LITERATURE.

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 934, 22 June 1877, Page 3

LITERATURE.

THE DEVIL’S HOLE. [from chamber’s JOURNAL.] ( Continued.) But to me the manner of that death bad now become no longer a mystery. Shut out from the supposition that there had b.cu actual violence, by the total absence of any proof of it, I had lighted upon another hypothesis respecting the crime, which to my mind, however, was no hypothesis, but a well assured fact. It was, that by means of something mixed with the whisky of which he had drunk just before retiring to rest, the poor little minister had either been drugged into unconsciousness or actually poisoned, and in that condition conveyed from the house and disposed of as I had said. But although all this appeared to myself so lucid and certain, I knew well that I could bring forward no legal proof of the well arranged villauy, and that consequently, the scoundrels who had perpetrated it would in all probability escape punishment, and Mr Morgan’s disappearance be attributed to accident. Inwardly raging at this thought, I was about to move away from the place of his entombment—for so I felt confident it was—when something occurred which arrested my steps, and made my heart leap What that something was, I will endeavour to relate in as simple a manner as possible. For some time, during -which the reflections I have recorded had been passing through my brain, my eyes had been resting quite unconsciously upon an abutting fragment of rock some twelve or fourteen feet below the level of the ground. The rock sloped sharply upwards, forming an acute angle with the well-nigh perpendicular walls of the ‘ Hole,’ of which it constituted perhaps the chief irregularity. My gaze, Ire peat, chanced to be resting on this inclined abutment, when, with what indescribable amazement and awe may be imagined, I all at once saw a human hand and arm emerge from what appeared to be the solid granite of the upright side, and grasping the projecting shelf, draw after it the head and shoulders of a man. During the first moment the back of the head only was presented to my view ; then slowly, and as though with difficulty, a white fa-c was turned upwards ! Although pale, and drawn as though in intense pain, I recognised it perfectly : it was that of the little minister. But before my bewildered faculties could collect themselves, or my paralysed tongue articulate a syllable, the hand had relaxed its hold, and the figure had slid hack as it were, right into the rock. The suddenness and strangeness of this appearance so upset my nerves that my knees trembled and shook beneath me. Vet not for an instant did I (entertain the idea that I had seen an apparition. That face I felt sure was the face of a living man, and belonged to none other than Mr Morgan himself. But notwithstanding my assurance upon this point, I was so startled by the unexpected phenomenon, that until I could hit upon some way of accounting for his_ pre sence in and disappearance from that singular spot, I could not even rejoice in the knowledge that my friend was alive. I did, however, hit upon a way of accounting for it, directly the dazing effect of ray astonishment passed sufficiently to allow me to consider at all. And in truth the explanation -was obvious enough. Behind that projecting crag, and entirely concealed by it, there must be, it was plain, a hole or cavern so large in size as to admit a man’s body. 1 pon being cast over the precipice (about which there could now be no further question), the little Welshman, in a state of insensibility, had by a merciful providence fallen upon that rocky escarpment, and had either crept into the sheltering crevice upon coming to himself, or—what was the truth of the case —had rolled into it by force of the descent. This problem worked out to my satisfaction, and with the blood now coursing through my veins with delight and excitement, I leant forward with the intention of calling out to attract Mr Morgan’s attention, in order that I might warn him to keep carefullj'- hidden, and assure him that if he did so, I would undoubtedly effect his rescue. Happily, however, the warning which I was just preparing to utter had not left my lips berorc a voice at my elbow inquired : ‘ Is it something in the hole, air, you wass seeing ? ’ The shock of this abrupt address almost sent me over the pre cipice. But recovering ray self-possession by a suddenly-inspired effort, I turned, and seeing two of the farmer’s sons close behind me, angrily addressed the nearer : ‘Yon stupid fellow, you ! ’ I exclaimed, ‘ don’t yon see that yon had nearly been the death of me ? Why did yon so suddenly speak before letting me see you ! You might have known, surely, that I couldn’t hear the sound of yonr footsteps over the soft grass. I was listening to the booming of the waters down there. What an unearthly noise they make! But come away; it’s an awful place,’ I added, moving a step backwards, and striving not to betray the nneasimss I felt.

‘Ayintcot sir, it is an awful place—as awful a place as there is in the whole’oriel, I wass well belief,’ returned Be young man to wliom I had spoken, living upon me a curious searching gaze. Then letting his keen black eyes follow those of his brother, he peered eagerly into the chasm, and observed : ‘Pleas us ! it ’oold be a pad job, look you, if a man wass to fall over here. The prains of him ’oold be dashed out; ’ooldh’t they, sir ? ’ ‘ There’s not much doubt of that, truly, I replied, not daring again to direct my own glance ink* the Mole, and praying, as I had never prayed in my life before, that tl e little minister might not a', present emerge from his hiding-place ‘ But where can Mr Morgan be?’ I subjoined, shading my eyes with my hand, and affecting to look carefully in all directions. ‘ Do, pray, come and help me to look for him, like good fellows, for I want rny breakfastand in the hope that they would follow, I began to walk slowly away. My request was obeyed, though not immediately. But as a matter of course, the pretended search proved fruitless ; and returning to the farm, I breakfasted alone, forcing myself to oat, and expressing the while muon displeasure at my companion’s lengthened absence.

