AT NIAGARA FALLS.
The trolley car from Buffalo, bearing Frank Merriwell and his friends,
was approaching Niagara Falls. The entire party was bubbling with that
enthusiasm and eagerness felt by all "sightseers" who find themselves
drawing near to this great natural marvel of America. Eagerly they
peered from the car windows in their desire to obtain the first glimpse
of the falls.
"I can see some mising rist--that is, some rising mist," spluttered
Harry Rattleton.
"Get off my pet corn!" growled Bruce Browning, jerking Harry back into
his seat, from which he had partly risen. "If you step on that corn
again you'll see stars!"
"It just takes an awful long time to get there," said Elsie Bellwood.
"Awful long," agreed Inza.
"I don't think you'll see anything of the falls until we leave this
car," said Merry.
"Girls, do be dignified," urged Mrs. Medford, who was chaperoning them.
"You are making the passengers smile at you. I greatly dislike having
any one smile at me."
"You can supply all the dignity for the party, Aunt Lucy," said Inza.
"We're not going to try to be dignified to-day. We're just going in for
the best time we can have, and let people smile all they wish."
"That's proper," laughed Dick Starbright, giving Inza an admiring
glance. "Two much dignity robs the world of half its fun."
Hodge and Morgan were the silent ones, but there was a light of
eagerness in their eyes, and Dade's thin cheeks were flushed.
The car entered the streets of Niagara, swung round a curve, slipped
into a huge, covered building and stopped.
"All out," called the conductor.
"Here we are!" said Merry.
"What'll we do now? What'll we do now?" eagerly asked Inza, grasping his
arm.
"The very best thing to do is to take a Belt Line observation car, which
will carry us over to the Canadian side and round the gorge, giving us a
chance to stop off wherever we like."
"This way to the Belt Line cars," called a man who had overheard Merry's
words.
They passed from the building to the street beyond, where the car they
wanted was waiting. Tickets were purchased without delay, and soon the
car was moving.
"But where are the falls?" palpitated Elsie. "I don't see the falls
anywhere."
"You will in a few moments," assured Hodge.
"But I want to right off. I can't wait! I've waited too long now!"
However, she was compelled to restrain her impatience until the car
descended a steep grade and bore them out on the great steel arch
bridge, when suddenly upon their view burst a spectacle that caused them
to gasp and utter exclamations of delight.
"Oh, look, look!"
"At last!"
"There they are!"
"Isn't it perfectly grand!"
Then they became silent, stricken dumb with the unspeakable admiration
they felt.
Above them and quite near at hand were the American Falls, with the sun
shining on them and a cloud of pure white mist rising in an
ever-shifting veil from the gorge into which plunged and roared the
mighty volume of water. Then came Goat Island, with Horseshoe Falls
beyond, shooting forth great boiling fountains of white spray and
sending heavenward billow after billow of mist. Beneath them rushed the
broad river, writhing and twisting, as if still suffering agonies after
its frightful plunge over those dizzy heights to be rent and torn to
tatters on the rocks below.
Inza's gloved hand crept into Frank's, and he felt it quiver a little in
his grasp.
With a single exception, every one on the car seemed to regard the
falls with interest. Even the motorman and conductor took a look at
them.
The exception was an old man, who wore a long cloak and carried a
crooked cane. His hands rested on the handle of his cane, and his gray
head was bowed on his hands. He did not once look up or turn his face
toward the falls while passing over the bridge. To Frank this seemed
remarkable, but Merry decided that he must be some one who was familiar
with the spectacle and to whom the sight no longer appealed.
Having crossed the bridge, the car turned upward toward the falls, and
at the point where the wonderful horseshoe began they got off.
Approaching the iron railing, they leaned on it and gazed in continued
and increasing wonderment. They were now where they could hear something
of the continuous thunder of the falls, and at intervals a little of the
spray fell in misty rain upon them.
"Oh, see!" breathed Inza, grasping Frank's arm. "Look at the beautiful
rainbow."
In the mist of the American Falls a gorgeous rainbow could be seen.
"I see it," said Frank; but at that moment his eyes were following the
strange old man in the black cloak, who had left the car with them and
was walking toward the very brink of Horseshoe Falls, leaning heavily on
his crooked cane and seeming quite feeble.
"I was wrong about him," thought Merry. "He is interested in the
falls--he is fascinated by them."
