Cheyenne Wells record., 1922-04-27

order, pursued Dy the synulchte. Attet
a chase Of half mile Mr.. Glbney led
his cohorts back to the beach.
Lets build a fire-not that we
need 1t, but Just for cOmpany-and
sleep till mornin'. BY that time my
lima maginationll be In workin' order anu
Ill scheme q breakfast out OF this
Godforsaken hole"
At the first hint Of dawn Mr.. Glib
ney, true to his promise. was up and
scouting for breakfast. He found
some gooneys on a rocky crag ana
killed hnlf dozen Of them with
club. On his way back to camp he
discovered few handfuls Of sea salt
In a crevice between some rocks, anu
the syndicate breakfasted an hour
later on roast gOOney. 1t was oily anu
fishy but an excellent substitute for
nothing ut all. and the syndicate was
grateful. The breakfast would have
been cheerful, In fact, II Captain
Scraggs had not made repeated ref
erence to his excessive thirst. Nc
Guffey lost patience before the meal
was over. and cufied Captain Scraggs,
who thereupOn subsided with tears In
his eyes. This hurt McGuney. 1t was
like salt in fresh wound, SO he pat-
ted the skipper on the back and
huinbly asked his pardon. Captain
Scraggs forgave him and murlnured
something about death making them
ull equal.
"The next business before the syn
tlicate," announced Mr.. GIbney. "is a
search of this island for water"
They searched all forenoon. At In
tervuls they caught glimpses Of the
two cannlbals skulking behind sand.
dunes. but they found no water.
Toward the center Of the island. how
ever, the soil WIS less barren. and
here grove of cOc0nut palms lifted
their tufted crests invitingly.
I'VE will camp In this grove" said
the commodore. ''and keep guard over
these green coconuts. There must be
nearly hundred of them and no.
tice n little tarO root here and there.
As those cOcOnuts nre full Of milk,
that insures us life for n week or two
II we go on short ration. BY bnth-
in several times dny we can keep
down our thirst some and perhaps
it'll rain"
"What II 1t does?" snapped Captain
Scrnggs bitterly. 1--WE amt got moth
in hut our hats to catch 1t in."
swell. then. Scrnggsy. old stick-In-
the mud" replied the commodore
quizzically, ats cinch you'll go
thirsty. Your hat looks like cul-
lender"
Captain Scraggs choked with rnge,
and Mr.. Gibney, springing ut the near
est palm, Skinned to the top of 1t In
the most approved sailor fashion. A
moment Inter. Instead Of coconuts.
rich unctuous curses began to de-
scend on McGufrey and Scraggs.
"Gib. my dear boy" inquired
Scraggs. "whatever is the matter Of
yOu?"
"That hound Tabu-Tabu's been
strlppin' our coconut grove" rOared
the commodore. ale must have spent
half the night Up In these trees"
'Thank the Lord they didn't take
'em all," said McGuffey piously.
"Chuck me down nut. Gib," said
Captain Scraggs. "rm furnished"
In conformity with the commodore's
plans. the castaways made camp In
the grove. For week they subsist-
ed on gO0neys, tarO root, coconuts
and cOconut milk, and sea-turtle
Which Scraggs found wandering on
the beach. This suggested turtle
eggs to Mr.. Gibney, and change of
diet resulted. Nevertheless. the un-
accustomed food. poorly cooked as it
was, and the lack of water, told cru
ely Oh them, and their strength
failed rapidly.
At the end Of week. all hands were
troubled with Indigestion and McGuf-
fey developed low fever. They had
lost much flesh and were a white, hag-
trio. On the afternoon
Of the tenth day on the island the sky
clOuded up and Mr.. McGuffey predict
ed wuliwaw. Captain Scraggs in
quired feebly If it was good to eat.
That night 1t rained, and to the
great joy of the marooned mariners
Mr.. Gibney discovered. in the center of
n big sandstone rock, natural reser-
voir that held about ten gallons Of wa
ter. They drank to repletion and felt
their strength return n thousand-fold.
Tabu-Tabu and the king came into
camp about this time. and pleaded for
a ration of water. Mr.. Gibney. swear
ing horribly at them, granted their re-
quest, and the king. in his gratitude,
threw himself at the commodore's feet
and kissed them. But Mr.. Gibney was
not to be deceived. and after furnish
ing them with supply Of water in
cocOnut calabashes, he ordered them
to their own side of the island.
On the eighteenth day the last drop
Of water was gone, and on the twenty
second day the last of the coconuts
disappeared. The prospects of more
rain were Iot bright. The gooneys were
becoming shy and dlstrustful and the
syndicate was experiencing more and
more difficulty, not only In killing
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