The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1914-11-05

we stood at the rail together. Man
after man was washed overheard be
fore our very eyes.
1T is my duty. he said, to throw
you into the sea. Look! There is a
spar. It will support but one person
You must be the person whom thai
spar may save. FAREWELL
with a look of mortal anguish my
Acknowledgements, and having nc
thought but to save me-hurled me
into the sea-fung me directly by the
spar so that l Immediately seized it
and chung to it.
"A wave carried me at once away
from the side of the vessel-and then.
oh the horror Of it'll saw the ship
disappear in the seDand my father,
of course, went down with it."
"You will hardly believe me-unless
you are acquainted with these tropical
seas-when l tell you that the gale
the hurricane-died away almost as
suddenly as it had come. and I found
myself floating on a quiet seattle
water becoming quickly as tranquil as
lake.
"But how long could I hold on to
that spar, how long survive without
water or food, l wondered. man
aged to get astride of the spar-and
for the first time now looked toward
the horizon. And there-surely what
l saw was land. Yes, the reef which
tho ship had struck was off the coast
of this region from which we are now
trying to escape-not half a mile from
the shore.
making desperate efforts-the best
l knew howl propelled that spar
through the water, slowly, but yet
surely, toward the shore, and toward
nightfall l was within sight of the ma
tlves on the beach. They swan out
to me and brought me to the shore
of the land wherein l was to know so
much suffering.
They carried me Immediately to a
hut at the edge of the little fishing
village. l heard them saying, on the
way:
60 For there lives the senior from
America-the only Americana here.
And this senorita says she is an Amer
icano. So she will be safe with the
aged senor.'
The aged senior proved to be none
other than the old mailman whom you
now know as Senior Ell Toro. With
him lived the same negro, whom you
know as Chacha-as the old mans
servant. The fisherwomen Of the vii
lage put me to bed in the old mans
nut and left me. The old man was
very kind to me, for at that time he
positively was not mad. Neither was
his servant, Chacha For two weeks
the old man nursed me and Chacha
waited on me hand and foot-tiu I
recovered my health and was once
more as strong as ever in my life.
1T was then that said to the old
man: 'Senor could you help me to get
back to my country-to the States?
The United States!' he said, speak
ing in tone of horror Why should
anybody wish to go to the United
States-land of trouble and SORROW
He was in the incipient stage of
madness then-but 1 did not know it,
He told me of his life. It seems that
ne loved his daughter more than life
her to the exclusion of all
else IN the world. He was at that
time naturalist employed in an i'm
portant position by the museum of
natural history. And one night when
he returned home from his work he
found the daughter gone-gone, she
said not where. She had left a note
saying that she had gone away with
certain man whom she loved. And
from that day forth the old man never
again heard from the runaway daueh-
ter.
The blow dealt by that heartless
daughter so distracted the old man
that he felt that he might 20 insane
from grief. He accordingly packed up.
Withdrew his savings from the bank
all In golu pieces and took a shin for
Central America.
He arrived at the little fishing set
Llement On the coast, of which I have
aIeaoy told you. There he engaged
Chacha as his servant and settled
aoWn to the quiet, uneventful life
practically of beachcomber-but a
Deachcomber with money. For the old
man had much gold-gold which he
kept buried and of which he never
spoke to human being.
For years he lived in that village
gathering specimens found in the ad
accent forest. All these specimens
consisted Of skulls and bones of wild
and of birds which he found
lead and which, using his skill as a
taxldermist, he would stuff and mount
ana 1t was amid these specimens in
lis hut, with his servant Chacha. that
came TO nina castaway.
"A few days after that on which T !
asked him to help me to get back to
he States he suddenly said to me- in
/ half-wild way:
You look exactly like my daugh-
-er. At least you resemble her so
thoroughly that you could pass for her
gu are not my daughter, are your
This wild speech frightened me.
but only vaguely. I did not compre- |
lend that madness was even then
creeping upon him.
NO. l said, I am not your daugh- |
'er. When can you help me to get
'ack to my own country?'
watt! he said. You must watt
irrhk