Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1888-11-23
CHATTER NI.-REsCUEn.


| 1t still smeued dissustingly OF spirits.
! Evidently the two men had dropped it in
the course Of their midnight walk, or rath-
er roll. Where had they gone tos
| Straight in front Of her q rocky promon-
tory ran out fifty PAGES or moro into tho
| waters of the fiord-liko bay. She walked
along it aimlesSly till presently she per
! ceived one of the sailors hats lying on tho
| ground, or, rather, floating in pool of
water. Clearly they had gone this way
On she went to the point of the little
| headland, sheer over the water. There
was nothing to be seen, not single vestige
| OF Bill and Johnnie. AimlesSly enough
she leant forward and stared over the
rocky wall, and down into the clear wa
ter and then started back with little cry
No wonder that she started, for there
| on the sand. beneath n fathom and half
of water, lay the bodies of the two ill-fated
men. They were locked in each others
arms, and lay as though they were asleep
! upon that ocean bed. How they came to
their end sly never knew. Perhaps they
! quarreled In their drunken anger and fell
over the little cliff; or perhaps they STUN
| bled and fell, not knowing whittier they
were going, Who can say? At any rate,
! there they were, and there they remained.
/
| join the great army of their companions
who had gone down with the Kangaroo.
| And so Augusta was left alone.
| With a heavy heart she returned to the
! hut, pressed down by the weight of soli-
| tude and the sense that in the midst of so
much death she could not hope to escape.
| There was no human creature left alive in
| that vast lonely land, except the child and
| herself, and so far as she could see their
| fate would soon be as the fate of the 9TH
ers. When she got back to the hut, Dick
! was awake and was crying for her.
The stlll, stiff form of Mr.. Meeson,
/ stretched out beneath the sail, frightened
! the little lad, he did not know why. Au-
| gusta took him into her arms and kissed
| him paSstoDately. She loved the child for
| his own sake; and, besides, he, and he
! alone, stood between her and utter soli-
| tude. Then she took him across to tho
| other hut, which had been vacated by the
| sailors, for it was impossible to stay in the
| one with the body, which was too heavy
| for her to move. In the center of the sail
| ors' hut stood the cask of rum which had
| been the cause of their destruction. 1t
was nearly empty now-so light, indeed,
| that she had no difficulty in rolling it to
! one side She cleaned out the place as well
rs she could, and, returning to where Mr..
Nelson's body lay, fetched the bag of bis
cults and the roasted eggs after which
they had their breakfast.
Fortunately there was but little rain
that morning, SO Augusta took Dick out
! to look for eggs, not because they wanted
| any more, but in order to employ them
selves. Together they climbed up on to
Il rocky headland, where the flag was fly
Sr,rr ut Ia
ocean. There was nothing in sight so far
| as the eye could see-nothing but the
white wave horses across which the black
cormorants steered their swift, unerring
| flight. She looked and looked till her
| heart flank within her.
"Will mummy soon come in boat to
| take Dick away?" asked the child at her
| side, and then she burst into tears.
When she had recovered herself they set
| to collecting eggs, an occupation which,
notwithstanding the screams and threat
ening attacks of the birds delighted Dick
| greatly. Soon they had as many as she
| could carry; so they went back to the hut
and Lit a fire of driftwOod, and roasted
| some eggs in the hot ashes; she had no pot
| to boil them in. Thus, one way and an
other the day wore away, and at last the
| darkness began to fall over the rugged
peaks behind and the wild wilderness of
sea before. She put Dick to bed and he
went off to sleep. Indeed, it was wonder
full 70 see how well the child bore the hard.
ships through which they were passing.
| He never had an ache or n pain, or even o
cold in his head
After Dick was asleep Augusta sat, or
rather lay, in the dark listening to the
| moaning Of the wind as it beat upon the
| shanty and passed away in gusts among
the cliffs and mountains beyond. The
| loneliness was something awful, and to-
| gether with the thought of what the end
| of it would probably be quite broke her
| spirit down. She knew that the chances
of her escape were small indeed Ships
did not often come to this dreadful and
uninhabited coast, and if one should hap
| pen to put in there it was exceedingly
probable that it would touch at some other
point and never see her or her flag And
then In time the end would come. The
supply of eggs would fail, and she would
be driven 10 supporting life upon such
birds as she could catch, till at last the
child sickened anil died, and she followed
II TO that dim land that lies beyond Ker-
guelen and the world. She prayed that
the child might die first. 1t was awful to
think that perhaps it might be the other
way about; she might die first, and the
| child might be left to starYe beside her.
| The morrow would be Christmas Day
Last Christmas Day she had spent with
her dead sister at Birmingham. She re-
membered that they went 10 church in the
morning, and after dinner she had finished
correcting the last revises Of "Jemimas
Vow" Well, it seemed likely that long
before another Christmas came she would
have gone TO Join little JEANNE. And
then, being good and religious girl, Au-
gusta rose to her knees and prayed TO
Heaven with all her heart and soul TO res
cue them from their terrible position, or,
II she was doomed to perish, at least to
save the child.
And so the long cold night wore away
IN thought and vigil, till at last, some two
hours before the dawn, she got to Sleep
When she opened her eyes again it was
broad daylight, and little Dick, who had
been awake some time beside her, was sit
ting up playing with the shell which BIZ
and Johnnie had used 70 drink rum out Of
She rose and put the child's things little
TO rights, and then, as it wa. not raining,
told him to run outside while she went
through the form Of dressing by taking of
such garments as she had, shaking them,
and putting them On again. She was
slowly going through this process, and
wondering how long it would be before
her shoulders ceased TO smart from the
effects Of the ts.tOoing, when Dick came
rI1ning IN without going through the
iornaIity of knocking.
"Oh, Auutie! Auntiel'' he sang out In
high glee, heres big ship coming sail
ing along. Is It Mummy and Daddie COM
ing fetch Dicks"
Augusta SAM back faint with thE s1d-
den reTulss1a Of feelno II there was a
sup, they were saysd-snatched from the
very jaws Of death. But perhaps it was
the child's fancy. She threw on the body
Of her dress; and, her long yellow hair
which she had in default of better means
been trying TO comb out with a bit Of
wood-streaming behind her, she took the
child By the hand, and few as fast as she
could 90 down the little rocky promontory |
of which Bill and Johnnie had met their |
e1d- Before she got halfway down it she |
saw that the chiid's tale was txus-for !