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{ December 24, 1881
34 =Se3:GOLDEN DAYSro=> ’
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: Several sail were descriedin the course | adeep breath and uttered a prayer of that the little schooner Coral, under the
Lost IN THE PAacirFic! of the day, but not one was that of the | thankfulness as it swept by, and the two | ¢ © of Captain Jack Bergen and
| Coral, and’ when night descended not | steamers vanished from each other’s | Abram Storms, the mate, was on the Pa-
BY EDWAR only had there been a complete failure, | sight in the misty darkness. ___ | cific Ocean, voyaging toward the South
ARD S. ELLIS. but the captain was convinced that it was The engineer of the Polynesia was sig- ease . . a .
— useless for him to delay the steainer by | naled to go forward again, and the screw The skipper was fond of telling the
CHAPTER VI. hunting further. Was started; but, if the one who uttered | Strange story, and the mato heard it
spor? YOUR HELM!” With an angry and sad heart he gave | the order had forgotten the contingency | many times, as repeated to him one
‘ over the search, and the Polynesia was | against which they had been warned, storiny night, around the roaring fire of
When a thorough search of thesteamer | headed once more toward the far-off im- | the one who executed that order had not, | Captain Jack’s hearthstone in New Eng-
Polynesia made known the truth that | perial Japanese city of Tokio, and he gave the engine just enough Jand. It ran thus: .
little Inez Ifawthorne was nowhere upon | , “I wonld give a thousand dollars to | steam to start the shaft. | “You see, Abe, I was going down
it, the s A know what it all means,” said Captain| As he did so, listening intently the Washington Street, in Boston, one day,
t, the sorrowful conclusion was that she | g, i i when 1 came upon a drunken sailor,
had fallen overboard i trathmore, as he stood on the bridge meanwhile, he heard an_ ominous | © sc Jupo t § )
} ‘ verboard in some manner | debating the matter with himself. | craunching, grinding and jarring in the who was suffering a terrible beating at
and been drowned. “Phere is something about the whole | after hold, and he knew too well what it the hands of a couple of land-sharks,
But the belief was scarcely formed, | business which I don’t understand. In | meant. that were evidently determined to rob
when the discovery was made that such | the first place, Inez came’ under my He instantly shut off steam, and with him, if they had not already done so,
was not the case; that in fe charge in an extraordinary way. I don't | the captain, hastened to make the inves- “Tt riled my blood to see snch scan-
case; that in fact she had ‘ iY: 18 Cap
been taken away by the schooner Coral believe that the man who brought her | tigation. As they feared, the broken dalous proceedings going on, and I sailed
1 t fe ‘a *") | down to the wharf told the truth, and 1 | shaft had been wrenched apart again, | 1). * .
whose mate performed such good service | yery much doubt whether the parents | and it looked as if it were injure be-| ‘Then T helped pick up peck tar, and
k in mending the broken shaft of the Poly- | of the little one have ever been in Japan. | yond repair. he was taken to the hospital, where his
nesia. he may have been stolen from some ‘at what man has done, man ean do, | wounds were found to be of a dangerous
Tho story as told Captain Strathmore | one, and this means has been resorted | and the ingenious recourse of ‘Abe Storms | nature, —Ilis assailants were so bai
was as follows: to in order to get her out of the way. I| was resorted to again, With great care hurt, that they went to the hospital, and
The two officers of the schooner were | wish I had questioned her more sharp- | the fractured pieces were re-united and | when they came out, they were shifted
rowed to the steamer by one of the crew, | ly,” continued the perplexed captain, | bound, but the task was, in reality. hard- | to the penitentiary, where they’re likely
‘ who climbed up the ladder at the side of | following up the train of thought, “for | er than before, since the terrific grind- to stay for a good many years to come,
the Polynesia, and spent a few minutes | she let drop an expression or two now ing and wrenching to which it had been “Having taken the part of Bill Greb-
. in inspécting the broken shaft. He then | and then that showed she had some re- | subjected broke off much of the corru- | bens, as he told me his name was, I
caine back. IIis attention was attracted | membrances which it would have been | gated surface. called at the hospital to see him ever,
to little Inez, whose childish curiosity interesting to call up. It’s too late now,”’ The work was completed after many | day, for I wasn’t busy justthen. The
was excited by the appearance o: added the old sailor, with a deep sigh, | long hours of hard work, and once more | poor fellow was very grateful for the ser-
stranger who had but one eye, and who | “and probably I shall never see the Polynesia started slowly under steain | Vice I had done bim, though sad to say
looked so different from the trim-look- | again. She had nestled down into that | for the strange island-empire of Asia. I was too late.
