Iuka reporter. (Iuka, Miss.) 1888-1894, 1889-02-14

x=szss1Er->zrs~--- 20 Inc wharf, each
y st tlFTfIT~ t yita ! t ,ss.s eT
children, negro or two and
perhaps sallow faced scrawny white
man, lounging on their decks or chew
ing sugar cane, / came to one, cleaner
looking than the rest, on which there
were no signs of life. She was built as
are all the Bahama schooners, with fine
clipper bows, a rounded stern and small
masts and spars. She was neatly paint
ed, and on her stern were the words
Lillian, with her home port, "Wat-
lings Island. AS / stood looking at
her, suddenly young wamap- esr,e up
the companio~-vsy and said, "Good
day. "ss3od-day, i answered. "You'ye
come some distance, have you lnot?"
"Yes, J" she replied, ''from the furthest
OF the 'out islands. 1 suppose you're
from New York;" TO my affirmative
reply, she to my surprise said "and
how was Irying's Faust9 l should SO
dearly love to see Ellen Terry as Mar
guerite.'
After n moments pause, during which
time / vainly sought to fathom in my
mind how q woman on a Bahama island
schooner could have followed New York
theatrical matters 50 closely, / gave her
my unbiased opinion OF the matter. She
was then silent and / meanwhile had an
opportunity to study this Bahama
curiosity. She was about twenty-six
years old and was neatly dressed in an
inexpensive light material. Her lux
uriant hair, of dark brown color, was
tastefully arranged, and she wore a
large btimmed, but not unbecoming,
straw hat, which had evidently seen bet
ter days. Although Eauch burned, I
could see her slsjnswas fair and her
hands delicately .formSd. Her express
sion was one offdemure sadness, and
after my study came to the conclu-
sion that she was more than an ordinari-
~ handsome woman. decided to ling
er and continue the conversation. ssMay
come aboard2' I ventrrei to say.
Certainly" was the reply, "John's
gone ont to the steamer and Pm keeping
watch for him. | should be glad
to lane you toll me something of
the news We get little except when
we come to Nassau. /" Who is John 2"
wondered, and how much news can
people get who only rely on Nassau for
lts | stepped on board, and my fair
hostess excusing herself for moment,
stepped down into tho cabin and re-
turned u moment after, with two small
chairs, which she placed under small
awning, which shaded half tho cockpit.
She motioned for ne to be seated, and
/ Obeyed. There was silence for mo-
ment after we sat down and then nv
hostess said, speaking very slowly and
with evident effort, 6 on must not
think it very strange that I spoke to
yon and have allowed yon to talk to me,
but | saw you we're a gentleman, and /
do grow so lonely and so anxious to see
and talk with some one from the great
world now and then. The ladies up at
the hotel, if | go up there, / do not
know, and suppose | seem queer to
them, for they look askance at me, and
/ haven't the courage to speak to them.
John is always 50 busy when we're
here, and besides John doesn't seem
to care for anything but sponges
and salt and wrecks "Sponges
and sd and wrecls," / asked myself
"Wha! manner of man may John bel"
eyes, Continued my hostess, cts very
lonely on Watkins, You see there are
only 675 people on the whole island,
and Of these only about 300 are white,
while don't suppose there are forty /
know We're 1870 miles from Nassau,
and although l am always teasing John
to bring me over here, he won't come
but three times year un'ess there's a
wreck" "a wreck2 l askel. "Yes, .
she went on nonchalantly, 1--WE don't
have much luck nowadays. We haven't
had good wreck since the big Span
ish steamer went on Eleuthera three
years ago" The situation dawned up
OH me. My fair friend was the wife,
daughter or sister of Bahama wreck
er--perhaps pirate. Somehow in my
horror at the discovery, / was dimly
conscious Of a hope that she was the
daughter or sister of the aforesaid
wrecker. "What's the matter? You
seem disturbed" abe said. muir
INJURED something about wrecking being
pleasant occupation.
ss0h, I see," and she laughed, and a
wonderfully musical laugh it was too.
ssYou are shocked at Johns being a
wrecker. Why, you wreck railroads in
the North, don't you, and sometimes
banks, I've heard ? John doesn't really
wreck ships. He merely helps to strip
them when they are wrecked and gets
his share for the cargo he saves. ("
felt relieved, but dire memories of
childhood tales of false lights and muir
dered crews, somehow connected with
tliese-isIands, would come in my mind,
and the sky looked less blue, the sur
rounding water less clear and-yes, l
was not mistaken, bird in tree near
by has ceased to sing. ! determined to
plunge IN naea5as res. sAnd who is john"
I asked.
ssth, John is the dearest, sweetest,
nohlest fellow living that's John. I'm
sure you'd like him.
tried another tack: "Were you born
on Watlingsl'
"ph, dear; no. was wrecked there.
Wasn't it romantic to be wrecked on
''T ls;.s9t Columbus first landed on r.
femarked that thought and