The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1909-10-03
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ON KlNDILINi F.:


.IT pass over certain episodes Of
little moment and bring you 10 the
bour. late that night. when we knew
that there was no water on the island.
We had searched it. scanned it inch by
inch. knew its confguration perfectly,
and were gathered in despair at the
foot IF the only eminenee IN its small
area.
1.-THE extreme breadth of the islet
was a half-miIe. In length it extended
for about two miles, running almost
directly north and south. In the mid
die Of it. dividing it in two, rose
long, steep, sharp ridge of rock, ris-
ing precipitously from the white, bar
rem sand for nearly the length of the
island. This rock was very much like
wall, or backbone. On either side
of this ridge the sand was yerdureless
except for a small clump of bushes
huddled at the foot Of an abrupt cliff
on the east face. These formed
thieket possibly score of feet through,
none Of the bushes being over a dozen
feet high. Above them the rock rose
vertically for fifty feet, glazing white.
! assure you that we knew what we
were talking about when we agreed
that there was no water. We had even
dug N the coarse, white, sharp coral
sand. We had tried to scale the spine
of rock, and failed. We had almost
pulled the stunted shrubs up in an
effort to find whence they sucked their
moisture And now, lighted by the ris-
ing moon, we gaped at each other,
mumbling our despair through swollen
No..
Susan Hays, her hands clasped in her
Sap, and Honoria and PlicoEt, silently
Staring at US, driven from us by the
consciousness that to them we owed our
lamentable death.
Il don't know what would have
been the outcome of our despair if
cloud had not suddenly overspread US
and poured down a flood of rain. For
an hour we drank out of our palms
out of any vessel we could find; we
soaked our bodies in the warm water,
lifting our faces to it in sort Of
ecstasy. Yet, when dawn came we had
managed to collect only few gallons,
and a cloudless sky and burning sun
Knocked rs.
.'We worked and built US camp,
with a fireplace, cellar dug in the
sand in the rock s shadow for our pro-
visions, and a little store place for the
seanty fuel the sailors gathered. Then
Gridley divided us into watches, and we
prepared to stay till we could accumu-
late enough water to fill the cask,
which we repaired, and so continue our
voyage to the mainland Our circum-
stances were not pleasant: We were a
thousand miles from land, the climate
forbade us to expect many showers,
and there was no hope of passing
vessel. Under these conditions, we set
tied down as best we might, relying on
the possibility of soon being ready to |
take to the boat again.
The seamen instantly accommodate |
ed themselves, and Gridley relapsed |
into sullen taciturnity. The old man, |
Howard, sat first on the west side of |
the rock of a morning, painted during |
the flaming noon, and then, when the |
sun had passed the meridian, crept over |
into the shadow on the westward side. |
With him, constantly silent, shy, !
thoughtful, went Susan Hays. Pheott |
and Honoria had withdrawn themselves |
to the edge of the thicket, where they /
sat, her hand in his, while he glared |
out into the great sunshine with stormy |
eyes. Honoria seemed pensive, with a |
subdued demeanor.
.'Our water again gave out, IN due |
course. We sought the implaeabie |
heavens for a cloud. Gridley tried to |
make a rude still to distill the sea |
water into a drinkable liquid; he fail |
ed. Once more we searched the islet
for trace of water. digging into the |
hot sand with our fingers. Plicott came |
with US, furious in the hunt for two |
DAYS Then he desisted, and lay IN the |
shadow of the thicket, gazing seward,
or staring at Honoria, now sunburnt |
and with blackened lips and bloodshot /
eyes.
1.-The next night thereafter | wax
ened from an uneasy sleep, hearing
rustline sound in the thicket, outside
which Howard. Susan Hays, Honorla,
Plicott, and myself had laid US down.
I was at the foot of the rock, and
when / opened my eyes 1 thought
discovered a figure clambering pain
fully up the cliff, out of the tops of |
the bushes At first l supposed was
dreaming, but / finally decided that
some one was trying desperately to |
fnd water. There was nothing unusual /
in this, for each of US at some time or
another wandered off in that hopeless
quest. However, l had not thought 1t
possible to scale the rock. l stole away
and into the thieket. There l waited
agsG a slight, scrambling noise warned
he that the man was coming down. |
drew aside and listened. Whoever 1t
was dropped softly upon the sand and
sank down, breathing heavily. Wait
ing for the moon to rise and give me
light upon him, I fell asleep. When L
again II was to hear the whls-
per of a mans husky voice. It was
Plicott. saying, Drink it all, Honoria.
| We found it for you.
''Gradually l made out that they
were standing a few feet from me, the
woman with one hand supporting her
against the rock. She was whispering,
I mustn T, Harry. Give it TO the
others. It s wicked! Give it to the
1thersi'
= The others shall have some when
you re done he insisted. You are
irst.'
And there is plenty'' she de-
handed.
* Plenty he told her.
''Presently she sighed, and drank.
A moment later Plieott crawled past