Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1876-09-20

covered their islet, beat upon them witii
all its force. ~
But here at Granite House, betwcoii
these solid walls which neither Wild nor
water could effect, they had nothing ID
fear During this confinement the COLI
onlsts were not idle. There was plenty
Of wood in the storehousc cut into planks
and little by little they completed thcit,
stock OF furniture. As far as chairs and
tables went they were certainly solid
enough, for the material was not spared.
ms ,r, furniture was little too heavy to
fulfil its essential purpose of being east
moved, but it was the pride of Neb and
fencroff, who would not have EXCHANGED
1t for the handsomcst Bull
Then the carpenters turned basket
makers, and succeeded remarkably we'll
at this new occupation.
They had discovered at the northern
part of the lake a thick growth of purple
oslers. Before the rainy season. Pen
croft and Herbert had gathered good
many of these useful shrsbs; and their
branches, being now well seasoned. could
be used to advantage. Their first spec
lmens were rough; but thanks to the
sklll and intelligence of the workmon
consulting together, recalling the models
they had seen, and rivalling each other
IN their efforts, hampers and baskets of
different sizes were soon added to the
stock of the colony The storchouse
was filled with them, and Ncb set away
in special baskets his stock of pistachio
nuts and roots of the dragon tree.
During the last week in August the
weather changed again, the temperature
fell 4 little, and the storm was over,
The colonists at once started out There
must have been at least two feet of snow
on the shore, but it was frozen over the
top, which made it easy to walk over.
Smith and his companions climbed up
Prospect Plateau What a change they
beheld.' The woods which they had left
in bloom, especially the part nearest tn
them where the conifers were plenty
we're now one uniform color.
Everything was white, from the top of
Mount Franklin to the coast--forests,
which cracked and broke with a loud
noise at every change of tide. Thou
sands Of birds ducks and wood -peekers
flew over the surface Of the lake. The
rocks between which the cascade plunged
to the borders of the Plateau were block
ed up with ice One would have said
that the water leaped out of huge gar
goylc, cut by some fantastic artist of the
Renaissance To calculate the damage
done to the forest by this hurricane would
be impossible until the snow had entirely
disappeared.
Spilett, Pencrof, and Herbert took
this opportunity to look after their traps
and had hard work finding them under
their bed of snow. There was danger
Of their falling in themselves; humil-
iating thing to be caught in ones own
trap! They were spared this annoyance
however, and found the traps had beoR
untouched not an animal had beea
caught, although there were a great
many footprints in The neighborhood,
among others, very clearly Impressed
marks of claws.
Herbert at once classified these car
nivora, among the cat tribe, a circum-
stance which justified the engineers bo-
lief in the existence of dangerous beasts
on Lincoln Island. Doubtless these
beasts dwelt in the dense forests of the
Far West; but driven by hunger. they
had ventured as far as Prospect Plateau.
Perhaps they had scented the inhabitants
of Granite House.
"What, exactly. are these carnivoraF'
asked Pencrof.
..They are tigers" replied Herbert.
~ thought those animals were only
found in warm countries"
"In the New World, replied the lad
sthey are to be found from Mexico tc
f the pampas of Buenos Ayres. NoS, al
f Lincoln Island is in almost the same lat
t itude as La Plata, it is not surprising
that tigers are found here.
8 "All right, we will be on our guard,
h replied Pcncrof.
: In the meantime, the temperature rls
r ing. the snow began to melt, it came OF
If to rain, and gradually the white mantle
r disappeared. Notwithstanding the bae
It weather the colonists renewed their stocl
5 of provisions, both animal and vegetable
: This neccssitated excursions into thu
It forest, and thus they discovered how
many trees had been beaten down by th'
t hurricane. The sailor and Neb pusheC
forward with their wagon as far as th'
f coal deposit in order to carry back some
: fnel. They saw on their way that thu
! chimney of the pottery oven had beor
1 much damaged by the storm; at least si'
feet had blown down.
They also renewed their stock of Woo
as well as that of coal, and the Mere
having become free once more, they en-
ployed the current tofdraw several load
, to Granite House. II might be that tn
cold season was not yet over
70 BF CONTINUED.
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