Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1896-08-17
CHAPTER XIV.
THE ISLET.

it was a cold night | dared not sit
down (for | thought [ should have froz-
EN-, but took off my shoes and walked
to and fro upon the sand, barefoot and
beating my breast, with infinite weari
ness. There was no sound of man or
cattle. Not a cock crew, though it was
about the hour of their first waking;
only the surf broke outside in the dis
lance, which put me in mind of my per-
lis and those of my friend. To walk by
the sea at that hour of the morning,
and in a place so desert-like and lone
some, struck me with kind Of fear.
AS soon as the day began to break, /
put on my shoes and climbed hill-the
| ruggedest scramble | ever undertook
falling, the whole way, between big
blocks of granite or leaping from one to
another. When | got to the top the
dawn was come. There was no sign
of the brig, which must have lifted from
the reef and sunk. The boat, too, was
nowhere to be seen. There was never
a sail upon the ocean; and in what /
could see Of the land, was neither house
nor man.
| was afraid to think what had be-
fallen my shipmates, and afraid to look
longer at SO empty a scene. What with
my wet clothes and WEAKNESS, and my
belly that now began to ache with hum
ger, I had enough to trouble me
without that. So I set off eastward
along the south coast, hoping to find a
house where l might warm myself, and
perhaps get news of those | had lost.
And at the worst [ considered the sun
would soon rise and dry my clothes
After a little, my way was stopped by
a creek or inlet of the sea, which
seemed to run pretty deep into the land;
must needs change my direction to go
about the end of it. It was still the
toughest kind Of walking; indeed the
whole, not only of Earraid, but of the
neighboring part of Null (Which they call
the Ross is nothing but a tumble of
granite rocks with heather in among.
At first the creek kept narrowing as [
had looked to see; but presently to my
surprise it began to widen out again.
At this | scratched my head, but had
still no notion of the truth; until at last
[ came to a rising ground, and it burst
upon me all in a moment that was
cast upon a little barren isle, and cut
off on every side by the salt seas.
Instead of the sun rising to dry me,
it came on to rain, with thick mist;
so that my case was lamentable.
| stood in the rain, and shiyered, and
wondered what to do, till it occurred to
me that perhaps the creek was fordable.
Back / went to the narrowest point and
waded in. But not three yards from
shore, ] plunged in head over ears; and
if ever I was heard of more it was rath-
err by Gods grace than my own pru-
dence. [ was no wetter (for that could
hardly be- but | was all the colder for
hope, was the more unhappy.
And now all at once, the yard came
in my head. What had carried me
through the roost, would surely serve me
to cross this little quiet creek in safety.
With that I set off, undaunted, across
hn tnN Of fha iS1n IN oh n11d 40 TsTTy
it back. 1t was a weary tramp in all
ways, and if hope had not buoyed me up,
[ must have cast myself down and given
up. Whether with the sea salt, or be-
cause | was growing fevered, | was dis
tressed with thirst, and had to STOP as
[ went, and drink the peaty water out
of the hays.
| came to the bay at last more dead
than alive; and at the first glance, I
thought the yard was something further
out than when | left it. In | went, for
the third time, into the sea. The sand
was smooth and firm and shelyed grad
ually down. so that | could wade out till
the water was almost to my neck and
the little waves splashed into my face.
But at that depth my feet began to leave
me and [ burst venture in no farther
As for the yard, [ saw it bobbling very
quietly some twenty feet in front of me.
[ had borne up well until this last dis
appointment; but at that came ashore,
and flung myself down upon the sands
and wept.
The time I spent upon the island is
still so horrible a thought to me, that
must pass it lightly, over, In all the
books [ have read of people cast away,
they had either their pockets full of tools,
or a chest of things would be thrown
upon the beach along with them, as if
on purpose. My case was very different.
l had nothing in my pockets but money
and Alan's silver button; and being in
land Bred l was as much short Of
knowledge as of means.
I knew indeed that shell-ish were
counted good to eat; and among the
rocks of the isle I found great plenty
Of lmpets, which at first | could scarce
ly strike from their places, not knowing
quickness TO be needful. There were,
besides, some Of the little shells that we
call buckles; l think perfwinkle is the
English name Of these two I made
my whole diet, devouring them cold
and raw as | found them; and so hun
CRY was I, that at first they seemed to
me delicious.
Perhaps they were out of season, or
perhaps there was something wrong in
the sea about my island. But at least
| had no sooner eaten my first meal
than I was seized with gfddines and
retching, and lay for long time no bet
ter than dead. A second trial of the
same food Gndeed | had NO other did
better with me and revived Ely strength.
But as long as I was on the island [
never knew what to expect when [ had
eaten: sometimes all was we'll, and some
times [ was thrown into a miserable
sickness; nor could I ever distinguish
what particular fish it was. that hurt me;
All day it streamed rain; the island
ran like a sop; there was no dry spot
to be found, and when | lay down that
night, between two boulders that made
kind of roof, my feet were in bog.
The second day l crossed the island
to all sides. There was no one part OF
it better than another; it was all desc
late and rocky; nothing living on it but
game birds which I lacked the means to
kill, and the gulls which haunted the
outlying rocks in a prodigious number.
But the creek, or straits, that cut off the
isle from the main land of the Ross,
opened out on the north into bay;
and the bay again opened into the Sound
of Iona; and it was the neighborhood of
this place that l chose to be my home;
though if I had thought upon the very