_THE BLUE VEIN._
"The wakened distance hears the falling rock
That gives to day thy treasure, as to greet
From the young world thou canst no longer hide."
Pierre welcomed Winslow heartily and with every evidence of pleasure.
The old man had not returned home till he had been driven in by the
tide, and Winslow came to the island, after spending a few hours with
his friends, at high tide.
It should be understood, from the base of the cliff near the road boats
could be rowed to the mainland, and on one of these Winslow had
returned. At low tide it was possible to cross by the ford of large
stones placed for that purpose in the channel, which never lost all its
water. After the turn of the coming tide it was not safe to attempt to
cross against the strong current that would be running in. From half
tide to full tide, and for a short time after, the current could be
stemmed with a boat. For this reason the passage to and from the island
was limited to these periods, and at other times the island was
virtually shut off from the mainland.
After the greetings of the men were over, Winslow informed Pierre what
he had seen on his first coming to the house when he met Len. He
supposed that Marie would not speak of it to her father. The old man
said nothing as he continued:
"I have paid him off to-day, as I shall have to leave for New York in a
week or so. My uncle desires my return about that time. I am sorry I
shall not be able to stay with you as long as I had purposed."
"I would like you to examine a vein of blue mineral I have found lately,
in the bluff at the back of the island. I have been clearing a way to
it, and the tide drove me in before I had finished it."
"We may look at it to-morrow, if you wish. How did you happen to
discover it? I have never seen anything but blue agate veins about the
island."
"I had been thinking about a valuable mineral which you told me about,
and I remembered what my father used to tell me about a cave which was
under the back of the island, and which had a blue vein. The cave, he
told me, was known to the Indians in earliest time, and they yet have
tradition of the existence of it somewhere. Like all the traditions of
those days there is much of the supernatural woven into this story. The
cave was made by the Micmacs during many years by cutting away the rock
to remove fragments of the vein. The stone supplied them with their most
precious and beautiful ornament. In the course of time the stones became
valuable to the white people, and they were obtained from the Indians.
The story goes that Glooscap, the Micmac god, created the stone for the
Indian alone, and put a curse upon it for the white men, whom he did not
like, as he saw that they were to become the enemies of his people.
Strange to say, the stone has brought a curse to the white people. Yet
the stones were bought of the Indians until they were all gone from
them, and they had to break them out of the rock again and shape and
polish them as the Micmac knew how. The 'Devil Stones,' or the 'Devil's
Eye,' as they used to call the mineral, became scarce. A white man found
out where the vein was, a secret which the Indians had guarded so
carefully. They would not permit anybody not of their own race to remove
the stone, because they considered it a gift of their own great spirit,
Glooscap. One night the white man put a charge of powder in the rock to
remove the vein, and when he returned to get the stone after the
discharge the cave fell in with many thousands of tons of the cliff, and
buried both the man and the blue vein. From that day all knowledge of
the vein was lost. I had never seen the stones, for in my day the
Indians had lost them all. My father said the noise of the falling stone
could be heard for miles, and shook the island as if an earthquake had
occurred at the same time. In the morning the great mass of rock was
found piled up and rolled down on the beach. Until now the vein has
never been seen, if what I have found is the blue vein of those early
times."
"You do not know any other name for the stone, I think you said?" asked
Winslow, when Pierre had ended his account of the blue vein.
"I have seen the stone called opal worn by so many of your people of
late. From the description of the Devil Stone given by my father, and
what I have heard of the supposed unlucky nature of the opal, I think
the stones must be one and the same."
"My friend, if you have found an opal vein on your island you are a rich
man, for the stone is valuable and in great demand just now. The people
have outgrown the superstition as to its unlucky character, and there is
a large demand for it this season."
"It will be of little use to me," said Pierre; "but I have not as much
to leave Marie as I would wish. I must send her away," the old man
continued, thoughtfully, "for Len is becoming too troublesome, and it is
affecting my daughter more than it used to."
"Miss Gaston has taken a deep interest in her," said Winslow, leading up
to the subject carefully which he had had in mind for some time.
