Omaha daily bee., 1899-02-07

never been formally annexed 10 any coun-
try on earth, there Is reason 10 believe thai
Captain Waters stands today as a genuin,
and original type Of sovereign over his
sesbound kingdom.
There are several more exceptional char
acterlstlcs which belong to San Miguel
Perhaps half OF its territory Of 1900 acres
is valuable for stock-raislng and is grazed
upon by herds OF sheep, which, in the de-
mands OF profitable farming, are gradually
being repaced--oh, blow TO poesy-by hogs
The remainder Of it's territory presents some
rare freaks, puzzles to the geoogist, who
has never paid it the attention 1t deserves
There is one forlorn stretch, half a mile
in width and two or three miles along Its
winding length, which appears to consist
wholly OF molten rock which has flowed
from some great orifice and CONCEALED in
wave-like undulations. There are thousands
Of acres OF dry Qulcksands, so treacherous
that an animal by chance straying out upon
them is slowly drawn down to an awful
death. There are the visible signs of nu-
merous old Indian camps along the bluffs OF
East End. where the ground is strewn with
chipped flint and wondrous tinted onyx and
moss-agate OF marvellous hues, and broken
mortars are frequent. There are literally
hundreds of acres of petrifed forest. the
stone stumps standing thIckly together, tell
ing OF some extraordinary submersion the
land has undergone, Strangest OF all, at
beautiful West End which few besides
vaqueros have ever visited, there are literal
catacombs OF the dead. bones and skulls
packed in layers along shallow trenches,
with wealth of prehistoric utensils, telling
Of a large population that has somehow
mysterlously vanished, possibly belong ing
to the race that peopled the lost continent Of
which these islands are believed to have
formed the eastern headlands. Today not a
tree lifts itself above the earth on the entire
island, with the exception Of some stunted
malvas, protected by the high fence that
surrounds the ranch house.
The lonely isolated place was at first very
attractive TO the young girl. She learned to
swim and to row, and found out her favorite
beaches, one Of which to this day bears her
name.
She gathered pretty MOSES and tinted
shells and once, riding off to West End on
day when the sky was overcast she came
upon the body OF a dead young sailor cast
up by the tide with his white face upturned
to the sky; and she herself dragged him a
little higher UP, where the waves could not
reach him and scooped hollow grave in
the sand, where his bones lie to this day.
But the adopted mother died and after
that the stepfather. who was only step
father by adoption, went often to the
mainland, and because, as he said, the girl
was bold and forward for her age, he
thought 1t safer to leave her on the island,
where there was only a housekeeper en-
gagged in her tasks, and hired men for COM
pany
Anxious for Liberty.
To be sure, she had her riding horses,
her faithful collie, little old piano and a
pleasant room Of her own, a bright, CHEEKY
room, with simple furnishings and couple
of shelves Of books. This little library was
a chance collection. There were wise books
in 1t, such as Mrs. Whitney's and Miss AL
colts, a few volumes OF the great outside
world, and a story or two of Dickens. But
1t contained dangerous books as well, stories
of the great outside world. And although
the girl enjoyed the freedom of II 900 acres,
she used to stand before her little mirror
and view her bright handsome face, with
its sparkling eyes, and look down upon her
tall, 1.-THE figure and long for the larger
freedom OF that big world outside and dream
of the conquests that she might make there.
One day. when Captain Waters stay on the
had been prolonged to weeks and
months, the girls rebellion reached its cli-
max. little sailboat had touched the is
land and the man who brought it took pity
on her and at the helm of this frail craft
s.ie secretly put off, crossed the fifty miles
af deep water and found herself free.
Hsr career she had already mapped out.
She msant to be an actress and she found
friends ready to aid her in her ambition
TaleDt ed and beautiful and aSpirinp
not difficult 10 secure an opening and this
opening she foGrl in San Francisco. I'm
disciplined, inexperienced, willful and way
ward, lacking the slightest foundation Of In
telligent training upon which to build
successful professional career, the outcome
was easy to prophesy and within a few
disheartened over her position she
rashly married young John Mackay Walker,
son of ex-Mayor Walker of Oakland and
namesake of Mackay of bonanza fame.
After brief and stormy married life the
couple separated and the young wife, char
lty inmate OF Los Angeles hospital, there
gave birth to little Dorothy. Something OF
her sad, unusual story found its way into the
papers, for there had been lawsuit, long
and bitterly wased by the girl against
Waters, who withheld from her, as she
claimed, the inheritance left to her by his
wife, and her lawyers made capital in
court OF her want and destitution.
Where Cre.de Came In.
The publicity given her condition at
tracted the attention of Creede. who visited
mother and child in the hospital and gen.
erously extended help to them.
When Edith Walker was able to be about
again she accepted Creede's offer to adopt
the baby, and resigned TO the millionaire
all right and title to the helpless little
little higher up where the waves could not
victim OF fate
Three years later the old man died of
morphine poisoning, but whether by acci-
lent or design may never be known, for he
was addicted to the morphine habit He
lad Just finished a romp with Dorothy when
he took the fatal dose. BY his will he
eft his entire property, singularly and un-
dwindled from it's original pro-
portions. but still large fortune, to the
baby, with the singular proviso that she
must reach the age OF womanhood pure
md chaste before she could acquire full
itle to it.
Then began the legal war that always at
ends legacy OF this kind. The mother,
sho had willingly enough relinquished her
babe when the little one promised to be a
burden and a care, came forward to claim
and possession when 1t became
evident that she would be a great heiress;
but it is only justice 10 grant that IL the
conditions tad been reversed and the child