The old man pressed forward until he was within the very edge of the
cloud of mist that rose from the depths below. He seemed totally
unconscious of the presence of others in the vicinity. At that point
there was no iron railing, and he leaned forward, planting his cane on
the wet stones beneath his feet, and peered downward, apparently
watching the little steamer, _Maid of the Mist_, which now came swinging
out of the spray at the foot of the American Falls and headed toward the
Canadian side.
"If he should slip there," thought Frank, "it would be all over with him
in a moment. I wonder that he ventures so near."
A sudden feeling of anxiety for the old man possessed him, and he
suggested to Inza that they should move up toward the brink of the
falls.
Leaving the others so absorbed in watching the tiny steamer far below
that the move of Merry and Inza was not observed they approached the
point where the old man stood.
"What is he doing?" questioned Inza, in surprise. "It must be very
dangerous there. Call to him, Frank; tell him to come away."
But Merriwell feared to startle the old man, and therefore he did not
call.
Above them the rapids came sweeping down toward the falls, the water
rushing with such volume and force that it created a feeling of dread,
for it was plain that anything once fairly caught in its clutch must be
carried, in spite of all human endeavor and strength, over the brink to
destruction.
"Remain here, Inza," advised Frank, being compelled to raise his voice
in order to make himself understood above the roar of the water. "I'm
going to step down there a little nearer. He may slip."
Reluctantly she permitted him to leave her. He did not know that she
followed him to the very edge of the rushing water a short distance
above the falls. Cautiously he approached the silent figure of the old
man, but just as he was on the point of stretching out a hand to grasp
the man's arm the latter turned, keeping his back toward Merry, and
moved along the edge of the rushing rapids.
Merry refrained from touching the stranger, but followed him as the man
approached Inza.
Apparently the old man did not see the girl until he was right upon her.
Then he slightly lifted his head, gave her a glance, and stepped to one
side, as if to pass.
This brought her between him and the rapids.
As he was passing his foot slipped on one of the wet rocks, he flung up
his hand with the cane, and the staff swept through the air in a half
circle directly at Inza's head!
Struck such a blow with the cane, Inza Burrage would be sent headlong
into the seething water, which would carry her over the falls in a
twinkling!
Fortunately Inza had been watching the old man with anxious eyes.
Fortunately, likewise, she was no common girl. Many a time she had
demonstrated the fact that she was wonderfully quick-witted and
resourceful.
Frank was a bit too far away to clutch the old man's arm and check the
sweep of his heavy cane.
Inza's fate lay wholly with herself. She saw the cane coming directly at
her head, and, like a flash, she "ducked."
Over her head swept the cane, brushing the plumes on her hat.
For an instant she tottered, seeming to sway toward the rapids in the
effort to regain her equilibrium.
In that instant Frank Merriwell's strong right arm had sent the
stranger, with one great surge, reeling to his knees some feet from the
water's edge, and then his left arm encircled Inza's waist and drew her
from the perilous spot.
She was white as the mist that rose in a great cloud close at hand.
"Inza!" cried Merry chokingly. "Thank Heaven you had presence of mind
and dodged!"
"Oh, Frank!" she murmured; "I nearly fell into the water after that!"
He gave her all his attention.
"That old man must be crazy!" he said. "No one at his age that is not
crazy or foolish would prowl about at the very edge of the river here,
where a misstep means almost certain death. He should be locked up!"
Then he turned to look for the stranger, but saw the bent form at a
distance. Without having paused to utter a word of explanation, apology,
or regret, the man was hastening away.
"Further proof that he's daffy," muttered Frank.
He longed to hasten after the stranger, but felt Inza clinging to him in
weakness, which prevented such a move.
And now their friends, having discovered for the first time that
something was wrong, came hurrying to the spot, asking many questions.
It was some time before Inza recovered, but in the end she flung off her
weakness with a sudden show of resolution, forced a laugh, and declared
that she was all right.
"Where is the chundering old bump--I mean the blundering old chump?"
spluttered Harry Rattleton. "Didn't stop to say a word? Well, somebody
ought to say something to him! I'd like the privilege. It would do me
good to give him an unvarnished piece of my mind."
The old man, however, had disappeared. Morgan said he had taken a
carriage after hastening from the immediate vicinity of the falls.
"I'm glad he's gone," declared Inza. "I'm sure he was frightened.
