Daily camera., 1901-08-29
The captain and Cray were already
examining him, and saw with half an

VOliey nau Sc1ttcTeu tne IlutlneefS once
more, for VIC were suffered without
further molcstation to get the poor old
gnmekeepcr hoistcd over the stockade
and carried, gpaning and bleeding.
into the log house.
Poor old fellow, he had not uttered
one word of surprise, complaint, fear,
or even acquiescence, from the very
beginning of our troubles till now,
when we had laid him down in the log
house to die. He had laid like Trojan
behind his mattress in the gallery; he
had followed every order silently, dog
gedly and well; he was the Oldest OF
our party by score Of years; and now,
sullen, old, serviceablc servant, 1t was
he that was 10 die.
The squire dropped down beside him
on his knees and kissed his hand, cry.
ing like n child.
BE going. doctor?" he asked.
TON, my man." said /. you're 60
ing home"
II wish / had lick at them with the
gun FIRST" he replied.
AoAls stai4 thc oiuASp Say Joo ava
give me, won't you?
would that be respectful like. from
me to you, squire?" was the answer.
"Howsoever, SO be it, amen!"
After little while OF silence, he said
he thought somebody might read q
prayer. ITS the custom, sir" he add
ed. apologetically. And not long after
without another word, he passed away.
In the meantime the captain, whom
I had observed to be wonderfully
swollen about the chest and pockets,
had turned out n great many various
stores-the British colors, n Bible, a
coil OF stoutish rope, pen. ink, the log
book, and pounds Of tobacco. He had
found longish fir tree lying felled and
cleared in the inclosure, and, with the
help Of Hunter. he had set it up at the
corner of the log house where the
trunks crossed and made an angle.
Then. climbing on the roof, he had
with his own hand bent and run up
the colors. ".,,..;... y
This seemed nightly to relieve him
He recntered the log house and set
about counting the stores, as il moth
| ing else existed But he had an eye
on Toms passage for all that; and as
soon as all was over came forward with
another flag and reverently spread il
on the body.
Don't you take on, sir" he said,
shaking the squire's hand. "All's well
with him; no fear for hand that's
been shot down in his duty to captain
and owner. 1t mayn't be good divinity,
but it's a fact" -, ~. r
Then he pulled me aside. ''.s
"Dr. Livesey," he Aid, sin how many
weeks do you and squire expect the
consort?" -
told him it was question. not of
weeks, but Of months; that il we were
not back by the end CT August, Blandly
was to send to find us; but neither
sooner nor later. You can calculate
for yourself" said.
"Why. yes," returned the captain,
scratching his head, "and making a
large allowance. sir, for oil the gifts OF
Providence. l should say we were pref
ty close hauled
"IIow do you mean?' asked.
Its a pity, sir, we lost the second
load. That's whnt l mean." replied
the captain. AS for powder and shot,
well do. But the rations are short,
very short-so short, DR.. Livesey, that
we're perhaps Us well without that ex-
ira mouth"
And he pointed to the dead body un-
der the flag.
Just then, with a roar and a whistle,
round shot passed high above the
roof of the log house and pumped ia.
beyond us in the wood.
"Oho." said the captain. Blaze
away! You've little enough powder
already, my lads"
| At the second trial the aim was bet
ter and the ball descended inside the
stockade, scattering cloud of sand,
but doing no further damage.
Captain" said the squire, 1.-THE
house is quite invisible from the ship
1t must be the flag they are aiming at.
Would it not be wiser to take itin?
"Strike my colors!" cried the cap
tain. mo, sir. not l." and, as soon as
he had said the words, l think we all
agreed with him. For it was not only
piece Of stout, seamanly good feeling;
II WAS good policy besides, and showed
our enemies that we despised their
canronade.
laundering away. Ball after ball few
over or fell short, or kicked up the sand
in the inclosure; but they had to fire
SO high that the shot fell dead and
buried itself in the soft sand. We had
no richochet to fear; and though one
popped in through the roof Of the log
house and out again through the floor,
we soon got used to that sort of horse
play and minded it no more than
cricket.
There is one thing about all this"
observed the good captain; "the wood
in front of us is likely clear. The ebb
has made a good while; our stores
should be uncovered. Volunteers to 60
and bring in pork"
Gray and Hunter were the first to
come forward. Well armed, they stole
out of the stockade. but it proved q
useless mission. The mutineers were
bolder than we fancied, or they put
more trust in Israel's gunnery. For
four or five Of them were busy carry
ing off our stores, and wading out with
them to one of the gigs that lay close
by, pulling an oar or SO to hold her
steady against the current. Silver was
in the stern-sheets in command; and
every man of them was now provided
with musket from some secret maya
zine Of their own.
The captain sat down to his log. and
here is the beginning Of the entry:
Alexander emollett. master; David Live-
sey. ships doctor: Abraham Gray. carpen-
ters mate: John Trelawney. owner: John
Hunter and Richard Joyce. owners serv-
ants. landsmen-being all that is left faith
ful Of the ships company-with stores for
ten days at short rations. came ashore this
day. and flew British colors on the log
house In Treasure island. Thomas Red