been discovered. His history sounds like a fairy tale."
"Which I verily believe it is," laughed Mr. De Vere. "Aside from those in the limestone district, there are no true caves in the Shawangunk Mountains intersected as they are with metalliferous veins."
"Do you consider the story of the mine apocryphal?"
"I regard it as simply a local tradition. Instead of a Captain Kidd or some other pirate, we, on this side of the mountains, have an equally romantic hero in 'Old Ninety-Nine.' Benny Depuy, however, is well remembered by some of the old residents of this town, was a weaver by trade, and had an imagination as vivid as the colors he wove. His house, a quaint specimen of the architecture of pioneer days when each home was a veritable fort for protection against Indian outbreak, is still in a good state of preservation. Benny claims that 'Old Ninety-Nine' frequently stopped there. According to tradition, the Indian was a "Medicine man";
