The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1891-07-19


That moment. as he stood ut the bow.
peering deep into the darkness. he saw sud
denly through the dim dusk speck of light
to starboardl 1t was the light of q fire in
some native village.
In Q second Thorold Ashby realized to the
full in what jeopardy they all stood. A reef
must be close ahead. The yacht was In
danger.
As he looked. the speck of light disap-
peared. reappeared, and once more disap-
peared again. With thrill of sudden hor-
Tor. he knew just what that meant. Break
ers on their lee! Not twenty yards on!
When she rose on the crest. q light shone
from the island. When she sank IN tho
trough again the light was obscured by tie
vast wall of surf He saw il now. rising
sheer, like q white cliff of spray. before
them. She was making straight for 1t
under full steam. One moment more and
she would ground and be swamped by it.
Hard a-portp But the sharp command
rang Just second too late. As 1T broke
short from the owners lips. a thrill crashed.
Earring through the Liks-Lika's hull from
stem so stern. Her keel grated on the low
barrier of coral rock underneath. The
breakers sprang up0n her like wild beast
snapped in two amidships. There was
cry of terror: a wild sense of darkness and
of rushing water; then they were battling.
each for his own neck, with huge billows
They were pounded like pebbles on the
loose beach of white sand. At that point
they lost consciousness The Lika-Lika
broke mp into shattered planks and frag-
ments-
Whau ruorufuO hYokA calm and clear
after the storm. three survivors of the
wreck found themselves lying half dead.
on the bare ground outside . wattled
Kanaka hut IN the ManihIki islands. A
crowd of friendly natives pressed eagerly
around. The Manihiki people have never
been very bad cannibals. and the wreckage
of the Lika-Lika had brought them so
much good luck that they felt Hospitality
disposed towards the three shIpwrecked
mariners
Thorold Ashby himself. the owner of the
lost yacht. lay. most seriously wounded of
all, stretched out at full length on q strip
of native mating. Two Kanaka women.
with bare brown arms and red flowers In
their hair, held ND his fainting head. He
turned wesrily TO his companions, both
sailors of the crew. They were all that re-
manned alive. On the beach hard by,
mangled corpse or two, half naked. and
pummelled out of all recognition on the
Jagged peaks of submerged coral, lay white
and easily. Bathurst" he said feebly to
the nearest of his two men.
al don't want to live now. I'm too
battered and knocked about to care
much for living. Since my wife died at Le-
vuka haven't loved my life. And l can't
bear to look at those poor bodies lying un-
buried on the shore. | feel as if 1t were my
fault all this should have come upon you
ten good fellows-for l brought you here
only for my own amusement. But there's
one thing Pd give t1.00G to do before
i die-sign that will had made for me at
Samoa. You and Howe could witness it;
my pocket here; it's wet. but not spoilt.
All we want now is just a pen and ink.
But where are we to get those on u Kanaks
islandp
world. to be sure ThOrOld Ashby was q
wealthy man. the son of Liverpool ship
owner. deceased. who had died In the Odor
Of sanctity aud insufficient drainage at q
Naples hotel. and whose personality had
been sworn at more tnan half a million.
For twenty years Thorold Ashby had been
engaged In the honest endeavOr TO spend as
much az possible of the wealth be-
tied some of his fathers shIp-owning
tastes. he had got rid of a good deal of 1t
on the Lika-Lika, his Clyde-built steam
yacht. christened after charming Ha-
waiian princess he had met at Honolulu,
on q former voyage. The last cruise, how
ever. had been IN many ways most disas-
trOus one.
His wife. whom he loved tenderly, and
for the sake of whose health he had come
so long q trip In the remote South seas. had
been taken Ill and died In the harbOr at
Fiji. On his way back to San Francisco. On
route for England. ashby had called at
Samoa. where an English lawyer there arc
English lawyers every where now drew up
Will for him. to secure the only object
that was eft very near his heart. His wife
bad niece. Nesta CLYDE by name who had
lived with them long IN London, and whom
they had learned To treat pretty much like
daughter. But, unless ne made q will In
Nesta's favor, every thing would now 60 to
his two brothers. who were already too
rich-havIng stuck To ships-and whO had
treated him very i'll over that nasty little
business of the Liverpool house property.
Go he had the will made at SamOa-at-
testation clause and all-and then. like the
rest of Us. thrust it in his pocket unsigned,
meaning TO execute it in due form at his
leisure in San Francisco.
And now, as he lay dying on the coral
beach of q Manihiki atoll. with no more
chance of getting ct pen and ink than if he
had been alone In a thousand miles of IN
peopied ocean. oh, how bitterly he regret
ted his procrastination! 1t was hard to
realize. indeed. the Immensty of the
change. Last night he had been sur
rounded by every European comfort and
luxury in the cabin of the Lika- LII a; this
morning he sat among q prOup of half
oaked Kanakas, removed at one blow, "a it
were. from the electric light of the nine
teerth century to pervadlng atmosphere
of prehistoric savagery.
He took the damp paper from his pocket,
opened It and looked at it family. "All my
lands. estates houses. messuages. tene-
ments, stocks. shares and other property
whatsoever that die possessed of. to my
wifes niece. Nesta Clyde. gentlewoman. alb
soiutely. and for her own sole use and bene-
ft" He drew deep sigh. That was good,
as far it went. But he would never be
able now to sign il; and, even if he did.
what chance of it's ever reaching Eng
land at allf Bathurst and Howe were
almost as battered and as manned as he
himself was; and, if they both died there
what would become of a Will among all
those naked Kanskasf They would en-
shrine it in q hut, most likely. and worship
il as n fetish.
And ii il didn't turn mp. his brothers
Percy and Archibald would never allow
poor Nesta one penny. He knew those men
well. Percy and Archibald. Oh. how deeply
he reproached himself now for not having
signed the will st Samoa. and sent it home
by post lt was duty he owed to Nesta,
and he bad grossly neglected it.
IF only had q pen and inkn the dying
man cried again, IA wild Outburst of
lmpotent remorse. could Sign it even
now. and you and Howe could witness il"
Mr.. Watts had q stylograph he used TO