CHAPTER XV.

Te Aroha News, Volume III, Issue 150, 17 April 1886, Page 3

CHAPTER XV.

THE QUICKSAND. Tiie two Parisians ran over the fine, elastic sand with a pleasure they did not attempt to conceal. "Not so fast, gentlemen!" cried the prudent officer ; "if you go on at that rate, we would soon overtake the tide, and that would not advance us much." " Why not ?"asked the energetic Captain ; "the sooner we reach Tombelaine the better." " Oh, but to reach there, we rausfc take a safe path." " We are looking for one." "Excuse me, sir, but you do not know the way, that's easily seen ; and if you will take my advice, we will not risk our lives for nothing." " What ! our lives? ' "Yes, gentlemen; we will not be the first who have disappeared in going from the Mont to Tonibelaine. " And on a gesture of incredulity from Chateaubrun the soldier continued in the serious manner of an experienced man in etructing a novice. " You see, sir, when the water is very low, we will be able to pass without much danger, because the sea is not strong enough to displace the eand ; but in an equinoctial tide it is quite another thing." "The hour of the tide is known, and we have nothing to fear from being surprised by it," objected Sartilly. " You are right • but if a fog should come down upon us, we would have a great deal of trouble in finding our way again. I have no fear of being drowned ; I only fear the quicksands " " Really, really !" laughed the Captain, "sands that swallow passers-by, as you read in romances ? There ia one of Walter Scott's that ends in that way." " That happens also in the bay of Mont Saint Michel ; and only last year a pedlar was buried withhia merchandiseonthe candy shore of St. Genets. He called for help and waa heard distinctly, but there was no means of aiding him, as they would have been swallowed with him." " A still stronger reason for passing over them quickly." " Pardon me, gentlemen, but I think we would do better to let others lead the way." " What others ?" asked Sartilly, whom this conversation was putting out of patience. " The fishers of shell-fish ; it is only they who know the sandy shoi-e well, they following the sea as it goes down. Look ! there's one half the way to Tombelaine ; we must follow tha traces of their footsteps in the sand, and we will be sure not to be lost." "Yes; and while we are putting our boots in the fishermen's steps, the smugglers will pack off," said the Captain, " and the rabbits have time to get back in their burrows ;" the conclusion of this sentence having only been launched by Chateaubrun to keep up hia character of sportsman. "As to the smugglers," began the custom-house officer, " if they get off, it will not be by sea, for I defy the cutter to come near the chore now," The two friends were looking at the coast, and caw that the soldier was not mistaken, as, whether the current had drawn the boat away, or whether the sailor feared running aground, the unknown cutter was visibly removing from Tombelaine, which the sea was already plainly leaving also. While talking, the travellers had been going on their way in a direct line toward Mont Saint Michel, and could already distinguish the wonderful constructions that the heart of the Middle Ages had raised on this isolated rock ; at any other moment they would have admired the strange contrast of the architecture with the wild and flat candy beach, but their minds were too much absorbed to enjoy the picturesque spectacle, their eye 3 being fixed on the gloomy rock toward which they were bending their footsteps The Captain's glass waa no longer necessary, aa they could with the naked eye see the uneven line of Tombelaine along the horizon ; but no human form stood out in the foggy atmosphere, the supposed smugglers having disappeared. Had they hidden themselves, or had they gone toward the sandy beach to meet the suspected bark ? Neither of the friends could say, not even the custom-house officer, the rock being raised high enough above the shore to | hide what was passing on the opposite declivity. Sartilly and the captain exchanged I looks full of anxiety ; they had been walking more than an hour, It waa quite low tide, and between the i two islands could only be seen a flat, candy ground, intersected by the sinuous course of a narrow river ; little groups of fishermen, looking like black spots in the midst of thia grey Band, were all walking ia the same direction, to pass the water, and afterwards dispersing on all sides. •' They have found the ford," saiJ the soldier : *' now we have only to follow them." " Let ue go on, then, eaid the Captain, with a quicker atep, "or the birds will have flowo away."

