Westbrook High School - Blue and White Yearbook (Westbrook, ME)

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Westbrook High School so plain that at times they ran. They had gone about a mile when they found themselves entering a heavy wood. It was only a narrow strip, however, and as they came to the other side, a bent form disappeared among the shrubbery circling the base of a steep hill. It was plainly the form of an old man and from the lips of the pursuers there burst simulta- neously: The Hermit. They waited in con- cealment for him to appear above the fringe of bushes, but in vain. In a roundabout way they approached the spot where he had disap- peared. Deep in the bushes, under a ledge of overhanging rock, so situated as to be visible only from a spot directly beneath it, they dis- covered the mouth of a cave. So far they had been lucky enough to escape detection, and had only discovered the cave by accident, as it were. They proceeded to go no further, how- ever, but took notice of its location and quietly retraced their steps. Early the next morning the old hermit crawled out from under the rock and looked around fearfully. Two pairs of eyes not far away exchanged glances, and as one, fastened themselves upon him. After a careful re- connoissance, the old man, a bright new pick- axe over his shoulder, hurriedly left the clearing and set out towards the northwest. For live minutes the two watchers waited,- ten,-Fifteen,-and as the twentieth minute ticked off with no return of the old man, they rose from their cramped positions and stealth- ily approached the cave. A cursory examina- tion satisfied them that the hermit was its only inhabitant. They entered. The cave grew larger in all its dimensions and the atmos- phere was actually one of comfort. They were struck with the uniformity of its dimen- sions, and considering its length it was re- markably straight. They had progressed about a hundred yards when the cave abruptly ended. The flashlight they carried showed the termination to be a wall of shale and loose stone, though one-half was blocked by a huge triangular boulder which had been split its entire height Cabout 20 feetj to a width of from twelve to sixteen inches. They -had just commenced an exploration of the contents of I9 this part of the cave, consisting of a few old horse blankets, battered kettles, etc., belong- ing evidently to the owner of the cave, when they were startled by a noise as of a falling body, which came from the mouth of the cave. Suspecting a return of the hermit they looked about for some means of co.nceal- ment. The only possibility seemed to be the aperture in the boulder before them. Ex- tinguishing the light, they managed, by dint of much squeezing and wriggling, to jam into the crevice, Lawson first. They found they were in a fine position to watch the move- ments of the hermit without themselves being seen, for it was, as they suspected, the old man who had returned. As he entered the stone chamber, which was his home, he paused, then half turned and came directly towards the two watchers. He, long accustomed to the darkness of the cave, needed no light to direct him to the location he- desired, other- wise t-he two men would certainly have been discovered. As it was, it was necessary to back into the recess to escape detection. The hermit thrust in his arm and drew out some round object. Anson could have stepped o.n his fingers. Gf a sudden there came to him the humor of time s'tuation and he had har-d work to restrain himself. NVhat harm could there be in an old man, a hermit, supple though he was for his apparent age? He was almost tempted to reach out and grasp his hand. What a look would come over his face! Would he think that the ghosts of -his progenitors had come to seek revenge for some supposed infraction of their constitutional standards? Would he swoon with fright or would he run wild out of the cave, screaming with fright and clutching his long whiskers, calling on the gods to defend him and to revoke his enemies? Anson smiled and stuck out his foot to trod on the hairy fingers still fumbling for some object hidden in the crevice, the whole thought taking the space of only a few seconds. Suddenly, however, he thought of the epi- sode of the diary and quickly withdrew his foot. VV.hat business had such a man to fum- ble in the packs of another, taking only the

