The Washington times., 1902-12-06
A SECRET OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC
ANOvI Of MUTM AND MYSTHY-8y w. BERT FOSTER

III I'd been a prophet. or one o these
here clairvoyants, ] might have been able
10 tell you deal more. had chance
to learn it,
What do you mean?" inquired Nj
Underclin.
why, sir. didn't tell you all the par
|ticulars as to how come by what In
formation l got. You know we was
pressed for time this morning"
True, Latimer, but Howard here is
desperately interested. / know he'll be
glad TO hear every scrap Of information
bearing on the appearance Of Edgar
/ Thorne in Auckland"
Very well. sir; I'll spin my yarn"
he settled back in his seat. and. lean
/ ing his elbows on the chair arms, twirled
his stumpy brown thumbs as he talked.
The very day we got into Auckland a
fellow came aboard the brig claiming 10
be an American seaman in distress. He
wanted 10 be took home, an was anxious
TO go with me. He reeled off a yarn that
sounded so hshy that 1 didn't give him
much encouragement 50 he sheered on
and went aboard L-itish ship that lay
/ in the roadstead. she sfiIed that very
flood. an I reckon he ven with her. The
yarn he gave me was ike this:
He claimed to be The sole survivor
or the coal-laden bark Anna PixIey.
bound from Sydney TO san Francisco.
Shed met heavy blow somewhere of
the American group an lost her spars.
an to cap it all, her cargo took ere. TIE
captain and mate was blowed UP by an
TexplOsion OF gas, and IN trying 10 put of
from the burning bark in a gale. the
other officers and most Of the mon lost
their lives. The boats was all stove an
he and his mates built a raft an put OF
durin' a lUll in the storm. But the rafi
went 10 pieces before morning and his
comrades went down.
He clung to the wreck OF the raft for
twenty-fOur hours and then the weather
cleared an he foated ashore on an ISL
and. And, accordin' to his tell fl was
good-sized lump OF ground. But # was
uninhabited. He said there was the
wreck OF some craft In a sheltered cove
but not sign Of a man on the island
or on that part Of it he could get to.
good portion OF it was unscalabIe
cliffs. Volcanic 1 s'pose Lot Of them
Pacific islands are-what amt coral.
We'll, / remember he said he was
/ there some weeks, when one morning he
found a boat drawn up on the sand b.
fore the hut he'd made for himself a,d
man waiting for him to come out. This
stranger wouldn't answer any questions
about himself or how he got there I'm
that open boat; but he told him he was
going 10 New Zealand ami he cou-d 20
along, If he liked and help work the
boat.
The mans craft was a ships long
boat. furnished with sail and well pro
visioned They made a good passage IN
Auckland, where the man went TO two
or three bankers and sold some pearls
he had with him, gave the sailor a FIVE
pound note. aand left in the boat they
had come in. The sailor hung around
Auckland while his money held out. and
when I saw him. being on a lee shore.
he wanted TO ship again.
"As I say, / didn't take much stock in
his yarn at the time. Two men sailing
something like 500 miles in a ships
long boat sounded pretty dshy But af-
tcrward, when the banker gave me that
draft and told me about the man that
LEFT it, I wished ia paid more attention
TO what the fellow said. The sailor told
me the latitude and longitude Of the
Anna Pixley the day before she foun-
dered, but when / looked at the chart
couldn't find an island anyhere around
the locality. That's one reason why I /
didn't believe him"
And you think this man who brought
the sailor to Auckland was my fhtber?"
asked Thorne
Sure"
IF we only had that sailor he might /
be able TO take you to the very island. % I
suggested Mr. Undercliff
You say he gave you his vessels DO |
sition a day or so before he saw the ISL /
andT queried Howard Wouldn't that
help us?"
"A little-if 1 can remember f. But /
bless you. I don't believe [ could. You
see. paid 50 little attention to his yarn.