Eureka High School - Sequoia Yearbook (Eureka, CA)

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THE SEQUOIA tl-ry of the cave fl'0lll our lnillds. Following a llllljj disllsed path we tllrlled a sharp llltlltl alld stopped ill frollt of the cave. 'llhe ballk of red earth, probably the lIlil.l li of some land-slide ill f0l'lll0l' years, was a little higher up the hillside. All 2l1'0lllltlill'0tlil1'li l'llil'2lllt't' to the cave grew the little red flowers which some ill the party called Indian Fire l'll0XV8l'S', tthey seelll to take the place of the llettle wllicll grows ill' the northern part of the Statej. 'Phe birds seelned to welcollle us hither. A red-top wood- pecker was pounding on 21,11 old Slltlg' near by, 21,1111 on a fallen log near the llltlllill of the cave a, y0ll0XV-lltlllllllll-QI' was lN'tlilllgJ,' illl lIldllSl'1'l0'l1S tattoo. We all clustered around the mouth of the cave, alnd of course sonle wanted to go ill. T'here was a lfight inside, the ligllt of day, which filtered ill fllI'0llQ'll Zlll old shaft fllilf had been Slllllil-'ll lllftl the cave. Roldly we en- tered. For a little way all wa.s beautiful, the delicate lllilltlllll-llilll' fern tnot the tive-tillgered fern wllich one calls lllaid-ell-llair ill Hlllllblblflfl lilled the sides of the cave, tllick IIIOSSPS spread a. soft carpet ullderfoot, tlllll al small wllite iiower, 'KSlll00tllllg' stars, seelned to giv-e oft' light in the Sfllllll- 4l2ll'lillt'SS of the cave. But as we followed the main tunnel we suddenly turned a sharp' bend. All the beauty was gone from the portion of the cave beyond this bend. Large bowlders lined Olll' way, sllarp rocks hung down from the low top of the cave, it became so dark tllat we had to ligllt candles to see our way, and the llllg-0, spider-like crickets would drop fI 0lll the top tlllltl sides upon Olll' faces Zllltl heads. After we had advallced several lllllltll t tl yards someone discovered a side tunnel wllicll brallclled off to the left, tllltl as it ll1 0+llllSlt'tl lll01'9 lllyS- tel-y than the lllillll tunnel, SOIIIQ' entered it, while the rest l'0'lIl2l-lllllfl ollt- side to await the result of their investigations. They had not been gone long when one of them littered a ery of ZIIIIHZCIII-Ollf, 111111 all CZIHIC hurrying back, their faces stralngely pale, saying flltlf they had made il- horrible dis- covery. I, witll a few other adventurous spirits, entered to see what they had found. There, before me, in a, niclle ill the rock, sat the skeleton of at Illtlll, his cloftlles., rapidly decaying in tllat damp place, hallgillg in shreds fl'0Ill his tleshless body, his hands and feet in chains. Near it on the rocks lay a IDilI't'llII1l0llf, yellow witll age. One of the llltlll stepped up to examine the body, illlltl picking up- the parchment read it flll'0llg'll. Tlhen at the so- licitation of sollle of the more curious IllClIlb0l'S of the party, he read it aloud. It proved to be a will Ill2ld0 Ollf in favor of a t'0l'iIll.Il Mary Ellisworth and gave her all the rights to a certain Glenn lllille. Une of the members of the party wllo knew the girl well, said tllat she resided ill the neighboring town' of Ylllllfl Zllltl tllat she was tllen living witll her llllt'lP, her father llaving disappeared very mysteriously about twelve years before, and her motller having died soon afterwards.

