The herald., 1896-03-01

/ to me souIpvuru OF tne1r last posluon.''
Passing over the events attendant up
ON the landing of Crusoe. and his dis
NAL moralizings, l turned TO the page
where we find him, after having in a
measure recovered from his disaster.
setting out on a tour of exploration.
when l pass'd the Vale where my
Bower stood, l came within View of
the Sea. and, it being clear Day. l
fairly deserted Land-whether an ISL
and or a Continent, l could not tell; but
it lay very high, at a very great dis
tance.' And later. when he had COM
panion in the faithful Friday" he says:
Il ask'd him how far it was from our
Island to the Shore, and whether Canoes
were not often lost. And he told me
there was no Danger,-no Canoes ever
lost; but that a little way out to Sea
there was Wind and a Current, always
one Way in the Morning, and another
| in the Afternoon. This l understood to
be no more than the sets of the Tyde,
as going out and coming in; but l after
wards understood it to be Occasional
by the great Draught and Reflux of the
mighty River Oroonoque. in the Mouth
or Gulph of which our Island lay. And
the Land which l percelv'd was the
great Island of Trinidad, on the north
Point of the Mouth of the River"
''That's enough. my boy" said the
kind old Captain. 'you needn't read any
! more, for your case is proven. You've
convinced me that the island is really
Tobago, for there isn't any other in that
latitude. off the mouth of the Orinoco.
from which the island of Trinidad can
be seen. I'll take you there, as I said
l would have done anyhow, as it won't
be much out of my way; only the cur
rents along Tobago coast are very
strong. and may cause me trouble" And
every reader will recall the peril in
| which Crusoe was once placed by these
very currents.
| Thus it was that we made the voyage
together. starting in the month of jan
uary. crossing the Gulf Stream and the
| Sargosso Sea. touching at the island of
Barbados, and finally bringing in sight
the object of my quest one evening,
| just as the sun went down.
The first officer pointed out to me
| long black cloud. which he said was
Tobago, promising to be close upon it
in the morning. adding that he envied
me the fun I'd have when l got ON
shore. And that night l could not sleep
thinking of 1.-The fun I'd have" on the
morrow And it was as well could not
for a little after midnight sudden and
| terrible shock threw me out of my bunk
and upon the floor, where for time l
lay bewildered. Another still heavier
j hr; tl,o svn
| through from stem to stern, brought
| Dach my scattered senses. and l CROPPED
my way out of the cabin and scrambled
to the deck. There l saw my dear old
Captain clinging to the wheel main
tanning his post nobly, though dashed
from port to starboard every time n
wave came IN. Looking vvel tnr s,us,
| saw that we were surrounded by
breakers. with great white-crested roll
ers hurrying upon us from every direc-
ton. A great crash announced new
disaster: a tremendous wave rolled over
the stern, unshipped the rudder, and
knocked the helmSman fiat on deck.
where for a moment he lay groaning. l
ran, raised him in my arms, and sup
ported him; he was so dazed that he
reeled like drunken man. But, not
1 withstanding the severe shock he had
| received. as soon as he looked about
him he uttered cry Of joy. For that
last great wave had thrown the vessel
over the reef of coral and into a shelter
ed harbor We were floating in calm
water for the moment. as safe as though
tied up to the dock at home. An an
chor was let go and the pumps tried.
which soon showed that no leak had
started. the only damage being to the
unshipped rudder The captain COLI
suited with his officers. and it was de-
cided that the rudder could be rugged
with chains until Trinidad was reached,
where the vessel could be overhauled.
1t was then explained to me that the
vessel had been caught by one of those
! strong currents from the Orinoco, whlch
had drifted her in upon Tobago shore
before the helmsman and the watch
were aware of their peril. Daylight re-
vealed our position, close under the
shadow of high promontory, right
abreast deep bay with white, sandy
lbeach. An exclamation of delight burst
from me as 1 saw the beauties of that
tropic strand as unfolded in the bright,
, ening dawn. This was the island l had
sought; more beautiful than any dream
of mine, at last it lay before me.
At first the Captain would not hear
of my going ashore alone. for there was
no house in sight, no evidence whatever
of the presence of human beings. But
l finally convinced him that this was
the very thing l desired; that l had
come here to live life of seclusion; tt
dwell apart from men after the man
ner of my great predecessor, Crusoe
So he finally yieledd, gathered together
my traps" added to my scant stores
a barrel of beef and hard-tack, put
| them all in the boat. and himself ac
companied me to the little beach lyins
between the great cliffs which broke
Tout of the dense forest. Then he tool
me aside for little talk. 1t does no
Imatter what he said; but our eyes wer'
| a tritie moist as he turned to go, and TIN
pressure of his big hand remained il
mine long after he had disappeared
Then 1 sat down beneath palm ant
tried to get familiar with new feelinI
of loneliness, as a last farewell wa
shouted to me, and projecting promo
d tory hid the last flock of sail fron
o sight. / had been taken at my WORD
1t and was alone. At length my drear
e was realized, and my feet pressed tn
i soil of Tobago, Crusoe's isle.