The Comrade., 1910-08-19

She mused on the problem as he |;
oored silently and vigorously. H
stopped once or twice, but she ker
MIN to 1t, a feat vastly greater tha
she realized, until the interior of tn
Doat, which was a small ships boa
a dinghy, had been entirely cleare
out. She had watched carefully ever
spadefuI OF sand which had been tosse
over the buried gunwales and nov
| she searched eagerly the boat itself
Her inspection revealed nothing
There were lockers at either END
lhese she opened, finding nothing
therein but moulderlng remains O
cloth, bags of some sort which sh
surmised might have contained ship
bread, and little barrel or keg. whic]
had probably carried water for tn,
yoyagers.
The boat appeared to be in an ex
cellent state of preservation. Their,
were even pair Of oars lying on tn,
thwarts. If she could have dug it on
OF the sand entirely, she fancied she
could have launched it and used if
But such task was utterly beyond
her Besides there would have beer
no gain in having the boat afoat She
would not dare to take it out beyond
the barrier reef and there was NOTHING
TO row for in the lagoon.
She easily broke the rotting lines
with which the oars were secured and
took them out They would be useful
perhaps In some way. And then after
long look at the boat and with feel.
Ing that her labor had been mainly
wasted, she was about to turn away
when the thought struck her that
sometimes boats carried the names of
the ships to which they belonged on
their bows or across their sterns. She
had recourse to the shovel once more,
and after some deliberation essayed
the stern Of the boat.
1t was not so hard to shovel the
sand away from it and here she did
make discovery, for although the let
ters had been almost obliterated by
the action Of the sand, she could still
make them out. After some study
she decided that the name Of the boat,
or OF the ship to which it had be-
longed, had been Nansemond of Nor
folk, Virginia. That was the net re.
suit of the hard labors Of long morn
Ing. 1t told her something, but not
much. Assuming that the man with
her was John Revell Charnock and as.
'umlng that he had come to the island
IN the past on that boat, it indicated
hat he was at least an American and
Virginian. 1t identified him, if her
'uppositions were correct, and wheth-
er there was warrant for them or not
nstinctively and naturally she con-
;luded that she was correct.
Admitting all this, however, It
gave her no clew from which to build a
history. The testimony of the boat
vas interesting, that was all. Her first
hought was to leave it where it was.
'ut her second thought was better.
With the aid of the stout piece of
board which had served her for a |
shovel, she hammered away at the
tern piece until she broke it of. She
aW now that the boat must have lain
here in the sand for many years, for
he wood was brittle and the fasten.
ngs largely destroyed, for the stern
iece came easily away. She laid it
side for a moment intending to pre-
erve it with the Bible. Heaven
:nows what dream of future useful
ess in the way of evidence establish.
ng identity these might be, entered
er mind.
Then she threw herself down under
ne trees and rested. She had left
er watch, her precious watch, back
the cave with the book. She did
OF dare to carry 1t around with her.
ne had no way of carrying it in the
lin, single garment which she wore.
ut she judged from the height of the
IN that it must be noon time. They
|ade their meal off the fruits Of the
land, this time with a rich and Juicy
'coanut added, which the man got for
er at her suggestion in the sign Ian
lage at which she was becoming ex-
ert, by climbing with wonderful agil-
?, ape-like agility almost, one of the
II cocoanut palms with which the
land abounded. There were fruits
various sorts in great plenty on the
land and she was becoming accus-
med to the diet by degrees. *
She passed the noon hour in trying {
add to the mental equipment Of her
He could say number
words now and had some idea of Il
cir meaning, although he had not ,
t attempted to frame sentences nor
d she yet tried to teach him so to /
. It was pleasant under the shade )
the trees. She found herself mar {
ling at times as to the contentment t
at possessed her, a product Of the i
e suddenly plunged into the Eden. t
e existence which her forebears Y
ght have enjoyed ten thousand
ars before. a
lhe hours ran on until the declin. t