Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1899-08-04


wound was cut open and the bullet
extracted. 1t was small, and had evil
IDENTIFY been fired from a pistol; this
| event caused the most exciting specu-
| latiOns, amid which the carcass was
hastily buried, as none of us would eat
of it.
What or who could this person be?
were the prevailing questions; and
what was his reason for concealins
himself from us, in the thick woods of
the island?
In the thorough exploration of the
| latter, caused by these episodes, our
! people fortunately discovered a fine
grove of banana trees, and returned
laden with their yellow and luscious
| fruit.
At the same time Tattooed Tom
| found some letters "in foreign lingo"
as he said, cut on the face of steep
rock, overhanging the river. which
| formed the cascade at the beach. TO
this rock he conducted Hislop and me
the next day, and after tearing aside
some masses of crecpers and scraping
off rich coating of moss, we found
this old legend on the smoothed face Of
the basalt:
Eel Noble Caballero, D. Alphonso de
Albuquerque;
A. D. 1906.
Rvsven a dos per ell
"The year of the discovery of the is
land!" said Hi:lop.
Have other eyes ever seen this in
scription since?" added I.
1T is very doubtful This Alphonso
also discovered the Albuquerque Rays
as he named the three islets which lie
off the Mosquito shore in the Carib-
bean sea-
Hislop copied the inscription in to
his notebook, and just as we turned to
leave the spot a large stone, about
sixty pounds in weight, came crashing
down the cliff. hurled, apparently, from
it's summit, and, il SO, by no inexpert
hand for it struck the rock of the
legend within foot of where Hislop
| stood, and was shivered into a hun
dred pieces, covering him over with
| dust.
Had it struck him instead, he had
been slain and mangled on the spot.
Had a fragment broken any of his
| limbs, in how miserable plight would
he have been on that desolate island.
without proper shelter or surgical aid?
fr %hN &c hn
cliff, which was about hundred and
| fifty feet in height, perceived among
| the dense fringe of wild gourds, shrubs,
leaves and plantain trees, then waving
in the wind, something like a human
face, that, after peering over at us, was
suddenly withdrawn.
"That stone was never dislodged
either by goats or by accident" said
Hisiop; there is not vestige of clay
upon the fragments-besides all the
face of the cliff is smooth and solid
rock!"
And it is the only place we did not
overhaul yesterday, Master Hislop,'
said Tom Lambourne
"Then there must be the thief of
our biscuits--of our goats-''
"Of our stun sail boom and my old
guernsey. Let us have all hands
turned up foc hunt again." exclaimed
Tom.
! now mentioned what l had seen.
"a man!-do you think it was a
mans head?'
Il can not be certain. Hislop," said
L. lit seemed face of some kind, and
a very hairy one, too"
ut might be an old pumpkin sug
gested Tom, in his matter-of-fact way.
Cor a goat-at all events. it could
not have been babooE!" said |.
mo, no; there is no such animal
hereabouts, Master Rodney replied
Tom.
Man or monkey. goat or devil, We'll
overhaul the place this very after
nocn,' exclaimed Hislop, with increas-
ing energy, and anger; "but first we
shall return with all expedition to the