The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1897-09-01
AN UNKNOWN GRAVE.

-Four men were seated upon n traders
veranda at Maduro, ono of the Marshall
islands. The night was brilliantly moon
lit, and the hull and spars of little
white brig that lny anchored in the
lagoon about mile distant from the
traders house stood out ~ clearly and
distinct ny If she were but 90 yard'
away from where they sat
Three of the mon present Were visit
ors-Ned Paekenham, the captain Har-
vey, tho mate, and Denison, the super
cargo of the Indiana. The fourth was
the trader himself. II grizzled old wan
derer Of past 60.
1t was long past midnight, and the
old traders humorous half caste family
had turned i'll to sleep some hours be-
fore. 1t 80 happened that the old man
had just been talking about stalwart
son Of his who had died IA few months
previously, and Packenham and Deni-
SON. to whom tho lad had been we'll
known, asked his father where the boy
had been buried
In there. replied the old man.
pointing to small white walled in
closure about stones throw from
where we We're sitting. There & II good
many graves there now. Let me see.
There is Dawney, tho skipper of the
Maid of Samoa, and three of his crew
Peterson. the Dutchman-him that got
bullet into him for fooling around too
much with pistol In his hand and
challenging natives to fight when he
was drunk; two or three of my wife's
relatives, who wanted to be buried in
my boneyard because they thought to
mako me some return for keeping their
families after they were dead; my boy
Tom and the white woman. ="
White woman" said the mate Of
the brig. Did white woman die
here?.i
I'm tell You all do know, and n
- queer yarn 1t is too. In those days
was tho only white man here. | got
on very we'll with the natives and was
doing II big business. There were not
many whaleships here then, but every
ten months or 80 II vessel camo here
from Sydney, and | was making money
hand over fist
The house in which l then lived
stood farther away toward the point, in
rather clearer spot than this. You can
see the place from here and also see
that n house standing in such II position
would be visible not only from all parts
of the inside beaches of the lagoon, but
from the sea as we'll.
My wife-not the present one you
know-was u BONN island half bred
Portuguese woman, and as she general
ly talked to mo i'll English and had no
native ways to speak of we used to sit
outside in the evenings pretty often and
watch our kids and the village people
dancing and otherwise amusing them
selves ON tho beach.
Rotau, the head chief of this la.
COON, one night told us that canoe had
come from Mill. an island about three
days sail to the leeward Of Walters
place, and reported that ship had
passed quite close to their island ahout
"A week before
After we had sat talking for awhile
my wife called the children in and put
them TO sleep and Rotau and | and his
wives sat outside II bit longer smoking.
1t was moonlight night, almost as
bright as 1t is tonight, and the sea
was rs smooth as mill pond SO
smooth, III fact, that there was not even
break upon the reef, and, tho trade
wind having died away. there was not
the sound of n leaf stirring in the palm
grove
I'VE had been sitting like this for
about half an hour. when Nora, my
wife, just as she was coming out of the
door to join us, gave cry.
=" TIE Kaibukel Look at tho ship.
Il jumped up and looked, and there,
sure enough, was a big ship just show
ing round the point and close In, not
more than mile away from the reef.
For moment was bit scared, re-
Numbering that there was not breath
of wind and yet seeing her moving.
Then l remembered the current and
knew that she must have run up to the
land from the westward before dark
perhaps, and that as soon as the breeze
had died away the current, which runs
about four knots. had caught her and
was now moving her along. / took her
to be either Yankee or British North
American.
Just as had asked Rotau to get one