Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 320 — page 4: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

- ns ae ee 2 The Sea Sorceress. “ But, oh, mother! to think that you plotted to destroy him at the cost of so many lives! Yes, vou would have even sacrificed the life of our son and one other who has returned with “IT did not know that you were on board the vessel, my son,” and the woman seemed utterly crushed. ‘Yes, mother, I took passage on her with one other, my friend, to come to you and tell you glad tidings.” ‘* And you ran that vesselin, Ned?’ said the woman quickly, ‘* Yes, mother.” “You discovered that the beacons were not where they should be?’ sé Yes. ” **T should have known that it was you at the helm, and the thought did flash through my brain, but then I believed you in Boston. **Ob, God! what if I had sent you to death by my act, Ned?” ** Mother, it would have been no worse than to have sent those other innocent ones to de- struction, simply to punish one who was guilty.” ** Oh, Ned, my boy, do not upbraid me for now I see the full enormity of my crime. “But, “boy,” and she spoke fiercely quickly: *‘T saw the beautiful face of poor Nora upon the crest of every wave that rolled ashore. ‘““T heard her cries mingling with the howling and winds, ; ne the sighing of the pines I listened to her sighs, ** 1 saw her stand in spirit upon the cliff from whence she sprung, every night, until Il was mad, *¢ And, as they had accused you of wrong, of desertion from the navy, and driven you from me, and had hunted me down asa witch until I was forced to live in this den, [ became mad in my thirst for revenge, and forgetting all else, sought to destroy that man. if orgive me, Ned, my son, for now I realize He sprung toward her and clasped her in his arms, and for a moment no word was uttered. Then the boy said softly: ‘‘ Mother, I wish to ask of you a question, and you must answer me frankly.” | ‘* Yes, Ned.” ‘You have said that my father was lost at sea?” ‘* He was,” ‘‘Did you ever suspect that he was mur- dered?” ** Murdered? In Ged’s name what do you mean?” ‘Did you never suspect that some enemy might bave wrecked his vessel?’ ‘* Ned, I have had strange thoughts like these, for, when your father sailed on his last voyage, some unknown person began to persecute me and mine. ‘First, your sister was stolen, and it was weeks before I found her. ‘‘Then you were thrown into the sea, from a ier in the little seaport where we lived, and a iihestaain in his boat saved you, and said that he saw a man hurl you into the water. ‘* After this persecution, after persecution was visited upon me, and I wrote to your father’s half-brother, telling him all. ‘‘But he did not reply, and selling my little home, I bought the shallop, and a sailor from my girlhood, I set sail from the hated spot by night, and went to seek another home. ‘*To escape a storm I ran in here, guided by a fisherman, and finding the little cottage over the hill was for sale, | purchased it, and there we have lived in peace, until the serpent whom to-night tried to destroy, trailed across our oor. | ‘‘ But, mother, did you never feel that my father might not be dead?” ‘** Yes, Ned, I have had that feeling too; but alas! it is too much joy to hope, for joy bas not come to me since he set sail long years ago, ‘‘ See, my hair is white, for losing bim, and the dread that you and Nora were to be taken from me made me almost mad, and at times I believe I am mad.” ‘** Mother, then the madness must go from you, for my father was not lost as you believed.’ ‘*Oh, God! is this Thy punishment for the crime I would have this night committed? “Ts this Thy showering joy upon me, when the thunderbolts of Thy anger should strike me” and the poor woman dropped upon her knees and raised her hands toward heaven. Then, out of the shadow of the tunnel-like way came a tall form, and he clasped her hands and raised her up, while be said softly: “ Wisie, my dearly loved wife, I am here.” - | * ra! Mo q SRE ess a ee She sprung into his arms with acry of joy, for in the dark-faced, gray-haired man, with a look so brave and so strong, older by years than when last she saw him, she recognized the hus- band she bad so long mourned as dead. For a long time no word was spoken between the three, and then the returned sailor said; ‘** Elsie, after long years I have come back to ae; a I find changes have come to those I oved., ‘From our noble Sailor Boy Ned, I have heard of all your sufferings. ‘* Accidentally I met him, and from that day we were friends, although neither of us then knew who the other was, “That you have suffered deeply I know, and I too forgive your mad attempt of to-night, as our son does, for [I know what it is to be revengeful. ‘*] too am on the track of revenge, for my half brother, Judge Elmore, whom I trusted with aJl my wealth, which had come into my possession, and bade him to give it over to you should barm befall me, has pins ye the trust. ** He was to be heir to all, should any strange Rae mstance take you and our children off by eath. ‘“‘The wealth I possessed, and which I got through the finding of a mine in a foreign land, I did not tell you of, for I waited to be able to give you all at once, a vast fortune upon my re- turn bome. ‘‘ But, as I said, I trusted all to my half- brother and one other, a Mr. Curtis—” ‘* Of Boston?” asked the woman, éé Yes.” ‘* A friend of Judge Elmore?” sé Yes.” ‘* He had one daughter, an only child?” ‘* We had.” * It isshe whom Lieutenant Elmore made his bride?” ‘**It is, for they leagued together to murder me and share my fortune. ‘“They senta hireling upon my vessel to kill me, and he wrecked the vessel; but he was severely hurt, and I aided bim to the shore, ‘* There we two lived upon a desolate island all these years, and I learned from his lips the story of what he had been bribed to do, “At last we were rescued by a passing vessel, and returning, I could not find you; but I traced those two men in all their villainy, and believed that they had killed you and my children, too, ‘¢ At last I met, on