The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-11-17 00:00:00

SATURDA V, NOV, 17, 1883.

[ALL AIORTS RESERVED.]
EVE AT THE WHEEL,

quer
etner4
)11 toe
nation
bed in
have
eaellre
which
)liebed
i now
at the
is con'
the oyi
was ip
, until
.or the
be of

horse
Hog t°
amen
le Be"
of the
!trines,
of the
ted
troPed_us
inarwn
Ire our

tector :
ow 013,1
01 rso n .
Fatnes :
pt other

Scott,
'tit:notes
Uuiteu
es ;
es costs
gurea 111
acres et
owe the
000,00°,
)f these
o deur
tight be
,culture,
g them.
ction of
rendert
f fence*
which
t fence,
number
use iu

remark.
County,
ras trap.
ming be
hing for
ar frog
• having
3e other
e house,
to find
• home.
ted itself
ImmonlY
on the
3low the
wo, spa
C one of
eet nine
being
't of the

largest
ces4fully
zoulerae.
ig. The
aout the
ramteel,
nes,
.To

;le hat'
the road
nough to
roadwaY
Neaponl
:oast nn

()Rowing
week, as

si. Per
—Wheat,

-An Lra'
to Mr.
Id at the
'oven:the
Mr. F.
led three
20 yer
ad prla
f•brotber
)e brood
ear O.
edere, of
The 14
averaged

: Never
y I often
ittle girl.
,—mabel
That's
ached.--

ear 1670
narkable
1 women
whether
hf ter the
tray into
lecta, by
)th, false
h-heeled
ty of the
?ry, end
ge, upon
- Ca 34 ell'S

Sheffield
:ill, near
DI

, miner.
r with a
er. kler
ince.
, forcibly
er, float-
g, called
lesperate
ighbonr's
gled gal
to him,
he saflk.
mother's
ident. A
ned.

itutional
the fol. •
is to be :
ids from
ie shield
smelting
at flowe
e nearer
Idle fore.
; on the
left an
t in the
and take
the nevi

WEST.--
is to OA
bet Ween
,anadian
Is cofle.
rty miles
wer 400
arm. In

i farmer
ipped In
season.

greatest

question
s of thio

through

G. MANVILLE FEN.
Juthor of "Ship Ahoy," "Dutch, the Diver," "The
Foundry Belle," #c., ,fc„

CHAPTER XXXJI. 4
A STRI7GOLE FOR LIFE.
,
IT was a tremendous responsibility to rest on a
man 'whose heart felt to him as if it were 'broken,
for the whole party seethed perfectly heltdess, and
to look to him to save them—to feed, house, and
, clothe; and to do all this he seemed. to have about
him a desolate island.
However, matters were not quite so black as they
Seemed;' for, on heading an exploration patfy, whose
ftim was to discover fruit, he found that a few miles
to the northward the island Was, though devastated,
in a less terrible state. There were fruit trees only
partially burned; ,there were traces of more animals
-.. than he could have anticipated to be alive -. and, as
tile shore here grew rocky, there were shell-fish to
be obtained; and, could he snare them, or contrive
to, bring them down by means of bow and arrow, an
abundance of birds. • I
6‘ Come," he said, cheerily, "we shall not starve:"
.As he spoke,' his hea- seemed to stand still; for
there withher arms embracing a rock, and the waves
just curling over her partly-submerged form, lay
Grace Monroe. ,
. Insensible? Dead P 1
He could not for the 'moment tell, as, overcoming
the sensation of faintness that attacked him, he ran
• forward, and, catching the poor girl in his arms,
bore her to where the sands were soft and dry.
She revived in a short time but was so weak that
' a kind of litter of boughs had to be contrived to
bear her to a place of safety, where, for explana-
tion, she had naught to tell, only that she had wan-
dered away, lost herself and was striving to get back
by the shore, when she fell, overcome by hunger and
weariness.
z Ile coming of the exploring party was but just
in time; for, before they started back, the snot
where Grace Monroe had lain insensible was covert-J
lw the returning tide.
The little colony was in excellent spirits, for the
search of the explorers had quite equalled their
expectations.
'Thello was in high glee over a roasted pig.
There were quantities of a kind of rock oyster, that
they knew from experience to be excellent eating,
and a fair supply of food had been brought in—
enough in all to enable the starving party to feast
amply before seeking rest at nightfall on the soft,
rain-washed sands.
Helston's great trouble was about Deborah, for
though she had made no movement, he had seen her
eyes flash as Grace was borne into their midst; and
in her state he knew that she only wanted opportunity
I to put in execution some one or other of her savage
l intents.
The lava was so much hardened on the following
. day, that those who did not mind daring the suffo-
cating heat that radiated from its surface, had no
t iifficulty in traversiLg it.
' And taking Laurent with him, believing that en-
gaging his attention was the better way of helping
the cure he hoped to effect, Holston made fcr t_..e
~,
1
spot where the ship had lain, in the hope that some
traces of it might be left unburned.
- He was not disappointed, for the ship had been so
1
low in the sand, that though it was burned off to a
level with the lava, it was evident that if the crust
g were removed, a few articles that might prove of
"• value could be $ dug out from the depths of the hold.
g_ This,lowever, was entirely a matter for the future,
irr as nothing could be done until the lava had cooled,
I and this would probably take weeks.
"[ To Helston's great delight, Laurent showed signs
. of interest in his pro-eedings ; but he was still
haunt d by the dread of the serpent, and in his most
sensible moments became suddenly seized with a
desire to hunt about, in a crouching attitude, for the
deadly enemy from which he had escaped.
Hastening back, Helston found his flock troubled
at his absence; for the parties who had been collect-
ing shell fish came back with evil reports of th,_ir
scarcity, and the cry arose—
" What shall we do when the shell-fish are all