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THE SEQUOIA soon after she was married. I have often wondered since wl1at became of her. U Captain. Maxfli' It was the young Indian girl, her eyes gleaming with supressed feeling, That was my motther! So Hllaptain Mac found the child of the little Owahra, whom he had rescued i11 earlier days. he Mysterious Cave. By E. D., 'os. Several years ago I, with ai party of seven or eight, was staying at a summer resort high up in the mountains in the southern part of this State. From tl1e hotel a line view of the surroundinug country could be obtained, and at first. we were content to sit there and admire the beautiful scenery. For the t.wo or three days we had been there, we had watched al brick-red blot on the green background of the hillside at a distance across the river, and had wondered as to what it could be. NVe had just reaclied the con- clusion that it was a bank o-f wild California poppies when an old man at the hotel told us that it was a bank of red earth overhanging the mouth of a mysterious cave which none had en tered for years. He also sa.id that near this cave wa.s on old rcservior which had, years before, furnished the motive power for an old mill and a mine, long since abandoned. Wie had never seen such a, reservoir, and witl1 the mystery of the cave adding just a tinge of adventure to the trip, we all wished to make a jour- ney to the place. The following morning bright and early we started off. NVe knew tl1a.t it would be necessary for us to arrive at the carve as soon, as possible, because about noon t.he heat became so great that one could hard- ly endure it. It. was a beautiful mornring, the dew shone o-n the grass, the little birds sang in the tall poplars by the roadside, chipmunks were gaily cliattering in the thickets, and frequently a cotton-tail wo-uld look inquisi- tively at us before darting into the ta.ll grass at the roadside. All na- ture seemed t.o have donned festal robes for our special entertainmeinrt. After at pleasant walk of a couple of hours we reached the reservoir. To us, who had never seen such a sight before, it was very beautiful. The -sun gla.n-oed on the glass-smooth surface, nearly blinding us. The tall trees on the bank, the beautiful flowers at our feet, the ripple of a little stream flowing into the reservoir, all made the scene oinfe of almost perfect beauty. But not even the beauties of this perfect morning could drive the mys-

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THE SEQUOIA After the reading of tl1-e parcliment we all hasten-ed homeward, our 111e1 Ves S0'II19Wll2l1i. unstrung by our 1111Cil1lflly 9'XIH:'I'lCIlC0 of the morning. It was IIUWV about noon, no birds' song Q'l'0i'Il1'l1 our -ears, 211111 instead of the cool dew there was the hard, burning Qlilllllllill to walk on. N9VE?1'tl11Pl'l?'SS we hastened on, and after a tiresome illlll glo-only walk we reaehed our l1otel. I had a. QI'ilIl1lf2l,I,llP'1' and gra.nd1notl1er who lived i11 the town of Yuma, and about a week afterwards I left the party at the hotel to pay 111y grand- parents a, visit before again l19f.l111'I1iI1g' to svhool. lC1Il.lt.IIl9l3' by accident I inade the ill'f111illI1f21I1l'P of the girl, Mary 1'11lis1wo1'th, whom I found to be a most delightful 1-ompanion, and in whose 1-o1111pa11y l spent. much of my time dllltlllgj Illy six weeks' stay 1111 Yuma. Soon after my arrival in tow11 I was told that a law s11it l1ad been going on between Mary's unele 211111 someolie wl1o was a stranger i11 the f10'VVIl, over some 111i11i11g property. Soon after tl1e finding of the parelim-e11t was il1l11'011I11'9t1 they had settled the law suit and both tl1e unele 211111 the stran- ger had suddenlly left town on business. A good mleteetive from St1ockto11 was called i11 and put to work 0111 tl1e vase to see what he 1-ould lllilkli o11t of the iinding of the Sk9l1Pt0-11. About two Ill10llfllS afterward there appeared i11 the '4Mo11nta1i11 Echo, the daily newspalper of the plat-e, a pieee with the f0'll10-XVlIl,fI startling lieadlinesz HStart1i11gt'ri1111eof1 ra111lk Ellisworthg After Murderinlg his Own Brother He Keeps Niece From Her II1l1'P'I lIi1Hi't2.H 'l'hen followed an i1I't'01l1I1i' of 11ow the stranger, captured i11 San Francisco, l1ad turn-ed States evidenee, get- ting off wit11 light punisliniteinit, and had told of the manner in whieh he and the guilty 11'I1I'lP had l'l12llIl19'd Jo-e Ellisworth, Ma,ry's falther, i11 the rave, but they hald l1ad a disagreement about the 111i11ing property, which they knew to be very valuable. The unele was C'i1pf11I'E'Il in S21,l'I 2l1II19Ilf0, ainsd was tinally S't'I11 0I1l PIl to San Quentin for life. Mary Ellisworth then sueeeeded to her 1.'I1llP'l lf2111l.i'P, the Glenn mwine, worth, today, many t.11ousa.11,ds of dollars, from WVl11l'll she lliltl so long been kept by her win-ked 11111t'l9. , ,,,, ill 111 E EET:- he First Party. By M. S., '08, Many things seeined strange to Betty, b11t then she was only tive. XVhy was it that Grandma fVl1'11H1b shook her head illlll remarked, '4Eleano-r, yo11