Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1889-10-19
MR.. NELSON'S WILL.
BY 4. RlpER c

The ellis and mountains beyond. Thl
loneliness was something awful, and to
gether with the thought of what the en-,
of It would probably be quite broke he
spirit down. She knew that the chances
Of her escape were small indeed. Ship.
did net often come TO this dreadful ane
u~ninhabited coast, and IL one should hap
pen to put in there IL 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 to supporting life upon such
birds as she could catch, till at last the
child sickened and died, and she followed
10 TO that dim land that lies beyond Ker-
guelen and the wsrld. 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 starve 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 TO church in the
morning, and after dinner she had finished
correcting the last revises of Terminals
Vow" Well, IL seemed likely that long
bCAOlC a1OblitA Uni 4 NSAL1C SAc NOAlu
have gone to join little JEANNE. And
then, being a 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,
IL 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
hArrr = hafa-a NAA .Iurrn uhA rwCf 90 nyaAv
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 Bill
and Johnnie had used TO drink rum out OF.
She rose and put the child's things a little
to rights, and then, as it was not raining,
told him to run outside while she went
through the form Of dressing by taking off
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 tattooing, when Dick came
running in without going through the
formality Of knocking.
ooh, Auntiel Auntiel' he sang out in
high glee, "here's q big ship coming sail
ing along. Is it Mummy and Daddie COM
ing fetch Dick'"
Augusta sank back faint with the sud-
den revulsiou of feeling. If there wa a
ship, they were sayed-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
understanding behind her, she took the
child by the hand, and flew as fast as she
could go down the little rocky promontory
off which Bill and Johnnie had met their
end. Before she got halfway down il she
saw that the chilifs tale was true-for
there, sailing right up the ford from the
open sea was a large vessel She was not
two hundred yards from where she stood,
and her canvas was being rapidly furled
preparatory TO the anchor being dropped.
Thanking Providence for the sight as
she never thanked anything before, Au-
gusta sped on till she got to the extreme
point of the p~romontory, and stood there
waving Dicks little cap toward the vessel,
which moved slowly and majestically on;
till presently. across the clear water. came
the splash OF the anchor, followed by the
sound of the fierce rattle OF the chain
through the hawse pipes. Then there
came another Sound-the glad sound Of
human voices cheering. She had been
seen.
Five minutes passed, and then she saw
a boat lowered and manned. The oars
were got out. and presently it was backing
water within ten PAGES of her.
go round there" she called, pointing
TO the little bay. and 1 viii meet you"
BY the time she had got to the spot the
boat was already beached. and a tall, thin,
kindly-faced man was addressing her in
an u~nmistakable Yankee accent. Cast
away, Miss;" he said interrogatiyeiy.
"Yes," gasped Augusta; I'VE are the
survivors of the kangaroo, which sank in
q collision with a whaler about q week
ago."
"Ahr' said the Captain, with a whaler'
Then / guess that's where my consort has
gone to. She's been missing about u week;
and / put in here to see If l could get upon
her tracks-slse to NIL up with water.
Wall, she was well insured, anyway; and
when last we spoke her, she had made a
very poor catch. But perhaps. Miss, you
win, ut your convenience, favor me with
a few pa~rticulars''
Accordingly, Augusta sketched the his
tory of their terrible adventure in as few
words as possible: and the tale was one
that made even the phlegmatic Yankee
Captain stare. Then she took him, fol-
lowed by the crew, 20 the hut where Nee
son lay dead, and TO the other hut, where
she and Dick had slept upon the previous
night.
"Wall Miss said the Captain whose
name was Thomas, Il guess that You and
the youngster will be about ready TO VA
cate these apartments; 50, il You please, l
will send you on to the ship, the Harpoon
that's her name-of Norfolk, in the
United States. You will ind her well
favored with oil, for we are about full TO
b hutches; brt, perhaps, under the cir
cumstances, you will not mind that. Any
way, my Missus. who is aboard-having
come the cruise for her h~ealth-and who
Is an Englishwoman, like you. will do oil
she can TO make you comfortable. And I
tell you what II is Miss, ii I was in any
way pious, l should just thank the Al
mighty that I happened TO see that there
hit Of . nag with my spyglass rs / was
sailing along the coast at suu-up this
morning, for l had no intention of putting
In ct this creek, but at one twenty miles
along. And now, Miss, IL you viii 60
aboard, some of US viii stop and just tuck
up the dead gentleman as well as we can."
Augusta thanked him from her heart,
and, going into the hut, got her hat and
n - ~