eaten ?" •
"The sea is big enough to supply us all with fish,"
said Helston,
And, amidst a general laugh, he set several of the
women to work unravelling the cotton of a co p'e
of the least damaged dresses, while others Ila,l to
spin this between their fingers into thread, which
was in turn made into a fishing line.
In the course of a few hours he had four decent
• lines; and, while these were making, Helston had
to contrive hooks.
From a great corking-pin that one of the women
had he manufactured a famous hook; the glowing
lava enabling him, with his knife and the hatchet-
edge, to turn a good barb, the sharpening of the
point being entrusted to one of the women.
A couple of crochet needles, fortunately possessed
by another woman, formed two hooks that were
' looked upon as treasures, while inferior ones of a
small size were contrived out of hair pins, doubled
and bound to give them strength.
Quite a party assembled, gaunt with hunger, and
doubtful, to see the lines baited and thrown in.
, For there were not wanting sceptics who did not
believe in the success of the venture.
•-• The hooking, however, of a goodly-sized fish, and
its subsequent landing, were hailed with delight; and
'when the tide began to come in, and the fish bit,
and were captured freely, the joy of all presen„
knew no bounds, a dozen women setting to work at
once to make more lines, which they did better and
stronger than the first; while 'Thello, with a grin of
delight, set two women to work to clean the fish,
whose intestines attracted others by the thousand,
and he proceeded to cook the take upon his lava
Oven.
The great shells oi the rock oysters supplied
them with plates; and as the fish were caught in
• abundance, the little colony feasted sumptuously
for the first time since the catastrophe.
But fish, and abundance of pure water that
rargled overthe sands to the sea, were not deemed by
tielston to be sufficient, so he busied himself in
contriving some weapon with which he could bring
down birds or an occasional wild pig.
He lay thinking out his plans one night after a
weary day, and then slept, to dream that Grace was
Smiling upon him, instead of keeping entirely aloof
and avoiding all explanation.
It was but a dream; but he was conscious that
' she had nearly recovered, and he felt that so long
Rs he could do his duty to those who were with him
he must wait patiently for the change that he knew
roust, sooner or later, come.
Ile had his plans ready by the break of day, and
' Set to work busily chipping one of the great pearl
Shells into an arrow-head, which, after roughly
Shaping out, he proceeded to grind on a rock.
One was completed, and he was at work upon
4nother, when, to his great joy, a voice at his elbow
Said:
. "I can do those for you, Heston."
Ile turned to find Laurent pale and thin' but with
very different look upon his face to that which it
!tad borne for days past, and Heiken shook him
sieartily by the hand..
"Very—very glad to find you so much better,"
said.
"Yes," said Laurent, with a peculiar look, "1
thought I had been ill; for I have been dreaming
liorribly of a great serpent attacking me, and that I
''as constantly hunting it. It rose, of course, out of
he horrible eruption; but, Holston, how did we get
%Way if the place was surrounded by fire ?"
"Waited till the lava hardened,". said...Helston,
(I,llietly, thinking it better not to enter into particu-
44ts as Laurent seemed weak.
I,lle handed him the pieces of !shell, and vacated
gle place by the stone, when Laurent worked busily
over his task, and Helston began to shape arrows
211 t of some
.splinters of pine that were hard and
rY, the tree having been scorched by the volcanic
&Ire,
jan was less hopeful about his bow; but he had
ebt down a stout, shapely bush of some hard wood,
114 d in a few hours he was furnished with the neces-
!ztry weapons, with which he started that morning,
14, company with imiurent and a band of tha women,
"0 collect shellfish on the rocky shore eight or nine
._111!les north, and there try the effect of his new
I,lt succeeded beyond his expectations; fnr the
rds clustered thickly together, so that it was
2rd, to. that he did not transfix one which was trans-
t'red to the general stock.
„This was a new source of supply; and he deter-
'tried that a dozen of the women should be fur-
:ilihed with bows and arrows to keep up the supply,
t° that, what with the collection of shell-fish, the
jlt birds that would be shot, and the 'fish caught,
"re was no fear of present starvation. •
with over three hundred mouths to feed,
qelstonlelt that other plans must be adopted.
/'ortunately, the weather remained delicious, and
eady a faint blush of green was beginning to ap-
i:4l' here and there upon the blasted soil, while the
51S that had been spared by
.the devastating ash-
were budding forth afresh. Taken altogether,
tt,.ere was enough to show that in a month or two
tom° island would begin again to show some of its
roler beauty- while as there was no present pros
-
(19'4 of their being set free, Helston and Laurent
,k,i'Beussed together the possibility of constructing
Wood
shelter before the rainy time should come; and
tzt was so scarce, the only way seemed to be to
0f„,...„, dig away the crust of lava from the bottom
Qe ship's hull, where investigation had a second
shown them that there beneath a mass of char-
''‘Coa4l, Was wood, and probably cases and tubs, with
ttplements that would be invaluable. So it was de-
°4led that a certain number of stakes should be
thPened, and with these to dig, and the largest
1,1,71 a for shovels, a strong party should attack the
to it 4, if it proved on inspection to be sufficiently cool
ov, of the attempt.
fort soon as it was decided upon to try what good
141 e should attend them at the ship, one morning
- of about forty, guided by Laurent and
set forth for the remains of the wreck.
were all armed with long stakes, sharply
and hardened by cutting with the axe a
the Java cruet, and thrusting them