! ing members of the steamer’s crew, spot in my heart which was left vacant This unexpected delay, as the reader «Bill had been on such a terrible spree
1 The two fell into conversation, and | many weary years ago, when my own will seo, doubtless had much to do with | that his system wasn't in condition to re-
Inez asked so many questions about the | Inez died ‘and my only boy became as | the failure of the schooner to find the | sist disease, and betore long, it was plain
schooner that the stranger invited her | one dead, and there is no sacrifice I | steamer, since it threw out all possibility | he was going to make a die of it, He
to take a look at it. would not make would it but bring this | of calculating where the larger erait | was a plucky fellow, and when the doc
Ife was heard to say that the captain | one back tome. It is curious, but the | could be, or told him he had to go, he didn’t
and mate would be engaged for several | feeling is strong upon me that some- “Now, if we have no more vessels | weaken. He asked me to pray with him
hours, and there would be plenty of | where. at. some tine we shall meet | trying to run into us,” muttered the cap- and I did so, many times before his mini
: time to row the child over the inter- | again.” n, as he resuined his place on the } began to wander. ~ ‘
vening distance, explore the Coral, and “ Port your helm !” bridge, ‘‘we stand a chance of reaching “Just before he died, he was clothed
come back before Captain Bergen and This was the startling order which the Japan after all, without calling on our | in his right mind, and he seemed quite
his mate would be ready to leave, uartermaster sent to the wheel-house at sails to help us.” cheerful, as though all the briers bad
_ Naturally, Inez‘ gladly accepted the | that moment, and which was obeye But, standing at his post, with every- | been cleared from the path which was
invitation, ‘and the sinistér-looking man, | with as much promptness as is possible | thing going well, his thoughts naturally opening before him,
Picking her up, carefully descended the | on such a gigantic craft as an ocean | reverted to the strange Tnischance by “ He took ine by the hand, and told me
adder to his small boat, and rowed | steamer. which little Inez Hawthorne was lost to | he hadn’t a living relative in the world
away to the schooner. The night, fora rarity, was dark and | him. nor one who had been such a friend. to
This story, it will be observed, corre- | misty, a peculiar fog resting upon the “T don’t believe Captain Jack Bergen | himas I had proven tobe. By that time
sponded with that told by Brazzier him- Water, and shutting out the view in or his mate, abe Storms, would know- | my own eyes were getting misty, and I
: ) C' ° n, ke Oo} 2 i rer i i
No one thought anything of the It would seem that there could be lit- though the girl “wa No aagh to toon beg Tea ine Pe otal ses that: be h d
ceeding, which was one of the most natu- | tle danger of a collision on the broad | any one tosteal her. )There is sornethitye decent burial, and wo: la ttend te tye
ral in the world, and there was nothing | bosom of the mightiest ocean of the | about the whole buginess which I dont thing he wanted me to “Qo. 8a d
to arouse misgiving on the part of those | globe, but there must always be a cer-| understand. We ought to have found there wasn’t anything, for it could make
who witnessed it. | | tain ratio ot danger, and none realized | each other, though, if he is still hunting | no difference to him what became of his
nez was almost a spoiled child from | this more than Captain Dick Strathmore. | for me. This second breakage of the | body after his death d for hi
the indulgence shown her by every one olynesia had been running at | shaft will tend to keep us a are” he Would as lief th docte sh ald ave
yah whom she came in contact, She alt speed ever since the sun went The long voyage of the: steamer to | it, ° © eoctors shome nave
distrusted no 01 re St a i i t i ji i . is
neta d no one, pecan e she had never down, and her whistle blew at irregu- Japan (orminaved’ svithout any: incident w Ulowever, he took this paper from
It was night when the officers of the At the moment the startling order was | more natural] ecaine anxious to me t me or did ie sit aot Hor a ctoke
schooner were rowed back, and those | communicated to the men at the wheel, | the parents 0! Inez, though Sorrowing at first tt t his, ae thought
who had seen Inez taken away did not | the lights of another steamer were dis- very much over the story he would be again : but I soon saw that his head wes
“ observe that the boat returned without | cerned directly ahead. And these wer forced \. K 2 i
her, Holding no thought of anything | scarcely observed when the mountain. at Tokioto claim the ebiid, and the one about gna he knew what he was talking
rong, they gave no further attenti ous by iew i i i aptai i :
the strange sailor, attention to ee nity aed up to view in a palling geri captain proceeded to make in- aus pepe wich Skipper Bergen pro-
noment Captain Strathmore | through every officer and _sailoi Tt was ai Tey eine welleoneauted dro.
