The times., 1897-05-16

place as beautiful as tis?"
you have frienas and neighbors, sup
pose, wb5 drop in upon you frequently aud
talk with you"
Il have no friends CT ncighbors, an,i no
one has ever spoken To me but you and
mamma"
Here was singular and most charming
situati,.n. Tiis naive ana lovely girl be-
fore me. this perfect representative OF
womankind had never before spoken TO "a
man. L contemplated ber with curiosity
and With pleasure
Perhaps have cone wrong in spea king
to YOU TINS" she added. 1t is against
my mother wishes ana commands can
Dot he:p it, but am not sorry that / have
done so: for You are pleasing to nfe wip,n
| look at you, and take pleasure in being
with YOU She said that l must never see
or talk with men; thatthey We're all wicked
and that most of them We're devils"
THAT is an exaggeration, Miranda Roy
Some of them may be so, but in the main
it is far from true. / am not rs good as
some men, but, at the same time, would
not like to think that 1 was what your
mother called me. :"
.Are there then some men who are letter
increduity.
"There are few said l. s.There are
also those whose greatest pleasure would
be your destruction
would they eat me?'
..They would make but inouthful of
you'
II do not believe it, said she, laugh
ingly '.How could they?"
.'Do YOU mean to say, Miranda Roy,
that no one ever comes here; that l am
the first person who ever visited you In
your soltude?"
What foolish question Ia ask!'' said
she, sharply. Look around you and tell
me how anyone would be able To get here"
/ glanced about me, and in moment had
to acknowledge To myself that the spot was
at all points inaccessible. OF course, If one
should be aware Of the existence OF it, Re
might attain to it by some artificial aid,
as | had done that morning. Looking the
situation over again with more care,
now came to the conclusion that TINS mar
row aud green carpeted glade was not only
unattainable, but completely out of sight
and hidden from the outside world. The
wall OF rock in the background, at a height
of sixty feet or more, sloped away from us
for twenty feet at an angle OF 45 degrees.
aud then was crested witha forest Of spruce
and heInIock; SO that Il person coming over
the hills and through the woods would not
be able Co approach the edge Of the vertical
cliff His line of vision would pass over
aud beyond the opening. and ne would sim
ply catch sight of the tops OF the ever
greens which bordered upon the sea 1t
ing the spot froTa7 either side. Owing to
the barrenness asld steepness of the imme
diately adjacent slopes he could not get
near enough to dise1Yerdts existence. Years
might pass away. andit would still reni iin
unknown and hiddeas There might be
houses, even villages, ,aisist beyond that for
est on the hilltop .,5yhDse Inhabitants, were
and always would remain ignorant Of this
picturesque and singular locality. 1t struck
me at this momeRtthet had not yet found
ont where | was
/ described To Jherohow I had fallen
asleep while in tow of the schooner, and
how it was that nov found myself COM
pletely out OF my reckoning.
VIII you have the 'ktsdness,r y said L, ''to
ellme where am At the present moment?"
This she answered, ''is the island of
Corvo"
.-Corvo," I exclaimed There is no
such place, to my knowledge, within 100
miles of New York You are certainly mis-
taken
II am certainly not mistaken" said she
with decision. tits the island of Corvo, one
of theAzores, latitude 40 and longitude
about 81, west
This was toe much for me. anil burst into
laughter, but Immediately apologfzed TO
her.
Child said I, this Is nonsense We
are not fifty miles from the city of New
York, which. as you know, is two Thousand
miles from the Azores Islands"
She tossed her head obStinately, and
smiled ironically at my ignorance.
'Then, the several astronomical obser-
vations which / have taken at different
times, are entirely at fault, though they
allagreeto snallfraetioa OF aminute. AS
to the city you spoke of, I have never heard
of 1t; and il it exists at all among these
islands, it must he quite small hamlet"
/ gasped with astonishnent. Though
this angelic and wonderful being had grown
up, as it were, upon a desert island. in her
manners and discourse and appearance,
she wasthe equal OF any other sex. Though
in some things, she was as simple and cred
ulous child, she yet spoke of taking as
Economical observations, and of figuring
them out; showing by this that she had
thorough knowledge of practical as
tronomy To cap theciimax, she had never
heard of the city of New York. Wh9SwasI
to make or her?
Leaving her side for a moment I now
skirted for some distance the belt OF
tffckct which shut out my view Gf the
sea and then, forcing my way through
ft to the very edge of the cliff, | en-
deayored to get q view of the surround
inGs. The evergreens, however, over
hung the water so much that it was
with great difficulty that l succeeded.
by bending the branches, in getting
very small opening for my observations
There was land lying opposite me, at a
distance OF a few miles, and noticed
upon it, but the vista was so
circumscribed. that l could make out
nothing satisfactory l therefore re-
joined the girl, while proposing to my
self to take a more accurate look later
in the day.
There is land over there" remarked,
land 1 noticed buildings upon it; but
whether it is TottenYille or Bergen Point
or Glen Island, I cannot say"
what a silly IDEAL she exclaimed,
with an air of annoyance THE place
which you saw is the town Of Santa Cruz,
which, as you know, is situated immedi-
ately opposite US, on, the island of Flores.
To show you that l am right, YOU shallsee
me take the altitude of the sun ut room
today, while an observation of the noon
this evening will give us the proper lo'ngi
tufln Mnan hila n aid hreIalY IL