_AMETHYST._
"Beneath a cliff wrenched from the inner earth,
All seamed and blackened in an ancient war,
I saw rich crystals marking many a scar,
Healed when the world was recent from its birth."
The small party of Americans consisted of Mrs. Forest, her only
daughter, Miss Gaston, a schoolmate of Miss Forest, and Mr. Sternly, a
young artist and friend of Miss Gaston.
Winslow was glad of the opportunity that had thrown him into the society
of these persons. During the evening he became aware of the position in
which Mr. Sternly stood in relation to Miss Gaston, which only
heightened his interest in that young lady. Her behaviour during their
arduous climb up the face of Blomidon had impressed him greatly in her
favor, and the good opinion he entertained of her was augmented during
the evening he spent at the hotel. The effects of their rough climb were
removed, and the changed conditions of their existence as he found them
in the private parlor of the hotel, as compared with the adverse
circumstances of their first acquaintance, left a strong impression upon
his feelings. Their few hours of companionship on the mountain had
accelerated their good feeling, and there already existed a very good
understanding between the several persons who had thus been so strangely
thrown together.
Miss Gaston, while apparently young in years, had lived through a period
of life and experiences and changes which had stamped her face with a
quiet and almost reserved yet strong maturity. A personality well in
hand, a sweet disposition, and a disinterested nature were often
disclosed by her word or smile.
At the breakfast table the next morning Winslow learned that Miss Gaston
and Mr. Sternly were to accompany him in search of the specimens they
had left on the shore.
"If you are still interested in mineral specimens I can recommend the
part of the Basin where I have been stopping for a few weeks."
"Is the variety good?" asked Miss Gaston.
"Excellent," replied Winslow, "and well worth your consideration. The
veins are very numerous, and the combinations are many and interesting,
and more or less valuable. As to the beauty of the places there, I think
they are worthy the brush of any artist."
"By all means, girls, let us go," said Mrs. Forest. "We have spent
enough time here, and we may see Grand-Pré later."
"It was our purpose to go to Evangeline's home from here," added her
daughter to Winslow; "but your account of Pierre Island, and its
venerable owner and his beautiful daughter, has made us decide to go
there at once."
"I am sure it will not disappoint you. You may discover the vein of very
rich and rare mineral said to be there somewhere. Its discovery means an
immense fortune to somebody," he said, smiling.
"We must go at once, Grace. We will form a joint stock company for the
tearing down of Pierre Island. We will give these gentlemen important
positions on the managing staff."
Everybody was in good spirits when Winslow took his leave of the
Forests.
Miss Gaston and her friend, Mr. Sternly, accompanied Winslow on his
return, for the purpose of recovering the specimens that had been left
the day before. Len was to follow with the boat when it floated, as the
tide was now but half out and a half-mile of beach lay between the bluff
and the sea.
In the morning light Winslow had looked with interest on the scene which
lay before him. He tried to recall the time when his famous ancestor had
sailed into the Basin, and, landing at Grand-Pré, took possession of the
church and the priest's house for himself and his soldiers. He pictured
to himself the prosperous and contented people inhabiting the region
from the upper waters of the Avon, which he could see, all along the
south shore and up all the other large streams as far as Pereau, but a
few miles distant. Here were farms and orchards, populous villages and
many scattered homes. Then he saw it as it was when Colonel Winslow
departed, destroyed and laid waste; churches, houses, mills and barns
all burned, people removed, and six years of silence and desolation
haunted by the spectre of things as they had been, a spectre called up
by the ruins of what had been happy homes, by the uncared-for fields,
the broken dykes and marshes covered again by the sea, the orchards of
fruit ungathered, the bones of cattle that had starved to death. Then he
noted the coming of the New England people to take up the vacated lands,
and how dependent they were upon the very people they replaced to
restore the dykes. Also the returning Acadians, with gaunt-eyed and
suffering faces disclosing the fear they yet felt because of the
terrible fate that had befallen them and seemed to follow them wherever
they went. This he saw, and, above all, he recognized the merciless hand
that had struck them with such deadly hate, following them in their
utter helplessness and misery, when all hope seemed dead and no door
open for them. Thus he had mused as he realized that not one of the
people could be found in all the country that lay before him and that
had been all theirs.
Miss Gaston showed no sign of fatigue in the morning. Under the red
bluffs in the cool air of the day they made their way, and soon passed
out of sight of the wharf around the steep point where the tide had cut
them off the day before.
"We have heard a great deal here about Kidd's diamond from the Blomidon
folk, Mr. Winslow. How do you account for the light sometimes seen on
the face of the cliff by persons on vessels? It is always at the same
point above Amethyst Cove."