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I8 that the bullet had affected his brain and that he could remember nothing of his preceding life. The others' conception of the location of the cache was not near enough to make its recovery probable, since they had not dis- covered his body until it had alternately rolled -over the shallow places-and floated down- stream to them, some hundred yards below. Doctors were summoned, but to no availg al- though not violent they declared him to be beyond hope of recovery. Several random attempts to recover the gold were made, but were unfruitful. T-hus the fortunes of eleven men, for the outlaws' gold was included, seemed destined to remain forever in the soil from whence it had come. More than fifty years later, Lawson, now seventy-five years old, had left with one of his friends, Philip Byrne by name, and the re- formed outlaw, to make another attempt for its recovery. Lawson had apparently recov- ere-d his memory when he had received a sec- ond blow on the head in an accident. Equipped with three days' provisions, although the distance was short, they had gone out of the town one 17th days of April, never to return. Thar's an old hermit livin' somewhar' 'long the trail yore grampa took, en people says as how that's him gone crazy agin. But whar's the other fellers, Jim and Phil? Don't take much stock in that 'ere story nohow, but whar be they, then P Has anyone been there since? asked Law- son, to whom the story had been a revelation. Nope, 's too long to go round thar now to get anywheres, short cut quite some south o' there. What would you advise me to do, think of it, man! Here I am penniless, with a fortune just out of my reach,-and yours too! What can I do ? he cried, in his excitement jumping up and hurriedly racing the worn floor of Nicholas R. Pratt, General Store. Do? VVhy, nothing son, nothing. Might's well hunt fer a pepper seed in a box of coal dust. 'S no use. But ef you really need money, why- Need money! God man! I had to sell , The Blue and White the only watch I ever had, and a birthday present at that, to get money to come out here! And now-l Now-now, you sit right down while I sor- ter think it over. Three days later an outf-it consisting of two saddle horses and their ri-ders, both young men in their twenties, and two pack horses with light packs climbed slowly up the side of a steep hill and disappeared over its crest just as the sun set over the ridge behind them. result of thinking it over. base of the hill they entered a narrow arroyo to camp for the night. They seemed to be in no hurry and leisure was the very essence of in the nearby supper. They were up the next morning before the sun, i.n fact as the sun rose between the two hills immediately before them, they were al- rea-dy breaking camp. Lawson and young Anson, for it was the old manis grandson, spent that day in hunting for the location of the Fight which had taken place seventy years earlier. Not being successful they returned to their new camp, not far from their first one, but in a more secret location. As they waded up the shallow brook, its narrow banks over- hung with interlacing bushes, forming a na- tural pathway to their camp, a shadowy form coming down the brook suddenly dove into the foliage bordering it and disappeared. This was the Arriving at the their bearing. They washed brook and prepared to get Suspecting it to be a camp marauder they gave chase, but to no avail. They returned to the camp expecting to find it ransacked, but nothing seemed amiss. In one corner of the tent, however, the saddle bags belonging to the two men had been opened, and on the ground near one of them was a small note- book, which proved to be Anso.n's diary, with one page torn out. It contained the last item written and concerned the mission of the two young men in the mountains. Anson, who was a good trailer, immediately suggested a systematic pursuit of the marauder. Lawson consented, and armed with rifles and kits they set out in pursuit. To Anson the trail was as an open book, and

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20 leaf of an unimportant diary belonging to someone he didn't even know, and which could easily be retranscribed? There must be a reason, but what? Was the man simply crazy? Of course. That was it. He sighed with relief. Who wouldn't go crazy living alone in an isolated cave, miles from any habi- tation since the good Lord knows when? But where did he get the pick, new it was, he could see it now in his mind's eye, shiny and bright and clean, contrasting sharply with the cir- cumstances of the man who carried it. VVhere, but out of Anson's pack. He hadn't noticed it gone, but it must be his, or Lawson's. The man was crazy, of course. He turned to speak to Lawson but the man had backed farther into the crevice out of sight, and he dare not raise his voice, even to a conversational whisper, to call him. He waited, the hermit was leavi.ng the cave. For five minutes he waited thus, and then, Law- son! in a hoarse whisper. Ssh! He'll hear you! from only a dozen feet beyond, but strangely above him. No. He's gone. Where are you? Come here, quick! I've found something. Coming Notice how this crack gets wider? It leads up, too. I wonder where,- God! The voice was a scream. Lawson! VVhat's the trouble, Man? No answer. The bottom suddenly seemed to fall out of the pit of Ansonls stomach, and a hot wave surged through it. He yanked the flashlight out of his pocket and turned it on. Lawson was right. The crevice grew wider and turned sharply upward. He Hashed the ray of lig-ht on its walls. They were almost as smooth as if cut with a knife. He advanced ten or twelve paces, his light alternately in front and to each side of him, calling Lawson the while. Suddenly the light seemed to go out. It was pointed straight before him, he pointed it up at his face. Its brilliant light almost blinded him, temporarily, yet when he turned it forward its rays did not show. The horrible truth flashed upon him. It was focused on nothingness. A great fear assailed - X The Blue and White him. Lawson 'had fallen into a bottomless pit. Why-Why was he so foolish as to throw 'away his life by' being so reckless? ' Sick with apprehension he advanced slowly, light di- rected to the floor. He -halted suddenly, on the brink of a twenty-foot vertical drop. An arched roof, sloping sides, level bottom, but ahead the light struck nothing, a continuation then of the first cave. But where was Lawson? Ah! Straight down here! What was that! God! A mass of white bones, a skeleton-its long hand waving from side to side. No. That hand was human. It was alive. Lawson ! A low moan, sounding strangely distant. Answer, man! Are you hurt? Foolish question. Phill A voice commanding even in its weakness, answered, Get a rope. Get help. I'm hurt. Bad! But, man- You can't do anything here- irritatingly, do as I say. VVithout a word Anson retraced his steps to the camp, running a good part of the way. He came back in an hour, bringing two horses, ropes, first-aid kit, and food. In his excite- ment he forgot all about the old hermit, but there was no need to worry. The old man did not return until dark. Anson hurried to the rescue, picketing the horses in a clump of alders outside. The rope he fastened to a stake in the floor of the first cave and passed it through the crevice in the rock which led to the second, and down into that, using two ropes for the purpose. He climbed down the rope to the level of the second cave and turned to Lawson. He lay under the skeleton of some human being, and rested on the bones of another. He was pale, and had lapsed into unconsciousness. Anson pressed a flask of brandy to his lips and forced him to swallow. A few seconds later his eyes llickered, opened, and he essayed a smile. It was a weak attempt, but it showed his grit. In a few moments he felt strong enough to speak. My leg, my right leg. Guess-its- gone. This through gritted teeth. Anson nodded faintly and strove to ease the injured