Litchfield enquirer., 1869-10-21

FOOT man! d6 QlQ not dream aG Una moment that his adverse fate was ever |then reientlessly closing around him; that he was on one of his own ships-the .Cy clone; that the ship was commanded by . bitter foe in league with Colonel Nichols, who, on recognizing him., would without remorse consign him again to the mercies of the Pacific in his Indian canoe.
 On inquiry Lester learned that the yes |sel was the Cyclone, and in the light of the cabin lamp recognized her Captain. Tear ing off his priestly robe, and wiping the stain from his face with its coarse folds, he exclaimed: ''
 sCaptain Sales, don't you know e?1- {
 David Lester!' cried the Captain, turning ashy pale, and grasping his sta- tionary seat as though he had received 8 shock. s..>..
 Lester wiped his brows and sat down, the Captain taking seat opposite him..
 Hehad so much to ask. that his emo. lions choked his utterance, and prevented him from observing the look of deadly ha- tired with which the Captain regarded him. But he finally piled his questions fast, and learned that his wife yet lived, that his daughter Amy had grown into lovely girl, and that both wife and daughter had
 
 ed of his wife's poverty.
 ''Colonel Nichols settled up the firm af- fairs, said the Captain reservedly, ss and there was nothing left for Mrs. Lester. She has been living on his bounty these two or three years! When your interest in the ship was sold, bought it. The Colonel owns the other halfl"
 " But this is a base frandp' exclaimed Lester. '' The Colonel has been untrue to the trust I reposed in him. have had suspicious of his integrity during my long exile, but have never dared to entertain them. I'll make matters straight on my return. can prove my claims and bring poor Margaretr' and he groaned.
 ed to stir up all the malice of the Captains ship, fraudqlently acquired, threatened, whose right in the Cyclone he had usurped.
 (" If report speaks truly" he said, ',Mrs; Lester need not be called 'poor. Colonel Nichols has long been paying her atten- tions, and when left port five months The Colonel told me himself that he loved
 
 by this time they are married.
 This cruel thrust struck home to the poor husbands heart, and uttering g great cry, he fell forward with his face upon the table. while the Captain regarded him with a look of mingled hatred and exultation.' 2 Leaving his victim thus stunned, Cap tain Sales went on deck, and seeing that Q storm was rising, and thinking tie time go <,f formed the crew that the strange man in the cabin was an insane creature, whom it would bo ursafo to koep on board, and ea- silly convinced them that it was their duty, as they valued their own lives, to set him adrift again. He then went. below, called Lester on deck, and at-once set him adrift in ell-provisioned boat, notwithstand- ing the wretched mans piteous appeals for mercy. The Cyclone then sailed on, and Lester's boat was soon lost sight of in the darkness. A short time afterward the storm broke fariously, and Capt. Sales rubbed his hands as he drought of the certain fate of the poor waf whom he had so recently exposed to it's power. s4 . But the storm was of short duration; Lester's boat outrode 1t; and the next day he succeed in reaching the Cloud Islands. His fame as an image carver had preceded him, and the chief of the Cloud Islands, who was named Lanoti, at once compelled him to go to work on an idol, informing him that he, should, spend the remainder of his life in that odious service. The un- happy man was driven to despair by this terrible announcement He toiled day af- ter.day, and night after night he planned to escape. But all his plannings we're in vain, as he was heavily ironed, and closely guarded at night But finally, after months of disappointment, when the at tention of his guards was attracted else where by the ceremonies of a feast, he succeeded in eluding their vigilance, and getting rid of his irons, he escaped from the guard house, and dashed wildly toward the sheltering obscurity of a thick forest, which he reached in safety, but not before his flight had been discovered, and scores of the islanders had started in pursuit of him. etg r..'.
 An overruling Providence had so order ed it that, short time before Lester's es- cape, Ally Bell had been left by Captain HiIey on an uninhabited island, within sight of the groupe on which Lester then was. Ally had been drugged by Captain Hiley, and while in deep sleep, had been left. on the island, with his chest, basket of provisions, and full set of tools. -a...
 The boy on awaking, and finding him. self thus left alone in the vast Pacific Ocean, was crushed by sense of his ca lamity. But he was brave lad, and he soon rallied, and set at work to make the best of his case. He built himself hut, and having lot of fireworks in his chest, he arranged them so that he could play them of with effect, in case any savages from the neighboring islands should come to molest him.. His knowledge of chemis- try and of fireworks, and his skill as a yentriloquist was so great that he had ac- quired the title of .sYhe Boy Magician. !" which title he determined to make good in case any savage visitors should attempt to work him mischief. He had been in his new home but few days when he saw a fleet of canoes and sail-boats approaching his island, and hastily getting his fire works in perfect order, he calmly awaited the arrival of the painted barbarians, whom he could already distinguish eagerly gazing at his cabin. s saas. ,ss45..s eat. ss ge. CHAPTER ". < THE. MOST FInNDTsHPLor OF ALI. <
 The summer slipped away and Septem= ber was drawing to its close. , One m orning late in the month, Colonel Nichols sat in his office, idly drumming on his desk with his fingers. an expression of