"I presume the cause of it is a large cluster of quartz which at times
catches the light of the sun and reflects it. I understand it has been a
belief for many years that Captain Kidd, our famous buccaneer, brought
much of his treasure here, and hiding it in a cave on Blomidon shore,
walled the entrance to the place."
"And the diamond is supposed to indicate the location of the treasure?"
asked Miss Gaston.
"Yes. And, moreover, certain individuals, it is told, have seen a dull
glow at night where the brightness is sometimes observable in the
daytime. If you are interested in such tales and legends there are many
to be learned."
"It is a country with a romantic history, and it is very beautiful," she
said. "We hope to remain for a time among the descendants of the
Grand-Pré Acadians who returned to the country after they were expelled.
Our trip to Pierre Island will introduce us to the people, and open up
the subject in a pleasant way. Then a visit to Grand-Pré and a few weeks
with the people themselves on our way back will complete our study of
'Evangeline.'"
"This place seems familiar," said Winslow, as they now came to huge
boulders and a large stretch of broken stone. "Yes, there is the dry
brook-way, and that yonder is the stone rock you were standing near
when I first saw you yesterday."
"And here are our specimens," exclaimed Miss Gaston, with delight.
"Amethyst and agate, and a very good piece of opal," said Winslow,
examining the collection.
"And what is the red-colored piece?" she asked.
"Acadialite, a variety of what is known as chabazite. The red kind is
peculiar to Acadia, and the stone is so called because of this."
Miss Gaston gathered up her precious collection, and her friend, who had
been making a sketch of the place, joined them as Winslow prepared to
take his leave of them.
"If by any chance we should not see you at the other side, I shall
expect to see you in New York when you return there."
"Thank you, but do not fail to come to Pierre Island. It is well worth
the effort and will repay you."
"I am much interested in your Evangeline. We have had a steel engraving
of Faed's picture which is so well known, but I have never seen an
Acadian in the flesh. The people and their story fascinate me."
They now separated, and Winslow went on alone, leaving his friends to
return to White Waters.
Winslow recalled, as he strode along over the rocky beach, her words,
"your Evangeline," and he thought of the brown-eyed maiden, awkwardly
shy, and always noticeably embarrassed in his presence.
His athletic frame and light, firm step paused not, and his active mind
kept him good company. Often a gull passed him in easy flight on the way
to its fishing ground, or an eagle, startled from its place on a lofty
ledge, floated away into some better concealment far in advance. No sign
of human life met his eye along the whole stretch of shore. Out on the
Basin the long trail of a steamer's smoke hung black in the summer
morning air.
Winslow at last reached Amethyst Cove, where from the beach near the
tide he examined the cliff carefully with his glass. He was curious to
discover the secret of Kidd's diamond. Scattered veins of quartz ran in
various parts of the perpendicular bluff, here and there showing the
purple color peculiar to the amethyst of Cape Blomidon. Nowhere in reach
of his glass could he discern anything like what he thought was worthy
of the fame tradition had given Kidd's diamond. He changed his position
several times, till, at last, from a high rock, he scanned the cliff for
the last time. Suddenly, high up on the face of the cliff, he discovered
something that held his attention. There, in a slight depression in the
solid rock, appeared a large cluster of bright crystals of quartz, but
slightly tinted with blue. He could see that the points were of
extraordinary size and extremely bright of surface.
Here, then, must be the explanation of the mysterious light that had
been a puzzle for so long. Only at certain favorable times would it be
possible for the sun's rays to strike the crystals, and then only at
certain points on the Basin could the reflection be caught, because of
the projecting sides of the cavity. The moon when full might produce the
same effect, but much softened. Only with a powerful glass such as he
used could the place have been detected and the secret of Amethyst Cove
been disclosed.
Having satisfied himself as to the explanation of the mysterious light,
he proceeded on his way. The boat was not yet in sight, and as he passed
around a point of the bluff his ears were shocked by a loud report. The
sound had scarcely died away when two men appeared from behind a large
rock which had protected them from the blast, and came towards him where
the smoke of the powder was yet rising in the air. Winslow joined the
men as they reached the place where the rock had been thrown down. He
found a large vein of red-colored agate exposed, and the men were soon
at work prying pieces of it out. Near by he observed a number of
amethyst specimens that they had already secured, some of it beautifully
colored and with large crystals. They soon forced off a large piece of
the vein, and disclosed a large pocket of finely tinted crystals of the
true amethyst color in a great mass of brilliant points. Securing from
the men a good-sized crystal as a memento of his visit to Amethyst Cove
and the famous Blomidon, he passed on and was soon out of the reach of
the sound of any human labor, and strode on in the full enjoyment of the
ever-changing character of the geological formations that were
observable.