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Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fb01147 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #69433 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/69433) diff --git a/old/69433-0.txt b/old/69433-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 1f96ada..0000000 --- a/old/69433-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7651 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Smugglers’ Island and the devil -fires of San Moros, by Clarissa A. Kneeland - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Smugglers’ Island and the devil fires of San Moros - -Author: Clarissa A. Kneeland - -Illustrator: Wallace Goldsmith - -Release Date: November 26, 2022 [eBook #69433] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Susan E., Sue Clark, and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was - produced from images generously made available by The - Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SMUGGLERS’ ISLAND AND THE -DEVIL FIRES OF SAN MOROS *** - - - - - -[Illustration: _Page 239_ THEIRS WAS A WICKIUP] - - - - - Smugglers’ Island - and the Devil Fires - of San Moros - - By - Clarissa A. Kneeland - - _With Illustrations by - Wallace Goldsmith_ - - [Illustration] - - BOSTON AND NEW YORK - HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY - The Riverside Press Cambridge - 1915 - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY CLARISSA A. KNEELAND - - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - - _Published October 1915_ - - - - -CONTENTS - - - I. A PICNIC TO THE ISLAND 1 - - II. FOR SHELTER IN A STORM 30 - - III. COMMISSARY MATTERS 57 - - IV. BONANZA COVE 86 - - V. THE EGG ISLANDS 113 - - VI. THE JAGUAR’S TRACK 149 - - VII. THE MUGGYWAH 181 - - VIII. THE BUILDING OF THE WICKIUP 212 - - IX. DAVIE’S PANAL HUNT: AND WHAT CAME OF IT 245 - - X. DELBERT’S BIG GAME 260 - - XI. WHEREWITHAL SHALL WE BE CLOTHED? 274 - - XII. DISASTER AND A NEW TASK 299 - - XIII. HOW THE LAUNCH CAME BACK TO SMUGGLERS’ 320 - - XIV. THE END OF THE PICNIC 344 - - - - -SMUGGLERS’ ISLAND and the Devil Fires of San Moros - - - - -CHAPTER I - -A PICNIC TO THE ISLAND - - -Marian Hadley stood in the doorway of her home in a small seaport town -of Mexico, watching her ten-year-old brother Delbert come stumbling up -the hill with his arms full of mail. - -“We’re out early,” he shouted. “The teacher let us all out early. There -are the girls coming now, down by the office. Oh! and we’re not going -to have any more school this week. The teacher has got to go to the -dentist every day, and she isn’t going to feel like teaching; so we are -going to have vacation.” - -“Dear me,” said Marian, smiling, “what in the wide world will you -children do, with so much spare time on your hands?” - -“O Marian! Marian! Can’t we--it will be just the time to do it--can’t -we go to Smugglers’ Island?” Delbert’s body fairly quivered with -excitement, and his dark eyes were shining like stars. “Let me ask Mr. -Cunningham for the launch. We could go to-morrow. O Marian, do, please!” - -Marian hesitated. “Smugglers’ Island! That is a long way off. We -couldn’t be ready by to-morrow; it is late now.” - -“We don’t need anything but a lunch. I don’t mean to get up a party. -Just us go. We don’t need to go to a lot of fuss.” - -If Marian had an especial weakness, it was her brother Delbert. She was -proud of that spirited, handsome little face, and rarely clouded it by -a refusal if a consent was possible. Besides the sister love she gave -him in common with the other children, there was a desire to make up to -him the loss of a companion brother who had died a few years before, -a brother a little older than Delbert, but of much the same cast of -features. - -Now she thought, “Why not? Why think one must make elaborate -preparations for every little pleasure, when the children would enjoy -it as well, maybe better, without?” - -She laughed. “Here come the girls,” she said. “We’ll put it to a vote.” - -The little girls, Jennie and Esther, came up the path. Jennie was -eight, a puny, thin little shadow, with eyes that seemed much too big -because the face was so thin and colorless. She had been born a sickly -baby and had averaged at least one illness every year of her life -since, and had never known what actual health was. When Mrs. Hadley -had decided to accompany her husband on his business trip to Guaymas -she had thought seriously of taking Jennie with her, though she had -had never a moment’s uneasiness at leaving the other three in their -sister’s care. But it had seemed a pity to take the little girl out of -school, where she was doing well; and also there was a good American -doctor in town, whom Marian promised faithfully to send for at the -first symptom of anything wrong; so, as Jennie herself did not seem to -care about going, it was finally decided she should stay. - -Esther, the six-year-old, stood in pleasing contrast to her sister. -Having never known sickness, she was a sturdy, robust little specimen, -as plump as the baby David, dimpled and rosy, with curly hair that was -forever getting into her bright eyes. - -Delbert was dancing with delight. “Girls, girls,” he squealed, “listen, -quick. All in favor of going to Smugglers’ Island to-morrow, signify by -saying ‘Aye.’” - -“Aye, aye, aye!” he yelled; and Esther, taking her cue, also launched a -myriad of “ayes,” but Jennie shook her head in grave disapproval. - -“You are too ev’lastin’ noisy,” she said. “Marian, we are not going in -the launch, are we?” - -The baby was calling “Aye” most lustily. - -“There,” declared Delbert, “that’s a m’jority, Marian. Three out of -five’s a m’jority.” - -Marian drew Jennie tenderly to her. “Delbert wants to go to Smugglers’ -Island to-morrow. It is a long way, but perhaps you would not be -seasick in the launch. Do you want to go?” - -The little girl’s shining eyes were answer enough. Marian laughed and -kissed her. “Delbert,” she said then, “take that bill that is in my -purse down to Mr. Cunningham now and refund him for the duties on these -packages and thank him for me,--don’t forget that,--and then see if he -can let us have the launch to-morrow. It may be let to some one else, -but if it isn’t, and if we can have it, why, pay him for that too, and -don’t forget that. But I warn you children there’s not a thing for -lunch but bread and butter. I haven’t so much as a cooky in the jar, -and it’s too late for me to bake now.” - -Previously there had lived at the Port for some years an American boy -whose chief joy in life had been found on the water, and, having been -blest with a small sailboat of his own, he had been able to indulge his -sailor propensities to the utmost. Sometimes with other boys, often -alone, he had sailed up and down the coast for miles, exploring the -shallow bays and winding _esteros_,[1] and he knew all the sandbars and -islands. - - [1] An _estero_ (pronounced _es-tāʹ-ro_) is an estuary, an arm - of the sea. - -A few miles out from the Port was a group of islands known to the -Americans thereabouts as the Rosalie Group. The natives gave them -another name, unpronounceable, and certainly unspellable. They -consisted of quite an assortment of rocky knolls and stunted trees, -and little beaches, fine for bathing. Most people confined their -seaward excursions to trips of greater or less duration of time to -these islands, some half-dozen in number, but Clarence had ventured -much farther; he had even gone as far as San Moros, many miles down the -coast. - -San Moros was a wide-mouthed, shallow bay, full of rocks and sandbars, -but at its farther extremity the young explorer had discovered -an island that gave unmistakable evidence of having once been -inhabited,--probably by smugglers, as in times past they had flourished -like the bay tree all up and down the west coast, as everybody knows. - -Boy-like, Clarence had kept his discovery a secret, or at least had -revealed it only to a chosen few, Marian and Delbert being among the -elect. And when afterwards he had made a second trip to the place, Mrs. -Hadley had allowed Delbert to go with him. Clarence had been fond of -children and of Delbert in particular, and often took the little boy -with him on his all-day trips on the water. On this occasion they had -camped over and explored the Island and its surroundings. - -It was long months now since Clarence’s family had moved from the Port, -but Delbert had always been anxious for a second trip to the Island in -San Moros, being eager to show it to Marian and his little sisters. - -Before long Delbert came rushing back. “We can go! We can go!” he -called. “We--where’s Marian?--oh, there you are. Mr. Cunningham says -we can have the launch. The man he usually sends with it is sick or -something, but he got Mr. Pearson to take us instead. We can start -early in the morning. Goody! And say, Marian, can’t you fix some dough -for doughnuts and let me fry ’em for you?” - -Marian looked severe. “Do you remember what happened the last time I -let you fry doughnuts?” she asked. - -Delbert’s eyes twinkled. “Yes,” he said, “but that was learning; I -won’t do it that way now.” - -“Shall we trust him, Jennie?” she asked. - -“If you don’t, there won’t be any doughnuts to-morrow,” Delbert assured -her. “Marian has not got time to make ’em.” - -“I guess we can this time,” decided Jennie. - -“Me fry doughnuts, too,” said Esther. - -“I am afraid me had better not,” said Marian; “but you and Jennie may -roll and cut them out for Delbert. And Davie, you sit up in your high -chair and watch sister stir up these doughnuts quickly, and then Davie -shall make a doughnut of his very own. Delbert, put the granite-ware -kettle on, and the lard is in that pail on the shelf there by you. I -think there is just enough; put it all in.” - -She hurried the ingredients together, and, as soon as the dough was -ready for rolling out, turned it over to the apprentices and ran out of -the kitchen to the numerous other tasks that awaited her. - -“You haven’t read us mamma’s letter yet,” called Jennie. - -“Oh, I will read it while we eat supper,” Marian answered. - -“What mamma say?” shrilled Esther. - -“Says they will be back in two weeks,” came Marian’s muffled voice from -the far bedroom. - -Presently she came back. “Jennie,” she said, “do you know what was done -with your and Esther’s bathing-suits when you came back from bathing -the other day?” - -Jennie looked blank, but Esther answered promptly. - -“Down to Bobbie’s.” - -“Down at Bobbie’s? Whatever did you leave them there for?” - -“Oh, yes,” cried Jennie, her face brightening, “I ’member now. We -stopped to play and hung ’em on Bobbie’s mother’s clothesline and -forgot ’em.” - -“Well, that’s a great way to do! Esther, you run down after them now.” - -Esther was kneading doughnut dough industriously. “To-morrow,” she said. - -Marian considered a moment, and then said: “No, you go now, it is two -days they have been there already, and they may have got into some -corner where Bobbie’s mother won’t know where they are, and we won’t -have any time to hunt for lost things in the morning. It is a long way -to Smugglers’ Island, and we must get off early or we shan’t have time -to explore it and get back by dark.” - -Esther sighed, and began to clean the dough from her little fat hands. -“Tell where we going?” she asked. - -“No; better not.” - -“Why?” - -“Oh, because if Bobbie knows we are going in the launch, he will want -to go, too, and I know positively his mamma wouldn’t let him.” - -“Why?” - -“Oh, you little interrogation-point!” expostulated Marian under her -breath. Aloud she answered patiently, “Because Bobbie was awfully -naughty and went in the fishing-boat without asking his mamma, and she -was so worried about him, and when he got back she told him he couldn’t -go anywhere except to school,--not anywhere, not even up here to play -with Delbert,--for two whole weeks.” - -“Not two weeks yet?” - -“No, it is not two weeks yet. Now, do go on, Esther. Just ask for the -bathing-suits and don’t make Bobbie feel bad by telling him about a -picnic he can’t go to.” - - * * * * * - -In the morning, before Marian had breakfast out of the way, Delbert -came in with a rush. “I have just seen Mr. Pearson. He is going to his -breakfast, and he says he is all ready, and he wants to know if there -is anything you want him to do.” - -“Yes,” said Marian; “tell him to get a demijohn of water. Mr. -Cunningham has a demijohn he uses for that, but Mr. Pearson may not -think of it.” - -“Oh, but there is water on the Island, plenty of it.” - -“Yes, my dear, but it has not been filtered, and I don’t want you -children drinking anything and everything. Oh! and did you put plenty -of water for the chickens, Delbert?--and put a big stone in the pan so -they can’t tip it over? - -“Bread and butter and doughnuts,” she continued, “and I must take milk -for Davie. Dear me! I haven’t enough to fill the jar either. Here, -Jennie, get a dime from my purse and take this pail and run down and -see if Bobbie’s mother can let me have a quart of milk. If she hasn’t -it to spare, you will have to go to Doña Luisa. Delbert, find the -hatchet. It will come in handy when we come to build a fire for noon.” - -“Haven’t you got eggs, Marian? Take some raw eggs, and we can boil -them over a fire; it’s lots of fun.” - -“I’ve only three, Delbert, but if you can, get some at Bobbie’s, or ask -Fanny’s mother if she can spare me some.” - -“We can get crabs and clams, you know,” said Delbert. “There’s barrels -of ’em. Clarence and I had ’em. But take plenty of bread and butter, -Marian. Mr. Pearson can eat a lot, I know.” - -“Yes. Run on now and see about the eggs, and then go down and tell Mr. -Pearson about the water. Let me see,” she continued,--“what else? Oh, -yes, if we go bathing, I shall have to comb my hair.” - -She wrapped up her comb and brush in a clean towel, and then, on second -thought, tucked in a little pocket-mirror and a cake of tar soap and -two more towels. - -“Marian, me got my spade and pail, but me can’t find baby’s,” called -Esther. - -“His little pail is here,” answered Marian, “but I don’t know where his -spade is. Let him take the big dig-spoon instead.” A dig-spoon, be it -known, is a spoon so old and dilapidated that mother does not mind if -the children use it to dig in the dirt with. The big dig-spoon of the -Hadley children was a huge iron affair about a yard in length that had -doubtless been originally intended to stir soup in a hotel kitchen. - -As they started down the hill on the way to the pier, Bobbie’s mother -ran out to her gate. “Marian,” she called, “are you taking plenty of -wraps with you? You know it gets cold toward evening.” - -Marian held up a couple of light shoulder shawls. “Delbert has his -coat,” she said, “and Esther and I never want anything around us -anyway. There are always a couple of blankets on the launch seats.” - -“Oh, you foolish child,” declared the lady; “you wait.” She ran back -into the house, and in a moment came back with a very large heavy -circular cape, “There, you take this,” she said. “It will cover you and -Esther and the baby too. Jennie will need both those flimsy shawls. You -know it won’t do to let her get chilled.” - -Marian thanked her laughingly and accepted the cape. - -Mr. Cunningham was down on the pier. He was a dapper young man, -pleasant and good-looking and well liked by everybody at the Port, -and he held the most lucrative and responsible position of all the -Americans there. - -[Illustration: MARIAN LAUGHINGLY ACCEPTED THE CAPE] - -He smiled as the Hadley party trailed down the hill and out on the -pier, the sturdy baby well in the lead. - -“Here comes King David and his train,” he called. “By Jove,” he -added, observing the huge dig-spoon, “he has his scepter with him -too.--Good-morning, Miss Marian; do you mean to tell me that basket is -full of lunch?” - -“Not quite,” laughed Marian. “There is a hatchet and my workbag and a -few other things as well.” - -“Workbag!” exclaimed Delbert in disgust. “What did you bring that for?” - -“Oh, I may hemstitch a little while you children dig in the sand. I -shan’t ask you to do any sewing, Delbert.” - -As the big basket was being stowed away in the launch, Mr. Cunningham -said laughingly, “If you find you have not enough, Miss Marian, there -is some canned stuff in the locker you are welcome to.” - -“Thank you,” said Marian, “I think we have plenty. I have been on trips -like this before; I know how children eat. Delbert, I forgot to put in -anything to cook the eggs in. You wanted to boil them, and we haven’t a -thing.” - -“Use Esther’s pail,” he suggested. - -“It leaks too badly, and baby’s pail is wooden. No, if you want those -eggs cooked, you will have to go back and get something.” - -“There will be the clams, too,” said Delbert, starting back across the -pier on a trot. - -“Oh, and, Delbert--” - -“What?” - -“You might bring Jennie’s cape, too, while you are there; and, Delbert, -Delbert! Be sure and lock the door again when you come out.” - -“We ought to have something to bring home clams in, too,” she said -after a moment, “but he is too far gone now to call back.” - -“There is a big pail here in the boat-house,” said Mr. Cunningham, -going to get it. - -“I shan’t be here when you get back,” he said, coming back with the -pail, “but the launch can be turned over to Manuel. I am going up the -river for a couple of days. I must be getting ready now, so I will bid -you good-bye and wish you a pleasant trip.” - -He shook hands with Marian, pulled Esther’s curls, smiled at Jennie, -stood the baby on his head a moment, and strode off across the pier. - -Soon Delbert came running down the hill again, his arms full. - -“Morning, Mr. Faston,” he called to an old gentleman who, with a basket -on his arm, was starting toward the plaza for his breakfast steak. - -“Good-morning, Delbert. Where you all going so bright and early?” - -“Going to Smugglers’ Island.” - -Delbert ran down to the launch and scrambled in. “I brought baby’s -jacket, too,” he said, dumping the wraps, the granite-ware kettle, and -a little bright new dishpan in a heap at Marian’s feet. - -“I see you did, but whatever did you bring that dishpan for?” - -“Why, it was sitting out there on the table, so I s’posed you forgot -it, and I wasn’t going to be sent back again.” - -Marian laughed. “I had no notion of bringing it,” she said. “Well, Mr. -Pearson, I guess we are all ready. You’d better start off before we -think of something else we might like to take.” - -“Just think, Marian,” said Delbert; “Mr. Pearson has not been outside -the harbor since he has been here.” - -“No? Never been to the Rosalie Group, Mr. Pearson?” - -Pearson cleared his throat. “No; when a man is busy he don’t get much -time for picnics,” he said. - -“I am to show him the way,” continued Delbert, “and he is to make the -launch go there.” - -It was a lovely day. The children were fairly bubbling over with the -glee of it, and Marian herself felt unusually gay and light-hearted. - -Mr. Pearson was rather silent. He was a newcomer to the Port, and -Marian had had hitherto but a bare speaking acquaintance with him. She -had an instinctive feeling, however, that he considered children as -necessary nuisances; so she tried to keep them from annoying him too -much with their chatter. However, though he volunteered no remarks, -he answered good-naturedly what was said especially to him, followed -minutely Delbert’s instructions as to their direction, and listened -with apparent interest when the little fellow told of trips taken with -Clarence in the sailboat. - -Outside the shelter of the harbor they encountered the high waves of -the Gulf, and Davie was so frightened that Marian had much ado to -keep him quiet. Jennie, too, began to feel a few qualms of her old -enemy, seasickness, so that with them both Marian had little chance to -exchange sociabilities with Mr. Pearson. - -Leaving the Rosalie Group on their right, they turned down the coast -bound for San Moros. - -Delbert was entirely unafraid. The higher the wave the better it suited -him, and he was constantly declaring he only wished they were going to -stay a week. Esther echoed him, as was her wont, and Jennie feebly put -in a few remarks of the same tenor, her feeling in the matter, however, -being born of a desire to put off the nausea-beset homeward trip rather -than to prolong the picnic joy. - -[Illustration: FOLLOWED MINUTELY DELBERT’S INSTRUCTIONS AS TO THEIR -DIRECTION] - -Finally they rounded the point and entered San Moros. Delbert -remembered just how Clarence had made his way in among the many rocks -and sandbars, most of which were covered at high tide. The Island lay -some miles back, a crescent in shape, high and rocky at one end and -running out to a narrow sandy point at the other. No one approaching it -would have mistrusted it was other than the mainland, for the formation -was such as to blend it perfectly with the mainland back of it, and it -showed no sign of the strip of water between till one was close upon it. - -“We landed first by that point of rock,” declared Delbert, pointing, -“and then afterwards we took the boat in back of the Island and tied -her to the pier till we were ready to go home.” - -“I guess that is a good enough programme to follow now,” said Mr. -Pearson. “Didn’t you say this side was best for crabs? That’s a -nice-looking beach along there, fine for you kids to bathe on. We will -tie up to those rocks till after dinner.” - -“Well, all right,” agreed the boy. “There is a path up to the top of -the hill, Marian, but it doesn’t come down on this side. Clarence said -the smugglers wore it going up to peek over the hill to see if any one -was coming for ’em.” - -The little point of rock on the seaward side of the Island made a very -good substitute for a pier. They landed there and were able to reach -the sand without getting their feet wet. Jennie declared she felt -better as soon as she touched shore. - -Delbert was anxious to lead the expedition over to the other side of -the Island, where remained the signs of former habitation. - -“You can go on over now,” said Pearson good-naturedly; “I’ll unload the -launch and take a swim, and if you say there is anything there worth -looking at I can go over afterwards.” - -Delbert hesitated; he was counting on expatiating on the extent and -glory of the ruins and preferred a large audience. - -“Why, of course, Delbert,” said Marian; “Mr. Pearson can take the -launch around after dinner. This is the best side for bathing. I am not -sure,” she added, as the children started off, “but after dinner would -be soon enough for the rest of us, but--” - -Pearson laughed and shrugged his shoulders. “There is no wait in that -kid,” he said. - -“I see there isn’t,” said Marian, as she started after her eager -brother. - -The hill was decidedly rocky and steep, with a goodly strip of sandy -beach at its base. The crabs scurried away as the children ran across -this. - -“See, Marian!” called Delbert; “see all those crabs? We’ll have them -for dinner. Don’t they look fat?” - -“Fat and luscious,” laughed Marian. “You are fat and luscious, too, -baby darling,” she continued, catching Davie as he stumbled over a -stone, “but those qualities alone will never make a mountaineer of you.” - -Delbert forged ahead, scrambling over rocks and skirting thorny bushes, -and the others followed as best they could. - -“I suppose when you get there you will stop and wait for us,” called -Marian. - -“Oh, yes,” he answered; but he did not take the hint and slacken his -pace then. - -His bump of locality was good, and although it was almost a year since -he had been there, he made his way directly to the spot on the apex of -the hill where a faint path led down on the other side. Here he paused, -and, letting out a series of triumphant whoops, announced his arrival -to his upward-toiling sisters. - -One by one they joined him where he sat on a big gray rock, swinging -his lariat, his most treasured possession, a new hair rope given him by -an old Mexican a few weeks before. - -“Dear me,” said Marian, all out of breath, as she set down the baby, -whom she had been carrying the last part of the way; “whatever did you -expect to lasso here, Delbert? Crabs?” - -“No,” he replied, “burros! Didn’t you know there were burros here? -There’s a herd of ’em. Clarence said probably the smugglers had to -leave in a hurry and couldn’t stop to round up everything they had. -Anyway, there’s burros here. Yes, and pigs, too. We saw their tracks; -we didn’t see them, but Clarence said when he was here the first time -he heard ’em grunting in the bushes.” - -Marian was examining the surroundings. “I believe Clarence was right,” -she said. “That is a real path certainly, but there is not a sign of it -on the seaward side of the hill. Whoever lived down there used to come -up here to this rock. You can see away out into the gulf from here, -ever so many miles, but it is so bushy that no one here would ever be -seen.” - -“Yes,” assented Delbert; “Clarence called this Lookout Rock. Farther -back this hill spreads out into a _mesa_.[2] It’s several miles long. -Clarence said there were deer here, too; he saw ’em.” - - [2] Pronounced _mā-sȧ_; a small tableland. - -“An’ wil’ cats?” queried Esther. - -“No,” said Delbert. “I remember when we camped here it was awful quiet -at night, and I asked Clarence if he s’posed there were any panthers -here, and he said no, he hadn’t seen a sign of any such thing here, and -he guessed if there ever had been, the smugglers had killed them all -off.” - -“That is not unlikely,” said Marian; “but the burros and pigs must have -come from what they had; perhaps the deer, too,--they might have had -some for pets. But, come, if we have our breath now, children, we’d -better go down; for see, Mr. Pearson has the launch unloaded already, -and there is dinner to get when we get back.” - -So they followed the twisting trail downward. It was very faint, in -some places entirely obliterated, yet taken as a whole was distinct. - -Between the Island and the mainland lay a strait that was deep enough -for even large steamers, though there was little of San Moros that -a big steamer could have ridden safely over. A little rough rock -pier had been built here. “And Clarence said the fellow that built it -understood his business, too,” declared Delbert, emphatically. “He said -it was a good job; but come and look at the bananas,” he continued, -leading the way. - -The Island, which elsewhere presented such rough, not to say -precipitous, sides, here was level or nearly so. A house had once stood -there. The mound of its ruins was unmistakable. In one place a forked -timber stuck up; on one side was a pile of other timbers overgrown with -weeds and shrubbery. There was a spring, too, that had had some sort of -masonry cover, broken now, but with a tiny pool of water at the bottom -of the rocks. There were the remains of an old stone wall that had once -surrounded a garden, of which only a thick, matted banana-patch was -left. - -A banana plant grows to maturity, produces one bunch of bananas, and -then dies. During the time it is doing this a number of young plants -spring up about the parent stalk, and each of these produces its one -bunch of fruit and group of little ones, which in turn go through the -same process. It will be readily seen, therefore, that, with no one -to trim out the old stalks and superfluous young ones, a banana-patch -would in the course of time become a very crowded place, indeed. - -This was just what had happened to the Smugglers’ Island patch. How -long it had been left uncared-for no one could tell, but it was now an -impenetrable jungle. - -Marian and the children walked all round it, looking for bananas, but -except for several bunches from which the birds had eaten the fruit, -leaving the blackened skins dangling, they saw only one, and that was -too high up for them to reach. It did not look very tempting, anyway. -A little beyond were a few fan palms, but this kind of palm bears no -fruit. - -Marian sat near the site of the old house, while the children rummaged -about and explored. This was certainly an ideal place in which to -hide from the world, a sunny little spot, sheltered and secluded, for -the hill hid the place from the seaward view, and across the narrow -strait lay only the rocky, thorny tangle of the uninhabited hill of the -mainland, with not even an Indian ranch for miles and miles, Clarence -had said. Marian wondered what chance or incident had caused the -abandonment of the place. - -Presently she rose. - -“Come, children,” she called, “we were going to catch crabs for dinner, -you know. We must be going back.” - -So they went back up the dim little path to Lookout Rock and began to -pick their way down from there as best they could. - -“Why, Marian,” called Delbert, “Mr. Pearson has moved the launch. It is -not by the rocks now. Where’s he gone?” - -Marian glanced up. - -“I guess he thought we were pretty long in coming and has gone -exploring on his own hook,” she said. - -“I’ll see,” said Delbert, and he went out to where he could see the -water all around the end of the Island and in to the little pier. - -“No,” he said, as he came back, “he has not gone round there.” - -They went on down the hill. - -“I don’t see why he should move it,” persisted Delbert. “That is the -best place for it on this side of the Island, and this is the best -beach for bathing.” - -They went over to where the things were piled up. Pearson had dumped -them all together and thrown one of the launch blankets over them; and -on top of this a note was pinned with two wooden splinters. - -[Illustration: MARIAN TOOK IT OFF AND READ IT, AND THEN STOOD LOOKING -AT IT FOR SEVERAL SECONDS] - -Marian took it off and read it, and then stood looking at it for -several seconds. - -“Delbert,” she said quietly, “did you know of any trouble between Mr. -Pearson and Mr. Cunningham?” - -“Trouble?” repeated the boy, startled,--“trouble? Why--why, -no,--not--not trouble. Why?” - -“Because,” said Marian, still quietly, “Mr. Pearson has stolen the -launch and gone away and left us here.” - - - - -CHAPTER II - -FOR SHELTER IN A STORM - - -Delbert stared with wide eyes for a moment; then he snatched the note -from Marian’s hand to read for himself. He was not much accustomed -to reading writing, but this was very plainly written with a purple -indelible pencil on a leaf torn from a pocket memorandum-book. - - _Miss Marian_,-- - - _Boss Cunningham has done me plenty of dirt and now he is going - to regret it just one gasolene launch. Sorry to inconvenience a - lady and all that, but the kids want to stay overnight anyway_. - -Delbert looked up again into his sister’s face; then, dropping the -note, he sped across the sand and up the hillside to where he could get -a good view of the Gulf beyond the bay. - -Marian picked up the note, and still stood looking at it. - -“How we get home?” inquired Esther. - -That was precisely the question that was racing round in Marian’s -brain. - -“I don’t know--yet,” she said. - -Slowly she took off the blanket that was thrown over the things. -The other blanket was there, too, and all of their things, also the -five-gallon demijohn of filtered water and a tin box of crackers, -nearly full, three cans of corn, and a quart can of tomatoes. She -remembered Mr. Cunningham had said there were some eatables in the -locker. - -A big crab came slowly up and regarded them. Marian returned his look -gravely. “Yes,” she said, “I see you are there, and we may thank our -stars you _are_ there, too, you and your relations.” - -“W-won’t Mr. Pearson come back?” faltered Jennie. - -“I am afraid not,” answered Marian. - -“But--but what shall we do?” - -Marian reached down into her boots, where her heart had sunk, and -pulled up a smile by main force and put it on her lips. A connoisseur -in smiles would have known at a glance that it never grew there of its -own accord, but Jennie was only eight and was not versed in artificial -smiles. - -“Well, my dear,” said the big sister, “we can’t walk back and we can’t -swim back, so I guess we shall just have to Robinson Crusoe it here -till some one comes after us. When they find we don’t come home, they -will hunt for us, of course. See here,” she added, briskly, pulling out -the big pail Mr. Cunningham had lent them for clams, “you children take -this pail and get some crabs. I will build a fire, and we will have -dinner right away before anything else awful happens to us.” - -The children, reassured by her tone and smile, took the pail and -trotted off down the beach. They had caught crabs on the little beaches -of the Rosalies and understood the business. Even Davie got a stick and -landed a few. - -Marian gathered some sticks and built a fire in the shade of a big -rock. She had it well started when Delbert came back to her. - -“I can see something black away out in the Gulf; probably it is him,” -he said. - -“Probably,” she answered. - -They brought the things up to the fire and began to unpack the basket. - -“I don’t see why he did it!” finally burst forth Delbert with clouded -face and quivering lips. - -“Well,” said Marian quietly, “he evidently was a different kind of man -from what we supposed. There are a few such people in the world.” - -“But, Marian, no one knows where we are. They wouldn’t know where to -look for us if they were hunting for us.” - -“No, but I have been thinking, probably Mr. Pearson doesn’t know that. -What did you say to him last night?” - -“Nothing. Mr. Cunningham did the talking. He just called and asked him -if he could go out with a party in the launch to-day, and he said yes -and came over and asked who was going, and when Mr. Cunningham told -him, he asked what time we should want him. It was this morning he -asked me if I knew the way, because he had never been out to any of the -islands, he said.” - -“Did you tell Mr. Cunningham where we were going?” - -Delbert thought a moment. “No; I just asked could we have the launch -for all day.” - -“And you didn’t tell Bobbie or any of the other children?” - -“No; I didn’t see any of them last night, and not to talk to this -morning. When I went for the milk, I just said we were going in the -launch. But Bobbie’s mother knew we were going; she brought out the -cape to you.” - -“Yes, but she didn’t know where. I never thought to mention it to any -one. When you came back with Jennie’s cape, you told Mr. Faston we were -going to Smugglers’ Island, but unless some of them remember hearing -Clarence tell of it they won’t know where Smugglers’ Island is.” - -Delbert shook his head. “Clarence didn’t tell about it to any one but -his folks and us. We had it for a secret. Why, Marian, they won’t know -at all where to look for us!” - -“No,” replied Marian steadily; “it was an awfully mean trick for -Mr. Pearson to serve us, even without counting the stealing of the -launch, but you see, Delbert, Mr. Pearson supposes every one knows -where Smugglers’ Island is. He heard what you said to Mr. Faston, and, -besides that, I’ve been thinking, and there was not a single thing -said on the way out this morning that would have led him to suppose we -were the only ones that knew about the place. We talked about my never -having been here before, but not a word but what other people knew. He -supposes of course everybody knows, and that when we do not come home -to-night they will come straight here in the morning.” - -“But they won’t,” said the boy. “When we don’t come home they will -think we are camping over. They won’t know till Mr. Cunningham gets -back that we were coming home to-night, and he is not coming back for -two days.” - -“Oh, they will all know I wouldn’t have taken you children out camping -with only Mr. Pearson along; besides Bobbie’s mother knows we didn’t -take any bedding along, and even if she didn’t, she would know that if -we had intended to be gone overnight you would have asked Bobbie to -take care of the chickens.” - -“Well, anyway, what if they do know we meant to be back? They don’t -know where we are. Hunting the Rosalie Group over won’t find us.” -Then he smiled a little grimly. “Do you know, Marian, it will be the -chickens that will tell them about it? They won’t worry about us -to-night; they will s’pose, of course, we will get in all right; but in -the morning all our chickens and old Peter Duck and Madam Waddle and -the whole brood of ’em will simply swoop down when Bobbie goes to feed -his chickens. Then they will begin to investigate. That’s all the good -it will do them; they won’t find us,” he concluded moodily. - -“Marian,” he burst forth presently, unable in his nervous state to put -up with his sister’s silence,--“Marian, what do you think?” - -“Delbert,” she answered, pausing in her work and looking up at him, -“the biggest thing in my mind just now is that bunch of bananas we saw -over on the other side.” - -Delbert’s eyes roved over the provisions before him. “How long will -this last us?” he inquired. - -“Well, I planned it for perhaps two meals for six people; as it -happens, there are only five to eat it, and we have Mr. Cunningham’s -eatables as well, you remember,”--she gave a little laugh. “You -remember he said we were welcome to them, if we didn’t have enough of -ours.” - -“Huh! I should think so. You bet Mr. Cunningham would never do a dirty -trick like that. We--we can starve here for all Pearson knows or cares.” - -Marian put down the kettle and went to her brother, with his flushed -face and flashing eyes winking back the tears. She drew the slender -little form into her arms close and tipped up the handsome, quivering -little face. - -“Delbert boy, darling,” she said softly, “we are not going to starve. -The children might if you and I were not here, but we are here; there -are clams and crabs for the gathering, and I know a boy who, with his -jack-knife, can make a trap that will catch quail, and I once knew him -to kill a rabbit with a bow and arrow.” - -“Yes, and you scolded me for it, too,” he said. - -“I did. We didn’t need that bunny rabbit at all, but these babies are -going to need feeding, and we shall have to feed them with whatever we -can get, rabbits or what. And we can take care of them, Delbert, you -and I, till somebody comes. We will do it in spite of Mr. Pearson.” - -“Pearson!” said the boy fiercely; “he can just go to--to blazes.” - -Marian leaned down and kissed him. “No, dear,” she said lightly, “but -he may go to some other port and let the police catch him and send him -and the launch back to Mr. Cunningham.” - -The boy laughed chokily and, twining his arms about his sister’s waist, -held her closely while she stroked his hair. - -“No, darling,” she said presently, “we will not worry. You and I can do -a lot of things; you will see. Now, here come the girls with the crabs. -We mustn’t let them be frightened.” - -Delbert straightened up. “How many did you get?” he called, and Marian -smiled at the easy cheerfulness of his tone. - -“Oh, you will do,” she said approvingly, “you will do.” - -While she cooked and prepared the crabs, she sent the children off -after clams. Under Clarence’s tuition Delbert had become quite an -expert at finding clams, and fortunately they were plentiful. Marian, -poor child, wondered how long one could live on an exclusive diet of -crabs and clams before getting utterly sick and tired of them. - -She decided to put everybody on a rather short allowance of bread, so -as to make it last longer and explained it to them when she called them -up to eat. They did not mind; they preferred crabs anyway. - -“Marian,” said Delbert, “I can’t think of a thing between Mr. Pearson -and Mr. Cunningham, except that Mr. Cunningham didn’t like his work -when he first came and discharged him from the shop. But he has been -working somewhere else ever since; that needn’t have made him mad.” - -“Probably there is something that we don’t know about,” she said. - -“Well,” he persisted, “I bet Mr. Cunningham didn’t know about it -either. He wouldn’t have sent him out with us if he hadn’t thought he -was all right. There was a fishline and hooks, too, in the locker,” he -continued. “Did you see anything of them, Marian?” - -She shook her head. “He only left us the crackers and canned stuff--oh, -and a box of matches, and I had another one in our basket.” - -“How many fires can we build with them?” he asked. - -“A good many, but we don’t need to use them; we can keep live coals -over from one time to another, as papa does in the fireplace winters. -That is what we’ll do and use the matches only when we really have to. -On a sunshiny day I could light a fire with the crystal from my watch.” - -They had never heard of such a thing, and Jennie and Esther wanted her -to take it off and show them how at once. - -Marian declined. “We have a fire now,” she said. “The thing for us to -do is never to let it go out, day or night. If it goes out in spite of -us, because of something we cannot help, then we can build one some -other way.” - -“Don’t people on desert islands build signal fires?” asked Delbert. - -“Yes, and put out flags of distress, too. We couldn’t keep a fire going -_all_ night, but we could put up one of the towels or the tablecloth -daytimes, and we can build our fire nights where it can be seen out at -sea. And I think about the first thing we’d better do is to get up a -woodpile.” - -That was an easy task. There was much driftwood along the beach, -besides the sticks that could be gathered from the hillside; and the -children enjoyed gathering it up, and Marian would have also if she had -not been inwardly so perplexed and worried. - -To add to her worries, the sky turned cloudy and the wind rose. Suppose -it were to storm, and she with not even a tent to shelter these little -ones! - -“Delbert,” she asked, finally, “isn’t there a cave on this Island?” - -“Sure,” he answered; “right down here a way. Let’s go see.” - -Marian’s hopes rose, only to fall again when she viewed the cave. It -stood barely above high tide, a dark hole, foul and ill-smelling from -the myriads of bats that lived in it. - -“Dear me!” she said, “we can’t sleep in this, Delbert. Besides, if a -storm should come up, the water would wash right in.” - -“It goes back a long way,” said Delbert. “Clarence and I went in with a -torch, but the farther you go the smellier it gets. Phew! No, I should -say we couldn’t sleep in it. If it’s a cave to sleep in that you want, -I guess we shall have to hunt one up.” - -So they climbed back up the hill and began an investigation of the -big masses of rock which at that end of the Island looked as if some -giant hand had tossed them up and they had since lain in the same wild -confusion in which they fell. - -It would be very strange, thought Marian, if some sort of shelter -could not be found among these. But she had no luck. Several places -she discovered that would have been ideal in pleasant weather, an -overhanging rock to keep off the dew, or a thick, dry, mossy bed, but -when wind and rain were to be considered-- - -Finally Delbert called to her from a point farther up than she had yet -gone. - -“O Marian, here is a sort of a crack; maybe it would do.” - -She scrambled over the intervening rocks and surveyed the “crack,” and -though it was far from being what she wanted, she saw at once that it -was the best place they had yet found. - -It might, perhaps, have been called a miniature cave. It was not high -enough to stand up in, but extended back some ten or twelve feet, -growing smaller and smaller, till at its extreme end it was not more -than a foot in height. Its width was about the same as its depth. -A few feet away from the opening rose another rock, a smooth-faced, -gigantic mass that would keep the worst of the wind and rain away from -the mouth of the cave, or crack, as Delbert called it. - -“I believe it is the best we can do,” she said. “We could at least keep -dry and warm in there. All the other places would be good only in good -weather. We’ll get some sticks and poke around and see if there are any -snakes or anything.” - -Delbert promptly followed the suggestion. He crept in and punched and -poked most industriously and raked and scraped with energy, but could -start nothing, and he declared there did not seem to be any cracks -leading any farther back. - -“That’s all right, then,” said Marian. “I didn’t want to dispute the -right of way with any snakes or centipedes. Now we’d better go down to -the bananas and get a lot of dried banana leaves to help out our bed.” - -This they did, gathering an enormous bundle and tying it with the -lariat rope. Then Marian slung it over her shoulder and so with a very -little assistance conveyed it to the Cave. - -By this time it was getting late in the afternoon. The sun had -disappeared completely from the gray sky, and the wind had risen so -that there was no doubt at all about the approach of a storm. - -“We must bring everything up,” decided Marian. “Everything must come -under shelter here right away. We must not leave even the dig-spoon -down on the beach.” She was seized with a nervous dread of the water, -which was already rolling in higher than usual. - -The little feet got tired of going up and down the rocky hillside, but -Marian and Delbert persevered till everything, even the wood they had -gathered, was safe at the Cave. Then Marian arranged things as best -she could for the night. She packed their belongings, so that they -would be some shelter for the bed of banana leaves and blessed Bobbie’s -mother for the big cape, which, with Jennie’s pinned to it, would serve -as a third blanket. Then she built a fire back of the big rock that -sheltered the mouth of their cave bedroom, and cooked the clams for -their supper. - -The children huddled together by the fire. They were enjoying the -experience. Marian was big; she would take care of them; and it is -fun to cuddle down behind a big rock and watch your supper cook over a -dancing camp-fire. - -[Illustration: COOKED THE CLAMS FOR SUPPER] - -After supper Marian carefully packed a solid chunk of wood in a bed of -coals, covered these with ashes and dirt, and piled little rocks over -them to protect them from the rain that she felt sure would come in -abundantly before morning. She kept a fire going for light, as they -had no lamp or lantern of any description. - -The children were tired and willing to go to bed after they had eaten, -and Marian herself was fully ready to lie down after she had got them -all packed away. She slept, too, for a while, but when the storm came -it wakened her, and there was no more sleep for her all that long, long -night. - -The roar of the sea was terrific; the big waves were sweeping in from -the sea and breaking on the beach with thundering crashes. The flashes -of the lightning were intense, and the thunder seemed to Marian to -shake the very earth. She had thought they would be protected from -the wind, but it seemed to sweep over them with perfect freedom. She -shivered and shrank closer to the children. Davie was next to her. He -seemed to be warm and comfortable and he slept peacefully in all that -pandemonium. Poor little chap, he had been all worn out climbing up -and down the hill and chasing crabs on the beach. The others woke, and -Marian anxiously inquired if they were all warm. Delbert said his feet -were cold, but aside from that all were fairly comfortable. Crowded in -together as they were, they kept one another warm. - -But they were frightened, and no wonder! The storm outside was a -regular tempest, and they were cooped in that little hole, sheltered -from the rain, indeed, but exposed to everything else. - -They were afraid the rock roof would fall and crush them, that the -lightning would strike them, and Jennie was afraid the water would wash -up to where they were. - -Marian knew there was no danger of the first and no probable danger of -the second, and she knew they were far beyond the reach of anything -less than an actual tidal wave that might engulf the whole Island. - -She soothed and reassured them by every argument she could think of, -and then she sang to them all the songs she could call up that might -tend to reassure the shrinking human spirit at such a time, beginning -with - - “The Lord’s our Rock; in Him we hide, - A shelter in the time of storm”; - -and finishing with a rollicking glee with a rousing chorus that -announced that - - “We’re all right, all safe and tight, - Let ’er howl, Bill, let ’er howl!” - -And indeed “she” was howling outside so furiously that it was only -because Marian’s lips were so close to their ears that they could hear -her songs at all. - -Some time along toward morning the thunder and lightning ceased, and -though the rain still came down in a steady pour, the wind still blew, -and the waves still thundered on the beach, one by one the children -dropped off to sleep. Marian did not. She lay there in a cramped, -uncomfortable position, for to change it meant to get out from under -the covering and expose the children to more of the cold wind. She -wondered where Pearson was passing the night. How she longed for -morning, yet when it came it brought little enough of relief. The worst -fury of the storm seemed to be over, but the wind was still high and -there was some rain. - -Marian’s carefully banked fire was utterly drenched and washed away, -and she had to light a new one with a precious match. She built it -under shelter of the Cave, and then the smoke nearly drove them out -into the storm. - -There was some of the clam soup left from supper, and, reinforcing it -with one of Mr. Cunningham’s cans of corn, she was able to fill them -all up with a hot breakfast. - -They could not see anything because of the big rock in front of the -Cave, and to go out past the range of it meant to be drenched, or at -least dampened, and every one but Davie could see that that would not -do. The little girls could stand up in the wider part of the Cave, but -when Delbert forgot himself and tried it he got such a bump that he -fairly cried with the pain. - -Marian smoothed up their bed and packed the food back into the basket, -and then racked her brain for methods of amusement. There was not much -that could be done, but they played a few simple little games that -could be played while sitting still, and really, all things considered, -got on marvelously well. - -In the afternoon there was a cessation of wind and rain for a while, -so that they did venture out a little, but Marian was so fearful of -their getting their clothes damp that it was not much diversion, after -all. Of course, every tree was loaded with drops of water that the -slightest shake released, and the ground under foot was soaked and -running in little rivulets. - -The second night was only less miserable than the first. There was no -storm to frighten them, and they slept more, but they were colder and -more uncomfortable when they were awake, which was really a good deal -of the time, after all. By morning the wind had died down and the sun -was struggling to break through the remaining clouds. - - * * * * * - -When Bobbie went to feed his chickens on the evening of the day -the launch party went out, his little round, freckled face wore an -unusually sober expression. As he tossed out the handfuls of corn, he -gazed out over the waters regretfully. The way of the transgressor -is hard certainly, but only the last part of the way, the first part -is most remarkably easy. He had been down on the pier that fateful -morning with his mother’s full knowledge and consent,--nothing wrong -in that,--and when the fishing-boat was ready, the men had said, “Come -along, Bobbie,” and “Come, jump in if you want to, kid,” and there was -no time to go and ask his mother; they would not have waited for him -if he had; even his mother admitted that. There was no time to go and -ask, so he had gone without asking, and see what he had had to suffer -on account of it. One whole week already with no diversions besides -school and errands, and another, dreary with monotony, stretching ahead -of him. - -To-day had been worst of all, with the Hadley house closed and silent, -and Bobbie knew they would have asked him to go with them if it had not -been for that ill-fated fishing-trip. - -He heaved a sigh and flung out the last kernels, and then, as many of -Delbert’s chickens were hungrily helping themselves and the launch was -not yet in sight, he went over to the Hadley yard, climbed through the -shed window, and measured out the amount of corn he knew Delbert always -fed his flock. After he had given it to the eager biddies, he went -back home, and a little later, when he ran out to shut up his own, he -went over and closed Delbert’s coop also, first carefully counting the -inmates, as he knew Delbert always did. When he found one was missing, -he searched till he found the silly thing perched on a barrel in the -yard, a tempting meal for coyotes, and, hustling the misguided fowl -into the coop, closed the door securely. It was a service that he and -Delbert performed for each other so often that he did not even mention -the matter to his mother, and she, busy with her household tasks, gave -the launch party scarcely a thought, and supposed, of course, it came -home on time. - -The storm was the worst the Port had known for years. Bobbie might -have saved himself the trouble of closing the coops so carefully, for -both were blown to pieces, and numbers of the chickens of each were -drowned. People had no thought or time to spare for chickens and their -coops. Roofs were sent flying, and many a wall had to be braced and -watched through the wild night. While Bobbie’s mother hurried to and -fro, moving things out from under the leaks in the roof, quieting her -frightened children, and keeping general watch and ward, she thought of -the Hadleys and spoke of them to her husband. - -“Marian’s kitchen roof is probably leaking like a sieve,” she said, -“but I guess the rest of the house is all right.” - -“Yes,” he answered, “I was just thinking it was lucky Hadley fixed -things up so well before he left. As it is, it is the safest house in -town.” - -“Dear me!” cried the lady suddenly, discovering a stream of water -coming down in a corner hitherto considered safe and dry, “I only wish -ours was. Half the things I have will be utterly ruined if this keeps -up.” - -“And it is going to keep up all right,” was the consoling reply of her -husband. - -In the gray morning, when the storm abated and men in waterproofs began -to venture out and take stock of the damage done and compare notes, it -was discovered that the launch had not come back; that while frailer -shelters had gone crashing down, compelling their inmates to flee -through the storm to other shelters, the “safest house in town” had -stood untenanted and alone. - - * * * * * - -When Mr. and Mrs. Hadley, hurried back from Guaymas by the awful news, -reached the Port, every foot of the Rosalie Group had been searched -over. On one had been found a child’s handkerchief beaten into the -sand. They gave it to Mrs. Hadley, and she looked at it a moment -silently. Just a ragged, soiled little thing it was, with a faint trace -of what had once been a picture printed in bright colors. - -“It’s Esther’s,” said the mother, and she put it away, the most -sacred of her treasures. As a matter of fact, it was not Esther’s at -all,--Esther had hers with her at that moment,--but the grimy little -rag was taken for evidence indisputable that the launch party had been -on that particular island. - -Over and over the boats went out and searched. All of the Rosalies, -all of the _esteros_ and marshy mud flats for many miles were gone -carefully over, not, indeed, with any hope now of discovering the lost -ones, but for some trace, some sign, something washed from the wreck. - -When Mr. Cunningham returned, he declared himself completely mystified. -He knew the launch was in perfect condition when it went out that -morning, for he had examined it himself; and he knew Pearson was in -every way competent to run it. There had been plenty of warning of the -oncoming of the storm, plenty of time to have returned in safety. - -But the launch did not return; it had gone out into the blue, and the -blue had swallowed it entirely. The waves lapped, lapped on the rocks -and little beaches, the seabirds swooped and called to one another, and -in time even the gray-haired father gave up the search, and he and his -quiet, sweet-faced wife packed up all their belongings and left the -scene of their terrible sorrow. - -Only one person had advanced any theory other than that the launch -party had been in some way wrecked and lost in the storm. One man had -suggested that perhaps Marian and Pearson had eloped,--an idea that -caused more than a few smiles even at that time, for an eloping couple -would have been _so_ likely to take the lady’s four small brothers and -sisters with them. Just how any accident could have occurred was a -mystery, but that one had happened no one doubted. - -Old Mr. Faston had, indeed, told of Delbert’s remark to him that they -were going to Smugglers’ Island, but Bobbie and the other children told -of playing pirate and smuggler on a sandbar of one of the Rosalies, -and the childish game was, of course, thought to be the reason of -Delbert’s statement. - -So time passed. The Hadleys had gone from the Port, Delbert’s chickens -were added to Bobbie’s flock, a Mexican family moved into “the safest -house in town,” Mr. Cunningham bought a new launch, and, so far as the -Port was concerned, the incident was closed. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -COMMISSARY MATTERS - - -But for Marian in the midst of her hungry, grimy little flock the -incident was far from closed. Indeed, it was only begun. - -When their food was all gone but the can of tomatoes and a part of -the crackers, she made up her mind that nothing but accidental help -could be looked for. No one, not even her parents, knew anything -about Smugglers’ Island, and probably they were thought to have -perished in the storm. Perhaps Mr. Pearson had been swamped and -drowned. In the course of time some one would come into San Moros for -something,--Indians hunting turtles maybe,--but it might be long months -before they saw a human being besides themselves. There was no one to -rely upon but themselves; whatever was done they must do themselves. - -Looking at the cluster of tousled heads, Marian set her teeth together -and clenched her hands tightly. The fierce protective spirit of -motherhood swept over her. They were hers, these little ones; come -what would, they should not perish, they should be fed, sheltered, -cared for. They should have their child’s rights of tender love and -happiness. Esther, running up just then, was caught in a close embrace -and kissed fervently. - -The Cave afforded the best shelter for night that they could find. As -soon as things were dried up a little from the storm, Marian set about -improving it somewhat. For tools she had only the hatchet, Esther’s -spade, the dig-spoon, and Delbert’s knife and lariat. - -With the hatchet she cut sticks and brush and with the lariat dragged -them up to the Cave, where she and Delbert made them as best they could -into a sort of roof for the space between the Cave and the big rock -in front. It was crude work, of course, but it gave shade and to some -extent served as a wind-break, at least. It was just high enough to -stand up under. - -A place to cook over was soon made of a few rocks, and then Marian -turned her attention to the securing of food other than crabs and -clams. First there was the banana-patch. Not finding any good way of -reaching up to the bunch they found there, they cut the stalk it was -on, first looking carefully to see that there was no other bunch on the -same stalk. Later on they learned that each stalk bears but a single -bunch anyway. - -Unquestionably those were the worst bananas that Marian had ever seen -in her life. Not only was the fruit small and dwarfed, but about half -of each banana was a dry, brown pith, while what remained was very far -from being good. But they were food, and Marian conveyed that bunch of -bananas to the Cave with the greatest of care. - -Then with the hatchet and knife they cut down a great many other -stalks and dragged them out of the way, so that they could get about -in the patch and see what was there. It was not the pleasantest work -in the world, for they had to keep a sharp lookout for ugly, crawling -things. They found, however, several other sickly-looking bunches and -quite a number of birds’ nests. These last Marian was careful to leave -undisturbed. - -Delbert was anxious to fly a signal flag, and as Marian was wearing an -extra petticoat, she decided to dedicate it to that purpose. - -But it was a question where was the best place to fly it. There were no -very tall trees, and no place where it did not seem to her that a flag -would blend with the background. She had really very little hope of its -doing any good, but she did not suggest that to the children. - -At last they picked out a tree and, after considerable discussion as to -ways and means and several ineffectual attempts, finally succeeded in -attaching the white skirt to one of the higher branches, where Delbert -was sure it would be seen if any one chanced into San Moros. - -Delbert was continually mourning that they had no fishhooks and lines. -He and Bobbie had been famous fishers,--in their own estimations, at -least,--and he was quite sure that if he only had a hook and line he -would be able to haul out innumerable fish from the quiet water about -the little rock pier. Marian searched through their belongings and not -a hook could she find, and all her thread was rather fine. But though -crabs and clams were good, it took a great many of them to satisfy five -people three times a day, and it took more time to prepare them than -Marian wanted to spend. She declared that she would not open the can of -tomatoes till they were actually starving and could not get anything -else, and she put them on an allowance of one cracker apiece each meal. -Davie often howled for more, but Marian resolutely put them where he -could not get them for himself, and his lusty wails availed him nothing. - -A few quail occasionally wandered into Delbert’s traps and from -there into Marian’s kettle, but Marian was not content, and one day -she braided her hair in two braids down her back and tried her hand -at making fishhooks out of her wire hairpins. She had not brought -her shears with her, but in her bag was a pair of little buttonhole -scissors that could be made to serve as plyers, perhaps, and her pretty -pearl-handled penknife had a nail-file on one blade. She could not put -barbs on her hooks, but she could sharpen them with the file. As one -hairpin by itself was not strong enough, she straightened out three and -bound them tightly together with embroidery silk. - -After working faithfully all her spare time, one day she finished a -hook that she and Delbert were both sure would work. Then came the -question of a line. - -“Delbert,” she said, “quite a while ago wasn’t Bobbie’s Uncle Jim -teaching you boys how to braid round whiplashes? Yes? Well, do you -remember now how he did it?” - -“I guess I do,” said the boy slowly; “but you haven’t got near enough -thread to make a line strong enough to amount to shucks. That colored -silk would be all right, but you’ve got only a teenty bit of that.” - -Marian smiled. “Why is your rope better than a common one?” she asked -him. - -“’Cause it’s hair and it won’t rot and wear out like the fiber ones.” - -Marian was unbraiding one of the long braids that hung over her -shoulder and with the scissors she snipped out here and there, where it -would not show, quite a number of tresses. - -“Here,” she said, “you get busy now and let’s see if you know how to -braid a nice, smooth, round line, and then you can show me how, too.” - -“O Marian, your pretty, pretty hair!” - -“Yes, I know; it has been my pretty hair all my life, and it’s high -time it was useful as well as ornamental.” - -But it took a long time to braid the line, and food had to be secured -meantime. Food!