticed that Miss Fosdick was overcome. The tears were flowing from her eyes, and I could detect a slight noise of sobbing, which vexed me' seriously, and it was a positive relief when the boys broke the spell by bursting into an uproarious and unmusical chorus, about some foolish individual who "went down South to see his girl, sing- ing Polly, wolly, doodle all the way," under cover of which Miss Fosdick regained her composure, and, turning to me said in a low voice, which betrayed some trace of her recent emotion, "I cannot understand the 100 THE SABERTOOTH. power that voice has over me. I am not an emotional person, usually, but when Mr. Dupont is singing — for- give me, Mr. Arrowsmith, for the absurd confession — I simply adore him, and am liable to do ridiculous things; While when his singing ends and the power of his voice is gone, I experience a violent revulsion of feeling, until I am fairly distracted between the two moods. Sometimes I make up my mind during the day to dismiss him, but, when night comes and I hear him sing, it really seems impossible for the choir to do without his voice. I know that he understands this and takes advantage of it to push himself into undue prominence; and I am in constant fear lest he involve me in some unpleasant scene. What would you do in my case, Mr. Arrowsmith?" "While I must admit, Miss Fosdick," I replied, "that your 'whistle' has an exceedingly pleasant sound, I am afraid that in the end you will have paid too dear for it. I would advise you to exchange it at the earliest oppor- tunity for one not quite so attractive, but more sgirvice- able. Seriously, though, I am afraid that while Mr. Dupont in his appearance and manners is seemingly a gentleman, in reality he is not." At this moment Mr. Dupont joined us, and the conversation turned to other matters. THE POWER OF A VOICE. 101 The yacht now lay between Middle Bass and Rat- tlesnake without motion, except the gentle heaving of the lake. The wind had left us entirely, and, as the evening was well along, Mark had the naphtha launch taken out to tow us into port. And as the water of the Bay was smooth as glass, we were able to bring up at one of the docks and land our guests, who bade us good night with rakny words of praise for our efforts to entertain them. The boys hurrahed for us, and fired ofif their yell so many times that they received a responsive volley of "Py Chiminy Chorges" from the skipper; and the two halves of Collarbones' head nearly parted company with delighted grinning. We had the yacht towed well over towards Squaw Harbor, and dropped "the hook" there, that our vision of the moon might not be obscured by Gibraltar, and settled ourselves down to enjoy to the full the exquisite beauty of the night and scene. CHAPTER XVI. THE PASSING OF MR. DUPONT. We began our researches next day by going, at Mr. Stuart's suggestion for a cruise about the islands and down the Canadian shore as far as Rondeau, to get a general idea of the effect of the movement of the gla- ciers; but we nearly missed the purpose of our jour- ney by being taken up with the astonishing contrast between the Canadian shore of the lake and our own; and the question, "What is the matter with Canada?" constantly pressed itself upon us. For, while the American shore is lined from end to end with thriving cities and handsome towns, and filled with a numerous and flourishing population, the very heart, as it were, of our nation, the opposite shore lags a hundred years behind. The large cities on the American side find but poor counterparts in the little towns or shrunken vil- lages on the other; and the vigorous and lusty popula- tion of the one is but faintly mirrored in the thinly set- tled, pioneer-like inhabitants of the other. What is the secret of this great difference? It can- not be in the blood of the people ; for they come of the 102 THE PASSING OF DUPONT. 103 same sturdy and conquering stock which has furnished the backbone of our ovjfn race, and we know that the thousands of young Canadians, who yearly desert their native land for our more favored one, have no difiSculty in keeping step in the race for success on this side of the border. Canada appears to me like a child that has been nursed and carried in the arms of a fond and foolish mother, until it has reached the age of manhood, and the muscles of its limbs are shrunken and enfeebled by disuse; when, if in true kindness it had been set down to run and fight its own battles in life, like its sturdy brother across the way, it would now have strength to hold up its head proudly, as a man among men, and not be clinging like a backward bantling to a pair of apron strings, feebly looking to the mother for protec- tion and begging of its lusty brother some portion of his strength. But this is not geology, nor has it any bearing on our story, to which let .us get back. After a week spent in cruising, we decided to return to Put-in-Bay, to begin our study in detail of South Bass. For reasons of my own I was very glad to hear Mark give George the course for home, as we were beginning 1(M THE SABERTOOTH. to call it, and, as you must sooner or later be acquainted with the fact, I will here cooifess that there had crept into my heart a new and thrilling presence. I found my love for the somewhat cold and rocky mistress, Geology, which had hitherto been all sufficient to me, was being crowded out by a softer, sweeter passion, for a new and tenderer goddess. I am of the belief that every human soul is lonely; and whild each outward life is made up of the common points upon which it touches other lives, yet there is within each heart another life, whether good or evil, which has its hopes and aspirations, its pleasures and its sorrows. This is the real but unseen life all actually live. I know this is true in my case. I have lived a life apart from my fellowmen. Not from any eccentricity of mind or hermit-like aversion to my kind, for I am fond of the society of men and enjoy their innocent amusements, but because by the studious turn of my mind I have been led into a world apart from them, and, by reason of my worldly circumstances compelling me to devote my entire time, until lately, to a struggle for existence, I never had the opportunity to seek the soci- ety of congenial and appreciative minds. But in Miss Fosdick I had found a companion and friend for my- THE PASSING OF DUPONT. 105 inner self, and this had caused my lonely heart to blos- som and expand, like a parched bud under a gentle rain. And with this grateful blessing there had crept into my heart a new and hitherto unknown emotion, sweet of itself, but curbed by a sense of my own un- worthiness, and also by a fear that Mark was coming under the same spell. He seemed as glad as I, when the yacht's head was turned homeward, and stepped about with a more than usually happy air, and to my mind there could be but one reason for this. This question haunted me the entire way, and I turned it over thoroughly, and before our anchor went overboard I had fully determined upon a rule of con- duct for the future. Of course it was not for me to say whether Miss Fos- dick would prefer Mark to me, nor had I the slightest reason for assuming that she would ever favor either; but, this much I settled, if it appeared Mark cared for her, he should never know my feelings as long as there was a chance for him ; but I reserved to myself the right to strive for her affections as against any other man. We lay about between Bar Point and "Pint Mooley" as the skipper called it when he got his orders. There was a good, stifif southwest wind and the lake was whit- 106 THE SABERTOOTH. ened by a somewhat nasty sea, which gets up quick and ugly in the shallow waters of the western end of Lake Erie. The time was about three o'clock, and our course lay southeast by south to make Green Island light. This course brovight both wind and sea abeam, and the three following hours were glorious but wet. It was Hke riding a runaway horse in a rainstorm, and we were glad enough to make our land-locked haven, to remove our wet clothing, and give Collarbutton a chance to get our dinner, which he could not do before without too much danger of spoiling the soup by diving into it head first. Of course there was but one thing in our minds for the evening; both of us had been fretting with con- cealed impatience ever since the yacht had looked this way, and at the earliest respectable moment we started for The Victory. Instead of taking the car, which would get us there too early, we made our way on foot to our destination, along the western edge of the island, which in some places is abrupt and clifif like, to enjoy the sea which was still coming in handsomely, although the wind had dropped to a soft, warm zephyr. It was quite dark when we reached the limits of the hotel park, and we made our way slowly among the THE PASSING OF DUPONT. 107 trees. We strayed somewhat out of our course toward the edge of the cliff and ran into a mass of shrubbery, and were working around it when we heard the sound of a voice on the other side of the bushes pouring out a most impassioned tale of love. We stopped by common impulse and grinned at each other in the darkness; but the voice went on, rising higher and higher, and growing more importunate until we distinctly recognized that the bold lover was no other than Dupont, who closed his appeal in words that sent the blood surging through both our hearts. "You have long known," he said, "that I love you, and have given me every reason to believe my love was returned; you would be cruel indeed to deny me now the reward of my faithfulness." There could be but one person to whom Dupont would address such words, and no doubt, we should have been high-minded enough to scorn eavesdrop- ping; but for the reason that the next words spoken held so much of destiny for us, and because we both mistrusted the effect a repulse would have on him, we stood rooted to the spot, while Miss Fosdick's voice rose, calm and cutting. "I have an apology to make to you, Mr. Dupont," she said, "before referring to the matter you mention. 108 THE SABERTOOTH. I must beg your pardon for ever having mistaken you for a gentleman. You have employed a contemptible strategy to bring me out to this unseemly place at such an ill-chosen time, to force your love upon me as though I were a kitchen maid and you a stable groom. If ever there had been in my mind a spark of deeper feeling for you, which, be assured, there never was, dis- gust at this performance would have banished it. "I do not wish to seem unjust or cruel to any one; and I will admit your voice has been the source of great pleasure to me, and, perhaps, I have not always been careful enough to make you understand, if such a thing were possible to one who is not a gentleman, that there is the widest gulf between your singing and yourself; and, if you had not been misled by your ex- treme vanity to appropriate to your person the admira- tion accorded to your voice, you would have spared me this unpleasantness. "Of course," she continued, after a slight pause, "you will understand that from now on there can be no further communication between us ; and if you will send your future address to my lawyer, you will receive a check for the year's salary." "Miss Fosdick!" hissed Dupont. "I have come to you as a man and ofifered you all any one can give you, THE PASSING OF DUPONT. 109 my honest love, but you hold me up to scorn. You have encouraged my love by word and look these many months, and now you ridicule the most sacred revela- tions of my heart as the mouthings of a groom. I am disappointed and disgraced, but — not defeated. Let me warn you, madam, that safe as you feel in your riches and high station to insult me, you shall yet beg me humbly to save your proud name by giving you my own. You have compromised yourself sufficiently in your intercourse with me to give wings to* a pretty scandal, which will surely follow if you turn me off in this curt fashion." I felt Mark start at this threat, and, dreading the con- sequences of his using his strength in anger on any man, I grasped his arm and held him back, and we heard Miss Fosdick reply: "I fear nothing the world may say of my cdnduct. Stand aside, sir, and let me pass !" There followed a curse from Dupont, and a scream from Miss Fosdick; and Mark tore loose from my loosening grasp and went like a flash around the shrub- bery, and I followed just in time to see him seize Du- pont, neck and crop, and pitch him headlong over the cliff. Turning my attention to Miss Fosdick I found her no THE SABERTOOTH. trembling and overcome, and glad to put her arm in mine. She seemed a little hysterical at first, and no wonder; but when Mark turned to her, after dropping Dupont in the lake, she gave him her hand and asked him anxiously: "Is he not in danger? Will he not be drowned?" "Oh, no," replied Mark, cheerfully. "While the water at this point is extremely wet, it is not very deep, and he will be out in a minute." Which was true, as we could hear Dupont puflf and gasp as he clambered up the rocks, and in a moment his form rose over the edge of the clifif and disappeared in the darkness. CHAPTER XVII. "the house that jack built." Miss Fosdick gave us each an arm, and as we walked toward the hotel she said, "Will you do me the favor . not to mention what has happened, lest my parents hear of it. I am afraid if they understood the circum- stances they would be unhappy and alarmed, and it can do no possible good to tell them. I have no fear of Mr. Dupont, myself, as he has proved himself a bully, which means that he is, undoubtedly^ a coward. "By the way," she exclaimed, as if a thought had suddenly occurred to her, "how did it happen that you were so conveniently at hand? You appeared from be- hind the shrubbery exactly like actors from the wings ' of a stage; and I believe I actually laughed to see Mr. Carling stride out and pitch Mr. Dupont over the cliff, in such a pat and matter-of-fact Way, exactly as if it was all part of a well-rehearsed play." We were fairly caught by this question which we dreaded to hear. It would not do for us to own that we had been listening, for that would have appeared a too glaring lapse of manners; and we knew it would be ill 112 THE SABERTOOTH. mortifying to Miss Fosdick to feel that we had wit nessed Dupont's turgid love-making. I hastily tried to devise a plausible story to cover ou movements; but nothing except palpable fibs pre sented themselves, and while I hesitated Mark's "hol( in the head" shot out the following: "It was a very remarkable and most fortunate coin cidence that brought us to the spot just in the nicl of time. I shall always be glad, on account of it, that ii building my boat I paid some attention to speed; be cause, at three o'clock, we were thirty miles away and it was just a scratch that we haia stiff wind, anc a fast boat to get us here. And then there was the bi§ sea rolling in, which decided us to come up the shore instead of by car. And, again, it was lucky that it wa; dark and we lost the path, and brought up in just th( right place. Don't you think if is wonderful. Mis; Fosdick, how Fate sometimes makes little things coun for so much. Why, it was just like the 'House thai Jack Built.' Just listen: "This is the wind that blew the boat, That carried the fellows, that missed their way, And tossed the man, that worried the lady. Who lived in the house that Jack built." Mark ended this remarkable effort with a. heart} THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT. 113 laugh, which was so infectious ^that we were compelled to join in it. Now, all the time Mark was rattling along with his aimless story, I gaped in astonishment at the marvelous ingenuity he displayed in making an explanation, which explained nothing, but completely diverted attention from the awkward question we had been called upon to answer. And hereafter, the person who says in my hearing that Mark is dull-witted will have me to deal with. Miss Fosdick's suspicions were either satisfied or forgotten, for she did not press her question, and our arrival at the hotel ended the matter, much to our relief. Not wishing to excite comment by appearing to ar- rive with us and without Mr. Dupont, Miss Fosdick excused herself and slipped away, leaving us to seek by ourselves the familiar corner of the veranda, where we found a number of friends, including Judge and Mrs. Fosdick and Mr. Stuart, who welcomed us home from our trip, and called upon us to entertain them with an account, of our adventures. And, although we had experienced none of an exciting nature. Mark's modest recital of the new-found wonders he had seen aroused such a general interest in our labors among our friends 114 THE SABERTOOTH. that we invited them to join us whenever it pleased them ; and our invitation was so generally accepted that we never lacked for company in the long and happy days of that pleasant summer, which slipped away only too quickly. , It may appear, perhaps, that Mark's growing feeling for Miss Fosdick made me unhappy, but it was not so, my affection for him was too strong to allow room in my heart for any petty jealousy. And, had Miss Fos- dick given any sign of preference for him, my love for them both would have kept me from being unhappy. But closely as I watched her for any indication of leaning towards Mark, I was unable to see that she made any distinction between us, and as long as this was so, I was free to treasure up in my heart my own emotions and hopes, and be happy with them while I might. But I am getting ahead of my story. Our evening proved so interesting that we remained until after the last car had gone, and were obliged to walk back to the Bay; but this was no hardship, as the distance was not great and the night cool and pleasant. When we reached the little dock on the shore of Squaw Harbor, where we had arranged to have the dinghy meet us, the humor seized us to sit down on the edge of it, with our backs against a pile of lumber, to chat a while before going aboard the yacht. THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT. 115 Without intending it, we had hidden ourselves effec- tually from any one approaching us from the land side, and, singularly enough, we were thus unwittingly com- pelled to play eavesdropper for a second time that night. We had sat but a short while when we heard the footsteps of two persons on the dock behind us; one, evidently an active but impatient man, the other old and shuffling. As soon as they reached a convenient spot, they began to converse in low tones. We could not distinguish the words they uttered, but, to our amazement, we realized that the speakers were no other than Dupont and Old Stone. We were lost in wonder as to what possible connec- tion there could be between these two, of all the people in the world; but our curiosity was not to be gratified until another time; and, not caring to deserve, even from Dupont, the name of being habitual spies, we arose from our seats, and walked out on the dock, where Mark whistled shrilly for the dinghy. To say that Dupont and his companion were con- founded at our appearance, would scarcely do justice to their feelings as evinced by their actions. They both started violently; and Dupont fairly gnashed his teeth in rage at us, while Old Stone favored us with one of those malignant looks, which on a previous occa- 116 THE SABERTOOTH. sion had made my blood run cold. Indeed, I am satis- fied that, but for their respect for Mark's muscular ability, we should have had to contend with something more serious than fierce looks. But they took them- selves off without any words, for which we were duly thankful, and, the dinghy appearing at the moment, we went aboard the yacht. We finished our eventful day with our usual smoke and gossip, our talk naturally and chiefly relating to Mr. Dupont. While still at our pipes, Mark observed: "It seems strange to me, Dick, that no matter what we do or where we go, this man Dupont somehow manages to get 'between the wind and our nobility' with curious persistency; but I suppose after what has happened to-night we shall not be bothered with him again." "I don't believe we shall," I replied; "and I am not so much surprised at his crossing our path so fre- quently after what we heard this evening. But more curious than this to me, is the way Old Stone has of mixing himself up with our affairs. I cannot for the life of me understand the connection this old man seems to have with us ; and yet he appears in the back- ground at every turn we rhake. Then, what business can he and Dupont have together? There is something inexplicable in that." THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT. 117 "I know it," replied Mark, "and the movements of these men are just now giving the 'hole' in my head a great deal of uneasiness." "Do you remember how startled Dupont was when Stuart, in describing Old Stone, on the veranda of the hotel on the day we made our first call, said he sus- pected Old Stone of something, and how Dupont jumped up and went away when he saw we noticed his confusion. "I tell you, Dick, they are up to some mischief." "But," I objected, "I cannot see what Old Stone could do beyond making himself disagreeable with fierce looks; although I can readily believe Dupont capable of trickery, and think there may be some dan- ger of his annoying Miss Fosdick; but, in this unro- mantic age, there is no danger, I should hope, of. vio- lence." "Well, at all events," concluded Mark, "I mean to keep an eye on them to see that no harm comes to Miss Fosdick. If Dupont meditates any schemes against her peace of mind, he will get something more injuri- ous than a bath the next time we come together." CHAPTER XVIII. AN ENCHANTED ROCK. The following morning we began under Mr. Stuart's guidance a systematic pursuit of our studies. And with the idea that at some future time we might wish to give the world the benefit of the knowledge gained, we made copious notes of our daily observations and wanderings, which may some day see the light in a little volume. But for our present purpose these can only serve to refresh my memory of the period when the thread of destiny, which ran through our lives that summer, was more obscure and difficult to trace, and to assist in selecting those occurrences which have a bearing on our story. Yet, in making this selection, I find it hard to tell which should be taken and which left ; as in look- ing back, it seems our lightest actions and idlest words should be recorded to make the tale complete. But, to avoid being tedious, I will reject all, save that which serves to show how love grew in some hearts and hatred in others; and how three dififerent minds, reasoning from the same evidence, arrived at as many conclusions as to the true character of Old Stone. 