The St. Johns herald., 1922-03-30

OI d uebOldI6 lSldUQ 6V6u DdTTel- hoop seems to suffer a sea-change into something rich and strange. I there fore commanded the b. y. to row me over to the spot where the derelict lay.
 lay back idly in the stern as the boat skinned over the smooth water beneath the strokes of my splendid oarsman. More than ever he looked like the island god. Every day he grew more brown and brawny, more superb in his physical vigOr.
 The cliffs on the north shore of the cove were considerably higher than on the other side. The wreck lay close in, driven high upon the nar- row shelf of rocks and sand at the base of the sheer ascent. Sand had heaped up around her hull and flung itself across her deck like a white winding-sheet. Surprisingly, the ves- Sel was very small one, little slOop, indeed, much like the fragile pleasure-boats that cluster under the SausalitO shore at home. The single mast had been broken off short, and the stump of the bowsprit was visi- ble, like a finger beckoning for rescue from the crawling sand.
 Poor forlorn little boat!" I said. "What in the world do you suppose brought such a mite of thing to this unheard-Of spOt?"
 Perhaps she belonged to the cOpra chap. One man could handle her."
 "What would he want with her? A small boat like this Is better for fish. ing and rowing about the cove"
 Perhaps she brought him here from Panama, though he couldn't have counted on taking back a very bulky cargo"
 "Then why leave her strewn about on the rocks? And besIdes"-here the puzzle of Crusoe recurred to me and seemed to link itself with this-"then how did he get away himselfT
 We rowed in close under the port bow of the sloop, and on the rail made out q string of faded letters. began excitedIy to spell them out.
 T-s-l-oh, Island Queenl You see she did belong here. Probably she brought the original porcine Adam and Eve to the island"
 Luckily forgot the snake, though !" remarked the Honorable Bertle with unlooked-for vivacity. For so far Aunt Jane's trembling anticipations had been unfulflled by the sight of sin gle snake, a fact laid by me to the credit of St. Patrick and by Cookie to that of the pigs.
 Snakes d jes' be oysters on de half shell to dem pigs" declared Cookie.
 As we rowed away from the melan- choly little derelict I saw that near by a narrow gully gave access to the top of the cliff, and l resolved that would avail myself of this path to visit the Island Queen again. My mind continued to dwell upon the unknown figure of the copra gatherer. Perhaps the loss of his sloOp had condemned him to weary months or years of sOli- tude upon the island, before the rare glimmer of a sail or the trail of a steamers smoke upon the horizon gladdened his longing eyes.
 Suddenly turned to Cuthbert Vane.
 "How do you know, ~eally, that he ever did leave the islandT l demand ed.
 "Who-the copra chap? Well, why else was the cabin cleared out so care fully-no clothes left about or any, thing?"
 That's true" 1 acknowledged. The last occupant of the hut had evident ly made a very deliberate and order ly business of packing up to go.
 We drifted about the cove for a while, then steered into the dim mur- muring shadow of the treasure-cavern. Mir. Vane indicated the point at which they had arrived in their exploration among the Assures opening from the ledge.
 The place held me with it's fascina' tion, but we dared not finger long, for as the tide turned one man would have much ado to manage the boat. So We slid through the archway into the bright sunshine of the cove, and headed for the camp.
 As we neared the beach we saw g figure pacing 1t. It was Dugald Shaw And quite unexpectedly my heart be gan to beat with staccato Qulckness Dugald Shaw, who didn't like me ant who never looked at me-except just sometimes, when he was perfectly sure didn't know it-there he was, wait ing for us, and splashing into thC foam to help Cuthbert beach the bOat he for whom a thousand years agC the skalds would have made saga
 The b. y. hailed him cheerfullI ,| as we sprang out upon the sand Bu khn CnoAnhr,norn rrroa nnsrniIlno