Waterbury evening Democrat., 1892-09-19
THE CALIFORNIANS,
BY JULES VERNE. Copyright 1891 by the Authors Alliance.

l Yes, with this slender store elSed out with such fish as they might be able to catch, such were the only means they had to keep body and soul together. | There no longer seemed to be any possi- bility that they could still be upon the island. And yet if they had been forced Q lay their bones here it was very prob | able that the remains of tue one who | had died last would be found some where. But in spite of all the patient searching done inside and out of this | cave, no trace of their bodies could be | found.
 This leads me to think" observed Zach French, that these castaways were taken off the island" But how?" asked Capt. Willis. Could they have possibly with the debris of the wreck built raft large enough to put to sea?"
 No, captain, they didn't have enough to build a canoe with. incline to the opinion that their signal must have been seen by q passing vessel"
 But, Zach, I can't bring myself to ! think it."
 Why not, captain?"
 "Because, if a passing ship had seen them and taken them off, the whole world would have heard of it, unless that ship itself had gone down with every soul on board, which is hardly supposa- ble. I therefore can't accept the theory thnt the castaways of Browse island were rescued in any such way"
 You may be right, captain" said Zach, sadly, 'but if it was impossible. for them to build raft still there's no proof that all the ships boats perished in the wreck"
 "Even so," replied Willis, "but since there has been no report in the past few years of a shIp's crew being rescued in the latitude of western Australia, it's \ my opinion that this vessel must have foundered during its passage from the Australian coast to this island" Zach saw that he would have little show of overcoming this theory; but still being unwilling to leave undone anything which might aid them in learning what had become of the cast aways, he added: But captain, you surely intend to visit the other parts of the island?"
 "Yes, to keep my conscience quiet," replied Willis; but first let's go and and remove that signal so that vessels will not be influenced to leave their course to save people who don't exist. |" The captain and Zach and the others now made a last examination of the beach, then, having gained the plateau by passing through the gorge, they turned their steps toward the promon- tory.
 They found it necessary to pass around deep excavation, sort of stony pond fed by the rains and cloud bursts, in order to keep on their way. Suddenly Willis came to a halt and pointed at four mounds parallel with each other. Possibly they would have escaped his attention had they not been marked by small wooden crosses now partially decayed. They were graves. It was the cemetery of the castaways.
 "At last" cried Willis, ''we're in 8 position to learn.'
 The two sailors set to work making use of their knives to loosen the dirt, but many years must have elapsed since the burial, for the graves contained nothing but bones. Willis ordered them to be closed again and the crosses to be replaced. The truth concerning the wreck on Browse island had again escaped Willis and his companions. If four human beings had been buried on this spot, what had become of him who | had rendered them this last service? And he, too, when death struck him down, where had he fallen? Would they not find his bones on some other part of the island? Capt. Willis could not bring himself to think so.
 "Why shouldn't this wreck be the Dreadnaught?" asked one of the sea- | men.
 ''But why should it?" replied Zach.
 The fact is that there was nothing to show that it was the Dreadnaught that had gone to pieces on the reefs of Browse island, and the outlook was that this second cruise of the Molly's Hope was fated to end as fruitlesSly as the first.
 Capt. Willis stood with his gaze riv- eted upon the spot where these poor castaways were now sleeping that last sleep which alone had been able to put an end to their misery. Were they Americans? Were they his country men? Were they of those whom the Molly's Hope was seeking?
 "Forward to the signalv he cried out.
 Zach and the others followed him as he made his way up the rocky slope by which the promontory IS joined to the body of the island.
 When Willis and his men had reached the signal they found the staff to be se- curely set in deep split in the rock, a fact which explained its having re- mained standing so long. As they had already discovered by means of a glass, the staff was the broken end of bow spirit and had come from the wreck be- low. As to the rag nailed to it, it was nothing but a shred of sail, unraveled by the winds and without any mark to identify it.
 At an order from Capt. Willis the two seamen were about to chop down the staff, when Zack French burst out with:
 Captain, look! Look therev'
 "What is it, Zach?''
 "The bell yonderW
 Swung upon frame, still solid and ! H>a1I ha oIo o1