Chapter 28

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!