"She has spoken to me about her. I cannot keep her here during the long,
cold winters on the island, and the young woman, whom Marie has learned
to love, has offered to find her a good school in New York, and to care
for her there."
"I have every confidence in Miss Gaston," said Winslow, "and I esteem
her very much."
"It seems strange," Pierre broke in, "that we should have found two
friends at the same time in our remote home here. We were unknown to
each other a few weeks ago."
"My coming to your island, sir, is the most important event of my later
life," said Winslow, warmly.
It was three days before Pierre and Winslow found it convenient to go to
inspect the blue vein. After the turn of the tide they started together
over the same course which Winslow had taken when he met with the
accident. They went past the cove and found themselves in the midst of
the largest rocks that strewed the shore. They had to pick their way
carefully till Pierre led his friend towards a more open space
surrounded by immense boulders and in front of a huge mass of fallen
rock which extended some distance up the side of the bluff from which it
had separated.
"Somebody has been here since the last high tide," exclaimed Pierre,
examining some faint marks left in the sand, "and foot-prints seem to be
going in the direction of the blue vein."
His words proved true. The tracks made a line to the place where the
opening in the rocks led to the base of the cliff, as Pierre explained.
"The person went past the entrance, but I do not know whether he went in
or not, as the rock shows no track there."
Winslow now looked about them as they stood before a small opening
between the rocks.
"This opening I have seen for some time," said Pierre. "The sand has
been washing off the rock till it led me to believe that there was an
opening large enough to enter. I removed the sand, and cleared away the
stone, and was able to go in some distance towards the cliff. I went far
enough to be in darkness. Let us enter."
Pierre took the lead, and lighting a lantern which he had left in the
passage, he proceeded for some distance.
"At this place I cleared away a great deal of stone and broke up a rock
which obstructed the passage. As you can see, I had much work to open
the way. We are almost to the vein."
Their passage was now slightly upward and broader, and the huge stones
over their heads were in close and firm contact, and supported the
immense weight of rock which rested upon them.
It was not necessary to point out the location of the blue vein. As they
came near enough for the light they carried to reach the wall of the
island the color of the vein stood out against the dull hue of the
adjoining rock. Winslow went near the vein and held the lantern close to
it. The mineral was in the solid rock, and showed evidence of having
been recently worked, for the breaks were fresh. All about the rock were
scars and scratches belonging to an earlier period, and made by human
agency, evidently with crude tools and long labor.
The vein itself, made damp by the moisture of the air, showed everywhere
beautiful colors and shades of tinting, which changed and glowed like
the eye of an animal in the dark. Blue and red, with a dominant cast of
green, through the whole length of the narrow seam, gave its wonderful
beauty to their eyes, and told, to Winslow at least, the great wealth
that lay there undeveloped.
Winslow made an exclamation of surprise and delight.
"Your fortune is made, sir. This is the most beautiful opal I have ever
seen in the rough. I think it will prove as fine as anything that can be
found in the world."
"What is this?" said Pierre. "A knife; but not mine."
"It must have been left by the man whose tracks we saw outside."
"Then our blue vein is no longer our secret. If this man makes a claim
at once he will own the mine, and my share in it will be but
one-quarter."
"We had better return at once; and if you wish to do so, send in your
claim at once to the government at Halifax."
They went back to Bluff House, and at low tide Miss Gaston and Miss
Forest came to the island. Addressing the old man, Miss Forest said:
"Oh, Mr. Gotro, where can we get some of the beautiful opals such as Mr.
Winslow's boatman had this morning?"
"Then it is Len who has found the blue vein," cried Winslow. "When did
you see him?"
"Early this morning. He found out from somebody that the stone had
considerable value, and he is on his way to Halifax, after telegraphing
ahead to the government. He had with him several pieces. He said that
nobody else knew where the place is."
"That young man is the owner of a valuable mine, and is from this day a
rich man. My friend, Mr. Gotro, is the rightful owner, as he has known
of the mine for several days and first found it, yet he is too late now
to get possession of it."
"My share of it will be sufficient," said Pierre, calmly. The venerable
old man, in his life of seclusion and labor, had never known the lust of
wealth. But for his daughter he would not have made an effort to secure
his just share in the blue vein.