The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1894-01-13

starving and drink to the parched. Again
and again sucked In the delicious cordial.
feeling its grateful effects in the uttermost
hbers of my frame. When had inhaled
till was dizzy, leaned forward as far as
could and feasted my eyes on the glittering
water now rolling lazily In big smooth bill
lows that rocked the brig almost as gently
as mother rocks the cradle OF her firstborn
know not whetherit was the peculiarity
of my disease or whether the newborn
hope gave suoh fresh vitality to nv system
ss enabled 1t to throw the fever of, or
whether 1t was owing to an extra dose Of
quinine ! had taken from box of pills
which Mr.. Watson had left me, but from
that time began to oimproverapidly True,
after the first delirium of joy had passed,
there came short period of depression and
relapse, but strove to keen up my courage,
| and the feeling OF convalescence soon re-
| turned.
| My improvement may be judged from the
TACT that ere long l began to think there
are worse things in the world than NOR
sci OF food. i got out of my berth. and aft
er some rumaging on hands and knees
discovered box Of biscuits, for happily
had ample provisions on board, the crew at
their departure having been more afraid of
drowning than ofgetting hungry. My fare
was rather dry, and not so much as might
be supposed to suit the taste of sick per
| BON, but / gnawed with so much relish
that when the first biscuit was done took
up another; it, too, was finished Then /
took drink of water, bathed my hands
and head and felt much revived.
So much was restored indeed that 1t oc-
Cured to me to go on deck, and take my
reckonings, and see how the crippled brig
looked, and perhaps hoist signal of dis
tress. But that proving an enterprise still
beyond my strength had another mouth
ful of fresh air and returned to bed. Lying
there tried to judge of the ships condi-
tion by her movements, but these guided
me to no conclusion save what l might
have arrived at without taking them into
nccount-namely, that since she had float
ed through the storm she might continue
to float in the calm and that might still
be saved. So my courage remained good.
That day passed in sort of dream, suf-
ferlng somewhat from thirst, which fire.
qucntly slaked, but otherwise almost free
| from pain. My head, which had greatly
troubled me in the earlier stages of the dis
ease, was now clear, albeit occasionally
rather light. / continued to enjoy the
boon of fresh air, having by this time
opened every port could get at
When night fell, was lonely, but un-
troubled by the multitude Of horrors which
had weighed upon me all the previous
night. Nor on this second night was /
doomed to darkness During my peregri-
nations in the day had found an oil lamp,
which, after careful trimming and light
ing, ] swung from rope in the center of
the cabin. On the approach of darkness /
lighted it, then lay and waited for the
rats, feeling certain they would repeat
their visit. Nor was disappointed
After awhile ! heard suppressed
! squeak, then furtive scraping, and h. If
minute later whiskered gentleman peered
| cautiously in to see how matters might
stand. Being in fantastic humor, called
on him to enter, which, of course, had the
effect of sending him instantly into hiding.
But presently he came back, bringing a
| companion with him to keep up his heart,
and the two standing just outside the door
| cooked their heads very wisely and sur
| veyed the apartment. Then they retired as
| II for consultation, then came advancing
| boldly into the center of the floor, but
| catching sight of me scampered off in
/ graft alarm. When they returned after
| the space Of some minutes, they were nc
| companied by numerous friends, and the
entire body reconnotered, now advancing,
now retiring, and all the time keeping up a
running commentary of squeaks.
| threw shower OF crumbled biscuit,
with which had provided myself, on the
floor, and they made off again; but, gain
J ing courage, presently they came back,
aud with many cautious looks and squeak
| ing whispers began tentatively to nibble
| The second shower disturbed them less
| than the first, the third less than the sec
| ba 10, bar al II Al
time the sixth fell they were quite at home
+, and feasting royalty. should say the
| whole company did not number more than
score, though to judge by the chatter
| there might have been several hundreds
| The banquet lasted for fully half an hour,
and am sure the host enjoyed it quite as
much as the guests. Having finished the
feast, they slipped quietly away, judging
| IL good manners evidently to take their
| departure with as little fuss as possible.
| Next night they returned with increased
| confidence and good will, and indeed every
night SO long as we remained on the brig
| they came to cheer my solitude and cat
their supper. We gradually got SO famil-
lar that toward the close Of our strange com
panionship they evinced no fear or bashful-
ness whatever in my presence, but ate as IL
! they knew they were welcome, hardly even
getting out of my way when moved about
the cabin. Had we continued long enough
together am confident could not only
have taught them to love me, but to gam
Dol and perform tricks. As it was, they
knew my evening whistle and would come
| with questioning eyes and looks of expec-
tation to have their meals
| Meanwhile the Bird of Paradise continued
miraculously to float. Many days passed ere
could make a survey and ascertain the ac-
tual damage she had sustained or what
| stress of weather she might still be able to
stand, but after the first day II was obvious
that II the crew had not been cowarClly in
| leaving her they had at least been precipi-
tate. But as grew accustomed to the lone
| liness-my hope keeping strong-I was not
sorry they had gone; indeed as time ran and
was still safe my fear was that they might
spy the brig and return. The wish that
might never look on one of them again,
Mr. Watson only excepted-and he, l knew,
must have pertshed-grew with my grow
ing strength, and my strength increased
hourly. For some time the fever troubled
me in the evening" hut hope and a good
constitution, with few grains of quinine
per day, gradually overcame it, and within
! a week was able to make my way with
comparative ease about the lower part of
the ship.
1t might have been the fifth or sixth day
from the time was deserted when | man
aged TO crawl up the companionway. and
surely never shall | forget the strange &C.
static feeling that came over me on stepping
again into the sunlight and the open air. 1t
was lonely and desolate enough, heaven
knows, to find ones self the only soul on
board dcrelict ship in the midst of the
ocean, but even with desolation it was re-
turning life, and was glad beyond express
sion. stood for awhile at the head of the
stair inhaling the balm, then turned my
attention to the brig
She was as ragged anu battered as any
craft that ever encountered and survived a
hurricane in the tropics. The jfb boom
was gone, the broken foremast lay over the
side entangled in mass of shreuds and
rigging that it had pulled down, the un-