--that was the main topic of conversation,--to find -clams, to get big crabs, to make traps and set and watch them -afterwards. Never a fish was sighted but they wondered if it was good -to eat; never a bird flew over but they discussed whether or not it -would cook up tender. Delbert used to go twice a day, at least, to -look over his traps. Simple things they were, made of sticks fastened -together with strips of rag torn from the towel that had been wrapped -around the bread, and afterwards of the fibrous stems of the banana -leaves. Every day he saw rabbits, and one day he threw a stone that hit -one on the head and stunned it, and he despatched it with his knife. He -did not seem to mind killing the things that got into his traps, and -Marian was glad he did not, since it had to be done. - -It was after the rabbit incident that the little boy came in one day -from making the round of the traps, holding by the tail a good-sized -rattlesnake. - -“Mercy!” cried Marian, “how did you kill that?” - -“With sticks and stones,” he answered. “He was right there in the path -by my last trap, and I settled his hash in a jiffy. Say, Marian, he -looks nice and fat. Bobbie’s Uncle Jim says they are as good eating as -eel.” - -Marian gasped, “Snakes!” But the clams were getting scarce in the -immediate vicinity, and she had even begun to imagine that the crabs -were not quite so plentiful on the little sand-beaches. - -“The history says,” continued Delbert, “that when the Spaniards were -conquering this country and South America, sometimes when parties were -sent out to go to places and got lost and wandered around, they had to -eat roots and snakes and toads.” - -Marian was thinking she had certainly heard of people eating -rattlesnakes and--well--“All right,” she said, turning away to the -construction of the fishline, “you skin it, Delbert, and I’ll cook it.” - -The filtered water in the demijohn did not last very long, of course, -and when it was gone Marian marshaled all hands to clean out the -spring. She usually marshaled all hands when there was anything to be -done, because somehow she could not bear to have any of the children -out of her sight for any length of time. When they were with her she -knew they were safe. True, there seemed to be little danger of any -kind, save that they were surrounded with plenty of water to drown in, -and there was no knowing how many more rattlesnakes the Island might -possibly contain. - -She had hoped that when she got the stones cleared away the spring -would reveal itself as something extra good in the way of water-supply, -but it did not. Indeed, she was reluctantly forced to the conclusion -that it was no spring at all, only a shallow little well. - -In the rainy season the water falling on these islands sinks into the -sand and stays there. One could find fresh water any time by digging at -a little distance back from the beach, where the sand lay in hills and -hollows, and Marian concluded that the only reason why the water came -to the surface in that particular spot was because it was situated in a -decided depression of the ground. - -So she dug and scooped till she had a hole with about a foot of water -in it, and then she smoothed the sides and laid rocks so the sandy -soil should not cave in. From the tracks abounding in the vicinity she -concluded that the deer and burros both were accustomed to drink there, -and while she was willing that they should continue to do so, she did -not want them poking their noses into the very pool that she must dip -from for her little flock; so she made a cover with some sticks and -pieces of driftwood and some stones to keep them in place, and then, -to be still surer, she hollowed out another place for her four-footed -neighbors. The old dig-spoon and the little spade were her chief tools -in these labors. - -“Dear me! Delbert,” she said playfully, “why didn’t we have sense -enough to bring a hoe and shovel with us?” - -“Huh!” he retorted gloomily, “if we had had any sense we’d have stayed -at home.” - -“There may be something in that too,” she answered. - -“I know what I could do if you had brought your shears,” spoke up -Jennie. - -“What, dear?” - -“I’d cut a thing from this,” holding up the piece of tin cut from the -end of one of the cans of corn, “that Delbert could spear fish with.” - -Delbert stared at her a minute, and then with one of his nervously -quick movements possessed himself of the ragged bit of tin. - -Marian had opened the can with his knife. He looked at it a moment and -spoke excitedly. “We could! It wouldn’t be like a regular spear-head, -but we could catch ’em. I know just how the Indians throw them. Bobbie -has one, but he’s never caught anything yet.” - -The idea was certainly worth trying. Marian would not ruin her precious -buttonhole scissors cutting tin with them, but she scratched the -pattern in the bit of tin and then went over it with the tip of the -butcher-knife, denting it; and the dents, made deeper and deeper, -finally became holes, and then soon there was her spear-head, such as -it was, needing only to be smoothed up a little and filed and bound on -the end of a smooth, slender stick that Delbert had been preparing. - -Marian split the end of the stick a little and slipped in the bit of -tin and bound the stick with thread that she had doubled and twisted -till it was strong enough to suit her, then tied the lariat rope to the -other end of the stick. - -Delbert spent the next day in exercising the new tool. His patience was -certainly marvelous. Hour after hour went by with no success, but he -was sure he would be successful some other time. - -“I’ll get on to it after a while,” he said, as they ate their supper of -hot clam soup. “Those Indians at the Port catch them right along.” - -“The thread will soon rot out,” said Marian. “I ought to have wire to -wrap the end with; copper wire would be best. There are two hairpins -left, but they are so short I can’t fix them, I’m afraid.” - -It was fully a week afterwards before it dawned upon her that she had -in the edge of her hat-brim a nice piece of copper wire that just -filled the bill, and though its removal left the brim rather droopy, -that was a small matter. - -Their supper they always ate at the Cave, as the light of their fire -could be seen far out from there; but breakfasts and dinners were -usually eaten down on the beach to save the trouble of carrying food -and water up the hill. Marian had built a second place for cooking down -in the shadow of the big rocks where they had eaten their first dinner -on the Island, and the children had dug a well in a hollow of the sand -not far off, which they used, although the water did not seem to be so -good as that on the other side of the Island, having more of a salty -flavor. - -As Marian was carefully dipping water from the beach well one morning, -Jennie and Esther came running to her in great excitement. - -“O Marian, come quick! The High-Tide Pool is full of fish, and Delbert -is going to spear them all!” - -This was interesting, certainly. The High-Tide Pool was down quite a -way from where they had the well and the cooking-place. It was beyond -the sandy beach, where the rocks ran down into the water. When the tide -was high it had considerable depth, and ran back into a little cave -among the rocks, but at low tide the water was only two or three feet -deep in its deepest part, which was in the cave. - -Sometimes they had seen a few little fish in it before, but that -morning the little girls had gone down and found it well stocked. - -Probably just as the tide was going out, a great number had taken -refuge there. Perhaps some enemy was lurking outside and they dared not -leave the safe retreat, and now they could not leave it till high tide -came again. - -Delbert was spearing industriously when Marian got there. He had -actually caught one, and it flapped feebly on the rocks beside him. - -As his sister came up, he triumphantly called her attention to it. - -“See that? Told you I could spear fish! But they all want to hide back -there in the cave. I tell you, Marian, I’ll go in there and drive them -out, and you can stand here and spear them. We’ll just keep spearing -and spearing till the tide comes in and the rest get away. I bet we can -get enough for several days. We can dry ’em as the Mexicans do.” - -He handed her the spear and began hastily to disrobe. Delbert’s -movements were always hasty. - -Marian began casting the spear unsuccessfully, but when Delbert got -into the pool he created such a commotion that several of the fish in -their wild endeavor to escape, flopped clear out on the bare rocks and -were easily captured. By that time a better idea had come to Marian. - -[Illustration: MARIAN HAD BEEN CASTING THE SPEAR UNSUCCESSFULLY WHEN -DELBERT GOT INTO THE POOL] - -“O Delbert,” she cried, “come out now, wipe up on my apron and get back -into your clothes. We have enough for breakfast and dinner, too.” - -“Oh, but we want all we can get,” he called back. “We can dry ’em, I -tell you, and as soon as the tide is high again they will all get away.” - -“That’s all right, but listen! I have a scheme for keeping them all. -This is too good a thing to let the tide take away from us. Why, there -must be fish enough in there to last us a week at least, maybe two. -See, Delbert, we must build some kind of a fence across, so they can’t -get away when high tide does come. Then we can come every day and get -what we want till they are all gone.” - -Delbert splashed right out without more remarks. - -“We can do it with rocks and sticks and brush,” she continued. “It -won’t be possible to drive stakes in the ground here, because it isn’t -ground,--it is all rock,--but we can make them stand firm by piling -rocks around them.” - -She went to work systematically. She set the children to bringing -rocks, while she and Delbert cut the stakes and brush up on the -hillside and dragged them down with the rope. Then, selecting the place -where she could accomplish her purpose with the least labor, she set a -row of stakes a little way apart, piling rocks about each one till it -was quite firm and solid, and then began weaving in brush. - -It was a long task. Trip after trip she made up the hillside with the -rope and hatchet, and her face and hands were scratched with the thorny -brush. The children grew tired of helping, and Davie was crying because -he was hungry, for Marian would not stop to prepare food. She dared -not. In that little pool was food, food. If she could shut the way -across before the tide came in, then she and her little ones were safe -without question for some time to come; if not--“Why, Delbert,” she -said, “we might live here for years before we should have such a chance -again.” - -Finally she sent him up to start a fire and clean the fish they had got -before they began the fence, and when he had them in the kettle over -the flames he returned to help her. Thereafter she would occasionally -send up the little girls to put on more wood or to pour a little more -water into the kettle, but she herself kept at the task. - -Marian did thorough work; she dared not slight it in a single place; -it must be strong enough to resist the force of the waves, and it must -be so solid that no fish of any considerable size could get through, -and she dared not stop, she dared not stop. The tide began creeping -back over the rocks, and she sent the children back for more brush -and sticks, and more still, and went herself again, and still again, -and now the water was running over into the pool again, and still she -worked. She knew how high up on the rocks it would be when the tide -was at its full height, and she must get above that. She had done the -work well so far, yet it would all be in vain if she did not get above -high-water mark. - -Finally she finished it with the water waist-deep around her, and as -she dragged herself out, it seemed as if she had never been so tired -in all her life before, but she was sure that her work was done well. -Tired and hungry and smarting from scratches and the thorns she had -not had time to remove, she was yet happy. For the first time since -Pearson’s treachery had left them stranded there, she felt a firm -foundation under her feet. - -In spite of the little girls’ care the fire had gone out under the -kettle and the fish were not done. They were not very trustworthy as -cooks yet, but Marian started things going again and sent Jennie up -to the Cave for a blanket and some safety-pins and a needle from her -workbag. - -When she came back, Marian removed her wet clothing and donned the -blanket in its stead, pinning it in place with the safety-pins, and -then proceeded to extract thorns with the needle. Delbert also required -some of the same surgical attention. Then, as soon as the fish were -done, they broke their fast, and afterwards she took Davie and lay down -in the shadow of a rock to sleep, secure in the knowledge that there -were fish enough in the kettle for one more meal and that there were -plenty more where they came from. - -The fencing-in of High-Tide Pool certainly marked a new period in -the life on the Island. It was the first work of any size, and its -completion gave assurance of food for many days to come without -spending all their time in the securing of it. - -Afterwards Marian bent her energies on the fishline to the exclusion -of everything else till it was finished. It took the two extra hairpins -to fasten the hook and line together satisfactorily, but Marian did -not grudge hairpins nor time nor labor when she saw how eager the -fish of High-Tide Pool seemed to be to attach themselves to that -amateurish-looking implement. She thought the fence she had built -probably served, to some extent, to screen out the smaller fish that -would otherwise have provided breakfasts and luncheons for those she -had imprisoned. At any rate, their appetites seemed to be excellent, -anything was acceptable as bait, and Delbert was now and then -successful in spearing one. - -They worked another day on the banana-patch, thinning it out and -letting in the sunlight, and another in dragging more brush up to the -Cave to shade and shelter it, and in carrying up more dried banana -leaves for their bed. - -Then Marian said she was ready to go on an exploring expedition. - -So far they had gone no great way from the end of the Island where they -had landed, but now she decided the time had come to learn more of -their locality. Some of the bananas were ripe; that is, they were soft -and could be eaten. They could take them along for lunch. - -Delbert was a little afraid some one might come while they were gone, -but Marian had a lead-pencil in her workbag and with it she wrote -on a smooth piece of driftwood a brief account of their predicament -which she left in a prominent position near the tree their signal flag -flapped on. To make assurance doubly sure, they put another signal flag -by the side of the notice. - -Not being sure they could find water on all parts of the Island, -Marian thought it would be safest to carry some with them, but the -only thing she had to carry it in was the two-quart Mason jar that had -held Davie’s milk. They would take Mr. Cunningham’s pail, too, and -the spear and lariat and hatchet. It seemed to Marian that that was -all they would need, but Davie was very sure the dig-spoon would be -indispensable, so he carried that also. - -They went along on top of the hill where Delbert had set his traps. It -was very rocky at first, but became more even and level, with fewer -rocks, and more open and grassy. There was an abundance of thorny -brush, but no trees of any size worth mentioning. This portion of the -Island they used afterwards to refer to as the pasture. Beyond it the -thorny tangle became thicker again, and here were more rocks. Indeed, -the farther end of the Island fell quite precipitously to the water -without any sandy beaches, but they could make their way down well -enough, and most of the way could follow the shoreline without wading. - -The Island was fairly uniform in shape, and it looked to Marian as -if it had been broken as a whole from the mainland ages back, the -sides there being very steep and precipitous, as was the shore of the -mainland opposite. The little harbor did not seem to extend very far, -and no vessel of any size could have picked her way through behind the -Island. - -The seaward side contained various little bays and coves, very -fascinating to explore, but only one of these was of any size. This -lay in such a relation to the tides and currents that it gathered more -of the flotsam and jetsam of the sea than any or all of the others, -and when its treasure possibilities were realized it was named Bonanza -Cove. - -These details were not all learned in one day’s exploration, but little -by little as day after day they searched and learned. - -Always supreme above all other motives was the search for food. - -Every plant or root or berry that they knew to be edible they eagerly -seized upon, and Marian was constantly warning them lest they grow -careless in their selection and suffer thereby. - -One day they found the burros all down by the water-hole on the -landlocked side of the Island. They had seen them before, about a dozen -in number, but had not paid much attention to them. They were grazing -peacefully on the outskirts of the banana-patch, and the children were -quick to notice that the herd had been increased by one in the last day -or two, a silky-looking little fellow with that peculiarly fascinating -quality that only a baby burro has. - -In glee they ran toward them, but though the burros seemed to be not -at all wild, they plainly did not mean to permit any actual handling -and skillfully evaded all attempts in that direction. After several -ineffective attempts to round up the woolly baby, the children stopped -to rest and regain their breath, and the four-legged infant sidled up -to his mother and proceeded to lunch. - -Suddenly Marian turned to her brother. “Delbert,” she said, “can you -lasso that old burro as she stands there?” - -“Reckon I could if I tried. What do you want of her?” - -“See that baby there fairly guzzling down the milk, and look at our -baby here without a spoonful all these days. Don’t you suppose that -old mother burro has more than that little fellow really needs in his -business? Anyway, if he had to go a little short he could make it up on -grass.” - -“O--oh!” ejaculated the boy, “burro’s milk? Why, Marian, it wouldn’t be -good.” - -“Indeed, my dear child, burro’s milk is a regular article of commerce -in some places, just as cow’s and goat’s milk is in others.” - -“Anyway,” reflected Delbert, “if we didn’t tell him, Davie wouldn’t -know but what it was all right. Milk is milk to him; he wouldn’t care.” - -“Of course not,” said Marian briskly; “you older children might object -to it, but it won’t make any difference to him whether he shares with -a baby burro or a baby calf. You just get a good loop over her head, -and we’ll try this thing out.” - -[Illustration: GETTING A LOOP OVER THE MOTHER’S HEAD WAS THE EASIEST -PART OF THE BUSINESS] - -As a matter of fact, getting a loop over the mother’s head was the -easiest part of the business. Delbert soon accomplished that, but Madam -Burro had no intention whatever of standing still and being milked. -Indeed, she developed quite surprising activity, and it was only after -at least an hour of patient labor that Marian was able to secure a few -spoonfuls of milk in the tin cup which the little girls brought down -from the Cave. - -“Now, then,” said Marian, “the thing we have got to do is to secure the -baby. If we keep him tied here, his mother will stay around, and we -can try her again in the morning. But if he is turned loose with her, -we may not be able to get near them again.” - -“But we have only one rope, and if I take it off her she will take him -right away now,” said Delbert. “Let’s keep her tied up, I should say.” - -“Well, tie her up till morning. Then we can think of some other way to -do. It will not do to keep her tied all the time, for then we should -have to feed her.” - -As they ate supper they discussed ways and means. They could make -palm-leaf ropes that would do very well to tie the little one with, -but that did not seem to be as convenient as Marian wanted. Finally -they decided to make a little corral to keep the baby in. Then he -could nibble at weeds and grass and could not reach his mother except -when Marian chose, and she could thus have a better chance to secure a -ration for Davie. The corral would have to be pretty solid and secure, -she thought, or the old burro might tear it down; still, it would -not have to be quite as compact as the fence that had been built at -High-Tide Pool. - -[Illustration: JACKIE] - -They went to work at it the next morning. A little of the old stone -wall was still solid enough to serve, but most of it was badly tumbled -down, and they could not seem to do much at building it up again. The -banana-patch could be used as one side,--it was so thick nothing would -try to go through it,--and a couple of palms could be utilized as -fence-posts. There were several nondescript bushes that could be worked -in too. The banana stalks they had already cut down could be used as -building-material, and more could be cut. They were soft and thornless, -which was an advantage; also every stalk they cut out improved the -patch by giving those remaining a better chance to grow and mature -fruit. The hatchet was getting pretty dull, but Marian managed to hack -off a number of slender stakes, which she set in the ground in pairs -just far enough apart to lay a banana stalk in between; and these -stalks all averaged about the same size and were piled one above the -other to the top of the stakes, which were then tied together with -banana-leaf stems. - -The old pile of poles was overhauled. Part of them were so worm-eaten -that they fell apart in Marian’s hands, but some were of a different -kind of wood and were still solid. These were built into the fence as -children build corncob houses, and Marian was only sorry there were so -few of them. For part of it they used brush, but that was not so easily -handled as the bananas or poles because of the thorns. The corral was -not finished in one day nor in two, and when it was finished it showed -half a dozen styles of fence-pattern and had no particular shape, but -was, nevertheless, very satisfactory, as it would hold the little one -in and keep the old one out. - -The little burro was easily driven into it, and then the old one was -turned loose. She grazed about during the day, and when milking-time -came Delbert could easily lasso her. Then, with much labor and great -tying of legs and an abundance of help from the children in holding of -the same, Marian would get Davie’s little portion of milk. Then the -four-legged baby was allowed to have what remained, after which he was -engineered back into the corral. - -In the morning the same performance was gone through. During the day -the mother and baby could rub noses through that part of the corral -that had been made of poles, and in the course of time they both became -so tame that the little one was a pet and a playmate for the children -and the old one offered but little objection to sharing with Davie, who -used to sit on the top rail of the fence and watch the milking with -wide eyes that let no detail of the performance escape him. - -He was very generous, too, considering the small amount of milk he -received, and would offer to share with the others; they would all -take a sip, even Marian, to encourage his unselfish impulses, and, as -Delbert said, for politeness’ sake. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -BONANZA COVE - - -It was about the time that the corral was finished that they came to -realize that they had lost count of the days and really did not know -how long they had been on the Island. They had even lost track of the -day of the week, and Marion did not know when she had ever done that -in her life before. She and Delbert sat down and figured and figured, -trying to count back and remember what had been done on each day; but -it was no use, it had been too long. Jennie, however, was quite sure -that it was Wednesday then, though she could not tell why,--she just -thought it was, that was all,--and so, assuming that she was correct in -her belief, Marian easily figured up what day of the month it was then, -for of course she knew the day and date upon which they had left home. - -“Now,” she said, “we will not trust to our memories any more. Every day -I will put a notch in a stick,”--which she faithfully did, using for -the purpose a smooth stick that Delbert picked up on the beach one day. -As a matter of fact, Jennie had been mistaken and they were two days -ahead of time, but they did not know that till afterwards. - -The days were filled pretty full. Marian thought that the busier they -were, the less would they be a prey to loneliness and homesickness. -They tumbled out of the Cave mornings, milked the burro, got breakfast, -and then worked awhile at something till it was time for a big sea bath. - -When they first began their life on the Island, Delbert was the only -one who could swim to amount to anything. Clarence had taught him, and -he had been a very apt pupil; but the others knew so little of the -useful art that Marian herself dared not venture beyond her depth, -while the little girls declined water that was more than knee-deep and -Davie preferred it even less than that. But already there was a vast -improvement among them all. As the way to learn to walk is to get up -and walk, so the way to learn to swim is to strike out and swim, and -they were following that method. - -After dinner there were walks to take, little coves to examine, or -ropes to braid. Marian watched over the children with eyes of a most -jealous, brooding love. Never had they seemed so dear to her, never so -sweet and precious. She was constantly thinking up things to amuse as -well as benefit them. Of course, she could not perform impossibilities, -and there were some doleful days. There was one perfectly awful day -when she found Jennie huddled down behind a rock, crying for her -mother. And Delbert would sit for an hour at a time on Lookout Rock, -gazing out over the water, so wistful and disconsolate that it made -Marian’s throat choke up just to see him, and she would rack her brain -for some interesting thing to set him at to keep him busy. - -But it is only fair to say that the doleful spots came far less often -than one would have supposed they would. Marian was always steadfast in -her assurance that some one would find them some day. They would take -good care of each other and be as happy as they could till some one -should come and take them back to the Port. And she herself always kept -a cheerful face. Her loving voice and sunny smile, her merry little -ways, inspired confidence. As much as possible she made it appear that -a desert-island experience was a very desirable thing to have happen -to one. She twisted things till they looked like a joke, and in the -process often found herself growing as light-hearted as she wanted the -children to be. - -The bill of fare was limited, to be sure, but they brought to it -appetites sharpened by the constant exercise they were taking in the -sea air and the sunshine. - -One day up in the pasture they ran across a _panal_.[3] This is the -nest of a kind of wild bee and is made of the same material that our -hornets use in constructing their homes, but the bee itself is not so -large as a hornet. Marian saw the nest first and pointed it out to the -other children merely as a matter of curiosity, but Delbert straightway -became excited. - - [3] Pronounced _pah-nahlʹ_; plural, _pah-nahʹ-layss_. It is the - regular Spanish word for honeycomb. - -There was honey in that bees’ nest; he knew it; splendid honey. Hadn’t -Clarence bought some once of an Indian and given him a lot? And -Clarence had told him all about _panales_. You take all the outside -honey and comb away and leave the core, and they will build on again, -just as tame bees will. - -Marian was a little dubious. Honey was all very well, but stings were -not at all desirable. How were they to proceed to get the sweet store? - -“We have no bee-smoker,” she reminded him, “and if we had, there are no -rags to be burned in it.” - -“Huh!” declared Delbert scornfully, “do you s’pose the Indians have -smokers?--or rags either? No, sirree! they just build a fire of trash -they gather up. Besides, the stings of these little bees don’t amount -to shucks!” - -It was not in Marian’s policy to discourage him from doing anything not -actually dangerous to life and limb, and she was glad he was willing -to dare the stings; so she said they would go back to the Cave for the -little dishpan and some coals to start a smudge with, and see what they -could do. - -The younger children were to keep back out of the danger zone,--which -they were very willing to do, for they did not share Delbert’s -optimism about the trifling nature of wild-bee stings,--and she and -Delbert swathed their hands and faces as well as they could and still -be able to work handily. They built three little fires about the bush -the nest was in, and gathered trash and piled it on till they were all -smoking finely. With a forked pole Marian raked one of them as nearly -under the nest as she could, and then, holding her skirts carefully so -that they should not swing into the fire, she began the task of robbing -the little bees. - -Delbert held the pan, and she cut off layer after layer of the -paper-like comb filled with the clear sweet liquid, but she was careful -to leave a goodly portion at the center for the bees to begin on anew. -Then they retreated with their booty, threw a towel over it, and gave -it to Jennie and Esther to carry off, while they raked back and stamped -out the fires and threw dirt over the ashes, so that they could not -start up again. - -During the whole performance both of them had received stings, but, as -Delbert said, they did not amount to much, and certainly honey never -tasted sweeter. - -[Illustration: THE TASK OF ROBBING THE LITTLE BEES] - -From then on the children’s eyes were always open for _panales_. They -found two small nests that they decided to let alone till they were -larger, and about a week later they found one down near the shore that -yielded even more honey than the first. They got several stings, too, -and Marian smiled grimly as she reflected how necessity was teaching -them hardihood. - -That was the day they discovered the riches of Bonanza Cove. - -They had never gone down into it before, having always skirted it quite -a way up on the hill, for there was no sand at that part, only ragged -rocks with broken shells and barnacles, interspersed with occasional -clumps of mango bushes,--certainly not easy ground for little feet to -run over. But this day, as they were returning home with the little -dishpan of luscious sweetness, Esther had declared, “I see a bottle”; -and on the strength of that declaration they climbed down into the -cove, for a bottle would be a very valuable thing to have. And, once -there, they found so many valuable things that they gathered up a load -and carried it home and went back in the afternoon for more. - -The bottle proved to be a quart beer-bottle that some one had doubtless -tossed, corked but empty, over some steamer’s side, and careful search -revealed six others, besides the remains of several that had been -broken. Marian hailed them with delight. Now they could carry water in -bottles when they went exploring, and leave her precious glass jar safe -at the Cave. She had always been afraid it would get broken on some of -those trips. Five of the seven bottles were only pints, but were none -the less eagerly welcomed and treasured. - -Also there was discovered in a clump of mango bushes, half buried in -the mud, an old broken five-gallon demijohn. The basketwork enclosing -it was nearly intact, and Marian thought they might use it for -something some time. - -The wreck of an old barrel was also rescued from the mud. Only three of -its staves were gone. Who knew what might not some time be done with -what remained? Several rusty tin cans were acquired. Marian could mend -them by drawing a tiny rag through the holes in them; and Esther came -up with a piece of scrap iron that might be made into a spear-head if -a body only knew how; Delbert knew Clarence could have done it all -right. They found three little boards, too, and an old shoe whose top -was not yet stiff. Besides all this, there were innumerable armloads -of driftwood. They gathered it up into piles beyond the reach of high -tides. - -But the most exciting discovery of all was the remains of an old canoe. -One side and a goodly portion of the bottom were gone, but it was -undeniably a canoe. It had been tossed up on the rocks by some storm -and had lain bleaching in the sun ever since. Nothing would do but -Delbert must get that old fragment into the water. They all caught his -enthusiasm and worked with a will. - -The canoe was of native manufacture, having been hollowed out from -one big log, and what was left of it seemed to be quite solid. After -they had it floating they hunted up poles and practiced the art of -navigation for a while. It was a clumsy thing, and of course everybody -connected with it got wet, but already Delbert had visions of what it -might lead to. - -“Marian,” he said, “let’s pile a lot of that wood on this and take it -around that way. It will be a lot easier than carrying it over.” - -“The waves are too high,” she objected, “and we should have to tie the -wood on good and solid, for the way this thing dips and tips and turns -it would all be off before we were out of the cove.” - -“The waves are high,” he conceded, “and, of course, we should have to -tie the wood on. This thing won’t stay anywhere. What’s left of it -knows it used to be the side and it doesn’t understand that it is the -bottom now.” - -“I’ll tell you,” she said; “let’s wait till to-morrow. Maybe the wind -will not pile the waves quite so high then, and we can tie your rope -to it. See there is the hole in the prow they made to moor it by, and -we can tow it round, if you like. That is splendid wood and it will -certainly be easier getting it home that way than carrying it up over -the hill.” - -But Delbert was not quite satisfied. - -“I’ll tell you,” he said; “if we can get it around the point there, we -can take it the other way, in back of the Island. It’s a lot longer -way, but there are no breakers in there.” - -“I guess we could do it that way all right. So let’s go back now and -braid palm-leaf ropes the rest of to-day, so as to have plenty to tie -the wood with, and hunt up some nice poles and paddles; and to-morrow -early we will come and take this gallant bark round into harbor.” - -So they beached it again, and piled stones in it so it could not get -away, and then went back to the home end of the Island. - -Mexicans make a very good rope of twisted palm-leaves, but our -islanders had not learned how yet, and so braided them instead, for -even the children could do that. For a large rope they simply took -three of the small ones and braided them together. The finished -articles were very knobby, uneven affairs, of course, and could not be -used to lasso with, but they were flexible and strong and served to tie -things. They had quite a number of these ropes of home manufacture. - -In the morning, after attending to the burro and eating a breakfast of -fish baked in the hot coals, they filled the two big bottles and three -of the little ones with water, tied stout little palm-leaf strings to -them, so that each person could easily carry one, and started out with -their ropes and poles. - -Marian had Mr. Cunningham’s pail with more fish for their dinner, and -the hatchet also, and Davie as usual flourished the dig-spoon. He soon -got tired of carrying his bottle of water and passed it over to Marian, -who put it into the pail. - -At the cove they put the pail and their bottles into a clump of mango -bushes and began to gather up the best and biggest of the wood. Marian -made compact bundles of it and lashed them as best she could to what -remained of the old canoe. Alone it would not stay in any position -that made it navigable, but reinforced by the bundles of wood on what -Delbert called the “absent” side of the craft, it floated as any -other mass of wooden wreckage would have floated and maintained an -equilibrium which allowed the children to perch on top in safety. - -Delbert scratched his head. - -“This isn’t a canoe and it isn’t a raft. What in creation is it, -anyway, Marian?” - -“I reckon it’s a float,” she answered. - -So, after the pail had been placed on the safest spot, where it would -not get water splashed into it, and after Jennie had received explicit -instructions to watch over it, the voyage began. They had taken the -precaution to put on their bathing-suits and expected to do as much -wading and swimming as anything else. - -Marian knew a good deal about rowing and sailing a boat, but this was a -different matter. To begin with, they had only one really good pole. -The other was too short, besides being crooked, and their craft swung -round and twisted and did its best to wobble its way back to the beach. -At last, however, they got out quite a way, beyond the depth of the -shortest pole, but when they came to round the point there was trouble -again. Finally Marian jumped off and, half swimming, half wading to -shore with the lariat, towed them round the point; and then, because -they made better progress that way, accomplished most of the rest of -the journey so. - -[Illustration: THE VOYAGE BEGAN] - -Davie also preferred to do most of his traveling on his own feet, and -Marian did not blame him, for the float did not even look like a safe -craft, and the way it wobbled and bobbed might well have made an older -passenger than Davie uneasy. So he trudged on, mostly in the edge of -the water, now and then whimpering when he hurt his bare toes and again -laughing gleefully at some treasure of the sea which the fates cast at -his feet. - -[Illustration: MARIAN TOWED THEM ROUND THE POINT] - -At some places it was not convenient to tow the float, and then they -resorted to poling altogether. At one or two points Delbert took the -rope and swam across to a better place for pulling. And several times -the bundles of wood became loosened, and all hands had to retire to -shore till Marian could get them satisfactorily retied. - -Altogether, their progress was so slow that the day was nearly done -before they moored their gallant craft to the little rock pier behind -the Island. - -Next day they tried it another way. They took all the wood off and -allowed the old fragment to turn turtle. That did a great deal better -in some ways, but it was a little difficult to get aboard of it. Once -they were aboard, however, it sustained the weight of them all well -enough, though, of course, there was no freeboard at all, and, while it -was willing to remain in that position, the ends of the canoe, being -well under water, offered considerable resistance and made it more -difficult to pole than a boat or raft would have been. - -Jennie thought Marian had better cut off those ragged ends and leave -only the smooth side, but Marian was not anxious to attempt such a -task as that with only a dull hatchet and a few knives to work with. -Besides, she was not sure at all but she would some day want those ends -right where they were. She could not think of any way of improving it, -and even as it was it enlarged the horizon of their daily lives. - -The prow being under water, they could not very well use the hole -in it to tie the rope to, but at one place in the bottom there was -a knothole, and Marian firmly wedged a stick into that. With a rope -fastened to this stick they could tie the canoe where it would float -out quite a little distance from shore, and then they could swim out to -it. She soon found her little flock were improving in their swimming -lessons. With the old canoe at hand it did not matter so much if one -did get beyond one’s depth a little; it gave one security. - -Then pretty soon, when they began to get the knack of making the old -thing move along in the water where they wanted it to, they would go -out to the little sandbars and reefs that had before been beyond their -reach. - -Some of these had mango bushes where a certain variety of small oyster -attached themselves to the stems and rocks, where they could be easily -gathered at low tide. One had an outcropping of rock in one place which -had several basin-like depressions, which Marian cleaned out and made -use of. She would boil down sea-water in her kettle, till it was about -a saturated solution, and then put it into the demijohn, and when -that was full would take it over and empty it into those shallow rock -basins, where the sun evaporated it till nothing was left but the salt. - -Close on the heels of the food problem had come that of clothing. -Marian thanked her stars that the soil of the Island was sandy and -brushed off easily, but even with that in their favor they had not been -on the Island so very long before their clothing sadly needed washing. -She put her whole flock into their bathing-suits and washed everything -else. But that made such inroads on her lone cake of soap that she -decided things must do without soap in the future, and what dirt would -not come out with water and sunshine would have to stay in. That went -sorely against the grain, for Mrs. Hadley was a notoriously neat and -clean woman and had trained her daughter in her own spick-and-span -ways; but it could not be helped. - -Before long it became plain that the question of washing was not -all there was to it either. Clothes constantly worn will in time -wear out, and Marian’s little flock soon became shabby as well as -dingy. She staved off the evil day for a while by decreeing that the -bathing-suits must be worn all the time, and so the other clothes were -folded away up at the Cave, to await the blest day when some one should -wander into San Moros and take them all back to the Port. - -The children were willing enough. It did away with the need of dressing -and undressing, for they had so little bedding that Marian let them -sleep in their suits too. Davie could not see any use in clothes -anyway, except when he was cold. Before long he rebelled against even -the little bathing-suit, and as there was no one to see and criticize, -his sister let him run from morning till night absolutely naked. He was -so fat and dimpled and sweet that the other children liked him best -that way, and his little body became so tanned that Marian called him a -little Indian, and because he strutted about in such a lordly way she -dubbed him Hiawatha. That tickled Delbert, who then tied his little -brother’s hair in tufts and stuck them full of feathers. - -Delbert himself began to need the barber’s services, but when Jennie -told him so one day he declared he was not going to have his hair cut, -he was going to let it grow long and make fishlines of it. - -“You’ll look fine,” said she, scornfully; “a boy with pigtails; you’d -better cut it, Marian.” - -But Marian, with a mental vision of how fine he would look after she -had barbered him with the buttonhole scissors, decided in favor of -pigtails. - -So Delbert tied a string about his forehead, stuck feathers in it, and -demanded an Indian name. Marian named him Chingachgook. Of course the -little girls wanted Indian names too, so she told Jennie she could be -Wahtawah and Esther Pocahontas. - -They were very much pleased and went straightway to hunt up some -feathers, though Delbert declared that squaws never wore them. - -“Never mind,” said Marian soothingly, “these squaws can do anything -they have a mind to.” - -She herself did not adopt a name, but Delbert used to call her the -great squaw chief. - -As for shelter, they never found on the Island a better place than that -which they had fortunately secured the first night. The bat cave near -the water’s edge was the only other cave of any considerable size, and -nothing else would have afforded any security whatever from a storm. -Whenever it was convenient, Marian reinforced the brush shade in front -of the Cave. She had it good and thick now, but of course it would -not have turned a rain. The nights were getting cooler, and she cast -about for ways and means of getting more bedding. She pounded sticks -and dried banana leaves into the Cave where it ran back and became -too narrow for their feet. She blocked up the sides with rocks and -pieces of driftwood and filled in the chinks with little wads of banana -leaves, so that the wind was shut out better. She saved the feathers -from the birds they killed, and tied them up in the little girls’ -petticoats for pillows, and she saved every rabbit-skin and stretched -it out so that it dried smoothly, scraping it as clean as she could, -and when it was almost dry, rubbed and worked it till it was soft and -pliable. This, of course, was not the same as having them tanned, but -she did not know how to tan leather, much as she wished she did. - -After she had learned how to keep herself supplied with salt, she used -to rub that on the fresh skins when she stretched them out to dry, -believing that was one good step toward preserving them. When she had -quite a number all finished up in this manner, she trimmed the edges a -little and sewed them together. In the course of time she would have a -robe large enough to cover them all, and as long as she could keep it -dry it would not spoil. - -Delbert was interested in bows and arrows. His first efforts at making -bows were not startling successes, by any means, and he soon turned -them over to Wahtawah and Pocahontas and tried for better ones for -himself. At first he used any and every kind of a straight smooth -stick he ran across, and it seemed almost impossible to find any that -combined the necessary straightness and strength, but when he finally -caught the idea of making them of palm-leaf stems, which are very tough -and strong, he evolved one that would actually shoot quite effectively. - -Then his sisters straightway clamored for good bows also, and he must -needs make for them too. He was at first a little scornful, but Marian -advised that he arm them as well as possible, for while the chances -of their bagging any game were slim in any case, there was simply no -chance at all with bows that were only toys. Bowstrings were made from -Marian’s hair, but arrow-points were a puzzling problem. The boys at -the Port had tipped their arrows with heavy wire, but wire was not an -Island commodity. Marian suggested bone, and a few were made of that -material, but it was so very hard to work, and the knives needed so -much whetting, that they were constantly on the lookout for something -easier. Finally they learned to make them of wood hardened in the fire. - -The first bows made were now Davie’s property, and he was so reckless -with his shooting that Marian forbade points of any description being -put on his arrows. He did not seem to mind the omission,--he never hit -anything except by accident, and then it was usually one of the other -children, and they were all careful not to call his attention to the -fact that his arrows were all blunt. - -Davie was the only one who was not at times more or less depressed by -their situation. He was so little, and had now been separated from -his mother so long, that he never fretted for her. Marian had always -taken the most of the care of him anyway, so as long as she was there -to do it he considered that conditions were normal. He found life -very interesting and satisfactory and felt no need of more extensive -society. His comical baby ways were closely watched and intensely -enjoyed by the other children, who loved him dearly, and they would -eagerly report to Marian everything funny he did when she was not -present. Even when he was naughty, which he occasionally was, they were -rather apt to overlook it and laugh at the funny spectacle he made of -himself. Delbert, though, would get provoked sometimes. - -One trick the little fellow had when His Majesty was displeased was to -hide the whetstone. This was a stone which he himself had picked up -out on one of the salt reefs. It was a little different from any other -that they had found and was splendid to sharpen the knives and hatchet -with. Delbert used to make quite an ado over borrowing it from Davie, -because it pleased him so to have something apparently so valuable to -lend. Marian, too, was careful to say, “Please lend me your whetstone, -Davie,” before she rubbed her knife over it, and as a rule he would -beamingly give permission. That and the dig-spoon were about the only -things that were considered especially his, and as it was not often -that any one else used the dig-spoon, he did not bother much about it; -but when he felt naughty he would conceal the little stone and refuse -to reveal its whereabouts. - -Sometimes Delbert would use some other stone then, or he would coolly -wait until Davie got over his pouts and brought forth the good one, or -else he would slyly hunt it up and use it without Davie’s knowledge, -carefully replacing it when he had finished. - -But one day he could not find it, and Davie simply would not get it. -Marian herself wanted it too, but Davie resisted even her coaxing. -Delbert lost all patience, and Marian began to wonder on the second day -if some measure more strenuous than common might not be needed. She -began to think that perhaps the child himself did not know where it -was; it might possibly be that he had lost it instead of hiding it. He -was so little and his speech was so limited as yet that she did not -always feel sure that she understood him perfectly. Perhaps he simply -did not want to admit that he had not been bright enough to keep track -of the valuable thing himself. But then Esther saw him playing with the -stone off by himself. When she ran to tell Marian, however, he hid it -again and only smiled impishly at their requests. - -No, he was simply being naughty, and, what was worse, was staying -naughty; so after a little Marian issued her verdict. - -“I won’t punish him, though I could probably make him get it by -spanking him, but mother never did that to him, and I will not till I -really have to, but the next time any of you see that whetstone you may -take it from him and I will confiscate it and it won’t be his stone any -more.” - -“But,” said Jennie dubiously, “it _is_ his stone; he found it, Marian.” - -“That is true,” returned her sister, “and if it were some less -necessary thing I would say he had a right to do as he chose with it, -but a whetstone is something we all need. I need it to sharpen the -hatchet with; nothing else I can find does so well. Delbert needs it -right now to sharpen his knife, so he can work out that bone arrowhead. -It is to Davie’s interest as well as ours that the hatchet and knives -should be sharp, only he is so little he can’t realize it. Just because -he saw the stone first does not give him a right to hide it away and -refuse to let us use it, when we all need the use of it and there is -not another one like it that we know of.” - -She explained this all as well as she could to Davie, but he remained -obdurate. They set themselves to work, therefore, to ferret out the -much-needed implement, and before long Delbert found it and brought it -in triumph to Marian, who took possession of it amid Davie’s loud wails. - -His crying availed him nothing, however; the stone was put in a cleft -of the rock where only Marian and Delbert could reach it, and the -young would-be monopolist finally decided that it was not worth crying -for, and, smoothing out his face, trotted about his affairs as sweetly -important as ever. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -THE EGG ISLANDS - - -It was now growing close to that time so dear to children’s -hearts,--and grown people’s, too, for that matter,--namely, Christmas. - -The Hadleys had always made much of it, and, hampered as she was, -Marian determined to celebrate in some manner. She had had to let -Thanksgiving go by unnoticed, for the especial rite of that day is a -loaded dinner-table, and she had bowed to the inevitable, but, though -good dinners are in order of a Christmas Day, they are not the entire -programme, and Marian’s fertile brain grew busy. - -In her workbag was the roll of fine lawn of which she had been making -handkerchiefs. One was partly made, and with careful planning there was -enough material to make three more, leaving a few little scraps. In -off moments, when the children were engaged in making love to the baby -burro or busy at play on the beach, she hemmed the handkerchiefs, and -then with her colored silks outlined Mother Goose pictures on them and -wrote the children’s names in the corners. So far, so good. - -Then she constructed three little dolls, each doll being made of one -straight bone with a knob at one end that would do for the head, with a -wishbone tied below to make the arms. One doll had wishbone legs too, -but that exhausted the supply of wishbones, and the other two had to -be content with legs that were not so nicely matched. Faces and hair -she made with the lead-pencil, and little suits of underwear from the -scraps of lawn, and she cut a piece out of the ruffle of her colored -petticoat for the dresses and three cunning little sunbonnets. For -Delbert she whittled out a little boat about three inches long and -rigged it out with silken ropes and a lawn sail. - -On Christmas Eve she gathered them about her in front of their fire up -by the Cave, and told them Christmas stories till they were sleepy, -and, to their glee, had them hang up their stockings before they -crawled into the Cave and cuddled into bed. - -Somewhat to her surprise, they insisted that she hang up her stocking -too, which she did, wondering much what they had planned to surprise -her with, for she knew now, by their dancing eyes and loving voices, -that they had planned something, though she had not noticed anything -mysterious in their behavior before. - -In the morning she was careful to go down to the well for a pail -of water the first thing, so as to give them a chance to fill her -stocking, and, sure enough, upon her return she found it full to -overflowing. - -It seemed that for several weeks back Delbert and the little girls had -been saving every pretty shell and feather they found for this purpose -and they had accumulated a large assortment. - -Shells, feathers, crabs’ claws and seaweed,--how sharp their bright -eyes had been to spy out every pretty thing they passed! How -industriously the little hands had gathered! - -Marian’s heart swelled. How she praised that collection! And -straightway after breakfast she hunted up a nice, safe, dry little -cleft in the rock, a sort of a baby cave, where she arranged them all, -sorting the feathers and tying them in bunches, and when all was in -order fitted one of the little boards they had found in the cove in -front for a door, so nothing should disturb the treasures. - -That morning, out on one of the salt reefs, they found a log in among -the mango bushes, where it had hitherto lain unseen. Marian judged that -it had been tossed there by the storm the night of their arrival, for -it did not appear to have lain there so very long. - -Of course, they worked and tugged till they had it in the water, and it -was so much of an improvement over the old canoe that they straightway -discarded that,--Marian later working it into the corral,--and every -day they went out on the log. - -It floated in shallower water than the canoe and was easily poled or -paddled wherever they wished to go, but it had two drawbacks; first, -it had nothing to which the rope could be tied to moor it,--but that -really did not matter much for they could roll it up on the beach out -of reach of the water; but for the second, it was so round and smooth -that it was forever rolling over and spilling some one off into the -water, and this drawback simply had to be put up with. - -One morning, down in the cove, Delbert found a small watermelon. -Probably it had been lost overboard from some steamer passing by out -in the Gulf, for it was many a long league to where such things were -grown, yet in any case it seemed a wonderful thing that, with all that -waste of tossing water, that little melon, scarce as large as Marian’s -head, should have drifted into San Moros and then into their cove. It -was ripe and they ate it, gnawing down the rind to the very outside. -Ordinarily Marian would not have allowed that, but so small a melon -divided into five pieces did not give a very large piece to each one, -and they were hungry for something besides animal food, and had not -found a really _good_ bunch of bananas yet. - -They saved the seeds of the melon and decided to plant a patch with -them, though they hoped to be rescued long before they could eat of the -fruits of their labor. To plant the patch would give them something new -to do, and perhaps some one else would be benefited by the crop even if -they were not. - -Marian had never been much of a gardener, but she thought the long, -low, sandy point would be a good place to plant, for by digging down a -little there they would reach soil that was always damp with the fresh -water underneath; so the garden would not need irrigation, and she had -heard some one say that sandy soil was good for melons. - -Delbert remembered reading in his history that the North American -Indians used to put a fish in each hill of corn for fertilizer, and he -wanted to try it. But fish were not so easily secured as to warrant -that; they were growing scarce in High-Tide Pool, and in other places -they were not very hungry somehow, and it was rare, indeed, when -Delbert could manage to spear one with his one-pronged spear. - -However, the traps were gathering in rabbits pretty frequently, and -the discarded portions of these could be used instead. So they planted -their melon-patch, digging holes down to the damp soil and planting the -seeds in the bottoms with a little fertilizer near. Marian saved half -the seeds in case the planting should not prosper and should have to be -done over again. - -When they had finished that labor and were proudly viewing their neat -rows of melon holes, Delbert suddenly exclaimed, “Say, Marian! I bet I -know where we could get some more vegetable seeds.” - -“For pity’s sake, where?” - -“In my coat pocket. Don’t you remember when Bobbie’s father sent off -for seeds, and they were so long in coming, and the rats had got to ’em -somewhere on the road and chewed holes in the papers, and the seeds -were all spilling out? Well, I helped Bobbie carry them home from the -office, and we put them in our coat pockets, some of them, and I’ll bet -there are some of those seeds in my pockets yet.” - -Straight they went to the Cave and turned every pocket wrong side out -over a white cloth and with miserly care saved every tiny seed that -fell. There was in all nearly a teaspoonful. Marian separated them, -putting each kind in a clamshell by itself. - -There were seven kinds. One was peas; there were just three of them. -They were not sure of the others, though Jennie rather thought one kind -was eggplant, and Marian was pretty sure another was onions. - -Down in a corner by the bananas was the place chosen for this second -planting. They built a fence around it, a rather frail affair, but -specially designed to keep out rabbits, and they sprinkled the beds -twice a day. All three of the peas sprouted, but something ate them -up. What Marian had thought was onions never came up at all, but the -remaining five kinds all sprouted and grew well, and though their ranks -were diminished by various bugs and birds,--for Marian could not be on -guard every minute of the time,--there were a few plants of each kind -that survived all accidents. - -Jennie’s eggplant turned out to be big sweet peppers; the other plants -proved to be turnip, carrots, lettuce, and--poppies. Delbert could -never understand about that last, for he was very sure Bobbie’s father -had sent only for vegetable seeds, but Marian thought Bobbie’s mother -had probably had something to do with the list of seeds ordered. - -The melons did best of all. There were so few of the others that Marian -vetoed all eating till the seeds could be gathered, but the melon-patch -produced abundantly, so that they did not have to worry about seeds, -but began eating as soon as the centers were pinkish, and only saved -seeds from the best ones that came later. - -But long before the melons were ripe, their scanty larder had been -replenished from a totally different direction. - -“Marian,” Delbert had said, “those little white-looking islands away -down the bay are duck islands. Clarence told me so, and I can see the -ducks going to them every day. Wish we could go there; duck eggs are -good, I tell you.” - -Away down San Moros they could see them, two little islands, mere -trifles compared with Smugglers’, and so far away that ordinarily -Marian would not have wasted a moment on thoughts of a journey there, -but eggs, perhaps young ducks, and here were her hungry little crew -gazing wistfully. “Ducks” the children called them, and it was not till -long afterward that they learned that the birds were really cormorants. -If they had known this at the time, they might not have been so hungry -for the eggs, but cormorants’ eggs, like the eggs of other seabirds, -are not uneatable when one is hungry enough, and they are often eaten -by fishermen. - -The young girl thought and studied and made ropes and looked toward the -“duck islands.” Every morning long lines of birds went out from them to -the sea; every evening long lines came back. - -On those two islands thousands of these “ducks” were nesting. - -All of her charges could swim now; even Davie could help himself a -little in the water. If only the log did not turn over in the water so -easily and often! If that could be remedied, Marian thought they might -risk the voyage. She and Delbert could easily steer the craft now. They -had picked and chosen among the few poles at their disposal, till they -had three that seemed pretty good,--one longish one for poling, two -others that served in a fashion as paddles. Jennie and Esther could use -them a little. - -Then a full week was spent in cutting down banana plants and fixing -them in the corral fence so as to release the poles that were in it, -and this was the time too when the old canoe was put into the fence. - -Those big poles, though not nearly so large as the log, were now laid -parallel to it and tightly lashed on, making an extension on each side -that would prevent the log rolling over, so that, while they could -not ride on it and keep dry, they could at least ride it in safety. -They could not now roll the craft up the beach, but it could easily be -moored by tying a rope to one of the poles. Good ropes were scarce, -though; it had taken the best ones to lash the queer raft together. - -Marian’s mind was now fully made up for the venture. They started -early. The old barrel was tied on, also the broken demijohn. Fire -to cook their dinner with was a question. Marian did not want to -risk taking the matches for fear they would get wet by some unlucky -accident, so she put a quantity of ashes in the barrel and buried some -good half-burned brands in them. And because they did not know for sure -whether they would find wood on the “duck islands” or not, they took -along a little bundle of sticks too. They had learned that the trunks -of the banana plants contain a tough, strong fiber, and they were using -this for tying, where short strings were wanted. - -Their breakfast consisted of cold boiled cottontail left over from -supper and a few small and very inferior bananas. These they ate on -the raft after they had started, and they drank from the bottles of -water which had also been put into the old barrel. It was not a very -ample meal, and they turned longing eyes on the distant islands. It was -devoutly to be hoped that food was plenty there. - -The sea was very smooth; Marian would not have started if it had not -been. The raft was easily paddled along, and she soon lost the few -nervous misgivings with which she began the trip, but she also soon -decided that she would never make it again till she had studied up some -way of putting up a sail. She was quite sure that Clarence would have -done it, and it did seem as if it would take forever to get across that -stretch of water. - -However, they reached their destination before noon, and, drawing -their odd craft up on a bit of beach, they took everything ashore and -hunted a good place for a fire. Having found one, they carefully drew -the embers from their bed of ashes and, with much coaxing and blowing -and pulling of handfuls of dried grass, finally got a little