Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1888-09-01

y the expedition which,, in 1874,
came thither to observe the transit
Of Venus, or by former parties
Of shipwrecked mazinsrs, thsy never
discovered-nd ware now in . state
Of ruin. Mosses and Nehens grew plenti.
fully upon the beams, and even On the
floor, while great holes in tho roof lot In
the wet, which lay In little 6limy paddles
beneath. Still, with al Drawbacks, they
were decidedly, better than the opsn beach;
. very short experience Of which, In that
tnelenent climate, would certainly have
killed them; and they thankfully decided
to make tho best Of them. Accordingly,
the smaller Of the two huts was. given DIP
70 Augusta and the boy Dick, while Nj.
4eeSon and the sailors took possession Of
the largo one. THEIR next task was to move
up their scanty belppgings(t he bosthaying
first been carefully bqachedl, and to clean
out the hpts and make them % habitable
q possible by stretching tho sails Of the
boat over tho damp floors and covering up
the holes In the roof a. best they could
With stones and bits Of board from the
bottom Of the boat. The weather was,
fortunately. dry, and q they all with the
exception Of Nj. 4eeson, who seemed to
be quite prostrateO worked With . viii,
not excepting Master Nok-who toddled
backward and forward after Augusta in
high g]ee ct fpding himself ON tefre frma
and BY midday skerything that could bs
done WAS done. Than they made . fire OF
some dfiftwood-for, foftunatsly, they
hadA few matehss-and Auguste cooked
the two fowls thsy bad got out Of tho
doetang hencoop q well q circumstances
would allow-whieh, - . msttef Of fact,
was not very wsll-and they had dinner,
OF which they al stood sadly in need.
After dinner they reekoned up their ~
sources. OF wRtet there Wa IN ample
supply, for not fArfro ths huts . stream
ran down into the ford. Fo1, food thsy
had the best part Of . bag OF biscuits
Weighing about Z hundred pounds. Also
there was the cask Of rum, which the men
had moved into their own hut. But that
was not al, for there were plenty Of shell
1sh about II they could find means to cook
them, while the rocks around were GOV.
ersd With hundreds Of psnguins, inslud-
Ing specimens 9f tho great .tking pen.
guin," which only required to be hoeksd
On the head. There wa, therefore, little
fear Of their psrishin9 Of starvation, %
sopsttmss happsng to shipwreckedpeopls.
Indeed, Immediately after dinner, fhetwo
sailors went out and returned with as
many birds eggs-mostly p~enguin-as
they could carry in their hats. Bcarcely
had they got In, however, when the rain,
which - the prevailing characteristic Of
these ATTITUDES, get In, in the most pitt.
!sss fashion, and soon the. great noun:
tatns with which they were surrounded,
and those before them. were wrapped In
dense ysils Of aSecy vapor. Hour after
trating through their miserable roof, and
isiang-drog, drip. drop.-qpon the sod.
den ao0r: Augusta at By herself II the
smuse little Dick by telling him stories.
And meanwhile it grew darker, and
colder, spd damper hour BY hour, till at
last tho Light went out and left her with
nothing 70 keep her company but The
moaning wind, the falling rain. and the
Wild cries Of the . birds when some.
thing disturbed them from their rest.
The 9hild was asleep Ct last, wrapped up
In 2 blanket and ono Of the smaller sails;
NJ .Augusta, feeling quite worn out with
thoughts. laid hsr head against tho BIZ:
oblivion; for to the young sleep Is . eon'
slant friend: Once Or twice she woke,
but onlyto drop of attain; and when she
and the rain had ceased,
Her first care ~ for little piek. who
had slept sopndly throughout tho night
and appeared to DO mono The worse. She
took him outside tho hut and washed hil
face md hands In tho stream. and then
at him down to = breakfast Of biscuit.
n q dhA Na$v1NnAN ~fA ~~~A A. 49, -~l1~-.