118 - AN ENCHANTED ROCK. 119 Two of these proved in some measure correct, but the third, my own, must remain unsustained by final proof. Nevertheless, I trust the facts presented will bear me out with all fair and reasoning minds, able to accept the truth without actually laying hands upon it. By following this plan, it will not be necessary to de- scribe our movements day by day, hence I shall be free to select such as have a direct bearing on the events which followed. We were accompanied in our rambles by parties of our friends, including, of course, Stuart, and, as often as we could arrange it by persistent scheming, by Miss Fosdick. And interwoven with the tale of the glaciers ran the unuttered story of the growing love of two men for her. Although the presence of so many persons prevented any opportunity for either Mark or myself to forward his cause with Miss Fosdick, yet, as the weeks passed by it became apparent to my quickened perceptions that in our walks abroad, or in the long, pleasant evenings on the hotel porch, which usually followed, she listened to me, but looked at Mark. And, although this was a most natural division of favors under the circumstances, and I had really the advantage of position, I could not but argue ill for my chances in my despondent moods. 120 THE SABERTOOTH. In brighter moments, on the other hand, when matters took more favorable shape, I could find by no process Df reasoning justification for despair; and so hope lived strong and sweet within my heart, and, I am proud to say that at no time was there ever in my breast a spark of jealousy or envy against Mark. I know that my feelings were so well concealed that he knew nothing of them, else I am satisfied he would have instantly withdrawn from any rivalry with me, sacrificing his love to his generous afifection for a friend. Of course, while this feature of our lives was, to at least two of our little world, the all important one, yet, For the very best of reasons it was kept carefully out of sight and formed no part of our ostensible pursuits. The one thing most noticeable about this time was the curious persistence with which Old Stone appeared to connect himself with our study of, as Mark put it, "the other rocks." After the disappearance of Dupont, the old man dis- played the most extraordinary activity. No matter in which direction we took our excursions, or how rapidly we crossed the island, we were sure to find him ahead of us. This singular freak of Old Stone became a source of great amusement, and the cause of endless speculation AN ENCHANTED ROCK. 121 as to how he accomplished these movements with such rapidity. None of us ever had the luck to catch him hurrying, and his usual labored shamble was so slow as to render it impossible for him to make such lengthy journeys at such a pace. The secret of this was not revealed to us at that time, however, and continued to tease our curiosity; as did the old man's power of ren- dering himself invisible, which led to endless surprises. I remember that once, when Mark and I had made on foot almost the entire circuit of the island in search of some detail which we wshed to observe, we had a striking example of this peculiarity of Old Stone. The weather was extremely hot. The sun burned the earth with its fervid rays, and there was not a breath of air stirring. By the time we reached a secluded spot on the southeast coast we were dripping with perspiration, and ready for a sunstroke. We happened then upon a place where the shore was craggy and abrupt, and overgrown with a kindly screen of bushes, the whole furnishing such a perfect invitation to a swim that with- out a word between us we hastily disrobed, and, laying our clothing on a rock nearby, plunged into the water in quick succession. Mark was first in, and I rose to the surface just in time to hear him give a terrific yell, and turning quickly, 122 THE SABERTOOTH. I caught sight of the supposed rock, on which our clothes were laying, moving off into the thicket. Old Stone had given us one of his unique exhibitions; and was revenging himself upon us for using him as a clothes rack by making away with our apparel, leaving nothing but our hats and shoes; and it stood us in- hand to use haste in catching up with him; which, you may rest assured, we did, without any urging. But, by the time we reached the shore, the old man, clothes and all, had disappeared; and we ran about like a pair of frantic savages, shrieking in vain for the old rascal, until we were satisfied the search was useless, unless we were prepared to brave public opinion and scour the island in a state of nature, which neither^of us had the courage to do; and at last we faced each other with despairing looks. "It seems to me," said Mark, "that all is lost save honor." "Yes," I replied, "and unless we can find a pair of barrels, or else wait until dark, I am afraid even that will have to be sacrificed." But fortunately even then our usual good luck did not desert us. We heard behind us, so close that we both jumped, a low chuckle, and turning toward the sound, saw Old Stone standing within arm's length of AN' ENGH ANTED ROCK. 123 us, in the heart of a clump of bushes, where he had evi- dently remained the entire time, enjoying our discom- fiture. We hastily rescued our clothing, and warned the old villain against a repetition of the trick, in most emphatic language; and, ever since ^hat time I have had a most profound respect for each article in my wardrobe, so thoroughly was I then impressed with a knowledge of its value. STONB'S COVE. CHAPTER XIX. smith's ghost. One of the first proofs we had of Mr. Stuart's value as a guide was our introduction to a gentleman, whom, for the purpose of our story, we will call Mr. Smith, a resident of the island. Mr. Smith was at this time the oldest inhabitant of the island, having been the first to buy land there and settle upon it permanently; and we hoped to take ad- vantage of this fact to get some idea of the effect the elements had had upon the rocks, within his knowledge. We found him, one beautiful morning, at work in his vineyard, and on making known our object, with un- selfish courtesy he left his work and devoted to us what must have been valuable time. The vines were hanging thick with clusters of grapes, but the season was not far enough advanced to allow him the pleasure of offering them, tons; and, in lieu of this, he led us to a corner of the vineyard, where there was a great hole or crevice in the rock, which led down to an unknown depth, and from it he drew by cords several bottles of wine of his own making, of which he 124 SMITH'S GHOST. 125 asked us to partake. Whether it was the quality of the wine or the heat of the day, and the icy coolness which the novel cellar had given to the bottles, we certainly never tasted a more delicious drink. Mr. Smith was pleased with our favorable reception SBOTH'S. of his handiwork, and entertained us with an interest- ing history of his early struggle to establish his vine- yards; and, becoming enthused with his subject, he led us to his wine cellar, which proved to be no other than a large cavern extending under his house, and 126 THE SABERTOOTH. which aroused our interest to such a degree that he kindly gave us its history. "I suppose," he began, "you have by this time run across the old man whom they call 'Old Stone'?" At this question a look of smiling amazement passed from one to another of our party. Here was Old Stone again. Were we never to escape him ? "I see," continued Mr. Smith, "by your faces that you are acquainted with him; and this will help you to understand my story. "When I first came on the island and settled down, building a little log house for a home, just on the spot where my present house now stands, the place was very lonely. We were, as far as we knew, the only hu- man beings on the island, and it was visited only occa- sionally by fishermen or sailors whose vessels put in to escape bad weather. "We had not been here long before my wife took fright at strange noises, which she insisted came from underground, and, as I was absent all day at work, I failed for a long time to hear them, and made light of. her fears. "But one summer day there came a perfect calm on the lake; and the water lay as still and motionless as if the lake was frozen to the bottom. SMITH'S GHOST. 127 "It was one of those still, hot, stifling days which often go before a great thunderstorm, and I lay awake that night, tossing and turning in a vain efifort to sleep. "The quiet was absolute; even the frogs and insects seemed frightened into silence; and, as I lay there, I 'suddenly became aware of approaching footsteps, which, evidently, were not on the ground outside, for there was a curious echoing to the sound, which could only come from contact with solid rock, and, further- more, the sound came from beneath my bed. "My wife's story of underground noises flashed into my mind, and my hair rose in terror on my head, and the perspiration came in great beads on my brow, for I realized that no motion of the water of the lake could be responsible for these sounds, as the lake was per- fectly quiet; what I heard must necessarily be the foot- steps of either man or beast, or spirit. "Now, you can understand, from the fact that I had the courage to come to this island and live alone upon it, that I am not a timid man. Neither am I supersti- tious. But when a full realization of the existence of some unknown and unexplained presence came upon me, I sickened with terror and lay like a log while the footsteps beneath me came and went, and went and came again, until, racked with the agony of fear, I was 123 THE SABERTOOTH. about to cry out, when the sounds suddenly ceased, and I fell into a troubled sleep. "I said nothing to my good wife about the matter, but watched and waited for a return of the dreaded sounds, and spent my days in hiding and watching for some appearance of the cause of them. I was so fear- ful and alarmed that my head was over my shoulder half the time. ."This state of things went on for some time, to the utter ruin of my work, until my wife began to notice my changed ways; and, surmising the cause, fell into a panic even greater than my own, and we were just on the point of sacrificing everything in our blind terror and flying from the island, when, one morning, after a sleepless night, I arose with the dawn and wandered out to my little clearing, to the very spot where you had your drink of wine, and sitting down on a fallen tree among the bushes I gazed at my ruined field in black despair. "As I mused, there slowly emerged from the crevice you saw an object so frightful and unearthly that my ■nerves gave way completely, and, with a scream, I fell backward, unconscious; and knew no more until I opened my eyes on my young wife's face months after- wards, and heard from her, how poor Old Stone, for he SMITH'S GHOST. 129 it was that caused my terror, amazed and frightened at the mischief he had done, had carried me senseless to my cabin and nearly killed my wife with his outlandish appearance. But, nerved by her very terror and alarm for me, she withstood the shock, only to learn that not only was there no harm in the poor old man, but that he was really very kind-hearted, and he it was who kept us alive while I lay helpless and out of my mind. "This was my introduction to Old Stone, and con- sidering the circumstances surrounding it I do not feel ashamed, even at this day, of the effect his first appear- ance had upon me. "The poor old man strove to make amends for the trouble he had caused fcy helping us in every way he could; he showed us many of the natural secrets of the island, among them, the cavern under my house, in which you now sit. And it was the sound of his foot- steps in this very place which gave rise to our first fears." At the close of Mr. Smith's story, he piloted us all through the cave and at the conclusion of the trip, Mark asked him if there were other caves on the island besides this, and those commonly visited by the public. . "I know of twenty-eight," he replied, "of all sizes, from mere crevices to good sized rooms; some of them. 130 THE SABERTOOTH. however, have never been thoroughly explored; and, from what I have seen of these, I should not be sur- prised if there were others of great size which have never been discovered, as once in a while the rock sur- face of some part of the island settles into some un- suspected cave. "Old Stone, if he would, could give you a great deal of information about these caves, as he spends a large share of his time underground. I have known him to disappear for weeks at a time in them. In fact, when I first knew him years ago, before the island was set- tled, arid he could easily get the liquor and other stim- ulants he seems to crave, he used to spend his entire winters in the caves. "Of late years, however, he has fallen into the queer habit, which you perhaps have noticed, of dropping into a trance-like sleep, which I think is due to increasing age or the use of some powerful drug, like opium. I really believe it is the latter, for I cannot see anything in his appearance to show him to be a day older than he was forty years ago. But since he has taken to using drugs, he spends much more of his time above ground." The talk now drifted away from Old Stone, and at the first opportunity I asked Mr. Smith- if he could throw any light on the glacial history of the island. SMITH'S GHOST. 131 "Yes," said he, "and it is a pity you could not have come when John Brown, Junior, was alive. He was much interested in the subject. I have known him to sit out on the rocks for days at a time, arguing with some college professor about the matter. And, when .^e did not happen to have a professor handy, and made some fresir discovery, he would drag me out to see it; for, we were great friends, and I was fond of him. "But I did not agree with him in his ideas. I have a theory of my own about the marks on the rocks which interested him so much, and, if you like, I shall be glad to show you my reason for it." We were only too glad to see what any man had actually observed of the action of ice; and Mr. Smith kindly hitched a horse to a large farm wagon and drove us down to the shore, where lay an enormous granite boulder, which would weigh, perhaps, twenty tons, and which was half imbedded in the soil overlying the na- tive rock, where it had evidently been thrust by some great force. With almost childlike pleasure and sim- plicity Mr. Smith exclaimed: "There, gentlemen, is evidence in support of my theory! John Brown, Junior, used to claim that the ice was thousands of feet thick over these islands at one time. But I say it was not necessary for the ice 132 THE SABERTOOTH. to be any thicker than I have seen it on the lake in my time, to make the marks on the rock; for this boul- der, which is the largest known on the island, was shoved up on the beach and buried in this soil by the lake ice since I owned the ground. And what is more, as you walk up this side of the island, you will notice many other large granite boulders, and, you may be- lieve rne, every one of these has been shoved up by this same lake ice. "In my personal knowledge, for I have helped to do it more than once, this beach has been made bare of boulders time and again for building purposes, and there is hardly a boulder in sight which has not come out of the lake within the past few years." We were much interested in Mr. Smith's theory, and examined the surroundings carefully for support- ing evidence. But alas for Mr. Smith, there was not the sign of a scratch on the smooth slope of the rock, to show the passage of the great boulder over it; and it was plain that it had been shoved by the floe ice of the lake to its present bed over shore ice, which pre- vented any contact with the native rock. Of course, we knew that Mr. Smith had mistaken a miniature representation of glacial action for the mighty force which originally had carried his boulder a thou- SMITH'S GHOST. 133 sand miles, and which had ground to fragments the high hills that once towered above his beloved island. We were careful, however, not to pain our kind friend by showing any dissent from his idea, and so we livened the homeward journey with talk of other matters; and, upon leaving him, he suggested that we ought to see John Brown, Junior's collection of fossils, and laid us under deeper obligations by ofifering to ar- range the matter for us. I could not help remembering, through all our pleas- ant visit with Mr. Smith, Dupont's contemptuous asser- tion that the islanders were "mere fishermen and the like, unworthy of the notice of gentlemen;" for, if I know true courtesy and good breeding, and if these are the attributes of a true gentleman, we had been honored that day with the warm-hearted hospitality of one of nature's noblemen. CHAPTER XX. A FISH STORY. The diligent interest displayed by our friends in the subject of our investigations was a source of gratifica- tion to Mark and me; but in time the field of observa- tion in South Bass Island became exhausted; and, as we were their debtors for many courtesies, and they seemed to desire an opportunity to search fresh fields, we planned a day's trip on the yacht for them, our des- tination to be Kelley's Island Our invitation met with such an enthusiastic recep- tion that Mark blamed himself for not having made a more generous use of his boat. But, as he said in excuse for his oversight, most people are either timid about the water or care nothing for it; and the few who really love it and enjoy yachting form such a small minority, that after having his invitations declined so many times he had grown shy about extending them. The day we set apart for our excursion proved to be all that could be desired in the way of weather, except the wind, which with its usual perversity in all cases where frail man engages beforehand to offer its services 134 A FISH STORY. 135 for a pleasure sail was treacherously light, and, al- though from the southwest and fair for our course, gave every sign of failing. After taking us clear of Ballast Island and a short distance on our way, it did fail, leaving us becalmed upon the smooth, bright water, the surface of which, but for a gentle swell, was like that of a park lake. Fortunately the heat was not oppressive, although the sky was cloudless and the sun had an unobstructed view of us. There was nothing in the atmosphere to indicate squally weather, and even the skipper seemed so sure that there was a prospect of wind by and by that he did not pace the deck or let slip a single "Py Chiminy." For these reasons neither Mark nor I had any appre- hensions, but turned our whole attention to amusing our guests during the enforced wait. Luckily there was sufficient novelty in their sur- roundings and in the details of the yacht, to occupy our friends for some time, and when these began to fail Mark had CoUarbutton bring out all our fishing tackle, and we set them at work, fishing over the side for perch and minnows, which occupation proved highly amusing to them and was the cause of much jollity. There was quite a little current running in the lake, 136 THE SABERTOOTH. which carried us southward and somewhat too close to the shore of South Bass. To remedy this Jiminy George had an anchor dropped to hold us stationary, which had the effect of swinging the yacht round, and causing most of the fishing Hnes to become entangled with each other. Observing this Mark and I went to the rescue of our fair guests and gradually brought order out of chaos, until we came to Miss Fosdick, who was seated on the after deck and, finding her hook was firmly fastened to something in the water, had waited for us to assist her. Mark took charge of the recalcitrant tackle, and commenced operations by a series of gentle pulls, which showed that whatever it was the hook had caught yielded slowly to his manipulations and was coming to the surface. We gazed with somewhat uneasy inter- est at the water, a little apprehensive of what might appear, but were relieved in a moment to see an inno- cent rope's end emerge from the water. There seemed to be quite a length of the rope, and Mark, with a sailor's instinct, gathered in the slack; but he was soon stopped by meeting with resistance, and, supposing it to be some fisherman's lost anchor, called aft a hand to take it aboard. But instead of the anchor or large rock wiiich we A FISH STORY. 137 naturally expected to see, our sailor dragged over the rail a tin case of some size, weighing about twenty-five pounds. The case was hermetically sealed, as we after- wards found, and was well corded and secured to the line by which it had been lifted. Strangely enough, the line passed beyond it over the rail and down into the water beyond the powers of sight. Our exclamations of surprise brought everybody on the yacht crowding round us, and Mark signalled the hand to haul in the remainder of the line. Amid a chorus of wondering exclamations, the first operation was repeated again and again, until there lay on deck no less than ten of the dripping cases, each the counter- part of the first, and many fathoms of rope. Before the cases could be taken aboard, however, it was neces- sary to raise our anchor, and let the yacht come just over each one in turn, showing that, originally, they had lain stretched out in a long line. There was naturally a great amount of wonder and curiosity among us over our singular discovery and much discussion as to the meaning of it. We might have argued over it to this day, had not a lady from Philadelphia suggested that we open one of the cases, to see what it contained, which might give us some clue to the mystery. 138 THE SABERTOOTH. A vote of thanks was tendered on the spot to the bright mind which brought forth this happy idea,' and Collarbox was despatched for a hatchet with which to put it in effect. A hole was soon made in one of the boxes, but there was a murmur of disappointment when, instead of gold or diamonds, it was found to contain a substance which, after various guesses by different members of the party, was pronounced by Mr. Stuart to be opium. This, however, did not satisfy our curiosity and gave us no clue to the mystery, until Stuart, waving his hand to the north, said. "If you will remember that the Canadian border lies only a mile or two away, and that the duty on opium is very heavy, it will perhaps make the matter a little plainer. There was a moment of silence following this astute observation, and then, almost with one voice, we all cried, "Smuggling!" We had been given the unheard of privilege of see- ing with our own eyes the tangible evidence of that offense against the Government's law which every good citizen is ready to condemn — in others — but which appeals so strongly to the romantic side of hu- man nature that all of us are" ready to undertake it at every opportunity, regardless of the attendant unpleas- ant risks. A FISH STORY. 