blaze -started, and then they hung the kettle over it with water to heat for -the eggs which they then went to hunt. - -[Illustration: THE GROUND WAS COVERED WITH THE ROUGH NESTS] - -They had to climb a little to reach the eggs, but there were certainly -plenty of them when they got there. The ground was covered with the -rough nests,--just a few sticks with no art in the construction,--but -there were hundreds upon hundreds of them, far beyond the children’s -power to count. There were eggs in all stages of incubation from -fresh-laid to fully hatched, and awkward squabs tumbled about, while -the air was rent by the discordant cries of the older ones. - -The unpleasant odor arising was so strong that Jennie sickened -and quickly retreated to the beach below, where the fresh air was -untainted, but Esther and Davie were undaunted by the noise or the -smell and remained to be taught the difference between fresh eggs and -stale ones. The eggs were smaller than the ordinary hen’s egg, being -more slender and pointed, with a pale-blue chalkiness, which was not so -apparent in eggs that had been for some time sat upon. - -Neither Delbert nor Marian had seen these islands before or any others -like them, but Clarence had, and they remembered his teaching and soon -had all the fresh eggs they could carry away. Delbert also picked out a -couple of half-grown squabs, whose necks he wrung as soon as he reached -the beach; and soon they had their kettle full of eggs simmering, while -the squabs roasted before the fire. - -[Illustration: DELBERT PICKED OUT A COUPLE OF HALF-GROWN SQUABS] - -Cormorants’ eggs have a slight fishy flavor, but the Hadley appetite -did not stick at that, nor at the fact that the white does not -coagulate solid, but remains a quivering jelly of a pale-green color, -through which the yellow yolk can be plainly seen. The flavor of the -squabs, too, might not have been appreciated at Delmonico’s, but -Marian’s company was not so fastidious as some people are. That which -could be eaten they ate without ado. - -And after they had eaten all they wanted, they examined the island. -There was nothing of importance upon it but the birds and the eggs. -There was some driftwood, to be sure, which they threw up on the high -banks out of reach of the tides, in case they might want it some time; -and down on the narrow little beaches the children found great numbers -of little clamshells, from the size of Davie’s little fingernail up -to as large as a quarter, and of various assorted colors, which they -gathered with great enjoyment. - -Their fire at home having been carefully covered as usual, they did not -need to take any embers back with them, and so used the ashes to pack -eggs in, putting into the barrel and the old demijohn all they thought -they could use up before they would spoil. It took several trips up -to the nests to get enough, and they took a dozen half-grown squabs -as well. These, with their legs tied together, were also put into the -barrel, where in spite of all precautions they managed to break quite a -number of eggs before they were landed at Smugglers’. - -As it chanced, they had a tide in their favor on the way home, and -they arrived in good time. They carried their eggs up to the Cave and -they picketed the squabs out, tying each one where it could not get -entangled with its neighbors. - -Their supper consisted of eggs and some quail that had got into the -traps during their absence, and as they sat about their cozy fire up at -the Cave, Marian felt that the day had been well spent. - -It took considerable planning to contrive a sail for the raft. To begin -with, there was nothing at all suitable for a mast, and, secondly, -there was nothing suitable for a sail. The hatchet, too, was by this -time very dull and needed a great deal of sharpening. Delbert said he -had seen Indian canoes with an oar for a mast and a blanket for a sail, -and they could use a blanket also and perhaps could make shift with a -pole of some description in lieu of an oar; but even then it needed -ropes, and they had used all theirs in lashing the raft together, and -there were no more palm-leaves till more should grow. It was then they -resorted to banana fiber entirely. It took considerable time to work it -out nice and clean, but they finally got serviceable ropes of it. With -a great deal of bracing and tying of crooked poles, they succeeded at -last in rigging up a sail that very materially assisted them in making -several other trips to the bird islands before the nesting-season was -over. - -But to carry live coals with them when they went away from the home -island was a nuisance, and Marian did not want to use the matches -except in case of absolute necessity. Besides, there was danger of -getting them wet if they were taken on the raft, for nothing on that -craft was sure of not receiving a bath sooner or later on every trip, -and often everything and everybody got ducked several times; even what -was in the barrel was not always secure. - -The children wanted Marian to try building a fire with the crystal of -her watch, but she did not want to take that off for fear of getting -dirt in the works. - -“But there are other ways,” she told them. “Our grandparents used to -make fire with a flint and steel. Let’s watch for flints.” - -“Why, I’ve got a flint now in my pocket,” said Jennie. “Carmelita gave -it to me. She said her father lit his cigarettes with it, but he had -bought him another one.” She produced a bit of stone as big as the end -of her thumb. - -Marian examined it. - -“This is too small,” she said. “It has been used till it is nearly all -chipped away; there is hardly enough of it left to hang on to.” - -“Why won’t any stone do?” asked Jennie, as she pocketed her treasure. - -“I guess because flint is harder than other stone. It has to be hard -enough to shave off a little shaving of steel you know. That is what -the spark is, a tiny shaving of steel that is afire.” - -“Where’d we get steel?” asked Esther. - -“Oh, the knives are all steel.” - -“And the dig-spoon?” - -“No, that is only iron. It isn’t just the same thing, Pocahontas, and -I’m sure if we keep our eyes open we can find little pieces of flint -that will do.” - -That, indeed, was not difficult. They soon had a collection of bits of -flint, some of which, indeed, were actual arrowheads dropped in some -age long gone by. - -Then Marian tried over and over to strike sparks from the bits of flint -and the backs of the knives; sometimes a weak little spark would fly -out only to disappear immediately, and no kindling she could get would -ignite. They had seen Mexicans light their cigarettes by this method -time and again, but the Mexican has a prepared wick which catches the -spark and burns on till it is put out. - -Marian tried to make a wick from strips of rag torn from the towel, but -it was of no avail. She was not very successful in striking a spark in -the first place, and she never could retain one for a second after it -was struck. - -“I believe we’ve got to be more primitive still,” she said to Delbert. -“The real wild Indian makes his fire by rubbing two sticks together.” - -Something distracted her attention then, and she thought no more about -it till Delbert came to her a half-hour later, flushed and tired and -disgusted. - -“Marian,” he said, “I don’t believe any Indian _ever_ made two sticks -light by rubbing them together!” - -“Have you been trying it?” she asked. - -“Yes, and I’ve rubbed and rubbed and _rubbed_, and they don’t light at -all.” He showed the sticks that he had been rubbing broadside against -broadside till they were quite nicely polished. - -Marian had to laugh. - -“Dear boy, they don’t do it that way,” she said. “I don’t know that I -can do it, but I saw it done once. I truly did. Do you remember that -man--I don’t suppose you do, though, you were so little, but he was -uncle to the lady that lived in the white house just across the stream -there where we lived before Ronald died.” - -“I remember the white house,” said Delbert, “and the lady,--Mrs. -Walton, wasn’t it? She had the funny cats with long hair and she always -had pink ribbons on their necks.” - -“Angora cats. Yes, I remember she had a couple. Well, her uncle came -to visit her once, and he had been agent or something out on an Indian -reservation, and he knew all kinds of Indian things that the Walton -boys wanted to know, and so he used to tell them about these things, -and I took it all in whenever I was there. He knew how to scalp a dead -enemy, and how to tie a live one to a horse so he couldn’t get away. I -remember those two things distinctly, and he explained about smoking a -peace pipe, and how to tell which way you were going when you got lost, -and also--how to make a fire with two sticks.” - -“Well, I just want you to show me; that’s all!” - -“All right, we’ll try it. That man told just what kind of wood to use, -but I’ve forgotten that, and probably we couldn’t get the same kind -anyway. I guess this piece will do to begin with, and if it doesn’t -work we’ll try some other kind. Now, it wants a nice smooth, round -stick. Give me your knife; I can whittle better with it than I can with -the other one. Let me see, it needs a--where is that broken bottle that -Davie was playing with that just had the rounded bottom left on it? -That’s it. You see, now, we have this stick about a foot long, and we -smooth one end off nicely, and we make the other one pointed, then we -make a little notch in this other stick and down like that. Where is -your bow? I believe that is too big. Give me Jennie’s and tighten the -string on it. Now I put this big stick with the notches down where I -can hold it firm with my foot, so, and take a turn of the bowstring -around the little round stick, so, and--give me that piece of bottle--I -put it over the top end of the round stick so it can revolve smoothly, -which it could not do in the palm of my hand,--at least, not without -wearing my hand out,--and I fit the pointed end into the top notch I -made in the other stick, so. Now, you will see how quick we’ll have a -fire here.” - -She started drawing the bow back and forth, thereby twirling the stick -first one way and then the other, and she whirled and whirled and -whirled it till her arm fairly ached; but nothing came of it. She took -a rest and tried again. This time she produced smoke and charred the -sticks a little, but still no fire. - -“Perhaps it isn’t the right kind of wood,” said Delbert. - -That was the beginning of their effort to make fire without matches. -It was fascinating. With some sticks the smoke would curl up thick and -white till Marian’s eyes fairly smarted with it, but no fire appeared. -Delbert tried it, the little girls tried it, and Davie, with great -gravity and earnestness, tried it too. - -They whittled sticks constantly in the endeavor to get one just right. -Then the craze died out for a few days; but it was taken up again. -Marian was sure that she was doing it just as the Walton’s boys’ uncle -had done it, and he had produced fire in a very short time,--not more -than a minute, she was sure. She studied over the problem. It seemed as -if with so much smoke and charring it simply must ignite, but it did -not. She would rub and rub, till there would be a teaspoonful of brown -powdered wood at the foot of her downward notch, but never a spark. -She would drop the implements in disgust and go at something else, but -always next day, or the next, she returned to them and tried again. - -She had seen it done and she herself could produce a little wreath of -smoke, while her implements grew hot and actually charred. She tried -with every kind of driftwood that seemed different from what she had -used before, and while up in the pasture she would cut sticks from the -different growing shrubs and dry them in the hot sun to experiment -with. Then, one day, as she watched the little pile of black powder -fall from her twirling stick, she saw a bit of it turn to a red glow -and knew that she had succeeded. - -How they scurried for kindlings and coaxed that tiny bit of brightness! -It glowed and glowed till all the black powder was burned, and then it -went out. Well, having once done it, of course she could do it again, -and next time she would be prepared and have fine stuff ready to kindle -with. - -So she tried again and again and again, till her arm ached and her -breath came in gasps. And the children would squat in a circle, their -bright eyes glued to the tiny pile of powdered charred wood, and -Esther, with unvarying monotony, would ask, “Why doesn’t it light, -Marian? Did before”; and presently, “Why doesn’t it light, Marian? Did -before.” - -It was fully a week after the first success before she achieved the -second one, and then also, in spite of her best and most earnest -endeavor, she could not kindle it any farther, and when the charred -powder was exhausted it went out. - -Of course, she could not spend all her time upon it, but every day -there would be a trial of it sandwiched in between other labors. - -She took particular notice of the wood she was using when success -crowned her efforts. The little round stick was from a piece of -driftwood. She did not know what it was, but it was a soft wood that -whittled easily, and the base piece was from a kind of tree cactus -called _echo_.[4] - - [4] Pronounced _ayʹ tcho_. - -After a while she became so accomplished that she could produce fire -about every tenth time she tried, and in course of time she became much -more expert than that. She always used _echo_ for her base piece, and -for the other she found that a certain bush up in the pasture was best. -She could cut sticks from it and dry them, and they were straight and -round and smooth without any whittling. - -Also she learned that a handful of grass so old and dry that it had all -turned gray, if it were broken and rubbed till it was very fine, made -good kindling. With a handful of that over her precious coal of fire, -she could, with careful coaxing, get a blaze, and then it was easy to -build on with other material. - -Having once learned how, she felt easier. She laid up pieces of the -selected wood in several places on the Island, where they would keep -dry,--carried some away back into the bat cave for one place,--besides -having a good supply tucked away in the home Cave. - -When they went away from the Island, they would take a couple of the -fire-sticks with them along with Delbert’s arrows. They used to tie -them high up on the mast to keep them out of the way of spray and -splashings, and Marian would slip the bottle-bottom into her pocket. -The glass was somewhat clumsy, however, and there was danger of -cutting her fingers on it, and afterwards they found some shells--big -barnacles, I think they were--which served the purpose just as well and -were neater and safer to handle. - -Dried grass they could always find; so they could have a fire whenever -they wanted it without using the matches, which were dropped into the -workbag to await some possible emergency. On the Island, however, they -found it more convenient to bury the brands from one fire over to -another, as they had done before. - -Their trips to the egg islands, however, did not wait on all of this. -As before mentioned, there were two of these islands. On the farther -and smaller of the two they found several things that proved of value. -It was the one the nearer to the mainland, and some time or other there -had been a house or camp of some description on it. They found the -blackened stones where the food had been cooked over the fire and some -broken fragments of pottery such as the natives use, and, not far away, -some scraps of iron so broken and rusty that they could not make up -their minds what they had been, but Marian saved them. - -Growing near were shrubs and bushes like those in their own pasture, -but Delbert found one bush that had two shoots longer and straighter -than any he had yet seen, and when cut and trimmed they made better -spear-handles than the one he had been using. And at low tide they -found there the largest oysters they had yet discovered anywhere. - -When back at their own camp, Marian and Delbert resolutely attacked -the job of making a better spear or harpoon than the one they had. -It seemed to the girl that if one only understood a little of -blacksmithing, one of the pieces of iron could be altered a little and -made into a very respectable spear-head, and perhaps, if one did not -understand, one could learn a little. - -She could easily poke the iron into the fire till it grew red-hot. To -handle it afterwards was the question. She and Delbert were both afraid -of getting burned, and wasted much time because of that fear. - -They rigged up a rude pair of tongs with some green sticks and a little -rope, and, using the hatchet for a hammer and a flat stone for an -anvil, they began work. It was intensely interesting. - -The experiment in “duck”-raising proved unsuccessful, for the cormorant -squabs which they brought home alive would eat nothing but fish, and -as each one of them demanded more than his own weight in food every -day, the children soon found that the task of keeping them fed was a -hopeless one. They killed them all off at once, therefore, and had such -a feast of “duck” that they were content to do without that particular -kind of meat for some time to come. - -They had plenty of eggs and clams, however, and an occasional quail -or rabbit; so they did not need to waste any time searching for food. -Davie and the little girls wandered off to play with the little bone -dolls or the baby burro. Marian glanced toward them or stopped to -listen sometimes, but the sight of their little forms near by or the -sound of their sweet, childish voices reassured her, and she continued -with the task in hand. - -A man who understood such things would have done much better even with -those rude tools. Time and again it seemed to the girl that she could -do no better, go no further in the task; then some idea would come to -one or the other of them, and they would work awhile longer. A full -week went by before the new tool was finished, a two-pronged affair, -one prong a little longer than the other and of a different shape, but -both sharp and barbed. It fastened quite snugly to the straightest of -the new handles. - -After that she and Delbert went spearing at night in the little harbor, -when the tide was just right and the children were asleep. They would -go out on the raft where there were mango bushes, but for this they -had to have a torchlight at one end of the raft. - -They had often seen the Indians at the Port start out at night with -great piles of _pitalla_ in their canoes to burn in a huge wire and -iron basket, which would cast a bright circle of light for quite a -space around, in which the fish could be plainly seen. Marian thought -that the light attracted them. - -This _pitalla_ is a kind of tree cactus the bark of which is very -resinous and when dry burns with a very hot, bright flame. They could -gather it in the pasture, but they had no wire basket and nothing to -make one of. The best, it seemed, that they could do was to make a mat -of green banana leaves and mud on the poles and build the fire on that. - -It was very unsatisfactory, for the water was forever washing over it -and putting it out. Necessity is the mother of invention, however, and -after a while Marian hunted in the pasture till she found four little -crotches of the same size, which she cut and trimmed and then fastened -on the extreme end of the log by tying them above and below it and to -one another. Then, by laying little sticks across them, she made a -platform which rose about three feet above the surface of the water. -She made it quite tight by weaving in stout twigs and banana leaves -and stems, and when it was finished, she plastered it over with the -slimiest mud she could find, and on that laid thin flat rocks, fitting -them with care so that their edges projected past the edge of the -platform and filling in the little chinks with mud and pebbles. On that -when it was finished, she could build her fire with safety, for it was -up out of reach of the water. It was not so good as the iron basket -of the Indians, for it was clumsier, it cast a shadow on the water, -and there was likelihood of its needing frequent repairs; but it would -serve. The supply of fuel could be kept dry by putting it into the -barrel, which was tied on so that its open side and end were upward. - -When they were first left on the Island, Marian would not have dared -take those night trips. She would not have dared leave the children -alone at the Cave for one thing, but in all the time that they had been -there they had seen nothing which could have harmed them save the one -rattlesnake which Delbert had killed. - -From the Cave they had cleared three paths,--one to the beach, one to -the garden and the little pier, and one toward the pasture. This last -had needed no clearing beyond the cutting-out of two or three bushes. -The path to the pier had been mostly a matter of clearing away loose -stones, and it was easy to follow even in the dark. - -However, it was only when Davie was sleepy that the children were left -at the Cave. When he gave promise of being able to keep awake, they all -went together. Marian would place him on the log between the little -girls and give them strict instructions that they were not to let go -of him. Then she and Delbert would take turns with the spear and the -steering of the craft. - -And when she had her little flock all with her, Marian would venture -out beyond the little harbor, where the water was shallow and the mango -bushes were thicker, and as long as their fuel lasted they would stay -out. - -It was a weird scene,--the star-dotted sky above, the black, whispering -water below, the clumsy raft in the light of the hot fire swept back -by the breeze, the slender, eager-eyed, half-naked boy watching keenly, -as mass after mass of the mango bushes came into the circle of their -light. Marian generally guided the raft, for she was better at that -than Delbert, who seemed about as successful as she with the spear. - -Not that either of them had any startling success. Indeed, for a -long time it always seemed accidental, more the fish’s fault than -theirs, when one became impaled upon the iron prongs. But the sport -was exciting, and there was always the need that lay back of it to -keep their interest spurred up, and after a while they both learned to -strike quickly and with force, so that, with constant practice, the -time came when a night’s spearing meant enough fish for one meal at -least, and, if luck was with them, for more. - -They had better luck with the spear at night than with the line in the -daytime, for the hairpin hook was very inadequate and big fish were -forever straightening it out. When a fish was speared, they put it -into the barrel with the fuel, where one of the girls held a piece of -drift-wood over it till the wildest of its flopping was past. - -[Illustration: THEY HAD BETTER LUCK WITH THE SPEAR AT NIGHT THAN WITH -THE LINE IN THE DAYTIME] - -Davie generally fell asleep, and then it took the whole attention -of Jennie to hold him safe. Indeed, Marian would not risk him with -just that, and used to take a rope along to tie him when he finally -dozed off. He objected strenuously to being tied as long as he was -awake enough to know it, but, once he was asleep, she could moor him -securely, and Jennie could devote herself to keeping him cuddled and -covered, with no fear that he would roll out of her hands when the raft -careened with some of the spearman’s wild lunges. - -When they had as many fish as they wanted, or, more often, when their -fuel was exhausted, they would paddle back to the little pier, moor the -raft, wash the fishiness off their hands and climb back up to the Cave, -where they would cuddle down in bed and quickly go to sleep. - -Then in the quiet, as she thought of her mother, Marian’s eyes would -fill with tears and her outstretched hand would pass lovingly over -each little form. “Safe as yet,” she would whisper, “and, O mother, I -promise to keep them safe till I can give them back to you again.” - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -THE JAGUAR’S TRACK - - -One day, while poking her inquisitive little nose into Marian’s -workbag, Esther fished up five or six knobby, roundish little lumps, -demanding, “What are these, Marian?” - -“Nasturtium seeds,” replied Marian carelessly. - -“’Sturtium seeds?” - -“Yes.” - -“Why, Marian,” reproachfully; “why haven’t you been planting ’em? Don’t -you know ’sturtium seeds are good to eat?” - -Marian gazed steadily for a moment at the seeds in the little girl’s -outstretched hand, then she slowly took them into her own. - -“Pocahontas,” she said solemnly, “I never thought of that. Of course -they are good to eat,--the seeds, leaves, flowers, stems, and all. -We’ll plant them before the sun goes down to-night.” - -“You’re a great squaw chief, you are,” said Esther scornfully. -“Jennie! Dellie! Looky, here’s ’sturtium seeds been in Marian’s bag all -this time, an’ she never thought of planting ’em.” - -Jennie and Delbert came up excitedly. Jennie, too, was rather inclined -to scorn at such evidence of Marian’s lack of thought, but Delbert -threw his arms around her and planted vehement kisses on her cheeks. - -“You shan’t scold her,” he declared. “She’s the best squaw chief ever -was. Nobody could do better, _nobody_ could, and I love her!” - -“So do I! So do I!” shrieked the girls, rushing in to contribute -their share of affectionate demonstration, and Davie, dropping the -dig-spoon, ran up, crying, “Do I! Do I!” in parrot-like refrain; and -Marian, laughing, had much ado to keep from being knocked down with the -onslaught. - -But the seeds were straightway planted, and in time became a profusion -of red and gold and green which delighted the eyes, and incidentally -the palates, of Marian’s nestful of hungry little hawks, as she called -them. - -In time also came warm weather and rains, and in some respects this -bettered their condition and in some respects it made it worse. - -With warm weather they needed less bedding and less clothing at all -times. Moreover, the rains made things grow. In the pasture there were -several things that they knew to be good for greens, and they gathered -a mess of some kind every day, boiling them with salt, and wondering -how it had been that they had once upon a time thought that greens must -have butter and vinegar to be really good. - -But the rains brought gnats and mosquitoes to some extent, and -sometimes these were so bad among the mango bushes that they could -take no comfort in fishing. Sometimes, too, they troubled them so that -they could scarcely sleep of nights, though their Cave was so high up -on the hill that there was usually a light breeze that drove away the -insect invaders. When the pests were very bad, the tribe would draw the -tablecloth over their faces or would throw grass and green leaves on -the fire, making a “smudge” that would subdue their tormentors. - -Marian thought the bananas had begun to respond a little to the -cultivation she had given them in the way of thinning out their -numbers. At any rate, they were bearing a slightly better class of -fruit. As soon as a bunch ripened a little, the birds would promptly -start in to take their share, and she would cut down the stalk and take -the bunch up to the cave, where she could keep it safely covered up -till it was ripe enough to be good eating. - -With these and the greens and the watermelons she felt always sure of -a sufficient commissary supply. Still, they were as keen as ever to -detect new food. One day Delbert came in with several bulbs, or roots, -that he had dug up in the pasture. He said they looked good enough to -eat and he wanted to try them. - -Marian was very doubtful, but finally put them to roast in the coals -while they went down for their morning swim, intending to offer one to -the baby burro when they got back. They had taught the burro to eat -everything that they did, and Delbert had suggested that they try the -new food on him first. - -He was willing to be cautious, but he was not willing to let a -perfectly good food lie in the ground unused because they were not -courageous enough to find out about it. If the burro had no trouble -with it, Marian herself would sample a little, but very cautiously. -She would hold a little of it in her mouth awhile first and see if -anything came of it, and if it seemed all right they would all eat a -little. - -They had a fine swim. There were nice little breakers on the open side -of the Island that morning. The children would run out a little way, -wait till the right moment, then turn dextrously and let the foamy wave -sweep them up on the beach. Marian kept hold of Davie, for the water -was far too rough to trust his safety to his own little legs, sturdy -though they were. But, with her to hold his hand, he had no fear, and -laughed as loudly as the rest when the water slapped him off his feet -and swept him up with the seaweed and the crabs. After a while he said -he was tired and wanted to go and dig; so his sister let go of him, and -he trotted off to where he had left the dig-spoon under a rock, and a -moment later was excavating most industriously, while Marian turned her -attention to the others. - -They all joined hands and waded out a little farther than she had cared -to go with Davie. It was splendid fun, but pretty soon Jennie called -out, “Look, Marian! Davie is going up to the Cave!” - -They all looked; sure enough the little fellow was almost up the hill. -Delbert became excited immediately. - -“I’ll just bet he will go to monkeying with those potatoes!” he cried, -and started forthwith for the beach. The same thought had crossed -Marian’s mind at the same instant, and, ordering the little girls to -come too, she followed close at Delbert’s heels. - -They made all speed for the Cave, but they got there too late. Davie -was just gulping down the last mouthful as they reached him. - -He did his best to look sweetly innocent as he told them it was -“goo-ood!” Delbert’s face was a study. He was provoked enough to shake -his little brother thoroughly, yet he was frightened enough to cry. -Marian’s face turned pale. Perhaps the things were perfectly harmless, -perhaps even highly nutritious, but again perhaps they were deadly -poison. She dared not risk it, and tried everything she could think of -to force the small gourmand to disgorge his stolen--or shall we say -misappropriated?--tidbit. - -It was no use. Davie would not drink a lot of warm salt water, and he -would not let Marian run her fingers down his throat either. - -She tried coaxing first, to no avail, and then she used force, but -though they managed, by holding his nose, to get a few spoonfuls -of the emergency emetic down his throat, and though Marian got her -fingers well bitten, at the end of an hour or so the potatoes had not -reappeared, and Marian, regarding the thoroughly enraged and squawling -youngster, reflected that if any harm had been going to result from -his impromptu lunch it would probably have begun to take effect before -then, and so gave up the struggle. - -Still she was not easy. She watched him closely all day. After he got -over his fit of temper he went about his play just as usual. - -Several times in the night the elder sister awoke with a start, and, -leaning over him, held her breath till she heard the regular rising and -falling of his. All the next day she watched, but everything seemed to -be perfectly normal, and in the afternoon Delbert brought in another -batch of the potatoes, which they did try on the burro. Davie watched -with great interest. He said again that they were “goo-ood,” but he -did not offer to eat any himself. Marian thought that if her fight the -day before had not accomplished the end she worked for, it had probably -taught Davie to attend more strictly to his own business, which might -be of great advantage some time in the future. - -The burro also said the bulbs, or potatoes as Delbert called them, were -good, and ate all Delbert would give him; so afterwards they tried them -themselves. They found them somewhat like rather poor sweet potatoes, -but they were a welcome change for their bill of fare, nevertheless. -But they could not find them very often. - -The baby burro was a great comfort to the children. Sometimes, when -they were quite sure his mother was not near, they would let him out -of the corral, and he would follow them about like a dog. They even -made him drag home little bundles of wood for them sometimes. The other -burros were quite tame, but not enough so to be handled at will. - -Often the children had glimpses of the deer and sometimes of the pigs. -Marian had been afraid at first that these latter might be the wild -peccaries and more or less dangerous, but, after seeing them quite -close one time, she concluded that they were not, for they certainly -looked like the domesticated pig except that they were not at all fat. - -Always they kept watch of the sea, never forgetting that each day might -bring rescue, but, though many and many a sail passed by in the distant -Gulf, never a one turned into San Moros. Sometimes, indeed, Indian -canoes had been seen inside the narrow sandbars that divided San Moros -from the Gulf, hunting turtles maybe, but they did not come within -signaling distance of Smugglers’. - -Marian’s white skirt was flapping itself to tatters. Sometimes a heavy -wind and rain tore it down altogether, and they would find it beaten -into the sand, but it was always rescued, washed, dried, and sent aloft -again. - -The rainy days were the dreariest. Then there was nothing to do but -curl up at the Cave. The brush shade they had built in front did not -avail to keep out the rain. Before the rainy season was over they got -so sick and tired of huddling in the Cave every time it rained that -they would reduce their clothing to a minimum and go on with their -occupations as if nothing were happening. If you really don’t mind -getting wet, there is a fascination in becoming a part of the gray, -drizzling landscape. But they preferred the sunshine. - -One day, as Jennie tossed down an armload of wood beside the fire down -by the beach, something about her suddenly arrested Marian’s attention. -She looked startled. - -“Jennie,” she said, “come here.” - -Jennie came wondering, while Marian, dish-towel in hand, stood -motionless, gazing at her. - -“What is it?” asked the sweet-faced little girl. - -Her sister did not speak for a moment longer, then, “Lift up your -skirt,” she said. Jennie obeyed, revealing her little bare legs. - -Esther, drawing near, lifted her skirt also. Marian put down her dish -and towel and knelt in front of the two for a closer inspection. - -“Jennie,” she said finally, “Jennie, you are actually getting fat.” - -“Is she?” questioned Esther. “She isn’t as fat as I.” - -Marian took off Jennie’s jacket and inspected her arms. Delbert drew -near, and Davie came up to pass his expert opinion on the subject. “You -are getting fat,” repeated Marian. - -And it was so. The little face was rosy, the cheeks were not hollow -now, and the chin was not so pointed as it used to be. The little legs, -though not so plump as those of Esther’s showing, were really and truly -rounded out. - -“Well,” said Delbert, “she hasn’t been sick, you know, not since we -have been here, and we have been here ’most a year.” - -“No,” said Marian, “she has not been sick. She has not even complained -of feeling badly, as far as I can remember. Do you ever feel bad any -more, Jennie?” - -Jennie soberly examined her sensations for a moment. - -“I feel hungry,” she said. - -Marian laughed,--a long ringing peal; but there were tears in her eyes -too as she went back to her task. It was stewed “duck” that morning, -one that Delbert had shot with his bow and arrow and then swam out and -got. It was stewed duck and watermelon,--all they could eat of the -latter,--and after breakfast they armed themselves with the longest -poles they could get and went up into the pasture after the fruit of -the _pitalla_ cactus. - -This was the cactus whose dried bark they burned on their spearing -expeditions. The fruit grows high up and must be poked off with a long -stick and then have its many spines carefully removed before it can be -eaten. Fortunately, when it is ripe the spines come off easily and the -center is cool, sweet, and nutritious. They were very plentiful, and -sometimes they stewed them down in the little granite kettle, stirring -them constantly. This made a thick, syrupy jam that the children were -very fond of indeed. - -Marian filled her two-quart glass jar and set it away till times when -there should be none of the fresh fruit to be had. - -Conning their prospects over and over, Marian often pondered on the -chance held out by the mainland. With the aid of the log they could -easily reach it. It was not nearly so far across the harbor as it was -down to the egg islands. They could manage the raft so well now, and -they could all swim so well, that she was not afraid of going anywhere -when the water was smooth. - -And the mainland was just across the quiet little harbor. Suppose they -crossed over, what was the chance of making their way to some ranch or -settlement? Delbert could not remember just what it was that Clarence -had said about it, but it was something about there not being a house -for fifty miles, or was it a hundred?--he was not sure. - -A wild tangle of thorny woods, no road or path, no compass to guide -them! Perhaps a lagoon of water, perhaps not; perhaps plenty of -_pitallas_, perhaps not! Marian always shook her head at the end. Here -on the Island she was sure of food, here was safety and shelter, but -out there--How long would it be before Davie would tire out and she -would have to carry him? And then their path to be cut through how -many miles of thorny brush? And no certainty then that they were not -traveling in the wrong direction. - -No! And still it drew her, that mainland. - -Perhaps if they could climb to the top of those hills they could look -out over the land beyond, and perhaps some sign of a ranch might be -seen in the far distance. - -Many a time she had felt humbly grateful to Clarence for the things -he had taught them, odds and ends of stray knowledge that had come in -their need to be like precious jewels,--how to get oysters and clams, -how to sail a boat, how to paddle, and many other things. Now she felt -a little provoked that he had not taught them more. - -Why in the wide world couldn’t he have told Delbert where the nearest -habitation was, and what it was?--for it was quite likely that he knew. -How had he got his information? she wondered. - -When she suggested to Delbert that they cross over the harbor and climb -that highest mountain and see what they could see, he was very willing; -he had thought of it himself. - -So they started out one morning, taking water with them, but depending -on the _pitallas_ they would find for food. They crossed over easily -enough and did not have much trouble in reaching the foot of the -mountain. But the ascent was not an easy matter. There was cactus of -every description, all interwoven with thorny brush,--such a thick, -matted underbrush that the children were scratched and pricked all -over. - -Davie was crying lustily before long, and Jennie fell and, in her -efforts to catch herself, rolled a stone on Esther’s foot that showed -black and blue for many a day afterwards. Sometimes there would be -a space comparatively clear where they could pick their way without -encountering thorns at every step, and it was in one of these that -Marian saw that which turned her back and kept her feet from the -mainland for a year to come. - -They had just come up a particularly steep part of the mountain, where -an outcropping ledge added to the difficulties for little climbing -feet. Above it was space to breathe before one had to cope with the -next ledge above, which rose in an abrupt cliff. There was a _pitalla_ -tree there with a dozen fruit on it, all opened out red and inviting, -and Delbert started with the long pole to bring them down. - -Marian paused to get a thorn out of Esther’s thumb and two from her -next-to-the-littlest toe, and when that was finished the little girl -ran on to help the others gather the fruit, and the older one, rising, -put the needle carefully into a little case she had and slipped it into -her pocket. Her supply of needles was limited and she must not lose a -single one. - -[Illustration: THERE WAS A CAT-TRACK] - -Then, as she turned to join the others, her eye fell to the ground at -her feet, and there, plain and distinct, was a cat-track so large that -she could not have covered it with one of her hands, and her hands -were not so very small either. Fascinated, she stared at it. There -was no doubt as to what it was. She glanced around, but could see no -others. The ground chanced to be a little soft in that particular -spot. But surely that one was enough; there was no need of more. What -a monster it must have been to have made that track! Marian drew in -a quick breath and then threw up her head and called casually, “O -children, come back now. We won’t go any farther.” - -Delbert, his eyes wide with surprise, came quickly with some protesting -words, but Marian frowned warningly at him and with a tilt of her chin -indicated the track. His gaze found it instantly. Indeed, it seemed to -Marian to be the most conspicuous feature of the landscape. - -He bent his head toward it a moment; then his eyes met hers again. For -a second they looked at each other; there was no need of words. He -turned back to the _pitalla_ to hurry the others back, and Marian saw -him casting surreptitious glances at the cliff above them. - -The little girls and Davie were so glad to turn back that they asked -no questions, taking it for granted that the plan was changed because -there were too many thorns. - -The two older ones were rather silent on the way back. They went as -quickly as they could, but it was not a thing that could be done so -very quickly, and Marian grew more and more nervous. Supposing the -creature saw them, supposing--she jerked herself up and mentally gave -herself a good scolding, but never was she so glad as when they left -the mountain behind and pushed through to where the raft was tied, -waiting for them. - -As they pushed out and paddled back, calmness came to her. There were -hard things in her pathway, dreary things to face, but, compared with -what might be, her life seemed full of rosebuds and sunshine. - -Four pair of bright, loving eyes looked at her; four healthy, warm, -breathing little bodies would lie within reach of her touch that night. -Suppose one were ever missing through her fault or carelessness, what -pleasure would life hold then? - -Looking back at the face of the mountain, she judged that they had -climbed about a third of the way up. - -It was well into the afternoon when they got home, and a hungry lot -they were, too. - -That night Delbert waited till he was sure the little ones were asleep -and then he cautiously spoke Marian’s name. - -She was awake. “What is it?” - -He turned over and raised himself on his elbow. - -“Do you--do you suppose--it could swim over?” - -“I don’t think so,” said she; “it is probably strong enough, but it -seems to me I have read that they never go into the water unless they -are compelled to. No, I am quite sure it would never do that.” - -Delbert drew a long breath of relief. - -“I know the house kitty never wanted to get her toes wet,” he said. - -“No, we are quite safe from it here.” - -“I guess we’d better stay here,” he said. - -They did stay there. When the weather turned cold again, they were -in better condition than they had been the year before. They had two -rabbit-skin blankets, or robes, that kept out the chill winds at -night, and they had the brush shelter in front of the Cave so thick and -matted and interwoven with banana leaves and strips of stalk that the -wind did not penetrate that either; so with the bright fire they could -be comfortable through the evenings and cold nights. In the daytime -they were always so active that the cold did not much trouble them. -Besides, it soon warmed up after the sun rose. - -One day, while up in the pasture, hunting food and fuel, they noticed -an unusually large mescal or century-plant. These were very common on -the island, and Marian had never thought of any use they could put -them to, but that day it suddenly dawned upon her that very similar -plants were cultivated in some places for the rope fiber in the great -sharp-pointed leaves. Perhaps it would be stronger and better than -banana fiber. So they dug this one up by the roots and dragged it home. - -They chopped off the thick leaves and tossed the stump to one side. -Then, with some stones, the hatchet, and the knives, they thumped and -pounded and smashed the leaves and worked and scraped away till they -got the fiber out, and when they finally did get it, it seemed to -Marian that it really was better than banana fiber. That evening they -would see what kind of a rope could be made out of the new material. So -after supper they got at it, sitting before their fire at the Cave. - -They did not braid their ropes any more; they had learned better than -that; but they both felt that their method of rope-making could be -vastly improved upon, for it was a very slow process at best, and the -rope finally produced was a very uneven thing. - -But ropes they had to have. The raft must always be well lashed -together, and ropes so used soon wore out. Their fences were tied with -ropes in many places. They never went on any excursion without taking -some ropes along, for they were constantly wanting them, chiefly, -perhaps, to tie about their bundles of wood. A very large bundle of -heavy sticks could be quite easily dragged home with a rope. - -In the first place they had had only Delbert’s hair rope and had used -it for everything, but now they were trying to be as saving of it as -possible, never using it when another one would suffice, but Delbert -always carried it with him, coiled up and tied at his waist. - -When they finished working out the fiber it was clean, straight, and -pretty as it lay in a neat pile. - -“Now, how is the best way to do this?” asked Marian in a businesslike -tone. - -“I have been thinking,” said Delbert. “Remember that time I went with -Clarence and his father after a load of corn? Well, at one place where -we stopped there was an old Indian making ropes. I’ve been trying for a -long time to remember how he did it. Dear me!” he exclaimed in disgust, -“why didn’t I pay ’tention? Clarence explained it all to me, but I just -let it go into one ear and out the other. I wasn’t interested in making -ropes then.” - -“Can’t you remember anything about it at all?” asked his sister -sympathetically. “If you could just remember a point or two, we could -work it out from that, maybe. Davie, don’t you want to put a stick of -wood on the fire? Not that one, dear; that one won’t burn,” for Davie -had picked up the stump of the mescal plant and heaved it into the -center of the flames. - -“Yes, will burn,” asserted he complacently, and returned to his play of -fitting little clamshells together and laying them in a row. - -Jennie poked the stump to one side and raked the coals and hot ashes -over it. “We’ll dry it out, and then maybe it’ll burn, Davie dear,” she -said. - -“Here,” said Esther, gingerly handing over a piece of particularly -thorny _pitalla_; “this will make a light.” - -“Why, you see,” said Delbert, “they had the fiber--_este_ they call -it--all in a pile, but tangled as if they must have tangled it -themselves. They had that part of it all done when we got there, but I -remember Clarence said they laid it on something--a board, I guess--and -hooked one end over a nail to hold it, and scraped it with an old -machete blade fixed in a crooked stick,--scraped it and scraped it till -there wasn’t anything left of the leaf but the fiber; then, I s’pose, -they tangled it all up next; anyway, the man had a thing he whirled -and he backed off across the yard, a-whirling it and whirling it and -spinning a strand of rope out from that pile of _este_.” - -“Was it a wheel he whirled?” - -“No, it wasn’t. It was just a little stick thing he held in one -hand,--two sticks, one of them whirled on the other.” - -“Give me your knife,” said Marian, “and, Jennie, hand me that piece of -driftwood there by you; no, the other one. Was the stick he had as long -as that, Delbert?” - -“Just about, but it was nice and smooth.” - -“This will be nice and smooth when I get through with it. You just -tangle some of that fiber the way the old Indian had his.” - -Delbert began picking it apart and dropping it careless and crisscross. - -“You can just bet,” he burst out, “you can just bet your _boots_, if I -ever have a chance to see anybody else doing anything again, I’ll _see_ -what they are doing; don’t care what it is.” - -“That is the best way,” admitted Marian. “There are a whole lot of -things, simple things, that would help us a great deal if we only knew -how to do them. Can’t you remember anything more Clarence said about -this?” - -Delbert wrinkled his brows. “There was something about a -balance-wheel. What is a balance-wheel?” - -“I don’t know that I can explain it, though I know what it is myself. -Maybe I can show you pretty soon. Hand me that little smooth stick -about a foot and a half long, that one with the knob on the end. Yes, I -think that will do nicely.” - -She had shaved and whittled the piece of driftwood till it was about a -foot long, an inch thick, and two and one half inches wide at one end -and tapering to a point at the other, which point she whittled into a -button-like knob. Just back of the knob she made a hole big enough to -slip the second stick into. It slipped down, but was prevented from -slipping clear off by the knob on the end of it. Then, grasping this -second stick, she began to whirl it so that the driftwood stick whirled -round and round on it. - -“There!” she cried; “does that look anything like it, Delbert?” - -“It does! it does! That’s it exactly! How did you guess?” - -“I didn’t guess. I have seen one myself somewhere, but didn’t know what -it was for. I think I saw a couple of them down at Doña Luisa’s one -morning when I went down for milk. But the proof of the pudding is in -the eating. Let’s see how this complicated machine will work.” - -She twisted a little of the tangled fiber round the knob on the -driftwood stick and began to twirl. Of course it promptly twisted the -fiber into a little strand. - -“Here, Delbert,” she said, “you whirl this while I spin out the strand, -or else it will all twist up in bunches.” Sitting down by the little -pile of fibers, she grasped the twisting strand in one hand so that it -should spin out of an even size. “Now, whirl away,” she said, “and back -off as fast as it spins out.” - -“This is just the way they did it,” said Delbert. “I remember now, -there were two of them; one whirled the stick, and the other sat down -and pulled the strand out of the pile of fiber just as you are doing -it.” And he backed off, whirling vigorously, until the little pile of -tangled fibers was all used up. - -“There,” she said, “that is a lot better than twisting it just with our -fingers, as we have been doing with the banana fiber, and it certainly -beats braiding all hollow. We can twist and twist and twist, and then -we can put as many strands as we want to into the rope.” - -They worked that night till they had used up all their fiber, and then -went to bed, agreeing to go next day and gather more mescal plants. - -In the morning, when Marian raked open her fire, she raked out the -stump of the mescal plant. It was brown and juicy. She began to examine -it. - -“Looks good. Doesn’t it?” she said to the children, who were rolling -out of the Cave. - -Esther came suddenly forward and bent over it. “It is good, too,” she -declared. “That is the stuff they had down at Julianita’s one day. They -were eating it, and said for Jennie and me to eat some too, but Jennie -wouldn’t touch it ’cause she was ’fraid it would make us drunk.” - -“You didn’t eat any either,” remonstrated Jennie. - -“I didn’t ’cause you didn’t.” - -Marian was cutting the stump in pieces. They all tried it. It was -sweet and good, though there was a great deal of string and fiber to -be discarded after the sweetness and goodness had been chewed out and -swallowed. - -“But it _is_ what they make mescal of; isn’t it?” asked Delbert. - -“I presume it is; in fact, it must be, only this wild plant doesn’t -grow just the same as the tame ones, maybe; but it must be that they -cook the centers something like this and mash them and let them ferment -and distill it some way. It seems to me I have heard how it was done, -but I was like you about the ropes; I didn’t pay enough attention to -remember. It certainly never occurred to me that there was anything -about it that was any good to _us_. I think we owe Davie a vote of -thanks.” - -“Clarence ought to have told us,” said Esther reproachfully. - -So another food was added to their list, and after a little practice -they could turn out mescal fiber ropes that were so smooth and well -twisted that they could be used to lasso with. - -The two little girls had learned to lasso burros, but Marian’s aim -was not much better than Davie’s. She did not practice the art as her -little sisters did. She whittled out a big crochet-hook, though, and -then twisted a very fine strand of fiber and crocheted a bag of it that -was very useful to put things into on their travels. Whenever there was -a storm, they would always go to Bonanza Cove afterwards to collect the -riches found there. - -These consisted mostly of driftwood, and the small pieces could go -into the bag, while the big ones were tied together and carried or -dragged home. But sometimes other things came, bottles empty but -corked,--so many of them that Marian concluded all sailors must be sad -drinkers,--bits of board, an old leaky bucket, and, best of all, this -second year, a broken oar. - -“I hope it didn’t incommode any one much when it broke,” Marian said, -“but we certainly can make good use of it.” It was just barely long -enough to use as a paddle. - -When it came nesting-time again, they were right on hand at the bird -islands. They would put the eggs into the bag and the demijohn and a -few young squabs into the barrel, and they were so much better equipped -for the cruise than they were the first time they made the trip that -it did not seem such a big undertaking, and they could go oftener. - -Once, while out on one of the sandbars, hunting clams, they saw -something farther out still, something dark on the water. Delbert -thought it was probably only a mass of seaweed, but he wanted to go -and see. So, as the water was very smooth that morning, they paddled -the raft out, though they had never been so near the Gulf before since -their arrival. - -They found the dark spot to be another log, much smaller and somewhat -shorter than the one in their raft, but they took it in tow just the -same. - -They found some turtle-eggs on those sunny sandbars that second summer. -Sometimes they saw the turtles themselves, but they were never able to -catch one, though Delbert was very enthusiastic in the pursuit. - -That summer they had vegetables; and how good they were! The turnips -and carrots grew splendidly, and the children devoured them both -cooked and raw. The green peppers, for some reason, did not flourish -so well till the next year, but they were eaten with a relish also. -The lettuce, when transplanted and cared for, set in solid heads that -reminded them of cabbage, and the children ate it like so many hungry -little calves eating clover, and Marian often boiled a head of it with -a fowl, and they voted it fine. - -The bananas bore good fruit now, large, well-filled-out bunches. Marian -dried some. Among the edible fruits of the Island was the wild tomato. -They found very few of these, and the fruit was very small, scarcely -larger than the tip of Marian’s little finger, but when the seeds were -planted in their garden they came up and did well, plenty of water -increasing the size and quality of the fruit somewhat. The plants bore -abundantly, and the flavor was good. They put them in soups or stewed -them by themselves sometimes, sweetening them with the juice boiled -from the _pitallas_, or, at rare intervals, with wild honey. But the -greater portion of them were eaten raw. - -There was certainly no lack of food now. Delbert did not set traps any -more. He could shoot so well with his bow and arrow that he did not -need traps to secure a rabbit when one was wanted, and the little -girls could sometimes hit a hopping mark as well as he. - -They lost the hook one day, some big fish making off with it, and they -caught their fish entirely with the spear after that. - -They were milking two burros. Jacky, being thoroughly weaned, was -turned out of the corral and went where he pleased, and he generally -pleased to go with the children whenever they were going where he could -follow. Jennie was really plump now, strong and healthy, but not so -strong or so healthy as Esther, who, solid little urchin, could follow -Delbert very closely in all his exploits. She could run as far without -getting tired, she could shoot an arrow with almost as accurate an aim, -and she did not always miss the fish she aimed her spear at. - -She was a splendid little swimmer, better even than Marian, and it used -to seem to Marian that she was the prettiest little mermaid any one -ever set eyes on. