CHAPTER X.

_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.