Omaha daily bee., 1899-10-22

Leaning on the generals arm an hour
In 1903 the ship Goodly Hope was thrown
upon one Of the many shifting bars Of
Sable island The seas broke over her. The
hungry, restless sand slowly but surely
gulped her down It was not particularly
novel This island monster Of the North At
lantic ocean had merely swallowed another
tid- bit OF all that gallant crew only single
soul escaped to shore
a young lad OF good family Ronald
Fletcher by name had been lashed to
wooden grating by some rough seamen. The
vagrant eddies swept the grating well into
shallow cove. AS soon as he was able the
boy cleared himself from the saving fetters
and waded thankfully to the dry land
But brief survey of the treu,ess waste
dashed his new hopes. AS far as the eye
could see was nothing but an expanse OF
rolling sand dunes. with but an occasional
patch Of rank grass TO vary the monoto-
nous landscape.
Seabrds, with their eggs. and an occa-
slonal drowned fish tossed upon the strand,
furnished Ronald's only food for many days
Portions of wrecked vessels were abundant
and he secured a crude shelter by creeping
underneath them; but nevertheless, he suf-
fered terribly from exposure to the never
ending procession Of storms. His clothing
was soon worn to tatters. His hair grew
long and matted His skin became fright
fully tanned and also dishgured by erup-
tions resulting from the unnatural food he
was compelled TO eat.
In one of his excursions about the island
he found the hull OF an old-fashioned ship
standing upon an even keel, between two
sand hillocks. Ronald eagerly clambered
all over her, hoping to find something that
might prove useful to him. But she was
apparently an old wreck, clean stripped by
the remOrscless years. In further searching
the lad scraped away the sand and opened
a small hatch which showed itself in the
floor of the after cabin. Little daylight could
find it's way below deck. but he dscerned
several great metal bound chests. With q
piece of loose timber he managed to smash
in the end of one OF them Out tumbed a
stream of discOlored metal pieces. They were
coins Of silver and gold and ornaments and
trnkets in the same precious metals. The
craft undoubtedly had been treasure ship
mayhap Spanish galleon bringing her trib-
ute from the Indies. Before he left the hulk
the lad took a heavy gold chain and fast
ened 1t around his waist. The thing served
to bind his tattered clothes together.
During the frequent storms Ronald was
compelled to remain beneath pieces OF
wreckage. The clouds of flying sand at such
times we're overpowering. His larder was
SO ill-supplied that he frequently endured
the pangs of hunger along with the con
f1nement. Upon one such occasion in par
ticular his fasting had been exceedingly pro-
longed. With the first signs of the storms
abatement he hastened to a great stretch o
salt swamp, much affected by the gulls
where he gathered armful of eggs
Crouchlng down upon the soggy grass. un-
mindful OF the noisy birds circling overhead
or anything else, he commenced to crack
the shells and swallow their contents. In
the midst OF this poor feast he heard an ex
clamation OF surprise. He looked up
scarcely believing that he had heard Alright
A big red-benrded man, attired in rougr