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -THE MUGGYWAH - - -The time came when Marian had to face the problem of clothing. Every -bathing-suit was worn to rags, and everything else was so near it that -there was no trusting anything. When the weather was cold they had -their wraps, and these covered a multitude of tattered sins, and none -of the tribe save Marian herself ever wore anything into the water any -more, but even with such economy there was no dodging the issue any -longer. Unless she were willing that her flock should revert to extreme -savagery in costumes, something had to be done. - -Her first attempt was to crochet clothing out of fiber, but it took -so long to make a garment that way that she was always eagerly on the -alert for other modes. She remembered that soaking skins in wet ashes -would remove the hair. Old Mr. Faston had said so once. So she tried -it with some rabbit-skins. It worked very well. After being packed in -a little hollow of the rock with ashes and water all night, the fur -was easily pulled off. Then, when the ashes were washed off and the -skin was nearly dry, it could be rubbed and worked till it was soft and -pliable and Marian could begin dressmaking. - -Rabbits were getting scarce in their immediate vicinity, however, and -the search for better hunting-grounds took them back to the mainland -again. They did not cross the harbor and go to climbing mountains this -time, however. They took the raft down the bay and followed one of the -winding _esteros_ that led between mango bushes, off and off, farther -and farther, twisting and turning and growing narrower and more and -more shallow till they came out into a comparatively level country, -with no hills near at hand, but great stretches of mud flats and -sandbanks and miles and miles of _pitalla_ and scrubby brush. - -They took the raft as far as they could and tied it to some bushes and -proceeded afoot. They wandered several miles, taking care not to lose -their bearings. They found wagon-loads of fine _pitalla_ and some other -wood, rabbits galore, and a few stone or flint arrowheads, but no sign -whatever of human habitation. - -Delbert shot eight big jack rabbits, Esther got three, and Jennie two, -thirteen in all. They decided that the unluckiness of the number was -for the rabbits, not for them. They took only the skins home with them, -for they did not need the meat, and they had plenty of other things to -carry back to the raft. - -They loaded it with all the good dry _pitalla_ they could pile up and -tie on. Down close by the water, half buried in the salty mud, Delbert -found a stone hatchet. Once before he had found a broken one, but this -was perfect. He held it in his hand with a dreamy look on his face. -“How long ago do you s’pose it was, Marian, when they made ’em and used -’em like this one?” - -“Mercy! I have no idea; hundreds of years at the least and like as not -a million.” - -“Well, anyway, it’s mine now,” he said decidedly, as he dropped it into -the fiber bag. - -“Yes, I think you can keep it with a clear conscience. Now, get on -here, all of you. Never mind that crab, Davie; you don’t need it, -anyway.” - -They did not get home till the moon was well up. - -There was probably stuff growing at her hand that would have given -those skins a good tan, if Marian had only known what it was and how -to use it, but she did not. The soaking in ashes did fairly well; only -if the skin got well wet afterwards, it would dry stiff unless it was -worked and kept pliable while drying. Of course there was no strength -in the rabbit-skins. They tore easily, but they were, nevertheless, a -material of which Marian could make simple clothes, so that they should -not be entirely naked if any one ever did come along. She made dresses -for the little girls first, the simplest style she could think of, -eliminating sleeves altogether and not continuing the skirts below the -knees. - -She crocheted belts of fiber, and used it also to sew with, for her -supply of thread was very low indeed. There was no need of buttons; the -little girls just slipped the dresses over their heads, slipped their -arms through the generous armholes, belted the slight fullness at the -waist, and there you were--pretty as pictures, too. - -The only foreign articles in the construction of those robes were the -belt-buckles, which Marian had contrived out of the fasteners of their -old stocking-supporters. Of course the elastic and the stockings had -worn out long ago. Every one was barefoot now except Marian, who was -near enough to it, but the soles of her shoes had been very thick and -good, and though the tops were worn out she still managed to use the -bottoms as sandals and thus had some protection to her feet, which -somehow she could never get toughened as the children’s were. - -After several more trips up the _estero_ and more or less success in -hunting, they had enough rabbit-skins to make Marian a dress too. She -made it just as she had the other two, belting it with her red leather -belt, which she had worn for several years, but which was still as -strong as new. Her dress came a little below her knees. - -The rabbit-skins were not at all satisfactory for Delbert. He was in -and out of the water so constantly, and climbed and scrambled over the -rocks so much, that a garment that must not be wet and that would not -stand strain was not at all what he needed. - -He told Marian that all he wanted was a loin-cloth such as other -Indians wore, but Marian was not at all sure how loin-cloths were made -or worn. She thought about cutting off an end of one of the blankets, -but rather hated to do that; so she worked away with her hook and -the banana fiber till she had evolved what satisfied him. And when -he donned it and strode along, shirtless and barelegged, his hair -stringing over his shoulders and kept out of his eyes by a red rag tied -around his forehead, and the rag stuck full of feathers, he certainly -looked not unlike an aborigine of some sort. - -Davie declined even a loin-cloth; simple nature unadorned suited him to -a T. - -Thus, between the bananas and the rabbits, Marian managed to keep her -family clothed. - -They took many trips to the mainland. There were several _esteros_ that -led far inland, and they explored them all. They became accustomed to -going without water. They always had _some_ with them, but it was such -a bother to take a lot of bottles along every time they stirred out -from home that they trained themselves not to want a drink every little -while. They would take a big drink before they left the Island in the -morning, and often no one would take another till noon. Also they -learned to go without much food in the middle of the day and to eat -that little raw. - -Children are children the world over, I fancy. These had their little -games and plays, which Marian was always ready to foster. The little -girls and Davie used to put their dolls to bed every night, tucking -them in as carefully as they did themselves. Also the dolls were -usually carried with them, if they were making a trip of any great -length, lest they should get lonesome and frightened if left too long -alone. They traveled in a little fiber bag Jennie crocheted, and were -generally hung up on the mast where they were well out of the way of -the water, and if they went inland Jennie would wear the bag hung about -her neck. - -When they went in swimming, the children would play they were -fishes and other water creatures and would imitate the different -characteristics as well as they could. Davie’s favorite -characterization was that of the crab. He would run sideways on -all fours and pinch the other children’s toes. He played this so -strenuously that he often made himself something of a nuisance and had -to be tactfully guided into other channels of thought. - -They were all perfectly delighted when Marian taught them how to stay -under water as long as they pleased. On one of their inland trips they -had found some large hollow weed-stalks. They played with them at first -by simply blowing bubbles in the water and drawing up mouthfuls of -water which they blew out at each other, but when Marian showed them -that by holding one of the hollow tubes in the mouth one could stay -under water as long as he remembered to breathe always through the -mouth and to keep the top of the tube above the water, they invented -all kinds of games that the new trick could be used in. - -Delbert could do it best. He declared he could lie under the water and -go to sleep, it was so easy. Marian did not advise him to try it. “You -might get to snoring and drown before you could wake up,” she told him. - -Their novel clothing gave new impetus to their Indian play. There was -some discussion at first as to which tribe they belonged to. They -could not seem to recognize themselves as belonging to any they had yet -heard of and they finally invented a new one and called themselves the -tribe of the Hawks. Marian had been calling Delbert that for some time, -he was always so keenly on the alert for anything to eat. And when he -perched himself on a rock and fished patiently,--that was before they -lost the hook,--he reminded her of nothing so much as a fish hawk ready -to swoop. - -They spent more and more time on the trips inland. They began to skirt -the hills a little. Davie was so big now that he did not seem to tire -out any quicker than Jennie, and the little feet were all so tough that -hard roads did not daunt them. - -They saw no more cat-tracks, but Marian never forgot that one, and -because of it kept the tribe away from the high rocky hills and the -thick growth. - -The country beyond the largest _estero_ became familiar to them for -several miles. There was a certain lagoon there that they liked to go -to in the rainy season,--and there was no lagoon there except in the -rainy season. There were beautiful blue pond-lilies in it. Marian dug -up some roots and planted them on the home Island. - -They frequently found arrowheads and sometimes other stones, broken, -but showing the work of human hands upon them, all of which spoke -with certainty of bygone people, but never anything of modern times. -Near the lagoon were several low hills, and on these they found the -cotton-tree. This tree in its season produces big pods full of silky -white cotton, and though the yield is not so very abundant, nor the -quality so very fine, yet they saved every pod they could find, Delbert -and Esther often climbing up for those that could not be reached from -the ground with a pole. - -“Some day I will invent a spinning-wheel and a loom,” said Marian, “and -we will make cloth.” And the children, remembering the rope-making -machine she had made, never doubted her ability. - -Once, when they were about two miles from the end of the _estero_, they -found a good-sized tree that had blown down some years before on the -side of a little hill. It was larger than any tree growing there now -and seemed to have been alone among its dwarfish neighbors. It was too -heavy to be dragged all that distance, but if they could manage to chop -off the few limbs and the roots that stuck up so high, they could roll -it down to the _estero_ and float it home. - -It was a big task, but because they had plenty of time on their hands -and no pressing social duties, and also because they needed that log -in their business, they made trip after trip, starting at daylight and -not getting home till nearly dark, chopped and chopped with the hatchet -until they had the log smooth enough to roll, and then rolled it over -and over all that distance and floated it home in triumph. - -Then they set about improving the raft. The new log was a little -crooked, but otherwise was about the equal of the one they had captured -out in the bay. The three logs together would be much better than the -raft as it was. Delbert’s idea was to lash them together as they had -been doing, but Marian had thought of an improvement, though it almost -seemed as if it could not be done with their limited facilities. They -had already accomplished so many tasks that seemed hard, however, and -Delbert was such a bright and willing helper, and the little girls were -always so willing to contribute their share to any labor, that she told -Delbert that at any rate they would have a try at shipbuilding. - -[Illustration: CHOPPED AND CHOPPED UNTIL THEY HAD THE LOG SMOOTH ENOUGH -TO ROLL] - -Long and longingly she looked at the old canoe, but in the end left it -where it was in the corral fence. She could think of no way to combine -it with the logs to make a more serviceable craft. - -The new log was rolled up on the beach beside the one they had found -out on the water, and then the raft was taken to pieces, and the log -in the middle of it was also rolled up on the beach. After they were -all fixed in just the right position, they were kept in place by stakes -driven into the ground. - -The next thing was to make a new tool. Among the scraps of iron found -on the little egg island was one about an inch in diameter and nearly -three feet long when straightened out. It was round, an immense bolt -maybe, but rusted and bent and twisted. What Marian did first was to -heat it to straighten it out. - -It was very hard to handle it when it was hot. She had an assortment of -green sticks and matted-fiber holders for this purpose. As when they -were making the fish-spear, they used a flat rock for an anvil and the -hatchet for a hammer, and after many heatings and hammerings they got -the iron straight with a blunt point on one end. - -But straightening the bar was only the beginning of the work. She kept -the fire hot and heated the bar time after time, and burned three holes -entirely through the two outside logs and corresponding ones well into -the middle log. Then they took six of the toughest stakes they could -find, whittled them straight and smooth to the right size, and drove -them in through the burned holes like huge nails. Next they burned and -whittled a big hole down into the center log as a socket for the mast. -Then they picked out the best of the poles that had been in the raft -and set it in place and drove in wedges to hold it solid. This got rid -of the clumsy lashings and proppings, besides giving them a straight -instead of a crooked mast, and it was not difficult then to rig up a -sail that could be easily raised and lowered, using, of course, one of -the blankets for a sail as before. - -The platform that they burned their _pitalla_ on when spearing next -demanded their attention. It was too clumsy and was always needing -repairs. Once out on the salt reef they had found a dead sea turtle -half buried in the sand. They had fished it out and fastened it with -stakes where it would not be washed away, though every tide would -cover it, and the elements combined with the scavengers of the sea to -clean the shell for them. With rocks and the hatchet they broke away -the under part of the shell, and the top part, about two and a half -feet in diameter, curved and dished, would hold the _pitalla_ nicely. - -Two stout, widespread crotches were cut and driven tightly into burned -holes at one end of the projecting middle log, so that they supported -the inverted turtle-shell. It did not, however, rest firmly enough -till Marian had wired it to the crotches by means of the bail from the -old wooden bucket, which was passed through little holes burned in the -shell. - -Away off up in the pasture they had found a place where the soil -partook of the nature of clay. They brought some from there, mixed it -to the right consistency and spread a coating all over the inside of -the turtle-shell. It dried without much cracking, and the fire would -harden it. This was a vast improvement over the old platform, which, in -spite of their best efforts had always been a trifle wobbly and evinced -a tendency to spill the fuel off into the water at the slightest -provocation. - -Delbert thought they had their task about finished now, but Marian had -a great deal more to do to it still. She wanted to build on the other -end a platform of some sort, where they could put things and have them -stay dry. By burning holes and driving in stakes and then weaving in -with small, tough green sticks, she succeeded in making that end of the -raft look not unlike a huge basket. Then by filling that same basket -with dried seaweed and such material, which was bulky but light, she -had a place where things could be carried out of reach of the waves and -where a little girl could lie down if she was tired. Of course, the -waves slopped up and soaked through the seaweed to some extent when the -raft was in use, but when it was moored quietly to the beach the hot -sun dried it out pretty well. - -When the raft was finished, their third rainy season on the island was -past. Marian was learning, and the others along with her, something of -the eternal patience of the universe. So long as she was accomplishing -her purpose, she did not count much on the time it took to do it. - -They all thought the new raft was such a beauty that it deserved a -name. Marian suggested everything she could think of from “Fleet Wings” -to “Annabel Lee,” but they finally decided on Jennie’s choice, which -was “Muggywah.” She said it was Indian and meant something very safe -and strong that nobody could conquer. Where she got the name or the -notion Marian could not imagine, and she herself could not tell, but -the Muggywah became one of the family forthwith. - -Out where the center log projected, at the turtle-shell end, Marian -burned the name. “Oh, we are getting wonderfully aristocratic,” she -told the children. “It is not every family that can have their own -private yacht.” - -They went on a big spearing expedition when the Muggywah was finished. -The tide was just right, and the fish were plentiful. They got three -enormous red snappers and a lot of smaller fry, and it was the most -satisfactory trip they had ever made. - -Marian sat Turk-fashion on the seaweed deck and steered with the broken -oar, which had been spliced to make it better to handle, and Davie -was in front of her, dry and warm. When he went to sleep, it was the -easiest thing in the world to tie him safely, for some of the stakes of -the basketwork had been left high for that especial purpose, and then -he did not have to be watched. - -Jennie took the spear first, and when, after a while, she grew tired -and gave the spear to Esther, who had been teasing for it, she too -crept back and crawled in with Davie under the shawls and lay on her -back, watching the bright stars above and the mango bushes, weird and -grotesque with the flare of the _pitalla_ fire and the backward swirl -of the smoke. When the game became an old story to Esther, she yielded -the spear to Delbert, and, after replenishing the fire from the fuel in -the barrel, she too curled down on the deck at Jennie’s feet. - -Delbert and Marian then took turns at steering and spearing, and only -turned the Muggywah back toward the pier when the fuel was all gone. - -Along with their feathers the children took up other modes of Indian -decoration of their persons. They did not quite come to war paint, but -they wore long strings of beads, principally of the _guaymuchel_ seeds. -These are flat black seeds that grow embedded in a thick sweetish pith -enclosed in a pod which grows on a big tree. The pithy part is highly -prized by the Indians for eating, and the Island Hawks gathered them -for that, and saved the seeds, which, when soft, are easily strung. - -Then there were the tiny many-colored clamshells that they found so -plentiful on the beaches of the bird islands. They bored holes in these -with Marian’s big fat darning-needle and strung them into valuable -wampum belts. There were other seeds and beans that they strung, but -these were the staples. - -One Christmas, Marian gave Jennie a string of bone beads. She had found -a number of the bones of some big bird, long, smooth, and hollow, and -she whittled them into little sections and strung them on a string of -her own hair. That same year her gift to Esther was a headdress of -pink feathers taken from a dead bird that Delbert had found washed up -on the beach one morning. To Delbert she gave a gay feather-trimmed -quiver for his arrows and two new arrow-points of bone, and to Davie -a number of little toys whittled out of driftwood. The children had -remembered their kindergarten lore that year, and each one made Marian -a little basket. They were rather loose and ill-shapen, but they were -the forerunners of better ones. - -With the Muggywah their food problem was still further simplified. -They had lived so long on the Island now that they knew the tides, -when they would be high and when low, and always took these into -consideration along with the wind. With their gay striped blanket for a -sail and a paddle of some sort in the hands of each, with their trips -planned to have the tide in their favor as much as possible, they -could accomplish much more business than formerly. They could take a -dishpanful of boiled-down sea-water out to the salt reef, put it into -the rock-hollows there, where the sun finished the evaporation for -them, and maybe gather up a dish of dry and quite passably clean salt -to take back with them; go on to some other place and gather a lot of -clams for dinner, or perhaps oysters; go back again to Smugglers’, -put up the salt and attend to the clams, and strike off across the -bay toward some distant _estero_, which would lead back into good -_pitalla_ country, or perhaps to a _panal_ which they had seen some -days before and been too busy to gather in; and by night they would -have accomplished several times as much as when they had crept over -the water on the old log with only driftwood and poles for paddles, or -else had had to stay on land because the water was a little rough. With -the new firm mast which was in no danger of falling down, they could -utilize a wind that had been much too strong for them to tamper with -before, and with the children able to swim like little fishes, they -could brave a possible capsize or tumble overboard. Of course Marian -was not going to risk the great waves outside in the Gulf, and when the -wind blew the water into breakers on the Island, white and thunderous, -she kept her tribe busy in the pasture or the garden. - -Some time during each day they took their bath and swim. If the water -was too rough on the seaward side, they took it in the harbor, where -it was quieter, but there were not so very many days when it was too -rough. Marian would keep her eye on Davie if they were out very far, -but she had little anxiety about the others. Sometimes they took the -Muggywah out into deep water and anchored her with a stone, and had -their swim from there. - -They had had no storm yet equal to the one on the night of their -arrival on the Island, but during the fall after the Muggywah was -finished they had one which came nearer to it than any in the three -years. It lasted two days and two nights and certainly gave them a -miserable time. They turned the little burros out with their mothers -to save feeding and milking, and they collected vegetables and bananas -in the Cave, which they ate raw, not being able to have a fire to cook -by. Indeed, their precious embers were all put out, so that they had to -start anew with the fire-sticks when the storm was over. - -They snuggled up in the Cave, not going out except when it seemed -absolutely necessary, and Marian sang over all the songs she knew and -which she had sung to them on rainy days a hundred times before,--or at -least it seemed so to her,--and told over all the stories they called -for and racked her brains for new ones. - -The Cave had never been a roomy chamber, and now it reminded Marian of -a nest that is filled to overflowing with nestlings which are ready to -fly. Neither of the little girls could stand up in it now, not even in -the widest part, and Davie, fast growing up into a big, strong boy, had -to be very careful. - -The first day dragged, the second crawled, and in the afternoon Marian -delivered herself of the emphatic remark, “We are not going to live in -this Cave through another rainy season; we will build us a house!” - -The children were all struck dumb for a second and then fired volleys -of comments and questions. - -“You see,” said Marian when quiet reigned again, “this Cave was all -right in the first place. You were all little then, and it was the -best we could do, but now,--why, see! Delbert is stretching up nearly -as tall as I am; Jennie and Esther take up as much room as all four of -you did then; we spread out so we can’t keep ourselves covered from the -mosquitoes; and I am sick and tired of camping out forever; I want a -home.” - -“But, Marian,” said Jennie, “don’t you think some one will find us now -before long?” - -“I think,” said Marian, “that there is no likelihood of any one but -Indians coming into San Moros. There is nothing to bring any one else -here, and, as you know, we have seen very few canoes in all the time we -have been here. I don’t understand it; it seems as if they would all -know about there being bananas and good water here and be coming all -the time, but evidently there are no settlements anywhere near, and the -poor Indian is not going very far from home in his canoe. Clarence must -have found out about the place from some old Indian who, I suppose, had -happened to stumble on to it somehow, and, as far as I know, Clarence -was the only white person who ever came here, but”--she paused and -looked impressively at the children--“some day, when we can sail the -Muggywah a great deal better than we do now, when Davie is big and -strong enough so that I dare risk him out there on the Gulf waves, and -when the rest of you are bigger and stronger than you are now, we’ll -stock the Muggywah up with provisions and we’ll go back to the Port -ourselves. I don’t dare risk it overland and I shall not try it by -water so long as there is any risk in it, but if no one comes for us -before then, the time will come when you children will be so big that -we can go in safety, and then we’ll go.” - -“I’d be willing to take some risk,” said Delbert moodily. - -“I’m not,” said Marian. “Four children mother left in my care when she -went to Guaymas that time, four I shall return to her. Your lives are -safe here. If I lost one of you in trying to get back, I should never -be happy again.” - -“How well shall we have to swim?” asked Esther. - -“Better than any of us do now,” said Marian. “We must be able to swim -so well that if the Muggywah should swamp or turn turtle out there, we -could all get to shore if we had to. It is a good deal, but we can do -it in time. Clarence could have done it, but it may take us several -years yet. We don’t dare go out of the bay yet, and we all get tired -out if we have much hard paddling to do; but to go to the Port in the -Muggywah would take several days. Unfortunately, she doesn’t go as -swiftly as the launch did.” - -“If Clarence was here, he’d make her go better than she does,” said -Delbert. - -“I think he would,” returned Marian; “but what we don’t know about -sailing her we must learn; and meantime, I am tired of living in this -little hole in the rocks, and the next job on hand is to build a house. -We can do it.” - -The first thing to do usually is to select a site. Esther thought a -good place to put the new dwelling in would be down by the pier, where -the smugglers had had their house. It would be close to the water and -the garden. But that took them out of sight of the bay and the distant -Gulf, and mosquitoes and gnats were apt to be plentiful there at night, -and so it was not to be thought of. Jennie, too, still retained her -fear of the water during storms, and the higher they could get the -better it would suit her. One thing about the Cave which they meant to -improve upon in their new habitation was the fact that their view was -cut off by the big rock in front. To see what might be out on the water -they had to go clear past it, out of the house, as one might say. Of -course, it sheltered them from wind and rain to a great extent, but -Marian wanted to be sheltered from the elements and still be able to -see out on the water. - -From the mound that had been the smugglers’ house projected a crotched -timber, and Marian suggested that they dig it out for their new -dwelling, though she had not yet decided where to build nor what -material to use. - -They made some wooden rakes and shovels,--that is, they called them -that,--and these did a little better for the work than the old -dig-spoon and the little spade. As they dug and scraped, Marian told -them of the ancient cities which lay buried for centuries and then -were sometimes discovered and excavated and of the wonderful things -found in them. The children were very much interested, and straightway -they ceased to be Indians and became a band of eminent scientists -who had discovered an ancient, oh, a very ancient, city. It was very -interesting indeed, for, when you came to think of it, there was really -no knowing what you might or might not find. - -They finally got the timber out. It was shorter than Marian had hoped, -but then the children wanted to go on and dig the whole mound over. -They had found a few bits of broken pottery, which they seemed to think -very wonderful, and they hoped for more riches. - -So, as it seemed a pity to veto anything so exciting, Marian consented -to go on with the work. It seemed almost strange that they did not -find more things than they did. There were a number of other timbers -unearthed, but all but one of them were too rotten to be of use. There -was the half of a _metate_ stone[5] which they made a great deal of -use of afterwards, and a broken pitcher and more pieces of pottery, -but none of it big enough to be of any use. There were some very small -fragments of glass and quite a number of bricks; also a few rusty -scraps of iron, one of which had been an oarlock and one a knife. The -bricks were mixed in with a number of stones, all bearing the marks of -fire,--a cooking-place of some sort evidently. - - [5] A stone used for grinding Indian corn. - -The children were most excited over the pitcher. It had a gay flower -on one side of it, and they watched eagerly for other fragments. They -found a few and fitted them together, but when all was done there was -still a hole in it as big as Delbert’s fist and a piece gone from the -nose, but they took as much pride in that old fragment as if it had -been really something valuable. - -But to Marian the bricks appealed the most. She meant to have a real -fireplace in the new house, and they would aid very much. The crotched -timber, short though it was, would also come in very handy, and the -ground they had dug over so industriously was in fine condition for a -garden. - -Every day they took their swimming-lesson. Now they began to practice -on long swims. They would take the Muggywah out, and while Marian or -Delbert paddled it along, or tended the sail if there was a breeze, the -rest would swim by the side. As soon as one got tired, all he had to -do was to climb in and take his turn with the paddle. Even Davie was -learning a little about paddling, and Jennie and Esther, now eleven and -nine years old, could manage very nicely. - -Out on the blue water they made a pretty picture,--the Muggywah dancing -along with her gay striped sail, Marian in a garment constructed of -her old brown petticoat which reached to her knees but left neck and -arms bare, Davie’s old straw hat tied under her chin, her long braids -falling to her waist as she steered with the oar; the four children, -their slender bodies gleaming white in the water, splashing each other, -laughing, calling, now and again climbing on the seaweed deck to rest a -few minutes before plunging down again into the salty waves. - -And when they had been out long enough, they would turn the Muggywah -and run for Smugglers’, pretending they were fleeing from their -enemies,--smugglers escaping from the government revenue men maybe, or -Indians returning from striking some decisive blow at their tribal foes. - -Always there were the little burros to be tended, a little gardening to -be done each day, fresh water to be carried up to the Cave, and wood to -be gathered. Marian had learned that as long as she worked with them -her tribe did very well, but it was not well to leave them at separate -tasks. She still felt, too, the desire to have them within her reach, -to know for a certainty where each one was and that he or she was -safe. So they fished together, gathered wood together, worked together -in the garden. - -Delbert sometimes went to the pasture alone when Marian was busy with -something else, yet as a rule he took Esther with him even there. -Jennie was more apt to stay with Marian, to help with the cooking, or -maybe just to sit on the rocks gazing out over the sea. As for Davie, -he stayed with Marian too. Delbert never wanted him along when he was -after game, for the little fellow was sure to make some sort of a -noise at the wrong time, which Delbert always found hard to forgive, -while Esther, on the other hand, would follow at his heels like a -well-trained dog, moving silently, stealthily, and her aim was nearly -equal to his own. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -THE BUILDING OF THE WICKIUP - - -Delbert came laughing to his breakfast one morning. “I’ve found the -ideal spot for a house,” he said. - -“Good for you!” said Marian, as she carefully raked out from the embers -the red snapper which had been stuffed with green peppers, wrapped in -green banana leaves, and buried in the hot coals and ashes overnight. -“All right, tell us about it as we eat.” - -“It can’t be told. It will have to be seen to be appreciated,” he said. - -“In that case we will go and see right after breakfast.” - -Which they did, and he led them to the highest, rockiest point of that -end of the Island, facing the long, sandy point where the watermelons -were and where one could see both the bay and the harbor. - -“Now,” said he, seating himself on a big boulder, “you observe the -lovely view we have. Nowhere on the whole Island can you get a better -one. With a little clearing there is a fair chance of a path down to -the pier. We are not so very far from the Cave either. And then, too, -you see, this nice high cliff would save our making more than three -sides to the house, and those big rocks there would be handy to brace -against.” - -“Where would be our floor?” asked Jennie. “It’s all rocks here.” - -But Marian was looking. The cliff, as Delbert called it, would save -making one side of the house, and several of the big rocks Jennie was -so scornful of were in a direct line for working into the walls, while -the others could be moved by means of crude levers that they could -work. The floor could then be leveled by building up with rocks from -the lower side. It would be impossible to dig holes to set posts in, -but, if one were not too particular about having the house symmetrical, -there were several fissures in the rocks where posts could be put, and -braced solid with other stones packed in about them. The face of the -big rock, or cliff, back of them was very irregular, and there were -several good places to set roof-timbers in. - -The ground sloped rather steeply down to the sandy point and was -covered with brush, but a path, as Delbert said, could be cleared down -to the pier, and it would be a better one really than the one they were -using, too. Also a little tossing of the rocks to one side would clear -the way back to the Cave, where they could use the old path to the -beach. The heavy task would be bringing all the material up the hill, -but that would have to be done in any case; only, of course, if they -built at the Cave, for instance, they would not have to carry things so -far. - -“Delbert,” she said, “what we are going to need, and need badly, is -lime.” - -“Lime? What for?” - -“To mix with sand and fresh water to make mortar to pack around the -roof-timbers, where we set them into the cliff there, and around the -posts, where we put them into this crevice below. Good mortar would set -and keep them solid.” - -“They dig lime out of the ground, don’t they?” - -“No; they dig a certain kind of rock out and burn it, and it turns into -lime; and they burn shells, and that makes lime too.” - -“Shells? Well, we can get plenty of shells.” - -“Yes, but I don’t know how to burn lime,--how long it takes or how it -ought to look when it is right,--and I don’t know exactly how to work -it afterwards either.” - -“Can’t we experiment and find out? Burn just a few at first and see how -they work?” - -“I guess we’d better, for I don’t want this house falling down on us in -a storm, and if I can get the frame of it absolutely solid, I’ll risk -but what we can manage the rest of it all right.” - -“What will you make the roof of?” asked Jennie. - -“Thatch,” promptly responded Marian. “Don’t you remember all that tall -thatch grass out beyond the lagoon? The Mexicans at the Port sometimes -make their whole houses of it. And, Delbert, there is another big job -ahead of us. We are going to need every pole that is in the corral -fence; we must build a good brush fence to hold in the burros, so that -we can have every stick and pole there, every piece of driftwood. I -guess we’d better clear that patch of brush beyond the garden. It will -be nicer cleared away, and we can pile it all on to the fence.” - -They gathered a lot of shells that day, and, after a few experiments -in their cooking-fire, made a little pile of alternate shells and wood -and started it burning. Marian thought the shells ought probably to -burn slowly; her idea was to rake out a few every now and then and see -how things were going. Her only safe way was to mix a little mortar and -see if it set hard. - -Between times they worked on the brush fence. They had not progressed -very far before they wished they had got at it at least two years -sooner, for in the midst of the tangled growth of bushes, choked and -stunted but still struggling to keep alive, they found a goodly number -of cotton plants. - -These must have been, along with the palms and the bananas, a part of -the smugglers’ garden. There were three straggling rows, and most of -the bushes had a few sickly-looking cotton bolls on them. They are -never very large on that particular variety of plant, but none of these -were larger than a small hen’s egg; indeed, most of them more closely -resembled marbles. But they contained actual cotton, and with care and -some cultivation the plants would produce more and larger bolls. They -gathered them--what few there were--and put them with the cotton-tree -pods. - -“As soon as the house is done, I shall have to see about a -spinning-wheel and loom,” said Marian, “and oh! if we had only found -them before!” - -They cut out the brush systematically, clearing out, as thoroughly as -they could, each bush as they came to it. Delbert and the little girls -would take sticks and bend back the bushes, so that Marian could get at -them to chop them off near the ground with the hatchet; then with ropes -they would drag them to the corral and pile them on the fence. They -were trying to make it very solid and compact, also a little larger -than before. - -In this way they managed to release every pole that had been in the -fence, and they piled them at one side to await the time when they -should be ready for them at the new house. - -They were not so very successful with the lime. They burned a good many -shells before they produced what was at all satisfactory. - -They found that there were not enough shells near by, but off across -the bay, at the mouth of one of the _esteros_, was a bank that had -seemed to be composed almost entirely of shells; so they took the -Muggywah and made several trips there, coming back loaded down with all -the shells they could carry. These shells were very old and broken, -but Marian thought they would probably make as good lime as fresh ones -would. There were other places, too, where shells were more plentiful -than near home, and they made trips after them. - -While they were gathering the shells they cut a good many _pitalla_ -poles, peeled the green bark off them, and left them to dry before -taking them home. Delbert used his stone hatchet for that work; he had -made a handle for it, as Marian said probably the first owner had, by -splitting a stick down and tying it above and below where the hatchet -was inserted, and while he could not, of course, chop wood with it, the -soft green _pitalla_ bark yielded to it very well. To be sure, it was -no better, even for this purpose, than the other hatchet, but think how -much more romantic it is to work with an ancient stone hatchet than -with an ordinary little modern steel one! - -Delbert thought so much of that hatchet that Marian said he had better -give it a name, and told him about King Arthur’s sword Excalibur; but -when Delbert asked her if she thought that would be a good name for the -hatchet, she said she thought they had better modify it a little and -call it the “Exscalper” instead, because, though it might once have -been used to scalp with, it was not in that business now. - -These _pitalla_ poles are hollow, but durable and comparatively -straight, and are much used in building the humbler homes of western -Mexico. - -[Illustration: EXSCALPER] - -The poor little overworked hatchet had to be sharpened many, many -times. There was no need now to put the whetstone beyond Davie’s reach. -He was too sensible to want to hide it, realizing as well as any of -them that what the whole community needs should not be selfishly -regarded as private property. - -Delbert’s jack-knife had been worked and overworked till it was about -used up. One blade was broken, and the other leaned backward in a -most heartrending fashion. He did not use it much, but always had the -butcher-knife tucked into his belt beside the Exscalper. - -The two case-knives had been sharpened, and the two little girls -carried them. Davie never felt at home without the dig-spoon. With much -use its edge had become as sharp as a knife, and he used it for that -right along. And he, like all the others, except Marian, always had his -bow and arrows slung at his back. - -They did not take much time off the work till the season for “duck” -eggs came again; then they dropped everything and sailed for the -little white islands. It took only a part of a day to make the trip, -and they could get eggs enough for several days. They almost lived on -them through the season, and when it was over dropped back to their -vegetarian diet, varied only by an occasional meal of fish from a -night’s spearing. - -When, after much time and labor expended, and many, many experiments, -Marian decided that there was enough lime to make the mortar to set -the posts and roof-timbers, they began the task of getting their -timbers up the hill. - -They had thought that they could utilize Jackie for that, but he soon -undeceived them. He was not averse to carrying small loads of wood, but -when it came to pulling anything really heavy, Jackie called a halt, -and, moreover, remained halted till the load was removed. - -They found no means of coaxing or persuasion that availed in the -least. It made not an iota of difference to Jackie whether those poles -remained at the top or the bottom of the hill, and if the children -wanted them at the top, why, let them take them there, that was all. In -the end they had to drag them up themselves. They tied ropes to them -and used main force. It was not a very long job when they once got over -trying to make Jackie do it for them. As for him, he skipped along -beside them, gay and carefree. - -Then they debated long and earnestly as to just which crotched timber -should be placed in this place and which pole in that. They tried each -one in all the places to see where it would fit best, and everybody -expressed his opinion. They planned where to put the doors and the -window, and where was the best place for the fireplace. - -When they had these momentous questions settled, Marian mixed her -mortar. Each upright was made solid by being packed tightly with big -rocks and all set in mortar; each roof-pole was set in the same way -where it rested on the cliff. At the same time Marian tried not to be -too prodigal with her mortar, for she wanted to have enough left to -lay up the chimney, at least where it would come above the roof and be -exposed to the wind and weather. And her supply of lime was not at all -large, for it took so long to gather up the shells, and often they had -not got them well burned after they were gathered. - -After her timbers and poles were well set, she began on the fireplace. -For this they brought up the bricks and the blackened stones from the -smugglers’ old house; for some kinds of stones will crack and split -with heat, or even go so far as to pop into little pieces which fly -in all directions, and Marian wanted that fireplace built of tested -stones that would be up to no mischief. The stones she had cooked over -at the Cave were brought, and two nice, smooth, large ones from the -cooking-place at the beach. She used clay from the pasture as mortar -for the fireplace and the lower part of the chimney. - -Once, on a trip up an _estero_ that wound past a little hill, they -had noticed a big flat rock that Delbert thought would make a fine -hearthstone. They could find other flat rocks, of course, but this -one had especially appealed to the boy, because it was much larger -and smoother than any other they had seen, and he thought it would be -nice to have the hearth of one big stone. Marian thought so, too, but -was afraid it was too big for them to manage. However, she finally -consented to try it. If they could get it on board the Muggywah at all, -they could find some way of getting it off again and up the hill and -into place. - -After all, thought Marian, if her flock learned to achieve things, to -overcome difficulties, to persist in spite of obstacles, was that not -of itself a fair education? And to bring that great rock home would -certainly be a lesson in achievement. - -So they went after it. They took plenty of ropes along and several -round pieces of driftwood to serve as rollers under the stone. They -found it readily. One side was so flat and smooth that it seemed as if -it must some time have been worked upon by human hands; the other was -rough and irregular, being much thicker at one end than at the other. -It was all Marian and Delbert could do to lift it alone, and even with -Jennie’s and Esther’s help it was none too easy. Fortunately it was not -far from the water’s edge. They got it on their two largest rollers, -and, by smoothing the way and prying the rollers along, they got it -down to the Muggywah. - -Then it developed that it would be more easily got aboard at low than -at high tide. At low tide the Muggywah could be placed under a bank and -the big stone swung off on to her; at high tide it would have to be -lifted up to get it aboard. - -So they made their preparations. They tied the Muggywah fore and aft, -and rigged up a tripod to assist in swinging the hearthstone over on to -her just where they wanted it. They pushed and pried the rollers, and -tugged and twisted till they had the big stone in position on the edge -of the bank, and then retired to the shade of a scrubby mesquite to -eat their lunch of turnips and carrots and drink Island water from the -bottles, while they waited for the tide to go out. - -And when the lunch was finished, they sallied forth and hunted for -_panales_, clams, oysters, and, incidentally, arrowheads and more -hatchets. - -When the Muggywah dropped below the bank, they rallied again to the -task in hand. The tripod was a big help; they had the hair rope for -that. Carefully they worked. It was not merely the getting of the big -stone that Marian had in mind; she wanted to be quite sure no one was -going to get hurt in the process. - -“Delbert, don’t lift on that till you really strain yourself,” she -said. “Davie, you stand by that pole and see that it doesn’t lift up; -I don’t want your little fingers mashed under this. Esther, poke that -stick under there where Jennie’s fingers are. There, that’s right; -that holds it instead. Now, Jennie, you stand there where Delbert is. -Delbert, you and I will have to swing round below here now. Davie, hold -that pole down tight.” - -Davie held valiantly with all his might. There was no danger of that -particular pole budging, but Marian wanted him out of the way, and knew -that the only way to be sure he would not slip in at the wrong minute, -and maybe get a finger jammed before she could help him, was to keep -him busy elsewhere. - -“There, now, you see, part of the weight comes on the tripod. Carefully -now, Esther. Jennie can do that alone now; you jump down and be ready -to help here.” - -In the midst of it all she began to laugh. “Delbert, if it takes all -this fuss to get it aboard, how in the world are we ever going to get -it off again? We may have to dump it into the harbor yet.” - -“Not much we don’t,” muttered Delbert between his teeth. - -“Well, all steady now! Gently there, Jennie! That’s right! Now jump -down and help Esther. There, there she is, neat as a whistle. Look how -it pushes the Muggywah down, but it’s all right. Knock up that tripod -pole there, Delbert. We’ll have the rope off. Where did you put your -oysters, Jennie? Oh, I see. Well, drop ’em in here; we must be starting -back. It will take us all day to-morrow to get this hearthstone off the -deck, and two more to get it up the hill, as like as not.” - -As a matter of fact, it took a great deal longer than that, but they -did not work at it all the time. They rigged up another tripod to -help them swing it off the Muggywah, and by aid of rollers got it to -the foot of the hill safely. There they tied it to something to make -sure it would not slip and roll down on them, and little by little, as -they felt inclined, they pushed it up the hill. Sometimes a day or two -would go by without its being touched, and then, some morning when they -felt vigorous, they would get at it with levers and rollers and work it -up the hill a little farther. Davie got quite expert in slipping the -stones in back of it to block it up while they rested. - -In the course of time it was taken into the frame of the new house and -settled into place, being blocked with stones till it did not wiggle in -the least; and as they stood back surveying it, they all felt that it -was worth all the trouble it had been to get it. The fireplace itself -was built up waist-high when the hearthstone was put in place. - -Marian was planning a good handy place to cook over, and several of -the scraps of iron were used with that idea. The old twisted, rusty -oarlock, for instance, was converted into a hook to hang the kettle -on at one side, and there were various little places made, to put -things on to keep hot or to go on slowly cooking. At the proper height -a mantel-shelf was put in, too, a smooth piece of driftwood. It had -once been a board about a foot wide by three or three and a half long, -but it had been tossed and beaten till the edges were thin and ragged. -Marian fitted it across and surveyed it with pride. - -It seemed as if the longest and most tiresome part of the work was the -building of the chimney. Massive was the word for it. It was continued -up pretty high. Marian climbed up on the roof-timbers and had the -children hand her the stones and mortar. - -They got well tired of the job before it was finished. At the last, -Marian herself would help gather a pile of stones, and then, after -mixing the mortar, would climb up on the roof and work away, and -Delbert would hand up the rocks one by one and the mortar in the little -wooden pail. She used the dig-spoon and the little spade for trowels, -assisted by a piece of old board she had whittled into shape. - -Yet, after all, considering how tiresome it must have been, the -children were pretty good about it. Delbert never complained of the -monotony, and though the little girls were quite sure Marian was -building that chimney higher and thicker than was at all necessary, -they did their work cheerfully. - -They stopped when their good lime gave out, but Marian was sure that -she had it high enough to draw well at all times, and so big and -solid that it would not blow over in a storm, even if it had not been -protected to some extent by the high rock, or cliff, back of it. - -She would have been glad of more lime, but it was such a task to gather -and burn the shells that she decided to finish the house without it. -They gathered up their _pitalla_ poles now, clean, creamy-white poles, -which they fastened in place by tightly lashing with small ropes. Where -they needed them in the walls they packed the end that rested on the -ground with rocks and mud and tied the upper ends. The house began to -take shape rapidly. The _pitalla_ poles were easily split when smaller, -finer pieces were needed. - -Finally they were ready for the thatch. It would take a great many -trips to get that. They knew of but one place where it grew, and that -was away up by the lagoon. They would go and cut grass, or rather dig -it out by the roots, till they had enough for a bundle for each one. -These bundles were graduated in size, of course, but Marian allowed -no shirking. Nobody really tried to shirk but Davie. He didn’t like -to carry thatch-grass down to the _estero_, and he tried all kinds of -excuses to get out of it, but Marian was firm. - -“Every little helps,” she said. “It is work that you can do, and you -must.” - -So, in spite of his grumblings and groanings, Davie carried his little -bundle as well as the rest. They would make several trips, stacking -the grass in a pile at the pier; then they would stop and carry it all -to the top of the hill to the new house, and Marian and Delbert would -put it on the roof. Jackie helped them there. He did not mind carrying -quite a bundle of grass up the hill, for it was light and did not tax -his strength. It was pulling that Jackie objected to. - -They put the grass on very thick, tying each little bunch very firm and -tight to the split _pitalla_ prepared for it. Here again the little -girls felt very sure that Marian was doing a much better job than was -at all necessary. They were quite sure that much less grass would do -just as well. But Marian, remembering the fury of that first storm on -the Island, was not going to run any risks, and Delbert backed her -up in her determination. So for weeks they worked at it, digging and -tugging at the grass up by the lagoon, often cutting their fingers on -the sharp edges, toiling down through the hot sun to the _estero_ with -their bundles, tying them on the Muggywah, and then paddling back home. -Then, when Marian and Delbert climbed up on the roof, the little girls -handed up bunch after bunch of the rank, heavy grass to the two above, -who tied them with the stout little cords that they sometimes took a -day off to make. And finally the whole roof was covered with a thick -mat of the rustling grass, the long loose ends of each row hanging well -down over the root ends of the row below. Several poles were fastened -across to hold it down better and make it all the surer that the wind -would not get in underneath and undo any of their labor. - -Then there were the sides to come next. Marian had thought that they -would maybe thatch them too, but the children were tired of going after -grass. Indeed, they had gathered all the best of it; what was left was -so much shorter and thinner that it would take much more time to get -it. So she cast about for other material nearer home. - -There were several big rocks in a line with the walls, two of which -were immovable, but there were several others that they succeeded -in prying up and swinging round into place. In between them Marian -built up a wall even with their tops, using for her mortar the shells -that had not been well burned, mixing them with clay brought from the -pasture. It was very tiresome bringing it, but it did nicely after they -got it there, for it dried hard and smooth and would stay so as long as -it was kept dry at least. - -One thing Marian was particular about was to use only the fresh water -for her mortar. It was more trouble than it would have been to use -salt, but she had heard some of the men at the Port once talking about -some one who had made a failure of a kiln of bricks because he had -used salt water in the making. She did not remember what they had said -was the reason why the salt was bad in that particular place, nor just -what effect it had had, but she intended to run no risks; so her mortar -was all mixed with water from the well on the pier side of the Island. - -But she could not build up the entire wall that way, and by the time -she had it up as high as the big rocks there were no more loose stones -near them and she had used up every bit of her burnt shells. All hands -were very tired, too, of lugging earth from the pasture, and they could -find no clay nearer home. - -She turned to the banana-patch then, and they tore the big stalks -into strips of uniform size and used these to weave in basket-fashion -between the uprights and the split _pitallas_. It did very well except -that, as with everything else, Marian insisted upon its being done so -well that it seemed to take forever to do it. They also used the dried -leaves, weaving them in and out and pounding them down so as to have a -good thick wall. Some kinds of brush they used, too, fine branches that -had no thorns, or at least no large ones, but the fibrous strips of -the banana stalks were the main material used. - -This part of the task was something they could all work at. Even Davie -learned quickly how to weave in brush and banana stalk and work and -pound them down. Up under the eaves they were not quite so particular -to have it thick and firm. - -Finally it was all done. There remained now but the floor, the doors, -and the windows. - -The floor must be leveled and made as smooth as possible. It was so -rocky and rough that it seemed the only way would be to build up from -the lower side with stones. There were plenty of stones, but they had -to be brought from some little distance now, as everything loose in the -neighborhood had been pretty well cleaned up. Marian packed stones in -as well as she could, and when it was comparatively level, filled in -the chinks with pebbles and wads of banana leaves, and then they lugged -up pailful after pailful of sand from the beach. - -Jackie helped here too. They made a pair of sacks by folding a blanket -over once and sewing up the ends. This could be thrown over Jackie’s -back. They put in as much sand as they thought he would stand, and -then, when the rest of them had their loads ready, they would all go -up the hill together. Some one had to watch pretty closely to see that -the load did not slip off over Jackie’s tail on the steep parts of -the path, but he carried so much more than any of them cared to that -it paid to use him. Of course, if they had really put much of a load -on him, he would probably have balked as was his habit, but they were -careful not to do that. Marian thought that he would gradually get used -to carrying loads and be a great help to them some time in the future. - -They poured the sand on the floor, where it ran down into the cracks -and little holes, till after two or three days of pretty steady work -the cracks seemed to be all filled up and their floor was level and -smooth. - -Then they went to Bonanza Cove, where in the storms the seaweed had -been pounded and churned and tossed far up on the beach; there it had -dried and bleached in the suns of later days till now it could be -peeled up in great white layers. They took this dried seaweed in as big -flakes as they could carry without breaking it, and carpeted every -bit of the floor, clear up to the hearthstone. But Marian was a little -afraid this was too near the fire for safety; so they hunted till they -found enough big flat stones to lay a row all around the hearth. Then, -by wetting the seaweed, they could pack this row down to a level with -the hearthstone, and finally, after filling with sand all the little -corners where the stones did not just match, they felt pretty certain -that no sparks would fly out far enough to set their carpet on fire. - -Then they moved in. It was not so tremendous a task. There was no -packing or unpacking to do, no bickering with drivers of moving-vans. -They simply gathered up their bedding and bags of feathers and dumped -them down in one corner on the floor, and then brought over the few -utensils from the Cave. A very few more trips brought over all the odds -and ends that had accumulated,--pretty shells and other small treasures -such as children always collect. - -The new home was very irregular in shape, for their material had been -far from regular or uniform and they had had to place their posts and -poles where the unyielding rocks would receive them best, but the room -averaged about eight feet by fifteen, the eaves being about six feet -lower than the side built against the cliff. - -There were two narrow doors and one window, and for the doors Marian -made a light frame of split _pitalla_ tied together at the corners -and then wove a sort of mat of palm-leaf across them. This was too -light and thin to be trusted in a storm; so of stouter material, split -_pitalla_, but heavier pieces, she made a pair of large, heavy frames -and covered these with thatch-grass, for which they made another trip -to the lagoon. Even then it was not quite enough, and she finished with -palm-leaves, the old dried ones that were not strong enough for ropes, -but could be used whole. Some of these, too, she tied on the outside -of the house where the wattling seemed to be a little thin; they would -help a little when the rains came. - -The light doors she fastened on permanently with fiber ropes, but the -heavy storm doors were left outside, where they were out of the way -ordinarily, but could be quickly put into place and tied over the -others when a storm came up. She did not bother to make a mat frame -for the window, but contented herself with the one heavy thatch one, -which was fastened across the top so that it could be swung out and up -and be propped with a stick, thus making a shade over the opening like -an awning; it could also be swung down and tied tight whenever desired. - -Inside there were several shelves put up by swinging them from the -roof, and their largest piece of driftwood, laid across two rocks, made -a very good table. These and the mantel-shelf were enough to hold all -their dishes and other valuables. The bedding, folded up neatly in a -corner, did not take up much room. The fireplace did not smoke, and it -was very convenient indeed for the cooking. - -At night the children lay down where they chose on the clean, springy -seaweed floor, and pulled a part of a blanket or a rabbit-skin robe or -the big cape over them and slept the sleep of the healthy till morning. - -They had no lamp or lantern, but the bark of the _pitalla_ burned with -a white light that made the inside of the little house very cheery and -cozy of an evening, and was a good enough light for anything they might -want to do. - -They had begun the house at the end of one rainy season; they had -it finished just as the next one was upon them. They went with the -Muggywah and gathered up all the _pitalla_ bark, now nicely dry, which -had been stripped from their poles and which they had not already -brought in, and stored it in the Cave to keep it dry, and when they had -that full they piled another heap in another cave, where it would be -partially protected from the wet. - -They gathered, too, a big pile of driftwood near the house,--light -stuff such as the waves were always tossing up, and as much heavy stuff -as they could get for back-logs to bury at night, so as to have good -embers in the mornings when it was cold, for a bed of hot embers was a -comfort indeed to start in with. - -The children had begun calling the new home a wigwam, but Marian said -she was quite sure that a wigwam was always made of skins stretched -over poles, but she believed--she was not quite _sure_, but she -believed--that a wickiup was made of wattles with a thatch or dirt -roof; so, of course, theirs was a wickiup. - -Rainy days had no terrors for them now, and no dreariness. They would -do what was needful to make the little burros comfortable, gather into -the wickiup what food and fuel was needed for the next day and night, -close the storm door, on the side the wind and rain were coming from -and open the other to let in plenty of light. - -A very small fire would keep the room comfortable, and they could sit -warm and dry, and do whatever amused them best,--weave baskets, or -make little ropes, or sharpen knives or the hatchet. Rainy days were -good times to crochet fiber into bags or clothing and to bore holes in -wampum. Delbert made himself a beautiful wampum belt. It was woven of -fiber about two inches wide, and he covered it with little shells sewed -on through two little holes bored in each one. It was a great deal of -work, but he was very much interested in it, and showed such ability in -boring holes without breaking the shells, and in sewing them on so that -they made a pretty pattern, that Marian was as proud of him for doing -it as he was proud of the belt when it was done. - -It was that summer that Marian took up the long-neglected task of -the children’s education. She was handicapped certainly; her sole -schoolroom equipments were half a lead-pencil, a piece of blue chalk -half as big as her thumb, which chanced to be in her workbag, and a -part of a newspaper that had lain in the bottom of their lunch-basket -and had a dozen times only narrowly escaped being used up for something -else. This paper consisted mainly of advertisements of real estate for -sale, male and female help wanted, and a page of sporting news and -market reports, with half a column of mineral discoveries. It was not -an ideal primer, but it would do to teach Davie his letters from. - -There was a place on the rock wall that was comparatively smooth, and -Marian made it more so by rubbing it with flat stones small enough to -be handled easily and as much like a grindstone in composition as she -could find. She would rub and rub, throw on a little water, and rub -again, and she kept that up till she had a space that would serve very -well as a blackboard. Of course the blue chalk did not last long, but -then they used bits of charcoal, and if bones were burnt just right -they made a very good substitute for chalk. A bunch of mescal or -banana fiber made a very good eraser. - -There were several pieces of driftwood smooth enough to do for slates, -and one or two bits of flat stones also. Clamshells were useful. They -had quite a number of these, as big as saucers, that they had used as -dishes. Marian took them now and made school readers of them. With -the lead-pencil she wrote lessons on them, Mother Goose verses, bits -of poetry that did not have too many big words in them, remembered -proverbs, and little stories. When the three older children could read -and spell all the words in them, she washed them out and wrote another -lesson. - -Arithmetic was taught by means of the blackboard and little shells, -stones, and seeds. Delbert always did his figuring on the hearthstone. -He would stretch out on his stomach and elbows, his chin in his hands, -and his feet kicking at all angles. - -The other children had to give him a wide berth or they got all kinds -of cracks. Jennie complained that she could not think lying down, -so she always used the blackboard. Esther used it too, not because -her brain would not work horizontally, but because when Delbert had -the hearth there was no room for any one else there, and he made his -figures as big as all out-of-doors anyway. After all, mental arithmetic -was more satisfactory, and Marian drilled them pretty well in that. - -The paper-tree proved a treasure to them. It is, I think, in some -respects a distant cousin of the birch. At any rate, its bark can be -peeled off in the same way, only it is much thinner--of paperlike -thickness, or thinness rather--and partially transparent. When she -could get good pieces of this, Marian never failed to acquire them, and -she made books of it, clumsy, of course, but serving a little better -than the clamshells. - -She was constantly experimenting for ink, testing every juice she came -across that seemed at all likely. Pens she could make, as her ancestors -had before her, of big quills. Her little penknife had never been much -used except to whittle out toys for Christmas, and it was just the -thing to make quill pens with. - -Fortunately, Delbert and the girls were eager to learn. They did not -want to be behind their mates when they got back to them, and as they -were all three pretty bright, Marian’s task was much easier than it -would otherwise have been. - -But Davie was not over anxious to spend time on what seemed to him so -useless. He was more backward than either of the others, too, and with -him Marian had need of the most loving patience, also of ingenuity in -thinking up ways to get him interested. Fortunately, she was patient, -and, moreover, loved the little fellow so fervently that she would have -developed patience even had she been naturally devoid of it. