Year: 1870

this sudden appearance OF one, whom


he believed had passed from the land


Of living men.


Thank heaven then you are moi
engaged in feeding the fishes at the


bottom Of Long Pondl'


NO. but l have narrowly escaped
that employment at the bottom of the
South Pacific


How, in the name Of all that is won
derful, came you here, in this place, of
all the remote corners of the earth, the
most unlikely for missing man to
turn up in?'


IT is long story, which | must re-
late TO you alone. Have youa state
roomr


Yes"


Then. while my compagnon du voy-
age is regaling the passengers and
crew with his account, l will tell my
little story to you. alone


What about Mary and Charley 2"
he asked. rs soon as they were seated
in Henry's state room


Charley was well when | LEFT /; but
Mary Edwards is now one of the sad
dest Of the sad


Dear Mary-her sorrow shall be
turned 10 JOY. But tell me what be-
came Of Colby and his companions:'


They miserably perished on the ice.


just as fearcd-poor fellows,
saw them when they sat down on the
ice to drink. but | was too confused to
warn them Of their danger; if had,
they probably would not have heeded
for a drunken man is the most unrca-
sonable and obstinate being in the
world.


You no doubt aware of the incidents
of that fatal night. when | again Weld
ed To the temptcr. say tempter, a.
if the word implied some outside inhu-
encc; but that evenings work showed
me that temptation, is only another
term for a precNisting inclination 10
do the wrong. ! had been conscious Of

feeling strong inclination 10 taste
OF the liquor, all that evening; and on
" nv promise Ia YOU and Mary re-
strained me. | found myself almost
hoping that something would turn up
some pretext, to quiet the conscience
and Justify the act in my own mind !;
and when Colby made his proposition.
to which the others assented. tthough
probably not knowing what they said. !. }
eagerly acquiesced. without stopping
to reflect. whether the possible good re-
suits would cover the sin of wrong do
ing. think now. that Colby drugged
the liluor-I have no doubt of il : for
he said, before going into the woods.
that he would get Edwards drunk be-
fore spring. had sense enough left
TO protect myself from the cold before
going out; but why | undertook TO
cross the pond that bitter night. l
could not then have told. certainly
had some remote sense Of fear lest you
and Mike should find Inc intoxicated,
and possibly thought the walk would
set me right.


A. soon "a got en to the pond, every
thing seemed strangely turned around.
| stoutly contended that we were going
in the wrong direction, while the others
insisted they were right.


| got angry at what 1 termed their
foolish obtuseness in calling east, north,
and north, a whole quarter compass
west. SO ! turned square To the right,
in the direction supposed the opposite
camp TO be. which must have led me
directly To the east end of the pond.
The others, when turned away paused,
and seemed to be holding a consulta-
ton. | supposed they would follow,
but on turning towards them, 1 saw
that they were seated, and taking a
drink from the pocket TASKS which they
carried.


| don't know how far wandered, but
have dim recollection Of becoming
numb with cold and exhausted with
fatigue, also of lying down under a tree,
and OF being picked up and put upon
sled, belonging. as l afterwards learned,
to party of moose hunters, from Lubec
and Eastport, who We're thus early
moving toward the latter place, with .
load Of game. also have confused
recollection of drinking large quantity
Of brandy to warm myself, and of being
in some sort of public house, where l
imagined that l was some very impor-
tant personage-then all was chaos,
until awoke, to find myself lying in a
on board vessel! raised
my head and looked about me. was
evidently in the fore-castle Of large
and knew, by the motion, that
she was under sail. ! dropped back
into the hammock, and made an effort
to collect my scattered thoughts. Where
was L?


How came on board vessel? Was
l dreaming or awake! Vain endeavOr
II could not follow a single train of
ideas far enough to solve my own qucs-
tions, but soon fell asleep, under
vague impression, that the camp at