Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1915-07-15

illusively beautiful. None could bc
more fitted for tribute to as impal-
pable love as that which acisnowl-
edged now. 1t became a part of nv
daily program to bring back with me
as l returned to the cave masses of
these splendid blossoms, which l
heaped before her shrine.
There was zestful pleasure in Sc.
curing them inasmuch as they be-
longed to the jungle, and had never
penetrated the jungle in less i'm.
perative cause than this.
All this did not, of course, happen
at once. l had reached the age of
thirty-five, and had heretofore been
immune to feminine fascinations.
had even been characterized as wo-
man-hater, though this was an lnjus-
tice. The obsession, the bewitching
whatever you may chose to term it.,
was not momentary.
In defense of my consistency I de.
clare that the thing required two
weeks at least for it's accomplishment.
And in those two weeks other affairs
were developing.
had been afraid to light fires lest
the advertising signal of smoke
should attract dangerous visitors, and
yet the slender possibility Of rescue
from the sea depended on the setting
up of as many distress signals as pos.
sible. This island was evidently set
down on no map, and known to no
navigator. If any white man before
myself had ever set his foot upon It,,
he left no trace of his coming or go
ing. There was no rib of wreck at
any point to indicate that my fate had
been shared. No skull or bone blazed
prior trail of death. Mine promised
to be the first.
or course. had been told, as has
every traveller in the South Seas, that
there is not an atoll or island left for
discovery. l had been informed that
on every coral speck in the reef
strewn ocean, there is, or has been,
a white man.
knew now that this was a fallacy.
Ny island was marked by volcano
tall enough to proclaim itself as far
as glass could sweep the horizon,
and if no pearl-shell or bechc-de-mer
trader, no blackbirder of the old days.
no wind-swept vessel of the present
had heretofore sighted that peak, it
must lie too far off the course of
rambling traffic to hope for q TIsit
now.
knew that we had dropped down
world for days before the wreck, and
had heard grumbling, because Of the
mysterious course being steered.
was the first-comer-and yet the
faint and struggling instinct of Lope
led me to the determination to set
up tattered flag or two OF sail cloth.
AS to the nature of my neighbors,
my first discovery came in a fash.
ion so gruesome that it robbed me for
several nights of sleep, ana set up in
my brain a nightmare which lowered
loathsomely over me when l was
awake.
The white ribbon of beach extend
ed for mile along the edge of the
island and dwindled out of sight
around the shoulder of bluff. From
my own aerie in the rocks the coast
line went away in a succession of
broken and porous cliffs which had
explored for a distance of perhaps
two miles. That two miles held all
l had learned of the island-except
that it was clearly large one. What
the interior had behind It's curtain of
palm, and moss, and cane-back in
the impenetrable jungle-belonged 20
the mystery Of an unopened book.
did know also that, off to the left
as one faced the sea, separated from
Inc by four or five miles of precipi-
tous coast line, loomed headland
from which a flag waved by day would
be observable-if ever a vessel came
across the shoulder of the world To
reach the point and return would be
days journey, for the path must
take led over trail more suited to
mountain goat than man who had
until lately been civilized.
must go cautiously. making myself
as inconspicuous as possible.
One morning set out carrying.
tightly wrapped, one Of. the pieces of
sail cloth which had come out of the
mates chest. My resolution to set
my flag flying had filled me with a
sort Of specious exaltation.
The venomous beauty Of the place
was beyond description, and in mea-
sure yielded to its lure and walked
almost buoYantly. The sea. to lts sky