Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1915-07-08

bottom near by, for incoming tides
from time to time deposited strange,
satirical scraps of fiotsam. The sar-
donic humor of the sea Knocked mo by
delivering on my beach tattcred
fragment of old newspaper and an
empty biscuit tin. There came also
bits of cordage and light timbers, but
as the hours heightened to days /
gave up all hope that Mansfield might
be saved by a late miracle, and that
we might be reunited.
1t was two days later that disccv-
cred some bulky thing lodged, as my
raft had been, upon the nearby rocks.
The two days had told upon me. My
pajamas were in ribbons; my canvas
shoes torn, and my flesh bruised. My
feet, too, were cut and blistered and
my hands raw.
had already tired of talking al,ud
to myself, and more and more often
l caught myself turning with a sudden
start to peer apprehensively at the
fringe of the forest. To my growing
morbidness it seemed that over the
beauty of the place hung an impalpa-
BILE but certain curse.
| waded out eagerly to the fresh bit
Of salvage and found a seaman's chest
with quantity knotted handles of
tarred rope. It was of stout work
manship, and its heavy locks and
hinges had endured without injury
the buffeting of tho sea. The name
of ]. H. Lawrence, the youth who had
signed as second mate, was still leAt
BILE upon one end.
Laboriously enou~N, I dragged 1t In,
halting often to pant and wipe the
sweat out of my eyes with my fore
arm.
The sun was sinking over the shoul-
der of the mountain when at last ar
rived, exhausted. but still tugging at
my prize, upon the plateau of my cli1
apartment. l lay long while, my
heart pounding with exertion. before
I was equal to the task of attacking
its lock with a stone and my sheath
knife; and after that. it was some mo-
ments before the lock yielded and
raised the heavy lid.
First there met my eyes a scattered
collection of souvenir postcards,
ficiently preserved to awaken clam
or of protest and longing There were
tantilizing pictures of the Cafe de
Paris, and Trafalgar Square, and the
bund at Hong-Kong. I!ere were the
details of the life at which I had raj
lied, and now I knew 1 would have
sold my soul to be hack again at the
center of it.
Young Mr.. Lawrence must haze
been a confirmed souvenir buyer. ]
could trace his odyssey by trivial
things he had picked up here and
there. Two curved daggers with tur-
quoise settings in the hilt had come
from the bazaars OF Damascus or Je-
rusalen. A copper incense burner
with package of scented tapers had
been brought from Toxic or Naga5a-
XII. Equally useless things filled pack
age after package.
might burn perfumed sticks and
look at souvenir cards and play with
curved daggers, bitterly told myself,
but no mission-chest piously QUILTED
at home ever carried to the remote
heather a more useless assortment of
unnecessaries than this one brought
to me.
There was not shirt nor an article
OF utility IN sight. i, seeking raiment
to cover my nakedness, found trink-
cts as useful as doll babies 10 a prize
fighter. At last, however, l came up
on two packages carefully wrapped in
sail cloth. So pairstaking and Sc
cure had been their packing that
when l took off the first covering and
the second, ! found that the contents
had suffered no wetling.
The first bundle contained the vio-
lin which had incensed the captain
and several packages of extra strings.
AS l took it out, l seemed to hear
again the plaintive, wordless song of
tragedy that it had sung when last
heard its more than human voice.
l laid it down reverently, for it seem.
ed part of the dead mans soul
something intimate and wonderful
| which had outclassed his mortality
In the second package was some
thing wrapped in tissue paper ard
very soft to the touch. l opened it
and spread out on the sand a gor-
geously wrought mandarin kimono.
It's silk was of the heaviest and
richest quality, and its design famed
with the unstinted opulence Of Chi
nese embroidery. On tho flowing
sleeves and bordered panels were
storks of blue and silver flying among
poppylike flowers of crimson and pur-
| pie. There were also delicat ely
worked streams and reeds aud moons
all tangled up with ranting dragons
of gold, gazing fiercely out fIom eyes
of inset jade-gold thread, silver
/ oil