The Delta independent., 1913-04-04
CHAPTER XVIII.


Far out on the Pacific coast there
are two small islands. perhaps hun
dred miles distant from one another.
The first ofe these is uninhabited. On
the other is a little colony of English
speaking people, halfbreed descend
aus of native women and the surr'v-
Only the captains boat reached the
shore. The mates was caught by a
huge breaker, dashed against the reef
and sunk Captain Nat, his second
mate and five of his men were all that
was left of the Sea Mist's company.
And on that island they remained for
nearly two weeks. Provisions they
had brought ashore with them. Wa
ter they found by digging. Nat hid
the gold at night, burying it on the
beach below high-water mark.
Then, having made sure of his To-
cation by consulting the chart, he de,
termined to attempt voyage to the
second island, where he knew the
English colony to be. Provisions were
getting short, and to remain longer
where they were was to risk starva-
( ton and all its horrors. So, in the
/ longboat. which was provided with a
sail, they started. Charts and papers
and the gold the skipper took with
them. None of the crew knew of the
existence of the money; it was Sc
cret which the captain kept to him
self
A hundred miles they sailed in the
longboat and, at last, the second isl
and was sighted. They landed and
found, to their CONSERVATION and sur
prise, that it, too, was uninhabited.
The former residents had grown tired
of their isolation and, a trading YES
sci having touched there, had seized
the opportunity to depart for Tahiti.
Their houses were empty, their cat
tie, sheep, goats, and fowl roamed
wild in the woods, and the fruit was
rotting on the trees. In its way the
little island was an Eveless Eden,
flowing with milk and honey; but to
Captain Nat, a conscientious skipper
with responsibilities to his owners, it
was a prison from which he deter
mined to escape. Then, as if to make
escape impossible. a sudden gale came
up and the longboat was smashed by
the surf
81 guess that settles it," ruefully
observed the second mate, another
Cape Colder, from Hyannis. "Cal'late
we'll stay here for spell now, hey,
Cap'n."
For a spell, yes" replied Nat.
We'll stay here until we get another
craft to set sail in, and no longer"
Another craft? Another one?
t., 81, to
Build her." said Captain Nat cheer
fully. Then, pointing to the row of
empty houses and the little deserted
church, he added. There's timber and
nails-yes, and cloth, such as it's. If
1 can't build boat out of them I'll
agree to eat the whole settlement"
He did not have to eat it, for the
boat was built. 1t took them six
months to build her, and she was a
curious-looking vessel when done, but,
as the skipper said. "She may not be
a clipper, but she'll sail anywhere, if
you give her time enough" He had
been the guiding spirit of the whole
enterprise, planning IT., laying the keel,
burning buildings to obtain nails and
iron, hewing trees for the largest
beams, showing them how to SPIN
ropes from cocoanut fiber improvising
sails from the longboats canvas
pieced out with blankets and odd bits
of cloth from the abandoned houses.
Even strip of carpet from the church
floor went into the making of those
sails.
At last she was done, but Nat was
not satisfied
Il never commanded a ship where
! couldn't hist Yankee colors." he
said, "and. by the everlastin'! / won't
now. We've got to have flag"
So. from an old pair of blue over.
all, white cotton shirt. and the red
hangings on the church pulpit, he made
flag and hoisted 1t to the truck OF
his queer command. They provisioned
her. gave her a liberal supply OF
fresh water, and, one morning, she
passed through the opening of the la.
goon out to the deep blue of the Pa
cific. And. hidden in her captains
stateroom under the head of his bunk,
was the ten thousand dollars gold.
For Nat had sworn to himself, by "the
everlasting" and other oaths. to de
liver that money to his New York
owners safe and, necessary expenses
deducted of course, untouched.
For seven weeks the crazy monde
script stopped across the ocean. Fair
winds helped her and, at last, she
entered the harbor of Nukahiva, over
twelve hundred miles away. And there
"Hammond's luck" the sailors call.
ed twas a United States man-of.
war lying at anchor. the first Ameri.
can vessel to touch at that little
French settlement for five years. The
boat they built was abandoned and
the survivors of the Sea Mist were
falxen on hoard tho rnapnf.war and