Although very desirous to arrive in time, the officer did not neglect any precautions, begging the gentlemen to adopt the system of Indian file— that is to say, keeping strictly in the footsteps of those who had gone before them, he taking tho lead, dcrutinieing the footsteps printed upon the sand, like a Mohican following Jus enemy, jat times hesitating for a Becond, then hastening on. Even in these short stoppages, the Parisians felt the sands trembling under their feet, the ground having the consistency of paste, and being porous like sponge. Sartilly, with his eyes fixed on Tombelaine, walked boldly over this perfidious ground, but the Captain, quite grave, no longer walked at random. They reached in safety the shoro of the river, which was nothing more than a canal, without current or depth, which the sea had left behind but would absorb again in a few hours. However, its bed had an alarming appear ance, as, under the water, a glimpso might be had of a soft and dark mud, that seemed to hide abysses ; the footsteps of the fishermen no longer being seen, but appearing again beyond the ford, the most important thing was nob to deviate from them The soldier ventun'ng first, and five minutes afterward the little group arrived save and sound on the shore, where the sand was firm and dry, while the Captain, feeling that the earth no longer trembled under him, uttered a loud exclamation of triumph. "Now we can run," said the customhouse officer, pointing to Tombelaine, from which they were only two or three hundred paces distant. The two friends did not require to be told twice, but raced to the isle with great speed. Sartilly, arriving first at the foot of the rocks, began climbing them without stopping to take breath ; the Captain and tho soldier following him closely, soon etood with him on the high rock that formed thesouthernpartof Tombelaine From this observatory they could see the wholo extent of tho island, which was absolutely a desert. And the unknown persons seemed to have faded away without leaving any trace ; but the mysterious boat. was still there, the sea having gone back very far, a vast extent of eand separating it from tho rock. "It ia curious,' 1 said the officer ; "tie smugglers are no longer to be seen. 1 have looked in vain along the sandy beach on all sides, and cm only see fishermen." " And the bark that is still yonder ?" asked the Captain. "Oh, the bark is still waiting for them, that's very sure ; and I even think he has thrown out a grappling iron, not to be carried away by the current " " Then the scoundrels are on the island still, and we must find them, and, as there ia a cave, they must be hid there." " But I don't know where the cave is,'' eaid the officer. "Let us look for it," cried Chateaubrun, who was walking along with Sartilly to the northern extremity of the island, while the Viscount was repeating in a low voice from volume seventh : " The eleventh cross cut upon the rock, upon leaving the point opposite to tho Mont, marks the entrance to the cave," and he was stooping down to find the crosses. The Captain was the first to perceive a cut roughly made in the form of a cross on the blackish etone Sartilly, on seeing it, was not able to restrain a cry of joy, as, holding now Ariadne's thread in his hand, ho could not but attain his object. The custom-house officer looked with astonishment at the two gentlemen kneeling down by these rough, imperfect ve3tiges of sculp ture, and ended by thinking they were desperate antiquaries ; but was soon undeceived, as the Captain made a gesture to call him, and, when he came, he found Sartilly bearing away with his hands the thorns and briers that obstructed the way to the entrance of the stone staircase. "Here is the cave," said Chateaubrun, in a low voice, and who, without tho least hesitation, was preparing to go down into it. " And if the smugglers are still there ?" cried the officer. "I hope so; and if they are there, I expect to say two words to them at the bottom of the cavern.' 1 "But indeed, sir, this is not your business. I have my gun and sabre, and as smuggled goods are in question, it is only right that I should go in first," The Captain thanked the brave soldier by a glance better far than a long speech, but at the eamo time putting his foot on the first stop. " Pardon me, my dear friend," said Sartilly ; " you know that I ought to be the first," and pushing his friend gently aside, took his place on the staircase. "I have nothing to say to that," answered the Captain, after a short sileDce ; but it is not forbidden to make the best of our chances, and I cannot see the necessity of going into this hole without taking proper precautions. First of all," continued Chateaubrun, "I like to have a bright light to fight. Have any of you matches ?" " Yes, here are some ; and, still better, I have a little lantern in my pocket that I use at night. " You shall be promoted, my friend, if I have to go myself and ask the minister for it ; and, while waiting I proclaim you to be the chief custom-house officer in France." " Be quick !" cried Sartilly to the officer, who was blushing with pleasure at hearing the compliment and promise. In a few minutes the lantern was ready, and threw a feeble light on the dark depths of the staircase. " Now," began Chateaubrun, " we can arrange the expedition. You, my dear Sartilly, shall be the head ; it is your right and I will not contest it ; only, I insist upon your taking our friend's sword in your hand ; he will follow you carrying the lantern, I am the reserve guard, and have the only gun that we possess. Is your gun loaded ?" he asked of the officer. " Yes, and primed this morning." "All's right, then; now I want to explain my idea, — if these scoundrels are in the cave, as I hope they are, we must try to see them before they see us, and it is for our friend of the custom-house to manage his lantern accordingly." "Do not fear ; I know how to go down into caves." " You, Edmond, as soon, as you are within reach of them, strike ; if they do not Burrender at discretion, and in case of resist ance, I will take my part in the concert." Chateaubrun's plan was so clear and judicious that neither objected to it, and Sartilly, with sword in hand, went down, the officer following him, while Chateaubrun, as he announced, made upj the rear-guard. The staircase was narrow, and almost choked with thorns and briers, and fresh breaks in this parasitic vegetation makingit evident that ithad been lately visited, the Captain could not avoid making the remark in a low voice. " What astonishes me most," began the eoldier, " is that Ihave been coming twenty years to Tombelaine, and have never seen ; before the entrance to this staircase. These Jersey smugglers are more cunning than I thought." " Silence !" said Chateaubrun, in a low voice, when Sartilly had reached the last step. The descent had not taken much time, as, after going down twenty steps, the invaders entered a gallery that appeared to

have been dug in the rock at a very ancient epoch ; the walls and floors were of bluish granite, spotted with grains of mica, that looked like golden spangles when the light from the lantern gleamed upon them. Two men could not walk abreast, but the Captain, who was very tall, stood erect in it. They walked along slowly, making frequent halts, looking round and listening, but neither saw nor heard anything. (To be continued.)