Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1913-08-11
THE
CASTAWAY
By SUSAN YOUNG PORTER

cried the lookout.
was first officer Of the Helen Drew
and on duty. With my glass l swept
the waters as indicated and brought
within the field of view a ships boat.
now raised high ON the crest of a wave
and now sinking low in the trough.
Whenever it was inclined sidewise to-
ward me | could see lying motiOnless
on the bottom the body of a woman.
| gave an order to put the ships bow
toward 1t and when within reasona-
BILE distance sent boat out for it and
its contents.
On its return ordered the boat rails
ed to the main deck, and the body was
Immediately lifted out. 1t was that of
young girl not more than seventeen
years old. The ships doctor at once
made an examination to determine IL
she were dead and reported signs of
life. She was removed to a cabin and
by the united efforts of the doctor and
the stewardess was restored to con-
sciousness.
When she seemed sufficiently recov-
cred to be questioned she was asked
how she came to be in an open boat at
I sea. but could remember nothing about
her lonely voyage or any of her past
| life.
made a personal examination Of
the boat in which she had come to us
in order to identify the ship. to which
1t had belonged. 1t was an old >one
and had either not been painted for
some time or had been so weather beat
en- that the paint was very much worn.
The stern had been jammed against
something, and but few Of the letters
Of the name were legible. This was
many years ago, before it became the
universal custom to paint the ships
name on both sides of the stem Of the
boat | could make out the first.
fourth and eighth letters. The other
FIVE were either partially or entirely
obliterated Those l could read were
N 7 s.. I think that II I had been
familiar with the names of marine ami
mails l might have hit upon the name.
We had started from Boston on
cruise around the world, taking in the
Cape Of Good Hope, Japan. the Ha-
waiian Islands. San Francisco and 9TH
er American ports. We picked up the
girl after having left the cape, and
since we were approaching countries
which were then barbarous there was
nothing to do but keep her with US. In
couple of weeks she had recovered
her health. but not her memory.
Being nearer her age than any other
Of the officers. | became more compan-
ionable with her There were only two
clews by which her identity might be
estabished-the three letters on the
stern of the boat in which she had
been picked up and two letters on her
underclothing The boat had been
abundantly provisioned. and the girl
had been well supplied with wraps
From these facts argued that after
an accident. collision, fire or other dis
aster she had been put in the boat
with number of others She was not
likely to have been turned adrift alone.
and the supply of provisions had origi-
nally been sufficient for 6 number of
persons. This feature of the problem
has never been solved My theory is
that some person or persons who had
the girl In charge, in order that she
might have all the provisions, after a
certain date committed suicide by
jumping overheard. Possibly such an
act might have been the result of de-
lirium.
1t Is to be supposed that a young
man Of twenty-three making voyage
around the world with a girl of seven
teen would fall in love with her Such
was the case with me, and the poor girl
was glad to have some one to lean upon
in her lonely condition. 1 told her that
she need not fear for anything since
she belonged to me. At the end of our
voyage we would do all in our power
by the result.
We spent hours together working
over the letters on the stern of the boat
in which she had drifted. The captain
had dictionary among his books, and
we undertook to make a check against
every noun beginning with N Having
the relative position of all the letters
was great advantage. and having the
first letter was even greater help.
We found number of words of eight
letters beginning with N. but the one
that fitted the conditions exactly was
Nautilus. and 1t was the only one that
was proper word for the name of a
ship. 1t must be remembered that
ships have often been named for a per-
son, and these names are not to be
found in a dictionary. However, we
believed that Nautilus was the name
of the ship In question, and we would
learn of such ship on reaching our
home port
We were not disappointed. The ship
Nautilus of Providence, r.. l., had sail
ed from there and had never been
heard Of afterward. took the cast
away to that city to learn that her ia
ther had been a sea captain. and, his
daughter Alice being in poor health. he
had taken her on a voyage with him.
Since she was the only person saved