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -DAVIE’S PANAL HUNT: AND WHAT CAME OF IT - - -Davie was really getting to be quite a chunk of a boy. He was different -from Delbert,--more square and solid of build, of quieter and calmer -temperament too, slower in his motions and also in his thought and -speech. In features he resembled Esther more than any of the others. - -He was a very straightforward little fellow. No matter how much he -differed from the others, he never saw any reason for concealing his -opinions or denying his actions. He did not talk much, but seemed to -do his share of thinking, and when he reached a conclusion was apt -to cling to it rather tenaciously. He usually yielded to Marian’s -authority with a pretty good grace, but as he grew older he was more -and more apt to disregard the wishes of the others when they crossed -his own. Jennie could, as a rule, manage him pretty well, for she was -very diplomatic about it, and seemed to have a gift for knowing when to -coax and pet him into doing what she wanted him to and when to twist -him adroitly round her fingers in some other way. - -Esther, too, though she was not so successful as Jennie, rarely clashed -with her little brother, but Delbert, having perhaps less of the guile -of the serpent in his make-up, often did clash in a small way. He -thought that as he was older his wishes should have the preference as -a matter of course. But Davie held other ideas. He did not propose -to have Delbert bossing him just because he was bigger, and often he -was stubborn just for the pleasure of plaguing his older brother. The -trouble was never very deep-seated. Two minutes after an explosion -of hot words on Delbert’s part had called Marian’s attention so that -she could settle the matter, whatever it was, the little boy would be -cuddled up beside the older one, sweet-tempered and smiling as you -please. - -Delbert never seemed to lay Davie’s naughtiness up against him after -the immediate occasion had passed. But one day there were after effects -which neither of them had counted upon. - -Davie had gone with Delbert and Esther up into the pasture to see how a -certain _panal_ was growing, Marian and Jennie being detained at the -wickiup. The _panal_ was still too small to be molested, so they went -back, skirting the high, rocky part of the Island that lay overlooking -the shallow part of the harbor. They went down to the water once and -then climbed up again, and Delbert suggested that they go back to the -level pasture and follow the path home as the quickest way of getting -there. Davie, for no reason save that Delbert wanted to go back to the -path, decided that he wanted to continue climbing over the rocks; he -said he was looking for _panales_. - -Delbert did not want to go on and leave him behind, for they were a -long way from the wickiup, and Davie was little. But he coaxed to no -avail and issued positive orders with as little result. Esther, too, -tried her hand, but it was useless. Davie continued wending his way -along the roughest, rockiest part, “looking for _panales_.” - -Delbert fretted and fumed, and presently they came to where Davie must -come back to the level land or else crawl along where it was really -dangerous for him to go. - -Had it been Jennie, she would have looked the other way, started a -conversation with Esther about something a long way off, and pretended -to forget all about the little boy, and he, finding himself no longer -in the lime-light, as it were, would have quietly come back and trailed -along in the path behind her. But Delbert was pretty well worked up -anyway, and he was truly alarmed for Davie’s safety in that spot. - -“Now, Davie, you will have to come back,” he said. - -“No, go along here,” returned Davie with true Indian brevity. - -“Why, you can’t! Honest, Davie, it isn’t safe. Marian wouldn’t let you -if she were here. Come on, now.” - -Davie hesitated a minute, debating whether he should attempt farther -advance where he was or go back with the others. To jump across to the -next rock was almost beyond his daring, but it would be having his own -way. He made, or appeared to make, preparation for it. - -A quick, hot wave of anger flashed over Delbert. He started forward, -intending to catch his naughty little brother and carry him back along -the path by force, at least till they were well past the rocky danger. -He knew he could do it, once he got hold of him. - -Davie knew it, too, and made all haste to jump before Delbert could -get to him. Perhaps he could have made it, if he had done it with -deliberation, but, as it was, he slipped, missed his mark, lost his -balance, and, slipping, failed to regain it and fell. - -Delbert and Esther never will forget the sickening horror of that -moment. They rushed forward and scrambled down the rocks as best they -could to where the little boy lay, making no effort to get up, but -screaming at the top of his lungs. - -Esther was crying, too, but Delbert managed to control himself enough -to refrain from that, and, frightened as he was, horrified through and -through, he could still reflect that though such a fall might easily -have broken his neck, Davie’s yells proved he was still very much alive. - -[Illustration: DAVIE’S FALL] - -When he reached his little brother and tried to pick him up he screamed -louder than before, if possible, and then Delbert saw that one leg -was bent in a way that proved even to his inexperience that the bone -was broken. There was also a cut on the head that was bleeding badly. -With white face and shaking fingers Delbert examined the head and was -relieved to find that the skull did not seem to be broken, so he took -off the rag that was tied about his own head to keep the hair out of -his eyes, and tied it about Davie’s to stop the bleeding. There was -only salt water to be had just there, and Delbert did not know enough -to know whether that would do at all to put on or not, but he knew it -would make the wounds smart badly, so he did not risk washing them with -it. - -Esther had already started off to carry the news to Marian. Delbert -almost wished he had gone himself, as he would probably have reached -the wickiup a few minutes sooner. Still, supposing Davie were hurt -inside! Supposing he were to die before Marian got there! - -If Delbert had been older and wiser, he would have known that only -about half of Davie’s yells were from the pain of his injuries, and -the other half were from fright at the pain. As it was, not daring to -move the little fellow a bit lest he hurt him more, he could only curl -down beside him and, putting his arms around him, kiss him and talk as -soothingly as he could. - -One arm that lay under him Davie did not try to move, but he put the -other about Delbert’s neck and sobbed, “I--want--to go--back--to--to -the--path, Dellie!” - -A week later Delbert sat down and laughed till his sides ached over the -memory of that speech, but at the time it did not strike him as being -at all funny. - -As soon as she got back to the smooth ground, Esther ran like a little -deer, ran and ran, stumbled and fell twice, and picked herself up and -ran again till she was out of breath, and walked till she regained it, -and ran again. She was all out of breath when she stumbled into the -wickiup. - -Marian was not there. She and Jennie had started down the new path for -water, but in answer to Esther’s wild calls they quickly returned. The -tears had made streaks through the dirt that Esther got on her face -when she fell, and she was sobbing so she could not talk straight. - -“Oh, he wouldn’t mind Dellie, Marian, he wouldn’t mind Dellie, and he -fell way down on the rocks, and he’s all broken and bleedy!” - -It was not a very reassuring way to tell news certainly. Jennie began -to cry, but though Marian’s face went white, she remained calm. - -“Esther, who fell?” - -“Davie. He wouldn’t mind Dellie--” - -“There, there! Listen, Esther! Esther, is he dead?” - -“N--n--not yet,” gasped Esther, “but he’s all bleedy and Dellie says -his leg is broke, and he is crying awfully.” - -Marian drew a long breath; then, “Jennie, stop crying, so you can help -me,” she said. “Esther, sit down there and get your breath. Where is -Davie? Where did he fall?” - -“Down by Little Pig Cove. He wouldn’t go in the path, and he tried to -jump and he fell, and Dellie stayed with him.” - -Marian pressed her hands tightly to her temples for a moment, and in -that moment thought of all that she could do. - -“Esther,” she said, “fold that blanket to take back with us. Did -Delbert have his good lariat with him? Yes? Then see if you can find -another stick like this out in the pile. Jennie, hold this jar so I can -pour what water is in the demijohn into it. There, it isn’t full, but -we can’t stop to go for more now.” - -Esther appeared with the two sticks. Marian made a bundle of their old -ragged clothes and gave it to Jennie to carry; then, taking the jar of -water and the blanket, she followed Esther’s lead as fast as she could. - -When they got back to where the boys were, they found Davie still lying -where he fell, sobbing, but not quite so wildly as at first. - -Delbert, white-faced and shaken still, crouched beside him. - -Marian examined the child as well as she could. The cut on the head -was already ceasing to bleed, and the other scratches and bumps, ugly -though they were, did not alarm her, but at sight of that little -crooked leg her heart sank. How could she set a bone? She mistrusted -that the under arm was injured too, and goodness only knew how much -more. - -She set Jennie and Delbert to making a stretcher out of the two sticks -and the blanket, while she and Esther hunted up some sticks as nearly -straight as they could find to make a temporary splint for the leg, -till they could get back to the wickiup. - -Every time they moved the leg, Davie screamed and beat at them with -his good arm. He made no attempt to move the other one. At last Marian -ordered Jennie and Esther to hold him and his pugnacious little arm, -while she and Delbert managed the leg. - -Jennie began to cry. “O Marian, don’t! don’t!” she sobbed. - -Marian sat up and pushed back some loose strands of hair that straggled -over her eyes. - -“Jennie,” she said, “we have _got_ to hurt him. We can’t help it. We -have _got_ to get him back to the wickiup, where I can fix it--as well -as I can. If we don’t get it right, he will be a cripple all his life. -The pain won’t kill him; just the pain won’t, dearie. He may faint, but -it won’t be any worse. Don’t make it worse by your crying.” - -So Jennie controlled herself as well as she could, and she and Esther, -steeling their hearts, held the little arm and head and shoulder down, -while Marian straightened the leg a little and arranged it so it would -be held fairly steady as they carried him back. Then she turned him -over and examined the arm. She could not see that it was hurt, but -she knew it must be. As gently as she could, she lifted him on to the -stretcher and gave him a big drink of water. Then they started back. -Davie and Esther cried all the way. - -At the wickiup they laid him as gently as they could on the floor, but -he screamed with the pain nevertheless. Marian set all three of the -others to bringing up water, and she put some on in the little kettle -over the fire. - -She washed off the blood and dirt and tore her bathing-suit into -bandages. Fortunately, it was clean, having been washed and boiled in -fresh water, as it chanced, since she had used it, and she put a clean -bandage around the head in the place of the rather dirty rag that -Delbert had tied it with. Then she gathered all the little pieces of -board they had, and while the others brought the water, she worked at -splints. - -When she had got these ready, she straightened her patient out on the -floor on his back, and undid the first hasty bandaging and tried to -straighten his leg till it would look and feel just like the other one. -Jennie and Esther were too much wrought up by Davie’s suffering to be -of much service, but Delbert set his white lips together and held the -screaming child firmly. At last they thought it seemed to be right and -bandaged it up. - -“Marian,” said Delbert, “his shoulder cracked awful funny just now.” - -After a little examination she said, “I guess it must have been twisted -out of place a little and slipped back in. You see, he moves it now, -and it certainly feels just like the other one, at any rate.” - -She felt him all over, but could find nothing more that seemed like -broken bones, for which she was devoutly thankful. - -She had an idea that Davie must not be moved at all for a week at -least, and as a precaution against this she tied the bandaged leg to -the side of the wickiup. For the life of her she could not remember -how long it took a broken bone to heal, though she must some time have -heard some one say; and of course the others were no wiser. Delbert had -it running in his head that it was three weeks, but Jennie said, “No, -that is how long it takes a chicken to hatch.” - -“Anyway,” said Esther, “when it does grow together it itches awfully. I -heard Mr. Faston say so.” - -Davie was so exhausted that he slept quite a while that afternoon, but -by night he was awake and feverish, and, of course, very fretful. - -Marian kept pouring a little cold water on his bandages. She was sure -that was the right thing to do, and she sat beside him, soothing him by -every device she could think of and feeling her heart grow heavier and -heavier as his fever rose and he struggled to turn and toss, and moaned -and cried. - -At night the little girls slept, and Delbert too to some extent, but -there was no sleep for Marian. She was afraid there was some internal -injury, not knowing that the fever was the natural result of the shock -and hurt and only what any doctor would have expected. - -She kept the bandages wet with cold water and wrung out hot cloths and -applied them to the sore and lame spots. She bathed and rubbed and -worked over Davie and she kept her voice cheerful and her eyes smiling, -though a sickening fear held her heart. - -It was days and days before she could feel at all easy, but the fever -departed, the swellings went down, and no more lame spots came to -light. Davie ate well and slept fairly well too. He began to regain his -old sunny ways, and the tension on Marian’s nerves relaxed. But, of -course, she had to stay by him pretty closely; so the other children -performed the business of the day alone. - -They attended to the garden and went down after each tide to see if -there were any fish in High-Tide Pool, because, though they never -found a whole school in there as they had on that day soon after their -arrival, still there were very likely to be one or two lurking in the -dark hole in the rocks, and one child would wade in and scare them out, -and Delbert, standing ready with the spear, would gather them in. There -were quite a number of places among the rocks where fish, and often -big fish, were to be found after high tide. If they could get them -that way, it saved going at night, and of course they could not well -do that now. Anyway, it took quite a pile of _pitalla_ to light them -for a night’s spearing, and _pitalla_ was getting scarce in the near -neighborhood. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -DELBERT’S BIG GAME - - -Delbert was getting tired of small game now. He began to plan for deer -and pork. He made himself a new bow, larger and stronger than he had -ever had before, with a new, strong string, and he made new arrows -tipped with the best points he could get, and then he and Esther went -deer-hunting. - -Jennie always stayed with Marian, to help with Davie and because she -really did not like hunting. She could not bear to kill things nor to -see them killed. She carried her bow and arrows and shot at marks along -with the rest of them, and sometimes at game, but she never seemed to -enjoy it when she hit it. - -As soon as it was light enough for them to see their way at all, -Delbert and Esther would creep out and try for a close approach to -the deer. Sometimes they did not come back till about noon, their -only breakfast having been some raw vegetables carried with them, a -few bananas usually, which they carried in their quivers with their -arrows,--sometimes not even that. Marian had no hopes of their ever -getting a deer, but she never discouraged them. She and Jennie could -manage Davie and tend the little burros, and the lessons could be -studied in the afternoons. Davie, poor boy, certainly had to take his -lessons with great regularity in those days; there was no way he could -escape from them. Marian had had to loosen his bandages a number of -times, but she did not yet dare take them off, though she had not kept -him strapped to the house very long. - -Marian now began to study very earnestly on the spinning and weaving -problem. Rabbit-skin clothing was very unsatisfactory, as were the -crocheted fiber things, too, though for different reasons, but little -King David’s misfortune had simply wiped every other kind out of -existence. What with bandages and towels, there was not one single -thin, worn garment left, only a little pile of frayed rags. Marian took -her swim at night now. It was imperative that new clothes be acquired -in some way, and she thought and thought, and was just beginning to -see light on the subject when Esther came tearing in one morning, -breathless and disheveled, to announce that Delbert had killed his deer. - -His sisters could scarcely credit the story, but Marian took the path -straightway, leaving Jennie to keep Davie company and give him his -frequently demanded drinks of water and dampen his bandages and see if -he had remembered from yesterday the little words written on the big -clamshell. Marian found Delbert dancing a veritable war dance round a -fair-sized buck. The thing had happened almost as far back as Little -Pig Cove, where Davie had fallen, and, in a way, the two occurrences -were somewhat similar. - -Delbert and Esther had crept along that morning, as luck would have it, -in time to witness a very serious disagreement between two bucks. The -wind was in their favor; otherwise they might not have got quite so -close to where the two were struggling together. - -Perhaps one of them had thought they should cross the pasture on the -level land, perhaps the other wanted the herd to hunt _panales_ among -the rocks. Delbert never knew what the quarrel was about. He had read -of such things, but this was his first chance to see anything of the -sort. His blood leaped, and his eyes sparkled. Esther, a little behind -him, practically inclined, fitted an arrow to her bow and shot. In her -excitement the shaft went wide of the mark; so much so that no one, not -even the deer, noticed it at all, a result which so sobered her that -she did not try again. Delbert was actually forgetting to shoot at all, -which Esther afterwards declared was worse than shooting and missing, -even as wildly as she had. - -But the stronger of the two bucks was beginning to push the other -about, and in the scuffle they worked nearer and nearer to the edge of -the rocks, though it is hardly likely this was other than accidental. -Probably they were so taken up with their tussle that they did not -notice where they were going. But presently a rock loosened and -slipped, and then, before they could realize what was happening, a -great mass of rocks and earth and bushes fell thundering down the steep -to the level strip below. - -Esther screamed and ran back; the group of deer which had been watching -the combat also fled, and did not stop till they had reached the -safety of the farther pasture. One of the fighting bucks was able to -spring back and save himself, and he fled with the rest, but the other -one went down with the avalanche. - -[Illustration: HE COULD SEE THE BUCK STRUGGLING TO FREE HIMSELF] - -Delbert, with a shout, ran forward and began clambering down where it -was not so steep and appeared to be perfectly safe. In a minute he -could see the buck struggling to free himself from the mass of débris. -Even then he did not think of the trusty bow and arrows he had taken -such pains with for this very occasion, but, pulling out his long -knife, he ran forward, and, by the time Esther had scrambled down -beside him, the deer had ceased to kick, and Delbert was tugging at the -rocks that still partly covered it. He sent her post-haste for Marian, -and when they got back to him, he had the deer pulled out on a clear -space and was already beginning to skin it. - -Neither of them knew a thing about cutting up such an animal except -what they dimly remembered used to be done at “Grandpa’s” at -hog-butchering time, but they managed to get the skin off after a -fashion and they chopped and cut away at the rest, breaking the bones -with a stone or the hatchets when they could not find a joint. - -The discarded parts they would leave there, for it was too far to carry -them to the watermelon-patch for fertilizer, and there were plenty of -the scavengers of the sea waiting for them to go so that they could -clean up after them. The good meat they tied up in the skin, and they -swung it on a pole and carried it home between them, Esther carrying -the hatchet and knives. - -It was past noon when, blood-stained and weary, they arrived at the -wickiup. Jennie was getting anxious, and Davie was decidedly fretful. -Delbert was then sent out to the salt reef to bring back all the salt -there was there. They would need it besides what they already had -in the wickiup, for Marian was determined not to lose a bit of that -meat. She cleaned up the pail and hung it over the fire too, for the -kettle would not hold all the bones. Some of the ribs were put to -roast immediately, and then she set to work cutting up and salting and -hanging up to dry. They stretched a line out in the sun and hung the -pieces over that. - -The skin would fill several long-felt wants, one of which was to -provide Marian with sandals. Her leather ones had worn entirely out, -and she had tried fiber ones without much success; she had even tried -wooden ones. - -Before that meat was half gone,--and they ate with true Indian -appetites,--Delbert had determined to go after pork. There was a -certain place on the farther end of the island where the pigs were -pretty apt to be found, especially in the heat of the day. It was back -from the shore, but low. In fact, it was a lagoon of water in the -rainy season and contained water till near the rains again. In one or -two places the fresh water oozed out all the year round. It was here -that the young hunter proposed to make his attack. - -The boy’s idea was certainly novel. Good as his new bow and arrows -were, he did not really suppose he could kill a hog with them except -by accident. Perhaps a shot through the eye would be fatal,--he was -not sure,--but if one was merely wounded there was danger of the rest -showing fight, and--well, Delbert proposed to take no chances. - -So where the big rocks, solid as the Island itself, overhung the bushes -and little pools below, he would establish himself. Here he would -be where the game could not get at him without making a détour of a -quarter of a mile or so, and, after he had cut some brush and piled it -properly, they could not see him either. - -So with his hair rope he made a trap or snare across a much-used pig -path, the rope running up over a crude but strong pulley and being tied -about a good-sized cactus in the rocks above. With the butcher knife -lashed to the end of a good stout pole and several such implements by -his side he sat and waited patiently. - -When it became pretty warm, the pigs assembled by the lagoon to drink -and wallow in the mud. Before so very long the Muggywah appeared, -with Jennie and Esther on board. They moored her out a little way and -waded in. Quietly they drove the herd up toward the rocks and bushes, -for, though not what could be called wild, the pigs would not permit a -close approach. Presently one of them poked his nose through Delbert’s -waiting noose, and Delbert fairly held his breath till he stepped on, -and then he gave a mighty jerk and began hauling in his rope over the -pulley. He had caught the porker just back of one front leg, and the -astonishment of that pig and his companions when he was thus lifted -bodily into the air was enough, Delbert afterward said, to pay him for -all his trouble. - -From behind his screen of rocks and bushes he pulled the squealing -animal up till he could reach him with a sort of shepherd’s crook he -had provided himself with; whereupon he fastened the rope and pulled -the pig in out of sight of its companions and dispatched it. - -At the first squeal the girls had retreated most hastily to the -Muggywah and pushed off, paddling back till they were well out of sight -of the herd of pigs, when they moored the craft again, this time to a -rock on shore, and, ascending the hill, circled round back till they -found Delbert cutting up the game. - -[Illustration: DELBERT PULLED THE SQUEALING ANIMAL UP] - -They did by it as they had done by the deer,--skinned it and carried -the meat home tied up in the skin slung over a pole. They had a stick -with a fork at one end, so each of the girls could take a fork, and -Delbert managed the other end. - -After that Delbert had no more taste for potting small game. He spent -his time thinking up tricks and traps for deer and pigs. The deer were -not such easy marks, but the pigs, being more stupid or less shy, could -often be successfully bagged by practically the same tactics as he had -used the first time. - -Finally Marian suggested to him that it would be in the long run a -great saving of time and an all-round better plan if he would build a -good little pen somewhere and catch rather small pigs and put them into -it, where they could fatten them up on garden stuff, of which they had -plenty now,--the inferior bananas, for instance,--and then they could -kill them when they chose. Jennie thought of a good place for a pen, -close to the watermelon-patch, where there was a scrubby tree or two -and a great overhanging rock that the pigs could go under for shade -and shelter, and where they would not have to build a fence except on -two sides. - -The plan was put into operation and worked very well. They built the -fence mostly of rocks piled up into a wall, and when it was finished, -Delbert stocked it with youngsters that he was sure were quite old -enough to leave their mothers. And the catching of them and the -conveying of them across to the pen gave him much glee in spite of the -hard labor involved. - -The pork when killed was cured with salt and smoke. Marian did not -have very good success with the last method, yet she managed it after -a fashion. First she tried smoking the meat by hanging it over their -chimney, but that was too hot, for it cooked it as well as smoking it -and fried out all the grease too. But she did better when she built a -smokehouse where a tiny fire discharged its smoke through a tunnel in a -bank that terminated in a little cubby-hole affair of sticks and rocks -where the meat was laid. They called it a smokehouse. It was a sort of -doll smokehouse. The meat was always cut in rather small pieces and -well salted, for Marian had a horror of spoilt meat. - -Soap was also attempted,--staggered at, Marian said. She knew little -about it, but had seen Bobbie’s mother making it, and she happened to -know that ashes contained lye. The bottom of the wickerwork around the -good demijohn had worn clear through. Marian carefully broke it away -at the neck as well and took it off entirely. Then, tipping it upside -down, she had a basket forsooth. She lined the sides with green banana -leaves and filled it full of ashes. - -She rigged it up where she could slip under it the old broken demijohn -they had found in the cove and had used so much, which would hold -about a gallon. Then she poured a little water on the ashes, and when -that soaked in, a little more, and kept it up till she had it dripping -through into the old demijohn below. Thus she leached out her lye. And -if it did not seem very strong, she could boil it down in the porcelain -kettle, which was the only thing she had that she dared use for that -purpose, though she could boil things and even try out her grease in -Mr. Cunningham’s pail. - -When the lye was stout enough to suit her, she put it into the -two-quart glass jar or the bottles, and finally she started in with -the soap-making. Well, she made it, but don’t imagine it was nice -white, sweet-smelling soap, such as you can buy, for it certainly was -not. She made, first and last, a good many batches. Some of it would -harden, and some would not. - -What did harden she cut into cakes and put on a shelf to dry, where it -would proceed to do so, shrinking itself up into the most absurd shapes -of about half its former size. And what would not harden, she put into -broken bottles or great shells or hollowed-out pieces of wood, but it -was nearly all black in color and smelled--oh, like nothing in the -world but very strong-smelling soap, but it would make a lather, after -a fashion, and would take out dirt and grease. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -WHEREWITHAL SHALL WE BE CLOTHED? - - -Marian’s grandmothers had known how to spin and weave, and as a little -girl she herself had seen the old wheels and looms of her ancestors -and had had their workings explained to her. But her childish mind had -understood little, and the intervening years had wiped out much of -that. Still, there remained a little, a wavering memory that she called -up now and caused to supplement her grown-up knowledge of how such -things must needs be worked out. - -“I need two wheels, Delbert,” she said, “and a band to go from one to -the other as on mother’s sewing-machine. One wheel must be small, and I -think this spool will do. Jennie, you can wind off what’s left of the -thread on to this little stick instead. But where can I get the other -wheel? It must be big.” - -“There’s the bottom of the old barrel,” suggested Delbert. “We can make -something else to put on the Muggywah to carry things in.” - -“That’s so,” said Marian; “I could burn a hole through the center to -run an axle through and another one to stick a handle in near the edge -to turn it by.” - -“But doesn’t the wheel have to have a groove on it? Mamma’s machine -wheel did,--grooved, you know, so the band couldn’t slip off.” - -“No, if I remember rightly, the big wheel on grandma’s spinning-wheel -was very wide, or had a wide tire, and the band was so narrow there -was no danger of its getting off. There probably was a groove on the -little wheel, and our spool will fix that, you see, as well as if it -had been made specially; but I don’t see my way clear yet to making -that barrel-bottom carry the band. Maybe I can char the edge and make a -groove in it.” - -Investigation proved the bottom of the barrel to be made of two pieces -which would come apart as soon as the pressure of the staves was -removed. That, however, was remedied by nailing two bits of boards -across the two pieces. - -Where did she get the nails? Well, she had been saving them up for a -long time. Two of them had been in Davie’s apron pockets when they -came to the Island, and one had chanced to be lying in the bottom of -the lunch-basket. The others had been picked up one time and another in -bits of driftwood on the beaches. Most of these were too crooked and -rusty to be good for much, but there were enough good ones to fasten -the pieces of the barrel-bottom securely together. Then they knocked -off the hoops and staves and released the round piece, and burned the -center hole, and another near the rim to put a handle in to turn it by, -as Marian had said. - -By this time she had abandoned the idea of charring the edge and -making a groove. She gathered a lot of little straight pieces about -five inches long and varying in width, some round but most little flat -pieces, and in the center of each she cut a V-shaped notch and pounded -them down tight on the edge of the wheel till she had circled it -entirely, in that manner, then tied two strings round near the ends of -the little sticks to bind them so they would not loosen up and come off. - -She decided to use the same iron bar for an axle for the wheel to turn -on that she had used to burn the holes in it with, and she pounded it -into a crack in the rock wall of the wickiup. The outer end of the bar -had a sort of knob on it,--it might once have been a nut,--so that the -wheel would not slip off, and to keep it from wandering in the other -direction up to the wall she twisted a bit of rope round the bar and -tied it to make a good-sized knot on that side. - -She was not quite satisfied with the rim of her wheel, and she worked -a long while, weaving and winding fiber in and out till she had it -all smooth with no chance of any of the little pieces being knocked -loose. For the rest of her apparatus she had to do some searching for -materials. She spent a full half-day up in the pasture before she -found what she had decided she must have,--a straight little tree that -divided into two branches about three feet up. She cut it close to the -ground and trimmed off the top, leaving the forks about six inches long. - -A piece of driftwood flat on one side was taken for the base, and a -hole was burned in the middle of it and enlarged till the forked stick -could be inserted and made snug by driving in little pegs where it did -not fit tight. Two little holes were burned through the two forks. She -used a big old nail to do that, for she did not want such big holes as -the bar would have made,--besides, the bar was tight in the wall now -with the big wheel swung on it. A little round stick that fitted snug -into the spool was then made into a spindle. It turned nicely in the -two little burned holes in the forks. - -[Illustration: THE SPINNING-WHEEL] - -However, the standard was not heavy enough of itself to stand as firmly -as would be required, so one end of the driftwood base was slipped -under a rock projection, and then Delbert tugged in as big a rock as he -could lift and set it down on the other end. - -Now all that was lacking was a band to connect the two wheels. Marian -crocheted this out of fiber, just wide enough to fit the spool. - -Any of the children could turn the big wheel. Even Davie would be able -to when he got up. This left Marian’s hands free to manipulate her -cotton at the spindle. - -Probably no spinning-wheel that was ever built was just like that one, -but that did not disturb Marian’s equanimity so long as her wheel would -spin, and that it certainly did. True, her yarn was always lumpy; -she never did get so she could make it nice and smooth, but she was -convinced that that was the fault of the manipulation of the cotton, -for the wheel itself went quite swiftly and smoothly. - -After she had spun up all their cotton, which included that from the -wild cotton-tree, which she mixed in with that of the now flourishing -bushes in the garden, she got out the little bundle of the combings of -their hair, which she had saved ever since about the first of their -being on the island, and she finally got that all spun into yarn too. -It took as much time to prepare her material for spinning as it did -to spin it, but the children helped with the cotton. They all, Davie -included, got to be quite expert at picking out cotton seeds. - -The next problem was weaving. Delbert was unexpectedly helpful at that. -He knew nothing of his grandmother’s loom, but once upon a time he had -seen a woman weaving a rag carpet, and on that never-to-be-forgotten -trip with Clarence and his father he had seen an old Indian weaving on -a loom. - -As, however, the son of the old Indian had been blest with a number -of fighting cocks which he was very desirous of showing off to the -Americans, the small boy had bestowed most of his attention on the -pugnacious birds instead of on the sober and less interesting loom; -with the result that of the two processes that of rag-carpet weaving -was really the clearer in his mind, though it had been witnessed -earlier. - -“There were two rollers,” he told Marian. “One had the threads and -one had the carpet, and there were two little frame things something -like in a beehive, only with strings across, and when one jerked up it -lifted up every other thread, and she’d throw the thing through and -then the other would jerk up and that lifted the other every other -thread, and she’d throw it back again and pound it down with a stick.” - -Marian drew a long breath. “Delbert,” she said, “it sounds just like a -nightmare.” - -Delbert stared. “Why,” he said, “I can see it just as plain as can be, -only I can’t remember how it was made.” - -“Probably we couldn’t make one just like it, anyway,” she consoled him. - -Indeed, after much cogitating, she decided that an actual loom was -beyond their resources, just at that time, at least, and concluded -to weave by the simple method followed by the Indians in weaving the -_fajas_,[6] or narrow sashes the men wear. They had seen this done by -an Indian woman at the Port. - - [6] Pronounced _fahʹhahss_. - -This calls for two pairs of forks set in the ground and two round -sticks laid across the forks. The thread for the warp is wound round -these sticks, from one to the other, over both and then under both, -across and across, till the sticks are full. - -A thin flat stick is then woven in under one thread and over the next -of the top layer of threads, and then turned up on edge. This makes -a space to pass the shuttle through, and the shuttle, by the way, is -simply a slender stick with the filling wound on it. - -Then the flat stick is pulled out and woven in again and the process -repeated again and again. As fast as is needed, the round sticks are -turned over, thus turning the woven cloth underneath till all but a few -inches of the warp has been woven. These threads are then cut and form -the fringe on the ends of the _faja_. - -Marian changed the plan a little. Two little crotches were set in the -floor of the wickiup just at the right height to be handy to work at. -They had to dig up the floor to get them set right, but when they were -set, the children smoothed things over and packed the seaweed carpet -down again. - -A smooth round stick about as big as Marian’s wrist was laid across -the crotches. The other roller was much smaller around, and instead of -being put on a pair of crotches was fastened to the side of the house -with loops of rope, being just loose enough to turn easily in the -loops. - -Then came the task of wrapping the warp round the two rollers. It had -to be very even and snug, and every once in a while a thread would -break and have to be tied, and altogether it called for a good deal of -patience. - -[Illustration: THE LOOM] - -“I remember,” said Delbert, “that on the carpet the lady wove, this -part was all red and green. She had a wide stripe of red in the middle -and a wide stripe of green out a little way from it on both sides, and -in between were narrow stripes, but, on the very outside, on each -edge, there was a stripe of red just half as wide as the one in the -center, and she explained it to me. She said it was so that when the -carpet was all sewed together it would make a red stripe just the same -size as the one in the middle. The rags that she put in the other way -were all kinds of colors.” - -“How came you to remember all that?” asked Jennie. - -“Dunno, but I do.” - -When the warp was all ready, Marian tried weaving in the cross-thread -with her darning-needle, as she would have mended a sock; but that was -altogether too long and tedious a process, so she hunted for a thin -flat stick such as the Indians have, to weave in and turn up on edge to -hold the threads apart, while she slipped through a shuttle which she -made of a weed stalk. That did better, but was not wholly satisfactory, -and Delbert kept thinking and thinking, trying to remember how that -part of the work had been done on the carpet-loom. He could not get it -entirely clear in his head, but he finally evolved a plan that answered -the purpose. - -He arranged a pair of harnesses--though neither he nor Marian knew that -that was their name--of two sticks wound with thread that looped down -round the threads of the warp. These harnesses were connected by a rope -that ran over a spool pulley that he fixed in the roof. Marian pulled -this rope a little; and that lifted one of the harnesses and with it -every other thread of the warp; she thrust through her weed-stalk -shuttle, then pulled that harness down, which released the upheld -threads, at the same time lifting the harness and with it all the other -threads. - -With this device she could accomplish two or three times as much in the -same space of time, and she was not at all niggardly in her praise. -Delbert glowed in consequence and, of course, Esther glowed with him. -Even Jennie, who was most apt to be a little skeptical of Delbert’s -abilities, had nothing but the most respectful remarks to offer on the -subject. - -With this crude loom they could weave a piece of cloth about a foot -wide by six feet long, and the children were all so interested and -eager to work at it, and it was such a simple process, that they all -easily learned; so Marian did not have all the weaving to do. - -Marian had kept Davie’s leg bandaged till she was very sure that it -must be well knit together, and then she would not have him bear his -weight on it for almost a week after. She was so very ignorant as to -how such things should be attended to that she simply did not know what -might happen. So she would undo it every day and bathe and rub and work -with it and then do it up again, leaving it more and more loose and -finally gave him permission to walk on it a little, but even then she -kept the splints on it and provided him with a sort of a crutch. - -When at last she discarded all bindings and allowed him to go free, -they watched him most jealously. There was a queer little half-limp -that Marian saw immediately. She hoped it would pass off in a week or -so, and it did get better, but it never entirely disappeared. In spite -of all her care, something had not been just right, and little King -David never walked quite straight again. - -Marion felt much worse about it than he did. As long as he could walk -and run and swim, what did he care if one leg was a trifle shorter -than the other? He could roam the Island wilds with the rest of them -now, and that was joy enough. - -Marian hoped his experience would teach him wisdom, and she did her -best to impress it upon his mind that when she was not there Delbert’s -authority came next; that, as Delbert was the oldest, it was his duty -to take care of the younger ones, and they must obey him. - -Davie admitted that he had not really needed to look for _panales_, -that he could plainly see he would have saved himself a great deal of -pain and trouble if he had minded Delbert, and he even went so far -as to say of his own accord that he wished he had. Also, at Marian’s -request, he promised to be “more good” in the future. - -This was all she could hope for in that direction, and she took pains -to instruct Delbert, when the others were not present, that, while she -fully intended to back up his authority, at the same time he must take -care not to issue orders that were not really necessary. She did not -worry about his having trouble with the girls, for Esther would think -anything Delbert wanted was the thing to do, anyway, and Jennie was -growing into such a sensible little woman that her judgment could be -depended upon as well as Delbert’s own; but Delbert was to take care -that he came pretty near letting Davie have his own way in the minor, -unimportant things and only issue orders to him when there was some -reason for it. - -She also privately instructed the little girls to use their influence -whenever they could to keep Davie within bounds and see that he gave -Delbert as little trouble as possible. And there she had to leave the -matter, trusting for the best, for she could not always go with them -now, the spinning and weaving and the making of their clothes took -up so much of her time. The children would go off of a morning and -sometimes not be back till nearly noon, coming in laden with fish, or -maybe clams, or with great armloads of wood. - -While they were gone, Marian would clean up the wickiup and work a -while among the great mass of poppies and nasturtiums she had growing -about the house and paths; but the wheel and loom were the principal -things. She spun her cotton and hair-combings as fine as she could, so -as to make them go as far as possible, and then she was always looking -for new material. She learned to work in a great deal of fiber without -spinning, especially in the filling, and many and many a morning was -spent in cleaning out banana fiber to be used in her cloth. Oh, there -was always plenty to keep her busy till the children came back at -noon. They would be hungry, and there would be dinner to eat, and then -lessons, and afterwards they would help with whatever she had in hand. - -And for the lessons she took up another labor, that of making books -of rabbit-skins. She had Delbert bring her some new skins, and she -used part of the old skin clothes, which had been promptly discarded -as fast as she had made new ones. She would trim her pages to the -desired size and sew them together with fiber or hair. She used her -little buttonhole scissors for the cutting, and of course she had real -needles, though she thought that she could have made shift with thorns -if she had had to. Her ink was brown. - -Her pens were made of quills, and she could not write very nicely -with them. Fine lines and graceful curves were not easy to achieve -with them, so she discarded script and “printed” her books, as little -children do before they have learned to write. - -I think in time she would have worked out a printing-press to print her -books on. Indeed, she did take the first step; she began to make type. -It began accidentally almost. A pen had gone bad, and in fixing it her -knife slipped and spoiled it altogether. Then, her mind on something -else, she began toying with it idly and presently cut it square across -and, pressing it down on her wrist, noted the neat _o_ it printed -there. Then it struck her that if it were inked it would make a better -_o_ than she could with a pen. She tried it, and it worked. - -A second quill cut across and a section taken out made a _c_. It gave -her an idea. Why not make a lot of type? It could not all be made with -quills, but it would be amusing to see what she could do. She whittled -out from bits of wood a capital _A_, and a _W_, and a _D_. She needed -an ink-pad, and made it by padding a chip with cotton and then covering -it with one of her last scraps of lawn. - -Her type worked well enough, but it would be too much bother to whittle -out the whole alphabet. The little letters would be beyond her skill, -anyway, and it would be slower printing one type at a time than it was -writing them. But by that time she had thought of a way whereby she -might make a few types serve for the whole alphabet, as all letters are -composed of curves and straight lines. - -The curves she could make of quills, which were finer than anything -she could whittle out, and the straight lines she made on the end of a -little bone, two of them,--one for long lines, one for short ones. Four -quills properly cut furnished her with an assortment of curves, and -she could hold all six in her left hand between the first and middle -fingers, which was better than laying them down and picking them up -each time she wished to change. It was too much bother to change with -every letter, too, so she would take one and make all she wanted of -that kind clear across the page, then she would change and make all -of another kind, and so on. She soon learned to gauge her distances -properly. - -It was no quicker than writing, but she could put her lines closer -together, thus getting more on a page, and her letters were more -uniform, and there were no more blots. It used the ink up faster than -plain writing, for it dried out from the pad, but, as it chanced, there -were plenty of ink materials. - -The children were delighted; it was easier to read than the old-time -script, and it looked so neat and businesslike. - -In those soft skin books Marian put every poem or set of verses that -she could remember. She began with Mother Goose rhymes and graded on up -to “The Charge of the Light Brigade” and “Thanatopsis,” which she had -learned to speak at school. Into one book went Bible verses and several -whole chapters from the holy book, notably the twenty-third Psalm and -the thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians. - -Anything and everything pleased the children. They learned to read -everything and to repeat a great deal by heart. Esther especially was a -perfect little parrot and could reel off all kinds of lofty sentiment -of the meaning of which she had no conception. Jennie and Delbert -always had to study longer on a thing, and Davie, where lessons were -concerned, was a little lazybones. Davie never learned anything that he -did not have to, and Marian had such a time getting the fundamentals -well rooted in his memory that she never tried to plant anything there -that was not necessary. He was as quick and keen as any of them in -other things, though, and it filled Marian’s heart with pride to see -how fearless he was in the water and how little he was behind the -others in that element. - -As fast as she could, Marian replaced the rabbit-skin clothes with the -newer, better ones, but the style of making was the same,--low-necked, -sleeveless dresses with rather scant, short skirts, for material was -scarce. Delbert still clung to his “loin-cloth,” and Marian was more -than willing, it was so much simpler than trousers. Even David, for the -sake of wearing some of the product of their combined labor, consented -to be clothed like Delbert, and as he found a loin-cloth did not impede -his actions in any way, he continued to sport one from then on. There -was one thing in favor of the new clothes: they certainly wore well; -there was no shoddy in them. - -Gradually Jennie spent more and more time at the wickiup. For one -thing, the children did not like to go off and leave Marian alone -all the morning, and as Davie was growing so big that he could help -appreciably, there was really no need for so many of them on the -morning excursions. - -So Jennie stayed with Marian. Her particular forte was making baskets. -Jennie could make beautiful baskets. She wove them of straws and tough -weeds and palm-leaf. Her only teachers were her memories of certain -kindergarten lessons, the big basket they had brought their lunch in, -and a rather blurry picture down in one corner of the old newspaper -of a half-dozen Indian baskets with strange designs. For the rest she -taught herself, and when she once got interested in the work she wanted -to do nothing else. - -It was Jennie who made a basket of split palm-leaves to take the place -of the old barrel on the Muggywah. She would sit for hours on the -seaweed carpet of the wickiup, leaning against the pile of bedding, -and weave and weave, the work growing much faster under her slim brown -fingers than it did under Marian’s. Indeed, after Jennie took to making -baskets, Marian and the rest quit. What was the use of their wasting -their time when Jennie could do it so much better and quicker? - -She made big baskets to carry wood and clams in; she made little ones -to hang up in the wickiup to drop little pieces of moss and seashells -into. She loved the little ones best. She made them in patterns. She -colored some of her material a dull red with juice from the cactus -fruit and some of it brown with Marian’s ink. She used some kinds of -seaweed, and she made one basket with a row of starfish around the edge -and over the handle, and she made some with lids. When Marian’s hat -wore out, Jennie made her a new one, weaving it as she did her baskets -and trimming it with sprays of seaweed and shells. - -The ordinary rains did not inconvenience them, but when they were very -severe the wickiup leaked a little down the rock wall. They had not -been able to make the roof perfectly tight there, and the water, when -the wind blew hard, would find its way down; then they would have to -remove whatever was hanging or leaning against that side, and Marian -would turn back the seaweed carpet so that it should not get wet, and -the water would run down the wall and soak into the sand and rocks of -the floor. They enjoyed the big rains, though. They could always keep -warm and dry, and the wickiup was big enough to allow each one to move -about a little and follow whatever occupation he or she chose. - -It was on a rainy day that Marian conceived the idea of weaving up the -old rags that had been their clothes into new cloth, though the task -was not finished on that one day by any means, nor in two. She had used -up everything she had on hand in the way of thread; so she made the -warp out of new hair clipped from her own and the children’s heads with -the buttonhole scissors; and with the same sharp little instrument she -cut the old rags into strips, as narrow as she could and have them hold -together at all, and wove them in as rag carpets are woven; and lo! she -had new towels, and they needed new towels very much. - -So time passed, rainy season and cold weather and rainy season again. -Often at night they built brush fires out on the rocks where they could -be seen a long way off. Their signal flag had been blown down one -stormy night and lost altogether. - -Sometimes, far out, they saw canoes and started out in the Muggywah to -intercept them, but the canoes always went on their way too fast and -too far to be overtaken. - -[Illustration: IT SEEMED AS IF THEY MUST SURELY HAVE SEEN OR HEARD HER] - -Once, when the children were gone in the Muggywah after eggs, Marian -sighted a canoe and started to swim out to it with only a piece of -driftwood to help keep her afloat. She got so close to them that it -seemed as if they must surely have seen or heard her, but they put up -their sail, and, despairing, she had to see them depart. Giving up the -chase, she rested a little before battling her way slowly back, but -she arrived so tired that she could scarcely drag herself out of the -water and across the beach, to find the children returned and hunting -desperately for her. - -Then one day they hauled the Muggywah up on the beach for repairs. Two -of the sticks driven through the burnt holes had broken, and they were -going to put in new ones. They took it apart and rolled the logs up -beyond the soft sand into the shade of a mesquite tree that grew at the -foot of the hill. - -The next day they found the material they had got was not so good -as they had thought it was, and so they spent the day hunting for -something better. And that night came the second big storm. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -DISASTER AND A NEW TASK - - -The storm was fully as severe as the one that had welcomed the children -to the Island, though they did not realize what they were in for till -midnight. When it began to blow so strong that they were really sure a -storm was coming, Delbert took their best ropes and securely moored the -logs of the Muggywah to the tree, thinking it barely possible that the -waves might reach up to them if the wind kept on increasing. And such a -terrible wind as it threatened to be! - -They turned the little burros loose with their mothers,--there were -four of them that year,--and the one little pig that they happened to -have in the pen was also turned out to seek its shelter where it chose. -The little girls tried to get it into the wickiup, but it was wild and -escaped them, and Marian told them to let it go, that it would take -care of itself. - -They gathered in the best of the melons, for there was no knowing if -there would be one left by morning, the sandy point was so low; and -they piled up a great stack of wood and _pitalla_ by the fireplace; and -then it was too dark to do any more. - -The wind howled and the waves broke on the beach like mighty thunders. -The thatch of their roof struggled to be gone, and the water poured -down the wall in a steady sheet. Fortunately, it could soak through -the sand and rocks of the floor and run off down the hill as fast as -it came in; otherwise they would have been flooded. The window and the -storm doors were tied as tightly as possible, and Marian watched them -closely and thanked her stars that she had insisted on taking such -endless pains to have everything about the house solid and sure. - -Of course, they were protected somewhat by the cliff, and the girl -shuddered to think what would have happened had they not been. She -imagined how it would seem to go crawling through the fury of the -storm, holding to one another’s hands, beaten to the ground and half -drowned, and finally reaching the old Cave, the only possible other -shelter, and crawling in, soaked and chilled, to lie, packed like -sardines in a box, till morning. - -It was not a pleasant picture; she was glad to come back to the -reality,--the interior of the wickiup, somewhat disorderly with so -much wood and everything piled away from the rock wall, but warm and -dry and safe; Delbert stretched out by the fireplace, a great strong -boy, his eyes, steady and straightforward, regarding the flames as they -spluttered in protest against the water that found its way down the -chimney; Davie sprawling at her feet, sleeping in utter carelessness of -the storm, well knowing that whatever happened he would be taken care -of; the two girls on a blanket beyond him, awake, and Jennie a little -nervous but Esther calmly confident that everything would turn out all -right,--that they were, and would continue to be, safe. - -Marian’s throat swelled a little as she watched them. How dear they -were, every one, and so big and strong now, even Davie! Surely now, -when this storm was over and the Muggywah repaired, they might start -back to the Port. The first few miles outside the shelter of the bay -would be the worst. The waves were always very big and high out there, -but after that,--well, they might not make very good time, but what -mattered it if they were a week on the way, so they got there at last? -They could take food and water with them, though for that matter they -could go hungry and thirsty if need be; what mattered it so they got -home? - -All that night the wind tore at them; all the next day it screamed -about their ears, and the breakers on the beach were like great guns -of a battle. The next night it calmed down, and the next morning they -sallied forth to take account of the damage done. - -They found a considerable amount of damage,--the felling of many banana -plants, half the patch in fact, the complete disappearance of every -melon vine on the point, every plant in the garden beaten into the -ground, the little pig gone, and their carefully gathered woodpile -scattered to the four winds. But all this sank into insignificance -beside the fact that not one log of the Muggywah was left to them. The -tree had been uprooted and washed away bodily, and all search up and -down the beaches revealed no trace of it. The great storm had cast many -treasures at their feet, but they were so dispirited over their losses -that they could not be very joyful over the gains. - -Mechanically they lugged the wood up out of reach of the waves, which -were still pounding angrily, gathered in a number of new bottles, and -took note of the great masses of seaweed that would make fresh carpet -when it was dry. But with all the wood there was no log like those of -the lost Muggywah, and with all their gazing to sea they could not see -anything that might of a bare possibility be an uprooted tree. - -They fashioned a poor sort of a raft out of the best pieces of the -driftwood, and with its aid explored the outer reefs and _esteros_ -and even as far as the egg islands. The raft was clumsy and slow and -generally unmanageable, and Delbert said that it made him sick just -to look at it, but they wanted to go longer distances than they could -swim, and the float was made to serve. - -At the end of about two weeks, however, Delbert said: “It’s no use, -Marian. We are only wasting time. The Muggywah simply did not lodge -anywhere near us. Maybe it didn’t lodge at all; it may be going yet, in -three different directions, and our best ropes with it.” - -“Yes, more’s the pity, Delbert. I hate losing your hair rope about as -bad as losing the Muggywah herself.” - -“Well,”--and the boy’s jaw set solid and square,--“there’s not a bit -more use crying over a lost boat than there is in crying over spilt -milk. We can’t find it, and we haven’t got a stick of timber fit to -put into a new one either. We can’t walk back to the Port; it would be -hundreds of miles to follow the coast line, and we should be sure to -get lost if we tried any short cuts. If Davie was a couple of years -older, I’d say to risk it. But we aren’t going to wait two more years. -I want to see mother.” His voice broke a little, but he conquered it -and went on. “There is only one thing to do; it has been in my head -kind of hazy for some time, but now I’ve got it clear; we must fix the -old canoe, Marian.” - -“How?” asked Marian quietly, for she had never been able to think of -any way to do that. - -“Well, we must put a framework in the side that is gone, the hole, you -know. I’m not sure yet just what is the best material, but I think -palm-leaf stems would be,--we can burn holes through the canoe to -fasten to,--a solid framework, that will not break and give way at any -little tap, and as near the shape of the other side as we can make it. -Then we’ll weave in basketwork, strong as we can, and, as we go, pack -all the cracks full of fiber and _pitalla_ tar. I’ve got it all studied -out, Marian. We’ll weave the basketwork double with a space between, -and in that space we can put stones, just enough to make that side of -the canoe as heavy as the other. We’ll mix the fiber and tar together -and pound it down as we go along, and when it’s all finished, if there -come any cracks, we can fill them in with cotton and tar, and if we -can’t jam it in tight enough so but what it still leaks some, why, one -of us can bail all the time.” - -“Do you know how to make _pitalla_ tar?” - -Delbert threw up his head. - -“Yes, I do! That is _one_ thing I saw made that I paid enough attention -to to know how it was done. Bobbie’s Uncle Jim used to try it out. -Don’t you remember? He had a place fixed down by the old blacksmith -shop, and we kids were always fooling around there, and he showed and -explained all about it to us.” - -“And for a wonder you listened?” asked Jennie. - -“For a wonder I listened,” he answered, smiling grimly. - -“Good boy!” said Marian. “From now on we bend our energies to the -canoe. When it is done, we won’t wait for anything more,--once we can -sail it,--we won’t wait for anything more except a still day. The first -still day we’ll start for home.” - -Delbert had a great time making a retort to extract his tar. He found a -place near High-Tide Pool where there was a hole in the rock which he -could utilize, and he built it up with stones and earth till it suited -him. - -Then they began gathering the _pitalla_. They had gathered everything -near them for the fireplace, but they knew where there was plenty more -to be had, so they went after it,--up the _estero_, past the tide-flats -toward the lagoon. There they could gather it, pile it high on the -clumsy raft, and float it home as they had brought the thatch-grass. -It was slow work, but there was no other way. It was not so easy to -get down to the _estero_ as the grass had been, for the _pitalla_ is -thorny indeed, but they managed it somehow, because they had to. They -could gather a good deal on the shores nearer home, but nowhere was -there such an abundance as beyond that particular _estero_. - -They decided, however, never to leave the home Island alone. They had -seen several canoes since the storm, and they hoped one might come into -San Moros and near enough to be signaled. Delbert and the girls were -perfectly capable of gathering the _pitalla_ and bringing it home; so -Marian and Davie stayed at home to do the work there and watch the bay -for canoes. - -Marian put in a little garden, for they could not tell how long it -might take them to finish the canoe, and she planted part of the -melon-patch over again, thinking that what they did not reap perhaps -some one else would. She straightened up the bananas and mended the -fence where they had dragged the old canoe out of it. - -As soon as they had got quite a little pile of _pitalla_, they began to -burn it in the retort, and some one had to watch that and attend to it. -Delbert was sure that he lost a great deal of tar because his retort -was so crude. He was sure Bobbie’s Uncle Jim got much more out of a -pile of _pitalla_ than he did, but he had to manage as best he could. -And the tar did come; it trickled down into the little dishpan slowly -but surely, and Delbert, impatient though he was, would set his face -toward the _estero_ and bring more _pitalla_. - -Every morning the three were in such a hurry to get off that they did -not stop for a hot breakfast, and they took only a light lunch with -them for noon, but Marian always had a good hot meal ready for them -upon their return. The destruction of the garden was a drawback, for -the little new one was not of service yet. Still, not all the plants -had been destroyed by the storm; some had been rescued, straightened -up, washed, and tied to stakes, and were pursuing the even tenor of -their way again, and, of course, the turnips and carrots that had -already attained their growth were as good as ever, and the newly -planted seeds would soon be making quite a showing. - -Twice since the storm Delbert had killed a deer, and the meat was not -allowed to spoil. What could not be cooked immediately was salted and -dried, some of it smoked, and all was watched carefully to thwart the -flies. When the raft came back at night it would