Jackson County journal. (Sylva, N.C.) 19??-19??, 1913-11-21
By CYRUS TOWNSEND BRADY
Copyright. 1912. by Cyrus Townsend Brady

how to steer. Fortunately the wlnu
held steady. laid her course so
as to clear the northeast end of the
island. around which | intended to
swing so as to be hidden from the
ship at daybreak.
told her after awhile that she was
safe. No sound had come from the
ship and the lights in the cabin which
at first we could see dimly presently
disappeared Our escape had not been
discovered. suggested at last that
she should go to sleep. l arranged the
boat cloak and blankets and although
she had to be much persuaded l finally
prevailed upon her to lie down in the
boat. her head by my knees. and thus
we sailed on through the night.
When day broke | hauled aft the
sheet and headed the boat to the south
ward for l had now crossed the head
of the island and could run down the
other side. BY the time it was fairly
dawn l had made enough southing to
place the north end of the island be-
tween ourselves and the ship. l steer
! ed the boat toward the land.
MY hopes were high and felt kind
of exhilaratiOn at our escape. although
] was by no means inclined to mini
mize the possibilities of peril we might
soon be compelled to meet. The island
/ was our destination. however, and for
| it therefore l determinedly headed my
small craft with it's precious and still
: peacefully sleeping cargo.
| The island was unlike any had ever
! looked upon. In the first place. like
most Pacific islands. it was inclosed
by barrier reef, over which the
waves broke in whitecaps as far as |
could see. / supposed that somewhere
there would be an opening in the reef
through which we could sail. That
was invariably the case with all such
islands that | had ever known or read
about But l could not see the open
ing from the boat yet. The lagoon en-
closed by the barrier reef seemed to be
q quarter or half mile wide.
The strangest part of the whole
scene was that the island itself looked
like whitish gray wall rising straight
up from the lagoon for, suppose, from
$50 feet in the lowest part to 300 fee
or more without break. Its top was
covered with greenery. 1t stood ny
like a solid rampant of stone. From
where we were l couldn't see the enc
of the island, although from my inspec
ton of it the day before l judged i
might be six or eight miles long. AM
as I had sailed past it l estimated l
was about the same breadth and near
" circular in shape.
A long distance away on the othe
side and hard to be seen at all from
the level of the sea in the small boa
Low other islands, family outlined OF
the far horizon.
I suppose I must have thrashe
: about somewhat when l brought tn
dingy to the wind and changed he
course. for presently my little mistres
awoke. She sat up instantly. and afte
the briefest acknowledgment of N.
good morning and the briefest repl.
to my inquiry as to how she did sh
stared at the land toward which W
y we're edging in SO far as the VIM
vould allow. 1t was d bleak. inhos
pitab looking place. that gray. roug
S wall. in spite of it's infrequent crust
ing of verdure. will admit, and she
y roo fonnd it so. After she had stare
hard at the land she cast an anxiou