The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1892-11-24

| A /~gSI WIN were lost. Clinging to
| ~ "a S""M part Of tt,s brpken
q II mast, I was washed
ashore, where lay in
| aD unconscious coudi-
ton for hours. When l recovered my senses
l was lying upon the sands at the foot of high
| chain of cliffs, wherc the tide had left ME. 1t
| was daylight, and tho first beams of the morn
| ing sun were struggling through the mass OF
jagged rocks above me.
| with great effort arose and gazed about
| me, but could see nothing of any living person.
| Only a few pieces of splintered and broken
| timbeTs visible to tell of the nights dis
aster. Like one in a dream | staggered along
| the sands, weak and exhausted, looking eagerly
| for some signs of human life.
al had about come to the conclusion that
| was the only one who had escaped from the
| wreck, when the sound of voice broke upon
my ear. CHANGING upward, toward the place
| from whence the voice had proceeded, L dis
| covered Jack Davis the second Mate OF the
| Delta, standing upon rocky point that rose
! some 20 feet above the sands where stood.
| ut is hardly necessary to say that each was
| oveTjoyed to find the other alive, and in a few
| moments he had descended to my side and was
| clasping my hands warmly in his own. He
| had dashed himself to spar when he ST." hat
the ship was going down. and SO had been
| washed ashore.
"As soon as our greetings were over, we be-
! gan searching along tho shore for others who
might have escaped from the wreck, but not a
sign of any living soul did we discover.
"On ascending the cliff made the dis
covery that we were on small island that
stood some two miles from the mainland.
The island was not over mile in length by
three-fourths in width, and in the narrow
valley that lay between two ranges of coast
hills we could see thick growth of tropical
timber.
Descending to the valley, we soon came to a
small stream of water, from which we drank
freely and felt greatly refreshed. But now, as
out thirst had been quenched, we began to
feel the pangs of hunger, for neither of as had
tasted food for "a hours.
"As far as we could see, the island was unin-
habited and our chances for procuring food
were slim indeed. After searching in vain for
some sign of habitation, we entered the forest
and soon found an abundance of bananas and
dates, of which we ate with the keenest relish.
Having partially satisfied our hunger, we
began 10 consider plans for getting away from
the island. There WIS little to be gained by
escaping to the mainland, for, as far as we
could guess. from our limited knowledge Of
the country, its inhabitants were tribes Of
vicious savages, who might massacre us on sight
After consulting over the matter for some time
We came to the conclusion to remain upon the
island for a few days at least, before making
any attempt to reach the mainland. Mean
time We could construct raft and have it
ready for use. We were in hopes of sighting
some vessel, but in failed in this we
would leave the island by means of the raft.
I'VE were in the act of returning to the top
of the hill for the purpose of placing some
kind Of signal there, when an exclamation
from my companion arrested my attention.
Look !" he cried, pointing down the mar
row valley. There's building of some kind,
IS sure as you live!"
Turning my eyes in the direction indi-
Gated | saw the top of wide stone structure
rising above the trees. fastening to the spot we
discovered the ruins of what had once doubt
less been building Of considerable magnifi-
cence. 1t was built Of blocks of blue granite
some two or three feet square, and had orig
inally been two stories high. but nearly all Of
the upper story had tumbled down, and in fall
ing had demolished much of the lower part.
I'VE entered through wide doorway, from
which all traces of shutters had disappeared.
The building was some 60 by so feet, and the
lower story had been divided into four rooms,
but the partitions had tumbed down in many
places, the debris covering the floor to the depth
of several feet.
Making our way over the piles of rocks we
discovered depression in the floor, which
proved to be stairway leading downward, but
the passage was so choked up with a mass of
stones that we found it impossible to descend.
However, we were determined to explore the
old building, and set to work at once to remove
the stones from the passageway.
AFTER an hours work we succeeded in clear
Ing away sufficient space to admit our bodies.
Then we descended into the hole, but the dark
ness was so great we could see nothing, and we
realized that it would be necessary to have
light before attempting further explorations
- had few matches in water proof box
which always carried with me, and after oh.
tanning some sticks of resinous wood from a
thicket near by we soon had some excellent
torches provided.
Descending into the cellar we found room
some 20 feet square, with walls of pale-blue
cement. Two rows of curiousl carved stone
benches ran the entire length of this room,
fronting what appeared to be an altar, on which
was perched an image of the most repulsive
and hideous aspect. i could hardly suppress
shudder / gazed on this relic of tho super
stition and Ignorance OF by-gone ages.
+" It's an idol of some of them heather mig
gers said Jack, irreverently. wonder if
they left any valuables about here that a civil
lied man would care to carry OFF,
We must wait till we get chance to carry
ourselves away, jack l replied. We may
have to remain hero for weeks or months be-
fore we sight sail, and by that time we'll
have grown pretty thin, having to live on
banana fare.'
al amt a-goin' to borrow trouble remarked
Jack, philosophicaly. 'Id like to sell this old
image to Barnum, but as it's not likely that
we'll have chance to carry it away with as,
I'll just crack it and see what's inside
AS he spoke he took up block of stone
that had tumbled down through the stairway
and aimed blow at the image. 1t fell over
with q loud crash as the missile struck it, and,
rolling down the altar.steps, broke into score
Of pieces.
We both started back in surprise, for, as the
figure fell, small opening leading back into
another apartment was disclosed. Approaching
the wall we crept through the opening, which
was barely large enough to admit our bodies,
and found ourselves in a small. narrow, vault
like chamber with walls Of solid masonry.
"At first glance the room appeared to be
empty. but on closer inspection we discovered
an oblong object in the corner, which proved
to be a curiousy fashioned box made of copper,
and fastened with oddly shaped lock of the
same material. At sight of the box our curios-
ity was aroused to the highest pitch, and Wis
ions of treasures of untold wealth fitted be-
fore my imagination.
Let's break it open.' urged Jack, exctedly.
But that was easier said than done, and after
several vain attempts in that direction Jack
continued: Il guess l can find something OH
the outside that will do the business.
with this he went out into the room we