The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-01-21

the verdure which surrouned them by the
| glass-like substance Of the mountain
shell. Always in shade, yet ever in sun
light while the sun shone upon the world
such was the condition, and the conse-
! quenee was a tropical climate without the
intense heat which accompanies It, There
was water in abundance, too, and near the
center of the eden-lke valley more
strange than all were the ruins of a
I house of stone, or rather of obsidian'
! where somebody a some time long ago
had dwelt
Entering it, they discovered upon the
floor Of one of the two rooms which 1t
contained the skeleton of man, and be-
side it block of smooth obsdian, upon
which there was an inscription evidently
made with the diamond ring which they
found near the ]eshless hand that had
| made use of it. The inscription was IN
| English, and easily decipherable 1t read:
August, 1913 ! doubt much II TINS De
Read by Humn eyes. If 50 De, lheh
Know who Reads that I. in Simonds' once
| of London discovered tbs Island no, ana,
| being weary of tn World, Return alone
! I'LL. Since then l Have remained. am
now above 80 Years. Too feeble 10 return
| To The World. which l fam Would see
| again. To Him who Reads l Dequeath
| This Isle, with All it contains, Req sting
| Only that He bury My bones with
! Prayer TO God for my Salvation There
| be Gold here In Full abundance, and Pre-
| cious stones Put here by the Hand of Goa
when TIL mountain Was alive With flre.
| 1t be my Empire, an Empire Island
Have named 1t. Have it So. then. II 1e
| Revere my Memry. John Simonds, BY
| The Grace of God. Near Heaven, Amen.
| More than a century had passed since
| that inscription was made-since John 81
| mondS ceased TO breathe yet everywhere
! the shipwreck5 d twain discov red evidences
of his habitation and his industry. There
! was no need to search for gold or pre-
| cious stones John Simonds had performed
| that task for them. There were nuggets
sufficient for a Kings ransom piled in cone
| like heaps around the house beneath the
| royal palms which shaded 1t from the re-
| hected rays of the sun; and within the
adjoining room of the ruin they found
diamonds and emeralds in the rough which
| even their uneducated eyes were capable
| of recognizing.
| The bones of John Simonds We're buried
with due reverence, as he had requested
and Cradock prayed most earnestly for
the repose of his soul.
| After that they returned to the wreck
of the Mascot, and by rigging tackle, sucs
ceeded in hosting through the strange
| aperture everything that might be Valu-
able to them in their unheard of retreat
Even the small boat that they had re-
! paired was hoisted into the mountain in
| the same nldHHeIt anu lllSil, Dll ny UT
| they broke up the schooner, saving the
| timbers and such of the brass and iron
| work as they deemed might prove availa-
! BILE a future time.
! Afterward the stone house was repair
ed and thus months passed almost un>
| needed by them. For time they kept
| watch of the sea through their doorway
! to the world but they were far out OF
! the beaten tracks of vessels, and at last
! they desisted, convinced that the only way
of escape, for them was across the open
sea in the small boat they had saved from
| the wreck, or in such a craft as they
might be able to construct from the tim
! bers they had preserved.
| Often they contemplated such an at
! tempt, but 1t was each time postponed,
! for there was a certain kind of enjoy
ment in the life they led, and there was
drear uncertainty in trusting themselves
| again 20 the treacherous sea in craft 50
! frail as the one at their disposal. But
| the construction of another was begun at
last, out on the solitary reef where the
| Mascot had stranded
One year passed away. and then an
| other. Twice the boat which they were
| constructing was nearly swept away by
! storms, but the good fortune that had pre-
| served them through all their vicissitudes
spared that also, and one day. nearly
| three years after they were cast upon the
reef Craddock and Thorgensen babe adieu
! to Empire Island and sailed away to the
north'ard in a lug-sailed craft, laden with
gold and precious stones enough to render
them both rich for the balance of their
| lives.
Before the sail was hoisted and while
they foated beneath the opening in the
side of the mountain, Craddock pointed
with his right hand toward the huge pile
of obsidiah and said solemnly:
Ralph before we set sail, let us make
one promise each to the other, and, swear
sacredly 10 keep 1t for all time"
| agreed, Grad. What is il? You could
not ask a promise of me that 1 would no,
! grant"
Let US promise, each to the other, that
neither of US will ever return to this ISL
and, unless in company with the other
or with the express permission of the aD-
| sent one"
Agreed l promise
Four months later the shpwrecked mar
| iners arrived in San Francisco, safe
sound, well and with the fortunes they had
| discovered, intact.
(The Enid