bring game of some -kind,--a rabbit killed in the brush of the shore or a fish speared -on the way down the _estero_. These would be put into the kettle -and left simmering over the coals till morning, or wrapped in green -banana leaves and buried in the hot coals, to be raked out hastily for -breakfast; and of the remnants Marian would make a stew to have piping -hot for supper, flanked by a dish of greens which she and Davie had -picked. - -As they ran across them, the children brought in other things that they -needed,--tough sticks, or mescal plants to make ropes of,--and Davie -was always waiting for them on the pier to see what the particular -booty of the day was and to carry it up to the wickiup to show Marian. -And Marian always had warm water ready for them, and when they had -washed off the day’s accumulation of dirt and combed the tangled hair -and braided it anew,--they did not stop for that in the morning,--they -would sit down and eat; and they always ate all Marian had prepared for -them, too, and then filled up on bananas and chattered and chattered -like a flock of birds all the time. Then they would go down and unload -the _pitalla_ and carry it over to the retort, and by that time they -were ready to settle down in the wickiup in front of the _pitalla_ fire -for a rest. - -There would be a very short session of school then, a little reading -from the rabbit-skin book, a review of the multiplication or division -tables, and a spelling-lesson. It was not much; Marian had got them -about as far as she could without books, and it did not seem as if -it mattered so much, now that the home-going was, as you might say, -in sight. They always sang in the evenings. Their mother had come of -a musical family, and Marian had taught them all the songs she knew, -and there was not one of them that could not sing sweet and clear and -strong. Marian gloried in their voices and knew that her mother would -too. - -And she always had to tell them a story after lessons were over. They -said that was Marian’s lesson. She had become quite expert at it. -Usually it was a rehashing of some dimly remembered thing that she -had read, but sometimes it was a pure product of her imagination. If -it was an Indian story, why, so much the better, for the tribe never -forgot that it _was_ a tribe, though sometimes the Indian names and -pretenses would be dropped for several weeks, only to be taken up with -renewed vigor later. - -When Marian thought that it was long enough since they had eaten, and -about bedtime,--her watch had stopped the year before,--they would go -down to the water and have their swim. Sometimes the water was pretty -cold, but they were so used to it that they did not stop for that any -more. Once in a while Davie was left asleep at the wickiup, but as a -rule he went with them. - -They would take the raft away out from shore and have oceans of fun -plunging from it, diving, swimming races, floating, in short doing -everything that could be done in the water. - -A favorite game was “rescue.” One of them would fall overboard with -a yell of “Oh, save me!” and then do as little as possible to help -himself, while another one would dive in after him and those on the -raft would paddle it off a little, so as to give the gallant rescuer -scope for his or her endeavors. They got so that there was not one of -them--except Davie--who could not take care of himself and one other -in the water, and even Davie could make a very respectable stagger at -it. - -Delbert and Esther were the best swimmers; they could do the most -difficult stunts. In a straight swim, though, Marian would outlast -Esther, while Jennie fell considerably behind her. - -Moonlight nights were best for this play. Marian, her paddle in hand, -watched them with exultation in her heart, they were so strong and -full of grace; and they were hers,--she had thought, studied, prayed, -watched, and worked for them. Once she had read a novel whose hero had -been described as being “straight and handsome as a young god.” That -was the phrase that always came into her mind out there on the raft as -she watched Delbert,--“straight and handsome as a young god,”--but she -never said it aloud. - -And Jennie,--puny, sickly little Jennie, always the least pretty of -them all,--how slim and lovely she stood in the moonlight, her hair -in two dripping braids, her eyes like shining stars! It fairly took -Marian’s breath away sometimes to realize what a winsome beauty was -growing to be Jennie’s. She had always expected Esther to be pretty, -but that Jennie should blossom out like this! - -Sometimes the water was full of phosphorescence. This was, of course, -more noticeable on dark nights, and then every move they made was a -pale blaze. That was better than moonlight; it was magic; it was a -fairyland made real. Then they quit playing they were Indians and -played they were mermaids and sea-goblins of the deep. The raft was -a Spanish galleon wrecked in ages past and drifting still, filled -with treasure. Just see how the jewels gleamed! Or it was a great sea -turtle, ridden by sea nymphs, plunging and careering, unable to throw -off its tormentors. Then it was foam of the waves, unsubstantial and -formless, and the fish that came scurrying by in silver flashes were -chased in glee. - -It was always hard to coax them back to land on these nights, but -sooner or later they had to go, and they would then huddle about the -fire a little, drying their hair, before they lay down to sleep soundly -till morning. Then early the three would be up and off, generally -taking their breakfast with them to eat on the way up the _estero_, -while Marian and Davie took up their daily tasks. - -Davie found it a little lonesome with Delbert and the girls gone all -day, but he was such a sunny-tempered little chap that he managed -pretty well after all. There were his lessons, which went much faster -and smoother than they had done at first, and then he helped Marian do -everything, even cook. And he made little boats and sailed them, and -he rode on Jackie, who was growing very steady and sedate this year, -and he gathered in wood and crabs. Always he watched for little shells -and other treasures of the sea, to bring to Marian for her inspection, -as she sat weaving or writing in the rabbit-skin books. It was at this -time that she wrote out “Thanatopsis,” all but six lines that she could -not for the life of her remember. - -She kept her subconscious mind on the retort and went out every so -often to attend to it, for all things now were subordinate to the -tarring of that canoe. When the little dishpan was full of _pitalla_ -tar and they had a nice big pile of _pitalla_ on hand, they decided to -begin on the work. So they dragged the canoe into the water at the -pier and paddled it round to the other side of the Island and dragged -it up high on the beach not far from the tar retort. Then they began -the main task to which all these weeks had been preparatory. - -Marian left the housework and cooking to the girls; they could spear -the fish and gather the greens and cook them, they could boil down -the salt water and take it out on the raft to the reef and bring -back the dry salt, and they could watch the dry meat and gather the -bananas. The older sister and Delbert devoted their time to the canoe. -There were holes to be burned and the toughest and strongest of pegs -to be whittled and driven in; there was much testing of materials, -much discussion of ways and means, much sighting and squinting and -balancing. This work must be done right. - -Slowly the framework grew. The basket work would be made entirely of -the split palm stems, or, if there were not enough of them, they would -put the next best thing on the top. - -They tipped the old canoe into the best position to work on and propped -it up with stakes and stones. And when the framework was finished, -they called in Jennie for her opinion on the next step. So she worked -too, for none of them could weave so well--so neatly and tightly--as -she. And as she wove, Marian and Delbert began packing in the tarred -fiber. It took a lot of it, but Delbert thought that, if they ran out -entirely, they could, perhaps, use some kinds of seaweed at the top -where it would not matter so much. - -Egging-time came and went. They stopped work long enough to go for eggs -once, and then Davie and the girls went alone, or Davie and Esther, -while the three older ones worked steadily on the canoe. - -They had it about two-thirds done and were shifting it into a different -position one day and propping it up, when Esther and Davie came running -down the hill laughing. They had been off in the pasture. As soon as -she got within calling distance Esther began to shout, “Davie’s found a -_panal_! Davie’s found a _panal_!” - -“Don’t believe it,” said Delbert shortly. - -“Have,” declared Davie, coming up with a grin reaching from one ear -round to the other. “Have, too. ’S whopper. Heap big chief me. Find -whopper _panal_. All the tribe eat.” - -Marian smiled indulgently. “Great brave, Hiawatha! Where did you find -it? Where Pocahontas had just pointed it out to you?” - -“No,” with great scorn; “I saw it myself. _I_ pointed it out to _her_.” - -“Is that so, Pocahontas?” asked Marian, still smiling. - -“Yes, it is,” declared Esther; “and it is a big one, bigger than we -ever had before, and we have been by it lots of times and none of us -ever saw it before. Come on, Marian, let’s have it for supper. We -haven’t had one for a year.” - -“I guess we haven’t,” agreed Marian. “Somehow _panales_ are not very -plenty. What do you say, Delbert? Shall we knock off work and take in -this newly discovered and most marvelously large _panal_?” - -“All right,” said Delbert, throwing down his stake. “Let me fix the -retort first.” - -So they all trooped off and were soon _en route_ to the pasture. It was -a big _panal_, and it was so near to the path that it was a thousand -wonders that they had never seen it before, with all those little -workers flying back and forth. But then it was a long way from the -wickiup, and they had been so busy with the canoe lately that they had -not been much in the pasture; and probably it had grown pretty fast and -a few weeks earlier would not have shown much. - -At any rate, they took their toll of the little workers now, taking -care to leave enough of the center for them to build on again and going -off with their booty in the kettle and pail well covered. They had not -gone far when they came upon the deer, and, of course, Delbert must -try for a shot. He could have got one, a little fawn, but his heart -forbade. It was such a dainty little darling that he wouldn’t have -minded catching it alive, but as long as there was other food he would -not kill it. - -It was past noon as they wended their way back. Those who were not -carrying honey gathered up wood. Davie was ahead. As they came out by -the rock where the path wound smoothly down to the pier, Davie stopped -suddenly and let his wood fall to his feet. - -“Look!” he said excitedly. “What’s that? Is that a canoe by the pier?” - -They all looked. - -“Canoe!” said Delbert in a queer, quiet voice. “That’s the launch.” - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -HOW THE LAUNCH CAME BACK TO SMUGGLERS’ - - -When the Hadleys had left Mexico they had turned their steps toward -California. They had some friends there, but the place they finally -bought was not near any of them. It was many miles inland, too, for -Mrs. Hadley had said she did not want to live by the ocean. - -“All my life I have been fond of it,” she said, “but now I don’t want -ever to have to see it again.” - -So they had settled down on a little fruit farm in the interior. - -They are not cheap, those little fruit farms of California. The price -asked per acre is usually enough to make your head swim till you get -used to it, and the Hadleys were not rich, which explains the fact that -every cent they had in the world was not enough to pay for that farm. -But they paid over what they had and set out to raise the rest from the -farm itself. In a few years they had succeeded. - -Neither of them was old yet; they could still work, and did work. But -Mrs. Hadley’s face was quieter than it had been in former years, though -she went about patient and cheerful, a busy, kindly woman much beloved -by her neighbors. - -Mr. Hadley was older than his wife by a number of years. He was -beginning to turn gray when their sorrow came to them, and his hair -whitened rapidly after that, and somehow he did not seem so tall as -he had been; but, aside from that, one would not have seen any great -change in him. - -They made a fair living, nothing more, out of the farm. Sometimes -there is drought, you know, or there is failure of crops for some -other reason, or the crop is too large and then prices go down, and -transportation takes most of the profits in any case. And because of -all these things the Hadleys had been in California over six years -before they felt free to take a little visiting-trip among their -friends who lived in the State. - -They had to plan most carefully then to keep within the limits of their -very modest income, for already there loomed on the horizon of the -future the expenses of the coming season. But they went and had a good -time, being heartily welcomed everywhere, and nowhere more heartily -than at the Harrises’, the last place on their list. The Harrises had -been old neighbors at the Port, being in fact none other than the -family who numbered among its members the Clarence to whom the Island -Hawks felt that they owed so much. - -Clarence was not a boy now; he was a man grown, but he still lived at -home and helped his father run a fruit ranch of about four times the -size of that of the Hadleys. A man grown he was, but in many respects -the same boy, as was proved by the way his widowed sister’s children -trailed at his heels all day. - -The Hadleys arrived in the evening, and it was not till the next day -at noon that the conversation turned upon their loss at the Port. The -Harrises had heard about the happening at the time, for Mrs. Harris -corresponded with Bobbie’s mother, and they had received, too, several -newspapers containing reports of the occurrence, these having been -marked and sent out by Mr. Cunningham to various persons to whom he -knew the event would be of interest. But there were, of course, details -that they had never heard, and it was only natural that they should ask -for the story and that Mr. Hadley should tell it over as they sat about -the table after the main part of the meal had been eaten. - -Clarence was sitting between his lively little niece and nephew, -cracking walnuts for them, picking the meats out into their eager -little hands, and making little boats and turtles of the shells. The -little boy had slipped down and brought him the mucilage-bottle, a -piece of stiff paper, and his grandmother’s best shears, purloined from -her basket with many sideways glances. - -Mr. Hadley told the tale quietly. They were undemonstrative people, and -after these years they could talk of this quite without emotion. He -told it all,--all the little incidents,--how Esther had been sent for -the forgotten bathing-suits the evening before; how Marian had started -out without sufficient wraps and Bobbie’s mother had made her take her -big cape; of the question Mr. Faston put to them as they were going -down to the pier and Delbert’s answer. Of the long search and nothing -to pay for it save the little handkerchief beaten into the sand. The -others asked a question now and then during the recital, but Clarence -sat silent, letting no word of the story escape him, but making no -comments as he worked quietly on the little shell boats. - -When Mr. Hadley finished, he laid his shipbuilding tools down by his -shell-littered plate, and, looking into the white-haired father’s eyes, -spoke. - -“Mr. Hadley,” he said, “Smugglers’ Island was not within fifty miles of -the Rosalie Group.” - - * * * * * - -In one of the busy seaport towns of our Pacific Coast Mr. Hadley sat -at a little restaurant table, eating an inexpensive meal alone. Every -cent that he and his wife possessed in the wide world had gone into -that little fruit farm up in the hills, and now by means of a mortgage -on it he had raised money enough to carry him back to the coast to take -up the old heart-breaking task. His passage was already engaged on a -steamer to sail for the Port the next day. Mrs. Hadley remained on the -farm to carry on the work there as best she could alone. - -If this were a model story, Clarence would most assuredly have gone -with his old neighbor, but in real life people do not start on journeys -unless they have the railroad or steamship fare, which Clarence did not -have. It takes money to travel, and ordinary people cannot get money -so easily that they can afford to spend it on anything that is not -strictly necessary. Certainly Clarence wanted badly enough to go and -show the way to Smugglers’ and search for his old playmates, but the -best he could actually do was to make a map of the coast and San Moros -as well as he could remember it, and give it to Mr. Hadley, with the -name of the old Indian who had told him about Smugglers’ in the first -place, but who, doubtless, had slept with his fathers for years now. - -What did Mr. Hadley expect to find on Smugglers’? Certainly not his -living children, for had they lived through the storm, even though the -launch were disabled or destroyed, Pearson would have found some way -to get back. No; it was only a confirmation of death which the father -looked for at best, something to show where and how his children had -perished,--some fragment of the launch, perhaps, all but buried in the -sand. - -As he sat eating, there came slowly into his consciousness a face at a -table near him. He looked at it. Surely it had not been there when he -came in. Whose was it? Why did it seem to claim his attention more than -the dozen others on all sides? He tried to resume his meal, but--who -was that man? where had he seen that face before? - -In a blinding flash it came to him. It was Pearson! Pearson, the man -whom Cunningham had sent with Marian and the children in the launch. -But, of course, that could not be. Pearson was dead,--dead these nearly -seven years ago,--but this fellow-- - -Just then the man looked up and met his gaze. It was the look of a -complete stranger. Mr. Hadley politely dropped his eyes. But he did not -drop his thinking, and so keenly conscious was he of that face that he -knew instantly when the other rose from the table. - -Mr. Hadley glanced up again. The other was leaving his dinner -almost untouched. Mr. Hadley himself arose. His memory for faces was -remarkably good; that man had Pearson’s face, he might be a brother; at -any rate, he would speak to him; it could not be Pearson, but why was -he leaving his dinner uneaten? - -The man, who was sauntering out apparently without haste, glanced back -and saw Mr. Hadley advancing toward him, and a look came over his face -that Mr. Hadley did not mistake. In a flash he knew it _was_ Pearson; -impossible as it seemed, it _was_ Pearson, and he was afraid! - -A moment or two later a placid policeman just turning a corner was -knocked nearly off his feet and out of his dignity by a man coming -from the opposite direction, a man past middle age with white hair and -flashing eyes. - -“Officer,” he cried, grasping the representative of the law by the arm, -“arrest that man! the one in brown with the striped coat!” - -“What’s the charge?” inquired the policeman. - -“There will be charge enough,” cried the other; and from his -earnestness and the rapidity with which the striped coat was -disappearing down the street, the policeman concluded that the owner -of it needed arresting and started forthwith in pursuit. - -Within two blocks he had two of his brother officers chasing with him, -and farther on they gathered up another one, to say nothing of the -several onlookers who joined for the pure pleasure of the chase. - -The policemen were used to chasing men, but Mr. Hadley was not, and -in spite of his utmost efforts he was soon left in the rear. As he -kept on, panting and puffing, and seeing more and more ground stretch -between himself and the bluecoats, and was finally left out of sight -altogether, it came over him what a good idea it would have been for -them to have carried paper scent, as the boys used to when they played -hare and hounds, for now they were like to catch their man so far away -that he would never be able to find them. - -And, indeed, it was a long and merry chase, and when it came to an end, -as luck would have it, a patrol-wagon was just passing, and into it the -triumphant bluecoats thrust their man in the striped coat, one of them -going with him while the rest dispersed, the first retracing his steps -till he met the breathless Mr. Hadley. - -“Got him? Of course we got him. He’s safe enough, never you worry. You -can go down and appear against him in the morning.” - -“In the morning!” gasped Mr. Hadley. “In the morning! I’m not waiting -till morning. It’s right now that I want to talk to him!” - -The officer regarded him a moment, and then, “Would yer mind tellin’ me -what the man has been doin’?” he inquired. - -Mr. Hadley leaned against a building till he had regained his breath -and his self-control. - -“Six or seven years ago,” he said, “my five children went out in a -little gasoline launch for a day’s excursion. That man went with them -to run the launch for them. We never saw them again and could get no -trace of them, and supposed they had all drowned together. But to-day -I ran across him, and when he saw that I recognized him and was going -to speak to him, he ran. You will understand that I can’t wait till -to-morrow to know what became of my children.” - -The officer glanced at his watch. “My own time is up,” he said. “I’ll -walk up with you.” - -“Take your time an’ get your breath back,” he added presently. “He is -safe enough; ’twas Larry O’Flannagan had him by the shoulder, an’ no -man ever yet broke from Larry’s grip when he once got a good grip on -’im. He’s safe enough.” - -Safe enough he certainly was, and an hour later he stood face to face -with the father of the Hadley children. - -“You’ve made a mistake,” he repeated. “You’ve made a mistake. My name -is not Pearson. My name is Franks, John Franks. I never lived in the -Port; never was across the line into Mexico at all, in fact. No, I -never saw you before, not to my knowledge at least.” - -He said it all over again stubbornly, and, with dark and scowling face, -he declared that Mr. Hadley would be sorry for this trouble he was -making him, and he wanted it understood most emphatically that he had -never been in Mexico six years ago or at any other time and that his -name was John Franks. - -But Mr. Hadley knew he was _not_ mistaken, he knew the man _was_ -Pearson, and he would not back down or give one hair’s breadth, and -under his steady, stern gaze Pearson suddenly threw up the game with -a vehement burst of profanity, winding up with the inquiry as to what -earthly difference it made to Hadley about the launch, anyhow? - -Mr. Hadley stared at him a moment. - -[Illustration: “WHAT DID YOU DO WITH MY CHILDREN?”] - -“Launch!” he said slowly,--“launch! What do you suppose I care about -the launch? What I want to know is, what did you do with my children?” - -It was now Pearson’s turn to stare. His jaw dropped, and his face -turned ashy. - -“Your children? What do you mean? Didn’t they find Miss Marian and the -kids all right?” - -“Find them! Where? Where did you leave them? They’ve never been seen -from that day to this. Speak up! What did you do with them?” - -Pearson crumpled down into a chair. There was no more resistance in him. - -“Good Heavens! Hadley, I never dreamed of any harm coming to them. I’ll -tell you all I know about it.” - -And tell it he did, holding nothing back. He told it all,--how -Cunningham had discharged him for no fault of his, so he declared, and -how he had vowed that he would get even with the dude; he wouldn’t -take dirty treatment from no man. He had nothing against the girl and -the kids; he wouldn’t have hurt them, but he didn’t suppose it would. -People were going out to those picnics every day, and they often camped -overnight, and when he saw what a daisy the launch was,--she ran like -oil,--it just came to him that he could leave them there on the Island -and run the launch over to Santa Anita, where he knew a couple of -fellows who would take it off his hands. - -So he did it; he was owing the fellow at Santa Anita about seventy-five -dollars that he would have paid long before if Cunningham had not fired -him; and he got there before the storm got really bad and hunted up his -friend that night and found he would be glad to take the launch on the -debt and pay him the difference. - -The storm was sure a bad one, but he had thought that Miss Marian and -the kids would be all right, for the boy had been telling about a house -on the Island around on the sheltered side and a cave, too, and he -left them all the food and blankets, and he thought Cunningham would -be after them the first thing in the morning. He’d left Santa Anita as -soon as the storm was over so anybody could leave, and, of course, he -had not heard anything about the tragedy at the Port, but he’d swear by -everything holy that he never dreamed of any harm coming to them. - -Mr. Hadley explained then; he told the man huddled up before him of -the search that had been made, and how he himself had just in the last -week learned what and where Smugglers’ Island was, and how he was even -then on his way to see if after all these years there was some trace -still to be found in San Moros. - -When he had finished, Pearson straightened up a little. - -“Look a-here, Hadley,” he said, “I’ve been some tough, but I’d never -’a’ done a thing like that if I’d ’a’ known it, and since then I’ve -been straight. I told you the truth when I said my name was Franks; -that is my name; I used Pearson at the Port for other reasons, but when -I got back to God’s country I went back to my own name. I was married -under it about a year later. My wife is a fine woman, and we’ve got two -fine children. I’ve been as straight as a string and we’ve got some -ahead. O Hadley, don’t put me through for this!--it will come harder on -my wife and the kids than it will on me if you do,--and I’ll go down -with you and help you hunt, show you the way and all; and you can use -my money to the last cent; it ain’t much, but it’s all yourn to carry -on the search; and I’ll stand by you and help you as long as there’s -life in me, for, as God is my witness, Hadley, I never meant no harm -to Miss Marian and your kids. I wouldn’t ask it if’t wasn’t for my own -kids.” - -Mr. Hadley was thinking. He believed the man was telling the truth, and -no punishment meted out to him would bring back the dead. As far as -that went, what punishment would be fitter than to take him back with -him and let him see, if, indeed, there was anything left to see, the -terrible suffering his act had caused? And there would be something -left; not six years nor seven would destroy what five deaths had left -on that grim island in San Moros. - -Before they sailed, Mr. Hadley had time to write to his wife and tell -her of his finding Pearson and of what he had learned from him and of -the latter’s agony of remorse. After receiving the letter, Mrs. Hadley -sat down and wrote most of its contents to Mrs. Harris, for she knew -their old friends would be anxious to hear any news. After hearing that -letter read, Clarence declared that he could have lived seven years, or -twice seven years on Smugglers’, and he dared bet Marian could. But -his father and mother were quite sure there was no hope of that. - -“Why,” said Mrs. Harris, “Jennie would not have lived three days after -exposure to that storm. I never knew such a delicate child.” - -“And,” Mr. Harris declared, “if they had lived any length of time at -all, some one would have seen some sign of them in all this time. -Probably they took refuge in that cave and were washed out and drowned -the first night.” - -“Perhaps,” he admitted. “I’d forgotten about Jennie being so sickly, -and Delbert himself was not what you would call rugged, but if they -lived through the storm there’s a chance, I tell you. Their not being -seen since doesn’t cut any figure. There was a reason for that. I never -told Delbert, for I didn’t want to frighten him, and he was a nervous -little chap, but no Indian ever went to Smugglers’. You couldn’t have -hired one to, and I tell you, if they lived through the first night, -there’s a chance! and oh, glory! _wouldn’t_ I have liked to go along?” - -The steamer that Mr. Hadley and Pearson had taken passage on was pretty -well filled up with passengers. Among others there was a group of -mining men going to the Port, whence they would make their way inland, -and there was a wealthy Mexican family also bound for the Port, with a -half-dozen fine-looking daughters who reminded you of all the Spanish -romance you had ever read every time you looked at them. - -There were various others, and among them all Mr. Hadley and Pearson -attracted no particular attention until the morning they were nearing -the Port, when it was learned that Mr. Franks and the white-haired -gentleman with him had a launch aboard and were going to be set down in -it out in the Gulf and were not going into the Port at all. It seemed -that the captain had known about it all the time, but to the passengers -it seemed like a very queer thing to do. - -However, some one made the announcement that the two were going to -examine some guano caves for a rich company, and that seemed to explain -everything, and the passengers watched with interest while the launch -was being made ready and lowered, and the mining men all hung over the -rail and cheered as she shot off across the water, and the pretty -señoritas waved their handkerchiefs, and then everybody turned his -attention to watching the channel, for if the passengers did not keep a -sharp lookout, what was to hinder the captain from forgetting himself -and coming up sharp on the rocks? - -[Illustration: THE PRETTY SEÑORITAS WAVED THEIR HANDKERCHIEFS] - -They passed the Rosalie Group before long. On dark and cloudy nights -people on boats passing there can hear children crying, and if the -night is actually stormy, you are likely to see Marian Hadley walk -across the white-capped waves wrapped in a long cloak. This is a solemn -fact. The captain told it himself. He said he did not tell the tale at -night. No one connected the name of Hadley with the white-haired Mr. -Hadley who had left them in the launch. - -Pearson was running the launch. Mr. Hadley had Clarence’s map spread -out on his knee. There was silence between them. Pearson’s face looked -drawn and old. Mr. Hadley was tired and patient; he was looking at the -map, but he was not thinking of it. - -Pearson leaned forward to look at the little map. - -“I don’t remember just what the shore-line looked like along here,” he -said, “but I guess I shan’t miss San Moros.” - -He did not, either. About noon he turned into the place, remembering -Delbert’s instructions which tallied with the map correctly. The tide -was high just then, anyway, and there was no danger of sandbars or -sunken rocks. In a little more he could point out to Mr. Hadley the -outline of Smugglers’ Island as he remembered it. - -Afterwards, as they got pretty close to it, he said in a low voice, -“Maybe we’d better go in back of it. That’s where they said the harbor -and the pier were, and it will be a better place to moor the launch -than this pile of rocks ahead.” - -Mr. Hadley assented; so they turned her nose and ran out by the sandy -point and round it in back into the harbor. - -It seemed shadowy in there. It was dark and uncanny, Pearson thought. -He shuddered. Not a sign of life had they seen other than the seabirds, -for the old canoe was too far up the beach to catch the eye, and the -wickiup was so covered with vines that it blended perfectly with its -background, especially as the doors and window were shut. - -Had they landed, they would have seen the path. Had Marian’s -watermelons been a little higher, they would have attracted attention -by reason of their regular rows, but they were scarcely above the holes -yet. At the pier, too, there was nothing to tell them anything. The -raft was farther along, back of some mango bushes. - -There were the bananas and the palms. The corral fence was so -overgrown that, like the wickiup, it attracted no attention till one -was very close to it. - -They stepped out of the launch and moored her to the pier. Mr. Hadley -noticed that Pearson’s face was gray again. He was losing his nerve. -It seemed to him as if the air in this narrow slit in the hills were -suffocating him. - -“I’ll take the things out,” he said to his companion. - -“All right,” said Mr. Hadley. His voice was quiet and even, and, -turning, he walked toward the hill. - -Pearson stepped back into the launch, cursing himself under his breath -for his own lack of self-control, for he was trembling; but taking the -things out and carrying them up past the pier steadied him a little. - -Then he started to follow Mr. Hadley, and was glancing about wondering -if there was any particular choice of spots to pitch camp in, when -something on the hilltop caught his eyes. He stopped and stared with -his mouth open. Out from among the bushes into an open space came -one, two, three, four, five persons, and some of them were children! -A sudden weakness came over him. He dropped where he was, and for a -moment everything went whirling black. When he came to himself he was -sitting on the ground, his knees clasped in his arms, as he rocked back -and forth, repeating over and over his wife’s name, “Rose, Rose, Rose, -it’s them! O Rose, it’s them! I ain’t killed ’em, Rose! Rose!” - -[Illustration: SUDDENLY CAME A CHORUS OF CLEAR YOUNG VOICES] - -Mr. Hadley had scanned the hillside to no avail as he started to walk -toward it, and then he noticed what seemed to be a path leading to a -mass of brilliant bloom beyond. He followed in the path. The tracks -seemed to be those of deer. - -But when he came to the blossoms he was surprised. There were -nasturtiums and poppies, a wild riot of them beside a little spring, -or shallow, scooped-out well, that was walled with rocks except at one -place where stepping-stones led down. And there, sitting half buried in -the clear water, shaded by overhanging bloom, was a two-quart Mason jar -about half full of oysters. - -A most charming refrigerator truly, and Mr. Hadley stared at it -stupidly, not even yet understanding, when suddenly came a chorus -of clear young voices calling to him from above, and, turning, the -father saw what he had never hoped to see again this side the gates of -heaven,--his five children racing down the hill to meet him. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -THE END OF THE PICNIC - - -Pearson sat on the pier, swinging his feet. His feelings would have -been hard to describe, they were so very mixed up. One moment he was -swearing softly at the launch that was dipping gracefully up and down -before him, then he grinned and whistled, also softly, a few bars of a -rollicking tune. - -He glanced out of the corner of his eye at the group up there by that -tumbled pile of red and yellow and green. He could hear their voices, -but he could not hear what they were saying. By and by, when they had -had a little more time, perhaps he would go up there, though what in -thunder he would say was more than he knew. Anyway, they were alive. -That was something to tell Rose. Rose! How her face had looked when -she bade him good-bye. She had known that he had been tough,--thank -goodness he had not lied to her!--but he had not gone into details, -and when he had had to tell her about that affair at the Port,--well, -it was a darned sight worse than anything else he had had to do. And -when she kissed him good-bye, she had whispered that she would pray for -him. Pray! Pearson laughed a little and kicked at the rocks. Wa’n’t -that just like a woman? Pray! What good was it going to do to pray -now about a thing that happened seven years ago? But she would pray -all right, and like as not she would always feel that her prayers had -had something to do with their finding the lost ones alive and safe. -Suppose they had died! What good would praying have done then? he -wondered. - -But Rose would pray just the same, and when he got back to her,--he -might have to ride a brake-beam to do it,--she would turn in and work -her fingers to the bone to help him get another nest-egg rolled up, and -never a word of blame would she say. No; she would spend all her spare -breath thanking God that her prayers had been answered. - -What a queer thing life was, anyway! Here, seven years ago Cunningham -had served him, Pearson, low-down mean, and he had retaliated. The -affair was between him and Cunningham, wasn’t it? It would seem so; but -look you, seven years afterwards the blow he dealt recoils on--whom? -Himself? No, not by a jugful! On Rose; on Rose and his youngsters, -the very people of the whole wide world that he loved and wanted most -desperately to protect. If it had only been him, he wouldn’t say a -word, but--darn it all! - -Well, there they were coming down. He rose and turned. It was an -awkward situation. Really, it would have been easier to stand up to be -shot. - -It was Marian and Delbert. Pearson drew a long breath, and, throwing -back his shoulders, went to meet them. - -Marian was first. She held out her hand, all brown and calloused, and -her eyes shone at him from under wet lashes. - -“Mr. Pearson,” she said, “papa has explained it all to us, and--well, I -guess I am too happy to lay up anything against you to-day.” - -Pearson took her hand. He choked a little, but found nothing to say. -Then Delbert, the little, slender, nervous, eager lad, stood there, -tall as his sister, straight and strong, and his clear eyes were steady -and stern. - -“Marion is of a pretty forgiving disposition,” and his voice was cold -and held scorn. “I think myself--” - -But Pearson reached out and gripped the hand the boy had not offered -him, and found his voice. - -“Young man,” he said, “I am so all-fired glad to see you that I don’t -care a red cent _what_ you think!” - -Marian laid a gentle hand on her brother’s arm. - -“O Delbert,” she said softly, “not to-day, dear, not with papa here to -take us all back safe to mamma. Besides,--it isn’t a parallel case, I -know,--but suppose Davie had died that day he fell!” - -Delbert looked from her face, tremulous with joy, back to Pearson’s, -and, remembering that terrible day that he had been in some small -measure to blame for, he suddenly understood, understood something of -what the man in front of him probably had been suffering. - -His face softened, and he returned the pressure of the other’s hand. - -“All right!” he said boyishly. “I guess what Marian says goes. You will -have to fight it out with Mr. Cunningham about the launch, but come on -up to dinner now. Say,” he continued with a wistful eye on the pile of -things from the launch, “you got anything to eat in those?--any bread -or crackers?” - -Up at the wickiup Mr. Hadley sat on a chunk of driftwood and looked -over the treasures Esther and Davie showed to him, while Marian and -Jennie prepared dinner. - -There was a great deal to show. There were the rabbit-skin books and -the paper-tree-bark ones and the shell and bone and wooden toys. There -were the ropes and baskets. - -Davie could not remember his father, but he curled down at his feet -and, with an angelic expression on his face, smiled up into his eyes -in the sunniest way possible. And every two minutes he would remember -some other treasure and, hopping up, would go to fetch it. His father, -watching his little limping gait, smiled at Marian, who shook her head -sadly. “Too bad, daughter, but I think mamma will be willing to accept -him, even if he _is_ a little damaged.” - -“We’ll throw off a little on his price,” said Jennie. - -Pearson had brought up the lunch from the launch, and the Hawks fell -upon it with the greatest enthusiasm. After dinner they began to pack -up those things they wished to take with them. - -And, of course, before they left the Island they had to show the old -canoe that would not need to be finished now, and the tar retort, and -High-Tide Pool, and the watermelon-patch, and everything else. - -“I’ll bet,” said Delbert, “that this place will be more popular for -picnics from the Port than the Rosalies for a while.” - -So Marian left her dishes, the kettle and little dishpan, the knives -and forks, and even the glass jar on the table. They put everything in -neat order and tied the window down, and put the storm doors in place -and fastened them, for though they did not expect ever to see the place -again, they could not bear to think of the dear little wickiup standing -untidy and open to the elements. - -They took a last survey from the top of the hill and then went down the -path, the smugglers’ old path, to the pier. - -They turned out the little burros, but when they called Jackie, he -was nowhere to be found. He had wandered off somewhere with the -other burros, as he had done sometimes of late. The children, Davie -especially, felt badly to go without saying good-bye to Jackie, but -Marian explained that he would probably forget them in a little while -and would be perfectly happy with the other burros, and perhaps would -be happier than if they had stayed and made him carry loads for them -once in a while. So Davie smoothed out his face, and curled down at his -father’s feet again, quite contented. Nothing ever upset Davie for any -great length of time. - -So the launch puffed out of the harbor and round the point, and then -Smugglers’ was left behind them, and they were crossing the bay past -the salt reefs, and now were out of sight of the egg islands, and soon -were encountering the big waves that had guarded their prison so long. -Jennie laughed, remembering how seasick she had been when they came -in. Then San Moros itself passed from their sight, and the life there -glided into a closed past. - -Already Marian was planning a new and different future. - -“Father,” she said, “you say you had to mortgage the home to get the -money to come for us. A mortgage is always a hard thing to lift, isn’t -it?” - -“Apt to be, daughter,” replied Mr. Hadley, “but after seeing what -you children did with your bare hands back on that Island, I am not -worrying about a little thing like a mortgage. If you don’t like the -place, we’ll get your uncle to let us in some way on some of that wild -land of his up in the mountains, and you can carve out and build up a -place to suit yourselves.” - -The steamer at the Port had unloaded her passengers,--those that were -to get off there,--and had since been busy taking in a nice little -pile of cargo. Her captain wished to go out that night, and they were -about ready to start. There were a good many down on the pier, coming -and going, and the place was lighted by a few lanterns, leaving great -spaces of shadow in between their circles of light. - -Mr. Cunningham’s new launch was just in with a picnic party from the -Rosalies. They were unloading shawls and baskets and pails of clams. - -“I say, Cunningham,” called out one of this party, “is that Beekman’s -crowd we passed out there?” - -“No,” was the answer; “Beekman will not be in for two days. I had a -wire to-day.” - -“Well, who in thunder was it, then? We passed a launch out there. If it -wasn’t Beekman, who was it?” - -“Perhaps it was the two men the captain dropped in the Gulf this -morning. He said they would be in in a few days. Perhaps they changed -their minds.” - -“Not much. This batch had women and children. They were laughing and -singing,--mighty fine voices, too. We supposed it was those new cousins -of Mrs. Beekman’s from New York.” - -“No, not they yet, but there comes a launch now. By Jove, there are -women in it too.” - -Out of the darkness of the night and the water a launch came swiftly -into the broad light of the stream. A moment they showed clear as in -daylight to the crowd on the pier, but that was not long enough for -any one to recognize those upturned faces before they glided into a -shadowy place not far from the other launch. - -People watched the new arrival curiously as it discharged its -passengers, but they did not come out of the shadow. - -Then one man detached himself from the group and advanced into the -light in front of Cunningham. - -“Well, Cunningham,” he said in a clear voice, “there’s your launch.” - -Cunningham stared at him. - -“There’s your launch, I say,” repeated the other, thrusting his face -forward a little. Still no answer from the bewildered Cunningham, who -could not imagine what he was talking about. - -The newcomer straightened up and placed his arms akimbo. - -“I say,” he repeated again, “that I have brought back your launch. -Launch, man, launch! There--is--your--launch!” - -From the group in the shadow came a little rippling laugh. - -Cunningham started. It was nearly seven long years, but he had not -forgotten Marian Hadley’s laugh. He snatched at a lantern, but before -he could detach it from its hook, a young fellow beside him, a great -stalwart fellow, yelled and began to swing his hat. - -“The Hadleys!” he shouted, “the Hadleys!” and threw the hat into the -air, but before it could fall he was rushing over, calling Delbert. - -Marian, laughing, grasped his arm. - -“For Heaven’s sake, Bobbie,” she said, “take us girls up to your mother -before they get here with those lanterns.” - -Late, very late, that night Delbert sat on the edge of Bobbie’s bed and -said to him:-- - -“Now, look here! what I want to know is, how in creation it could -happen that, with that bay fairly teeming with fish and turtles, there -could be over six years with never a canoe really inside of it, never -one within hailing, or even signaling, distance of the Island, though -it must be known among the Indians that there is fresh water and an old -banana-patch there.” - -[Illustration: THE HADLEYS! THE HADLEYS!] - -“Simplest thing in the world,” said Bobbie, tossing his shoes to one -side and peeling off his socks. “All the Indians around these parts -know that San Moros is bad medicine for a native. I never thought -much about it, but I’ll bet on it now, that it was those same old -smugglers. Probably they murdered some Indians there to prevent their -going off and telling of the place, or something like that. I never -heard of the Island, but I have heard the Indians say numbers of times -that people who go in to camp there never come out again. They think -the farther shores are inhabited by some style of devil or hobgoblin, -and I remember now I have heard them saying that in the last few years -they have seen devil fires burning there.” - -“Devil fires!” said Delbert helplessly, dropping his hands to his -sides. “Devil fires!” - -“Your camp-fires, of course,” returned Bobbie; “but if those fellows in -the canoes that you tried to go out and intercept,--if they saw you at -all,--that would be explanation enough of why they put up their sails -and put off as fast as they could.” - - * * * * * - -To the mother waiting on that far-off mortgaged farm, a message went -out that night, the last one sent from the office. It contained eight -words, and it was followed by a fat, fat letter the next day, which -explained that it in turn was to be followed by a party of six just as -soon as certain absolutely necessary sewing could be done. - -But, after all, the telegram contained the heart of the matter, the -sunshine of the whole wide world and part of that of the next world, -all on a piece of yellow paper. At least, Mrs. Hadley thought so when -she tore it open and read:-- - -“All found alive and well on Smugglers’ Island.” - - -THE END - - - The Riverside Press - CAMBRIDGE . MASSACHUSETTS - U . S . A - - - - -Transcriber’s Note - -Spelling, hyphenation and punctuation have been retained as published -in the original publication except as follows: - - Page 40 - to take if off and show them _changed to_ - to take it off and show them - - Page 57 - cluster of towsled heads _changed to_ - cluster of tousled heads - - Page 119 - In my coat pocket _changed to_ - “In my coat pocket - - Page 135 - kind of wood.” said Delbert _changed to_ - kind of wood,” said Delbert - - Page 349 - they could not bare to _changed to_ - they could not bear to - - Page 354 - with that bay fairly teaming _changed to_ - with that bay fairly teeming - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SMUGGLERS’ ISLAND AND THE -DEVIL FIRES OF SAN MOROS *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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Kneeland—A Project Gutenberg eBook - </title> - <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover"> - <style> - body {margin: 0 10%;} - div.chapter, div.section {page-break-before: always;} - h1, h2 {text-align: center; clear: both; page-break-before: avoid;} - h2 {line-height: 2em;} - h2 span {font-size: .8em;} - p {margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1em;} - p.vertical-space {line-height: 2em;} - em {font-style: italic;} - ins {text-decoration: none;} - - /* General */ - .noi {text-indent: 0em;} - .p180 {font-size: 1.8em;} - .p140 {font-size: 1.4em;} - .p120 {font-size: 1.2em;} - .center {text-align: center; text-indent: 0;} - .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} - .italic {font-style: italic;} - .old-english {font-family: "Old English Text MT", "Olde English Mt", "Olde English", serif;} - .blockquot {margin: 1em 3em 0em 3em;} - .nobreak {page-break-before: avoid;} - .mt3 {margin-top: 3em;} - - /* Containers */ - .poetry-container, .tn-container, .footnote-container - {display: flex; justify-content: center;} - - /* Poetry */ - /*.poetry-container {text-align: center; margin: 0;} - .poetry {display: inline-block; text-align: left;}*/ - .poetry .verse {margin: 1em 0em;} - .poetry .line {text-indent: -3em; padding-left: 3em;} - .poetry .indent0 {margin-left: 0em;} - .poetry .outdent {margin-left: -.5em;} - - /* Notes */ - ul {list-style: none;} - .tn {margin: 2em 12% 2em 8%; background: #dcdcdc; padding: 1em;} - .tn li {padding-bottom: 1em;} - - /* Footnotes */ - .fnanchor, .footnote .label {vertical-align: super; font-size: x-small; - font-weight: normal; font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; - letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-decoration: none;} - .footnote {border: 1px dashed; margin-left: 0; padding-left: 1.5em; text-indent: -1.5em;} - - /* Horizontal rules */ - hr {border-color: #900c3f;} - hr.divider {width: 65%; margin: 4em 17.5%;} - hr.divider2 {width: 40%; margin: 4em 30%;} - hr.tb {width: 50%; margin: 3em 25%;} - - /* Page numbers */ - .pagenum {position: absolute; right: 2%; text-indent: 0em; - text-align: right; font-size: x-small; - font-weight: normal; font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; - letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; - color: #999; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; - background-color: inherit; padding: .01em .4em;} - - /* Images */ - .figcenter {margin: 2em auto; text-align: center; page-break-inside: avoid; max-width: 100%;} - img {max-width: 100%; width: 100%; height: auto; border: thin solid #900c3f;} - .width800 {max-width: 800px;} - .width500 {max-width: 500px;} - .width180 {max-width: 140px;} - .caption {text-indent: 0em; margin: 1em auto; font-size: .8em; - text-align: center; max-width: 30em; page-break-before: avoid;} - - /* Table */ - table {margin: auto; border-collapse: collapse; width: 30em; max-width: 30em;} - th {font-size: .8em;} - td {padding-bottom: .5em;} - .tdl {vertical-align: top; text-align: left; padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;} - .tdr, .tdr2 {text-align: right;} - .tdr {vertical-align: top; padding-right: 1em;} - .tdr2 {vertical-align: bottom; padding-left: 1em;} - - @media print { - hr.divider, hr.divider2 {border-width: 0; margin: 0;} - a:link, a:visited, a:hover, a:active {text-decoration: none; color: inherit;} - } - - /* ebookmaker */ - body.x-ebookmaker {margin: .5em; padding: 0; width: 98%;} - .x-ebookmaker p {margin-top: .1em; margin-bottom: .1em;} - .x-ebookmaker table {width: 98%;} - .x-ebookmaker img {width: 80%;} - .x-ebookmaker .width800 {width: 100%;} - .x-ebookmaker .width500 {width: 100%;} - .x-ebookmaker .width180 {width: 12em;} - .x-ebookmaker .tn {margin: 0em;} - x-ebookmaker-drop, .x-ebookmaker-drop {} - </style> -</head> -<body> -<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Smugglers’ Island and the devil fires of San Moros, by Clarissa A. Kneeland</p> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Smugglers’ Island and the devil fires of San Moros</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Clarissa A. Kneeland</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Illustrator: Wallace Goldsmith</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: November 26, 2022 [eBook #69433]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Susan E., Sue Clark, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SMUGGLERS’ ISLAND AND THE DEVIL FIRES OF SAN MOROS ***</div> - - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="divider x-ebookmaker-drop"> -<div class="figcenter width500" id="cover"> - <img src="images/cover.jpg" width="1600" height="2560" alt="Cover"> -</div> -</div> - -<!-- Do not delete. 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Paged media properties alone do not always ensure a split into -discrete pages in some ebook readers or devices. -abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz -abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz -abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz -abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz -abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz -abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz -abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz -abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz -abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz -abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz -abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz -abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz -abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz --> - - -<div class="section" style="page-break-after: always;"> -<hr class="divider2 x-ebookmaker-drop"> -<p class="center"><span class="p180">Smugglers’ Island</span><br> -<span class="p140">and the Devil Fires<br> -of San Moros</span></p> - -<p class="center">By<br> -<span class="p120">Clarissa A. Kneeland</span></p> - -<p class="center"><em>With Illustrations by<br> -Wallace Goldsmith</em></p> - -<div class="figcenter width180" id="i-f003-sepia"> - <img src="images/i-f003-sepia.png" width="520" height="650" alt="Colophon"> -</div> - -<p class="center">BOSTON AND NEW YORK<br> -HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY<br> -<span class="old-english">The Riverside Press Cambridge</span><br> -1915</p> -</div> - -<!-- Do not delete. Paged media properties alone do not always ensure a split into -discrete pages in some ebook readers or devices. -abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz -abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz -abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz -abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz -abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz -abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz -abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz -abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz -abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz -abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz -abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz -abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz -abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz --> - - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="divider2 x-ebookmaker-drop"> -<p class="center">COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY CLARISSA A. KNEELAND</p> - -<p class="center">ALL RIGHTS RESERVED</p> - -<p class="center"><em>Published October 1915</em></p> -</div> - -<!-- Do not delete. Paged media properties alone do not always ensure a split into -discrete pages in some ebook readers or devices. -abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz -abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz -abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz -abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz -abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz -abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz -abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz -abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz -abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz -abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz -abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz -abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz -abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz --> - - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="divider x-ebookmaker-drop"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS</h2> - -<table> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">I.</td> -<td class="tdl">A PICNIC TO THE ISLAND</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#i">1</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">II.</td> -<td class="tdl">FOR SHELTER IN A STORM</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#ii">30</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">III.</td> -<td class="tdl">COMMISSARY MATTERS</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#iii">57</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">IV.</td> -<td class="tdl">BONANZA COVE</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#iv">86</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">V.</td> -<td class="tdl">THE EGG ISLANDS</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#v">113</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">VI.</td> -<td class="tdl">THE JAGUAR’S TRACK</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#vi">149</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">VII.</td> -<td class="tdl">THE MUGGYWAH</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#vii">181</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">VIII.</td> -<td class="tdl">THE BUILDING OF THE WICKIUP</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#viii">212</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">IX.</td> -<td class="tdl">DAVIE’S PANAL HUNT: AND WHAT -CAME OF IT</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#ix">245</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">X.</td> -<td class="tdl">DELBERT’S BIG GAME</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#x">260</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XI.</td> -<td class="tdl">WHEREWITHAL SHALL WE BE -CLOTHED?</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xi">274</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XII.</td> -<td class="tdl">DISASTER AND A NEW TASK</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xii">299</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XIII.</td> -<td class="tdl">HOW THE LAUNCH CAME BACK -TO SMUGGLERS’</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xiii">320</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XIV.</td> -<td class="tdl">THE END OF THE PICNIC</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xiv">344</a></td> -</tr> -</table> -</div> - - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="divider x-ebookmaker-drop"> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_1"></a>1</span> -</div> - -<p class="center vertical-space"><span class="p180">SMUGGLERS’ ISLAND</span><br> -<span class="p120">and the</span><br> -<span class="p140">Devil Fires of San Moros</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="i">CHAPTER I<br> -<span>A PICNIC TO THE ISLAND</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Marian Hadley</span> stood in the doorway of her -home in a small seaport town of Mexico, watching -her ten-year-old brother Delbert come stumbling -up the hill with his arms full of mail.</p> - -<p>“We’re out early,” he shouted. “The teacher -let us all out early. There are the girls coming -now, down by the office. Oh! and we’re not -going to have any more school this week. The -teacher has got to go to the dentist every day, -and she isn’t going to feel like teaching; so we -are going to have vacation.”</p> - -<p>“Dear me,” said Marian, smiling, “what in -the wide world will you children do, with so -much spare time on your hands?”</p> - -<p>“O Marian! Marian! Can’t we—it will be -just the time to do it—can’t we go to Smugglers’<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_2"></a>2</span> -Island?” Delbert’s body fairly quivered -with excitement, and his dark eyes were shining -like stars. “Let me ask Mr. Cunningham -for the launch. We could go to-morrow. O -Marian, do, please!”</p> - -<p>Marian hesitated. “Smugglers’ Island! That -is a long way off. We couldn’t be ready by to-morrow; -it is late now.”</p> - -<p>“We don’t need anything but a lunch. I -don’t mean to get up a party. Just us go. We -don’t need to go to a lot of fuss.”</p> - -<p>If Marian had an especial weakness, it was -her brother Delbert. She was proud of that -spirited, handsome little face, and rarely clouded -it by a refusal if a consent was possible. Besides -the sister love she gave him in common with -the other children, there was a desire to make -up to him the loss of a companion brother who -had died a few years before, a brother a little -older than Delbert, but of much the same cast -of features.</p> - -<p>Now she thought, “Why not? Why think -one must make elaborate preparations for every -little pleasure, when the children would enjoy -it as well, maybe better, without?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_3"></a>3</span> -She laughed. “Here come the girls,” she said. -“We’ll put it to a vote.”</p> - -<p>The little girls, Jennie and Esther, came up -the path. Jennie was eight, a puny, thin little -shadow, with eyes that seemed much too big -because the face was so thin and colorless. She -had been born a sickly baby and had averaged -at least one illness every year of her life since, -and had never known what actual health was. -When Mrs. Hadley had decided to accompany -her husband on his business trip to Guaymas -she had thought seriously of taking Jennie with -her, though she had had never a moment’s uneasiness -at leaving the other three in their sister’s -care. But it had seemed a pity to take the -little girl out of school, where she was doing well; -and also there was a good American doctor in -town, whom Marian promised faithfully to send -for at the first symptom of anything wrong; so, -as Jennie herself did not seem to care about -going, it was finally decided she should stay.</p> - -<p>Esther, the six-year-old, stood in pleasing contrast -to her sister. Having never known sickness, -she was a sturdy, robust little specimen, -as plump as the baby David, dimpled and rosy,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_4"></a>4</span> -with curly hair that was forever getting into her -bright eyes.</p> - -<p>Delbert was dancing with delight. “Girls, -girls,” he squealed, “listen, quick. All in favor -of going to Smugglers’ Island to-morrow, signify -by saying ‘Aye.’”</p> - -<p>“Aye, aye, aye!” he yelled; and Esther, taking -her cue, also launched a myriad of “ayes,” -but Jennie shook her head in grave disapproval.</p> - -<p>“You are too ev’lastin’ noisy,” she said. -“Marian, we are not going in the launch, are -we?”</p> - -<p>The baby was calling “Aye” most lustily.</p> - -<p>“There,” declared Delbert, “that’s a m’jority, -Marian. Three out of five’s a m’jority.”</p> - -<p>Marian drew Jennie tenderly to her. “Delbert -wants to go to Smugglers’ Island to-morrow. -It is a long way, but perhaps you would not -be seasick in the launch. Do you want to go?”