Mexico Missouri message. (Mexico, Audrain County, Mo.) 1899-1918, 1910-07-14


bored silently and vigorously. He
him to 1t, feat vastly greater than
she realized, until the interior OF the
boat, which was a small ships boat,
dinghy, had been entirely cleared
out. She had watched carefully every
spadefui OF sand which had been tossed
over the buried gunwales and now
she searched eagerly the boat itself.
Her inspection revealed nothing.
There were lockers at either end.
These she opened, finding nothing
therein but Wondering remains of
cloth, bags of some sort which she
surmised might have contained ships
bread, and a little barrel or keg, which
had probably carried water for the
vOyagers.
The boat appeared to be In an ex.
cellent state of preservation. There
were even a pair of oars lying on the
thwarts If she could have dug it out
Of the sand entirely, she fancied she
could have launched it and used it.
But such a task was utterly beyond
her. Besides there would have been
no gain in having the boat afloat. She
would not dare to take 1t 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
a 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 elaboration essayed
the stern of the boat.
1t was not so hard to shovel the
sand away from it and here she did
make a discovery, for although the let
tiers 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
Stunning that he had come to the island
in the past on that boat, it indicated
that he was at least an American and
| Virginian. 1t identified him, if her
| c,,nnnuitinno NJ xEho h
er there was warrant for them or not
instinctively and naturally she con-
cluded that she was correct.
Admitting all this, however, 1t
gave her no clew from which to build a
history. The testimony of the boat
was interesting, that was all. Her first
thought was to leave it where 1t was,
but 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
stern piece until she broke it of. She
saw now that the boat must have lain
there in the sand for many years, for
the wood was brittle and the fasten-
ings largely destroyed, for the stern
piece came easily away. She laid 1t
aside for a moment intending to pre-
serve it with the Bible. Heaven
knows what dream of future useful
ness in the way of evidence establish
ing identity these might be, entered
her mind.
Then she threw herself down under
the trees and rested. She had left
her watch, her precious watch, back
in the cave with the book. She did
not dare to carry it around with her.
She had no way of carrying it in the
thin, single garment which she wore,
but she judged from the height of the
sun that it must be noon time. They
made their meal off the fruits of the
island, this time with rich and juicy
cocoanut added, which the man got for
her at her suggestion in the sign Ian
guage at which she was becoming ex-
pert, by climbing with wonderful agil-
ity, ape-like agility almost, one of the
tall cocoanut palms with which the
island abounded. There were fruits
of various sorts in great plenty on the
island and she was becoming accus'
toned to the diet by degrees.
She passed the noon hour in trying
to add to the mental equipment Of her
companion. He could say a number
of words now and had some idea OF
their meaning, although he had not
yet attempted to frame sentences nor
had she yet tried to teach him so to
do 1t was pleasant under the shade
of the trees. She found herself mar
Yelling at times as to the contentment
that possessed her, a product Of the
age suddenly plunged into the Eden
like existence which her forebears
might have enjoyed ten thousand
years before.
The hours ran on until the declin
ing sun and the GOODNESS that came
with the late afternoon warned heI
that if she were to continue her ex
|, plorations she must be about it i'm