The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Cobbler In The Devil's Kitchen, by
Mary Hartwell Catherwood

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Title: The Cobbler In The Devil's Kitchen
From "Mackinac And Lake Stories", 1899

Author: Mary Hartwell Catherwood

Release Date: October 30, 2007 [EBook #23254]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COBBLER IN THE DEVIL'S KITCHEN ***

Produced by David Widger

THE COBBLER IN THE DEVIL'S KITCHEN

From "Mackinac And Lake Stories", 1899

By Mary Hartwell Catherwood

Early in the Mackinac summer Owen Cunning took his shoemaker's bench and
all his belongings to that open cavern on the beach called the Devil's
Kitchen, which was said to derive its name from former practices of
the Indians. They roasted prisoners there. The inner rock retained old
smoke-stains.

Though appearing a mere hole in the cliff to passing canoe-men, the
Devil's Kitchen was really as large as a small cabin, rising at least
seven feet from a floor which sloped down towards the water. Overhead,
through an opening which admitted his body, Owen could reach a natural
attic, just large enough for his bed if he contented himself with
blankets. And an Irishman prided himself on being tough as any French
voyageur who slept blanketed on snow in the winter wilderness.

The rock was full of pockets, enclosing pebbles and fragments. By
knocking out the contents of these, Owen made cupboards for his food. As
for clothes, what Mackinac-Islander of the working-class, in those days
of the Fur Company's prosperity, needed more than he had on? When his
clothes wore out, Owen could go to the traders' and buy more. He washed
his other shirt in the lake at his feet, and hung it on the cedars to
dry by his door. Warm evenings, when the sun had soaked itself in
limpid ripples until its crimson spread through them afar, Owen stripped
himself and went bathing, with strong snorts of enjoyment as he rose
from his plunge. The narrow lake rim was littered with fragments which
had once filled the cavern. Two large pieces afforded him a table and a
seat for his visitors.

Owen had a choice of water for his drinking. Not thirty feet away on