</p> - -<p>The little girl’s shining eyes were answer -enough. Marian laughed and kissed her. “Delbert,” -she said then, “take that bill that is in -my purse down to Mr. Cunningham now and -refund him for the duties on these packages and -thank him for me,—don’t forget that,—and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_5"></a>5</span> -then see if he can let us have the launch to-morrow. -It may be let to some one else, but if it -isn’t, and if we can have it, why, pay him for -that too, and don’t forget that. But I warn you -children there’s not a thing for lunch but bread -and butter. I haven’t so much as a cooky in the -jar, and it’s too late for me to bake now.”</p> - -<p>Previously there had lived at the Port for -some years an American boy whose chief joy in -life had been found on the water, and, having -been blest with a small sailboat of his own, he -had been able to indulge his sailor propensities -to the utmost. Sometimes with other boys, -often alone, he had sailed up and down the coast -for miles, exploring the shallow bays and winding -<em>esteros</em>,<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> and he knew all the sandbars and -islands.</p> - -<div class="footnote-container"> -<div class="footnote"> -<a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[1]</a> An <em>estero</em> (pronounced <em>es-tāʹ-ro</em>) is an estuary, an arm of -the sea. -</div></div> - -<p>A few miles out from the Port was a group of -islands known to the Americans thereabouts as -the Rosalie Group. The natives gave them another -name, unpronounceable, and certainly unspellable. -They consisted of quite an assortment -of rocky knolls and stunted trees, and little<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_6"></a>6</span> -beaches, fine for bathing. Most people confined -their seaward excursions to trips of greater or -less duration of time to these islands, some half-dozen -in number, but Clarence had ventured -much farther; he had even gone as far as San -Moros, many miles down the coast.</p> - -<p>San Moros was a wide-mouthed, shallow bay, -full of rocks and sandbars, but at its farther -extremity the young explorer had discovered an -island that gave unmistakable evidence of having -once been inhabited,—probably by smugglers, -as in times past they had flourished like -the bay tree all up and down the west coast, as -everybody knows.</p> - -<p>Boy-like, Clarence had kept his discovery a -secret, or at least had revealed it only to a -chosen few, Marian and Delbert being among the -elect. And when afterwards he had made a second -trip to the place, Mrs. Hadley had allowed -Delbert to go with him. Clarence had been fond -of children and of Delbert in particular, and -often took the little boy with him on his all-day -trips on the water. On this occasion they had -camped over and explored the Island and its -surroundings.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_7"></a>7</span> -It was long months now since Clarence’s family -had moved from the Port, but Delbert had -always been anxious for a second trip to the Island -in San Moros, being eager to show it to -Marian and his little sisters.</p> - -<p>Before long Delbert came rushing back. “We -can go! We can go!” he called. “We—where’s -Marian?—oh, there you are. Mr. Cunningham -says we can have the launch. The man he usually -sends with it is sick or something, but he -got Mr. Pearson to take us instead. We can -start early in the morning. Goody! And say, -Marian, can’t you fix some dough for doughnuts -and let me fry ’em for you?”</p> - -<p>Marian looked severe. “Do you remember -what happened the last time I let you fry doughnuts?” -she asked.</p> - -<p>Delbert’s eyes twinkled. “Yes,” he said, “but -that was learning; I won’t do it that way now.”</p> - -<p>“Shall we trust him, Jennie?” she asked.</p> - -<p>“If you don’t, there won’t be any doughnuts -to-morrow,” Delbert assured her. “Marian has -not got time to make ’em.”</p> - -<p>“I guess we can this time,” decided Jennie.</p> - -<p>“Me fry doughnuts, too,” said Esther.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_8"></a>8</span> -“I am afraid me had better not,” said Marian; -“but you and Jennie may roll and cut them out -for Delbert. And Davie, you sit up in your high -chair and watch sister stir up these doughnuts -quickly, and then Davie shall make a doughnut -of his very own. Delbert, put the granite-ware -kettle on, and the lard is in that pail on the shelf -there by you. I think there is just enough; put -it all in.”</p> - -<p>She hurried the ingredients together, and, as -soon as the dough was ready for rolling out, -turned it over to the apprentices and ran out -of the kitchen to the numerous other tasks that -awaited her.</p> - -<p>“You haven’t read us mamma’s letter yet,” -called Jennie.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I will read it while we eat supper,” -Marian answered.</p> - -<p>“What mamma say?” shrilled Esther.</p> - -<p>“Says they will be back in two weeks,” came -Marian’s muffled voice from the far bedroom.</p> - -<p>Presently she came back. “Jennie,” she said, -“do you know what was done with your and -Esther’s bathing-suits when you came back from -bathing the other day?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_9"></a>9</span> -Jennie looked blank, but Esther answered -promptly.</p> - -<p>“Down to Bobbie’s.”</p> - -<p>“Down at Bobbie’s? Whatever did you leave -them there for?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes,” cried Jennie, her face brightening, -“I ’member now. We stopped to play and -hung ’em on Bobbie’s mother’s clothesline and -forgot ’em.”</p> - -<p>“Well, that’s a great way to do! Esther, you -run down after them now.”</p> - -<p>Esther was kneading doughnut dough industriously. -“To-morrow,” she said.</p> - -<p>Marian considered a moment, and then said: -“No, you go now, it is two days they have been -there already, and they may have got into some -corner where Bobbie’s mother won’t know where -they are, and we won’t have any time to hunt -for lost things in the morning. It is a long way -to Smugglers’ Island, and we must get off early -or we shan’t have time to explore it and get -back by dark.”</p> - -<p>Esther sighed, and began to clean the dough -from her little fat hands. “Tell where we going?” -she asked.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_10"></a>10</span> -“No; better not.”</p> - -<p>“Why?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, because if Bobbie knows we are going -in the launch, he will want to go, too, and I -know positively his mamma wouldn’t let him.”</p> - -<p>“Why?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, you little interrogation-point!” expostulated -Marian under her breath. Aloud she answered -patiently, “Because Bobbie was awfully -naughty and went in the fishing-boat without -asking his mamma, and she was so worried about -him, and when he got back she told him he couldn’t -go anywhere except to school,—not anywhere, -not even up here to play with Delbert,—for -two whole weeks.”</p> - -<p>“Not two weeks yet?”</p> - -<p>“No, it is not two weeks yet. Now, do go on, -Esther. Just ask for the bathing-suits and don’t -make Bobbie feel bad by telling him about a -picnic he can’t go to.”</p> - -<hr class="tb"> - -<p>In the morning, before Marian had breakfast -out of the way, Delbert came in with a rush. -“I have just seen Mr. Pearson. He is going to -his breakfast, and he says he is all ready, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_11"></a>11</span> -he wants to know if there is anything you want -him to do.”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Marian; “tell him to get a demijohn -of water. Mr. Cunningham has a demijohn -he uses for that, but Mr. Pearson may not -think of it.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, but there is water on the Island, plenty -of it.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, my dear, but it has not been filtered, -and I don’t want you children drinking anything -and everything. Oh! and did you put -plenty of water for the chickens, Delbert?—and -put a big stone in the pan so they can’t tip -it over?</p> - -<p>“Bread and butter and doughnuts,” she continued, -“and I must take milk for Davie. Dear -me! I haven’t enough to fill the jar either. -Here, Jennie, get a dime from my purse and take -this pail and run down and see if Bobbie’s -mother can let me have a quart of milk. If she -hasn’t it to spare, you will have to go to Doña -Luisa. Delbert, find the hatchet. It will come -in handy when we come to build a fire for -noon.”</p> - -<p>“Haven’t you got eggs, Marian? Take some<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_12"></a>12</span> -raw eggs, and we can boil them over a fire; it’s -lots of fun.”</p> - -<p>“I’ve only three, Delbert, but if you can, get -some at Bobbie’s, or ask Fanny’s mother if she -can spare me some.”</p> - -<p>“We can get crabs and clams, you know,” -said Delbert. “There’s barrels of ’em. Clarence -and I had ’em. But take plenty of bread and -butter, Marian. Mr. Pearson can eat a lot, I -know.”</p> - -<p>“Yes. Run on now and see about the eggs, -and then go down and tell Mr. Pearson about -the water. Let me see,” she continued,—“what -else? Oh, yes, if we go bathing, I shall -have to comb my hair.”</p> - -<p>She wrapped up her comb and brush in a -clean towel, and then, on second thought, tucked -in a little pocket-mirror and a cake of tar soap -and two more towels.</p> - -<p>“Marian, me got my spade and pail, but me -can’t find baby’s,” called Esther.</p> - -<p>“His little pail is here,” answered Marian, -“but I don’t know where his spade is. Let him -take the big dig-spoon instead.” A dig-spoon, -be it known, is a spoon so old and dilapidated<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_13"></a>13</span> -that mother does not mind if the children -use it to dig in the dirt with. The big dig-spoon -of the Hadley children was a huge iron affair -about a yard in length that had doubtless -been originally intended to stir soup in a hotel -kitchen.</p> - -<p>As they started down the hill on the way to -the pier, Bobbie’s mother ran out to her gate. -“Marian,” she called, “are you taking plenty -of wraps with you? You know it gets cold toward -evening.”</p> - -<p>Marian held up a couple of light shoulder -shawls. “Delbert has his coat,” she said, “and -Esther and I never want anything around us -anyway. There are always a couple of blankets -on the launch seats.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, you foolish child,” declared the lady; -“you wait.” She ran back into the house, and -in a moment came back with a very large heavy -circular cape, “There, you take this,” she said. -“It will cover you and Esther and the baby too. -Jennie will need both those flimsy shawls. You -know it won’t do to let her get chilled.”</p> - -<p>Marian thanked her laughingly and accepted -the cape.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_14"></a>14</span> -Mr. Cunningham was down on the pier. He -was a dapper young man, pleasant and good-looking -and well liked by everybody at the Port, -and he held the -most lucrative and -responsible position -of all the -Americans there.</p> - -<div class="figcenter width800" id="i-p014-sepia"> - <img src="images/i-p014-sepia.jpg" width="1200" height="1075" alt=""> - <div class="caption">MARIAN LAUGHINGLY ACCEPTED THE CAPE</div> -</div> - -<p>He smiled as the -Hadley party -trailed down the hill -and out on the pier, the -sturdy baby well in the lead.</p> - -<p>“Here comes King David -and his train,” he called. -“By Jove,” he added, observing -the huge dig-spoon, -“he has his scepter with him -too.—Good-morning, Miss Marian; do you -mean to tell me that basket is full of lunch?”</p> - -<p>“Not quite,” laughed Marian. “There is a -hatchet and my workbag and a few other things -as well.”</p> - -<p>“Workbag!” exclaimed Delbert in disgust. -“What did you bring that for?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_15"></a>15</span> -“Oh, I may hemstitch a little while you children -dig in the sand. I shan’t ask you to do any -sewing, Delbert.”</p> - -<p>As the big basket was being stowed away in -the launch, Mr. Cunningham said laughingly, -“If you find you have not enough, Miss Marian, -there is some canned stuff in the locker you -are welcome to.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you,” said Marian, “I think we have -plenty. I have been on trips like this before; -I know how children eat. Delbert, I forgot to -put in anything to cook the eggs in. You wanted -to boil them, and we haven’t a thing.”</p> - -<p>“Use Esther’s pail,” he suggested.</p> - -<p>“It leaks too badly, and baby’s pail is wooden. -No, if you want those eggs cooked, you will have -to go back and get something.”</p> - -<p>“There will be the clams, too,” said Delbert, -starting back across the pier on a trot.</p> - -<p>“Oh, and, Delbert—”</p> - -<p>“What?”</p> - -<p>“You might bring Jennie’s cape, too, while -you are there; and, Delbert, Delbert! Be sure -and lock the door again when you come out.”</p> - -<p>“We ought to have something to bring home<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_16"></a>16</span> -clams in, too,” she said after a moment, “but -he is too far gone now to call back.”</p> - -<p>“There is a big pail here in the boat-house,” -said Mr. Cunningham, going to get it.</p> - -<p>“I shan’t be here when you get back,” he said, -coming back with the pail, “but the launch can -be turned over to Manuel. I am going up the -river for a couple of days. I must be getting -ready now, so I will bid you good-bye and wish -you a pleasant trip.”</p> - -<p>He shook hands with Marian, pulled Esther’s -curls, smiled at Jennie, stood the baby on his -head a moment, and strode off across the pier.</p> - -<p>Soon Delbert came running down the hill -again, his arms full.</p> - -<p>“Morning, Mr. Faston,” he called to an old -gentleman who, with a basket on his arm, was -starting toward the plaza for his breakfast -steak.</p> - -<p>“Good-morning, Delbert. Where you all going -so bright and early?”</p> - -<p>“Going to Smugglers’ Island.”</p> - -<p>Delbert ran down to the launch and scrambled -in. “I brought baby’s jacket, too,” he said, -dumping the wraps, the granite-ware kettle, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_17"></a>17</span> -a little bright new dishpan in a heap at Marian’s -feet.</p> - -<p>“I see you did, but whatever did you bring -that dishpan for?”</p> - -<p>“Why, it was sitting out there on the table, -so I s’posed you forgot it, and I wasn’t going -to be sent back again.”</p> - -<p>Marian laughed. “I had no notion of bringing -it,” she said. “Well, Mr. Pearson, I guess we -are all ready. You’d better start off before we -think of something else we might like to take.”</p> - -<p>“Just think, Marian,” said Delbert; “Mr. -Pearson has not been outside the harbor since -he has been here.”</p> - -<p>“No? Never been to the Rosalie Group, Mr. -Pearson?”</p> - -<p>Pearson cleared his throat. “No; when a man -is busy he don’t get much time for picnics,” he -said.</p> - -<p>“I am to show him the way,” continued Delbert, -“and he is to make the launch go there.”</p> - -<p>It was a lovely day. The children were fairly -bubbling over with the glee of it, and Marian -herself felt unusually gay and light-hearted.</p> - -<p>Mr. Pearson was rather silent. He was a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_18"></a>18</span> -newcomer to the Port, and Marian had had -hitherto but a bare speaking acquaintance with -him. She had an instinctive feeling, however, -that he considered children as necessary nuisances; -so she tried to keep them from annoying -him too much with their chatter. However, -though he volunteered no remarks, he answered -good-naturedly what was said especially to him, -followed minutely Delbert’s instructions as to -their direction, and listened with apparent interest -when the little fellow told of trips taken -with Clarence in the sailboat.</p> - -<p>Outside the shelter of the harbor they encountered -the high waves of the Gulf, and Davie was -so frightened that Marian had much ado to keep -him quiet. Jennie, too, began to feel a few -qualms of her old enemy, seasickness, so that -with them both Marian had little chance to exchange -sociabilities with Mr. Pearson.</p> - -<p>Leaving the Rosalie Group on their right, -they turned down the coast bound for San Moros.</p> - -<p>Delbert was entirely unafraid. The higher -the wave the better it suited him, and he was -constantly declaring he only wished they were -going to stay a week. Esther echoed him, as was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_19"></a>19</span> -her wont, and Jennie feebly put in a few remarks -of the same tenor, her feeling in the matter, however, -being born of a desire to put off the nausea-beset -homeward trip rather than to prolong the -picnic joy.</p> - -<div class="figcenter width800" id="i-p019-sepia"> - <img src="images/i-p019-sepia.jpg" width="1450" height="734" alt=""> - <div class="caption">FOLLOWED MINUTELY DELBERT’S INSTRUCTIONS AS TO THEIR -DIRECTION</div> -</div> - -<p>Finally they rounded the point and entered -San Moros. Delbert remembered just how -Clarence had made his way in among the many -rocks and sandbars, most of which were covered -at high tide. The Island lay some miles back, -a crescent in shape, high and rocky at one end -and running out to a narrow sandy point at the -other. No one approaching it would have mistrusted -it was other than the mainland, for the -formation was such as to blend it perfectly with<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_20"></a>20</span> -the mainland back of it, and it showed no sign -of the strip of water between till one was close -upon it.</p> - -<p>“We landed first by that point of rock,” declared -Delbert, pointing, “and then afterwards -we took the boat in back of the Island and tied -her to the pier till we were ready to go home.”</p> - -<p>“I guess that is a good enough programme to -follow now,” said Mr. Pearson. “Didn’t you -say this side was best for crabs? That’s a nice-looking -beach along there, fine for you kids to -bathe on. We will tie up to those rocks till after -dinner.”</p> - -<p>“Well, all right,” agreed the boy. “There is a -path up to the top of the hill, Marian, but it -doesn’t come down on this side. Clarence said -the smugglers wore it going up to peek over the -hill to see if any one was coming for ’em.”</p> - -<p>The little point of rock on the seaward side -of the Island made a very good substitute for a -pier. They landed there and were able to reach -the sand without getting their feet wet. Jennie -declared she felt better as soon as she touched -shore.</p> - -<p>Delbert was anxious to lead the expedition<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_21"></a>21</span> -over to the other side of the Island, where remained -the signs of former habitation.</p> - -<p>“You can go on over now,” said Pearson -good-naturedly; “I’ll unload the launch and -take a swim, and if you say there is anything -there worth looking at I can go over afterwards.”</p> - -<p>Delbert hesitated; he was counting on expatiating -on the extent and glory of the ruins and -preferred a large audience.</p> - -<p>“Why, of course, Delbert,” said Marian; -“Mr. Pearson can take the launch around after -dinner. This is the best side for bathing. I am -not sure,” she added, as the children started off, -“but after dinner would be soon enough for the -rest of us, but—”</p> - -<p>Pearson laughed and shrugged his shoulders. -“There is no wait in that kid,” he said.</p> - -<p>“I see there isn’t,” said Marian, as she -started after her eager brother.</p> - -<p>The hill was decidedly rocky and steep, with -a goodly strip of sandy beach at its base. The -crabs scurried away as the children ran across -this.</p> - -<p>“See, Marian!” called Delbert; “see all those<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_22"></a>22</span> -crabs? We’ll have them for dinner. Don’t they -look fat?”</p> - -<p>“Fat and luscious,” laughed Marian. “You -are fat and luscious, too, baby darling,” she continued, -catching Davie as he stumbled over a -stone, “but those qualities alone will never make -a mountaineer of you.”</p> - -<p>Delbert forged ahead, scrambling over rocks -and skirting thorny bushes, and the others followed -as best they could.</p> - -<p>“I suppose when you get there you will stop -and wait for us,” called Marian.</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes,” he answered; but he did not take -the hint and slacken his pace then.</p> - -<p>His bump of locality was good, and although -it was almost a year since he had been there, he -made his way directly to the spot on the apex of -the hill where a faint path led down on the other -side. Here he paused, and, letting out a series -of triumphant whoops, announced his arrival -to his upward-toiling sisters.</p> - -<p>One by one they joined him where he sat on a -big gray rock, swinging his lariat, his most treasured -possession, a new hair rope given him by -an old Mexican a few weeks before.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_23"></a>23</span> -“Dear me,” said Marian, all out of breath, as -she set down the baby, whom she had been -carrying the last part of the way; “whatever -did you expect to lasso here, Delbert? Crabs?”</p> - -<p>“No,” he replied, “burros! Didn’t you -know there were burros here? There’s a herd of -’em. Clarence said probably the smugglers had -to leave in a hurry and couldn’t stop to round -up everything they had. Anyway, there’s burros -here. Yes, and pigs, too. We saw their -tracks; we didn’t see them, but Clarence said -when he was here the first time he heard ’em -grunting in the bushes.”</p> - -<p>Marian was examining the surroundings. “I -believe Clarence was right,” she said. “That -is a real path certainly, but there is not a sign of -it on the seaward side of the hill. Whoever lived -down there used to come up here to this rock. -You can see away out into the gulf from here, -ever so many miles, but it is so bushy that no -one here would ever be seen.”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” assented Delbert; “Clarence called -this Lookout Rock. Farther back this hill -spreads out into a <em>mesa</em>.<a id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> It’s several miles long.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_24"></a>24</span> -Clarence said there were deer here, too; he saw -’em.”</p> - -<div class="footnote-container"> -<div class="footnote"><a id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="label">[2]</a> Pronounced <em>mā-sȧ</em>; a small tableland. -</div></div> - -<p>“An’ wil’ cats?” queried Esther.</p> - -<p>“No,” said Delbert. “I remember when we -camped here it was awful quiet at night, and I -asked Clarence if he s’posed there were any panthers -here, and he said no, he hadn’t seen a sign -of any such thing here, and he guessed if there -ever had been, the smugglers had killed them all -off.”</p> - -<p>“That is not unlikely,” said Marian; “but -the burros and pigs must have come from what -they had; perhaps the deer, too,—they might -have had some for pets. But, come, if we have -our breath now, children, we’d better go down; -for see, Mr. Pearson has the launch unloaded -already, and there is dinner to get when we get -back.”</p> - -<p>So they followed the twisting trail downward. -It was very faint, in some places entirely obliterated, -yet taken as a whole was distinct.</p> - -<p>Between the Island and the mainland lay a -strait that was deep enough for even large -steamers, though there was little of San Moros -that a big steamer could have ridden safely over.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_25"></a>25</span> -A little rough rock pier had been built here. -“And Clarence said the fellow that built it understood -his business, too,” declared Delbert, emphatically. -“He said it was a good job; but -come and look at the bananas,” he continued, -leading the way.</p> - -<p>The Island, which elsewhere presented such -rough, not to say precipitous, sides, here was -level or nearly so. A house had once stood there. -The mound of its ruins was unmistakable. In -one place a forked timber stuck up; on one side -was a pile of other timbers overgrown with -weeds and shrubbery. There was a spring, too, -that had had some sort of masonry cover, -broken now, but with a tiny pool of water at -the bottom of the rocks. There were the remains -of an old stone wall that had once surrounded -a garden, of which only a thick, matted banana-patch -was left.</p> - -<p>A banana plant grows to maturity, produces -one bunch of bananas, and then dies. During -the time it is doing this a number of young -plants spring up about the parent stalk, and -each of these produces its one bunch of fruit and -group of little ones, which in turn go through<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_26"></a>26</span> -the same process. It will be readily seen, therefore, -that, with no one to trim out the old stalks -and superfluous young ones, a banana-patch -would in the course of time become a very -crowded place, indeed.</p> - -<p>This was just what had happened to the -Smugglers’ Island patch. How long it had been -left uncared-for no one could tell, but it was -now an impenetrable jungle.</p> - -<p>Marian and the children walked all round it, -looking for bananas, but except for several -bunches from which the birds had eaten the -fruit, leaving the blackened skins dangling, they -saw only one, and that was too high up for them -to reach. It did not look very tempting, anyway. -A little beyond were a few fan palms, but -this kind of palm bears no fruit.</p> - -<p>Marian sat near the site of the old house, -while the children rummaged about and explored. -This was certainly an ideal place in -which to hide from the world, a sunny little spot, -sheltered and secluded, for the hill hid the place -from the seaward view, and across the narrow -strait lay only the rocky, thorny tangle of the -uninhabited hill of the mainland, with not even<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_27"></a>27</span> -an Indian ranch for miles and miles, Clarence -had said. Marian wondered what chance or -incident had caused the abandonment of the -place.</p> - -<p>Presently she rose.</p> - -<p>“Come, children,” she called, “we were -going to catch crabs for dinner, you know. We -must be going back.”</p> - -<p>So they went back up the dim little path to -Lookout Rock and began to pick their way down -from there as best they could.</p> - -<p>“Why, Marian,” called Delbert, “Mr. Pearson -has moved the launch. It is not by the -rocks now. Where’s he gone?”</p> - -<p>Marian glanced up.</p> - -<p>“I guess he thought we were pretty long in -coming and has gone exploring on his own -hook,” she said.</p> - -<p>“I’ll see,” said Delbert, and he went out to -where he could see the water all around the end -of the Island and in to the little pier.</p> - -<p>“No,” he said, as he came back, “he has not -gone round there.”</p> - -<p>They went on down the hill.</p> - -<p>“I don’t see why he should move it,” persisted<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_28"></a>28</span> -Delbert. “That is the best place for it -on this side of the Island, and this is the best -beach for bathing.”</p> - -<p>They went over to where the things were -piled up. Pearson had dumped them all together -and thrown one of the launch blankets -over them; and on top of this a note was pinned -with two wooden splinters.</p> - -<div class="figcenter width800" id="i-p028-sepia"> - <img src="images/i-p028-sepia.jpg" width="1883" height="1073" alt=""> - <div class="caption">MARIAN TOOK IT OFF AND READ IT, AND THEN STOOD LOOKING -AT IT FOR SEVERAL SECONDS</div> -</div> - -<p>Marian took it off and read it, and then stood -looking at it for several seconds.</p> - -<p>“Delbert,” she said quietly, “did you know of -any trouble between Mr. Pearson and Mr. Cunningham?”</p> - -<p>“Trouble?” repeated the boy, startled,—“trouble?<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_29"></a>29</span> -Why—why, no,—not—not trouble. -Why?”</p> - -<p>“Because,” said Marian, still quietly, “Mr. -Pearson has stolen the launch and gone away -and left us here.”</p> - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider x-ebookmaker-drop"> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_30"></a>30</span> -</div> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="ii">CHAPTER II<br> -<span>FOR SHELTER IN A STORM</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Delbert</span> stared with wide eyes for a moment; -then he snatched the note from Marian’s hand -to read for himself. He was not much accustomed -to reading writing, but this was very -plainly written with a purple indelible pencil on -a leaf torn from a pocket memorandum-book.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="noi"><em>Miss Marian</em>,—</p> -<p><em>Boss Cunningham has done me plenty of dirt -and now he is going to regret it just one gasolene -launch. Sorry to inconvenience a lady and all -that, but the kids want to stay overnight anyway</em>.</p> -</div> - -<p>Delbert looked up again into his sister’s face; -then, dropping the note, he sped across the sand -and up the hillside to where he could get a good -view of the Gulf beyond the bay.</p> - -<p>Marian picked up the note, and still stood -looking at it.</p> - -<p>“How we get home?” inquired Esther.</p> - -<p>That was precisely the question that was racing -round in Marian’s brain.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_31"></a>31</span> -“I don’t know—yet,” she said.</p> - -<p>Slowly she took off the blanket that was -thrown over the things. The other blanket was -there, too, and all of their things, also the five-gallon -demijohn of filtered water and a tin box -of crackers, nearly full, three cans of corn, and -a quart can of tomatoes. She remembered Mr. -Cunningham had said there were some eatables -in the locker.</p> - -<p>A big crab came slowly up and regarded them. -Marian returned his look gravely. “Yes,” she -said, “I see you are there, and we may thank -our stars you <em>are</em> there, too, you and your relations.”</p> - -<p>“W-won’t Mr. Pearson come back?” faltered -Jennie.</p> - -<p>“I am afraid not,” answered Marian.</p> - -<p>“But—but what shall we do?”</p> - -<p>Marian reached down into her boots, where -her heart had sunk, and pulled up a smile by -main force and put it on her lips. A connoisseur -in smiles would have known at a glance that it -never grew there of its own accord, but Jennie -was only eight and was not versed in artificial -smiles.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_32"></a>32</span> -“Well, my dear,” said the big sister, “we -can’t walk back and we can’t swim back, so I -guess we shall just have to Robinson Crusoe it -here till some one comes after us. When they -find we don’t come home, they will hunt for us, -of course. See here,” she added, briskly, pulling -out the big pail Mr. Cunningham had lent -them for clams, “you children take this pail and -get some crabs. I will build a fire, and we will -have dinner right away before anything else -awful happens to us.”</p> - -<p>The children, reassured by her tone and smile, -took the pail and trotted off down the beach. -They had caught crabs on the little beaches of -the Rosalies and understood the business. Even -Davie got a stick and landed a few.</p> - -<p>Marian gathered some sticks and built a fire -in the shade of a big rock. She had it well started -when Delbert came back to her.</p> - -<p>“I can see something black away out in the -Gulf; probably it is him,” he said.</p> - -<p>“Probably,” she answered.</p> - -<p>They brought the things up to the fire and -began to unpack the basket.</p> - -<p>“I don’t see why he did it!” finally burst<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_33"></a>33</span> -forth Delbert with clouded face and quivering -lips.</p> - -<p>“Well,” said Marian quietly, “he evidently -was a different kind of man from what we -supposed. There are a few such people in the -world.”</p> - -<p>“But, Marian, no one knows where we are. -They wouldn’t know where to look for us if -they were hunting for us.”</p> - -<p>“No, but I have been thinking, probably Mr. -Pearson doesn’t know that. What did you say -to him last night?”</p> - -<p>“Nothing. Mr. Cunningham did the talking. -He just called and asked him if he could go out -with a party in the launch to-day, and he said -yes and came over and asked who was going, -and when Mr. Cunningham told him, he asked -what time we should want him. It was this -morning he asked me if I knew the way, because -he had never been out to any of the islands, he -said.”</p> - -<p>“Did you tell Mr. Cunningham where we -were going?”</p> - -<p>Delbert thought a moment. “No; I just -asked could we have the launch for all day.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_34"></a>34</span> -“And you didn’t tell Bobbie or any of the -other children?”</p> - -<p>“No; I didn’t see any of them last night, and -not to talk to this morning. When I went for -the milk, I just said we were going in the launch. -But Bobbie’s mother knew we were going; she -brought out the cape to you.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, but she didn’t know where. I never -thought to mention it to any one. When you -came back with Jennie’s cape, you told Mr. -Faston we were going to Smugglers’ Island, but -unless some of them remember hearing Clarence -tell of it they won’t know where Smugglers’ -Island is.”</p> - -<p>Delbert shook his head. “Clarence didn’t -tell about it to any one but his folks and us. We -had it for a secret. Why, Marian, they won’t -know at all where to look for us!”</p> - -<p>“No,” replied Marian steadily; “it was an -awfully mean trick for Mr. Pearson to serve us, -even without counting the stealing of the launch, -but you see, Delbert, Mr. Pearson supposes -every one knows where Smugglers’ Island is. -He heard what you said to Mr. Faston, and, -besides that, I’ve been thinking, and there was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_35"></a>35</span> -not a single thing said on the way out this morning -that would have led him to suppose we were -the only ones that knew about the place. We -talked about my never having been here before, -but not a word but what other people knew. He -supposes of course everybody knows, and that -when we do not come home to-night they will -come straight here in the morning.”</p> - -<p>“But they won’t,” said the boy. “When we -don’t come home they will think we are camping -over. They won’t know till Mr. Cunningham -gets back that we were coming home to-night, -and he is not coming back for two days.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, they will all know I wouldn’t have taken -you children out camping with only Mr. Pearson -along; besides Bobbie’s mother knows we -didn’t take any bedding along, and even if -she didn’t, she would know that if we had intended -to be gone overnight you would have -asked Bobbie to take care of the chickens.”</p> - -<p>“Well, anyway, what if they do know we -meant to be back? They don’t know where we -are. Hunting the Rosalie Group over won’t -find us.” Then he smiled a little grimly. “Do -you know, Marian, it will be the chickens that<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_36"></a>36</span> -will tell them about it? They won’t worry -about us to-night; they will s’pose, of course, we -will get in all right; but in the morning all our -chickens and old Peter Duck and Madam -Waddle and the whole brood of ’em will simply -swoop down when Bobbie goes to feed his chickens. -Then they will begin to investigate. That’s -all the good it will do them; they won’t find us,” -he concluded moodily.</p> - -<p>“Marian,” he burst forth presently, unable -in his nervous state to put up with his sister’s -silence,—“Marian, what do you think?”</p> - -<p>“Delbert,” she answered, pausing in her work -and looking up at him, “the biggest thing in -my mind just now is that bunch of bananas we -saw over on the other side.”</p> - -<p>Delbert’s eyes roved over the provisions before -him. “How long will this last us?” he inquired.</p> - -<p>“Well, I planned it for perhaps two meals for -six people; as it happens, there are only five to -eat it, and we have Mr. Cunningham’s eatables -as well, you remember,”—she gave a little -laugh. “You remember he said we were welcome -to them, if we didn’t have enough of ours.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_37"></a>37</span> -“Huh! I should think so. You bet Mr. Cunningham -would never do a dirty trick like that. -We—we can starve here for all Pearson knows -or cares.”</p> - -<p>Marian put down the kettle and went to her -brother, with his flushed face and flashing eyes -winking back the tears. She drew the slender -little form into her arms close and tipped up the -handsome, quivering little face.</p> - -<p>“Delbert boy, darling,” she said softly, “we -are not going to starve. The children might if -you and I were not here, but we are here; there -are clams and crabs for the gathering, and I know -a boy who, with his jack-knife, can make a trap -that will catch quail, and I once knew him to -kill a rabbit with a bow and arrow.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, and you scolded me for it, too,” he said.</p> - -<p>“I did. We didn’t need that bunny rabbit -at all, but these babies are going to need feeding, -and we shall have to feed them with whatever -we can get, rabbits or what. And we can take -care of them, Delbert, you and I, till somebody -comes. We will do it in spite of Mr. Pearson.”</p> - -<p>“Pearson!” said the boy fiercely; “he can just -go to—to blazes.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_38"></a>38</span> -Marian leaned down and kissed him. “No, -dear,” she said lightly, “but he may go to some -other port and let the police catch him and send -him and the launch back to Mr. Cunningham.”</p> - -<p>The boy laughed chokily and, twining his -arms about his sister’s waist, held her closely -while she stroked his hair.</p> - -<p>“No, darling,” she said presently, “we will -not worry. You and I can do a lot of things; you -will see. Now, here come the girls with the crabs. -We mustn’t let them be frightened.”</p> - -<p>Delbert straightened up. “How many did you -get?” he called, and Marian smiled at the easy -cheerfulness of his tone.</p> - -<p>“Oh, you will do,” she said approvingly, “you -will do.”</p> - -<p>While she cooked and prepared the crabs, -she sent the children off after clams. Under -Clarence’s tuition Delbert had become quite an -expert at finding clams, and fortunately they -were plentiful. Marian, poor child, wondered -how long one could live on an exclusive diet of -crabs and clams before getting utterly sick and -tired of them.</p> - -<p>She decided to put everybody on a rather<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_39"></a>39</span> -short allowance of bread, so as to make it last -longer and explained it to them when she called -them up to eat. They did not mind; they preferred -crabs anyway.</p> - -<p>“Marian,” said Delbert, “I can’t think of a -thing between Mr. Pearson and Mr. Cunningham, -except that Mr. Cunningham didn’t like -his work when he first came and discharged him -from the shop. But he has been working somewhere -else ever since; that needn’t have made -him mad.”</p> - -<p>“Probably there is something that we don’t -know about,” she said.</p> - -<p>“Well,” he persisted, “I bet Mr. Cunningham -didn’t know about it either. He wouldn’t -have sent him out with us if he hadn’t thought -he was all right. There was a fishline and hooks, -too, in the locker,” he continued. “Did you -see anything of them, Marian?”</p> - -<p>She shook her head. “He only left us the crackers -and canned stuff—oh, and a box of matches, -and I had another one in our basket.”</p> - -<p>“How many fires can we build with them?” -he asked.</p> - -<p>“A good many, but we don’t need to use them;<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_40"></a>40</span> -we can keep live coals over from one time to another, -as papa does in the fireplace winters. That -is what we’ll do and use the matches only when -we really have to. On a sunshiny day I could -light a fire with the crystal from my watch.”</p> - -<p>They had never heard of such a thing, and -Jennie and Esther wanted her to take -<a id="it"></a><ins title="Original has 'if'">it</ins> off and -show them how at once.</p> - -<p>Marian declined. “We have a fire now,” -she said. “The thing for us to do is never to let -it go out, day or night. If it goes out in spite of -us, because of something we cannot help, then -we can build one some other way.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t people on desert islands build signal -fires?” asked Delbert.</p> - -<p>“Yes, and put out flags of distress, too. We -couldn’t keep a fire going <em>all</em> night, but we could -put up one of the towels or the tablecloth daytimes, -and we can build our fire nights where it -can be seen out at sea. And I think about the -first thing we’d better do is to get up a woodpile.”</p> - -<p>That was an easy task. There was much -driftwood along the beach, besides the sticks -that could be gathered from the hillside; and the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_41"></a>41</span> -children enjoyed gathering it up, and Marian -would have also if she had not been inwardly so -perplexed and worried.</p> - -<p>To add to her worries, the sky turned cloudy -and the wind rose. Suppose it were to storm, and -she with not even a tent to shelter these little -ones!</p> - -<p>“Delbert,” she asked, finally, “isn’t there a -cave on this Island?”</p> - -<p>“Sure,” he answered; “right down here a -way. Let’s go see.”</p> - -<p>Marian’s hopes rose, only to fall again when -she viewed the cave. It stood barely above high -tide, a dark hole, foul and ill-smelling from the -myriads of bats that lived in it.</p> - -<p>“Dear me!” she said, “we can’t sleep in this, -Delbert. Besides, if a storm should come up, -the water would wash right in.”</p> - -<p>“It goes back a long way,” said Delbert. -“Clarence and I went in with a torch, but the -farther you go the smellier it gets. Phew! No, -I should say we couldn’t sleep in it. If it’s a -cave to sleep in that you want, I guess we shall -have to hunt one up.”</p> - -<p>So they climbed back up the hill and began<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_42"></a>42</span> -an investigation of the big masses of rock which -at that end of the Island looked as if some giant -hand had tossed them up and they had since -lain in the same wild confusion in which they -fell.</p> - -<p>It would be very strange, thought Marian, if -some sort of shelter could not be found among -these. But she had no luck. Several places she -discovered that would have been ideal in pleasant -weather, an overhanging rock to keep off -the dew, or a thick, dry, mossy bed, but when -wind and rain were to be considered—</p> - -<p>Finally Delbert called to her from a point -farther up than she had yet gone.</p> - -<p>“O Marian, here is a sort of a crack; maybe -it would do.”</p> - -<p>She scrambled over the intervening rocks and -surveyed the “crack,” and though it was far -from being what she wanted, she saw at once -that it was the best place they had yet found.</p> - -<p>It might, perhaps, have been called a miniature -cave. It was not high enough to stand up -in, but extended back some ten or twelve feet, -growing smaller and smaller, till at its extreme -end it was not more than a foot in height. Its<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_43"></a>43</span> -width was about the same as its depth. A few -feet away from the opening rose another rock, a -smooth-faced, gigantic mass that would keep -the worst of the wind and rain away from the -mouth of the cave, or crack, as Delbert called it.</p> - -<p>“I believe it is the best we can do,” she said. -“We could at least keep dry and warm in there. -All the other places would be good only in good -weather. We’ll get some sticks and poke around -and see if there are any snakes or anything.”</p> - -<p>Delbert promptly followed the suggestion. -He crept in and punched and poked most industriously -and raked and scraped with energy, but -could start nothing, and he declared there did -not seem to be any cracks leading any farther -back.</p> - -<p>“That’s all right, then,” said Marian. “I -didn’t want to dispute the right of way with -any snakes or centipedes. Now we’d better go -down to the bananas and get a lot of dried banana -leaves to help out our bed.”</p> - -<p>This they did, gathering an enormous bundle -and tying it with the lariat rope. Then Marian -slung it over her shoulder and so with a very -little assistance conveyed it to the Cave.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_44"></a>44</span> -By this time it was getting late in the afternoon. -The sun had disappeared completely from -the gray sky, and the wind had risen so that -there was no doubt at all about the approach of -a storm.</p> - -<p>“We must bring everything up,” decided -Marian. “Everything must come under shelter -here right away. We must not leave even the -dig-spoon down on the beach.” She was seized -with a nervous dread of the water, which was -already rolling in higher than usual.</p> - -<p>The little feet got tired of going up and down -the rocky hillside, but Marian and Delbert persevered -till everything, even the wood they had -gathered, was safe at the Cave. Then Marian -arranged things as best she could for the night. -She packed their belongings, so that they would -be some shelter for the bed of banana leaves and -blessed Bobbie’s mother for the big cape, which, -with Jennie’s pinned to it, would serve as a third -blanket. Then she built a fire back of the big -rock that sheltered the mouth of their cave bedroom, -and cooked the clams for their supper.</p> - -<p>The children huddled together by the fire. -They were enjoying the experience. Marian was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_45"></a>45</span> -big; she would take care of them; and it is fun to -cuddle down behind a big rock and watch your -supper cook over a dancing camp-fire.</p> - -<div class="figcenter width800" id="i-p028-sepia_2"> - <img src="images/i-p045-sepia.jpg" width="975" height="1000" alt=""> - <div class="caption">COOKED THE CLAMS FOR SUPPER</div> -</div> - -<p>After supper Marian carefully packed a solid -chunk of wood in a bed of coals, covered these -with ashes and dirt, and piled little rocks over -them to protect them from the rain that she felt -sure would come in abundantly before morning.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_46"></a>46</span> -She kept a fire going for light, as they had no -lamp or lantern of any description.</p> - -<p>The children were tired and willing to go to -bed after they had eaten, and Marian herself -was fully ready to lie down after she had got -them all packed away. She slept, too, for a -while, but when the storm came it wakened her, -and there was no more sleep for her all that long, -long night.</p> - -<p>The roar of the sea was terrific; the big waves -were sweeping in from the sea and breaking on -the beach with thundering crashes. The flashes -of the lightning were intense, and the thunder -seemed to Marian to shake the very earth. She -had thought they would be protected from the -wind, but it seemed to sweep over them with -perfect freedom. She shivered and shrank closer -to the children. Davie was next to her. He -seemed to be warm and comfortable and he -slept peacefully in all that pandemonium. Poor -little chap, he had been all worn out climbing -up and down the hill and chasing crabs on the -beach. The others woke, and Marian anxiously -inquired if they were all warm. Delbert said -his feet were cold, but aside from that all were<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_47"></a>47</span> -fairly comfortable. Crowded in together as they -were, they kept one another warm.</p> - -<p>But they were frightened, and no wonder! The -storm outside was a regular tempest, and they -were cooped in that little hole, sheltered from -the rain, indeed, but exposed to everything else.</p> - -<p>They were afraid the rock roof would fall and -crush them, that the lightning would strike -them, and Jennie was afraid the water would -wash up to where they were.</p> - -<p>Marian knew there was no danger of the first -and no probable danger of the second, and she -knew they were far beyond the reach of anything -less than an actual tidal wave that might -engulf the whole Island.</p> - -<p>She soothed and reassured them by every -argument she could think of, and then she sang -to them all the songs she could call up that -might tend to reassure the shrinking human -spirit at such a time, beginning with</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="verse"> - <div class="line outdent">“The Lord’s our Rock; in Him we hide,</div> - <div class="line indent0">A shelter in the time of storm”;</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noi">and finishing with a rollicking glee with a rousing -chorus that announced that</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_48"></a>48</span> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="verse"> - <div class="line outdent">“We’re all right, all safe and tight,</div> - <div class="line indent0">Let ’er howl, Bill, let ’er howl!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noi">And indeed “she” was howling outside so furiously -that it was only because Marian’s lips were -so close to their ears that they could hear her -songs at all.</p> - -<p>Some time along toward morning the thunder -and lightning ceased, and though the rain still -came down in a steady pour, the wind still -blew, and the waves still thundered on the -beach, one by one the children dropped off to -sleep. Marian did not. She lay there in a -cramped, uncomfortable position, for to change -it meant to get out from under the covering and -expose the children to more of the cold wind. -She wondered where Pearson was passing the -night. How she longed for morning, yet when -it came it brought little enough of relief. The -worst fury of the storm seemed to be over, but -the wind was still high and there was some rain.</p> - -<p>Marian’s carefully banked fire was utterly -drenched and washed away, and she had to light -a new one with a precious match. She built it -under shelter of the Cave, and then the smoke -nearly drove them out into the storm.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_49"></a>49</span> -There was some of the clam soup left from -supper, and, reinforcing it with one of Mr. Cunningham’s -cans of corn, she was able to fill them -all up with a hot breakfast.</p> - -<p>They could not see anything because of the -big rock in front of the Cave, and to go out past -the range of it meant to be drenched, or at least -dampened, and every one but Davie could see -that that would not do. The little girls could -stand up in the wider part of the Cave, but -when Delbert forgot himself and tried it he got -such a bump that he fairly cried with the pain.</p> - -<p>Marian smoothed up their bed and packed the -food back into the basket, and then racked her -brain for methods of amusement. There was -not much that could be done, but they played -a few simple little games that could be played -while sitting still, and really, all things considered, -got on marvelously well.</p> - -<p>In the afternoon there was a cessation of wind -and rain for a while, so that they did venture -out a little, but Marian was so fearful of their -getting their clothes damp that it was not much -diversion, after all. Of course, every tree was -loaded with drops of water that the slightest<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_50"></a>50</span> -shake released, and the ground under foot was -soaked and running in little rivulets.</p> - -<p>The second night was only less miserable than -the first. There was no storm to frighten them, -and they slept more, but they were colder and -more uncomfortable when they were awake, -which was really a good deal of the time, after -all. By morning the wind had died down and -the sun was struggling to break through the -remaining clouds.</p> - -<hr class="tb"> - -<p>When Bobbie went to feed his chickens on -the evening of the day the launch party went -out, his little round, freckled face wore an unusually -sober expression. As he tossed out the -handfuls of corn, he gazed out over the waters -regretfully. The way of the transgressor is hard -certainly, but only the last part of the way, the -first part is most remarkably easy. He had been -down on the pier that fateful morning with his -mother’s full knowledge and consent,—nothing -wrong in that,—and when the fishing-boat -was ready, the men had said, “Come along, -Bobbie,” and “Come, jump in if you want to, -kid,” and there was no time to go and ask his<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_51"></a>51</span> -mother; they would not have waited for him if -he had; even his mother admitted that. There -was no time to go and ask, so he had gone without -asking, and see what he had had to suffer on -account of it. One whole week already with no -diversions besides school and errands, and another, -dreary with monotony, stretching ahead -of him.</p> - -<p>To-day had been worst of all, with the Hadley -house closed and silent, and Bobbie knew they -would have asked him to go with them if it had -not been for that ill-fated fishing-trip.</p> - -<p>He heaved a sigh and flung out the last kernels, -and then, as many of Delbert’s chickens -were hungrily helping themselves and the launch -was not yet in sight, he went over to the Hadley -yard, climbed through the shed window, and -measured out the amount of corn he knew Delbert -always fed his flock. After he had given -it to the eager biddies, he went back home, and -a little later, when he ran out to shut up his -own, he went over and closed Delbert’s coop -also, first carefully counting the inmates, as he -knew Delbert always did. When he found one -was missing, he searched till he found the silly<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_52"></a>52</span> -thing perched on a barrel in the yard, a tempting -meal for coyotes, and, hustling the misguided -fowl into the coop, closed the door securely. -It was a service that he and Delbert performed -for each other so often that he did not even -mention the matter to his mother, and she, busy -with her household tasks, gave the launch party -scarcely a thought, and supposed, of course, it -came home on time.</p> - -<p>The storm was the worst the Port had known -for years. Bobbie might have saved himself the -trouble of closing the coops so carefully, for -both were blown to pieces, and numbers of the -chickens of each were drowned. People had no -thought or time to spare for chickens and their -coops. Roofs were sent flying, and many a wall -had to be braced and watched through the wild -night. While Bobbie’s mother hurried to and -fro, moving things out from under the leaks in -the roof, quieting her frightened children, and -keeping general watch and ward, she thought of -the Hadleys and spoke of them to her husband.</p> - -<p>“Marian’s kitchen roof is probably leaking -like a sieve,” she said, “but I guess the rest of -the house is all right.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_53"></a>53</span> -“Yes,” he answered, “I was just thinking it -was lucky Hadley fixed things up so well before -he left. As it is, it is the safest house in town.”</p> - -<p>“Dear me!” cried the lady suddenly, discovering -a stream of water coming down in a corner -hitherto considered safe and dry, “I only wish -ours was. Half the things I have will be utterly -ruined if this keeps up.”</p> - -<p>“And it is going to keep up all right,” was the -consoling reply of her husband.</p> - -<p>In the gray morning, when the storm abated -and men in waterproofs began to venture out -and take stock of the damage done and compare -notes, it was discovered that the launch had -not come back; that while frailer shelters had -gone crashing down, compelling their inmates -to flee through the storm to other shelters, the -“safest house in town” had stood untenanted -and alone.</p> - -<hr class="tb"> - -<p>When Mr. and Mrs. Hadley, hurried back -from Guaymas by the awful news, reached the -Port, every foot of the Rosalie Group had been -searched over. On one had been found a child’s -handkerchief beaten into the sand. They gave<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_54"></a>54</span> -it to Mrs. Hadley, and she looked at it a moment -silently. Just a ragged, soiled little thing -it was, with a faint trace of what had once been -a picture printed in bright colors.</p> - -<p>“It’s Esther’s,” said the mother, and she put -it away, the most sacred of her treasures. As a -matter of fact, it was not Esther’s at all,—Esther -had hers with her at that moment,—but -the grimy little rag was taken for evidence -indisputable that the launch party had been on -that particular island.</p> - -<p>Over and over the boats went out and searched. -All of the Rosalies, all of the <em>esteros</em> and marshy -mud flats for many miles were gone carefully -over, not, indeed, with any hope now of discovering -the lost ones, but for some trace, some -sign, something washed from the wreck.</p> - -<p>When Mr. Cunningham returned, he declared -himself completely mystified. He knew the -launch was in perfect condition when it went -out that morning, for he had examined it himself; -and he knew Pearson was in every way -competent to run it. There had been plenty of -warning of the oncoming of the storm, plenty -of time to have returned in safety.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_55"></a>55</span> -But the launch did not return; it had gone -out into the blue, and the blue had swallowed it -entirely. The waves lapped, lapped on the rocks -and little beaches, the seabirds swooped and -called to one another, and in time even the gray-haired -father gave up the search, and he and -his quiet, sweet-faced wife packed up all their -belongings and left the scene of their terrible -sorrow.</p> - -<p>Only one person had advanced any theory -other than that the launch party had been in -some way wrecked and lost in the storm. One -man had suggested that perhaps Marian and -Pearson had eloped,—an idea that caused more -than a few smiles even at that time, for an eloping -couple would have been <em>so</em> likely to take -the lady’s four small brothers and sisters with -them. Just how any accident could have occurred -was a mystery, but that one had happened no -one doubted.</p> - -<p>Old Mr. Faston had, indeed, told of Delbert’s -remark to him that they were going to Smugglers’ -Island, but Bobbie and the other children -told of playing pirate and smuggler on a sandbar -of one of the Rosalies, and the childish game was,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_56"></a>56</span> -of course, thought to be the reason of Delbert’s -statement.</p> - -<p>So time passed. The Hadleys had gone from -the Port, Delbert’s chickens were added to -Bobbie’s flock, a Mexican family moved into -“the safest house in town,” Mr. Cunningham -bought a new launch, and, so far as the Port -was concerned, the incident was closed.</p> - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider x-ebookmaker-drop"> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_57"></a>57</span> -</div> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="iii">CHAPTER III<br> -<span>COMMISSARY MATTERS</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">But</span> for Marian in the midst of her hungry, -grimy little flock the incident was far from closed. -Indeed, it was only begun.</p> - -<p>When their food was all gone but the can of -tomatoes and a part of the crackers, she made up -her mind that nothing but accidental help could -be looked for. No one, not even her parents, -knew anything about Smugglers’ Island, and -probably they were thought to have perished -in the storm. Perhaps Mr. Pearson had been -swamped and drowned. In the course of time -some one would come into San Moros for something,—Indians -hunting turtles maybe,—but -it might be long months before they saw a human -being besides themselves. There was no -one to rely upon but themselves; whatever was -done they must do themselves.</p> - -<p>Looking at the cluster of -<a id="tousled"></a><ins title="Original has 'towsled'">tousled</ins> -heads, Marian -set her teeth together and clenched her -hands tightly. The fierce protective spirit of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_58"></a>58</span> -motherhood swept over her. They were hers, -these little ones; come what would, they should -not perish, they should be fed, sheltered, cared -for. They should have their child’s rights of -tender love and happiness. Esther, running up -just then, was caught in a close embrace and -kissed fervently.</p> - -<p>The Cave afforded the best shelter for night -that they could find. As soon as things were -dried up a little from the storm, Marian set -about improving it somewhat. For tools she -had only the hatchet, Esther’s spade, the dig-spoon, -and Delbert’s knife and lariat.</p> - -<p>With the hatchet she cut sticks and brush -and with the lariat dragged them up to the -Cave, where she and Delbert made them as -best they could into a sort of roof for the space -between the Cave and the big rock in front. -It was crude work, of course, but it gave shade -and to some extent served as a wind-break, at -least. It was just high enough to stand up under.</p> - -<p>A place to cook over was soon made of a few -rocks, and then Marian turned her attention to -the securing of food other than crabs and clams. -First there was the banana-patch. Not finding<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_59"></a>59</span> -any good way of reaching up to the bunch they -found there, they cut the stalk it was on, first -looking carefully to see that there was no other -bunch on the same stalk. Later on they learned -that each stalk bears but a single bunch anyway.</p> - -<p>Unquestionably those were the worst bananas -that Marian had ever seen in her life. Not only -was the fruit small and dwarfed, but about half -of each banana was a dry, brown pith, while -what remained was very far from being good. -But they were food, and Marian conveyed that -bunch of bananas to the Cave with the greatest -of care.</p> - -<p>Then with the hatchet and knife they cut -down a great many other stalks and dragged -them out of the way, so that they could get -about in the patch and see what was there. It -was not the pleasantest work in the world, for -they had to keep a sharp lookout for ugly, crawling -things. They found, however, several other -sickly-looking bunches and quite a number of -birds’ nests. These last Marian was careful to -leave undisturbed.</p> - -<p>Delbert was anxious to fly a signal flag, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_60"></a>60</span> -as Marian was wearing an extra petticoat, she -decided to dedicate it to that purpose.</p> - -<p>But it was a question where was the best place -to fly it. There were no very tall trees, and no -place where it did not seem to her that a flag -would blend with the background. She had -really very little hope of its doing any good, but -she did not suggest that to the children.</p> - -<p>At last they picked out a tree and, after considerable -discussion as to ways and means and -several ineffectual attempts, finally succeeded -in attaching the white skirt to one of the higher -branches, where Delbert was sure it would be -seen if any one chanced into San Moros.</p> - -<p>Delbert was continually mourning that they -had no fishhooks and lines. He and Bobbie had -been famous fishers,—in their own estimations, -at least,—and he was quite sure that if he only -had a hook and line he would be able to haul out -innumerable fish from the quiet water about the -little rock pier. Marian searched through their -belongings and not a hook could she find, and all -her thread was rather fine. But though crabs and -clams were good, it took a great many of them -to satisfy five people three times a day, and it<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_61"></a>61</span> -took more time to prepare them than Marian -wanted to spend. She declared that she would -not open the can of tomatoes till they were -actually starving and could not get anything -else, and she put them on an allowance of one -cracker apiece each meal. Davie often howled -for more, but Marian resolutely put them where -he could not get them for himself, and his lusty -wails availed him nothing.