Perhaps he didn't know what to say under the circumstances."
"I'm afraid this terrible adventure will spoil your enjoyment here,
Inza," said Mrs. Medford.
"Not at all," was the answer. "It's all over now, and we'll forget it.
What shall we do next?"
It was agreed that the proper thing was to resume their trolley ride
around the gorge, and so they took the next car bound down the river.
This ride was one that none of them could ever forget. The tracks ran
close to the brink of the great gorge, so close at times that they could
look directly downward from the side of the car into treetops far
beneath them and see the fearful rush of the river through its choked
channel. It was a spectacle almost as impressive as that of the falls,
and in some ways, as the car skimmed along the brink of these mighty
precipices, it was even more "shuddery," as Elsie expressed it.
But the part that affected them the most was the return journey through
the gorge, after they had recrossed the river five miles below the
falls.
The car descended until it was running at the very edge of the river
that rushed through the channel between the two great bluffs. As the
whirlpool was approached the rush and swish of the water became fiercer
and more terrible. It was fascinating yet fearful to look upon, and
Elsie Bellwood shuddered and drew back, more than once averting her
eyes.
The whirlpool itself was a wonderful sight, but the rapids above it
proved the most awesome of aspect. There the water hissed and seethed
with a blood-chilling sound as it raced, and foamed, and whirled along
its course. The suggestion of terrible power possessed by this mad river
was simply appalling. The sound of the hissing water put one's nerves on
edge. In places the river boiled, and surged, and raged over hidden
rocks, leaping upward in mighty waves of white foam. There were
thousands of eddies and whirlpools, all suggestive of destruction.
The girls were genuinely relieved when the car began the ascent that
would take them out of the gorge.
"It was great," said Inza, as they finally reached the level above. "I
enjoyed every moment of it, but it made me feel so dreadfully mean and
insignificant. I'm glad we took the ride, but I don't think I'd care to
take it again to-morrow. Where shall we go now, Frank?"
"We'll stroll over onto Goat Island," said Merry.
They left the car when it finally reached the place from which they had
started on the American side.
Barely had they started toward the island when a carriage stopped
beside them and the driver importuned them to let him take them round.
"You couldn't take all of us in that carriage," said Merry.
"I'll call another in a moment," said the driver, and started to do so.
"Hold on," said Merriwell. "We prefer to walk."
"Not I," said Browning. "How much is it?"
"Twenty-five cents each," was the answer. "I'll take you round and show
you all the points of interest."
"Cheap enough," said Bruce, and he promptly climbed in.
In vain the driver urged others to get in. He was even somewhat insolent
in his insistence. Finally he drove off with Bruce lazily waving his
hand from the rear seat of the carriage.
Frank laughed softly.
"Browning will get enough of that," he declared. "Those fellows urge you
to get in for a twenty-five-cent ride, promising to show you numerous
points of interest; but almost before they get you over to the island
they begin suggesting a longer drive that will cost you a dollar, two
dollars, or even three dollars. They keep harping on it until they
destroy all the pleasure and enjoyment of the twenty-five-cent ride, and
if they find they cannot inveigle you into taking a longer ride they
become absolutely insulting and offensive. That fellow will be sore when
he learns that Bruce has been over to the Canadian side and round the
gorge."
There was plenty of time, and the party enjoyed the walk over the bridge
to Goat Island. Midway on the bridge they paused to watch the rush of
the rapids, where the water came bulging over a distant ridge, and swept
toward them with a hissing, roaring sound that was quite indescribable.
Having reached the island, they proceeded to cross the little bridge to
Luna Island, from which a near view of the American Falls was obtained.
Here again they saw a portion of the beautiful rainbow in the rising
mist.
From Luna Island they retraced their steps, and then sauntered along the
iron-railed lower edge of Goat Island. They were strongly tempted to
visit the Cave of the Winds under the falls, but Merry knew the
waterproof clothing furnished would not be sufficient to keep them from
becoming uncomfortably damp, and this, together with the fact that the
afternoon was rapidly turning cold, caused them to decide to refrain
from descending the wonderfully long stairway and crossing the
spray-dripping bridge to the cave.
From the outer extremity of Goat Island they obtained another fine view
of the Horseshoe Falls.
Deciding to visit the upper end of the island for the purpose of viewing
the wonderful rapids above the falls, they had not proceeded far before
they came upon Browning, who was sitting on a bench and looking very
sour and disgusted.