139 It was really very thrilling to us all to know that there was beneath the surface of the quiet life in this idyllic and peaceful group of islands an element of ad- venture and danger hitherto undreamed of, and long hours passed in eager discussion of its possibilities, ^ while we lay waiting for the wind, which did not come, to waft us on our journey. Although we were unable to carry out our original plan, the day had proved most interesting, and we en- joyed in really greater comfort the good things our skil- ful steward, Collarbutton, had prepared to sustain the inward man; and, when the sun was well down in the West, the launch was hitched on ahead, and towed us swiftly and surely, if somewhat ingloriously, home- ward. CHAPTER XXL MR. Stuart's revelation. After landing our guests, Mark and I returned to the yacht, where in due time Collarbex served our dinner, which we leisurely despatched, and then, as usual, ad- journed to the deck for a smoke and chat. Our conversation naturally turned upon the day's strange discovery, and many surmises were made as to - the extent of the smuggling, which we had the best of proofs was going on almost under our noses. "Who," we asked, "of all the people we met and passed daily could be concerned in it?" There was also the question as to what disposition was to be made of the opium we had found. I was of the opinion that it ought to be turned over to the Government; but Mark, who was lesS' unsophis- ticated in business matters than I, asserted with very good reason that while the presumption was the opium . came from Canada and was smuggled, there was no proof of these facts, and until this was forthcoming the Government had no more claim to the opium than ourselves. 140 MR. STUART'S REVELATION. 141 While we were discussing this knotty point, our un- obtrusive friend, Mr. Stuart, came aboard as was his frequent custom to join us in our evening talk. Of course we put the questions at once to him. But never was a simple question productive of a more unexpected answer; for Stuart, instead of reply- ing to it directly, left his seat and ,examined our cabin hastily, and peered down the after hatch, appearing, to our great astonishment, to be looking in these places for the necessary words with which to frame his reply. We watched him in silence until he had completed his search and returned to his chair. "Excuse me, gentlemen," he said, "for my appar- ently strange manners; but you will understand them in a moment. I wanted to assure myself that there was no one within earshot, as I have some matters to communicate which are for your ears alone, and you will oblige me if you will see that none of your men approach us for a little while. "Your discovery of the opium to-day and the ques- tion you have just asked me offer me an opportunity for a disclosure which I have long wished to make to you, but until now have seen no chance to offer. "You have been exceedingly kind to me this sum- mer and I have received so many courtesies from your 142 THE SABERTOOTH. hands that I have longed to offer in return something which would add a new element of interest, and per- haps excitement, to your summer's outing. "I have learned to have the utmost confidence in your discretion, else my sense of duty would not allow me to share my secret with you. "You have known me thus far as an ordinary guest at The Victory, with nothing to do but idle away my time; but really I am not a summer "idler" here, but a special agent of the Treasury Department, charged with the task of ferreting out the most difficult and re- markable case which has ever occurred in the history of the Department." Here Mr. Stuart paused, as if to see what effect his words were having upon his listeners. Mark and I had been gazing at each other in gaping astonishment as he spoke; for it was almost inconceiv- able that the quiet and inconspicuous little man, with whom we bad associated so long, could be concerned with such romantic and stirring matters as his story suggested. Our imaginations were consequently fired at once with the idea of being allowed to see the inside workings of that mysterious machine, the Secret Serv- ice Bureau, and both of us urged Stuart to continue, which he did as follows: MR. STUART'S REVELATION. 143 "Of course there is more or less petty smuggling along the whole of the immense frontier between the United States and Canada, and nearly everybody has some knowledge of this fact; but this class of offenses is looked after by the regular customs oflficials, and is no greater than is common at every frontier, and with this I have nothing to do. "Above and beyond all this there exists a great syn- dicate whose business is wholesale smuggling, which has its headquarters in this country, with agents all over the world. "It has regular correspondents in India for the pur- chase of opium; in China it has also agents to arrange for the clandestine immigration of Chinamen; and since silver has become cheap, it coins abroad large numbers of perfectly good silver dollars and makes a handsome profit by getting them into circulation in this country. "It has large and very effective organizations in both countries for introducing and disposing of prohibited articles, and even has its secret agents under the very roof of the Department at Washington. "All this, however, is well known to the Bureau I have the honor to serve, and we have time and again broken up and destroyed their lines of communication, for we have our agents everywhere, even in their secret M4 THE SABERTOOTH. councils; but several years ago we suddenly found our- selves at fault. ' "At that time we discovered that opium was being illegally imported in such enormous quantities that the ordinary wholesale price of the drug was less than the duty which should have been paid on it. The customs receipts, which usually amounted to a handsome sum on the article, declined to practically nothing; and, to make matters worse, we soon discovered that liquor and even bogus dollars were pouring into the country. "There was evidently a tremendous leak somewhere, and the entire resources of the Government were aroused to stop it. But the moment there was the slightest stir made by our Bureau, the flood ceased, and all evidence of it disappeared until we resumed our accustomed ways, when it began again. "This had a somewhat peculiar result. It compelled the Department to carry on its search for the new line of communication with very few men and with the greatest caution. "This made our work very difificult; but in the end we ascertained that the present line of operations lies through this group of islands, into Ohio, and we have, step by step, accumulated complete information as to MR. STUART'S REVELATION. 145 exactly how the goods are brought here, and how they are disposed of after reaching Ohio, but there is a missing link in the chain. "No man has ever yet been able to discover how the goods are taken from here into Ohio, although every man on the Bureau with a reputation to lose, has tried and failed. "I, myself, have had charge of this work for some time and have passed through all stages of despair over it, until now I have simply settled down to stay here, until some accident reveals the necessary clue, or death relieves me of the responsibility. "The worst feature of it all is, that the few miles covered by the missing link are the very ones most essential, as it is no crime to sail about in these waters with dutiable goods in your boat, for the navigation of Lake Erie is free to the vessels of both countries ; nor is it an oflfense to have them in your possession in the United States, unless the Government can produce proper evidence that they were smuggled; and this is the very thing it is impossible for us to do at present, for we cannot point out where they entered this country. "You can readily understand, therefore, how neces- sary it is that we should locate the lost trail. 146 THE SABERTOOTH. "I have exhausted every naeans known to the pro- fession to secure some hint upon which to work, and my repeated failures lead me to believe that the secret can be known to but few persons, if, indeed, there is more than one. This I am inclined to think is the real fact. "It often happens in games of chance like this that persons entirely without practical experience, by some strange freak of fortune, will win against even the high- est skill or deepest cunning. If the idea is agreeable to you, I shall be deeply grateful if you will give me the benefit of your help and 'lucky touch' while you re- main among the islands. "I must warn you in advance, however, against let- ting your hopes of success rise too high, as I am un- doubtedly well known to the smugglers and their agents, and the fact that you are my friends will put them on their guard against you. It will do no harm, though, to keep your eyes open, and it may amuse you sometimes to join me in my search." CHAPTER XXII. A MEDICINE MAN. Mr. Stuart's proposition was agreeable to both Mark and me, and we passed a very pleasant hour in dis- cussing the best plan to follow in the future. Stuart's suggestions continually reminded him of some past ex- perience of his of which he would tell the story, and in reply to Mark's question how he learned the manner in which smuggled goods were disposed of, he said : "After a pretty thorough examination of the- field, when I was first detailed to the work, I became satis- fied that a large part of the opium was being handled by the retail drug trade; but this was done in such a way that we could not make a satisfactory case. "So I determined at last to go into the drug busi- ness myself, with the idea that sooner or later I would be approached by some agent of the smugglers. To help me in the selection of a location, I procured the formula of some sort of patent medicine which re- quired a large amount of opium. Taking this, I as- sumed the character of a quack doctor and visited a number of towns in the district we had most reason to 147 148 THE SABERTOOTH. suspect, bargaining for the manufacture of my nostrum with the proprietors of various pharmacies. As the result of my business venture, I finally settled upon one of the Ohio towns which lie at the head of navigation of the small rivers that empty into the lake. "I chose this location mainly because I thought its accessibility might possibly make it one of the points at which the opiuni was coming in, and thereby make my task easier; but, I also had had the good fortune ro find there a druggist who was willing to_ trade me an interest in his store for a share in my patent medicine business. So we went to work. My partner prepared the medicine and I traveled about disposing of the goods, or pretending to do so. "This gave me an excellent opportunity to move about without attracting notice and thus gaining a knowledge of the trade. But, after some time spent at this, I found I was getting no nearer the object of my labors, as for some unaccountable reason nobody ever offered to tempt me with smtiggled goods, and I finally concluded to buy out my partner and stay in the store, as I thought my chances would be better there. "I did this, and hired for a prescription clerk a young fellow who had no mind above a few hairs on his upper lip, which he spent most cf his time in trying to coax out. A MEDICINE MAN. 149 "My new business, however, proved very dull, for I did not enjoy getting up out of my comfortable chair to wait upon some small boy and sell him a penny's worth of fly-paper. "My store was located a little away from the business ' center of the town, and I had nothing to do most of the day except stare out of my front door at a blacksmith shop across the street, listen to the stamping of horses and hammering of iron, and watch the sturdy smith embrace the legs of horses, while the blue smoke curled up from their burning hoofs. "I do not believe I could have endured the dreadful monotony of this life, if it had not been for my next- door neighbors, a firm of young and energetic men, who kept a little furniture store and did undertaking in connection with it, furnishing me thereby a never-fail- ing cure for my blues(?). "They were evidently good business men and firm believers in advertising, for the whole front of their building was covered with painted signs, commencing at the top with the following announcement in large letters : HAOK t& HEARST SELL FURNITURE AND DO UNDERTAKING. 150 THE SABERTOOTH. continuing with a list of their wares in detail and in smaller letters, and concluding at the bottom with the unique promise: 'Coffins will be trimmed to suit the taste of those who may unfortunately need them." "This sign was a source of so much diversion to me that whenever I could no longer endure the tedious work of sitting in my own store, I used to walk out and read it; and go back to figure how my coffin ought to be trimmed to suit my taste, when I, too, should unfor- tunately need it. "My neighbors must have noticed my admiration for their sign, for one day as I stood looking at it Mr. Hack came out of his shop and joined me, introducing himself and welcoming me warmly into the business circles of the town. "Our acquaintance, so pleasantly begun, ripened into quite a neighborly friendship, and oftentimes my new friends would come in for chemicals, which they used in embalming, when their regular supply ran short. "My neighbors were not the fashionable undertakers, of the town, but seemed to do most of their business with the country people, and, as I had little else to do, I fell into the habit of noticing their work, and a rather curious feature. of it gradually impressed itself upon my notice. A MEDICINE MAN. 151 "I had never seen before such a place for shipping bodies away for burial. Either the cemeteries in that neighborhood were not healthy, or the inhabitants were the victims of an odd habit; as nearly every corpse my neighbors prepared for burial was shipped to some distant place. It was some time before I learned the reason of this, and then in a singular way. "I became convinced at last that my experiment in the drug business was a failure, and was just ready to give it up, when one afternoon just before the sup- per hour, Mr. Hearst, who attended to the embalming, came in hastily for some drug or other which he needed. It happened that my stock also was for the moment exhausted, but I had received notice that there was more at the railroad depot, and I expected the drayman to appear with it at any minute, so I promised Mr. Hearst he should have it after supper. "It happened, however, that the drayman arrived before I left the store, and thinking to accommodate my kindly friends I slipped over with the drug, by the back way, to the shop where Mr. Hearst carried on his gruesome work. But I arrived too late, as he had gone, and putting down my package I started back ; but with the unconscious habit I acquired long ago in my busi- ness of prying into everything, I lifted the lid of one of 153 THE SABERTOOTH. three rough boxes, such as are used to enclose cof- fins for shipment, which stood on trestles in the shop. "To my surprise, instead of the cold, white face of a corpse which I had expected to see, my eyes rested upon a snug row of tin opium boxes. I hastily exam- ined the two other coffins, and found one to contain opium, but the other held a genuine body. After assur- ing myself that I had made no mistake, I hurriedly re- turned to my store, taking care to carry back my pack- age of drugs and leave all. other things undisturbed. "So this was the secret of the rushing business of my friends in exporting corpses! No wonder I had not been approached by any agent of the smugglers, when they were carrying on their business by the wholesale under my very nose, leaving me loaded down with a fly-blown stock of drugs and a vast amount of unsal- able patent medicine. "My labor had not been in vain, however, and I was under the painful necessity of putting in motion ma- chinery which deprived my former neighbors of a very lucrative branch of their business. But, out of regard for their kindly ways and the pleasure their humorous sign had given me, I took care that they received no worse punishment than a severe fright; particularly as they had been the indirect means of putting in my A MEDICINE MAN. 163 hands a part of the information I sought, and I was very sure they would not again wilfully violate the cus- toms laws. I need not say, however, that I did not, either at that time nor since, discover the source from which they received the opium." \ CHAPTER XXIII. THE SABERTOOTH. It was singular what a change Mr. Stuart's revela- tion made in our lives. It seemed as if we had sud- denly entered a new world, for we unconsciously re- garded everything and everybody as connected with smuggling. It was indeed possible that the secret we longed to discover might be concealed in the mind of the first person we passed. There was something fascinating yet disagreeable in this, as it destroyed all our kindly faith in humanity, and made us suspicious of the most unlikely people. In time, however, this uncanny feeling wore away; and, as the days went by without new developments, we gradually resumed our accustomed ways. We made frequent trips in the yacht at Stuart's suggestion, and on one of these, while the boat slipped pleasantly through the water and we sat together in the cockpit exchanging stories, Stuart suddenly turned to me, and, producing an article from his pocket, said, "By the way, Mr. Arrowsmith, I have something here which has excited my curiosity, and may interest you. I 154 THE SABERTOOTH. 155 found it some days ago in a crevice of the rock, as I strolled along the beach, and I have wondered ever since what it could be." He handed me what appeared to be the enormous claw of a giant bear, but which upon closer examination I found to be a tooth. For some little time I could not think of any animal to which it might belong, but suddenly there flashed into my mind the recollection of some terrible fangs I had once studied in a museum — fossils belonging to an ani- mal unknown since the Ice Age, the smilodon or saber- toothed tiger. It did not seem possible that there could exist on earth an unfossilized specimen of these teeth, and yet the longer I gazed the more certain I became of the thrilling fact that in my hand there lay, somewhat worn and much polished, as if by constant use, it is true, but still as perfect and natural as ever, a saber- tooth, which must have grown in the mouth of its .original owner thousands, perhaps millions of years before. Where had it come from? And what was the secret of its preservation? There could be but one explanation of its perfect condition and unfossilized state. It must have been carried on the person of some human being all these years. 156 THE SABERTOOTH. And yet, such a supposition was so manifestly ab- surd that I did not even mention it to my friends, for fear of being ridiculed. However, I asked Stuart if I could keep the tooth until I could find an opportunity to look up the authorities. Stuart readily agreed to this, and said, "I make you a present gladly of all my rights and interests in the curiosity, but from some things that have happened since it has been in my possession, I imagine you will find a claimant for it. You probably have not forgotten how active our friend Old Stone used to be; but his previous efforts have paled into insignificance com- pared with the way he has haunted me since I found that tooth. For, no piatter where I go, night or day, I find him at my back; and whenever I turn upon him he greets me with looks of hate and malice, which from an abler man would cause me some uneasiness. And, although he has never asked me for the tooth, or given me an opportunity to question him about it, I am con- vinced that the tooth is his property, that he saw me pick it up, and that it has some special value to him. Maybe it will be well, after it has served your purpose, to return it to him." This I promised to do; but certain circumstances which you are soon to learn, intervened, and the saber* THE SABERTOOTH. 157 tooth remains in my possession as a souvenir of the strange adventures which were even then hastening toward us, the first of which was directly connected with the singular relic, and occurred but a day or two after the above conversation took place. WHERB THE SABERTOOTH WAS FOUND CHAPTER XXIV. A NARROW ESCAPE. Mark found about this time tiiat tlie yacht needed some repairs, which would necessitate docking it, and being seized with the humor to spend a day or two on the mainland, instead of sending the boat over in charge of Jiminy George, we concluded to go along; so, late one afternoon, we left the Bay for Sandusky. The wind was very light from the Southwest, and, to escape being blanketed by the island, we passed out to the westward of it, and stood down close to the shore, hoping to get a parting salute from our friends at The Victory as we passed it. But, somewhere about halfway round to the hotel, we saw our friend Stuart standing on the shore, waving his arms violently, and thinking something must have occurred of which he wished to tell us, Mark, who was at the helm, threw the yacht up into the wind, ordered the dinghy lowered, and, telling the skipper to wait for us there, stepped into the boat and motioned me to follow. Taking the oars, Mark headed for the shore, which 158 A NARROW ESCAPE. 