my way to face Judge El- more, our noble sailor boy, and you know the rest, ‘‘ He came to Boston to meet me, and we sail- ed for this place, for I have come to claim m own from the hands of the man who stole it from me. ‘* Now come, this den of rocks is no place for ou. ‘‘Come to your pleasant little cottage, and to-morrow I will force that man from the home he has so long lived in, and which, bought with my money, is mine.” With joy in their hearts at being again united, the three left the Haunted Fort and wended their way to the cottage which the country folks had avoided as the home of Elsie the Witch. CHAPTER VI. THE FISHERMAN’S STORY. In his anxiety to discover the seaman, as he supposed it to be, who had lighted the false beacons, Judge Elmore was disturbed by a vis- itor on the day after the arrival of the ship in the river haven, who at once made known who he was and the nature of his business. To his horror, Judge Elmore found not only that bis half-brother, Norcross Evans, whom he believed dead, to be alive, but that every dollar of the vast fortune he had stolen was to be taken from him. The son, too, learned of his father’s crime, and was glad to give up the fortune rather than have the disgrace become public by that father’s having to go to prison. And more, Lieutenant Elmore having mar- ried the daughter of the man who had been the ally of the judge in bis crime, saw the riches of his young bride swept from him, too, and knew that he had only bis pay with which to support them, when before he had been envied by his brother-officers for bis wealth. Out of Riverview Mansion then went the El- mores, and rumors were at once set afloat by the cunning judge that the husband of Elsie, the Witch bad returned from a foreign land, where he had accumulated vast riches, and offering him a fabulous sum for his estate, he had sold it. Captain Norcross Evans smiled grimly when he heard the rumor his step-brother had started and let the story go for what it was worth and with his wife and son settled himself comfort- able in his new home, with but one sad memory to darken the joy of the household. That memory was that poor Nora had been driven to snicide by the act of the man whom she had so'madly loved. The second evening after the arrival of the captain and his family in Riverview Mansion, a fisherman from down the coast came up the river and landed his lizht skiff at the pier, upon which stood Ned, the Sailor, Boy. ‘‘Does the widow Norcross live here, lad?’ he asked, ‘¢ The one who was supposed to be the widow Norcross lives here; but she is now Mrs. Nor- cross Evans, her husband having returned and not being dead, as was believed,” answered Ned, glad to tell the story of his father’s return. ‘‘T mean the one hey called Elsie, The Witch of the Haunted Fort?’ said the fisher- man. ‘¢ Yes, my mother; she lives here,” ‘“‘T went to her cottage and a man told me &. would find her here at this great house.” “She is there, and if you wish to see her I will let her know you are here,” ** Are you ber son?” sé l am.”’ ‘Then I guess I’d better tell you the news first, so you can break it gently to your mother.” ‘‘ What news have you to tell?” ‘¢ News you'll like to hear; but as they say joy kills sometimes same as grief does, you’d better let it be known quietly so as not to shock. your mother.” ‘¢ But what have you to tell?’ “You have a sister Nora, who—” ‘‘ T had a sister Nora, but she is dead,” sadly said Ned. ‘‘ There you are just out, young man.” ‘* What do you mean?” **T mean just what I say, and I say that your sister Nora is not dead,’ Ned turned deadly pale and gazed at the man with a look that seemed to read his heart, Then he said hcarsely: ‘* My man, you do not mean to trifle with me in telling me this?” ‘‘T am not one to trifle about a matter so serious, and I’ll tell you the story. ‘* T was fishing some time ago close in under the cliff on which stands the old ruin. ‘*T had a sbipmate over on the island off which our little smack was anchored and I had ventured near the Haunted Fort to throw in my line, while he wouldn’t come so near, ‘ While watching a fine vessel stand out to sea from the river haven'I suddenly heard @ fluttering sound over my head same as angels might make flying through the air, and I can tell you I was frightened, tbat frightened LI dared not look up, tor I had beard so man stories of the old Witch and the Haunted For ‘ But just as 1 was seizing my oars to row away there came down into the water with a tremendous splash a human form. ‘‘Tt sunk down deep into the waters and then rose to the surface and I dragged it into the’ boat, for I saw it was a young girl, anda pretty one, too, and I thought she was dead, she was that pale and still. ‘¢T rowed quickly over to the island, told my shipmate, and we put her on the shallop to bring ber up the river to the village where we thought a doctor might bring ber to, ‘‘ But the wind was ligbt, and the t'de carried us down the coast against all we could do to revent, and so we continued on to our own sland where we lived. ‘“‘T gave her in charge of my wife, and the women on the island congregated together and fetched ber to, while I and my shipmates set out for Portland with a smack-load of fish, intend- ing to take the poor girl home when we returned, for, shen} she had come out of her swoon, she seemed ill. ‘‘But we were captured by a Britisher, and — it was some time before we managed, to get aay, from ’em and could get back to our an ‘There we found the young girl just recover- —_— ing from a long attack of brain fever, but she was all right once more, though terrible white and thin, ‘‘ My wife had nursed her through all, and the poor girl seemed almost sorry to be alive, “But we cheered her up, and she told me where she lived, and I came off in ne skiff to eft usa ~*~ | xe » ~ tell pou for the Britishers have not Oo shallop or a smack on the island out of twenty we had before the war began, and some sixty kK : C O a tof TR : ‘a 4 » ; ~T ; ‘| > ey ee .* 2 ' a” J ¢ ee v : - > “ “? 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