"Why, hello, Bruce!" called Frank. "All through with your drive? That's
odd."
The giant made a rumbling sound in his throat.
"Don't talk to me about that!" he exploded. "Why, that chap just bored
me to death trying to induce me to let him drive me over to the Canadian
side and around to other places. Couldn't choke him off. Told him I'd
been across. He kept it up. Asked me if I'd seen this, and that, and the
other. I said yes, yes, yes! Then I invited him to shut up. First thing
I knew he was taking me back off the island. He had closed up like a
clam. Asked him where all the places were that he was going to show me,
and he informed me I had seen twenty-five cents' worth. Then I was
ruffled. I admit I was ruffled. I stood up, took him by the collar, and
agitated him a little. The agitation shook some of the dust out of his
clothes. Then I got out and permitted him to proceed. I've been sitting
here meditating, and if you don't walk too fast I think I'll stick by
you until you get through seeing things."
The manner in which Browning related this was decidedly amusing, and all
laughed over it.
They followed the walk, and proceeded on their way toward the upper end
of the island. Near the upper end they approached three small islands,
known as the Three Sisters. A massive anchored bridge permitted them to
cross to the first of these islands. Beneath this bridge the water swept
with a continuous rushing roar, and the sight of it gave Elsie a renewed
feeling of nervousness, which was increased by the fact that the great
bridge swayed and moved beneath their feet.
Having crossed by other bridges to the outermost of the Three Sisters,
they now obtained a near and awe-inspiring view of the great rapids
above the Canadian Falls.
At a distance up the river the water seemed pouring over a great
semi-circular ridge. It swept down on the Three Sisters as if seeking to
overwhelm them. It tore past on either side with the velocity of an
express train, hissing and snarling in anger because the islands dared
defy and withstand its furious assault.
Elsie stood with clasped hands, her eyes dilated, as she stared at the
rapids which stretched far, far away to the Canadian side.
"Isn't it grand!" cried Inza in Elsie's ear, her face flushed and her
dark eyes shining.
"It's grand," admitted the golden-haired girl; "but it's terrible, and
it frightens me."
The little party had divided, seeking various vantage points from which
views of the great rapids could be obtained.
Frank and Bart lingered with the girls.
Mrs. Medford had remained on Goat Island, declining to cross the first
bridge, and asserting that she preferred to rest on one of the benches.
She refused to permit any one to remain with her, urging and commanding
them all to see everything worth seeing.
"A human being would have absolutely no chance if ever caught in the
edge of that current," said Hodge. "The instant he was swept off his
feet he would be doomed."
"It's fascinating, fascinating!" exclaimed Inza. "I almost seem to feel
something pulling me toward the water."
"It's a very dangerous feeling," smiled Merry. "You know that an average
of sixteen suicides a year take place here at the falls. People cannot
resist the fascination of the rushing water. Many times no real reason
can be given for these acts of self-destruction. You know there are
moments when every human brain falters and seems touched by the fleeting
finger of insanity. People who stand on great heights often feel an
almost irresistible longing to fling themselves down. Here they are
attacked by a mad longing to cast themselves into the clutch of the
rapids."
"Oh!" exclaimed Elsie, pale to the lips. "Let me get away--farther
away!"
Inza offered assistance, but Elsie forced a laugh and declared she was
all right. However, she leaned on the arm of Bart, and they retreated
from the immediate edge of the rapids.
Frank watched them, unaware that Inza had stepped out on a stone that
lifted its damp crest in the edge of the water.
Suddenly he was startled by a cry.
He whirled, and saw something that sent his heart into his mouth.
Inza was lying across the rock, with both feet in the water.
A man in black, the cape of his long cloak flapping about his shoulders
like demon wings, was running from the spot, flourishing a stout,
crooked cane.
As he passed Frank, fully fifteen feet away, the fleeing man--whom Merry
knew as the same one who had so nearly accomplished Inza's destruction
on the Canadian shore--cast at the youth one piercing look.
The eyes of the man were black as blackest night, but in their recesses
gleamed a baleful fire of hatred and triumph.
The same eyes had glared at Merry through the transom of the Bowery
hotel, in New York.
They were the eyes of Alvarez Lazaro, the avenger!
But they were also the eyes of Porfias del Norte!