159 at that point is rocky and abrupt, as well as overgrown with a thicket of brush. There was just ahead of us, however, a favorable landing-place, and a few mo- ments' row would bring us to it. Stuart was standing quietly facing us and yvaiting for our approach, when, within a few yards of land, I was' surprised and somewhat amused to see emerging from the bushes just back of Stuart the uncanny head and shoulders of Old Stone. But my amusement quickly turned to horror, and the blood froze in my heart, as I saw the old man suddenly tower up, as he had done once before in my recollection, raise one of the enor- mous clubs he used for canes high in the air and aim a murderous blow at poor Stuart's head. I managed to utter a cry of warning to him, but Stuart must have seen in my face before I could use my threat that something threatened him and rendered doubly acute and active by his dangerous profession, he sprang aside and escaped the fatal blow, that other- wise certainly would have brained him. Mark, startled by my cry, turned a hasty look over his shoulder, and seeing how matters stood, with a couple of strokes of the oars, that nearly lifted the little boat out of the water, sent it ashore, and we rushed to the assistance of our friend. Instantly, and with 160 THE SABERTOOTH. wonderful pluck, Stuart grappled with his strange as- sailant, to whom, however, he proved the merest hand- full, and if we had not been so close at hand, the re- maining moments of his life would have been num- bered. But Mark's great frame and giant's strength were thrown into the scale, with the rush of a lion's leap, and the terrible old man was born backward to the earth, foaming and struggling like a maniac. It took the united strength of all three of us to finally subdue him. The men on the yacht had observed our actions, and, lowering a boat, came tearing to our assistance. They arrived too late to be of use except to do up our pris- oner in a most sailor-like set of lashings, and help to place him in one of the boats, for Mark decided to put him aboard the yacht to take him to the nearest author- ities, as it was evidently unsafe to allow him unre- stricted liberty. I suppose this must have been the first time Old Stone was ever handled by his fellowmen, or we should have had some hint of the strange fact which became manifest when we undertook to lift him into the boat. As he lay upon the rocks, with the cords drawn so tight that the indescribable mass of rags which served A NARROW ESCAPE. 161 him for clothing was brought close to his form, we had a perfect opportunity to estimate his size, which, to our amazement, showed him to be a much larger man even than Mark. But, acknowledging'this, and making every allow- ance for unseen dimensions, there was nothing per- ceptible to justify his enormous weight; for, when we undertook to lift him he resisted our efiforts as if he ■ was nailed to the ground, and it took the united strength of all of us to put him in the boat, which al- most sank under him, at which our superstitious French sailors were nearly seized with a panic. We were obliged, of course, to postpone our trip ; so Mark gave the skipper orders to steer back to the Bay ; and, making Old Stone as comfortable as possible on deck, we went below and did justice to the good dinner which Collarbones, in spite of all the excitement, had managed to prepare. The wind had died down so much that it was dark before the hook was dropped, and dinner being over about the same "time, we sat discussing the question of v/hat should be done with Old Stone. I felt, and said, that after the experience of that day, none of us could feel safe from the old man's malice, and, while I had no particular fear for myself, I could 162 THE SABERTOOTH. not be content to know that the lives and persons of my friends were in peril. There was no telling who might be the next to feel the effect of Old Stone's hatred, which evidently extended to us all, hence I could see no way out of the difficulty, but to turn him over to the authorities, and prefer charges against him for that day's work. But Stuart, for excellent reasons, did not care to be brought into the public notice which the prosecution of such a well-known character as Old Stone would in- volve, and, as it was against him the old man had of- fended, nothing could be done without his consent. I argued stoutly that it was unfair to the rest of us to pass over such a serious matters without action ; and Stuart was reluctantly yielding to the justice of my claim, when Mark, who had heretofore kept silence, put an end to the argument by proposing that we have Old Stone brought into the cabin, and try' by question- ing him to learn the cause of his dislike for us; when we probably could remove the cause, and with it all danger of future trouble. This suggestion was so acceptable that Collarbutton was immediately sent on deck with an order to the skipper to send Old Stone below; and soon the poor old man came shufiSing down the companionway, with A NARROW ESCAPE. 163 the help of his two canes, and supported on either side by one of our Bay-shore men, who kept a wary eye on their charge until they stood him in the center of the cabin and received orders from Mark to retire. We could scarcely trust our senses as we looked at the pitiable object before us. A poor, feeble, bowed old man, more shrunken and decrepit than we had ever known him before, and tottering and shaking with pal- sied excitement. What had become of the giant form and power, which had tested our united strength but a short time since; and where were the maniac courage and mur- derous ferocity which had chilled our hearts with fear such a little while ago? Gone! And in their place nothing remained but senile fear and childish weak- ness; and, as I looked at him, every feeling of dislike and anger vanished from me, and only pity remained. CHAPTER XXV. OLD stone's story. Mark took the lead in questioning the old man, and asked him kindly what we had done to cause him to dislike us, assuring him that if it were anything that could be remedied we should be glad to do whatever lay in our power, as we had no cause or wish to anger him. We waited for Old Stone's reply, but his excitement seemed to master him and impede his speech, and he trembled so violently that we feared he would fall, and started forward to sustain him. But before we reached him, he gasped out, "Brandy! For the love of God, give me brandy," and Mark, has- tily opening the spirit locker, poured out a generous measure of the fiery stimulant, which he was obliged to hold to the lips of the old man, who drained the glass at one gulp, and again and again begged for more, until he had taken what would have killed an ordinary man ; but upon him it seemed to have no effect except to decrease his excessive trembling. When Old Stone was finally satisfied, his form sud- 16i OLD STONE'S STORY. 165 denly dilated and towered erect, and, turning towards Stuart, with a look of such burning and unconquerable hatred that Mark and I instinctively started forward and placed ourselves between the men, the second time that day the old man raised his murderous club, but this time he only pointed it at Stuart, and, shaking the knot- ted timber at him, said, in a voice thick with passion, "There sits the object of my hatred. There is the man who has dogged and hunted me for years, and for some unknown reason, seeks continually to injure me, and now has stolen from me the fang of my first tiger, which I gave my wife on our wedding day, and which is all that was left to me of my lost darling." Here Old Stone suddenly ceased speaking and shrank back upon his canes, shrivelling once more into the feeble mendicant. His eyes closed. Slowly all appearance of life faded from him, and gradually his form assumed that strange resemblance to a misshapen mass of rock which had so often excited our curiosity. We waited for him to speak again, until the silence became oppressive. The wind moaned through the rigging overhead, and the yacht rocked in the swell. We sat together on a locker, and presently Stuart whispered to us, that, without doubt, one of the old 166 THE SABERTOOTH. man's strange spells was upon him, and if not disturbed he might possibly tell the curious story of which we had so often heard. Suddenly, from Old Stone's lips there came a long, low, moaning wail, like a, cry from a broken heart; a sound so weird, so sad, that our flesh crept and the tears sprang unbidden to our eyes, and we hung with breathless interest on each word of the strange tale that followed. And it will ever be a source of regret to me that to my feeble pen and faulty memory must be en- trusted the task of repeating it. For the noble rhythm and strange metaphor of the words escape me, and no pen could do justice to the passionate emotion which shook the frame of the strange old man at every re- membrance of his lost ones. "Oh, my love! My love! My Wife! "Heart of my heart and joy of my soul. Am I never more to see the glad lovelight in thy fond eyes? "And my children ! My precious babes ! "Oh ! Recall- the curse of thy dying eyes and send rest to my tired heart! "Ah! the torture of these dragging centuries! Al- mighty Ruler of the Northwind, Sender of the Snows, hear thy wretched child! Withdraw thine awful ven- geance and send merciful death to my relief ! OLD STONE'S STORY. 167 "But, my crime ! Alas ! I know too wetl, no punish- ment could be too great for my atrocious deeds. And yet, I was not alone in them. But I alone was doomed to bear the burden of the sin. "Hear me. Mortals ! You to whom the blessed hope of death is given, listen to my story, and, in pity's name, search it for some excuse to comfort me. "Long, long ago, so long that I cannot recall the ages that have passed, in a cavern of the hills which once crowned this spot, my wretched mother bore me. "The world was cold, bitter, bitter cold, and buried to the hilltops in snow. "For generations the wretched remnant of our once mighty people, to escape the endless frost and find safety from the ravenous beasts which crowded to the highlands to avoid the engulfing snow, were forced to dwell in caverns in the bowels of the earth, and their miserable lives were a daily struggle with hunger and cold within them. And without, there lay in wait great packs of wolves and the terrible tiger with the saber- teeth. "My childhood's days were haunted with the fear of these, and of the mammoth and the mastodon, whose mighty bulk, seen from afar, filled me with strange fears. But as I grew to manhood my life became one 168 THE SABERTOOTH. long battle with these beasts and I ceased to fear them. For a new and more terrible enemy came to threaten us and fill our souls with dread. "As a child I remember that to make us forget our sufiferings in the endless winter nights the ancients of the tribe would gather us about the feeble fires and tell us strange traditions, which had been handed down for countless generations, of a time when the country all about us, now buried in the snow, was a beautiful val- ley of delight, with birds and trees and flowers, where the sun shone always warm and bright, and there was no cold or snow or ravenous beasts to grieve our happy ancestors. "But, even as they told these wondrous tales of van- ished bliss, I remember the old men would cast uneasy glances to the eastward, and, shivering as if with cold, would draw close the furs about them, and, cowering over the dying embers of the fire, would converse in frightened whispers. "At first I marveled at the old men's fears, for I knew that until age had overtaken them, these had been the bravest men and stoutest hunters of our tribe. But ere I arrived at manhood and by my strength and stature became the leader of my people, I learned to know the reason of the old mens' dread and share the fear which dwelt unceasing in the hearts of all. f OLD STONE'S STORY. 169 "Bitter as the suffering was, which, the cold of win- ter brought us, scarcely less was the misery of the sum- mer days when the melting of the snows forced us from the shelter of our cave and sent us to shiver our nights away in the piercing winds of the hilltops. My earliest memory is of gazing from our hill far out over the snow to a cloud-like shape, which in succeeding seasons I grew to love and dreamed that beyond it lay the fair land of our old mens' stories, where were warmth and safety and the other strange delight of which they told. "But each year that passed and found us on the high- ground, showed that the distant hills were coming nearer and nearer until by the time my beard was grown and my people looked to me as their chief, a mighty cliff was within bow-shot of our hill.. "Long before this I had come to understand and share the fear of the old men for the mountain of ice which slowly crept toward us. "Coming! ever coming! but with such secrecy that no man could mark its movement; and in its fatal sure- ness we read our doom. For, on every hand, to the ends of the earth, lay spread the soft but cruel snow through which there was no retreat. The year I won my cherished bride, the ice wall set its deadly foot upon the slope of the hill which held ro THE SABERTOOTH. ithin its womb the great cavern, into which, for com- anionship, I had gathered all that remained of my ibe. And, by the time my second child lay in its lother's arm, the blue-white wall towered high in air 30ve us, its curving front threatening us like Death's ispended scythe. "To the last we clung to our miserable home, nor ;d we make an effort to escape. The cold was dread- il even in our cavern, piercing our thickest furs, arth and air were filled with the noise of rushing atcrs and ceaseless grindings. The rocks of the hill -oaned and cracked under the terrible pressure which as' put upon them. "Nearer and ever nearer to the mouth of the cave ime the ice; and greater grew the danger, until at last e no longer ventured forth, but clung together in iguished fear in the cavern's deepest recesses. "The fatal moment came at last. "Our hill, which had so long and nobly defended us om death, taxed beyond its strength, gave way, and ith a roar and crash, like the wreck of a universe, the onster above sprang forward, crushing and rending le rocks, and burying forever, in one common grave, 1 that remained of my unhappy people. "Stunned by the terrible catastrophe for a long time OLD STONE'S STORY. 171 we lay like the dead. Then came an hour of maddest fear, when each sought his own safety, and ran shriek- ing about the cave in search of it. "The strong trampled on the weak, or fought each other in aimless frenzy. Stalwart sons struck down their aged mothers and mothers forsook their own babes. "Love, reverence, manhood — all were forgotten; in that dreadful hour the instinct of self-preservation alone remained. "Reason was slow in reasserting her sway. Her return but served to render more acute our perception of the calamity which had overtaken us, and our mad- ness gave place to a torpor of despair, as we were called upon to endure the long, slow, lingering death of hun- ger. "One by one the sufiferers disappeared, and the circle of the living grew smaller and smaller, each separate member of it, in sullen silence, fighting the terrible pangs which gnawed his gaunt body with ceaseless bit- terness, until all semblance of humanity disappeared and the savage animal alone remained. Then each glared at h's neighbor with dreadful looks of wolfish hunger. And when a whisper traveled round the shud- dering circle, which told of ghoulish feasting on the 2 THE SABERTOOTH. idies of the dead, there was no voice of protest — all imoied for a share of the loathsome food. "In time there came an end to even this disgusting source and we were driven to starvation's last and ost terrible resort. Lots were cast to decide who it is must die, that the feeble spark of wretched life ight be kept smouldering another day in the grisly idies of the remnants of the tribe. "But never in all the suffering and unspeakable hor- r of these closing days did my poor people forget eir reverence for their chief. As such I and mine ;re exempt from the hazard of this lottery of death; itil, at last, all life was sacrificed and Jione were left ve my family and one man, to try the fatal hazard, d when the poor fool demanded that my wife, and y children should share it, I laughed in his face, and, izing him without mercy broke his neck as I would ist a reed. "This was the beginning of the end. For, with his rpse, which served to keep life in us many days, van- led the last vestige of hope ; and I sat beside my per- ling wife and children until madness came upon me, d I did the horrid deed of which no tongue can eak. In my maniac raving I raised my hand against y wife, who was sunk in a merciful stupor, and knew t when her babes were taken. OLD STONE'S STORY. 173 "But ere my murderous blow had fallen, conscious- ness returned to her, and, with a smile, she asked for her children, but reading the dreadful truth in my guilty face, she fell back with a blighting curse on her lips, and called down the vengeance of the Great Spirit upon me with her dying breath. "What followed then I know not, for I must have fallen into a trance and lay there countless centuries, for, when consciousness returned, I found myself en- tombed in solid rock, as the dripping water had placed its seal upon me, and I lay a prisoner for ages, con- demned to endless life, tortured with undying remorse, and gnawed by ceaseless hunger, to which the curse of my dying wife had doomed me. "The dreadful solitude and silence of the cave at last was broken; for men came, rolling wooden casks which they heaped high around and over me, and going their way, for some strange reason, returned no more. "Years passed. In time the wood of the casks de- cayed and their contents trickling down upon the rock above me softened it, and seemed to fill my body with new life. With a mighty effort, I tore myself from the bonds which held me, and rose up once more to life and freedom in a strange, new world, but — " The old man seemed suddenly to regain conscious- 4 THE SABERTOOTH. tss, and with it his wonderful tale abruptly ceased, nd the powerful voice which had set our heart-strings uivering changed to a beggar's whine. The ancient, lief who had just stood before us, recounting his hide- 4s tale of suffering was gone, and in his place we saw Jt a feeble, palsied pauper, to whom no stretch of lind could attach a romance. We sat for a space of time, the strange words of the ory ringing in our ears, until coming out from the )ell of Old Stone's voice our curiosity prevailed and e besieged him with questions. We tried to draw om him further particulars of his strange history and ;gged him to tell us the locality of his cave so that we ight examine it for evidence to confirm his story. But ; seemed to be in a state of utter mental collapse, in- ipable of rational speech, and mumbled only incoher- it sounds. We gave up our questioning at last in despair, and [ark, filling the old man's hand with money, helped m gently on deck, and giving the skipper orders to It him safely ashore, returned to us. CHAPTER XXVI. THREE GUESSES. "What Opinion do you gather from Old Stone's story?" asked Stuart of me, after Mark had seated himself. "I hesitate to answer your question, Stuart," I re- plied, "for there has been gradually built up in my mind, bit by bit, a deep conviction, which is so singular and improbable that until now I have not allowed my- self even to think of it, let alone disclose it to any one, for fear of being thought a lunatic. But there is evi- dence so convincing in the story we have just heard that I am sure I have made a discovery which will set the world of science on fire when I have made my observations public, as I mean tO' do as soon as I have secured some minor data, which I hope to get before we are through with Old Sl/one. "And as it will help me to assert the facts to discuss them previously, with your permission and in confi- dence I will submit them to you. "I will begin by stating that I believe Old Stone is neither more nor less than a- human fossil. A sur- 175 176 THE SABERTOOTH. vivor of pre-glacial times, who by some mysterious freak of nature has been preserved alive through countless ages. "I know that this conception surpasses the powers of belief, and that it wJl be impossible to get the scientific world to accept my evidence as conclusive, but, never- theless, I am thoroughly convinced that I have made the discovery which has been the dream of every geol- ogist from the beginning of the science. "Let me give you my reasons for this belief. My first impressions of Old Stone and the stories I heard of him created the feeling in my mind that there was something strangely familiar in it all. His appearance and coloring, his strange habits and extreme age, all floated about in my brain and kept me making mental grabs at them, but it was not until that day on Peach Point that I caught the word I needed to give my thought a name, and you will not be surprised that the idea of his being a fossil then forced itself upon me. And every circumstance connected with the old man, from that day to this, has but confirmed me in my opinion. "But to-night's tale has placed the key-stone in the strong arch of evidence I have gathered. For, let me say this: There are but two ways to account for Old THREE GUESSES. 177 Stone's knowledge of the details of his story. Either he is a deep student of geology and has had access to well-stocked libraries of scientific books, a thing which while possible is utterly improbable, or he experienced these things himself. And from these two solutions you must make your choice, for there is no other." I could see that my argument and absolute conviction had carried my friends with me against their will, but soon Stuart asked me how long it took to make a fossil and what was my impression of Old Stone's age. And, when I was obliged to admit that, at the least calcula- tion, it must be two hundred centuries, he rebelled. "I am sorry, Arrowsmith," said he, "that I cannot share your opinion; to oblige so good a friend I could stand two or three hundred years, but when you ask me to believe that any man could live twenty thou- sand years, I must beg to be excused. I am a plain and not highly-educated person with an unscientific imagination, but even if you were to pile up a mountain of proof as high as Pike's Peak, and wind it to the top with a chain of circumstantial evidence as strong as steel cables, I should still have my doubts. No, I can't believe it. "Besides, I have a pretty clear idea myself about Old Stone. As you know, I have been here every sum- 178 THE SABERTOOTH. mer for several years, and for reasons you already un- derstand it has been my business to make myself ac- quainted with the history and movements of every liv- ing thing on these islands — even the dogs — and there is not a crook or a turn of this old man that I do not know, or at least I think I do. Hence my belief is that he is the victim of insanity, which, until recently, has been of a mild form, but after to-day's occurrence, I shall believe that it is becoming more acute, and that he will bear close watching. But what do you think of him, Mr-. Carling? Let us hear your opinion." At this direct question, Mark, who until now had been a silent but interested listener, rose and closed the hatch and skylight, and looked about to see that no one was listening, then, motioning to us to gather close about him, began to speak. "With all respect to both of you, gentlemen, let me say that I agree with neither in the opinions you have formed of Old Stone. "As to your theory, Dick, I can only say, like Stuart, that it is beyond my comprehension. But, as it does not conflict with my idea, I am willing to accept it as a fact, upon your "say-so." "I dififer entirely, however, from you, Stuart, in your belief that the old man is insane. THREE GUESSES. 