Belt Valley times. [volume] (Armington, Mont.) 1894-1977, 1922-02-09
CHAPTER V.
The Captains Legacy.

When in my tender years | was
taken to the matinee, usually the most
thrilling feature OF the spectacle to
me was the scene depicted on the
drop-curtaln. Directly | was seated
in the body-and had had my hat
taken on and been told not to wrig-
gle. | vaulted aIrily over the uncon-
scious audience. over an orchestra en-
gagged In tuning up. and was lost ii
the marvellous landscape OF the drop
curtain. The adventures which | had
there pnf-I 10 shame any which the
raising Of the curtain permitted TO
DE seen upon the stage.
had never hoped TO recover In this
prosaic world my long-lost paradise
OF the drop-curtain. but morning re-
veaied II TO me here on Leeward
island. Here was the feathery foil
age. the gushing springs. the gor-
geous flowers OF that enchanted land.
And here were the soft and intoxlcat-
Ing perfumes that / had imagined In
my curtain landscape.
Leeward island measures roughly
four miles across from east to west
by three from north to south. The
core of the island is the peak, rising
TO a height of nearly three thousand
feet. At its base on three sides lies
a plateau, Its edges gnawed away by
the sea to the underlying rocky skele-
On the southeastern quarter the
peak drops by a series of great preci-
pieces straight into the sea.
All the plateau and much OF the
peak are clothed with woods. a beau
tiful bright greer against the sap
phire Of sea and sky, High above all
ntheF growth wave the feathery tops
Of the co~coa-palms. which flourish here
Iuxuriantly.
The palms were nowhere nor
where our camp was made, and
size and the regularity of their
spoke OF cultivation. Guavas.
oranges and lemons grew here, too,
and many beautiful b~anana-palms.
At the side OF the clearing toward
the stream stood a hut. built of c
palm logs. It's roof of. palm-thatch
had been scattered by storms. Near
IT the stream on a bench were an old
1ecaying washtub and a board. A
frying-pan and a rusty ak
head lay in the grass.
In the hut Itself were q rude bed
stead, a small table and "A cupboard
made OF boxes. / was excited at first.
md fancied we had come upon the
dwelling of a marooned pirate. With
cut taking the trouble to combat this
Mr.. Shaw explained to Cuth-
pert vane that a copra gatherer had
,nce lived here, and that the place
must have yielded such a profit that
ne was only surprised to find 1t de-
now. Behind this cool. en-
Dhatic speech | sensed an ironlc zest
the destruction of my pirate.
After their thrilling experience of
being ferried from the Rufus Smith
70 the island. my aunt and Miss
Browne had been easily persuaded TO
themselves for maps.
The boats of the Rufus Smith had
departed from the island. and u re-
+atioHs with humanity were severed
rhe thought Of our isolation awed and
10 fascinated me as l sat meditatfvely
upon a keg OF naits watching the mir
acle Of the treple dawn The men
we're hard at work with bales and
boxes, except Mr.. Tubbs. who gave
advice. 1t must have been valuable
for he assured everybody that
a word from his lips had invariably
enough to make Wall Street nit
up and take notice. But IL lis = far
cry from Wall Street to Leeward
island. Mr.. Tubbs. ignored. sought
with me at last. and pointed
out the beauties OF Arosrer IS she
from the embrace OF Neptune.
~Aroarer Borealls. to be accurate"