The meal over, I paced the sanded kitchen for nearly an hour, looking every few minutes from the window, and simulating increasing impatience and auger. My esli mable host meantime, with his wife and several of their hopeful sons, remained with me, observing me closely though stealthily, and alternately making testing suggestions as to what had become of the ‘.goot gentleman.’ All these, however, I pooh-poohed,

and obstinately adhered to the opinion I professed to have formed myself respecting the matter, namely, that in a lit of absentmindedness to which I declared he was subject Mr Moraan had extended his walk to a great length, and rot having noticed where he was going, had ended in losing his wav.

My acting I could see completely lulled all suspicion ; and when presently, I in-f-mined the company that I was engaged to preach in England upon the following clay—which was Sunday—and affirmed, that unless I returned to Lleynulrigg at once, I would be unable to catch the train by which I must travel, no opposition was offered to the proposition that Jonathan should forthwith drive me there, and return again for Mr Morgan.

The horse (already re-shod by one of the sons, who had learned the trade of black smith) was accordingly put into the dogcart ; and promising, as a further blind, that before setting off for England, I would info m the landlord of the Ship and Anchor about ray friend’s disappearance, and leave it to him to take the proper steps for his discovery, in case he should not have reached the farm before Jonathan’s return to it, I tendered the farmer a sovereign, and with an exchange of civilities, drove off. Chapter IV. It was not long past noon when I alighted before the door of the Ship and Anchor at Lleyrudrigg. But instead of entering that inn, I waited merely until Jonathan had driven the dog-cart to a stable-yard round the corner, and then walked away at a quick pace towards the beach. Arrived there, I collected a number of fishermen whom, in accordance with my anticipations, I found loitering about the sands, and told them my story. I did so in as clear and succinct a manner as possible, commencing with an account of Mr John Williams’s suspicious conduct, and proceedings in regular order to its termination. The narrative, however, was frequently interrupted by excited exclamations from the sturdy Welshmen, and its progress considerably delayed by the necessity for interpretation to those amongst them who did not understand English. By the time it was finished quite a small group) h d gathered around me : and when finally I made an appeal for assistance in rescuig Mr Morgan from his dangerous situation, a dozen stout fellows volunteered to accompany me to the spot. Thanking them with no hypocritical cordiality, I inquired, albeit with some doubt, whether conveyance for so large a party could be obtained in the village. Unhesitatingly a chorus of voices assured me in reply that the best and speediest method of returning to to the Spike Rocks would be by sea—one of the sailors adding the a'reeahle intelligence, that with wind and tide both in our favor as they were at present, we might hope to reach them in little over an hour.

The suggestion meeting, as I need scarcely say, with my delighted approval, a friendly contention ensued as to which of the fishiagsmacks offered by their respective owners for the purpose should have the honour of making the little voyage. But, hastened by my impatient entreaties, the question was quickly and amicably settled ; and the anchor of the selected vessel having b en weighed, I embarked along with my rough but kindly natured companions. As might be expected, all conversation during the short sail turned exclusively on the one theme and over and over again I was called upon to repeat to those of the fishermen not engaged in working the vessel, portions of the tale I had already related. But the in formation was not all on one side, since for my part I learned from my seafaring associates one or two very significant facts—the chief amongst them being that the owners of Spike Bock Farm and of the Ship and Anchor inn were brothers ; and that two other gentlemen who had visited the Spike Bocks, after staying at the hotel in Lleyrudligg, had .also mysteriously disappeared from that in i ghbi u hood. W ith light thrown upon the matter by the former of these facts, I now understood how it was that the farmer’s physiognomy had impressed me as familiar —the resemblance between the brothers, though not very striking, being quite sufti cient to account for it—and by the 1 tter I was, if possible, more thoroughly convinced than ever of the diabolical premeditation with which the intended murder had been committed.

The sailor who had made it proved to be not far wrong in his calculation as to the length of time it would take to reach our destination. Exactly one hour and a quarter after quitting Lleyrudrigg we landed, with some difficulty, a little beyond the bird haunted crags, and at once started, almost at a run, for the farther of the two “ Devils’ Holes,” the seamen, by my direction, carrying with them a coil of strong rope. But although upon attaining it, we all shouted in concert, urging my reverend friend to make some sign from his place of concealment, no response was given to the summons. Ami when time after time it had been repeated without other result than a senes of echoes, loud enough to be heard above the din of the restless waters below, I could see some of the men beginning to look at me askance; then gradually upon the faces of one or two the air of questioning doubt gave place to an angry scowl ; and from certain low rnutterings which reached my ear, I gathered that an impression was beginning to be formed that I was either mad, or that I had mischievously brought them upon a fool’s errand. Determined at once to alter this state of affairs, I adopted what, with my sensitiveness to giddiness, was certainly a bold treasure. Requesting that the rope might be fastened about my waist, I directed my companions to lower me to the spot in which I asserted that i had seen the minister. Reassured by the confidence implied in this step, the men obeyed ; and accordingly, I shortly found myself swinging within that awful chasm, with the rope vibrating to and fro, and a deafening roar coming up from beneath. Presently my feet touched the slanting granite shelf described in the previous chapter, and immediately I felt them slip from under me ; then, as the rope paid out with a jerk, I slid downwards through a narrow opening into a minute cave in the rock, and lay there for a few moments stunned by the violence of a blow which my head had received in the fall. Upon recovering consciousness, I found myself resting upon the body of my friend; and mo ing so as to obtain a view of his face, I soon discovered why there had been no reply to our reiterated calls. (To he continued.)