Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1889-04-11

qualified tn be leader and chief Hence
queen means the woman who cam and
no more implies divine right or royal de-
scent than the title of Protector chosen
by the first DenziL''
Mabel liked the idea. She decided on
the spot that she should be called queen
but strictly III the sense mentioned by the
member of the council to whom the sug-
gestion was due. As Tor the shortening OF
her Christian name to Nab, which was al
most in the nature of things, she rather
liked it. Queen Nab" sounded so much
better than Queen Mabel" she said.
''What sort of a queen does she maker
asked Field
ga very queenly one, should say" he
answered, with a smile; land as you have
seen already, she is rather absolute. But
she is both able and well instructed. In
deed, I think she is the ablest ruler we
have had since the first DenziL"
''She is woman who CAM"
Exactly. But between you and me-
dropping his voice-''I fear that she does
| not hold her great ancestors maXims in
quite so much respect as might be desired.
| She has done several things which do not
, quite square with his recorded opinions;
and on one occasion, when | ventured to
demonstrate with her, she said-this is
strictly between ourselves, Mr.. Erle-she
actually said can hardly bring myself to
repeat the words-'A fig for old Denzi1i
| Therep"
God bless mel can hardly believe"
''She did, though, 1 assure you. 1t is
quite true that she remembered herself
the next moment, and said she regretted
having spoken so hastily. But the words
were spoken. and l shall never forget
them!"
YES" I replied, sympathetically; "they
must have made you feel pretty bad. So
the queen is hasty sometImes?"
Rather; but then you must remember
that she is young, and lacks experience;
she is quick-tempered, too, and just as
quick, l am bound to say, to acknowledge
fault or own to a mistake. Of a right
noble nature is Queen Nab"
Once on board the Diana" I set to work
with two of the men to getup steam, while
the others, under Bolsover's directions, oc-
| cupied themselves in putting the ship to
rights, swabbing the decks, and otherwise,
| as he expressed it, making her fit to be
SEEN"
| saw with great regret that diSapp0int-
ment about the treasure had made old Tom
quite another man. 1t seemed to have
changed his character. Instead of the
simple-bearted, cheerful chatty fellow he
had once been, he was taciturn and mo-
rose. He did everything wanted: but
found it impossible to draw him into con-
versation; he answered me only in mono
syllables. Something had come between
US; we were no longer the close friends we
had been, and | felt sure, from his man
ner, that by strange perversion of ideas
he held me to blame for the shattering of
his illusion; or, perhaps, considering the
treasure rightly his he thought l should
have claimed it on his behalf
All this both annoyed and grieved me,
| not only because had sincere respect
for old Tom, but because I began to fear
that we should not find it very easy to get
away from Fair Island, and that unless
we pulled together we might not get away
at all.
After we had been on board some three
hours, and everything was in readiness,
Queen Nab arrived in large boat, manned
by half a dozen slaves, which was speedily
followed by two other boats, bringing a
brave company of men and women, prin-
cipally composed, as afterward learned,
kindred.
When I had shown them round the
decks, | took them into the engine-room,
and explained, as well as I could, how the
engine worked. Then the capstan was
manned and the anchor weighed. Tom
| took the wheel and started the engine.
need not repeat the EXPLANATIONS of sur
prise which this proceeding called forth,
| l had to answer. To use q somewhat trite
| phrase, they may be more easily imagined
than described.
| The most curious of the company was
! Queen Nab. After going on deck to make
sure that the ship really moved and see
! how it did move, she returned to the en-
+! gine-room, piled me with questions, watch
| ed everything I did, and remained with
me until we reached the mouth of the cove,
where the place being we'll sheltered) we
had decided to let go the anchor.
It was still early in the day, and /
thought the best thing we could now do
was to overhaul a part of the cargo, so we
! opened the hold, rugged a derrick, and
| hoisted up a few of the cases. The first we
| opened was case of Manchester prints;
| the next contained silks and mixed goods
|
! ecstasies The island did not produce silk,
and none of them had ever seen piece OF
print in their lives before. The queen took
one Of the prettiest (by no means the gaud-
lest; she showed good taste), and drawing
it round her like robe, asked the others
how it suited her.
eff you will come with me into the sa-
LOOM" I said, you shall see for yourself"
II don't know what you mean; but go On
i will follow" was the answer.
| So few lengths of the print were cut
off, and we went into the saloon, which
happened to be rather prettily decorated
with painted panels and long mirrors. The
surprise and delight of Nab and her maid
ems were really comic, and amused me inn
mensely. They had never seen themselves
! full length before. Looking-glasses were
! not manufactured in Fair Island, the only
mirror the queen possessed being relic
! from the "Santa Anna" about the size OF
her hand, and very much cracked, and a
precious possession it was. She would not
| have exchanged it for its weight in dia-
monds. | thought they would never have
| done contemplating the reflection Of their
| figures and faces, and the most mottled
| seemed to be quite as satisfied with their
compilations as the comparatively fair.
But nothing lasts forever, and after
awhile we returned on deck and resumed
| our inspection of the cargo. What pleased
most, after the silks, prints, and looking
glasses, were some pins and needles, which
we found in case of haberdashery: for
albeit these articles were made on the is
! land, they were of a very rude and print
| tive sort.