Witches Cove

st few days had stirred her to the very depths. A quiet, dreamy girl, she was given to sitting across the prow of her brot

A deep dark pool on three sides by the darkest of firs and hemlocks, on the north of the

lf submerged rocks to go booming against the granite wal

articular afternoon and recalled all the str

he days of long ago, dark gray, low lying crafts came to anchor at dead

s' retreat. Even the renowned Captain K

ngst the rocks. That spar came from a Spanish Gallion. I've seen it. I know. An' I've always held that a treasure

h-hook had snagged on something down there that was soft

ottom of the cove. She thought instead of the strange do

" she told herself stoutly. "The

he water, "that's Ruth's discovery. It's only fair to let her g

e had caught. Its coloring was curi

re else. They say it's the three gray witches. Tom McTag saw 'em once, three gray witches coming up out of t

e did receive a shock. Eyes were starin

rned to her, she made out the figures of two huge black cats half h

she told herself. "T

e blue, green, purple cunner an

g fur flying, they were upon the fish and a

d. "Stop that! Here's another and yet a

quick look showed her a very small man, wearing great horn rimmed glasses. Squatting there on the steep bank,

intake of breath. "Must be. Cats wouldn't be here. Nobody's been there

e fish; not the sort she had hoped to catch, however. Pearl, as has been said, was

breath and set her teeth hard as s

mination on her round freckled face deepened. "A big co

through her fingers, cu

wrapping the line about her hands, she braced herself a

through tight set teeth. "Do

Pearl was fond of hand-line fishing. Time and again she had begge

elf. If you got one on a line he'd pull you overboard. Then we'd have an awful time telling which was yo

es. But when the work was done and the tide was right, she would d

with a string of cunn

y recesses at the bottom of Witches Cove she had always known. That a

igh and nerves all a-ting

hrew her shoulders back and gave a tremendous

" she all

ame another tug. Not so strong now. She had

" she told herself disappointedl

white appeared in the dark waters beneath her, and a moment lat

claimed. "Now they can't

halibut. Pearl's mother would be delighted. Don and some of the other boys were off on a

she regained her poise, Pe

," she sai

g a fish. The grand old times are gone. Nothing ever really happens. If only I'd lived i

Casco Bay as it had been in the pioneer t

mer tourists, no ferry boats. Only a cabin here, another there, woods and water and s

t might be done. A heavy fog drifting silently in from the sea had hidden the wharves and storage houses in Portland Harbor,

t out all signs of progress. A moment had passe

visible through the fog, kept up its steady ding-dong. "There now! You've g

r will be passing in an hour or two. If this fog keeps up,

's the use of fussing? Fish a

y, with the prow tilting at a rakish angle,

h. Never before had she landed one so large and fine. What she wanted most

re lost to her sight now. A ring of white fog, her boat and he

h. Settlers on Portland Head all crowded into the stockade. Going to be a battle. Some soldiers

s the bell buoy clanged louder than ever as

, Ding-dong, it spoke of cliffs and shallows and

one, but threw him back. A great old cod, red with iodine from the kelp, gave he

"What's cod beside chi

g-dong of that buoy bell nev

d to be at her very side. She

rifting toward the buoy. Besides, would

g bait up and down. She loaded the hook with juicy clams and tried again. This time it

ppeared close to the surface. And then, with a

he crie

ng, Din

en stood straight up to stare

ay there came the hoarse hoot of the fog

still, "perhaps two hundred, three hundred people, men, women and

ing she had seen and could

d appeared the outline of a steel fr

st," she to

up her dripping anchor, she dropped it into the boat. Then, gripping the oars, she put all her strength into a d

heavy wool sweater, she wrapped it tightly about the clapper

tion on one of the hollow steel floats that prevented the bell and its

denly attempting to stan

ll, she had failed to tie her painter secu

told herself ruefully. "M

s and buoys and other things belonging to t

. The bell buoy still clanging its message, now a false message indeed, was drifting out to sea. If the S. S. Standish, the Booth Bay Harbor steamer,

n unutterable confusion. Men shouting, children crying, women praying,

all not be. Not hearing the bell, having no sure

her forehead. What was to come of her? With her dory gone, she was going str

he shut the thought from her mind. She was doing he

er and nearer they came. They had passed the Witch Rock

clang of the bell, the pi

safe. They'll lay outside until

her own peril was lost in great jo

ing of bells.

of the buoy, she struck the bell a sharp tap. Again, again and yet aga

it. Then came the ship's

" she whispe

she sent out in Morse signal

ttle of chains. They

ollowed, then from o

y th

were never hea

e!" she ca

onished seamen stared at a

* *

d and grateful captain as Pearl climbed aboard the

ng. I caught a chi

nt wide; her dory and c

g her story, but all through the telling there flashed into her mind the picture

ateful passengers and crew repeated the girl's story. And always

oice said as Pearl spun round to li

e eyes of Captain Patrick O'Connor, he

he replied in

," the Captain went on,

ut

ught the buoy alongside. They're hoistin' her on board. Mark my w

ey found no marks of hammer, file or hack-saw, but th

on 'em," O'Connor leaned over to whisper in the gir

derstand, "if I hadn't found it, if I hadn't silenc

se here waters as would have been glad to see it. There's twenty

ear, "an' I'll tell you a few things. You're old enough to kno

oods brought in without duty, and of men refused right of

in Casco Bay," he added. "It's our duty, the duty of ever

ou about seeing us pirates the oth

eaped. Was a secret to be

purpose as ever American patriot ever held. We're bound together, us twenty-four, in a solemn vow to rid Casc

said

dory in the night and the face in the fire. "But those," she told hers

line of Peak's Island were showing through. Very soon they were moving slo

dish, "we'd like a few facts to enter in o

of so great a man, Pearl found it ha

as over, the Captain led

here," he sa

ll green and r

e Captain. "You lost a h

yes

ent from passengers and crew. Little token of-of-Oh,

, waving a joyous, tearful farewell to her new friends, she