Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1886-08-26
kindly eyes and much sympathy he encour-

kindly eyes and much sympathy he encour-
aged him to proceed
| Gentlemen, while l stood awaiting the
moment of death, which conceived newt
able, the Indian, appearing to observe me
for the first time, rushed up to me and, with,
many wild gesticuiations and unintelligible
words, dragged me to the stern Of the vessel.
where, to my joy, saw a small boat sus-
pended She hung by ropes at the head and
stern, and | motioned TO the Indian to
slacken the left hand rope while l released
the other, by which means we got the boat
down upon the water without capsizing
| her.
"No sooner was she afloat, than the Indian
sprang over the taffrail and swung himself
into her; and dreading that he might leave
me to my fate, followed him hastily, and
cast the boat adrift from the ship, which
tw enty minutes after we had quilted her,
sank.
From this point my story is mere COM
monplace narrative of suffering, with one
strange feature in it. Our boat was without
sails. The other boats, having the advantage
over US in size and sail, soon vanished upon
the waterlnen
He glanced at a timepiece drank his wine,
and continued, speaking quickly:
"Ihere was a small quantity of fresh water
in beaker in the boats bows but no food
| of any kind In the night, which was very
| calm, with bright stars, ! fell asleep; and
when awoke, my mouth being parched |
went to the beaker, but found it empty |
knew that the Indian had drank the water
in the night while slept, and, in my rage
and agony, could have murdered him: but
the wretch fell on his knees and so piteously
moaned to me in his native language. that
my fury was sobered by the fear and despair
In his face, and in my misery / sat down and
wept Observing my anguish, the Indian
crawled over to me on his knees and kissed
my feet, and then, pulling out package
from his breast, placed it in my hand and
withdrew to the bows of the boat Scarcely
knowing what | did, / thrust che package
into my pocket, and instantly forgot it in
the sufferings of thirst which tornented
me- However, some relief / obtained by
sousing my shirt in the sea and wearing it.
against my skin; and likewise | chewed a
piece of leather from the sole of my boot,
which kept my mouth moist
-Four days passed, in sufferings need not
describe, and on the fifth day the Indian
fell crazy, and, leaning over the side of the
boat in manner that nearly overset her. he
drank the salt water greedily, as a sheep
would, with his mouth upon it, which
brought on a black vomit, and toward the
morning he died. Not until the evening of
the sixth day was l rescued by small
schooner from Pernambuco to Portsmouth.
blown by the gale that had wrecked the
Elizabeth many miles out of her course, who,
on sighting my boat, bore down and picked
me up. That was on the 18th of September
as was told-for had lost all reckoning of
time-and four days ago l arrived at Ports
mouth. So this brings me TO an end, gentle
men; and now will | state my motive in
calling upon youn
He put his hand in his pocket, and held it
there while he spoke
Iou, of course, remember that an Indian
prince sailed as passenger in the Elizabeth
Certainly"
"He was reported on board the ship to be
possessed of very valuable jewels"
we viii give you the appraisement in fig
ures-e170 COO"
II have explained to you that my fellow
sufferer in the boat was one of the princes
attendants. The parcel he placed in my
hands contained precious stones, which a
leweler in Portsmouth valued at eos, 000."
HE must have stolen them when the ship
was sinking" said MIR. Hunter, quickly
mo doubt, and by SO doing saved them
Here they are, in the wrapper in which they
were handed to me-"
Saying which, he placed the package on
the table. Mr.. Hunter took it up and
opened it, and his partner drew close to him;
and when the gems lay exposed, his eyes glis-
tened in the light of them.
Splendid stones some of them were, truly:
diamonds chiefly, with the lustrous red of
rubies intermixed and here and there the
mild simmer of pearl 1t was hard to tell
whether the gems had been extracted from
settings or gathered loose as they were; but
an ignorant eye might know their precious
ness
well, Mr. Shaw, said Mr.. Hunter, pac-
ing The open paper carefully on the table,
with gentle setting of it toward Cuthbert,
these stones are unquestionably your prop
erty, and well may you hold them, in COM
pensation for the sufferings you have under
gone"
"Well, sir, it comes to this: II they were
not on that table they would be at the bot
tom of the sea-
Quite so" from both partners
Now, gentlemen. you cannot tell me that
the prince is alives"
THAT is beyond our power, certainly
"Will you put yourselves in his place and
receive the proposals l should make to hing
with pleasure; but holding him dead, we
will consider your proposal in reference to
his heirsN said Mr. Hunter
"That is as you please. Sixty-three thou
sand pounds is u jewelers. appraisement Of
those stones He would have found me the
money. | ask ten thousand for restoring
them
'Plainly, Mr.. Shaw, your Portsmouth
jeweler taught you no lesson" said Mr..
Hunter; and the other partner arched his
eyebrows.
"Be open with me, gentlemen.
why, sir, we consider your request q very
modest one."
"Then what l will ask you to do is this:
Give ME a letter stating that you hold these
stones for me; get them appraised at your
convenience. I will write to you in the
meanwhile, giving you my address, and you
will then send me bank post bills to cover
the sum / ask"
The letter was written, the number of
stones specified, and within the space of
twenty minutes Cuthbert had left the office.
Both parties shook him cordially by the
hand, and Mr., Hunter attended him, bare
headed, to the door.