"BretHarte-LegendsAndTales" - читать интересную книгу автора (Harte Bret)

The Padre did not recover his consciousness until high noon the
next day, when he found himself lying in a little hollow between
the Mission Hills, and his faithful mule a few paces from him,
cropping the sparse herbage. The Padre made the best of his way
home, but wisely abstained from narrating the facts mentioned
above, until after the discovery of gold, when the whole of this
veracious incident was related, with the assertion of the padre
that the secret which was thus mysteriously snatched from his
possession was nothing more than the discovery of gold, years
since, by the runaway sailors from the expedition of Sir Francis
Drake.



THE LEGEND OF DEVIL'S POINT.


On the northerly shore of San Francisco Bay, at a point where the
Golden Gate broadens into the Pacific stands a bluff promontory.
It affords shelter from the prevailing winds to a semicircular bay
on the east. Around this bay the hillside is bleak and barren, but
there are traces of former habitation in a weather-beaten cabin and
deserted corral. It is said that these were originally built by an
enterprising squatter, who for some unaccountable reason abandoned
them shortly after. The "Jumper" who succeeded him disappeared one
day, quite as mysteriously. The third tenant, who seemed to be a
man of sanguine, hopeful temperament, divided the property into
building lots, staked off the hillside, and projected the map of a
new metropolis. Failing, however, to convince the citizens of San
Francisco that they had mistaken the site of their city, he
presently fell into dissipation and despondency. He was frequently
observed haunting the narrow strip of beach at low tide, or perched
upon the cliff at high water. In the latter position a sheep-
tender one day found him, cold and pulseless, with a map of his
property in his hand, and his face turned toward the distant sea.

Perhaps these circumstances gave the locality its infelicitous
reputation. Vague rumors were bruited of a supernatural influence
that had been exercised on the tenants. Strange stories were
circulated of the origin of the diabolical title by which the
promontory was known. By some it was believed to be haunted by the
spirit of one of Sir Francis Drake's sailors who had deserted his
ship in consequence of stories told by the Indians of gold
discoveries, but who had perished by starvation on the rocks. A
vaquero who had once passed a night in the ruined cabin, related
how a strangely dressed and emaciated figure had knocked at the
door at midnight and demanded food. Other story-tellers, of more
historical accuracy, roundly asserted that Sir Francis himself had
been little better than a pirate, and had chosen this spot to