179 "Although Old Stone's story is so remarkable that it is hard to understand, yet it rang true and clear in every detail, and, aside from its terrible particulars, there was not the first sign of raving to show that the mind from which it proceeded was disordered; so, as far as the story goes, 1 cannot find in it anything to con- firm your belief. As to the attempt upon your life to- day, I have an entirely different reason to account for it, which seems to me much more probable and ra- tional ; but, before giving it, I must go back a little way and explain to Stuart what to you, Dick, is familiar. "I have, Mr. Stuart, a somewhat peculiar brain. Not peculiar for its extraordinary powers, but for the lack of them. I have been handicapped all through my life by slow perceptive faculties; and, undoubtedly, seem stupid and ignorant to all but those who know me well; and, in a way, they are right. "But as an offset to this, my brain kindly consents to do certain things on its own account and without my assistance, which has led me to call its action 'the hole in my head.' "Richard knows about this and claims to understand it, and kindly says I am the fortunate possessor of extraordinary gifts of memory and analysis. Perhaps this is so. But these precious powers are not under 180 THE SABERTOOTH. my control, and, for all the use I have of them, they might as well belong to some other man, although they are a surprising help to me sometimes in furnishing me with an opinion or decision in difficult matters which I have never known to be wrong; consequently I never disregard them, but always act upon their guid- ance. "As I sat listening to Old Stone to-night, at a cer- tain point in his story, my penny-in-the-slot head be- gan to buzz; and, before he finished, the wheels had locked upon an idea, which may seem as strange as Dick's, yet henceforth it will be for me the law and gos- pel, and whatever happens I am bound to see it to the end. "You will remember, Stuart, when you first disclosed to us your errand here, and told us about the smug- glers, you said that your experience led you to believe that the great smuggling operations narrowed down to a passage through this group of islands, and that, prob- ably, the forces of the organization, large as they un- doubtedly were on each side of this point, here dimin- ished to a few men, possibly to a single one. "I agree with you in this conclusion. And, further-, more, I believe it is but one man, and he must be the master-mind of the whole conspiracy, otherwise you THREE GUESSES. 181 would have been able before this to get some inkling of the master secret. "Still further. I believe that the one mind and the one person is that of no other than Old Stooe, and that if you can incriminate him, you will have the arch- conspirator of them all." Here Stuart and I interrupted Mark with shouts of rude and unsympathetic laughter, at his ridiculous and romantic answer to the Old Stone riddle. "I thought Arrowsmith's idea was too wild for be- lief," said Stuart. "But after your solution, Mr. Car- ling, it begins to seem perfectly plausible, by compar- ison. No! no! Mark. Much as I respect the decision of your supreme court, 'the hole in your head,' as you call it, I am bound to say that it is wrong for once. As I have just said, I have watched Old Stone closely for several years, and if he had had any connection with the smugglers I should have known it. You will have to try again, Mr. Carling." I also threw cold water in large quantities on Mark's theory; but neither laughter nor jeers shook him. Very calmly he continued: "From the very moment you, Stuart, said— on our first evening on the island, when you were telling us what you knew about Old Stone — that he was addicted 182 THE SABERTOOTH. to the use of opium my curiosity was excited, as it seemed singular to me that such a character could ob- tain, in the little village at the Bay, sufficient opium to satisfy what must be his now enormous appetite; for I know the users of this drug must continually increase the dose to obtain the desired results. I quietly inves- tigated this point and found, to my astonishment, that positively not a particle of opium had ever been sold to him by apy dealer in the island. "I puzzled greatly over this until our discovery of the opium in the lake and your story which immediately followed. These at once furnished an explanation and established a connection between Old Stone and the smugglers. "Then the old man's extraordinary activity in moving about the island and spying upon us, particularly when you, Stuart, were with us, led me to believe, and his attack upon you to-day Confirms this, that he is per- fectly aware of your errand here; and you have an- noyed him and disturbed his plans until he was ready to get rid of you, even at. the price of murder, and you must watch carefully for him in future or he will ac- complish his purpose yet. But the crown of all my impressions came to-night ; and, in telling his wild story, Old Stone unconsciously THREE GUESSES. 183 furnished the exact particulars necessary for my slot- "machine head, and I maintain, the cave he mentioned is no fairy tale, but actually exists; and, furthermore, it runs from this island under the lake to the mainland; and through it leads your 'lost trail,' Stuart, over which pass all the smuggled goods which give you so much trouble ; and I propose, if I live, to find this cave, just to prove I am right and exonerate the 'hole in my head.' " I was unable to express my astonishment at the sin- _gular turn matters had taken. Here were threie men in perfect health and full possession of their senses, and with at least the average intelligence, who had been closely associated for many weeks, living about the same life, seeing practically the same things, a good share of the time with the same object in view, and yet, such was the nature of Old Stone's peculiar character, that, on the first comparison of views, it was apparent none of us had received the same impressions, and that further develppments were necessary to har- monize our views. As matters now stood, there was no vital reason why Old Stone might not be the fossil man I believed him, and still be the leader of the smugglers and capable of great things, as Mark supposed; although this was so improbable that I could not bring myself to credit it. 184 THE SABERTOOTH. after my almost daily tabservation of the old man's feebleness and apparent senility of mind. Mark might also, out of courtesy, accept my conclu- sions as to Old Stone's nature; but these were scarcely reconcilable to the strength of body and vigor of mind necessary to account satisfactorily for his theory. Neither of our conceptions could tolerate Stuart's con- clusions as to Old Stone's insanity, since, to admit this, was to destroy the value of the important evidence we both derived from his story. Stuart was in the worst position of all ; for my eictra- ordinary deductions promptly choked him, and his stomach as promptly refused to accept Mark's romantic proposition. Although we argued long and hotly over the ques- tion, each bringing forward every detail he could re- member in support of his argument, we finally separ- ated for the night as wide apart as at the beginning. While a difference of opinion, however great, could make no impression on our firm friendship, the uncon- scious desire of each to prove himself right naturally led us for a time somewhat apart, in search of fresh evidence. CHAPTER XXVII. A MAN OF LETTERS. Mark was as good as his word; the very next morn- ing he began his long and arduous labor of following Old Stone's trail. He was obliged to go about this with the greatest caution, to avoid arousing the old man's suspicions, as Mark was fully convinced that he already knew we were connected with Stuart in his search. From that day we ceased, to count on Mark with certainty for the everyday excursions or other little entertainments, which oiir now wide acquaintance with the society on the island, afforded us. Often he would be gone all night and return to the yacht in the morning, haggard with want of sleep, his clothing torn from scraping through brambles or over rough rocks, or stained with mud from lying on the wet ground or beach. He said very little to us about his experience; and when I reproached him for needlessly risking his health on such a mad errand, he only laughed and, after a plunge overboard, to rid himself of the marks 185 186 THE SABERTOOTH. Df his night's toil, would roll into his berth and sleep like a child all the long day. Or, again, he would leave the yacht before daybreak, and, seeking some cover favorable to his purpose, would He there mo- tionless until after dark at night in hope of catching Old Stone off his guard. Day and night he pursued the old man relentlessly, never for a moment despair- ing or relaxing his vigilance. Of course, it was impossible for me to accompany Mark in his search, as it would have attracted too much attention to have both of us suddenly forsake our accustomed ways, so I was thrown upon my own resources for occupation, and naturally drifted more and more into the society of Margaret Fosdick. The opportunity was now favorable to my cause, and I sought to learn my fate by the most delicate ap- proaches, as I would not put upon the object of my love the pain of an unnecessary refusal; nor would I press my cause if I could be sure there was any prefer- ence, conscious or unconscious, for Ma.rk in Mar- garet's mind. But try as I might, no test I could apply showed that in her heart there was for either of us any more than a fearless and maidenly friendship, except that to me she was more frank in the intellectual sparring which usually accompanied our conversations. A MAN OF LETTERS. 187 At last, however, after Mark had absented himself for some time from our little circle, she seemed dis- tressed and uneasy over something; and, taking ad- vantage of a moment when we were separated a little from the others, by the ebb and flow of the current of life on the porches of The Victory, she asked me quietly to take her down the hilly lawn before the hotel to the clifif, where she hoped to find it cooler. There was nothing new. or strange in this request, as it was our commonest form of diversion, and no notice was taken of our going; but when we reached the clifif, after a few turns up and down, Miss Fosdick gently guided me to a rustic bench under the shade of a spreading tree which was hidden from the view of the porches by a clump of shrubbery. Once seated, Margaret drew from a little reticule which she carried on her arm a bundle of letters, which she held in her hand as she said in a low and anxious voice: "I must ask you in advance, Mr. Arrowsmith, not to be surprised at my apparent want of maidenliness in coming to you, a comparative stranger, with the matter I will disclose; but, as you are familiar with the beginning of it, and it is imperative that I have counsel, I have, after mtich deliberation and anguish of mind, brought myself to speak of the matter to you. 1S8 THE SABERTOOTH. "My natural confidents are, of course, my parents; but my father is old and very feeble, and my mother's health is extremely delicate, and I fear the shock of what I have to impart would have serious conse- quences to ,one or both of them. In turning from them, I have been led to ask you to assume my deli- cate and sacred trust by the high opinion I have formed of your wisdom and discretion, and above all by those qualities of honor and manhood and gentle sympathy, so dear to women, and the mark of a true man. As such I beg of you to accept my confidence and give me the benefit of your counsel and assistance. Will you do this?" "My dear Margaret! — I beg your pardon — Miss Fosdick," I replied. "While it grieves me greatly to hear that your mind is troubled, I am gratified to know that your good opinion of me has led you to honor me with your trust, and I assure you that no matter what form your request may take, my only regret will be that my powers to aid you are no greater." Upon this assurance Miss Fosdick laid in my hands the bundle of letters, and motioning me to wait before opening them, said: "You were a witness of mv association with Mr. A MAN OF LETTERS. 189 Dupont and of his efforts to force himself into notice as my friend, and possibly as my lover. "You may also remember the evening of our yacht ride with the boys. How they sang, and how impres- sive it was, and how Mr. Dupont's voice, coming out of the silence, affected me. "I believe I said to you then that his voice had a strange hold upon me, and I feared it might eventually cause me to do some foolish thing. But the coming of yourself and Mr. Carling had brought a new inter- est into my life, which lessened the influence of Mr. Dupont upon me, and his conduct when he noticed this became more and more distasteful to me, and you were a witness to his humiliation. Instinctively I feared then that he might take some underhanded means to revenge himself upon me, and I was not mistaken; for in those letters you will find that he has conceived a dastardly plot against the lives of my parents, for if he carries out his threat and drags me into court to defend a suit for breach of promise, I know that neither of them would survive the disgrace to the high and honorable name which my father has won for us by a life-time of toil and effort, and which to him, in his declining years, is all that links him to the world. To drag it now through 190 THE SABERTOOTH. the mire of a scandal, to be hissed at and scorned throughout the land, would be more than he could bear, and he would sink into his grave, to be quickly followed, I am sure, by my saintly mother." Here Margaret's voice broke and great tears brimmed frotn her eyes. As yet, however, I could not see wherein Dupont had any hold upon her, as the simple fact of their association in choir work could contain no ground for a suit that any court would per- mit to come to a hearing, if, indeed, the indications of blackmail were not too apparent. When Miss Fosdick's emotion had subsided some- what, I said as much to comfort her, but in reply she motioned to the letters; at which I opened them. I found each letter to be a violent declaration of Du- pont's love for Miss Fosdick, referring incidentally to promises contained in her letter enclosed, which he "returned at her request." I was neither surprised at or much enlightened by the contents of the letters, as they were about what I had expected to find; but the reference to her letters excited my curiosity and apprehension, as there might be cause in them for the threatened suit. Out of deli- cacy I refrained from opening these, and offered them unopened to Miss Fosdick ; but she motioned me again to read, which I did. A MAN OF LETTERS. 191 To my horror I found, in Margaret's unmistakable handwriting and style, expressions of warmest passion and references to a coming marriage. ^ r laid the last letter down with averted face and gazed out on the endless waters of the lake, which heaved and sunk in sullen smoothness. It seemed as if all joy and hope had suddenly for- saken my life; for my eyes had beheld the clearest evidence that the woman I loved had not only parted with the pearl of her affection, but had "cast it before swine.'' I sat long in silence. It was impossible for me to speak. How could I control myself and hide from Margaret the feelings of disappointment and~\lisgust which filled me, and frame words of sympathy and ad- vice. For, after the revelations of those burning pages, no sincere feeling of pity for the quandary of their author could remain in any truthful breast. And yet, with the evidence of my eyes directly be- fore me, I could not bring myself to the belief that Margaret could be capable of such frivolous and equivocal conduct. At last I turned to her an appealing look and was surprised to find upon her face the wan shadow of a smile. 192 THE SABERTOOTH. She had read my mind with a woman's dnstinct and understood the struggle in my heart, as it halted be- ,tween the fearful evidence of the letters and my love for her, and was unconsciously glad that my good opinion of her had won. In response to my unspoken appeal, she said: "I beg your pardon, Mr. Arrowsmith, for putting your friendship to so severe a test, but it was neces- sary for me to know upon which side of this burning question you would stand after you had seen the evi- dence before I could go further. To oppose this ap- parently conclusive evidence, for the present, and until chance shall put in my hands the proper testimony to refute it, you will be obliged to rest your belief entirely upon my unsupported word. "These letters which purport to be written by me, and I must admit that they bear strong appearance of genuineness, are forged. Yes, every one of them! And the sentiments and statements they contain are as foreign and abhorrent to me as I believe my best friends would like to have them. In some way this creature, Dupont, has made use of the notes my busi- ness association with him necessitated, to have these letters forged by some expert; and you will agree with me that they are sufficiently accurate to put me on the A MAN OF LETTERS. 193 defensive in any action this man may bring, until I am able to prove the forgery. How this is to be done I cannot see, and it is this extremity that has forced me to seek help." It is needless to say that Miss Fosdick's words lifted a great load from my heart, and that not a shadow of doubt remained in it. Serious as the outlook was, it seemed trifling when compared to what had appeared to be the truth. I asked her if she had replied to any of the letters. "I have paid no attention to them as yet," she re- plied. "I do not fear for a moment the issue of any suit that might be based upon these or any future forgeries; but tljis man is utterly unscrupulous and his capacity for evil seems to be unlimited. In his ability lo have forged any papers that may suit his schemes, he has a weapon that might be turned against my parents with fatal efifect. He knows this and seeks to gain his ends by playing on my fears for the family honor and welfare. As long as he stops at this, no great harm will be done ; but if driven to extremes, he may cause a scandal and I must at all hazards be ready in such a case with proofs of his villainy. We cannot hope to prevent his schemes; we can only guard against them." 194 THE SABERTOOTH. I put the question to Miss Fosdick" whether I was to take Mark into my confidence in the matter. She begged me not to disclose it to any of her friends as long as there was hope that her secret might be kept, as it would make it impossible for her to meet them as usual, and this would in time arouse questions in the minds of her parents and lead to their becoming pos- sessed of the truth. I appreciated the force of this argument and kept the matter to myself. At'the eailiest opportunity I went to the mainland and took measures which my counsel assured me would defeat Dupont's present plans. He warned me to be on my guard against further attacks upon Miss Fosdick by the same unscrupulous schemer, but in other directions. CHAPTER XXVIII. A STRANGE DISAPPEARANCE. While I was busy with Miss Fosdick's affairs, Mark had not been idle. He had never relaxed his vigilant watch on Old Stone's movements; but finally, one evening, after lying in a hot and steaming thicket all day, when we were sitting on the yacht's deck with Stuart, enjoying the cool breeze, he for the first time showed signs of discouragement and a disposition to argue the case. "I have spent a lot of good time and worn out sev- eral suits of clothes," he said, "over this thing; but I don't seem to be any nearer my object than I was at the beginning. "Let me go over what I have noticed and if you see an)^hing in my experience to give me a hint for the future I shall be much obliged for a suggestion. There is one particularly strange resirit of my observations which I cannot understand, which is, that if such a thing could be possible, there are two 'Old Stones' perambulating about the island. "I cannot account in any other way for the extreme MS 196 THE SABERTOOTH. speed with which the old fellow gets about. We have all noticed this, but I have watched him moving when he did not know I saw him, or I believe he did not, and at the rate he then traveled he certainly could not make the rapid moves he appears to make. I have noticed that one Old Stone hobbles along slowly, always using his canes, but, singularly enough, with- out making a particle of noise; while the other Old Stone, when unobserved, swings noisily along at a great pace, carrying his canes under his arm or over his shoulder; but the moment he hears a noise or sees any one approaching, he begins to shuffle along with his canes as usual. "The noiseless one always goes along stooped and bowed, but the noisy one walks erect and free. "I have also noticed that Old Stone has two sets of canes, very much alike, but yet with a difference easily noticeable after it is once discovered. "Sometimes I have imagined that there was a differ- ence in the peculiar coloring of the flesh, but there is so little of it visible about his face that I might easily be mistaken in this, and his hands are so grimy that nothing can be told by them. "It occasionally appeared to me that the intense air of old age was lacking in one of the Old Stones, but this might be due to the effect of light and shade. A STRANGE DISAPPEARANCE. 