The north Mississippi herald., 1920-06-18

or all tnat was OF use to me-
There was much to be done ;e wore
to secure my existence I'm this strange
island. The needful things / did as
best I could in turn. hut not ALWAYS
with good fortune attending my efforts
In my first planting of barley and corn
seed, the half of all my precious stock
was wasted by reason of being planted
in the very wrong time. 1 spent weary
months in making earth-ware pots for
holding fresh water; and fortv-two
days it took me to hew nv first long
plank from tree trunk 1 stroye
for weeks to fashion a stone mortar
to stamp grain in, only to come at
last to a block Of hollowed-out wood.
Five months l 'abored in Telling n
great cedar tree, hewing and shaping
it to the hull of splendid boat with
which I was to escape from the island
only to be forced to abandon ii for
want of means whereby to launch it
into the sea. However, every failure
taught me something 1 had not known
before
For the elements, there were great
winds and rains and earthquakes. But
l became used In time to all things. I
planted and harvested my crops of
| barley and corn; I plucked my wild
grapes and dried them into nourishlng
raisins I raised and killed and smoked
and salted my tame goats, being thus
for variety of good not so badly served
And so through the twelve years dur
! Gil -
existence on the island other than my
own, until that eventful day on which
met with the print of mans naked
! foot on the sand.
/ was then like one thunderstruck.
I listened, looked, but l could hear
nothing. see nothing I went up the
shore, down the shore; but there was
only that single footprint! Terrified
to the last degree, I ran to my habi-
tation like one pursued; and for three
days and nights thereafter Z did not
stir out.
After observation I learned that 1t
was the habit of cannibals from the
mainland to come to a pact of the
| island which I seldom visited to feast
|
| enemies. One morning from my look
out I perceived thirty savagns dancing
around a fire. They had cooked one
victim I'd had two more ready for the
! fire when descended upon them with
two loaded muskets and my great
sword and was in time to save one
which they had not yet eaten. The
saved man I called Friday, in honor
of the day of his rescue. and his was
the first voice l heard in all my %
wears on the island He was young
| intelligent, of n superior race of say
ages and became my trusted compan-
/ ion for all the time I remained on the
island.
What Friday told me of the main
land, after I had taught him some
English, decided me to leave my island.
We built a boat, this time, not too far
from the sen for launching. andnNare !!
almost ready to set sail when 2f say
ages in three canoes landed on the
island with three prisoners for a feast.
One of the prisoners was white man,
which enraged me. l dOuhle-charged
two fowling pieces, four muskets two
pistols. and giving Friday hatchet
and also a great dram of rum and
myself my great sword, we descended
and killed all but four Of the savages.
| One of the prisoners was Fridays
father The white man was Spaniard
a survivor from ship of which ! had
seen the wrecked hull on my island
some years before this, and from which !
had taken some 1900 pieces of gold. |
but of which | made small account |
| because of its being of less value to
me than so much sand of the beach.
The Spaniard and Fridays father
sent with firearms and food in my |
new boat to bring back the wrecked |
crew of the Spanish ship. While wait
ing for their return an English ship |
with mutinOus crew put into my |
island. I helped the captain recover |
his ship and took passage with him
for England, leaving on the island the |
most mutinouS members with two |
honest ones who wished also to re-
main. Later, my Spaniards returned |
and all settled together on the island. |
having their dsSenslOns at first but |
settling down finally into fiourishing |
colony, which some years later 1t was |
my happiness to visit.
After twenty-eight years, two months |
and nineteen days I left my island. |
anticipated much JOY of my arrival In |
England, but ! was like a stranger |
there. My mother and father we're
both dead which was unfortunate, as |
| could have been of great service to |
them: for besides the 1900 pieces Of |
gold from the Spanish ship, there was
10000 pounds sterling awaiting me
from an honest friend a Portuguese
captain to whom I had entrusted my |
estate in the Brazils before setting
forth on the Inflated errand which |
threw me for twenty-eight years on
my island. SO pleased was | with his
honesty that I settled 100 moidures
q i,