The Richmond climax. (Richmond, Ky.) 1897-1914, 1911-11-15

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 little barrel or key, 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 task was utterly beyond
her. Besides there would have be en-
no gain in having the boat afioat. 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
a long look at the boat and with a 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 discovery, for although the let
tiers had been almost obAiterated 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 NansemlOnd of Nor
folk, Virginia. That was the net re-
suit of the hard labors of a long morn
ing. 1t told her something, bat not
much. Assuming that The man with
her was John Revell Chsrnock 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
a Virginian. II identified him, If her
suggestions were correct, and wheth-
er there was warrant for them or not,
instinctively and naturally she con-
cluded that she was correct.
Admitting all this, however, it
gave her no clew from which to build
history. The testimony Of the boat
was interesting. that was all. Her first
thought was to leave it where It 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 on. 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 it
aside for a moment intending to pre-
serve it with the Bible. Heaven
knows what Cream 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. bach.
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.
q 4. 81
sun that It must be noon time They
made their meal on the fruits Of the
island. this time with a rich aud 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,