SHORT STORY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13625, 19 December 1907, Page 3

SHORT STORY.

THE FATAL LEAP. A pew weeks ago I took a flying trip along tho bleak and rugged coast of Maine. I did not seek any of the beautiful beaches which hero and there dot the seashore, and whore thousands in pursuit of recreation had taken up their abode. I had come to see Nature in its wildest mood, nob a crowd of people whoso double object was to sec and bo seen. For two weeks' time my homo was in tho dwelling of the humblo fishermen, and each day I took long walks over the sands and climbed the. great jagged cliffs that uprose along tho shore Jiko sentinels, and thrust themselves out into tho waves as though in defiance of the ocean's power. Thcro was ono crag which 1 climbed often, and, sitting on its topmost point, mused upon the story I had heard ono night in the cot of a fisherman which stood some half a mile away across the sands. The cliff was called Black Rock, and there, tho old legend had it, a tragedy had been enacted. _ 1 will givo tho story as near as I can as it foil from the lips of the old fisherman one wild, stormy night, That day I had climbed tho crag for the first time, and shuddered as I gazed from the dizzy height into the boiling waves that lashed its base. I had thought, then what a fearful leap it would be, and that night, as we sat about the bright tiro blazing upon tho hearth, I had made a remark to that effect. "And yet it was taken once, sir," said the old fisherman, looking up from, his work on tho net he was mending. "You don't moan to say that anybody ever leaped from that lofty crag into the sea?" I said, in surprise not unmixed with incredulity. "But 1 do, sir," ho answered. "There was not only one, but two of 'em. They took the leap together." " Why did they do it?" " [ will tell you tho story, sir, if you would like to hear it."

I replied that nothing would pleaso mo better, and lie at onco began. "It is nigh about a hundred years ago that it happened, In those days tho country hereabouts was almost a wilderness. There were no clearings back in tho country to speak of. The Indians and tho wild boasts had it. all to themselves. A fow settlements had l>ecn made by the seashore, and now and then there was tho cabin of a fisherman, and theso comprised all. "It was a hard and dangerous life they led. There was danger by the sea, and from the redskins who filled tho forest behind them, and at times it seemed as though they were in league together to drive tho white men from the foothold they had got upon the shore.

" In one of these little settlements there dwelt a man by the name of Job Eastman. His wife had long been dead, but his daughter Rachel took her place in tho household, and cared for the cabin and her father's welfare as faithfully as her mother could have done.

" But the time came when it seemed that she was going- to leave him. " A young fisherman, Alf. Hardy by name, won her heart, and the. timo was set for them to be married. "Job Eastman knew that ho should miss her, almost as badly as ho had felt tho loss of his wife, but he said not a word against the match. Ho knew that Alf. was deserving of her, and ho would in no way interfere with her happiness. "One day, late in tho summer, Rachel took her basket and set out alone for the forest to fill it with berries. Her father and lover wero both absent upon tho water, and when they cam© back at sundown she had not returned. Afraid that she had met some accident, "they sot out in search of her with little loss of time. Over and over again they called her name, but all the answer they got was the echoes from the woods and cliffs.

At tho edge of tho forest they separated and went in different directions.

"The moon had como up now, making everything almost as light as day. "With a great fear tugging at his heart Alf. Hardy went on, plunging deeper and deeper into the forest. Again and again he shouted aloud tho name of Rachel, but the echoes, mocking him, were all tho answer he got. "What could have happened to her?" he asked himself repeatedly. His great fear was that she had fallen into the hands of the savages, who had either slain her or carried her away a captive, and lie was not long in finding that ho was right in this surmise. " Ho struck the trail of the redskins, and by the light of the moon He soon discovered the prints of Rachel's feet among the others; " Hurriedly he' followed on, fearing the worst. He did not call alour her name now, for he knew there would be danger in doing so. But he would not stop until he had found her, dead or alive. ', "Half a milo further on and, to his great joy, he saw the form of a woman leaning against a tree. It was Rachel. In a minute he was by her side, cutting the bonds that bound her to the tree, and removing tho cruel gag from her mouth. "He knew that he had .no. time to lose, and tho next minute, hand in hand, they wore hurrying back toward tho settlement, expecting each minute to see the savages inpursuit. "Their fears were soon realised. A shout told them that the savages had returned, and, missing their captive, were coming on in full pursuit. "They fled onward for their lives; but soon their course in that direction was stayed. The redskins suddenly appeared in front as well as rear. There was but one way for them to turn now, and that was toward the sea; and so they fled that way. "Howling like so many fiends thirsting for blood the savages came after them. "The shore was soon reached, and Black Rock loomed up before them. Once on tho summit of this tho young man thought he might keep them at bay. "They hurried to tho top with the redskins at their heels. "With Rachel in his rear, crouched behind the topmost crag, he fought with all his strength to keep them back. But ono pair of hands was no match for a»soore, and he was not long in learning that he was unequal to tho task. " Death almost sure and certain was on either side, but ho felt that the sea was more merciful than the savages. " Turning suddenly, ho clasped Rachol in his arms, and sprang with his burden to the *>dgo of the rock. Only for an instant did he stand there, and then ho took tho fatal leap. " With a howl of disappointment the redskins saw the waves close over thoir lost victims; and it was the last time that the lovers were seen by mortal eyes. " Some say, even to this day, that, when the moon is full, their forms may be seen floating upon the waves that lash tho foot of the rock, elapsed in each other's arms, as they wero when they took tho fatal leap."