Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1910-04-28

not be free. She could always secure
a few moments respite from his pres
ence, at least she had done so hereto
fore, but she did not dare to try how
he would sustain longer absences,
hence the necessity for establishing
herself in the cave as a harbor of ref
uge, a sanctuary.
At first glance there was nothing
within the little apartment, washed
out ages ago from the hard stone by
what action of water she could well
imagine, but as she scrutinized it
closely she noticed in a recess a part
where the rock wall cropped out in a
sort of low shelf. On the shelf-won-
der of wonders!-lay a book. Next to
humanity, a book, she thought, would
be the most precious sharer of her
solitude.
1t was a small, leather-bound vol
ume. Dust in the form of tiny par
ticles of sand lay thick upon it. The
cave was sheltered from the prevailing
winds else it might have been buried,
/ Dut unuCl luC circumstances ~ hi6he
have lain there for ages and in that
dry, pure air have suffered no deterio-
ration or decay.
Crusoe was petrifed when he saw
the footprint in the sand. The woman
was not less startled or less amazed
when she saw the book on the rock.
With a little cry of delight she stepped
toward it, bent down, lifted it up,
handling it carefully in spite Of ner-
vous exultation, shook the dust from
it, and opened it. She instantly let it
fall from her hands with a look of dis
appointment and disgust. One glance
was enough. The book was the Bible.
She had no interest in the Bible, a col
lection of ancient genealogies and
time-worn fables, myths for the credu-
lous and impossible lengends, mixed
up with poetry whose inspiration was
trivial and history whose details were
false. For this woman, who had for
gotten how to pray and who had abol-
ished God, had little use for the Book
of Books. Rather any other printed
page, she had thought bitterly, than
that one.
/, She had acted upon impulse, not in
her disdain for the Bible and that for
which it stood-that was grounded
upon reason and philosophy, she fond
ly b~elieved-but in her action in cast
ing it from her. 1t had no more thar
rolled upon the sand at her feet when
: with swift reconsideration, she STOPPED
:. and lifted it again. 1t had occurred tc
her that there might be writing there
in and that the writing might give hel
a. clew to the mystery Of the man. She
knew that births and deaths were fire
uuently entered upon the blank leaves
interposed between the Old and New
Testaments. Unfamiliar though sht
was with the contents of the book
4 she easily found the place and eagerl!
looked at the leaves. Alas, they were
blank. She turned to the fly leaves
at the beginning of the book. Their,
! was a name written there and in
| woman's hand.
John Revell Charnock," she read
A Below was a date rs years befor
the moment of her landing.
John Revell Charnock. 1t was
J strange name, English in part, with
I suggestion of France in the middl
name. 1t meant nothing to her. Wa
: this John Revell Charnock who stoo
outside looking at her? If So, who wa
John Revell Charnock? The probler
was not greatly elucidated. There wa
no evidence that the book belonged t
the man or the man to the book, @
even that the one appertained remote
ly to the other. There was a certal
likelihood, however, that they ha
' come to the island together.
She had been sure that the man wa
\ a white man. She had thought tht
he looked like an American, an EN-
4 lishman, an Anglo-Saxon, and til
longer she looked at him with til
Bible in her hand the more sure 81
became.
She had been disappointed that tn
book had turned out to be the Bib
but at least it would serve one usef1
\ purpose. By it, without the laboriol
effort involved in making lettel
upon the sand, she might teach tt
man before her to read. She wishe
she had a worthier volume from hi
/, point of view through which to intr
duce him to the worlds literatur
but she would do the best she cou
with that. 1t was pitiful, as she sa
it, that with a nascent soul to VOL
with, she should be compelled to e