Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1921-12-16
COPYRIGHT
THE BOBBS-MER.RILL
COMPANY

under the roof Of the cabin, and l
leaned idly down to watch him through
a warped seam between the planks.
Then I found that was looking, not
at Crusoe, but into a little dim In
closure like locker, In which some
small object family caught the light.
With a revived hope Of finding relics,
l got out my knife-a present from
| Cuthbert Vane-and set briskly to
work widening the seam.
/ penetrated finally into small
locker or cubby-hole, set in the angle
under the roof of the cabin, and, as
subsequent investigation showed, so
placed as to attract no notice from the
casual eye. I ascertained this by
lying down and wriggling my head
and shoulders into the cabin. In 9th.
er words, had happened on little
private depository, in which the own
| er of the sloop might stow away GER
| tain small matters that concerned him
| intimately. Yet the contents of the
| locker at first seemed trifiing. They
| were an Old-fashioned chased silver
| shOe-buckle, and a brown-covered man.
| uscript book.
The book had suffered much from
| dampness, whether of rains or the
wash of the sea. / seated myself on
| the cabin roof, extracted hairpin, and
| began carefully separating the close
| written pages. The first three or four
were quite illegible, the ink having
run. Then the writing became clear
err I made out word here and
there:
| -. directions vague. :. my grand
father-man a ruffian but. :. no mo-
tive. police of Havana. -. .frightful
den. grandfather made sure. :. reg
istry. ). .Bonny Lass. -"
| And at that | gave small excited
Shrek which brought Crusoe to me in
a hurry. What had he to do, the
writer Of this journal, what had he
to do with the Bonny Lass?
Breathlessly 1 read on:
49, thought captain still living but
not sure. lost. /. Benito Bon.
| / closed the book. Now, while the
coast was clear, I must get back to
camp. 1t would take hours, perhaps
days, to decipher the BuN which
had suddenly become sAsuch Rpreme
Importance. / muskn ggle III Unob-
served into my oyH quarters, ere
l could read at lsttspre. AS I set
out I dropped tia sill r shoe-buckle
into my pocket, u to think that
it was I who had Wfscovered the first
bit of precious nHtal on the island.
! Yet the book. In khy hand, / felt in
stinctively, VI M more value than
many shoe-buc#es.
Safely in mNhammock, with pill
/ low under VICE could slip the book
| in case Of HEMption, resumed the
reading. Ff&H bis point on, although
fha writing IVA ssomewhat faded, 1t
Aaaall, witlaa lif Meffort, legible.
| Nj EHMDNRY.
/ II SmAbn did i've to tell his
| secrl fheH any Gay tfere may be a
sail ln%ke Vhng. AMIDST l cannot
find 5it! Nh& If mysfandfather had
beef more W6rldly wise! If he hadn't
been tsvmfef on the eternal welfare
Of the man h$ rescued from the Ha-
7ana taveFn~6rawl to question him
/ about his story. A cave on Leeward
island-nearby a stone marked with
the letters B. III. and cross-bones-
I told the captain said the poor dy-
ing wretch, we wouldn't have no luck
after playing it that low down On BILL
So presume Bill lies under the stone.
swell, all / have Is in this venture.
The old farm paid for the Island
Queen-or will, IL / don't get back In
time to prevent foreclosure. All my
staid New England relatives think me
| mad. A copra gathereri A fine ca
reer for a minister's son! Well, when
1 get home with my Spanish doub-
looms there will be another story to
tell. / won't be poor crazy Peter
then. And Helen--Oh, how often /
wish I had told her everything! 1t
was too much to ask her to trust me
/ blindly as I did But from that mo-
ment came across the story in grand
fathers old, half-forgotten diary-by
the way, the diary habit seems to run
In the family-a very passion Of Sc
crecy has possessed me- If had told
Helen, I should have had to dread
that even In her sweet sleep she
might whisper something to put that
ferret, her stepmother. on the scent.
Oh, Helen, trust me. trust me!
December %. / have calendar
with me, so I am not reduced to notch
| ing stick to keep track Of the days.
/ mark off each carefully In the cal
endar. If were to forget to do this,
even for a day or two, believe
should quite lose track. The days are
SO terribly alikef
"My predecessor here In the copra-
gathering business, old Heintz, really
left me very snug establishment. 1t
was odd that should have run across
him at Panama that way.
Christmas Day. I wonder what
4 tbov aro oil dofpO of houo2