The Portland daily press., 1899-02-04

out across the head OF the island IN SHIT
mish limo and then swept down its length
and back aRnin, and Il was on the return
that we started her out of thick BUSH
We could not got falr sight OF her under
the trees, but we nnde out that she had
ON sort of jacket Of sailcloth and was
bareheadcd and barefooted. Upon being
driven out of her cover she ran like deer
end was soon out Of sight. We had spent
about an hour In looking for her tran
when tho lone man left aboard the ship
fired muskets and rang the bell and caused
us to hasten down TO tho beach. Once
clear of the trees wo easily discovered
what had happened. The wild woman had
flanked us and reached the beach and put
off In one of our whaleboats. She was al
ready half mile away, using an oar for
paddle. and as soon as she saw us In pur-
suit she redoubled her exertions. A boat
was manned and sent off In pursuit, and
a curious chase it was. We easily over
hauled the woman, but ms we did so she
sprang overheard and swan away, and by
diving and lodging sho evaded us for
quarter OF an hour. What may be set
down as a singular circumstance was that
the waters about the island simply swarm
ed with sharks, and at times there were
dozen about her and yet none OF the mon
sters seemed inclined to do her harm.
Nobody could make out just what sort
of a woman it was until one of the men
finally caught her by the hair and pulled
her into the boat. She fought him with
savage ferocity, biting one Of his fingers
10 the bone, and we had TO tie her hand
and foot TO keep her. She appeared TO be
n woman Of about 40. and though her face
was rouRhened and Drowned by exposure
we felt sure that she was English or
American She had made her pea jacket
from piece OF sail cloth, using a thorn
for needle and grass for thread, but had
been without shoes until her feet were In
bad condition During the chase she had
not uttered work, but when hauled into
the boat she cried out in good English, II
will fight for my life-I will never go
away" We took her aboard the ship, and
the captain talked to her in gentle way
and tried 10 satisfy her that we were
friends Whom she grew quiet he cast oil
her bonds but as soon as sho was free she
attacked him so flercely that he had to call
for help. She was then locked In state
room, her things in the hut sent for. and
we sailed away on our cruise There was
not an hour during the next two weeks in
which the captain did not wish he had left
the woman on her island. For three days
she refused food and water. When com
PEELED by hunger and thirst she partook
spnringly and was sulky and obstinate.
Now aud then her moods were savage, and
sometimes at night, she would scream out
like a wild beast As we did not intend
to make port for several months the idea
was to transfer kor to some other craft.
We spoke half dozen in succession, but
not ono Of them would receive her. From
one. however, where the captain bad his
wife aboard, an outfit was procured, and
no sooner was Ii handed over to the wom-
an than a great change took place In her.
She Quoted down, dressed herself from
head to heel and spent whole day in
brushing and combing her hair. Ono
morning she electrified the steward by
saying she would eat breakfast In the
cabin. and when she walked out nobody
could credit the change. She was now a
fairly good looking woman, mild eyed and
shy, and her voice was low and gentle As
she entered the cabin she looked about her
In wondering way ana queried of the
captain:
"Sir, will you please tell mo how / came
aboard of this ship and what has become
of my own WARDROBE
When IL was explained TO her that she
had been taken from Lighthouse island.
whore she had been living for months or
years, her establishment was beyond utter
ance. She had woke up that morning to
find herself In a strange berth. She had
no recollection Of the island or her cap
ture. She had found the nusty garments
we brought from the hut, and had an in
distinct recollection that they had once
been worn by her, but the past had gone
no. a. thara had haar mr.
past. There have been other cases like it.
and they have been written of at length,
and so there is nothing singular In that
part of my story. AS matter of fact the
woman could not tell her own name
could not tell whether she was married or
single, where she hailed from or how she
came to be on the island. She dated life
from the hour she woke up and heard the
steward knocking on her door. The cap
tain first set TO work 20 judge how long
she had been on the island and finally set
the time as year and half In a scrap
book he had pasted up numerous accounts
of wrecks and disasters, and among them
was the loss of the English bark Ford
ham, which had been lost with all hands
on voyage from the Cape to India. She
had put in at the Mauritius to repair dam
ages and soon after leaving "a fierce gale
had swept the seas for several days 1t
was taken for granted that she had been
lost in this gale, 1t was figured by the
captain that the Fordham had run off be-
fore the gale to the westward, and that
she was within n few miles OF Lighthouse
island when she went down. The account
said there were six passengers aboard, and
this woman must have been one of them,
and she must have been driven to the is
land while clinging TO piece Of wreokage
She could give no light on the matter
She simply remembered nothing. 1t was
a pitiful case and excited every mans
sympathy, and none Of us. so far as
know, ever knew the ending of it. a week
after she came to herself we sent her to
England on board a steamer, and AS she
was penniless every man Of our crew con-
tributed TO a purse amounting to $3.50,
and she left us with handshake and
"God bless you" all around. heard OF her
but once more. That was six months after
she had reached England and she had not
yet reco1 ared her memory or been iden-
TOD