The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1897-08-06

Not a hand was raised Tom
chuckled. 1t was evidently a matter
which he had pondered over deeply.
well, then" he said, "looit at the
first letter in Cinderella What 10 It?
o. And the next? N. And the next?
G. And the next? Il. There you are.
then. Once, once. Once upon
time That's how it is. The man that
wrote this Primer made mistake.
And the man that wrote Cinderella
is the man to go by, and here's three
cheers for him."
Tom raised his voice Justify, and
they all joined in. Even 1. So that
there was no mistake as to the success
of the mutiny. But they raised
louder cheer when they heard my
voice, and SO discovered NE; and Pearl
herself, rejoiced to see me among my
men again, gave in to Tom, and de-
clared that he was right, and that y
was the first letter in the alphabet.
A few minutes afterward, when
had shaken hands all round, Pearl,
seated between me and Tom Wren,
read the pretty legend of Cinderella
all through. And that also was q SER
mon as good as any ever preached in
church.
And now l am warned that my story
Is in danger Of being spun out to too
great a length. So let the history of
the next few years be told in almost as
few lines Indeed, one day was so like
another, that record of them would
be but repetition of things.
Death came among us. One went;
another followed; and another; and
still another. Before long, we counted
the magic number, seven; and at this
we mercifully remained. Our hair
turned gray and white and we all
thought that our bones would be
buried in this island Of the South Seas.
We got resigned to this, and cared not
for ourselves. Our only concern was
for Pearl, our fairy, our queen. Year
by year she grew fairer and more
beautiful and more beloved. She kept
us in the right path. Her presence
and sweet influence continually hui
manized us. James Bowden had kept
record of the days from the first,
so that we knew when the Sabbaths
were, and these, as well as Christmas,
were religiously and lovingly observed.
So Pearl grew into womanhood, and
Tom Wren still searched for his pump
kin, not finding it until one blessed
day when our Island Queen was seven-
teen years of age. He came running
toward us with the air Of wild man,
and swore he had seen Il ship. We
raced to the hill where our signature
was still burning, and found that he
was right. 1t was calm and beautiful
day, and there lay the ship that was
to restore us to the world. 1t was
long before we succeeded in making
our signals seen; but when we did, and
saw the boats putting off for us, we
fell upon our knees.
Pearl nestled close to me, tenderly
and anxiously.
you don't forget your promise"
she said, tearfully. II have no one,
daddy. l am alone in the world"
folded her in my arms, "and you and
1 will never part. / could not love
daughter of my own more dearly than
I love you"
Long before this had told my mates
of the gold Mr.. Druce had left behind
him, and they had decided that half of
1t was mine, and that the other half
should be divided among those that re-
manned.
OF this part of my story have little
more to say. Strange as 1t may sound
to you, 1t was not without regret we
left the island where we had found Cur
Pearl; and the last night we passed
there, in company with our preseryers,
was a night to be forever remembered.
Pearl and l brought away with us
some Of the flowers and earth from the
grave of my little Bob.
"He would have been man now,
nv darling" said to Pearl, "if he had
lived"
We knelt together by the grave, and
prayed in silence.
The ship that took us from Our is
hand home was bound for dear old Eng
land, and the next day we were sailing
thitherward with fair wind, uncer-
tain at first whether we should not
suddenly awake to find it was all
dream. But it was no dream, thank
God! 1t was precious reality, and we
made fair passage to the dearer home
to which our hearts had invariably
turned in our exile with fond and visit
full yearning.
ITO BE OoNTiNUBD.)