The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1922-03-23

---l 800
,nyrs Watc rolfEEe one Of ifs watches.
He had several, she knew, presented
to him at various times--watches al
most, always, were the testimonials
given to seamen for acts of sacrifice
and bravery. The spring which OPP
Grated the cover would not work, but
Constance forced the cover open.
There, inside the cover as she had
thought it would be, was engraved
writing. i Sand had seeped into the
case; the inscription was obliterated
in part. &@ ! I Nh: &. .., VI
"For his courage and skill. in
seam 49,. master OF -. :. which:he
brought to the rescue of the passen-
gers and crew Of the steamer Winnie
bago laundering =. Point, Lake
Erie, Nov..s26. 1890, this watch Is
donated BY the Buffalo Merchants Esx-
change" Vi - s. ss5 Z
Uncle Benny's name, evidently, had
been engraved upon the outside. Con
stance could not particularly reInem-
Der the rescue o1 the people Of The
- ---:. ~ : 81 N ~ M
winnebago 1890 was years before she
was born, and Uncle Benny did not
tell her that sort Of thing about him
self. I. /: r; s!H US "
Constance left the watch open and,
shivering q little, she gently laid it
down upon her bed. The poeke tknife
had no distinguishing mark Of any
sort. The coins were abraded and pit
ted disks silver dollar a half dol
lar and three quarters, not so much
abraded, three $snickels, and two pen
MES. ' 3ss u s me- = = i#{
Constance choked; and her eyes filed
with tears, These things plainly
they were the things found in Uncle
Benny's pockets = corroborated sonly
too fully what Wassaquam believed
and what her father had been coming
to believe-that Uncle Benny was
dead. The muller and the scraps of,
paper had not. been in water Qrssin
sand. The paper was written in pen
ell 1T had not even been moistened or
it would have blurred There was
nothing upon tito tell how long: ago
it had been written ;; but it had been
written certainly, before june
"After June 12,"'eit said. NJ q .ss s ls,#.s}s
+: That day was August the eighteenth
It. was seven months since Uncle
Benny had gone away. < After his
strange, interview with her that day
and his going home, had Uncle Benny
gone out directly to his death? There
was nothing to show that he had not !;
the watch and coins must have lain
for many weeks, for months, in water
and in sand to become eroded In this
way. But, aside from this, there was
nothing that. could be inferred regard
ing the time or place Of Uncle Benny's
death. That the package had been
mailed from ManitoW0c meant nothing
definite. Some one-Constance could
not know whom-had had the muller
and the scrawled leaf Of directions;
later, after lying in water and in sand,
the things which were to- be "sent"
had come to that some ones hand.
Most probably. this some one had been
one who was going about on ships !;
when his ship had touched at Mani
towoc, he had executed his charge.
Constance left the articles upon the
bed and threw the window more wide
Fly open. She trembled and felt stirred
and faint, as she leaned against sthe
window, breathing deeply the warm
air, full of life and with the scent
of the evergreen trees about the
b house. Itsf +. VI $>.:.
The cottage" of some twenty rooms
stood among the pines and hernlocks
interspersed with hardwood on .'the
Point" where were the great fine sum
mer homes of the wealthier IRE
sOrters." .5S:. IL. Il saf!3
This was Uncle Benny's country.
Here, twenty-five years before, he had
first met Henry, whose birthplace
farm, deserted now--was only few
miles back among the hills Here,
before that, Uncle Benny had been a
young man, active, vigorous, ambitious
He had loved this country for itself
and for it's traditions, its Indian
legends and fantastic stories. Half
her own love for it--and, since her
childhood, it had been to her a region
Of delight--was due to him and to the
things he had told her about it. Dis
tinct and definite memories OF that
companioriship came to her. This Hit
tie bay, which had become now Tor
the most part only a summer play
ground for such as she, had been once
I asplace where he and other men had
struggled to grow rich swiftly lie
had outlined for her the ruined lumber
docks and pointed out to her the locaf
lions Of the dismantled sawmills. II
was he who shadftold her the names
of the freighters passing far, out, and
the names Of the lighthouses, and
something about each. He had told
her, too, about the Indians. She re-
membered one starry night when he
had pointed out to her in the sky the
Indian sway OF Ghosts" the Milky
wa5-, along which, by ancient Indian
belief, the souls Of Indians travelled
A.. NJ.