The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1921-12-02
(Continued From Yesterday

whereupon he picked up a rock and threw it at the king. Mir. Gibney fol- lowed with two rocks, Captain emy. and the enemy fled in wild dis order, pursued by the syndicate. After a chase of half a mile MT. Gibney led his cohorts back to the bench. Let's build a fire not that we need 1t. but just for company = and sleep till morning. By that time my imaginable be in workin' order and I'll scheme a breakfast out of this Godforsaken hole"
 At the first hint of dawn MT. Gib- ney, true to his promise, was up and
 scouting for breakfast. He found some gooneys on a rocky crag and killed half a dozen of them with a club. On his way back to camp he discovered a few handfuls of sea salt in a crevice between some rocks, and
 the syndicate breakfasted an hour | later on roast gooney. It was oily and | fshy but an excellent substitute for | nothing at all, and the syndicate was grateful. The breakfast would have | been cheerful, in fact, if Captain Scraggs had not made repeated ref | erence to his excessive thirst. Me | Guffey lost patience before the meal | was over. and cuIed Captain Scragss, l who thereupon Subsided with tears in l his eyes. This hurt McGuffey. It was 1 like salt in a fresh wound, so he pat | ted the skipper on the back and
 humbly asked his pardon. Captain
 
 something about death making them | all equal.
 .The next business before the syn | dicate" announced MT. Gibney, 'Is a | search of this island for water | They searched all forenoon. At in- ! tervals they caught glimpses of the l two cannfbals skulking behind sand | dunes, but they found no Water. l Toward the center of the island how l ever the soil was less barren, and here a grove of cocoanut palms lifted l their tufted crests fnvitingly- we will camp in this Srove, said | the commodore, "and keep guard over these green cocoanuts. There must be nearly a hundred of them and I mo- tice a little taro rot here and there. AS those cocoanuts are full of milk, that insures us life for a week or two if we go on a short ration. By bath in several times a day we can keep down our thirst some and perhaps it'll rain.''
 ''what if it does?" snapped Captain scraggs bitterly. We ain't got noth- in but our hats to catch it in.''
 the mud" replied the commodore quizzica1ly. Its cinch you'll go thirsty. Your hat looks like a cul lender.'
 Captain Scraggs choked with rage, and MT. Gibney springing at the near est palm, shinned to the top of it in the most approved sailor fashion. A moment later, instead of cocoanuts,
 
 scend on McGuffey and Scraggs.
 ''Gib. my dear boy" incurred your"
 That hound Tabu Tabu's been strippin our cocoanut grove" roared
 the commodore. "He must have spent
 half the night up in these trees" Thank the Lord they didn't take
 'em ali.' said McGuffey piousiy.
 Captain scraggs. I'm famished"
 In conformity with the commo-
 camp in the grove. For a week they subsisted on gooneys- taro root CO., coanuts and cocoanut milk, and a sea
 turtle which scraggs found wandering | on the beach. This suggested turtle eggs to MT. Gibney, and a change of diet resulted. Nevertheless, the un-
 accustomed food. poorly cooked as it | ely on them, and their strength 1 failed rapidly.
 l At the end of a week, all hands were | troubled with indigestion and McGuf- | lost much flesh and were white, | haggard-looking trio. On the after
 noon of the tenth day on the island
 the sky clouded up and MT. McGuffey | predicted a mil1iwaw. Captain
 scraggs inquired feebiy if it was good 1 to eat.
 That night it rained, and to the | great joy to the marooned mariners. l | of big sandstone rock. a natural res | ervoir that held about ten gallons of | water. They drank to repletion and | felt their strength return thousand | fold. Tabu-Tabu and the king came | into camp about this time, and plead- ed for a ration of water. Mir. Gibney, l swearing horribly at them, granted
 their request, and the king, in his l gratitude, threw himself at the com l modore's feet and kissed them. But | MT. Gibney was not to be deceived. | and after furnishing them with a sup ply of water ri cocoaut calabashes. 1 he ordered them to their own side of l the island.
 On the eighteenth day the last drop 1 Of water was gone, and on the twenty
 second day the last of the cocoanuts | disappeared. The prospects of more
 rain were not bright. The gooneys were becoming shy and distrustful and
 the syndicate was experiencing more | and more difficulty, not only in killing | them, but in eating them McGuffey, | who had borne up uncomp1aininsly l was shaking with fever and hardly
 able to stagger down the beach to look for turtle eggs. The syndicate was sick, weak and emaciated almost be- yond recognition. and on the twenty fifth day Captain Scraggs fainted
 Guffey crawled into the shadow of a | stunted nimosa bush and started tc | pray!
 It was the finish. The commodore l knew it, and sat with bowed head 1T
 his gaunt arms, wondering, wondering g Slowly his body began to sway; he
 rnuttered something, slid forward or
 his face, and lay still. And as he lay
 he dreamed that the Maggie II came 1 there on the threshold of the unknown
 into view around the headland. a bone
 in her teeth and every stitch of canvas | flying. He saw her Huff up into the 1 wind and hang there Shivering;
 moment later her sails came dowT
 by the run, and he saw a little splasf