into a place wntre tne voicante mineral was 'still in a
molten state.

. .
In fact, this heat had been a blessing to.them
during the cold nights, sleeping as they did without-
the slightest protection but the sand they heaped
around them to keep off the wind, for the lava was
still in too heated a state to allow Of its being
broken into fragments of which they could build a
hut.
In addition to the pointed stakes, each woman.
had her shovel—that is to say, a great shell to. act '
as scoop—while :Helton carried the ono axe they
Ossessed. •
As they went on, .the two Men discussed the'pos-
sibiay of building a rcat hut of the fragments of
rock on the coast farther north, and this they
de ided to do.

"Only ,we shall, have to wait a year or two- for
wood and leaves to cover it in," said Laurent.
" Un'ess we. can find' uncharred boards at the
bottom of, the:Ship's said Helston.
• By thi time they had reached te lava whic!t
covered in the ship, and .lleston shuddered as ho
thought of the horrible scene when the 7.,155el
seemed td blaze up like a match.
To their great joy, they found that, though 1-.11,-
rounded and partially covered by lava, fully half of
the vetsel's extent wa:S covered in with charcoal
and thick ashes, which were easily loosened by their
stakes, and (fug out freely.
They all began then scraping and. clearing out
this debris, aping to find something that would
rend, r their nprovided state more bearable, when
tl'ore was 'a shout, and, turning sharply, they saw
'Thellocome panting up.
"Mass' Helston—Mass' Laurent,.! Come quick.
Lot of Indian fellows landed and seize de women,
and I nearly kilt ! "
There was a wound on 'Thello's forehead bleeding
freely in token of the truth of his statement, and on
looking in the direction in which he had cirne, not
only were half a dozen canoes of a lar size visible,
but a patty of Indians were seen steal.zq round the
point, club :and -spear in hand, evidently bent upon
attacking the.little band of labourers on the remains
of the ship.

.
3
.
•
'';
4 h

41114:ttoY
tkilte7d