Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1910-04-27
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CHAPTER x,<v.s
United. ,SiS s Y
How awful had been those two years
: upon that island! They would have
= been completely insupportable had 1t
not been for the forethouEkt and kind.
ness of Langford. The books were not;
such as she would have chosen, but
they were books. at any rate, and she,
knew them by heart. OF the cloth
that he had left, she had fashioned for
herself such simple garments as were
suitable to her situation, rejoicing that
she was no longer compelled I'd wear.
the rough. coarse. chatting grass tunics
Of the past. y a
The greatest blessing, however, Of
All that had, been left to her was the
writing paper, the note books. and
pencils. They had given her oScuna-
ton after all other things had failed
her. for she had written down the
story of her life. Not imagining that
they would ever be seen by human
eyes, abe had poured her whole soul,
out on the pages. Every incident had
4 been gone over. Not Rousseau him.
self had been franker in his. s onfesis
sions,N but here was only sweetness
and light; She had restricted her
writing to certain number 81 mo.
\ ments daily in order 10 prolongs the
occupation as much as possible; y ana
she had carefully considered every.
thing ere she put 1t down. n Z I.
Twice daily she hsd gone s.to the
heaven-k kissing hill high niche center
Of the island where she had laborious.
" builded another pyre for another
beacon. Morning and evening with
unyarying routine she had scanned the
horizon, this time with an exceilent
glass that Langford had left her. Not
once had she sighted a ship. ne never
came; no one ever came. Hope grad.
ually died away in heriheart. :.
One evening she climbed, wearily to
the top Of the hill and listlessly swept
the horizon, the bare, vacant; sun-
broken horizon, which she had sur.
veyed morning ana evening ail these
= years. She expected nothing. but sud-
denly there sprang into the object
glass Of the telescope q dark blur
Z which she had never seen before. Her
hand trembledH SO that she almost
dropped the glass. She strove to pick
= up that object again and could not do
It in her nervous agitation. Finally
7 she lay down upon the hill and rested
her arms upon little rise Of ground,
and thus steadying the glass, managed
70 find 1t once more. II could be moth.
ing but the smoke Of a ship!
II The sky was without a cloud; She
could not be- deceived, It was miles
away, Of course, yet IL the ship was
visible to her the land would be more.
visible on account Of It's bulk compara-
lively to those aboard OF her. Yet the
ship, II It were bound on some trading;
voyage, would probably pass by;
What should she do? She had sworn
that she would stay on that island,
live and die there. unless he came to-
fetch her, but the longing to see him,
I to hear about him, to know what had
become Of him.. had growm, so great
that her resolution WAS trembling Ia
the balance, and in the; smoke OF that
passing ship 1t vanished into thin air.
She had means OF striking a light
which Langford had left her, which
method Ideally and mechanically she al
ways brought with her when she
climbed up the crest of the hill to seek
for sail. She lifted the matches and
I approached the beacon; She, remem.
sbered how once before she had lighted
that beacon; she remembered how he
had pleaded with her not to do SO.
how In doing It she had Brought the
world upon her with such terrible com
sequences to her Should she do, It
again? What would happen II she did
She laid the matches down and lifted
I the glass once more. Yes, the ship
WAS still there. She was sd far away
indeed that the short time which had
elapsed would have made no change ii
her apparent position.
She looked back to the westward.
The SUN was setting. There would be
no twilight Darkness would come !.
swiftly. II she did not light that bea-
Z con the ship would pass in the night.
II she did light 1t, the darkness would
lend force and efficiency to ii. No
ship would disregard; such Ia light In
such a quarter. Should she do it?
In one swift moment her resolution
was taken. She dropped the glass.
turned to the box Of matches which
she had boarded for this very purpose,
knelt down, struck one Of them,
watched the blue fame develop and
swell out in the still air, paused for q
moment hesitant, touched the light to
the infiammable mass of dead wood at
the base of the pile. In one instant
the, flames were roaring amid the
larger timbers as. they had roared ON
that morning nearly two years ago.
Bor one instant she would have torn
down the pyre and scattered the
1ame. butt was not within her DOW.
or. Nothing could stop that raging
blaze now.
As the flames cracked up through
ehe wood. roaring and catching. the
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I sun sank and the darkness fell. Her
last act ere the curtain Of night shut
her In had been to AZ her glass upon
Z the faint blur Of smoke. Now she could
see nothing. It was moonless night,
but bright with stars. She moved
away from the fire and sat down as
she had sat before, sheltered by the
peak, to watch the sea. Now that she
had done what she had sworn not to
do. she was eager for the success Of
her attempt. Indeed, she thought that
II yon ship did not see that fire and
did not come to the island and take
her Oh, this time she would really die;
she could not stand another disap-