197 "I have satisfied myself of one thing, however, namely, that the old man's visits to the known caves of the island have no significance, as I have been able to observe him long and carefully in each of these with- out his being aware of my presence, and these visits seem to be more from the force of habit than anything else, as he never gives any sign of having any par- ticular business in them. In fact I believe that most of Old Stone's wanderings are the result of old habits, and this makes my task difficult, as I am at a loss to discern what he does with a motive, and what is aim- less wandering. "There is but one thing I have discovered which really deserves mention; every evening, just at the time between dusk and night when sight is most dif- ficult, the old man appears at a point on the beach opposite Starve Island, where in some places the rocks run up out of the water in a gradual slope and are smooth and polished by the glacial action, and in others are ragged and abrupt and contain cavernous cracks. But Old Stone seems to have no particular reason for being at this place, as I have never seen him do anything there; but, owing to the dim light and his peculiar color my eyes may have deceived me, and he disappeared so quickly that I have never had time to make positively sure. 198 THE SABERTOOTH. "My days of usefulness as a detective are now over, however, as I am sure Old Stone has discovered me and has become the hunter; for, no matter when or where I go, or how long or how quietly I hide, when I undertake to leave, I am sure to find the old man close at hand, staring with stony eyes, like the graven image of a Chinese Joss at my place of concealment, and I hear him chuckle as I move sheepishly away. "Now, what do you say, gentlemen? Is there any- thing you can suggest?" But, although we talked over the matter fully and discussed each point of Mark's report carefully, wc could throw no light on the subject or make any sug- gestion, further than that we ought to manage, in some way, to watch the spot which Old Stone was known to visit with an evident motive. At this Mark finally said: "I have a little plan which, if you do not see fatal defects in it, I mean to try to-morrow night. As it is no longer possible to trace the old man successfully by land, I mean to try by water. "There is a crevice in the overhanging rock of the shore, close to where Old Stone disappears every night, which will hold the dinghy nicely, and I will sail the yacht past this place, partly to throw Old Stone A STRANGE DISAPPEARANCE. 199 off his guard by leading hija to believe that we have left the island, and partly to give me a chance to come upon him unobserved." We could see nothing wrong with this idea. At least no harm could come of it, and, as Stuart and I privately thought, no good. But we were ready to try anything rather than be idle, so at the appointed time next evening the yacht was got under way and took the familiar road down the east coast, s,nd, when op- posite the desired spot, which we had timed ourselves to reach just at dark, Mark entered the dinghy and was cast off with wishes for good luck, and we sailed on around the island back to our anchorage. CHAPTER XXIX. THE POWER OF MONEY. When I went on deck next morning, I found Mark had not yet returned, but this caused me no uneasi- ness, as he had been so irregular of late in his move- ments that I thought nothing of it. When, however, on returning to the yacht at noon, after a morning at The Victory, I found he was still missing, I became somewhat uneasy, and, my alarm being shared by the skipper, we got sail on the yacht and stood down to the point where we had lost sight of Mark the night before. As the dinghy was not available, we took the dory and, going ashore, we searched high and low for Mark, and fearing some accident might have befallen him, we shouted aloud his name. But all in vain, for no trace was found of him until we were about to give up the search, with the idea that our fears were foolish and that he had made his way home by some other route, when one of the men discovered, floating in a crevice of the shore, bne of the oars of the dinghy, and searching further down the shore we came upon 200 THE POWER OF MONEY. 201 the boat itself, upset and badly battered by the rocks and sea. We were stunned by the melancholy discovery of this mute evidence, too strong to be put aside, that our friend had perished, and that even then his body might be lying under the clear, cold waters near us. We gazed at each other in sad silence. My heart was too full of sorrow to allow me to speak, and the tears trickled down the bronzed cheeks of the rough but kindly Bay-shore men about me. The skipper was the first to speak, and his "Py Chiminy Chorge, Mr. Arrowsmith, ve must not ze hope lose yet, py Chiminy Chorge. Ve have ze boat and ze oars behold, but, py Chiminy Chorge, ve not yet have seen Mr. Carling, and not yet is ze time to cry, py Chiminy Chorge!" held the only ray of hope for us; and, inspired by these words, we hastened to the yacht and made all possible speed back to the Bay to get help for our search. Upon our arrival at the Bay I hurried at once to The Victory to find Stuart and take council with Judge Fosdick, leaving the skipper to alarm the town and hire every person who could be secured, to search the island and drag the waters of the lake. I was fortunate enough to find Stuart at once, and, 202 THE SABERTOOTH. although he was much overcome at my sad tidings, he also saw a ray of hope in the fact that Mark's body had not been found. He ofifered immediately to take charge of the search and went at once to direct it. My hardest task now lay before me, for I must break the news to Miss Fosdick. Long ere this I had read the riddle of her love, and knew that Mark, and not I, was the chosen one. For in the long days- and nights that had passed since she had placed her trust in me, I had pondered over the question of her choice, and it finally had become clear to me that no woman could have brought herself to make such a dis- closure to the man to whom her maiden love was given. I had struggled long with my rebellious heart before I could bring it to surrender ; but I had conquered, and could now endure with some fortitude the thought that Margaret was lost to me. And now was added to my heavy burden of sorrow the cruel necessity of impart- ing to her the tidings of her lover's disappearance. I cannot now recall what was said at that sad meet- ing; I only remember that in trying gently to tell her the cruel truth, the realization of my own loss over- whelmed me, and I gave way fully to my feelings ; and she, with the noble courage of true women, in times THE POWER OF MONEY. 203 like this, set aside her own grief and strove to com- fort me with words of hope and cheer, and calling in her father, laid the facts before him and sought his advice. In so many ways she showed herself brave and strong, that I, at last, was shamed out of my weak- ness and began to feel hope returning to my heart. The Judge was greatly shocked at what he heard; but, with his lawyer's instinct, he refused to give up hope until confronted with the most absolute proofs. He suggested that Mark might in some way have been run down by a passing vessel and picked up, and we might not hear from him for a day or two; and he might hkve been injured, in which case weeks might elapse before all hope was gone. As a practical thought he suggested that we telegraph to the author- ities at various places where vessels called or received their mail, and also hire tugs and other vessels to search the coasts of the mainland and the other islands, and even hail passing ships. He at once placed at my service the new steam yacht he had purchased to take the place of the launch which we had sunk. In many other ways he gave me valuable counsel and help, insisting, among other things, that I should use some or all, if neces- sary, ef his great wealth to carry on the work. I 204 THE SABERTOOTH. asked the Judge to say whether Mark's father should be sent for at once, but he thought it would be well to see first what the result was of our first day's search ; if no tidings were then had of Mark, and his body was not found, it would then be time enough. Taking leave of these kind friends, I began with a heavy heart the task of organizing the wider search, and going to the little cable office I spent the day in sending notices and engaging tugs. With' approaching darkness came the return of Stu» art and his unsuccessful party, no trace having been found of our friend, living or dead; and Stuart was absolutely sure no further search need be made above or below the surface of the island, and that our only hope lay elsewhere. He approved of all I had done and volunteered to continue the melancholy search on and in the water. We both thought that it would be wrong to longer delay advising Mark's father, and I closed my day's labor by sending to him a message, which would surely bring him to our aid as fast as human efifort would allow; but I was careful to so word my telegram that, while his mind would be pre- pared for the worst, he would not be left without hope. Before I left the yacht next morning, I received an answer to my message, a brief request to meet him at THE POWER OF MONEY. < 205 I stood somewhat apart on the dock as the steamer landed and watched the passengers as they came ashore; presently there appeared a man of advanced years and great size, but somewhat bowed, whose gray hair and beard and somewhat old-fashioned clothing made him noticeable in the throng of well-dressed summer idlers, and I recognized him at once from Mark's description. I advanced to meet him with a curious sinking at my heart, for the glances he cast from side to side seemed to ask "What is this ye have done to this my son?" He soon caught sight of me, and approaching me said abruptly, "Young man, is^your name Arrow- smith?" ajid upon my acknowledging that it was, he led me further aside and asked me to tell him quickly, in as few words as possible, what the trouble was with Mark. I told him the story of Mark's strange disap- pearance, and, when I came to the details of the wrecked boat and our fruitless search, it was pitiful to see this stern old man whose life had been one long story of self-repression. The wells of his heart were dry with long disuse; no tears for the lost idol of his life came to his relief, and no sound of grief escaped him;' but his face turned ashen gray and his jaws locked in a grim set look of fierce rebellion. 206 THE SABERTOOTH. We stood some little time in silence, after the con- clusion of my report, as speech seemed impossible to my companion; but finally his lips parted, and with a voice, harsh and discordant as dry machinery, he ques- tioned me closely as to what steps we had taken to further the search. He approved of what I had done, but went to the cable office at once to summon fur- ther aid, and' then began such an exhibition of the power of wealth and influence that I was dazed and • lived as if in a dream. For this grim old man was touched in his very life, and like a hunted lion at bay put forth his utmost eiifort, summoning to his side the great of the land ; for few there are in it, however rich or exalted, who would not sit up night and day to gratify the lightest wish of old John Broadhead. It seemed as if the world stood still to watch the outcome of this man's effort. And, at his ,call, the lake so swarmed with vessels that it seemed one might almost pass dry shod upon their decks from end to end of it. Every resource of the Government was also drawn upon, and officers of it ran like spaniels at the old man's beck. It is scarcely necessary to say that Old Stone was watched at this time, as the island was so filled with secret service men that he had rest neither night nor day, and was so hounded, that not only was THE POWER OF MONEY. 207 it plain that poor Mark's idea of two Old Stones was wrong, but the time soon came when there seemed to be not even one, as the old fellow disappeared en- tirely and was seen no more until the annoying spies had been withdrawn. No means were left untried to discover a trace of Mark or of his body, and no suggestion offered, how- ever trivial, but was acted upon, and no rumor came to us, but was treated as the truth, and traced to its utmost source. Money was not used but squandered in perfect showers. All in vain, however, and days slipped into weeks without tidings, until all of us, even Margaret and myself, had surrendered hope and looked upon our loved one as forever lost to us. But the fainter the hopes of others grew, the more determined became Mark's father, for in his stem old heart re- mained but one tie to bind him to this earth, and for him to admit that this was broken was to see the sun go out in sadness and the night of sorrow darken his remaining days, and he kept urging us on in the search with fiercest energy. Stuart, with a revenue cutter, patroled the lower lake, and, receiving reports of the various vessels at work in that direction, sent them in by wire; while I, with a fast and powerful tug, performed the same 208 THE SABERTOOTH. service at the upper end of the lake and among the islands, usually returning to the Bay in the morning, to report and to get word of the results of the preced- ing day. Mark's father remained in no one place long, but spent most of his time on the mainland, summoning fresh help and directing the great army already en- gaged in the search, and thus the sad days dragged along. WAITING FOR THB BOAT. CHAPTER XXX. IN A TRAP. My knowledge of what follows next is derived from the best of sources, and thdugh lacking in some details is sufficiently clear to enable one to follow the thread of it, for the rest the reader must let his imagination assist my halting pen. Margaret had been a sad and anxious observer of our long and arduous search, and had passed through all stages of hope and fear until, at last, despair had chilled her heart. Still, she kept up a brave show of courage and cheered us on to fresh endeavors; but the hardest trial she was called upon to bear was her enforced idleness. For while our tasks were but mel- ancholy at best, we were busy at least, and time passed for us only too quickly; but' she, debarred from taking active part with us by the unwritten laws which hedge about her sex, had to pass the leaden hours in anxious self-communion. Although no formal promise of marriage existed, an understanding between Margaret and Mark seemed so natural that her absorbing interest in his fate ex- 210 THE SABERTOOTH. cited no comment among her friends ; and only served to arouse for her among them an increased tenderness and consideration. She was so surrounded and guarded by them that when, at this time, some social obligation called away her parents to the mainland for a short space, they left her without anxiety for her welfare; but she was thus thrown on her own re- sources for occupation and left without her natural guardians and advisers. The morning after her parents had departed, as she sat late in her room, more than usually depressed and lonely, her maid entered the room with unaccustomed haste and a look of suppressed excitement on her face and handed Margaret a telegram. By the general operation of the law of economy, in private life this form of correspondence is always re- garded with dread; and from its constant association with terse messages of death and misfortune, no one can look upon a telegram without misgivings, or be easy until the homely yellow envelope has given up its secret. Miss Fosdick took the message with' a trembling hand and held it for a moment, until the startled throb- bings of her heart grew less oppressive. The news must be of Mark; for she could conceive of no other IN A TRAF. 211 subject which would call for such haste. But what were the tidings, good or bad? She hesitated between joy and apprehension — then, summoning her courage, opened the envelope. The message was dated at Sandusky, and read as {ollows : "/ have found Mark, living, but terribly injured. Asks for you. If you wish to see him again, come at once to No. — B St. Richard Arrowsmith." At last the long period of suspense was ended and Mark was found. But no sooner found than to be lost again forever. It was at least merciful to be allowed once more to hear the voice of her beloved, and to look upon his face before Death should put his seal upon it forever. It was a journey of but an hour or two to his bed- side, and her father's yacht lay at the Bay, subject to her orders, so Margaret sent a hurried notice to the captain of the boat to get ready for the trip at once, and hastily prepared herself. Before leaving the hotel, however. Miss Fosdick called in a lady-friend, and handing her the telegram, hurriedly explained her own expected movements, in case any inquiry should be made. The little voyage to Sandusky was soon over; and 212 THE SABERTOOTH. Margaret anxiously scanned the dock as the yacht approached it for some sign of me, and faihng in this, felt somewhat chilled and uncomfortable; but, quickly recollecting Mark's serious condition, which probably had not allowed me to' leave him even for a moment, and remembering that in her haste she had forgotten to notify me of the time of her arrival, she sent for a carriage and drove to the address named in my tele- gram. This proved to be on the outskirts of the city, and the house, a handsome one, set far back from the street in its own grounds, was the only one for some distance about, apparently erected for the country seat of some wealthy man, and hidden in a thick grove of trees and shrubbery. The servant who answered the door was evidently expecting Miss Fosdick, as, upon receiving her name, she invited her to enter, and asked if she wished to be shown to the room at once. Receiving an assent, the woman piloted Margaret to the floor above, and through several halls to a distant part of the house; finally stopping at a door which she held open for Margaret to enter, and closed after her. The windows of the room were heavily curtained, and every means seemed to have been taken to exclude the Hght, as is the custom in cases of serious illness, IN A TRAP. 213 and sight was difficult, but Miss Fosdick could make out the dim figure of a man approaching her, and was about to step forward to meet him when the turning of a key in the lock of the door startled her, and she glanced hastily behind her, toward the noise, and, turn- ing again, instead of seeing my familiar face, as she expected, beheld the handsome form of Dupont. The shock of this unexpected discovery was great, and for a moment Margaret was overcome with fear and apprehension, but quickly recovering, she drew herself up proudly, and said : "May I ask the meaning of this, Mr. Dupont? Why are you here instead of Mr. Arrowsmith, and where is Mr. Carling?" "I implore your pardon. Miss Fosdick," replied Du- pont, "for employing this little device for obtaining an interview, but I felt my case was becoming desperate, and such is my love for you, Margaret, that I could not see you slip away from me without using every effort to secure an opportunity to plead my cause once more. As you well know, my heart is consumed with love for you, and unless I can have your love in return, life will be a hell of despair to me. I understand how, in your pride, you think it beneath you to give your love to a poor and obscure singer; but let me assure you that I am not such, but long ago, attracted by 214 THE SABERTOOTH. your loveliness, I assumed the part, to enable me to approach you. I am a man of means sufficient to sat- isfy the utmost pride of the Fosdicks, and am not with- out standing among men, and as such I offer you my honest love, and, O Margaret! I beg of you not to turn me away lightly, but consider the pain your re- fusal will give me, and show me some cause, however slight for hope." While Dupont spoke, Miss Fosdick stood like one in a dream, scarcely hearing his voice. Her mind was busy with the two facts that she had been deceived, and that Mark was not there. Her singular position and Dupont's passionate pleadings were unnoticed or forgotten in the overwhelming sorrow which de- scended upon her heart. But, realizing at the same time that Dupont, encouraged by her silence, was becoming bolder, she checked the torrent of his plead- ing with a cold gesture of her hand. "I regret, Mr. Dupont," she said, "giving pain to any one^ and particularly to one whom at one time I numbered among my friends, but you have brought this upon yourself deliberately, and let what I now say be final. "At no time was there ever in my mind or heart the slightest shadow of other than friendly consideration IN A TRAP. 215 for you, even when I supposed you to be a gentleman, and I leave to your imagination what my present feel- ings for you are, now that I know you to be a — scoundrel!" "Take care. Miss Fosdick!" cried Dupont, the light of anger flaming in his face at Margaret's scornful and stinging words. "These are words you might safely say to some humble dependant, if you were surrounded by your friends, but they are more than a desperate man can bear. Twice have I, in all honor, offered you my sincere love, and twice have you scorned and shamed it. Not again will I humble myself. I liow demand!" Here Dupont's voice assumed a stern and threatening tone; and, taking out his watch, he said, "The Fosdick pride shall be humbled before me. In one hour the papers of this city go to press, and they will scatter to the four corners of the earth a story which might mean death to your parents and certainly a living death to you. For you are in a house of ill- repute and are known to have come here, by appoint- ment, to meet me, and unless I instruct my agents to the contrary, and you leave this house as my wife, your proud name will be a hissing and a byword through- out the world. Take time to consider. You have an hour in which to decide your fate." 216 THE SABERTOOTH. But Margaret, through whose brain Dupont's cruel words had crashed like bullets, needed no time to frame an answer to the brute. Raising her head proudly she said: "I realize only too well, sir, that I am fully in your power, and that I can expect no help ; and what I say is with that knowledge. I fully under- stand the terrible consequences that would follow the success of your plot. And so well have you arranged it, that I have been forced to consider your alternative as the only means of escape from my present situation. But, sir," and here Margaret's voice trembled and for the first time showed the effect of her terrible strain, "in your admirable calculations you have overlooked one alternative, and I say that sooner than surrender myself to you, or permit you to drag the fair name of my father through the mire of scandal, my poor life shall perish %om this earth." Laying her hand upon her throbbing heart to quiet its wild beatings, Margaret faced the bafHed and rag- ing villain, into whose face crept a look of hatred and brutal lust, as, with the snarl of an angry tiger, he came slowly nearer. CHAPTER XXXI. A MARKBD MAN. At the end of two weeks of unremitting search, as I returned one morning from the westward to the Bay, after a night of weary rounds of visits to tlie patroling fleet, I noticed, through a gap in the trees on the north cape, the Fosdick's yacht making its way quietly southward. This made no particular impression on my mind at the time, except that anything connected with the Fosdicks was apt to arouse in me a train of bitter-sweet reflection ; and it was soon driven from my mind by other matters, for as our boat swung into a position giving us an unobstructed view of the Bay and the surrounding buildings, my heart sprang to my mouth, as about the cable office were gathered a large