The Morning herald., 1876-11-28
CHAPTER VIII.
THE SIGNAL OF FIRE.

The wreck broke in upon the monotony
of Brandon's island life and changed the
current of his thoughts. The revelations
contained in Despard's manuscript came
with perfect novelty to his mind. Potts,
his enemy, now stood before him in darker
colors, the toulest Of miscreants, one whe
had descended to an association with Thug
gee, one who bore on his arm the dread
mark of Bowhani. Against such an
enemy as this he would have to be vary. If
this enemy suspected his existence could
he not readily find means to effect his des-
truction forever? Who could tell what
mysterious allies this man might have?
Gil COLE had tracked and followed him with
the patience and vindictiveness of a blood
hound. There might be many such as he.
! He saw plainly that if he ever escaped his
first and highest necessity would be to work
| in secret, to conceal his true name, and to
let it be supposed that Lousis Brandon had
been drowned, while another name would
enable him to DO what he wished.
The message OF Despard was now scared
legacy to himself. The duty which the
murdered man had imposed upon his ia
ther must now be Inherited by him. Even
this could scarcely add to the obligations
to vengeance under which he already lay
vet it 1reshened his passion and quickened
his esolve.
The brig was novelty to him here, and
as day succeeded to day he found occupa-
ton in searching her. During the hotter
part of the day he busted himsel in shovel
ing out the sand from the cavern with
board. In the cool Of the morning or
evening he worked at the hatchway. Here
he soon reached the cargo.
This cargo consisted of slaves and short
boards. All were blackened, and showed
traces of fire. The fire seemed to have
burned down to depth Of five feet, and
two or three feet under the sides; then the
water coming in had quenched it.
He drew out hundreds of these slaves
and boards, which were packed in bundles
six boards being nailed together as box
shocks, and thirty or forty slaves. These
he threw out upon the deck and upon the
sand. What remained he drew about and
scattered loosely in the hold Of the vessel.
He did this with purpose, for he looked
forward to the time when some ship might
pass, and it would then be necessary to at
tract her attention. There was no way of
doing SO. He had no pole and if he had it
might not be noticed. A fire would be the
surest way of drawing attention, and all
this wood gave him the means Of doing so.
He scattered it about on the sand, SO that
it might dry in the hot sun.
oil IN
sort of a signal to elevate in case of need.
He had nothing but knife to work with.
Yet patient effort will do much, and after
about a week he had cut away the rail that
| ran along the quarter deck. which he gave
him pole some twenty feet in length.
The nails that fastened the boards were all
| rusted so that they could not be used in
| attaching any thing 10 this. He decided
| when the time came to tie his coat to it,and
use that as flag. 1t certainly ought to
| be able to attract attention.
Occupied with such plans and lahors and
purposes as these, the days passed quickly
| for two weeks. By that time the fierce rays
of the sun had dried every board and stave
SO that it became like tinder. The ship
itself felt the heat; the seams gaped more
widely, the boards warped and fell away
from their rusty nails, the timbers were
exposed all over it. and the hot dry wind
penetrated every Granny. The interior of
the hold and the cabin became free from
damp, and hot and dry.
Then Brandon flung back many Of the
boards and slaves loosely; and after enough
had been thrown there he worked labor
iously for days cutting up large numbers
of the boards into fine splints, until at
last huge pile of those shavings were ac-
cumulated. With these and his pistol
he would be able to obtain light and fire
in the time of need.
The post which he had cut off was then
sharpened at one end, so that he could fix
it in the sand when the time came, should
it ever come. Here, then, these prepa-
ratons were completed.
After all his labor in the cabin nothing
was found. The bedding, the mattresses
the chests, the nautical instruments had
all been ruined. The tables and chairs
fell to pieces when the sand was re-
moved; the doors and wood work sank
away; the cabin when cleared remained a
wreck,