Weekly hawk-eye and telegraph. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1855-1857, 1857-05-20


soon succeeded in fastening her sea gem (as
she called it, to file, es red berries, which
she bound upon her dark forehead, and then
FASTENED to the bright stream in which she
was accustomed TO admire herself Again
and again she clapped her hands, for she
had never seen anything so beautiful as the
white pearl her husband had brought from
beneath the great waters
'rhe fatal gift of beauty to the Ayieula
was now discovered. and the evils which the
founder of the family tolesaw were about to
visit them, for the FAINT of Otaly new orna-
ment had reached even tae ears of the king,
the great Hiiaya. By his command fifty OF
the most expert divers were ordered to de-
scend into the sea, and search for the rude
shells which contained such treasures. From
that time unto the present, thirty days in ev-
cry year, the children OF the earth make war
upon the descendants Of Avicula, and num-
bers are carried away from their home be-
meath the waters to become the slaves OF hui
man avarice and vanity.
cat the time Of one Of these mcursions the
sister Of our fayorite pearl was seven years
old. being at the age at which the daughters
of Avicula Margaretta arrive at maturity
She was known to be very beautiful, and she
herself was aware of her own claims to ad.
m;ration and so constantly did this knowl-
edge occupy her thoughts that she grew dis
satisfied with the seclusion in which she liv-
ed, and longed to be taken from her quiet
home beneath the waters to the world OF
earth, where so many Of her ancestors had
been carried by tho pearldivers. She knew
not what her lot would be in the new world
which she desired to visit, but she felt sure
that some great distinction awaited her, for
those who sought with such labor to obtain
her kindred must set high value upon one
so beautiful as she was.
"For twenty days the divers had ravaged
the country ofthe Avicula, and had carried
off numbers of the inhabitants but she who
desired so much to become captive, had
hitherto escaped She was lamenting what
she considered her hard fate, when she felt
herself torn from her native rock, and was
sensible that she was being borne towards
the surface of the sea--O, how happy she
thought herself in the fulflment of her wish
es! In her JOY, she forgot all those she had
ever known or loved, and though she was but
few minutes on her passage from the bot
tom Of the sea to the upper air she grew i'm
patient at the delay AT length she was
drawn from the water. In moment she
was oppressed by a feeling of suffocation,
which was only increased when she was tum-
bled with dozen others into the bottom OF
boat What would she have given for a
draught OF the pleasant sea which she had
so lately despised, and whose soothing muir
murs she was never to hear again--neycrF'
The shell paused for momentand Laura
heard it sigh deeply. Poor Shell! The sea
had been its birthplace and it knew that 1t
should never see it more. After pause, the
Shell continued:
THE boat into which the unhappy Avicu-
Ia was thrown contained twenty men, besides
a tindal or pilot Ten of the men were row
ers and ten were divers. OF these latter five
had Just been drawn up from the sea, each
| laden with his captives The same number
were preparing to 90 down as soon as the
| large stones of red granite which had aided
their fellows to descend had been hauled up
by the ropes to which they were attached.
This was done, and eacAr the fresh divers,
holding net betweeoa4e toes of his left
foot and the rope, to Which the stone IS las
tened by the toes of his right foot plunged
| into the sea- In about two minutes sigma
was given to the men in the boat that the
| purpose of the divers was accomplished, and
they were drawn up again, as their fellows
had been before them, their nets filled with
the spoils OF the deep waters. 1t was now
noon, and breeze blowing across the SET
warned the fishers to return. Presently {
noise like thunder came booming over the
waters 1t was the gun which told the re
tnrn of the boat to land. Upon the shore
were numberless rude huts and tents, will
each a bazaar or shop before it, surrounded
by thousands of people of different colors
countries, castles and occupations The Sc;
was covered by multitude Of boats, all re
turning from the same pursuit as that which
contained the poor Pearl. AS they SEVERAL,
touched the shore their anxious owners raj
to meet them, and hailed with loud exclama
tons the number of captiycs with which eacl
was laden. The unhappy Avicula wa
thrown roughly into baskets, and carried
away to holes or pits dug in the ground an,
there placed upon coarse mats; alas to lin
ger and to die. Then, how the vain Pear
lalnentcd for her folly, and thought more
and more lovingly Of her home far beneath
4 the waters. She now only desired to die il
peace.
"But this was not TO be. The moorharos
and again the gun was heard booming owe
the sea. The breeze WAS blowing gently from
the land, and the whole fleet of boats an'
their crews of divers and rowers put off t.
renew their ravages in the deep. But TIT
poor Avicula was past all physical pain ye
the power to feel and to remember wa
strangely preserved to her, for what pur-
poses you will learn as proceed with he
story.
| CONCLUDED IN OUR NEXT.