number of people, and I surmised at once that some news of Mark had been received. As we rounded the high head of Gibraltar and Mark's yacht came in sight, the skipper of it^sprang forward, waving his arms violently at us, confirming my belief that word had been received. I ordered the tug brought alongside the yacht, where Jiminy George 217 18 THE SABERTOOTH. anded me a telegram, which I tore open with shaking ands and, glancing through it, gave a glad hurrah, nd handing the message to my companions collapsed Dr a moment into a fit of overwhelming emotion. The message was from Mark, and, giving the name f a Sandusky hotel, read as follows : "I am all right nd sorry to have caused so much trouble. Would ome over, but cannot get a boat for love or money, 'ome after me at once if possible." As soon as I could command myself, I hurriedly ;rote telegrams to Stuart and Mark's father, telling bem the good news, and, my first thought naturally eing of Margaret, I started at once to the hotel to see er, and fearing that I might be delayed by the kindly, ut time-consuming questions of the crowd at the cable ffice, through which I would have to pass if I took lie car, I sent the skipper ashore with the messages, nd ran to The Victory by the short road, along the /est shore. Arriving there, I found to my disappointment that /[argaret was absent, but as I turned to go back to the oat, I heard my name called, and saw Miss Avery, ne of Margaret's intimate friends, who beckoned to le, and taking me aside, said, "When did you return rom Sandusky, Mr. Arrowsmith?" A MARKED MAN. 219 "I have not been in that city for some time," I re- plied. "Rut why do you ask me this?" "Then there is something wrong about the matter; for Miss Fosdick received from Sandusky this morn- ing a telegram signed by you, saying that you had found Mr. Carling, but that he was fatally injured and she must come at once if she wished to see him before he died. Wait just a moment and I will get the mes- sage." I was thunderstruck at Miss Avery's words; and, while she was absent, I turned the matter over in my mind for some solution of the mystery. But not until I held the dispatch in my hand and noted its peculiar wording, did an inkling of the facts come to me. Then the sickening' truth pierced and seared my brain like a tongue of fire and the name of Dupont escaped my lips. The thought of the sacred object of my love opposing alone her frail strength to his wicked machin- ations was maddening, and I know not what I may have said in my frenzy; but recalled to my senses by Miss Avery's horrified face, I hastily begged her not to mention my suspicions to any one, and assuring her that I would move heaven and earth to prevent harm from reaching Miss Fosdick, I ran at my utmost speed to the Bay. Stepping breathless on the deck 220 THE SABERTOOTH. of the tug, I gasped orders to its captain to get to Sandusky as quickly as Providence and his machinery would permit, and to urge the crew to greater efforts, I spread among them some hint of the truth. This was sufficient to cause them to labor like giants to get the last notch of speed out of the shaking craft; and, with a weighted safety valve and furnaces roar- ing like the fires of hell we rushed along at a pace which, although the tug was fast and powerful, her builder never contemplated. But fast as we went and rapidly as we caught up the start Miss Fosdick had of us, to my mind, burning as it was with anxiety and apprehension, we seemed al- most to stand still; and, though the forward deck was buried under the water which flew over the bow and the smoke rolled in masses from the stack under the forced draught, I called continually for greater effort until the captain was obliged to acknowledge that nothing more could be done, and that he was in con- stant fear the boilers would burst. Fortunately the good boat stood the strain and car- ried us flying to the dock at such a pace that people on shore, who had observed our extraordinary speed, came running up to learn the cause of it. But, leaving them to satisfy their curiosity as best they might, I A MARKED MAN. 221 sprang into a carriage which stood nearby, giving the driver the name of Mark's hotel, and persuading him to put his horses to their highest speed by reckless promises of extra fare. Under this powerful spur, the driver did his best, and as his horses were good, we covered the distance at an unheard-of speed. Arriving at the hotel, I hurried to the office and by good fortune found Mark at once. He was thin and pale, but still the same kindly dear old fellow. Be- yond a warm hand clasp I lost no time in greetings, but dragged Mark abruptly to the carriage, which was waiting, and, giving the driver the address to which Margaret had gone, I doubled my former premiums for speed and urged him in God's name to hurry. As we tore along the streets at a mad gallop I explained my strange conduct to Mark and told him my worst fears. As I proceeded a flush of anger spread over his pale face and when I had finished there came into his usually mild blue eyes a glitter of deadly determina- tion. Opening the carriage window he shouted to the driver a further offer of reward for greater haste, be- side which my reckless sums paled into parsimony, and which set the driver to lashing his horses into such cruel effort that the people along the road gaped with astonishment. 222 THE SABERTOOTH. Arriving at the house which answered to the address we had — and from its appearance and location there could be no question as to its fitness for any doubtful purpose — Mark waived entirely the formality of ring- ing the bell. Setting his great shoulder against the door and nerved to his old strength by his excitement, he burst the lock from its shattered casing and throw- ing open the door strode like an angry lion into the hall, where he was met by a terrified but expostulating woman. Without heeding her plaintive cries, Mark seized her by tha arm and ordered her to show the way to Miss Fos.dick, and at the first sign of reluctance on the part of the woman, he picked her up in his two hands and carried her up the stairs, dangling before him like a doll, her feet kicking a feeble protest to such extraordinary proceedings. Cowed into submis- sion she directed us aright, and once before the door, Mark dropped her like a lump of putty, and going through it like a battering ram, entered the room in a cloud of flying splinters — just in time. I had followed close at Mark's back every moment of the journey from the carriage to the room, but was left a step or two behind by his last mad rush, and as he vanished through the door, I heard a glad cry of "Mark!" and his deep but shaken response of "Mar- A MARKED MAN. 223 garet!" and I saw him gather her safe in the shelter of his strong arms. Then the tears, which filled my eyes, shut them for one sacred moment from my sight. But Margaret's tormentor remained to be dealt with. If Heaven had sent a sheet of flame to wall him from his prey, Dupont could not have been more con- founded. He stood with staring eyes and gaping mouth too paralyzed with fright and fear to move or speak until Mark noticed him. I have many times seen Mark perform feats of agility and strength, but never again will he equal the swiftness of his next move, as, like a flash of light, he sprang forward and with all his weight and strength struck Dupont a blow full in the face which sent him flying to the farthest corner of the room, amid the crash of broken furniture. Then, without waiting to see what mischief he had wrought, Mark turned and led Margaret gently from the room. Fearing that Mark's terrible blow had been fatal and that he might have murder on his soul, I lingered be- hind to examine Dupont. He was unconscious, but alive, and apparently in no danger. But such a wreck! Mark's mighty fist had landed squarely on Dupont's once faultless Greek nose, and had driven it, like a 224 THE SABERTOOTH. nail, into his face, and the bruised and unsupported flesh flapped back and forth with each convulsive breath, like a tattered rag in a winter's wind. It also seemed as if every tooth in his head was broken of? and driven into his mouth, which was filled with blood and gaped like the raw and ragged entrance to a cav- ern, and I was obliged to turn the limp body over to shake out the broken fragments of teeth lest they might choke him. It was pitiful to look upon the shattered remains of Dupont's once god-like beauty; his own mother would have recognized him with difficulty, and his power for harm over women was probably gone for- ever. I laid his bruised form on the bed and called to his assistance the frightened inmates of the house, who [luddled about the door and stared at me with fright- ened faces. Then I followed my friends to the car- riage. CHAPTER XXXII. A WELCOME. Our journey back to the boat was naturally a little less swift than it had been i,n the opposite direction, although our honest driver seemed to have lost his head at his dazzling good fortune, and was with dif- ficulty restrained from taking us along at even greater speed; for, being unfamiliar with the situation, , he could not see why, if going over the road one way brought him a competence, the opposite trip should not bring him boundless wealth, and it was not until Mark threatened to withdraw his former promises, that the good fellow consented to let us enter the city in a dignified manner. To our dismay, we found on arriving at the wharf that quite a crowd of curious people had gathered there to see Mark, whose disappearance had made him famous, and in spite of the ludicrous haste with which we scudded to the cabin of the boat, we could not escape a round of rousing cheers, which was started by our kindly and good-hearted friends, the crew of the tug; who, poor fellows, could see no cause for 225 226 THE SABERTOOTH. our embarrassment at this publicity, and, wishing to have Mark's return to life observed with all due Amer- ican ceremony, they asked him to come on deck to make a speech; and we were obliged almost to get upon our knees and beg the captain piteously to help us to escape, before they reluctantly consented to fore- go the pleasure of such a noble opportunity for a mass meeting, and leave us to ourselves. Neither Mark nor I have ever been asked to run for Congress and serve our country in its halls of legislature, and I am of the opinion that it is on account of letting this gold- en hour go by unseized. I have often since recalled the details of our short journey over to the Bay. We were happy beyond telling at the mere fact that we were all there, and could look each upon the other loved faces, and realize that we were again united and safe, and that the hide- ous nightmare of distress and sorrow which had hung over us so long had passed away. In our minds anxi- ety and fear had given place to blissful peace, and what had happend since last we had seen Mark seemed to be a memory of some far distant past; but it was recalled in all its reality, by Mark himself, who no- ticed the immense number of vessels of all kinds in sight and remarked upon it, and the recollection of A WELCOME. 227 their ghastly errand reminded Margaret and myself that, impossible as it seemed, since that sun which had just sheathed its fiery swords in the waters of the West had risen, but a single summer day had passed, and yet, into these few short hours, for us at least, had been crowded so many milestones of life's experience that years seemed to have passed us by and our eyes met in a glance of awe and wonder. Mark, who had been kept in ignorance of Dupont's threats and machinations, was curious to know how Margaret had been entrapped, and Margaret was equally interested to learn what means kind Provi- dence had employed to send us so timely to her rescue. I told them of the fortunate chance that had placed both of the telegrams in my hands at the same time, disclosing Dupont's plot and allowing me to take such prompt measures to defeat it. Margaret then took up the narrative, telling of her time of agony and peril. Although for our sakes she passed as lightly as possible over her experience, I could tell by Mark's face as he came to understand the matter fully, that in view of what had already befallen Dupont it was well for the happiness of us all that this knowledge had been delayed. As always, Margaret's first thought was for her parent's welfare and she en- 228 THE SABERTOOTH. treated us to say nothing to them of her danger. She would, she said, tell them the story in a way to deprive it of any harm to them. By mutual though tacit consent Margaret and I ighored the matter of the vessels as much as possible. To turn Mark's attention from them we asked him for the history of his strange absence ; but we were by this time very near our destination, and as it was a long story he persuaded us to wait until there was a better opportunity for him to satisfy our curiosity. Mark knew nothing of the tremendous stir and ac- tivity of the past weeks, and so the coming reception at the Bay did not seem to him a matter of much con- sequence, but we warned him that his experience on the Sandusky pier was but the foam of the great wave of welcome which awaited him, at which he proposed at once that we should leave the tug near The Victory. But when I showed him what an offense it would be to the good people at the Bay, who had helped us so greatly and shown us so much kindly sympathy in our sad hours, to slip in by a back way and give them no opportunity to express their feelings or show their pleasure at his safe return, he at once put aside his shyness and dislike of publicity, and consented to face the crowd. He insisted, however, there was no reason A WELCOME. 229 why Margaret should be compelled to struggle through the crowd, and that we should put her ashore at The Victory anyway. This we did; and as soon as Mark could tear him- self from our kind friends there, we went on to the Bay. Our coming had been announced in a bulletin at the cable ofifice, and when the tug swung round Gibraltar's rocky head, we caught sight of such a crowd of people that Mark turned pale. Every living person on the whole group of islands seemed to be collected on the plaza, and as we were sighted, cannon began to boom and fire-crackers explode, and I caught sight out of the corner of my eye of our little friend Walter on the platform of the boat-house, working like a hero, loading and firing his battery of ancient yacht guns. When we goljiear enough to the dock for Mark to be recognized by the good people, they raise^ their united voices in long and hearty cheering; and, uncomfortable as all this notoriety made both Mark and myself, there was something out of common in the sentiment which inspired this outburst, that im- pressed us, and I must confess to a catching of the breath, and when Mark turned to pass some little re- mark with me, I noticed that the tears stood in his eyes and that his face was radiant with happiness. 230 THE SABBRTOOTH. But when the tug was made fast to the dock, and after much pushing and scuffling among the people, a band, hastily made up of musicians from the various resorts and hotels, was shoved to the front, and began a distracted but determined effort to play "Hail to the Chief." But at this I heard Mark swear savagely under his breath, and, hastily getting upon the dock, he began forging his way through the crowd to escape this dreadful infliction. But the band did not intend to be lost in that way and scrambled after us; and as often as they could get the people's heads out of the ends of their horns or pull their fiddle sticks out of people's eyes, we would hear the disjointed notes of "There'll be a Hot Time." The noise and crowding and band were bad enough, but these were meant in all Jtindness, and were endured good naturedly by all, and to show his appreciation of their good intentions, Mark got upon a bench and made a neat little speech of thanks, begging the people to delay further celebration until his father had re- turned, who would be unhappy, indeed, if he missed the opportunity to return in some measure their good will. In the shower of cheers which followed Mark's maiden efifort at oratory, we made good our escape and sought our friends at the hotel once more. CHAPTER XXXlII. — '-^^ mark's STORY. It was a cool and pleasant evening. A soft west wind blew from, off the lake, the surface of which rip- pled' and sparkled in the light of the harvest moon, which shone with cold splendor upon the far-reaching waters that spread before us. As we sat there in quiet peace and security, it was difficult to realize that so short a time before we had been distracted with anxi- ety and fear, and it needed Mark's voice, which flowed along quietly with his marvelous story to recall our forgotten troubles. He said: "I shall have to go back to the very be- ginning, as my troubles began soon after leaving the yacht that night. When the dinghy was cast ofif, I paddled cautiously to the shore, thinking very little of my errand, but rather what a fool I was to waste the pleasant evening in such a way; for, to tell the truth, I had as little faith in my scheme, Dick, as either you or Stuart. But my pride was touched at my previous failures, and under such circumstances usually I am obstinate; a failing which has brought me many 231 232 THE SABERTOOTH. troubles before this. I managed to find in the dark- ness the place I had selected; and pushing the boat into the crevice far enough to hide it from the sight of any one on the land, I settled myself as comfortably as possible to wait for something to happen; or, to be strictly truthful, until such time as I could with good grace return to the yacht. I had not been there long, however, before I heard the sound of voices and the nature of the sound sent my heart into my mouth. At first I could not under- stand the curious muffled noise the voices made, for, while it seemed to approach nearer and nearer until I .could almost distinguish words, yet it seemed as if the speakers were in another room, with a thick wall be- tween us. At last the truth came to my mind, and you may judge of my astonishment when I realized that I heard the voices of Dupont and Old Stone, raised in angry discussion, and that the sound came from within the rock. "You will appreciate my feeling of excitement and exultation at the moment. I knew that I was on the brink, Stuart, of discovering the clue for which you have searched so long and earnestly. I could imder- stand from what I heard .that the two men within were making their way to the hidden opening of their cav- MARK'S STORY. 233 ern, and I raised myself cautiously on my feet until my eyes just cleared the edge of the rock, and stood in a stooping posture, scarcely venturing to breathe, until ■suddenly the bare," smooth surface of the rock, a few feet from my eyes, lifted like a trap-door, and Old Stone slowly emerged from the hole disclosed. "I waited in rigid expectation for Dupont to follow, but at what I saw I started so violently that I thought I had betrayed myself, for instead of Dbpont a second Old Stone, the living image of the first in every partic- ular, as far as I could see in the dim light, rose into view, and cleared my mind at once of the mystery sur- rounding the old man's seemingly marvelous agility. For, although 'the hand was the hand of Esau, the voice was the voice of Jacob's,' and, perfect as was his disguise, Dupont's voice, which was still berating Old Stone, betrayed him at once. "Their quarrel did not end when they reached the surface, and as I watched and listened closely I noticed that the door stood lemptingly open and their backs were turned to me; so, without taking second thought, I foolishly crept into the opening — an imprudence which nearly cost me my life and caused my friends so much trouble. "I found myself in a narrow passage leading down- 234 THE SABERTOOTH. f wards, partly by rough steps and partly by steep in- clines ; and after I had ventured a little way down this dark dragon's throat, a realization of my danger forced itself upon me, and I stood a moment, hesitating be- tween fear and curiosity. That moment of hesitation, however, decided the question, for I was startled to hear the rock door behind me shut with a slight crash, and I sprang to it at once to force my way out. But, exert myself as I might, my strength was insufficient to stir the door, and I searched frantically with my hands for the fastenings, but these must .have been concealed within the rock, for I could not discover them. "The perspiration poured from me as I realized that , I was entrapped in the cave, to which I knew none ever came save Old Stone and his confederate, Dupont, and they only at long and irregular intervals, and even if by their return I could escape the death of hunger which threatened me, I had still to face the conse- quence of their fury when they learned I had discov- ered their precious secret. "I am free to confess that I turned somewhat weak at the prospect before me, and my knees shook under me so, from this and from my violent efforts with the door, that I sat down on a rough step to recover and consider what to do. MARK'S STORY, 235 "I came to the conclusion at last, after much puz- zling of my brain, that, as there was no earthly pros- pect of my release before the same hour next day, I might as well make myself as comfortable as possible in the meantime, and do a little exploring to pass away the time. "So I made my way cautiously down the slopes and steps, feeling with my hands every inch of the rocky walls, and testing the path for pitfalls with my feet. After I had gone in this way perhaps a hundred feet, my hand lit upon some sort of lantern, which hung from the wall; and I will never cease to be grateful for my habit of smoking, for I carried with me a good sup- ply of matches and lost no time in putting one of them to good use in lighting the lamp. By the aid of its kindly light, and in a much more cheerful frame of mind, I made good speed along the passage, which soon came to a level, and then widened and lifted into a lofty hall, the four sides of which were rough and uneven, and composed of dark-drab rock, glistening with damp and encrusting stalactite; and here and there the light from' my lantern caught upon a point that shone like a star, and which I found upon exam- ination to be a kind of crystal. "I noticed then and afterwards, that the cave did not 236 THE SABERTOOTH. seem to be the result of any wearing action of water, but was evidently created by the sinking away of the rock at the bottom; for at nearly ever^ point the ceil- ing was a cast of the floor. Wherever there was a pro- jection of rock from the floor, there was a correspond- ing cavity in the ceiling, and vice versa. "There were passages and crevices leading off in all directions, and I hesitated about going further, but the main cave appeared plainly outlined before me, and I had twenty-four long hours before me to be passed; so at last my curiosity got the better of my fears, and I went on. "The cave seemed to consist of a series of large chambers connected by narrow passageways, and after I had passed through several of these, I lost my feeling of dread and began to enjoy my novel surroundings and to examine them in detail. While thus engaged, I came suddenly upon a sight which caused my eyes to fly open to their greatest width and my lips to pucker for a whistle of astonishment, which died upon them, however, as I realized the magnitude of my discovery. I hope, Stuart," (turning to that person) "that the Government allows you a percentage of the value of the goods you seize, for if if? does, when you have laid your hands on that pile of stuff, you can retire from MARK'S STORY. 