The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1910-07-21

island l came upon the remains of a
boat, and any of you may examine it.
Near the boat in yonder coppice there
we're two skeletons, one of a woman
and the other of a dog. l excavated
the boat, found that it had belonged
to the ship Nansemond of Virginia. l
have the stern pieces with the name
painted on it in my cave. l put the
skeletons of the dog and the woman
in the boat and filled it up again with
sand. There they lie waiting Chris
tian burial. The place where they
had died, the woman and her dog, l
carefully inspected. Everything but
rsetal, and most of that, had rusted
away, but I found two rings" She
stretched forth her hand. "They are
here" She stripped them off "One
of them is a wedding ring. You see
it is marked" She read the markings
off, 81. r. G.. to NJ. P. T. September
10, 1869, II. Cor. xii, Is. The verse of
Scripture to which reference is made
is I will very gladly spend and be
spent for you, though the more abun-
dantly love you, the less l be loved
There was a piece of silver, also,
which had evidently been part of a
dogs collar. 1t, too, was marked:
John Revell Charnock-His Dog, July
22-1S75.' And that was all"
do you remember nothing of your
early life, nothing whatever, sir?"
asked Whitaker, turning to the man.
Il have dim recollection of some
sort of sea happening, of long voy-
age with woman and some kind Of
an animal in an open boat, of horrible
sufferings, of few words of prayer;
that is ALL"
Il think that this man, then a child"
resumed the woman, "and his mother
must in some way have been involved
in shipwreck, and that she and her
son and dog must have been cast
away on this island; that the woman
died and the child survived. There is
nothing here that would in any way
harm him and his life and growth un-
der such circumstances and condi-
tions are quite possible. He had prob
ably seen his mother read that Bible.
He carried it with him, put it in that
cave and forgot it with the flint and
steel in the silver box of which he
would have no knowledge and which
he could not use. The dog probably
lived some time and when he died
crawled back to where his mistress
1ou hic of loY,
And therefore 1 believe this mans
name to be John Revell Charnock;
that he is an American, and that he
came from Virginia. l know him to
be Christian and a gentleman. In
all the days that we have been togeth-
er on this island he has done me no
wrong. He has been gentleness, kind
ness, docility itself, and despite our
selves we have learned to love each
other. Until yesterday we did not
know it. Now it is for him to say
what we will do"
Kate, Kate" cried Langford, you
cannot let this untutored savage"
Not that" said the woman, "for I
have taught him all know and all
believe"
You cannot let him decide this
question:" continued the man, passing
over her interruption.
YES" said the woman, 'he must
decide, but whatever he decides, what
ever the relationship between this
man and this woman is to be, 1 can
ho rIyfb fO
Don't say that" said Whitaker.
Think, my dear lady, what you do,
what this man offers you, the position
in which God forgive me! you
stand"
Sir" said the woman, addressing
the lieutenant commander, this man
wronged me grievously, terribly. He
deceived me. He broke my heart He
killed ambition, aspiration and respect
for my own kind within my soul.
know him through and through. The
fact that he failed quickened his pas
sion; the fact that men say l am
beautiful made him the more eager;
the fact that he was away and that
he could not lay his hands upon me
made him the more insistent; the fact
that had flaunted him and said him
nay and struck him down made him
the more determined"
kate, Kate, you wrong me. Before
God you wrong mel" interrupted
Langford.
And indeed, madam, believe you
do" commented Whitaker.
Let her speak on, said the man of
the island.
at may be that you are right" con-
tinued the woman. 1T may be that
he is higher, nobler, truer than I have
fancied. l should be glad to be able
to think so. l am willing to take your
view of it, his assertion Of it, but l
do not love him. Should l marry him,
| would bring to him heart, a soul,
body that turns to some one else.
He could never be anything to me.
AS am a Christian woman, lover
of my God and follower of his Son,
l cannot see but that I would be add
ing one wrong to another to come to
this man in compliance with any sug-
gestion of the world following any
dictate of society, subservient to any
convention. l cannot see but that
would be doing as great or a greater
wrong than l did before in flaunt-
ing all of these forces. have learned
what love is and what marriage should
be. will not give my hand and yield
up my person where cannot YIELD my
heart. And there i3 no expiation or
reparation that requires it Of ME, no
voice that can coerce me into it.
will not marry you, Valentine Lang
ford 7 will accent your expressions