The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1911-04-18
3.cH+Ia,jpE'T:lERS; XIV.

Lanstord! s !
u. CHAPTER XIV. z st !. !. !.
United. sjslsei,
How awful had been those two years
,npon that island ! They .wolld have
been completely insupportable had Ii
not been for. the.forethought and kind.
ness Of Lang ord The; books were not
such as ste would have chosen. but
they were books, at any rate; and she
knew them by heart. Il Or sthe cloth
that; he had left, she had fashioned fooir
herself such simple, garments IDS we're
suitable to her situation. rejoicing that
she was mo longer compelled to wear
the rough, coarse, ichafng grass tunlcs
OF the yppst.s a. Z
The greatest blessing, however. OF
all that had been LETT to her was the
writing paper, the note books /, and
pencils. They had given her occupa.
ton after all other things had failed
her, for she had written, down the
story Of her llfen Not5Imaglning that
they would ever be seen by human
eyes, she had poured her whole soul
out on the pages Every Incident had
been gone over. Not Rousseau hin.
self had been franler In his Comics.
sions.n but here was only sweetness
md light. She had restricted !, her
writing to a certain number Of mo.
ments daily in order to prolong the
occupation as much as possible, and
she had carefully considered every.
thing ere she put It down. Z sit Ia,
Twice daily she had gone to Tie
heayen-kisslng hill high in the center
OF the island where she had laborious.
3ly builded another pyre for another
beacon. Morning and evening with.
unvarying routine she had scanned the
horizon. this time with an excellent
glass that LangfoTd had left her. Not
ONCE had she sighted, a ship, He never
came; no one ever came. Hope grad.
paliy died away in her heart, q Il 1
One evening she climbed YEARLY to
thei toploit tho thill'landi lisheksiy sweppt
the horizon the bare, vacant, IN.
broken hoHzdn, which sskea Rad stfs
Years shs esias 81 sa| Ea sSs
iagnly., tshess. ithsapbiect
slass tot the telescope Q dark blur.
which she hid never seen before. Her
hand trembled SO that she almost
dropped the glass. She stroye to pick
up that object again and could not do
~ In her nervous agitation. Finally
she LAY down upon the hsll,and rested
! her arms upon a little rise OF, ground,
and thus steadylng the glass, managed
to find it,once more. 1t could be moth.
Ing but the smoke Of a ship: .j St
The sky was without a, cloud; she
could not be deceived. 1t was miles
away. Of course. yetSif the ship was
visible to! her. the. land would be more
visible on account Of Its bulk compare.
lively to those aboard of her. Yet the
ship, Il It were bound on some trading
voyage, would probably pass by.
What should she dog She had sworn
that she would stay on that island,
live and die there. unless be came 10
fetch her, but the longing to see him,
to hear about him. to know what had
become Of him. had grown SO great
that her resolution was trembling in
the balance, and in the smoke OF that
passing ship. 1t vanished into thin air.
She had means of striking D iight
which Langford had Left her, which
methodieally and mechanically she al.
ways brought with her when she
climbed up the crest OF the hill to seek
for a sail. She lifted the matches and
approached the beacon. She remem.
bered how once before she had lighted
that beacon; she remembered how he
had pleaded with her not to do so.
how In doing 1t she had brought the
world upon herewith such terrible con
sequences to her. Should she do It
again? What would happen II she did ?
She laid the matches down and lifted
the glass once more! Yes. the ship
was still there. She was SO far away
indeed that the short time, which had
elapsed would have made no change In
her apparent position. s;
( She looked back to the, westward.
The sun was. setting. There would be
no twilight Darkness would come
swiftly. II shesdid not light that bea.
con the ship would pass in. the night.
II sho didilight It, the darkness would
lend force, and efficiency to- II. No
ship would disregard such q 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 ana
swell out in the still air, paused for q
moment hesitant, touched tho light to |
the infamlhable mass Of dead wood at
the base Of the pile. In one instant
the flames were roaring amid the
larger ttmbers as they had roarad on |
that morning nearly two years ago. |
For one instant she would havo torn |
down the pyre and scattered tho
flame, but 1t was not within her DOW.
or Nothinfr could cfon Tho -