Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1906-01-17


southwark. Some driftwood, few bits
OF rigging from the lost vessel, chicken
coop filled with dead fowls, few tat
tered bits of sails, and two large tins
OF sea biscuit were all that the girl
found on the beach during her tour
around the island, and every bit of this
She dragged up the beach, beyond the
reach Of the waves, that were still break
ing high.
Her first work was to plant piece of
driftwood on the highest point of the
island and float distress signal from it.
Then, selecting a spot in the wind
twisted grove of palm trees near the
edge Of the pond, she started to build
a shelter. She had no tools, and for
days she labored, using a piece Of board
for shovel and her hands, and event.
ually she managed to erect sort of hut
by planting the pieces of driftwood
from the wreck upright and piling sand
and stones against the outside. Over
this she stretched the largest piece of
sail, and she and Mons had a home.
There she carried everything that drift
ed ashore.
For days she was on the verge of de-
spair. Alone in the middle of a great
ocean, practically without food or shell
ter, her only companion lion cub, the
girl gave herself over to a fit of hope
lessness. But after week of living on
the drowned fowls and sea biscuit Liela
suddenly aroused herself and deter
mined to live. Young, strong, athletic.
full of life, she rallied from the shock
and the despair and set to work.
Her first care was for food, and she
began to set snares for turtles, and
from the cordage that had come ashore
she began to knot together seine with
which to catch fish in the lagoon be-
tween the island and the reef.
Also from her scant supply of pins and
hairpins she fashioned little hooks that
she set to catch gulls.
Burns Seaweed as Signal.
For nearly three weeks she lived with
out fire. Again and again she tried to
make fire by rubbing sticks together,
as she had heard of savages doing, but
she failed, and she was in despair. Eat
ing raw fish and chewing on the roots of
unknown plants that she found began
to pail upon her, and she determined
to have fire at any cost. She hunted the
island over for stones that would make
sparks when she struck them together,
and finally on the beach she found two
large pieces of flint. 1t took two days
for her to set fire to little bunch of
dried, cottonlike pulp from a weed she
found, and then she blew and famed it
into flame and fed it constantly.
The evening that she got fire she was
lieyed her battle won. Wood was scarce,
but she resorted to dragging seaweed
from the lagoon and leaving it to dry
on the beach, and over the burning sea-
weed she piled wet seaweed and kept
a great smudge burning at the highest
point of the island.
Mons-the lion-kept her from be-
coming desperate from loneliness, but
after a month he became dangerous.
The diet of raw fish and oysters and
pieces of sea gull did not suit him. And
then followed the widest adventure of
all.
Liela was sleeping. 1t was near morn
ing, for the stars were beginning to grow
dim and the roseate light was showing
in the east when the girl was awakened
by strange, suffocating sense of dan
ger. In an instant she was on her feet
Days before she had prepared a great
stick for use in defending herself, and,
grasping this, she backed into the corner
Of her frail hut, ready to strike.
A moment later she recognized her
pet, and called him. An angry snarl
answered her, and the beast leaped.
The girl realized at once that the saw
age instincts of the brute had been
aroused, and that he had turned upon
her to kill and devour her. Like flash
she swung the club, and there, alone on
the island, thousands of miles from
friends, the two that had been friends
fought duel to the death.
Battle with Pet Lion.
Again and again the maddened beast
leaped for the white throat of his mis-
tress, and each time was. driven back |
by blow, and finally, as her strength !
was DESERVING her, Liela swung the club !
with an effort born of despair and laid |
the half grown cub senseless, and, be- !
fore it. could recover, she killed it, and
then sank down sobbing beside it's !
body. ~
Her. last friend was gone, and she was
alone. So she sobbed until daylight, and
then with sharp stones she skinned the |
beast, and cooked part of it for her
breakfast.
She felt that she must keep busy or
60 mad, SO, after the first six months,
she began to build herself a home Of
stones-two rooms. She spent months
selecting stones Of the right shape, anil.
ptling them one upon the other, and
across the top she placed the boards that
had been the sides Of her first home, and
she matched It all over;with leaves from
the trees and with grasses. .s.s..: z.*s
She searched the island over and
planted little vines and flowers. Il Near