The Penn's Grove record., 1921-01-21

1est l could In turn, but 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. / spent weary
months in making earth-ware pots for
holding fresh water; n fOrty-two
lays 1t took me to hew my first long
plank from q tree trunk. l stroVe
for weeks to fashion a stone mortar
to stamp grain in, only to come a
last to a block of hOllowed-out wood.
Five months l labOred in Telling a
great cedar tree. hewing and shapin"
t to the hull of a splendid boat witt
which l was to escape from the island
only to be forced to abandon 1t for
want of a means whereby to launch /.
nto the sea. However, every failure
.aught me something l had not known
before.
For the elements, there were great
winds and rains and earthquakes. Blu
II became used in time to all things. J
planted and harvested my crops o.
barley and corn; I plucked my wIlG
grapes and dried them into nourlshln@
.aisins: I raised and killed and smoked
ind sailed my tame goats. being thu
for variety of good not so badly served.
And so through the twelve years dur
ng which | saw no sign of human
existence on the island other than m
own, until that eventful day on which
[ met with the print of a mans naked
foot on the sand.
I was then like one thunderStruc'I
il listened, l looked. but | could hear
nothing, see nothing. | went IN the
shore, down the shore: but there was
only that single footprint! Terrhec
% the last degree. l ran to my habl-
ltation like one pursued and for thra9
laws and nights thereafter | did not
stir out.
After observation I learned that il
was the habit of cannibals from the
mainland to come to a part of the
sland which I seldom visited to feast
upon the bodies of their capture
enemies. One morning from my look
but I perceived thirty savages dancin"
around a fire. They had cooked one
victim { I'd had two more ready for III
ire. when I descended upon them VII
.uo loaded muskets and my grPa
sword, ana wae in time to say on
which they had not Vet eaten. The
saved man I called Friday, in homo
If the day Of his rescue. and his WI
he first voice I heard in AL ny >
years on the island. He was YoHn@
intelligent. of 4 superior race Of sar
ages and became my trusted coElgan
on for all the tlme I remained on she
Stand.
What Friday told me of the nan
land. after J he'd taught him som
We built ii baar. Ibis time not too frs
from the sen far #tmaLin@. and WEI
almost ready to set sail when y s."
7ges in three "rnnes landed en- th
island with thrna prisoners for q feast
One eff me mi apars WIS Fl WHITE ma
which eur ee9 f.a. T aaHtle-ctars,a6
two fowIin~ u'ee.~ .anr musEes tsEa
pistols and g'efus Er.zaE - hare7
and also . r~aar 7r1n Of ru@ ana
myself my gr."r ~v aei. we 4 seen ."+
md Killed IN UHr rn#r ef fhe sa#aE
Ono of the prisoners was Tr'7ar'
father. Tine #'-.- r.1n was %- ia"
r. SURVIVOR ..... . shin eff vI..'. p fa'
fla -... r-fI oa r~ fH1au'
zeme vaava enI FROM .,'.'
T haa tales s -a9 alee.s IF GELD
I'm. Of F-h'ra 7 r-a2e small aca9HT
because of it's o'tr of less value t.
ME than so m0nn ss1d Of tha beach
The Snaoiar1 alG Fridays father T
with firearms AID food in my
boat to bring hack the wrecked
crew Of the Spanish ship. While wait
ing for their return an English ship
with a mutinoUs crew put into my
I helped the captain recover
ship and took passage with him
or England. leaving on the island the
most mutilOuS members with two
honest ones who wished also to re
main. Later, my Spaniards returned
end all settled together on the island.
having their dissensions at first. hut
down finally into a flOurishin"
which some years later it 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 I was like a stranger
there. My mother and father were
10th dead, which was unfortunate, as
I could have been of great service to
them: for besides the 1000 pieces of
gold from the Spanish ship. there was
10000 pounds sterling awaiting ME
from an honest friend. a Portuguese
to whom I had entrusted my
in the BrazilS before setting
forth on the Inflated errand which
threw me for twenty-eight years On
my island. SO pleased was I with HE
honesty that l settled 100 moidures a
year on him and fifty moidures IA yea"
on his son, both for lie.
I married and begot three children
and except for the n voyage to the
old island. OF Which I have spoken. ]
rOamed no more. So here am. havin"
lived a life OF infinite variety for %
years. blessed with more than | de