Tearned these facts, ho caused an abrupt sight, for there was justa siglo second authorities NY tet ot to nates oo the ings, red Na eri Gecn clones bythe
change to be made in the course of the | or two, when it seemed certain Christial issi i ailor himisel ’
Polynesia, For he was determined that | two craft would come together with “ae they were goanned carefully hy th ane of ed piruself, showed that he was & man
no effort should be spared to recover the | earthquake-shock and such an irresisti- | tain, who was given such a sist ee by | ° wr eatin
lost child, who had 89 jondeared herself | ble momentum as would crash the two | the officials themselves that thet out George Teles ae Tppregent the Hine
0 every one on board the steamer. prodigious hulls to splinters, and be nistake. * the r: rina + acne,
. The precise point where the accident | the crews and passenecrs to ain the by the stake feng them was noone tying in about fifteen degrees south latt
had befallen the shaft was recorded on | multitudes who have gone before them “It was plain then that. ‘tl d i ride and one hundred ‘and forty-three
the log, as a matter of course, and it was | to the bottom of the sea. nad been used when th Ma eeepeon degrees west longitude, Tothe north here
within the power of the chief officer to Signalsand commands were rapidly ex- | Francisco declared that “the pa in San | is Mendina Archipelago, and hero to the
return wonderfully close to that spot. changed, and the slight misunderstand- | Inez were missionaries in Jay 4 rents of we are the Paumotee Islands, sometimes
f the schooner Coral should remain | ing which existed between the two As day after da: , assed ar ah sti Known asthe Pearl Islands. There are
. anywhere in that latitude and longitude, | steamers at first was quickly removed. | er Polynesia was fad uall a sared. for a good many of thei, and away to the
: sho could be found and Inez recovered. | The shouts and orders, the tinkling of | her return voyare. to Californie or northeast of the ggoup is another island,
“But itis not likely the schooner is | the engineer’s bell, and even the sound was one stron: Sharrowing. com’ tere which, although much the larger on the
anywhere near there,” reflected Cap- of hurrying feet, was heard upon one | which foreed itself upon. tir “Tistrossed inp, Js really a small coral island, with
tain Strathmore, as he swept the horizon | boat as distinctly as upon the other. captain : po) te distressed | alagoon, and so Slight that it has no
with his glass and failed to catch sight of | | Most fortunately, the officers of each “Tad Inez not been stolen fi pune, and cannot be found on any map
a sail, “They could not have taken | were sensible men, who enforced dis-| steamer, no one would have ete | FS.
away the child ignorantly, and instead | cipline, and who, therefore, did not lose | claim her, and she ld hh vob fe weg will observe the figure and
of remaining thero or attempting to find | their heads when sudden peril eame | mine , he would have been | directions inarked on this paper,” added
us, the captain has hoaded in some di-} upon them. Ilis heart thrilled at the thougt t Skipper Bergen, who invariably became
rection which is noéthe one he named, There was desperate need of haste on | how close he had come tv obté ining § sf excited at this int in his narration,
. as if by accident, when he was aboard.” | the part of all, but the haste was intelli- | a priceless pearl for his session sucks which, with his explanations, are 80
The captain was in that mood that it} gent, and something was accomplished, | then he added as if to heer himsel| gna easily understood that no one can go
- would have been dangerous for him to The stranger instantly reversed her “ Never mind ; the “arth angels rw
come upon the daring thieves. IIe could | screw, which churned the.water behind | wide. She is alive some 1 ro then tee “Well, Bill Grebbens onco belonged
conceive of no explanation that would | the tremendous mass that was sweeping | face, and at some tin _ t hear Npon its | toa party of inutineers of a British ves-
relieve them from his wrath, and asthe | downward toward apparently contain loasure she dt a oat nedin Sel, who found it growing so hot for
steamer described a huge curve in the | doom. . p Braye’ an d vugsed | moot again, ‘ thom, that they put into this island,
scaand headed toward the point where The Polynesia was equally prompt, | more! Was the spirit of prophi Strath. | senttled and sunk their ship, and lived
: he hoped to gain sight of the sail, fall | and tho enormous iron screw whirled | you when: you nluttered tlhe elie pon | there two years, It was uninhabited,
steam was put on, and she ran ata rate | backward with equal energy, for all its | words? he cheering | and they led a lazy, vagabond life, in
of speed which, in the condition, of her | strength was needed to pull apart the _— that beautiful climate, till astrange sort of
shat, was certainly dangerous toa high | giants who were rushing toward each CIIAPTER VII. sickness broke at. ine onl them and
. zree. . . ‘ ; ght, leaving on re
1t may be said there was nota heart They escaped by achance so narrow THE REASON Wity THE voyage was | °d a single shipmate. ° y ens
sh board the Polynesia whioh die not sae it was terrifying. The bow of the UNDERTAKEN, lone? two spent several months
are in the general anxiety, and there | Polynesia grazed the side of the stra i int it i nger in wandering abo Is
was scarcely an eye which did not scan | as they m upon thei” oineegal reader should I ‘ ad necessary that the | looking for and yet ar eading, to e0 8
hupe of eatehiag again and again in the courses, and every one on the two boats | what has_ been only hinted up. to “ite fil when gee day they discovered a
g sight of the schooner. | who understood the dreadful peril drew | point. We meat tis | bed of pearl-oysters, which they exam-
pe. po n the reason why it was | ined and found to be of surpassing rich-
SR PLOT er emer ery eae se epee nen