Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1901-04-25
A FIND ON
THE BEACH
O. BY ~. QUAD.
60
Copyright. 1901. BY c. B. Lewis.

COO ot.NJO OSNJS CSs-,O OSt-' y Ct-NS y Ot-cS
The Palawan islands. in the China
sea, are TO the north Of Borneo and
form a part of the Philippine group.
They stretch out for a distance Of 200
miles and number nearly a thousand.
In the year 1882 | was landed on one
of the Palawans from a Singapore
trader to get up and run a copra plant.
l had with me four Chinese, and the
trader landed provisions for a year
After | had the shed up and the work
going | had plenty of time for fishing
hunting and visiting the other islands
Nothing of special interest occurred
until had been on the island three
months Then one morning as / went
down to the boat 10 put out on a fishing
trip | was amazed 10 find tracks of
womans bare feet on the wet sands
The tide was out. aud she had wander
ed along the beach for half mile
probably just before daylight. Ii need
cd only glance 20 tell me that The
I person who had left the tracks was a
4 white woman. but 10 make sure of it
| called TO the Cinnamon. They at
:
trail leading out of the water AT one
spot and another trail leading back at
another spot but none TO show that the
strange visitor to the island had scout
ed inland nj all We were on one of
the outer, or seward. islands. with
nothing between Us and the Cochin
China coast There was a small and
almost barren island three miles to the
north aud a similar one about the same
distance to the south, but had visited
both and found no people.
Whoever had visited our island in
the darkness had come up out of the
depths of the sea. No boat or raft had
landed on the shore The footprints
were as plain as a plaster cast, aud We
were Immediately Interested and more
or less excited After thinking the
matter over | decided that the woman
must have come from one Of the is
lands i'm some way and determined 10
give both close search. | set off to
the north and in the course of an hour
made ii landing. This island had an
area of not more than five acres. Here
and there a patch of soil covered the
rocks. and young cocoanut trees We're
struggling for life but the ground was
easy of search. | went over it care
fully and made the circuit of the island
IN my boat but not a living thing did
see aside from the birds. There were
no wild fruits to sustain life, nor was
able 10 find any fresh water.
1t was noon when | got back to my
own island. and after dinner | set out
10 search the other. As this one had
more vegetation | took with me the
boy. who was about II years of age
and named Whang Is the wind was
light and a current against us we were
two hours in gaining the island. was
strong in the belief that some woman
/ had been cast away and was shifting
( for herself and that she had not made
herself known To rs simply proved that
she had lost her reason under the
strain Of the hardshipS or took Us for
natives who would modest her II was
near sunset when we put OF after
vain search. and when we reached the
reef surrounding our island and half
mile out from the beach the evening
breeze died ont to fat calm. and we
lay like "A log. Before taking 10 the
oar to scull us in 10 the shore ! sat
quiet for a minute listening to the
whispers Of the sea. Whaug leaned
over tie rail " the boat and watched
the sharks darting 70 and fro ana ieay-
ing trails Of fire behind them. and
things were so still that ! could he,rr
the ticking Of ms watch. when There
came 4 strange interruption Il WIS
tlIe voice - a woman I'D laughter aHd
il sounded close u.s. we both sprau-
up r. tlle sound, wondering IL our ears
had deceived us and as we stood lis
tcnIug the sounds came again. When
they bad died away the boy turned 10
me and whispered.
Master, for Gods sake lot Us Get