Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-11-17
CHAPTER XII.
Henry Vivian Tries to Do His Duty.

1t is now necessary to be occupied direct
ly with Daniel and those brief days before
the Peabody" met her dreadful fate.
From Tobago she returned to Barbados
with small cargo of turtle and cocoa
nuts; then she sailed directly to the North
ern Lesser Antilles. and reached her next
and last port st. Pierre. in Martinique
But we are concerned with earlier events
affecting young Sweetland, and these may
best be chronicled by setting down the
opening passages of a second letter that he
began to write to his wife at Scarborough
the little port of Tobago. This commune
cation was never completed, but 1t covers
period of fifteen days in the life of the
writer, and when he put 1t aside, to finish
on another occasion, he little dreamed
that he would see the sheet no more.
My own dear heart" wrote he heres
the old tub at Tobago with steam in her
rotten boilers again! Talk about volcanoes
and such like! It's us aboard the Pea
body that be on volcano, not the shore
folks This here's very fine island and
I've had merry time when / could get
ashore. They laugh at me because I be
gathering together such lot of queer
Things for you. God He knows IL you'll
ever get EN- and hang em round the walls
TO home. but if you do. 1 lay you'll be
maZed with wonder. There's a huge river
by the name of Orinoco that pours out of
the mainland of South America and Ii
bringssto these shores all manner of queer
seeds and shells and such like, including
coral and coraline, like stone fans, all very
beautiful for ornaments. l tramp along
when of duty and fill my pockets and saw
every minute, My stars, won't Minnie like
that! or These here will make a necklace
almost 50 pretty as pearls, for her neckn
There be little silver-like shells here all
curly. I've got scores; and the niggers say
as there be real pink pearls to be got; out
doubt 1t, cause If there was, why don't
somebody with plenty of time get EN-?
Sometimes the cocoanuts will fall with
bang just while you be under the palms 1
near had my head knocked off by a whack-
er tother day; then l forced hole In his
monkey-face (for they be all like monkeys
one end and drank the milk and shared
the creamy inside with hungry dog as
CHANGED to be passing that way. As for
adventures. | had one with a boss would
make en- laugh to home. / calls it a boss
but never you seed such lop-sided bag o.
bones. But twas something to have un
between my legs. and l made un gallop a
bit much to his surprise, afore I'd done
with un. A niger boy went with me to
get any queer things might happen by
the way and ! rode into the island 20 see
a river where they say there be alligators
The boss was called Nap. and the niger
went by the name of Peter And a very
fine time us had of ii at first. The road
led up and up through palms and tamarinds
and mangoes, and million trees Id never
seed or heard of. Frangipani made the air
sweet to the nose. 1t grows in stars 'Don
great naked bOughs and they make scent
of 1t. Then there was bindweeds, like we
get to home, but larger. all crawled all over
the hedges. with yellow and purple flowers
TO EN-. And everywhere in they blazing
woods was flowers and seeds and berries
and cocoa trees, which be just like them
advertisements in the shop windows to
Moreton of Cadbury's Cocoa. The pods
hang on the trees all purple and gold.
got seeds and berries for you and having
a little shotgun as Bradley lent me. /
killed a few birds and one sun bird as be
like splash of fire on the wing and a
green humming bird or two. My hess he
loafed along. thinking of anything but his
business but he was eating out of the
hedge all the while. and sometimes twas