The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1909-05-16

en-, unable to express his transports and
ecstaey. After while, however, the
realization that he had neither food nor
drink, that he was on a strange shore
where wild beasts or wider men might
attack him, overwhelmed him with af-
Fiction. Despairing of life and yet
clinging to it, he climbed into tree
and there spent the night in a thousand
fears
When he awoke the sea was quiet
and the first object his eyes saw was
the ship, driven to within mile of
the beach. When the tide ebbed he
was able to come dry-shod within a
quarter of a mile of her. and the dis
covery that the whole ships company
would have been saved had they re-
manned on the ship, brought tears to
his eyes, for the solitude in which he
was had begun to afflict him already.
He reused himself to action and swan
to the ship to see what might be saved.
He found the provisions dry and filled his
pockets with biscuits, which he ate as he
worked. He flung a few loose spars over
board and tied them together to make a
raft Then he emptied three seamen's
chests and lowered them to it. Into them
he piled Dutch cheese, bread, rice, dried
goats flesh and some European corn
which was left from chicken food He
added six gallons of liquor of various
kinds. the carpenters chest full of tools,
two good fowling pieces two pistols, some
powder horns, bag of shot, two rusty
swords and two barrels of powder
It was mighty load, and he could not
have reached land with had there been
the least wind or sea. Luckily there was
none and the tide made flood and ran
toward shore, so that he managed to drift
and pole his precious cargo into the
mouth of a small river-not. however,
without many panics, for his freight
threatened to topple and sink many times
during the slow voyage.
As soon as all was beached safely he
loaded gun and hurried to a hill mile
inland to survey the country The mo-
ment he was high enough to gain a view
lie was overcome again with terror and
despair, for he saw that he was on an
island with no other land in sight except
few rocks a great way out in the
lonely sea and two tiny islets about nine
miles to the west.
Gloomy and hopeless he returned to the
beach On the way he shot a bird. 1t
must have been the first sunshot fred
there since the creation of the world.
The explosion started an innumerable
number of birds all over the island and
Robinson Crusoe was comforted by the
knowledge that he was al least sure OF
food.
That night he barrlcaded himself with
the chests aud boards from the raft The
next day he determined TO get all he could
from the ship since the first storm would
break her mp. He swan to it again as
before and made second raft. not sc
unwieldly or heavy as The first. He load
ed 1t with spikes and nails, a great screw.
jack, dozen hatchets a grindstone, iror
crowbars. eight guns, two barrels OF
rnusket bullets and some more powder
lie completed the loading with all the
clothes he could find. a topsall. ham
mock and some bedding, and brought al
safely ashore.
with the sail he made tent int
WHICH he put all the articles that Nigh
| spoil from sun or rain. Although n
| had great store now, he would no
rest, but made trip after trip to the ship
! TIN he had all the ropes and cordagc
All Tia sails though ne was forced T.