237 business with a handsome competence." Stuart did not say that this would be the case; but I noticed a mellow twinkle in his eyes, which led me to believe that virtue would not go unrewarded in this case; but Mark continued : "The first objects to catch my eye were two seem- ingly interminable piles of liquor kegs, which filled the cave from floor to ceiling, and all its width except a narrow passage in the centre. The main peculiarity of these kegs, one which struck me at once, was that each would make just a good back load for a man, and all the packages of the other goods I afterwards saw had this same characteristic, from which I judged that all this stuff was carried in and out of the cave by men in this way. "After passing the 'Cave of Joy,' as I dubbed it to myself, and a connecting passage, I came upon a smaller chamber, which was equally gorged with tin boxes of opium, similar to those we fished up from the lake ; and there was enough of the drug to furnish the raw material for a protracted series of pipe dreams to _ every inhabitant of this country. There were so many of the boxes, and they were so exactly alike, that my mind was wearied by simply attempting to estimate their number; and to escape the effort of me- 238 THE SABERTOOTH. chanical calculation, I passed on to the next room. This, after the crowded condition of the previous ones, seemed empty, but a second glance showed the floor to be covered with kegs. These were so small and so strongly hooped that my curiosity as to their contents was aroused at once, and lifting one I found it very heavy, and, as I had no tool with which to open it, 1 raised it high above my head and dropped it upon the solid rock of the floor. This rough treatment proved too much for eve_n the stout hoops of the keg, which flew to pieces, and its contents splashed in all direc- tions, like so many drops of water, with a ringing and jingling sound. I gathered up a handful of what ap- peared to be perfectly good American silver dollars, and if I had not known the nature of them from Stu- art's narrative, I never should have suspected their genuineness. After spending some time examining them, I dropped several of these dangerous counter- feits into my pocket, and afterwards found that they survived the hardships of the remainder of my journey. Indeed, I have them yet and value them highly as sou- venirs of my experience. "Like a miser, whose greed fattens upon the sight of his possessions, what I had already seen whetted my appetite for more, and I passed on. to further discov- MARK'S STORY. 239 eries. But at this point the cave lost its single charac- ter and split up into several smaller halls. I was in much doubt which of these to take, as there was noth- ing to distinguish the main road, but, following the old rule, I kept to the right, and soon found myself in- volved in a network of passages, which crossed and recrossed in all directions; and I was just on the point of turning back, when I noticed ahead of me, on my right, a large opening, and, feeling sure of my ability to find my way back, I entered the new territory. "I quickly saw, however, that I had left behind all trace of the smugglers, and had come upon what seemed to be a collection of ship fittings and other iron work; and quite a collection of gilt figureheads, and name boards. A close examination of these things, however, showed them to be of a fashion different from anything now in use, and looking further I found sev- eral small cannon and many old-fashioned muskets, boarding pikes, and cutlasses, and some queer flint- lock pistols, and the conclusion was forced upon me that this must be the wreckage of old time warships, and it finally flashed through my mind that there lay before me some priceless relics of Perry's victory. I lingered long over this interesting collection, exam- ining and handling with strange emotions the weapons 240 THE SABERTOOTH. which I knew man had once turned in deadly strife against his fellowman. "But, coming at last to the end of these, I discovered another room, connecting directly with this one, and, passing into it, I found a wonderful collection of sav- age weapons of war and chase. There seemed to be a rude system in the arrangement of these; for, begin- ning at the end from which I approached with bows, arrows, and lances very similar to those I have seen in the hands of living Indians, they graduated off in quality of workmanship and in evidence of ingenuity to the rudest of knotted clubs. "As I came to the end of these, I noticed that the cavern was widening into a great hall; beside which the previous chambers were mere cubby holes, the feeble light of my lantern scarcely serving to pierce its profound and gloomy depths, and there came over me a feeling .of apprehension and fear which I was long- in shaking off. At last I conquered this and ad- vanced over the uneven floor, which seemed to be covered with curious stalagmites, while from the ceil- ing above hung countless stalactites like icicles. "I moved slowly along on the slippery footing, gaz- ing at the wortders about me, until suddenly I came upon a sight that froze me in my tracks ; for there be- MARK'S STORY. 241 fore me on- the floor lay — the form of Old Stone, and I waited with suspended breath to see the old man rise and approach me; but as I stood and my eyes became more accustomed to the faint light, his body seemed to vanish in the rock, and my startled feeling gave way to awe, as I realized the truth. There was, Richard, in singular confirmation of Old Stone's story and your theory, before me — a cast of him in the stal- agmite, so perfect that it almost seemed that I could distinguish the individual hairs of his head; and scat- tered about I saw numerous fragments of rotted wood, seemingly the remains of casks. "After I got over my first wonderment at these strange things, I stooped to examine closely Old Stone's duplication, and as I did so the light from the lantern was thrown with full strength on one of the stalagmites which formed a long, low mound close to the object of my curiosity. By chance my eyes rested for some time upon it, and I was still further surpiised to discover within the covering of semi- translucent stone, the outline of a human skeleton ; and seeking further I found all of the hummocks on the floor to be but stony coffins, each holding its ghastly occupant, and as I counted more and more of them, Old Stone's account of his perished tribe impressed me as the truth. 242 THE SABERTOOTH. "As I wandered from one to another of these objects, and stopped to examine them, near one of them I ob- served an object which riveted my attention, for it was no other, Dick, than a mate to your sabertooth, but fossilized, and imbedded in the stalagmite. As all dur- ing the time I had been examining these wonderful evidences of the correctness of your judgment, my thoughts had been of you and of the interest you would nave in these things, I determined to get the tooth for you if possible. I looked about for some- thing with which to break away the stony covering that held it; finally I found a suitable fragment of stone, and putting down my lantern beside me, I began to hammer at the rock. "I was making excellent progress, and would soon have secured the prize, but I was interrupted by a sudden crash close to me, and my Hght was snuffed out in an instant, leaving me in Egyptian darkness. I hastily felt in my pocket for a match, and struck it on the stone floor, but it refused to light, and I wasted nearly all my precious store before I discovered that the rock was damp, but with those remaining I found a huge stalactite, jarred loose by my pounding, had fallen on the lantern, crushing it flat, and rendering it utterly useless. MARK'S STORY. 243 "At first I did not realize the full meaning of this misfortune; and relying on my sense of direction, groped my way towards the passageway through which I had come. But, instead of fihding it, I brought up against a solid wall of rock; where, I knew not. Not discouraged by my first failure, I started in a fresh direction, only to have my foot step upon thin air at the edge of some crevice, escaping instant death only by throwing mys.elf violently backward upon the floor. "I lay there for some time, shuddering at my narrow call, and now realizing to the utmost the terrible pre- dicament in which I found myself. And I must ac- knowledge that despair crept into my heart. I thought of those I loved; so near me that but a few feet of rock separated us, yet we were as far apart as the two sides of the grave. I knew I could expect no help, for no hu- man soul knew where I was; and that if my life was saved it must be by my own exertions. Nerved by this thought I started feverishly on my way, and this time, realizing the danger which surrounded me on every side, I got upon my hands and knees, a position I kept as long as reason remained to me. Summoning all my powers of judgment I tried again to find the pas- sage, but in vain. I was hopelessly lost, and all my 2*4 THE SABERTOOTH. ^ progress after this was aimless wandering. My cloth- ing was soon torn to rags, and my flesh was bruised and bleeding from contact with the sharp rocks; but fear and the terrible depression caused by the awful darkness deadened all sense of pain, and I crawled on without stopping, hour after hour, spurred on by the certain knowledge that to stop meant death, and the hope of life lay only in moving on. "Days must have passed thus, but I lost all track of time in the perpetual night of the cavern, and there was no break in my agony, save when exhausted by the loss of blood, and faint with hunger, I sank into troubled slumber. Fortunately I was not called on to endure the torture of thirst, or my troubles would soon have ended, as every little way I found pools or springs of clear, cold water, and to their kindly aid I owe my life, for I drank freely of them, and bathed my torn and fevered flesh. By a happy thought I came to use the rags of my clothing to bind up my hands and knees, to defend them from the cruel rocks. After this I made better progress until, at last, from the efifects of hunger my mind weakened and wandered, and I no longer followed any plan in moving, but crept aimlessly hither and thither, until the recollection of the many boxes of opium I had seen got into my MARK'S STORY. 245 head. I remember counting and counting rows of these, which passed before, my eyes in an endless pro- cession and with maddening persistency. "In time this ceased, but with it ceased all systematic action of my brain. My mind was filled with strange and fantastic shapes, and soon even these departed, and with them all consciousness except that of moving, always moving. What followed is like the memory of a nightmare. I crept through endless passages and bruised myself against countless rocks, until at last, when all desire and power to go on were exhausted, a faint lessening of the Egyptian darkness of the cavern impressed itself through my long useless eyes upon my benumbed brain and spurred me on to a last su- preme effort. I have a dim recollection of a struggle upwards through a narrow crevice and of being blinded by the glaring light. I must have traveled some distance after reaching the upper world, but of this time my mind is an utter blank and I must have swooned. Where I escaped from the cave I shall prob- ably never know, as I cannot recall the slightest thing, that could aid me in a search for the outlet. "My first sensation of returning consciousness was like that of being deep in rushing waters, and of a struggle to the surface, so long and desperate, that it 246 THE SABERTOOTH. seemed I should never reach it; but at last my eyes opened and I saw light, and could see dim shapes mov- ing, which in time proved to be those of a kindly farmer and his wife, who had found me lying by the roadside, dead, as they at first supposed. In pity they had taken me to their humble home, quite a distance away, and finding in me some sign of life had nursed me back to health*. "The lonely situation of their little farm in the marshes of the mainland back of Locust Point pre- vented their hearing any word of the great stir that was being made about me; and even if they had, they never would have connected the forlorn and ragged object of their charity with such an important person as I appear to be under certain circumstances. "This is the reason you have had no earlier news of me, but, thank God, I have rettirned, and," Mark con- cluded, with a quick glance at Margaret, "in His own good time!" I, too, stole a glance at Margaret. She was scarlet with a violent blush, but her large, beautiful eyes were wide open and brimful of compassion and admiration — alas ! not for me. CHAPTER XXXIV. PLANNING THE RAID. A silence fell upon our group as Mark ceased speak- ing, and his closing exclamation was echoed in all our hearts. As Judge and Mrs. Fosdick had also returned, our little family was complete. I glanced from face to face of the little circle, noting the thoughtful look of each, until my eyes rested on that of Mark's father, and I saw that behind the grim, expressionless mask, which a life-time of toil and strife had set upon it, the one remaining emotion of his heart, his tender love for his only child, was struggling with his rusted faculty of speech. And, although his "Ay, Mark, thank God," sounded harsh and grating, as it broke the quiet which brooded over us, yet its very brevitywas pathetic. Therewas a power of eloquence in the old man's efifort to overcome his rooted habit of silence, and loose his iron grip on his emotions. I could see by the flush tn Mark's face, and the mois- ture in his eyes, that his father's words had a deep sig- nificance to him. The silence once broken, Mark was flooded with 847 248 THE SABERTOOTH. questions about his perilous experience and comments on the strange things he had seen. Judge Fosdick said : "I have been impressed, Mark, as I listened to your story, not so much by your suf- ferings alone, as by a curious vision of the two stories of distress, yours beneath, and ours above the surface of the earth; and, as you told the one, the other rose up step by step to parallel it, and as it thus appears I am greatly struck by the importance of a single human life. It reminds me strongly of the old story of the shepherd, who left his ninety and nine to search for the one lost lamb. It is comforting to one, who, like myself, has outlived his days of activity', to feel, that even if he is but a cumberer of the ground, his going will still be noted, and by some he will be missed. Biit this is a little gloomy for this time of rejoicing, and I wish to say that, while you have paid even dearer for the privilege than you have admitted, I envy you the opportunity you had of seeing those ancient weapons of the primitive races; for such things are my hobby, and I hope they will be recovered in due time." Mark promised the Judge that he should have the entire collection for his own, if such a thing proved possible, and seizing the opportunity thus offered, he sought to divert the talk from himself, but in vain, for PLANNING THE RAID. 249 Margaret taxed him with having slurred over the worst of his sufferings, and insisted that he tell us more about them. But, while he admitted his suffer- ings were so great that in time his reason left him, he positively refused to grieve us with his distorted mem- ories of them, claiming that even at this distance, with all his friends about him, it was painful to him to recall them. As soon as we learned that Mark's recollections were painful to him, the subject was changed, and Mark's father, who had retained his customary silence until now, said, "I have been thinking, Mark, that I would like to do something which would be a permanent re- minder of my appreciation of the kindness of the people of the islands to me in my distress, and I be- lieve I will erect some sort of building for the Perry relics, when you recover them. What do you think of the idea?" "I believe it would be just the thing!" replied Mark; "for the neglect of the memory of Perry and his men is a burning disgrace to the people of our country, and particularly to those of the great, rich state, within whose -waters their gallant deeds were done. I must insist on sharing with you. the cost of whatever you decide to do, as it was for my sake as well as yours that this kindness was shown, and I will not soon forget it." 250 THE SABERTOOTH. After some further discussion, Mark and I took our leave, as the evening was far gone. But, before the little party separated, Stuart, who had been a silent listener to all that was said, begged us to remember that the greatest secrecy was necessary, to prevent Old Stone and his confederates from learning that we knew the secret of his cave before we were ready to make a descent upon it, and he cautioned us against discussing the subject before strangers. The cars had stopped running before we left the hotel, so Mark and I made our way on foot down the rough but now familiar road to the Bay, talking over as we went the many strange things that had happened since our first trip over it. As we neared the wharf, what did we see but the familiar form of Old Stone, planted in the middle of the street in one of his odd fits of slumber. And, so poor and mean, so shrivelled and decrepit he appeared, that we involuntarily stopped and gazed"at him in wonder, and Mark exclaimed in a whisper, "Is it possible that I ever could have been filled with fear of that pitiable object?" With the old man before us, in all his raggedness and feebleness, it did seem foolish to think of him for a moment as a wily and dangerous enemy. But when the memory of his savage attack on Stuart, and all that had followed PLANNING THE RAID. 251 since, returned, the "pitiable object" regained his proper proportions in our minds, and we loolced at him again with curiosity not unmingled with respect for his reserve potentiality. Leaving him standing there, sur- rounded by the uncanny mystery of his origin and character, we passed on to the wharf, where we found the dinghy waiting for us, in spite of the late hour. Coming aboard the yacht, we received one of our old- time hearty welcomes from our Bay-shore men, and found our cozy cabin bright with lamps, and the table spread with a tempting lunch, which the delighted Col- larbutton had prepared for us. Our home-coming was so pleasant that it seemed a shame to spoil it with pro- saic sleep, so after lunch Mark had cigars brought up, with something from the spirit locker, and calling the crew, about us we sat until the gray of morning shot through the sky, telling over our several experiences. But turning in at last we slept until some sinful hour in the morning, and were -hauled out of our berths by Stuart, who, growing impatient at our non-appearance at the hotel, had come down to see if any of us were lost again, and to talk over our future plans. While we were at breakfast, Stuart outlined his idea of the best way to proceed against the smugglers. "It will be useless," he said, "for us to stay here and 252 THE SABERTOOTH. watch for them, as they have been frightened away by all the fuss and excitement of the past few weeks; and there have been so many boats on the lake and stran- gers on the island, that there has been no opportunity for them to work. For this reason there probably has been an accumulation of goods which they will be anx- ious to run as soon as they are satisfied everything is quiet, but this will not be as long as we three are on the inland, and I suggest that we disappear. "The season is well along, and I would propose, gentlemen, you let it be understood you are leaving the island, and actually take the yacht away to some other port, but keep yourselves in readiness for my call. I, also, will take an apparently permanent leave and get out of sight on the mainland, but will have the Department stir up all its agents in Canada to give us notice of some cargo which will require active work on the part of all the principals in this section of the line, and we will take this occasion for our raid. I wish to make the descent upon them in this way for the purpose of catching them in the act of smuggHng, as it will greatly simplify the legal proceedings that will surely follow. For the syndicate behind them is very powerful and will make a very hard fight to save its agents. What do you say, gentlemen? Does this meet with your approval?" PLANNING THE RAID. 253 Neither Mark nor I could find any objection to Stu- art's plan. In fact, for several reasons it suited us ex- actly; principally because it would divert the attention of our friends from our intended participation in the coming raid, which was to be the reward for all our past trouble, and which promised a large amount of excitement, with enough of the dangerous in it to make it attractive; and we were afraid our friends would interfere to prevent our taking active part if they knew in advance of our intentions. We began at once a campaign looking to a general desertion of the island. Before night came, we had arranged with the Fosdicks for a trip up the Straits to Port Huron in their yacht, to begin next day. We tried to persuade Mark's father to join us, but he com- plained that he had alrerady been absent from business too long and refused to go. Mark sent his yacht to Sandusky to be overhauled, but gave the skipper or- ders to hurry the repairs and be ready to move at a moment's notice. The following day we sailed leisurely away, to be followed by Stuart as soon as he could do so without attracting attention. Before going, however, we ar- ranged a system of communication by which we could reach each other at almost any moment. CHAPTER XXXV. THE BATTI