Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1915-12-14
CHAPTER v.
A Radiant Visitor.

| . ,
A Radiant Visitor.
| Though I am not giving authorship
| to this narrative with a view to its ger.
eral perusal, I am determined to sc
| write it that if other eyes do chance
upon it they may, read the true rec
ords of a mans emotions under un
| usual circumstances.
/ shall never be able to coax my
self into. any illusion of heroism in
my adventures, and I shall set down
my most abject,, terrors in equal and
| impartial degree with the few occa'
sions in which the instinct OF. self.
| pres eryation enabled me to rise to
the need and bluff magnificently.
The case of the submarine comman'
der of Nippon was different. He wish.
ed to leave behind him such a mes.
sage as an emperor might read, and,
with exalted, devotion to; hi, object, he
did so. Still, had some !. miracle
| brought his vessel to the surface be
fore the end, who knows but that, il:
the confession of his memory, he
might have acknowledged a very de-
lirium Of terror?
Who knows but that, between the
period of one unfiinching paragraph
and the capital of the next, there may
have been intervals OF ,walloWing In
the trough of physical despair?
At least with me there were many
fears. The night went by, a road Of
nightmare and thirst which led to no
haven of rest. 4,
slept fitfully and in terror and
awoke to feeling Of exhaustion. For
while dreaded to rise and face
the possibilities of a new day. In the
end, 1t was the burning torture OF
thirst that outweighed /. panic and
drove me out in search of water.
held timidly to the shore, distrust-
ing the Jungle and lodging furitively
from rock to rock, with straining eyes
and ears. Climbing among the ragged
boulders which were strewn, like frag-
ments of fallen masonry, at the foot
of the cliff, shortly came upon 2
thread Of clear water, where I lay and
slaked my thirst.
After that came renewed fresh
ness and sudden return of vigor.
could see magnificence in the colors
of sky and sea and mountainside. The
rank yividness OF palm and fern; the
gorgeous profusion of ,funnel-shaped
dracaenas and dozen unknown
flowers became definite to my eyes.
I began also to fell healthful hun
ger, and when, in clambering to the
top Of a steep rock, I frightened q
shrieking. gull from her nest, ! fell
ayidly on the eggs she left behind.
Possibly the pure food commission
would have disapproyed of them. I
did not.
AS the sun climbed, q tepid humid
ity freighted the air, but the trade
wind, riding steadily and freshly.
tempered it and kept wisps of feccy
cloud piled against the upper slopes
Of the mountain. And clouds usually
trailed there, though out to sea the
sky remained unbroken.
The cliff was honeycombed with
small irregular caverns and riffs.
Some were mere hollows, but others
went back into somber recesses, deep
er than l. with no means of lighting
nv steps, cared to explore. For my
dwelling place l selected one that
broadened from a twisted and narrow
fissure TO crude chamber large
enough for VOLTS den, or, at need,
mans refuge. A fern-fringed brook.
let trickled across the opening.
For my dooryard ] had small pls-
teau with a sheer wall of cliff at my
back and as sheer drop at the front.
One must climb to reach the place,
which is an advantage where the ten.
ant may be forced to repel attack aid
may desire to roll stones down upon
the heads of his visitors. Ny first
day brought no incident beyond this
selection of domicil.
The Wastrel must have gone to the
Bottom near by, for incoming tides
from time to time deposited strange,
satirical scraps of flotsam. The sar-
donic humor of the sea Knocked me by
delivering on my beach a tattcred
fragment of old newspaper and ar
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 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 aloud
to myself, and more and more often
| 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