</p> - -<p>A few quail occasionally wandered into Delbert’s -traps and from there into Marian’s kettle, -but Marian was not content, and one day she -braided her hair in two braids down her back -and tried her hand at making fishhooks out of -her wire hairpins. She had not brought her -shears with her, but in her bag was a pair of -little buttonhole scissors that could be made to -serve as plyers, perhaps, and her pretty pearl-handled -penknife had a nail-file on one blade. -She could not put barbs on her hooks, but she -could sharpen them with the file. As one hairpin -by itself was not strong enough, she straightened -out three and bound them tightly together -with embroidery silk.</p> - -<p>After working faithfully all her spare time,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_62"></a>62</span> -one day she finished a hook that she and Delbert -were both sure would work. Then came the -question of a line.</p> - -<p>“Delbert,” she said, “quite a while ago wasn’t -Bobbie’s Uncle Jim teaching you boys how -to braid round whiplashes? Yes? Well, do you -remember now how he did it?”</p> - -<p>“I guess I do,” said the boy slowly; “but you -haven’t got near enough thread to make a line -strong enough to amount to shucks. That colored -silk would be all right, but you’ve got only -a teenty bit of that.”</p> - -<p>Marian smiled. “Why is your rope better than -a common one?” she asked him.</p> - -<p>“’Cause it’s hair and it won’t rot and wear -out like the fiber ones.”</p> - -<p>Marian was unbraiding one of the long braids -that hung over her shoulder and with the scissors -she snipped out here and there, where it -would not show, quite a number of tresses.</p> - -<p>“Here,” she said, “you get busy now and -let’s see if you know how to braid a nice, smooth, -round line, and then you can show me how, too.”</p> - -<p>“O Marian, your pretty, pretty hair!”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I know; it has been my pretty hair all<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_63"></a>63</span> -my life, and it’s high time it was useful as well -as ornamental.”</p> - -<p>But it took a long time to braid the line, and -food had to be secured meantime. Food!—that -was the main topic of conversation,—to find -clams, to get big crabs, to make traps and set -and watch them afterwards. Never a fish was -sighted but they wondered if it was good to eat; -never a bird flew over but they discussed whether -or not it would cook up tender. Delbert used -to go twice a day, at least, to look over his traps. -Simple things they were, made of sticks fastened -together with strips of rag torn from the towel -that had been wrapped around the bread, and -afterwards of the fibrous stems of the banana -leaves. Every day he saw rabbits, and one day -he threw a stone that hit one on the head and -stunned it, and he despatched it with his knife. -He did not seem to mind killing the things that -got into his traps, and Marian was glad he did -not, since it had to be done.</p> - -<p>It was after the rabbit incident that the little -boy came in one day from making the round of -the traps, holding by the tail a good-sized rattlesnake.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_64"></a>64</span> -“Mercy!” cried Marian, “how did you kill -that?”</p> - -<p>“With sticks and stones,” he answered. “He -was right there in the path by my last trap, and -I settled his hash in a jiffy. Say, Marian, he -looks nice and fat. Bobbie’s Uncle Jim says they -are as good eating as eel.”</p> - -<p>Marian gasped, “Snakes!” But the clams were -getting scarce in the immediate vicinity, and she -had even begun to imagine that the crabs were -not quite so plentiful on the little sand-beaches.</p> - -<p>“The history says,” continued Delbert, “that -when the Spaniards were conquering this country -and South America, sometimes when parties -were sent out to go to places and got lost and -wandered around, they had to eat roots and -snakes and toads.”</p> - -<p>Marian was thinking she had certainly heard -of people eating rattlesnakes and—well—“All -right,” she said, turning away to the construction -of the fishline, “you skin it, Delbert, -and I’ll cook it.”</p> - -<p>The filtered water in the demijohn did not -last very long, of course, and when it was gone -Marian marshaled all hands to clean out the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_65"></a>65</span> -spring. She usually marshaled all hands when -there was anything to be done, because somehow -she could not bear to have any of the children -out of her sight for any length of time. -When they were with her she knew they were -safe. True, there seemed to be little danger of -any kind, save that they were surrounded with -plenty of water to drown in, and there was no -knowing how many more rattlesnakes the Island -might possibly contain.</p> - -<p>She had hoped that when she got the stones -cleared away the spring would reveal itself as -something extra good in the way of water-supply, -but it did not. Indeed, she was reluctantly -forced to the conclusion that it was no spring at -all, only a shallow little well.</p> - -<p>In the rainy season the water falling on these -islands sinks into the sand and stays there. One -could find fresh water any time by digging at a -little distance back from the beach, where the -sand lay in hills and hollows, and Marian concluded -that the only reason why the water came -to the surface in that particular spot was because -it was situated in a decided depression of the -ground.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_66"></a>66</span> -So she dug and scooped till she had a hole -with about a foot of water in it, and then she -smoothed the sides and laid rocks so the sandy -soil should not cave in. From the tracks abounding -in the vicinity she concluded that the deer -and burros both were accustomed to drink there, -and while she was willing that they should continue -to do so, she did not want them poking -their noses into the very pool that she must dip -from for her little flock; so she made a cover with -some sticks and pieces of driftwood and some -stones to keep them in place, and then, to be -still surer, she hollowed out another place for -her four-footed neighbors. The old dig-spoon -and the little spade were her chief tools in these -labors.</p> - -<p>“Dear me! Delbert,” she said playfully, “why -didn’t we have sense enough to bring a hoe and -shovel with us?”</p> - -<p>“Huh!” he retorted gloomily, “if we had had -any sense we’d have stayed at home.”</p> - -<p>“There may be something in that too,” she -answered.</p> - -<p>“I know what I could do if you had brought -your shears,” spoke up Jennie.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_67"></a>67</span> -“What, dear?”</p> - -<p>“I’d cut a thing from this,” holding up the -piece of tin cut from the end of one of the cans -of corn, “that Delbert could spear fish with.”</p> - -<p>Delbert stared at her a minute, and then with -one of his nervously quick movements possessed -himself of the ragged bit of tin.</p> - -<p>Marian had opened the can with his knife. -He looked at it a moment and spoke excitedly. -“We could! It wouldn’t be like a regular spear-head, -but we could catch ’em. I know just how -the Indians throw them. Bobbie has one, but -he’s never caught anything yet.”</p> - -<p>The idea was certainly worth trying. Marian -would not ruin her precious buttonhole scissors -cutting tin with them, but she scratched the -pattern in the bit of tin and then went over it -with the tip of the butcher-knife, denting it; and -the dents, made deeper and deeper, finally became -holes, and then soon there was her spear-head, -such as it was, needing only to be smoothed -up a little and filed and bound on the end of a -smooth, slender stick that Delbert had been preparing.</p> - -<p>Marian split the end of the stick a little and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_68"></a>68</span> -slipped in the bit of tin and bound the stick with -thread that she had doubled and twisted till it -was strong enough to suit her, then tied the -lariat rope to the other end of the stick.</p> - -<p>Delbert spent the next day in exercising the -new tool. His patience was certainly marvelous. -Hour after hour went by with no success, but -he was sure he would be successful some other -time.</p> - -<p>“I’ll get on to it after a while,” he said, as -they ate their supper of hot clam soup. “Those -Indians at the Port catch them right along.”</p> - -<p>“The thread will soon rot out,” said Marian. -“I ought to have wire to wrap the end with; -copper wire would be best. There are two hairpins -left, but they are so short I can’t fix them, -I’m afraid.”</p> - -<p>It was fully a week afterwards before it -dawned upon her that she had in the edge of her -hat-brim a nice piece of copper wire that just -filled the bill, and though its removal left the -brim rather droopy, that was a small matter.</p> - -<p>Their supper they always ate at the Cave, as -the light of their fire could be seen far out from -there; but breakfasts and dinners were usually<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_69"></a>69</span> -eaten down on the beach to save the trouble of -carrying food and water up the hill. Marian -had built a second place for cooking down in the -shadow of the big rocks where they had eaten -their first dinner on the Island, and the children -had dug a well in a hollow of the sand not far -off, which they used, although the water did not -seem to be so good as that on the other side of -the Island, having more of a salty flavor.</p> - -<p>As Marian was carefully dipping water from -the beach well one morning, Jennie and Esther -came running to her in great excitement.</p> - -<p>“O Marian, come quick! The High-Tide Pool -is full of fish, and Delbert is going to spear them -all!”</p> - -<p>This was interesting, certainly. The High-Tide -Pool was down quite a way from where -they had the well and the cooking-place. It was -beyond the sandy beach, where the rocks ran -down into the water. When the tide was high -it had considerable depth, and ran back into a -little cave among the rocks, but at low tide the -water was only two or three feet deep in its -deepest part, which was in the cave.</p> - -<p>Sometimes they had seen a few little fish in it<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_70"></a>70</span> -before, but that morning the little girls had gone -down and found it well stocked.</p> - -<p>Probably just as the tide was going out, a -great number had taken refuge there. Perhaps -some enemy was lurking outside and they dared -not leave the safe retreat, and now they could -not leave it till high tide came again.</p> - -<p>Delbert was spearing industriously when -Marian got there. He had actually caught one, -and it flapped feebly on the rocks beside him.</p> - -<p>As his sister came up, he triumphantly called -her attention to it.</p> - -<p>“See that? Told you I could spear fish! But -they all want to hide back there in the cave. I -tell you, Marian, I’ll go in there and drive them -out, and you can stand here and spear them. -We’ll just keep spearing and spearing till the -tide comes in and the rest get away. I bet we -can get enough for several days. We can dry -’em as the Mexicans do.”</p> - -<p>He handed her the spear and began hastily -to disrobe. Delbert’s movements were always -hasty.</p> - -<p>Marian began casting the spear unsuccessfully, -but when Delbert got into the pool he<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_71"></a>71</span> -created such a commotion that several of the -fish in their wild endeavor to escape, flopped clear -out on the bare rocks and were easily captured. -By that time a better idea had come to Marian.</p> - -<div class="figcenter width800" id="i-p045-sepia"> - <img src="images/i-p071-sepia.jpg" width="1200" height="1212" alt=""> - <div class="caption">MARIAN HAD BEEN CASTING THE SPEAR UNSUCCESSFULLY WHEN -DELBERT GOT INTO THE POOL</div> -</div> - -<p>“O Delbert,” she cried, “come out now, wipe -up on my apron and get back into your clothes. -We have enough for breakfast and dinner, too.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_72"></a>72</span> -“Oh, but we want all we can get,” he called -back. “We can dry ’em, I tell you, and as soon -as the tide is high again they will all get away.”</p> - -<p>“That’s all right, but listen! I have a scheme -for keeping them all. This is too good a thing to -let the tide take away from us. Why, there must -be fish enough in there to last us a week at least, -maybe two. See, Delbert, we must build some -kind of a fence across, so they can’t get away -when high tide does come. Then we can come -every day and get what we want till they are all -gone.”</p> - -<p>Delbert splashed right out without more remarks.</p> - -<p>“We can do it with rocks and sticks and -brush,” she continued. “It won’t be possible -to drive stakes in the ground here, because -it isn’t ground,—it is all rock,—but we can -make them stand firm by piling rocks around -them.”</p> - -<p>She went to work systematically. She set the -children to bringing rocks, while she and Delbert -cut the stakes and brush up on the hillside -and dragged them down with the rope. Then, -selecting the place where she could accomplish<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_73"></a>73</span> -her purpose with the least labor, she set a row -of stakes a little way apart, piling rocks about -each one till it was quite firm and solid, and then -began weaving in brush.</p> - -<p>It was a long task. Trip after trip she made -up the hillside with the rope and hatchet, and -her face and hands were scratched with the -thorny brush. The children grew tired of helping, -and Davie was crying because he was hungry, -for Marian would not stop to prepare food. -She dared not. In that little pool was food, -food. If she could shut the way across before -the tide came in, then she and her little ones -were safe without question for some time to -come; if not—“Why, Delbert,” she said, “we -might live here for years before we should have -such a chance again.”</p> - -<p>Finally she sent him up to start a fire and -clean the fish they had got before they began -the fence, and when he had them in the kettle -over the flames he returned to help her. Thereafter -she would occasionally send up the little -girls to put on more wood or to pour a little more -water into the kettle, but she herself kept at -the task.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_74"></a>74</span> -Marian did thorough work; she dared not -slight it in a single place; it must be strong -enough to resist the force of the waves, and it -must be so solid that no fish of any considerable -size could get through, and she dared not stop, -she dared not stop. The tide began creeping -back over the rocks, and she sent the children -back for more brush and sticks, and more still, -and went herself again, and still again, and now -the water was running over into the pool again, -and still she worked. She knew how high up on -the rocks it would be when the tide was at its -full height, and she must get above that. She -had done the work well so far, yet it would all be -in vain if she did not get above high-water mark.</p> - -<p>Finally she finished it with the water waist-deep -around her, and as she dragged herself out, -it seemed as if she had never been so tired in all -her life before, but she was sure that her work -was done well. Tired and hungry and smarting -from scratches and the thorns she had not had -time to remove, she was yet happy. For the -first time since Pearson’s treachery had left -them stranded there, she felt a firm foundation -under her feet.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_75"></a>75</span> -In spite of the little girls’ care the fire had -gone out under the kettle and the fish were not -done. They were not very trustworthy as cooks -yet, but Marian started things going again and -sent Jennie up to the Cave for a blanket and -some safety-pins and a needle from her workbag.</p> - -<p>When she came back, Marian removed her -wet clothing and donned the blanket in its stead, -pinning it in place with the safety-pins, and then -proceeded to extract thorns with the needle. -Delbert also required some of the same surgical -attention. Then, as soon as the fish were done, -they broke their fast, and afterwards she took -Davie and lay down in the shadow of a rock to -sleep, secure in the knowledge that there were -fish enough in the kettle for one more meal and -that there were plenty more where they came -from.</p> - -<p>The fencing-in of High-Tide Pool certainly -marked a new period in the life on the Island. -It was the first work of any size, and its completion -gave assurance of food for many days to -come without spending all their time in the securing -of it.</p> - -<p>Afterwards Marian bent her energies on the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_76"></a>76</span> -fishline to the exclusion of everything else till it -was finished. It took the two extra hairpins to -fasten the hook and line together satisfactorily, -but Marian did not grudge hairpins nor time nor -labor when she saw how eager the fish of High-Tide -Pool seemed to be to attach themselves to -that amateurish-looking implement. She thought -the fence she had built probably served, to some -extent, to screen out the smaller fish that would -otherwise have provided breakfasts and luncheons -for those she had imprisoned. At any -rate, their appetites seemed to be excellent, anything -was acceptable as bait, and Delbert was -now and then successful in spearing one.</p> - -<p>They worked another day on the banana-patch, -thinning it out and letting in the sunlight, -and another in dragging more brush up to the -Cave to shade and shelter it, and in carrying -up more dried banana leaves for their bed.</p> - -<p>Then Marian said she was ready to go on an -exploring expedition.</p> - -<p>So far they had gone no great way from the -end of the Island where they had landed, but -now she decided the time had come to learn -more of their locality. Some of the bananas were<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_77"></a>77</span> -ripe; that is, they were soft and could be eaten. -They could take them along for lunch.</p> - -<p>Delbert was a little afraid some one might -come while they were gone, but Marian had a -lead-pencil in her workbag and with it she wrote -on a smooth piece of driftwood a brief account -of their predicament which she left in a prominent -position near the tree their signal flag -flapped on. To make assurance doubly sure, they -put another signal flag by the side of the notice.</p> - -<p>Not being sure they could find water on all -parts of the Island, Marian thought it would be -safest to carry some with them, but the only -thing she had to carry it in was the two-quart -Mason jar that had held Davie’s milk. They -would take Mr. Cunningham’s pail, too, and -the spear and lariat and hatchet. It seemed to -Marian that that was all they would need, but -Davie was very sure the dig-spoon would be -indispensable, so he carried that also.</p> - -<p>They went along on top of the hill where Delbert -had set his traps. It was very rocky at -first, but became more even and level, with fewer -rocks, and more open and grassy. There was an -abundance of thorny brush, but no trees of any<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_78"></a>78</span> -size worth mentioning. This portion of the Island -they used afterwards to refer to as the pasture. -Beyond it the thorny tangle became -thicker again, and here were more rocks. Indeed, -the farther end of the Island fell quite -precipitously to the water without any sandy -beaches, but they could make their way down -well enough, and most of the way could follow -the shoreline without wading.</p> - -<p>The Island was fairly uniform in shape, and -it looked to Marian as if it had been broken as a -whole from the mainland ages back, the sides -there being very steep and precipitous, as was -the shore of the mainland opposite. The little -harbor did not seem to extend very far, and no -vessel of any size could have picked her way -through behind the Island.</p> - -<p>The seaward side contained various little bays -and coves, very fascinating to explore, but only -one of these was of any size. This lay in such a -relation to the tides and currents that it gathered -more of the flotsam and jetsam of the sea -than any or all of the others, and when its treasure -possibilities were realized it was named -Bonanza Cove.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_79"></a>79</span> -These details were not all learned in one day’s -exploration, but little by little as day after day -they searched and learned.</p> - -<p>Always supreme above all other motives was -the search for food.</p> - -<p>Every plant or root or berry that they knew -to be edible they eagerly seized upon, and Marian -was constantly warning them lest they grow -careless in their selection and suffer thereby.</p> - -<p>One day they found the burros all down by -the water-hole on the landlocked side of the -Island. They had seen them before, about a -dozen in number, but had not paid much attention -to them. They were grazing peacefully -on the outskirts of the banana-patch, and the -children were quick to notice that the herd had -been increased by one in the last day or two, -a silky-looking little fellow with that peculiarly -fascinating quality that only a baby burro has.</p> - -<p>In glee they ran toward them, but though the -burros seemed to be not at all wild, they plainly -did not mean to permit any actual handling -and skillfully evaded all attempts in that direction. -After several ineffective attempts to round -up the woolly baby, the children stopped to rest<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_80"></a>80</span> -and regain their breath, and the four-legged infant -sidled up to his mother and proceeded to lunch.</p> - -<p>Suddenly Marian turned to her brother. “Delbert,” -she said, “can you lasso that old burro as -she stands there?”</p> - -<p>“Reckon I could if I tried. What do you want -of her?”</p> - -<p>“See that baby there fairly guzzling down the -milk, and look at our baby here without a spoonful -all these days. Don’t you suppose that old -mother burro has more than that little fellow -really needs in his business? Anyway, if he had -to go a little short he could make it up on grass.”</p> - -<p>“O—oh!” ejaculated the boy, “burro’s milk? -Why, Marian, it wouldn’t be good.”</p> - -<p>“Indeed, my dear child, burro’s milk is a -regular article of commerce in some places, just -as cow’s and goat’s milk is in others.”</p> - -<p>“Anyway,” reflected Delbert, “if we didn’t -tell him, Davie wouldn’t know but what it was -all right. Milk is milk to him; he wouldn’t -care.”</p> - -<p>“Of course not,” said Marian briskly; “you -older children might object to it, but it won’t -make any difference to him whether he shares<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_81"></a>81</span> -with a baby burro or a baby calf. You just get -a good loop over her head, and we’ll try this -thing out.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter width800" id="i-p081-sepia"> - <img src="images/i-p081-sepia.jpg" width="1815" height="951" alt=""> - <div class="caption">GETTING A LOOP OVER THE MOTHER’S HEAD WAS THE EASIEST -PART OF THE BUSINESS</div> -</div> - -<p>As a matter of fact, getting a loop over the -mother’s head was the easiest part of the business. -Delbert soon accomplished that, but Madam -Burro had no intention whatever of standing -still and being milked. Indeed, she developed -quite surprising activity, and it was only after -at least an hour of patient labor that Marian -was able to secure a few spoonfuls of milk in the -tin cup which the little girls brought down from -the Cave.</p> - -<p>“Now, then,” said Marian, “the thing we -have got to do is to secure the baby. If we keep<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_82"></a>82</span> -him tied here, his mother will stay around, and -we can try her again in the morning. But if he is -turned loose with her, we may not be able to get -near them again.”</p> - -<p>“But we have only one rope, and if I take it -off her she will take him right away now,” said -Delbert. “Let’s keep her tied up, I should say.”</p> - -<p>“Well, tie her up till morning. Then we can -think of some other way to do. It will not do to -keep her tied all the time, for then we should -have to feed her.”</p> - -<p>As they ate supper they discussed ways and -means. They could make palm-leaf ropes that -would do very well to tie the little one with, but -that did not seem to be as convenient as Marian -wanted. Finally they decided to make a little -corral to keep the baby in. Then he could nibble -at weeds and grass and could not reach his mother -except when Marian chose, and she could -thus have a better chance to secure a ration for -Davie. The corral would have to be pretty solid -and secure, she thought, or the old burro might -tear it down; still, it would not have to be quite -as compact as the fence that had been built at -High-Tide Pool.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_83"></a>83</span> -<div class="figcenter width800" id="i-p083-sepia"> - <img src="images/i-p083-sepia.jpg" width="1752" height="984" alt=""> - <div class="caption">JACKIE</div> -</div> - -<p>They went to work at it the next morning. A -little of the old stone wall was still solid enough -to serve, but most of it was badly tumbled down, -and they could not seem to do much at building -it up again. The banana-patch could be used -as one side,—it was so thick nothing would try -to go through it,—and a couple of palms could -be utilized as fence-posts. There were several -nondescript bushes that could be worked in too. -The banana stalks they had already cut down -could be used as building-material, and more -could be cut. They were soft and thornless, -which was an advantage; also every stalk they -cut out improved the patch by giving those -remaining a better chance to grow and mature<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_84"></a>84</span> -fruit. The hatchet was getting pretty dull, but -Marian managed to hack off a number of slender -stakes, which she set in the ground in pairs -just far enough apart to lay a banana stalk in -between; and these stalks all averaged about the -same size and were piled one above the other to -the top of the stakes, which were then tied together -with banana-leaf stems.</p> - -<p>The old pile of poles was overhauled. Part of -them were so worm-eaten that they fell apart in -Marian’s hands, but some were of a different -kind of wood and were still solid. These were -built into the fence as children build corncob -houses, and Marian was only sorry there were -so few of them. For part of it they used brush, -but that was not so easily handled as the bananas -or poles because of the thorns. The corral -was not finished in one day nor in two, and when -it was finished it showed half a dozen styles of -fence-pattern and had no particular shape, but -was, nevertheless, very satisfactory, as it would -hold the little one in and keep the old one out.</p> - -<p>The little burro was easily driven into it, and -then the old one was turned loose. She grazed -about during the day, and when milking-time<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_85"></a>85</span> -came Delbert could easily lasso her. Then, with -much labor and great tying of legs and an abundance -of help from the children in holding of the -same, Marian would get Davie’s little portion of -milk. Then the four-legged baby was allowed -to have what remained, after which he was -engineered back into the corral.</p> - -<p>In the morning the same performance was -gone through. During the day the mother and -baby could rub noses through that part of the -corral that had been made of poles, and in the -course of time they both became so tame that -the little one was a pet and a playmate for -the children and the old one offered but little -objection to sharing with Davie, who used to sit -on the top rail of the fence and watch the milking -with wide eyes that let no detail of the performance -escape him.</p> - -<p>He was very generous, too, considering the -small amount of milk he received, and would -offer to share with the others; they would all -take a sip, even Marian, to encourage his unselfish -impulses, and, as Delbert said, for politeness’ -sake.</p> - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider x-ebookmaker-drop"> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_86"></a>86</span> -</div> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="iv">CHAPTER IV<br> -<span>BONANZA COVE</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">It</span> was about the time that the corral was finished -that they came to realize that they had -lost count of the days and really did not know -how long they had been on the Island. They -had even lost track of the day of the week, and -Marion did not know when she had ever done -that in her life before. She and Delbert sat down -and figured and figured, trying to count back -and remember what had been done on each day; -but it was no use, it had been too long. Jennie, -however, was quite sure that it was Wednesday -then, though she could not tell why,—she just -thought it was, that was all,—and so, assuming -that she was correct in her belief, Marian -easily figured up what day of the month it was -then, for of course she knew the day and date -upon which they had left home.</p> - -<p>“Now,” she said, “we will not trust to our -memories any more. Every day I will put a -notch in a stick,”—which she faithfully did,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_87"></a>87</span> -using for the purpose a smooth stick that Delbert -picked up on the beach one day. As a matter -of fact, Jennie had been mistaken and they -were two days ahead of time, but they did not -know that till afterwards.</p> - -<p>The days were filled pretty full. Marian -thought that the busier they were, the less would -they be a prey to loneliness and homesickness. -They tumbled out of the Cave mornings, milked -the burro, got breakfast, and then worked -awhile at something till it was time for a big -sea bath.</p> - -<p>When they first began their life on the Island, -Delbert was the only one who could swim to -amount to anything. Clarence had taught him, -and he had been a very apt pupil; but the others -knew so little of the useful art that Marian herself -dared not venture beyond her depth, while -the little girls declined water that was more than -knee-deep and Davie preferred it even less than -that. But already there was a vast improvement -among them all. As the way to learn to -walk is to get up and walk, so the way to learn -to swim is to strike out and swim, and they were -following that method.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_88"></a>88</span> -After dinner there were walks to take, little -coves to examine, or ropes to braid. Marian -watched over the children with eyes of a most -jealous, brooding love. Never had they seemed -so dear to her, never so sweet and precious. She -was constantly thinking up things to amuse as -well as benefit them. Of course, she could not -perform impossibilities, and there were some -doleful days. There was one perfectly awful -day when she found Jennie huddled down behind -a rock, crying for her mother. And Delbert -would sit for an hour at a time on Lookout Rock, -gazing out over the water, so wistful and disconsolate -that it made Marian’s throat choke up -just to see him, and she would rack her brain for -some interesting thing to set him at to keep -him busy.</p> - -<p>But it is only fair to say that the doleful spots -came far less often than one would have supposed -they would. Marian was always steadfast -in her assurance that some one would find -them some day. They would take good care of -each other and be as happy as they could till -some one should come and take them back to -the Port. And she herself always kept a cheerful<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_89"></a>89</span> -face. Her loving voice and sunny smile, her -merry little ways, inspired confidence. As -much as possible she made it appear that a desert-island -experience was a very desirable thing -to have happen to one. She twisted things till -they looked like a joke, and in the process often -found herself growing as light-hearted as she -wanted the children to be.</p> - -<p>The bill of fare was limited, to be sure, but -they brought to it appetites sharpened by the -constant exercise they were taking in the sea air -and the sunshine.</p> - -<p>One day up in the pasture they ran across a -<em>panal</em>.<a id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> This is the nest of a kind of wild bee -and is made of the same material that our hornets -use in constructing their homes, but the bee -itself is not so large as a hornet. Marian saw -the nest first and pointed it out to the other -children merely as a matter of curiosity, but -Delbert straightway became excited.</p> - -<div class="footnote-container"> -<div class="footnote"><a id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3" class="label">[3]</a> Pronounced <em>pah-nahlʹ</em>; plural, <em>pah-nahʹ-layss</em>. It is the -regular Spanish word for honeycomb. -</div></div> - -<p>There was honey in that bees’ nest; he knew -it; splendid honey. Hadn’t Clarence bought -some once of an Indian and given him a lot?<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_90"></a>90</span> -And Clarence had told him all about <em>panales</em>. -You take all the outside honey and comb away -and leave the core, and they will build on again, -just as tame bees will.</p> - -<p>Marian was a little dubious. Honey was all -very well, but stings were not at all desirable. -How were they to proceed to get the sweet store?</p> - -<p>“We have no bee-smoker,” she reminded him, -“and if we had, there are no rags to be burned -in it.”</p> - -<p>“Huh!” declared Delbert scornfully, “do you -s’pose the Indians have smokers?—or rags -either? No, sirree! they just build a fire of trash -they gather up. Besides, the stings of these little -bees don’t amount to shucks!”</p> - -<p>It was not in Marian’s policy to discourage -him from doing anything not actually dangerous -to life and limb, and she was glad he was willing -to dare the stings; so she said they would go -back to the Cave for the little dishpan and -some coals to start a smudge with, and see what -they could do.</p> - -<p>The younger children were to keep back out -of the danger zone,—which they were very -willing to do, for they did not share Delbert’s<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_91"></a>91</span> -optimism about the trifling nature of wild-bee -stings,—and she and Delbert swathed their -hands and faces as well as they could and still -be able to work handily. They built three little -fires about the bush the nest was in, and gathered -trash and piled it on till they were all smoking -finely. With a forked pole Marian raked one -of them as nearly under the nest as she could, -and then, holding her skirts carefully so that -they should not swing into the fire, she began -the task of robbing the little bees.</p> - -<p>Delbert held the pan, and she cut off layer -after layer of the paper-like comb filled with the -clear sweet liquid, but she was careful to leave -a goodly portion at the center for the bees to -begin on anew. Then they retreated with their -booty, threw a towel over it, and gave it to -Jennie and Esther to carry off, while they raked -back and stamped out the fires and threw dirt -over the ashes, so that they could not start up -again.</p> - -<p>During the whole performance both of them -had received stings, but, as Delbert said, they -did not amount to much, and certainly honey -never tasted sweeter.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_92"></a>92</span> -<div class="figcenter width800" id="i-p092-sepia"> - <img src="images/i-p092-sepia.jpg" width="1400" height="1415" alt=""> - <div class="caption">THE TASK OF ROBBING THE LITTLE BEES</div> -</div> - -<p>From then on the children’s eyes were always -open for <em>panales</em>. They found two small -nests that they decided to let alone till they -were larger, and about a week later they found -one down near the shore that yielded even more -honey than the first. They got several stings, -too, and Marian smiled grimly as she reflected -how necessity was teaching them hardihood.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_93"></a>93</span> -That was the day they discovered the riches -of Bonanza Cove.</p> - -<p>They had never gone down into it before, -having always skirted it quite a way up on the -hill, for there was no sand at that part, only -ragged rocks with broken shells and barnacles, -interspersed with occasional clumps of mango -bushes,—certainly not easy ground for little -feet to run over. But this day, as they were returning -home with the little dishpan of luscious -sweetness, Esther had declared, “I see a bottle”; -and on the strength of that declaration they -climbed down into the cove, for a bottle would -be a very valuable thing to have. And, once -there, they found so many valuable things that -they gathered up a load and carried it home and -went back in the afternoon for more.</p> - -<p>The bottle proved to be a quart beer-bottle -that some one had doubtless tossed, corked but -empty, over some steamer’s side, and careful -search revealed six others, besides the remains -of several that had been broken. Marian hailed -them with delight. Now they could carry water -in bottles when they went exploring, and leave -her precious glass jar safe at the Cave. She<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_94"></a>94</span> -had always been afraid it would get broken on -some of those trips. Five of the seven bottles -were only pints, but were none the less eagerly -welcomed and treasured.</p> - -<p>Also there was discovered in a clump of -mango bushes, half buried in the mud, an old -broken five-gallon demijohn. The basketwork enclosing -it was nearly intact, and Marian thought -they might use it for something some time.</p> - -<p>The wreck of an old barrel was also rescued -from the mud. Only three of its staves were -gone. Who knew what might not some time be -done with what remained? Several rusty tin -cans were acquired. Marian could mend them -by drawing a tiny rag through the holes in them; -and Esther came up with a piece of scrap iron -that might be made into a spear-head if a body -only knew how; Delbert knew Clarence could -have done it all right. They found three little -boards, too, and an old shoe whose top was not -yet stiff. Besides all this, there were innumerable -armloads of driftwood. They gathered it -up into piles beyond the reach of high tides.</p> - -<p>But the most exciting discovery of all was the -remains of an old canoe. One side and a goodly<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_95"></a>95</span> -portion of the bottom were gone, but it was undeniably -a canoe. It had been tossed up on the -rocks by some storm and had lain bleaching in -the sun ever since. Nothing would do but Delbert -must get that old fragment into the water. -They all caught his enthusiasm and worked with -a will.</p> - -<p>The canoe was of native manufacture, having -been hollowed out from one big log, and what -was left of it seemed to be quite solid. After -they had it floating they hunted up poles and -practiced the art of navigation for a while. It -was a clumsy thing, and of course everybody -connected with it got wet, but already Delbert -had visions of what it might lead to.</p> - -<p>“Marian,” he said, “let’s pile a lot of that -wood on this and take it around that way. It -will be a lot easier than carrying it over.”</p> - -<p>“The waves are too high,” she objected, “and -we should have to tie the wood on good and -solid, for the way this thing dips and tips and -turns it would all be off before we were out of the -cove.”</p> - -<p>“The waves are high,” he conceded, “and, -of course, we should have to tie the wood on.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_96"></a>96</span> -This thing won’t stay anywhere. What’s left of -it knows it used to be the side and it doesn’t -understand that it is the bottom now.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll tell you,” she said; “let’s wait till to-morrow. -Maybe the wind will not pile the -waves quite so high then, and we can tie your -rope to it. See there is the hole in the prow they -made to moor it by, and we can tow it round, if -you like. That is splendid wood and it will certainly -be easier getting it home that way than -carrying it up over the hill.”</p> - -<p>But Delbert was not quite satisfied.</p> - -<p>“I’ll tell you,” he said; “if we can get it -around the point there, we can take it the other -way, in back of the Island. It’s a lot longer way, -but there are no breakers in there.”</p> - -<p>“I guess we could do it that way all right. -So let’s go back now and braid palm-leaf ropes -the rest of to-day, so as to have plenty to tie -the wood with, and hunt up some nice poles and -paddles; and to-morrow early we will come and -take this gallant bark round into harbor.”</p> - -<p>So they beached it again, and piled stones in -it so it could not get away, and then went back -to the home end of the Island.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_97"></a>97</span> -Mexicans make a very good rope of twisted -palm-leaves, but our islanders had not learned -how yet, and so braided them instead, for even -the children could do that. For a large rope they -simply took three of the small ones and braided -them together. The finished articles were very -knobby, uneven affairs, of course, and could not -be used to lasso with, but they were flexible -and strong and served to tie things. They had -quite a number of these ropes of home manufacture.</p> - -<p>In the morning, after attending to the burro -and eating a breakfast of fish baked in the hot -coals, they filled the two big bottles and three of -the little ones with water, tied stout little palm-leaf -strings to them, so that each person could -easily carry one, and started out with their ropes -and poles.</p> - -<p>Marian had Mr. Cunningham’s pail with more -fish for their dinner, and the hatchet also, and -Davie as usual flourished the dig-spoon. He -soon got tired of carrying his bottle of water and -passed it over to Marian, who put it into the -pail.</p> - -<p>At the cove they put the pail and their bottles<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_98"></a>98</span> -into a clump of mango bushes and began to -gather up the best and biggest of the wood. -Marian made compact bundles of it and lashed -them as best she could to what remained of the -old canoe. Alone it would not stay in any position -that made it navigable, but reinforced by -the bundles of wood on what Delbert called the -“absent” side of the craft, it floated as any -other mass of wooden wreckage would have -floated and maintained an equilibrium which -allowed the children to perch on top in safety.</p> - -<p>Delbert scratched his head.</p> - -<p>“This isn’t a canoe and it isn’t a raft. What -in creation is it, anyway, Marian?”</p> - -<p>“I reckon it’s a float,” she answered.</p> - -<p>So, after the pail had been placed on the safest -spot, where it would not get water splashed -into it, and after Jennie had received explicit -instructions to watch over it, the voyage began. -They had taken the precaution to put on their -bathing-suits and expected to do as much wading -and swimming as anything else.</p> - -<p>Marian knew a good deal about rowing and -sailing a boat, but this was a different matter. -To begin with, they had only one really good<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_99"></a>99</span> -pole. The other was too short, besides being -crooked, and their craft swung round and -twisted and did its best to wobble its way back -to the beach. At last, however, they got out -quite a way, beyond the depth of the shortest -pole, but when they came to round the point -there was trouble again. Finally Marian jumped -off and, half swimming, half wading to shore -with the lariat, towed them round the point; -and then, because they made better progress -that way, accomplished most of the rest of the -journey so.</p> - -<div class="figcenter width800" id="i-p099-sepia"> - <img src="images/i-p099-sepia.jpg" width="1400" height="696" alt=""> - <div class="caption">THE VOYAGE BEGAN</div> -</div> - -<p>Davie also preferred to do most of his traveling -on his own feet, and Marian did not blame -him, for the float did not even look like a safe -craft, and the way it wobbled and bobbed might<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_100"></a>100</span> -well have made an older passenger than Davie -uneasy. So he trudged on, mostly in the edge of -the water, now and then whimpering when he -hurt his bare toes and again laughing gleefully -at some treasure of the sea which the fates cast -at his feet.</p> - -<div class="figcenter width800" id="i-p100-sepia"> - <img src="images/i-p100-sepia.jpg" width="1260" height="704" alt=""> - <div class="caption">MARIAN TOWED THEM ROUND THE POINT</div> -</div> - -<p>At some places it was not convenient to tow -the float, and then they resorted to poling altogether. -At one or two points Delbert took the -rope and swam across to a better place for pulling. -And several times the bundles of wood -became loosened, and all hands had to retire to -shore till Marian could get them satisfactorily -retied.</p> - -<p>Altogether, their progress was so slow that<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_101"></a>101</span> -the day was nearly done before they moored their -gallant craft to the little rock pier behind the -Island.</p> - -<p>Next day they tried it another way. They -took all the wood off and allowed the old fragment -to turn turtle. That did a great deal better -in some ways, but it was a little difficult to -get aboard of it. Once they were aboard, however, -it sustained the weight of them all well -enough, though, of course, there was no freeboard -at all, and, while it was willing to remain -in that position, the ends of the canoe, being well -under water, offered considerable resistance and -made it more difficult to pole than a boat or raft -would have been.</p> - -<p>Jennie thought Marian had better cut off -those ragged ends and leave only the smooth -side, but Marian was not anxious to attempt -such a task as that with only a dull hatchet and -a few knives to work with. Besides, she was not -sure at all but she would some day want those -ends right where they were. She could not -think of any way of improving it, and even as -it was it enlarged the horizon of their daily -lives.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_102"></a>102</span> -The prow being under water, they could not -very well use the hole in it to tie the rope to, -but at one place in the bottom there was a knothole, -and Marian firmly wedged a stick into that. -With a rope fastened to this stick they could tie -the canoe where it would float out quite a little -distance from shore, and then they could swim -out to it. She soon found her little flock were -improving in their swimming lessons. With the -old canoe at hand it did not matter so much if -one did get beyond one’s depth a little; it gave -one security.</p> - -<p>Then pretty soon, when they began to get -the knack of making the old thing move along -in the water where they wanted it to, they would -go out to the little sandbars and reefs that had -before been beyond their reach.</p> - -<p>Some of these had mango bushes where a -certain variety of small oyster attached themselves -to the stems and rocks, where they could -be easily gathered at low tide. One had an outcropping -of rock in one place which had several -basin-like depressions, which Marian cleaned -out and made use of. She would boil down sea-water -in her kettle, till it was about a saturated<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_103"></a>103</span> -solution, and then put it into the demijohn, and -when that was full would take it over and empty -it into those shallow rock basins, where the sun -evaporated it till nothing was left but the salt.</p> - -<p>Close on the heels of the food problem had -come that of clothing. Marian thanked her stars -that the soil of the Island was sandy and brushed -off easily, but even with that in their favor they -had not been on the Island so very long before -their clothing sadly needed washing. She put -her whole flock into their bathing-suits and -washed everything else. But that made such -inroads on her lone cake of soap that she decided -things must do without soap in the future, -and what dirt would not come out with water -and sunshine would have to stay in. That went -sorely against the grain, for Mrs. Hadley was -a notoriously neat and clean woman and had -trained her daughter in her own spick-and-span -ways; but it could not be helped.</p> - -<p>Before long it became plain that the question -of washing was not all there was to it either. -Clothes constantly worn will in time wear out, -and Marian’s little flock soon became shabby as -well as dingy. She staved off the evil day for a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_104"></a>104</span> -while by decreeing that the bathing-suits must -be worn all the time, and so the other clothes -were folded away up at the Cave, to await the -blest day when some one should wander into -San Moros and take them all back to the -Port.</p> - -<p>The children were willing enough. It did -away with the need of dressing and undressing, -for they had so little bedding that Marian let -them sleep in their suits too. Davie could not see -any use in clothes anyway, except when he was -cold. Before long he rebelled against even the -little bathing-suit, and as there was no one to -see and criticize, his sister let him run from -morning till night absolutely naked. He was so -fat and dimpled and sweet that the other children -liked him best that way, and his little body -became so tanned that Marian called him a little -Indian, and because he strutted about in such -a lordly way she dubbed him Hiawatha. That -tickled Delbert, who then tied his little brother’s -hair in tufts and stuck them full of feathers.</p> - -<p>Delbert himself began to need the barber’s -services, but when Jennie told him so one day -he declared he was not going to have his hair<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_105"></a>105</span> -cut, he was going to let it grow long and make -fishlines of it.</p> - -<p>“You’ll look fine,” said she, scornfully; “a -boy with pigtails; you’d better cut it, Marian.”</p> - -<p>But Marian, with a mental vision of how fine -he would look after she had barbered him with -the buttonhole scissors, decided in favor of pigtails.</p> - -<p>So Delbert tied a string about his forehead, -stuck feathers in it, and demanded an Indian -name. Marian named him Chingachgook. Of -course the little girls wanted Indian names too, -so she told Jennie she could be Wahtawah and -Esther Pocahontas.</p> - -<p>They were very much pleased and went -straightway to hunt up some feathers, though -Delbert declared that squaws never wore them.</p> - -<p>“Never mind,” said Marian soothingly, “these -squaws can do anything they have a mind to.”</p> - -<p>She herself did not adopt a name, but Delbert -used to call her the great squaw chief.</p> - -<p>As for shelter, they never found on the Island -a better place than that which they had fortunately -secured the first night. The bat cave -near the water’s edge was the only other cave<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_106"></a>106</span> -of any considerable size, and nothing else would -have afforded any security whatever from a -storm. Whenever it was convenient, Marian -reinforced the brush shade in front of the Cave. -She had it good and thick now, but of course it -would not have turned a rain. The nights were -getting cooler, and she cast about for ways and -means of getting more bedding. She pounded -sticks and dried banana leaves into the Cave -where it ran back and became too narrow for -their feet. She blocked up the sides with rocks -and pieces of driftwood and filled in the chinks -with little wads of banana leaves, so that the -wind was shut out better. She saved the feathers -from the birds they killed, and tied them up in -the little girls’ petticoats for pillows, and she -saved every rabbit-skin and stretched it out so -that it dried smoothly, scraping it as clean as -she could, and when it was almost dry, rubbed -and worked it till it was soft and pliable. This, -of course, was not the same as having them -tanned, but she did not know how to tan leather, -much as she wished she did.</p> - -<p>After she had learned how to keep herself -supplied with salt, she used to rub that on the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_107"></a>107</span> -fresh skins when she stretched them out to dry, -believing that was one good step toward preserving -them. When she had quite a number all -finished up in this manner, she trimmed the -edges a little and sewed them together. In the -course of time she would have a robe large enough -to cover them all, and as long as she could keep -it dry it would not spoil.</p> - -<p>Delbert was interested in bows and arrows. -His first efforts at making bows were not startling -successes, by any means, and he soon -turned them over to Wahtawah and Pocahontas -and tried for better ones for himself. At first -he used any and every kind of a straight smooth -stick he ran across, and it seemed almost impossible -to find any that combined the necessary -straightness and strength, but when he -finally caught the idea of making them of palm-leaf -stems, which are very tough and strong, -he evolved one that would actually shoot quite -effectively.</p> - -<p>Then his sisters straightway clamored for -good bows also, and he must needs make for -them too. He was at first a little scornful, but -Marian advised that he arm them as well as<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_108"></a>108</span> -possible, for while the chances of their bagging -any game were slim in any case, there was simply -no chance at all with bows that were only toys. -Bowstrings were made from Marian’s hair, but -arrow-points were a puzzling problem. The -boys at the Port had tipped their arrows with -heavy wire, but wire was not an Island commodity. -Marian suggested bone, and a few were -made of that material, but it was so very hard -to work, and the knives needed so much whetting, -that they were constantly on the lookout -for something easier. Finally they learned to -make them of wood hardened in the fire.</p> - -<p>The first bows made were now Davie’s property, -and he was so reckless with his shooting -that Marian forbade points of any description -being put on his arrows. He did not seem to -mind the omission,—he never hit anything except -by accident, and then it was usually one -of the other children, and they were all careful -not to call his attention to the fact that his arrows -were all blunt.</p> - -<p>Davie was the only one who was not at times -more or less depressed by their situation. He -was so little, and had now been separated from<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_109"></a>109</span> -his mother so long, that he never fretted for her. -Marian had always taken the most of the care -of him anyway, so as long as she was there to -do it he considered that conditions were normal. -He found life very interesting and satisfactory -and felt no need of more extensive society. His -comical baby ways were closely watched and -intensely enjoyed by the other children, who -loved him dearly, and they would eagerly report -to Marian everything funny he did when she -was not present. Even when he was naughty, -which he occasionally was, they were rather apt -to overlook it and laugh at the funny spectacle -he made of himself. Delbert, though, would get -provoked sometimes.</p> - -<p>One trick the little fellow had when His Majesty -was displeased was to hide the whetstone. -This was a stone which he himself had picked -up out on one of the salt reefs. It was a little -different from any other that they had found -and was splendid to sharpen the knives and -hatchet with. Delbert used to make quite an -ado over borrowing it from Davie, because it -pleased him so to have something apparently -so valuable to lend. Marian, too, was careful<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_110"></a>110</span> -to say, “Please lend me your whetstone, Davie,” -before she rubbed her knife over it, and as a -rule he would beamingly give permission. That -and the dig-spoon were about the only things -that were considered especially his, and as it -was not often that any one else used the dig-spoon, -he did not bother much about it; but -when he felt naughty he would conceal the little -stone and refuse to reveal its whereabouts.</p> - -<p>Sometimes Delbert would use some other -stone then, or he would coolly wait until Davie -got over his pouts and brought forth the good -one, or else he would slyly hunt it up and use it -without Davie’s knowledge, carefully replacing -it when he had finished.</p> - -<p>But one day he could not find it, and Davie -simply would not get it. Marian herself wanted -it too, but Davie resisted even her coaxing. Delbert -lost all patience, and Marian began to -wonder on the second day if some measure more -strenuous than common might not be needed. -She began to think that perhaps the child himself -did not know where it was; it might possibly -be that he had lost it instead of hiding it. He -was so little and his speech was so limited as yet<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_111"></a>111</span> -that she did not always feel sure that she understood -him perfectly. Perhaps he simply did -not want to admit that he had not been bright -enough to keep track of the valuable thing himself. -But then Esther saw him playing with the -stone off by himself. When she ran to tell Marian, -however, he hid it again and only smiled -impishly at their requests.</p> - -<p>No, he was simply being naughty, and, what -was worse, was staying naughty; so after a little -Marian issued her verdict.</p> - -<p>“I won’t punish him, though I could probably -make him get it by spanking him, but -mother never did that to him, and I will not till -I really have to, but the next time any of you -see that whetstone you may take it from him -and I will confiscate it and it won’t be his stone -any more.”</p> - -<p>“But,” said Jennie dubiously, “it <em>is</em> his stone; -he found it, Marian.”</p> - -<p>“That is true,” returned her sister, “and if it -were some less necessary thing I would say he -had a right to do as he chose with it, but a whetstone -is something we all need. I need it to -sharpen the hatchet with; nothing else I can<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_112"></a>112</span> -find does so well. Delbert needs it right now to -sharpen his knife, so he can work out that bone -arrowhead. It is to Davie’s interest as well as -ours that the hatchet and knives should be sharp, -only he is so little he can’t realize it. Just because -he saw the stone first does not give him a -right to hide it away and refuse to let us use it, -when we all need the use of it and there is not -another one like it that we know of.”</p> - -<p>She explained this all as well as she could to -Davie, but he remained obdurate. They set -themselves to work, therefore, to ferret out the -much-needed implement, and before long Delbert -found it and brought it in triumph to Marian, -who took possession of it amid Davie’s loud -wails.</p> - -<p>His crying availed him nothing, however; the -stone was put in a cleft of the rock where only -Marian and Delbert could reach it, and the -young would-be monopolist finally decided that -it was not worth crying for, and, smoothing out -his face, trotted about his affairs as sweetly important -as ever.</p> - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider x-ebookmaker-drop"> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_113"></a>113</span> -</div> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="v">CHAPTER V<br> -<span>THE EGG ISLANDS</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">It</span> was now growing close to that time so dear -to children’s hearts,—and grown people’s, too, -for that matter,—namely, Christmas.</p> - -<p>The Hadleys had always made much of it, -and, hampered as she was, Marian determined -to celebrate in some manner. She had had to let -Thanksgiving go by unnoticed, for the especial -rite of that day is a loaded dinner-table, and -she had bowed to the inevitable, but, though -good dinners are in order of a Christmas Day, -they are not the entire programme, and Marian’s -fertile brain grew busy.</p> - -<p>In her workbag was the roll of fine lawn of -which she had been making handkerchiefs. One -was partly made, and with careful planning -there was enough material to make three more, -leaving a few little scraps. In off moments, -when the children were engaged in making love -to the baby burro or busy at play on the beach, -she hemmed the handkerchiefs, and then with<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_114"></a>114</span> -her colored silks outlined Mother Goose pictures -on them and wrote the children’s names in the -corners. So far, so good.</p> - -<p>Then she constructed three little dolls, each -doll being made of one straight bone with a knob -at one end that would do for the head, with a -wishbone tied below to make the arms. One doll -had wishbone legs too, but that exhausted the -supply of wishbones, and the other two had to -be content with legs that were not so nicely -matched. Faces and hair she made with the -lead-pencil, and little suits of underwear from -the scraps of lawn, and she cut a piece out of the -ruffle of her colored petticoat for the dresses and -three cunning little sunbonnets. For Delbert she -whittled out a little boat about three inches long -and rigged it out with silken ropes and a lawn -sail.</p> - -<p>On Christmas Eve she gathered them about -her in front of their fire up by the Cave, and -told them Christmas stories till they were sleepy, -and, to their glee, had them hang up their stockings -before they crawled into the Cave and -cuddled into bed.</p> - -<p>Somewhat to her surprise, they insisted that<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_115"></a>115</span> -she hang up her stocking too, which she did, -wondering much what they had planned to surprise -her with, for she knew now, by their dancing -eyes and loving voices, that they had planned -something, though she had not noticed anything -mysterious in their behavior before.</p> - -<p>In the morning she was careful to go down to -the well for a pail of water the first thing, so as -to give them a chance to fill her stocking, and, -sure enough, upon her return she found it full to -overflowing.</p> - -<p>It seemed that for several weeks back Delbert -and the little girls had been saving every pretty -shell and feather they found for this purpose and -they had accumulated a large assortment.</p> - -<p>Shells, feathers, crabs’ claws and seaweed,—how -sharp their bright eyes had been to spy out -every pretty thing they passed! How industriously -the little hands had gathered!</p> - -<p>Marian’s heart swelled. How she praised that -collection! And straightway after breakfast -she hunted up a nice, safe, dry little cleft in the -rock, a sort of a baby cave, where she arranged -them all, sorting the feathers and tying them in -bunches, and when all was in order fitted one<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_116"></a>116</span> -of the little boards they had found in the cove -in front for a door, so nothing should disturb the -treasures.</p> - -<p>That morning, out on one of the salt reefs, -they found a log in among the mango bushes, -where it had hitherto lain unseen. Marian -judged that it had been tossed there by the -storm the night of their arrival, for it did not -appear to have lain there so very long.</p> - -<p>Of course, they worked and tugged till they -had it in the water, and it was so much of -an improvement over the old canoe that they -straightway discarded that,—Marian later working -it into the corral,—and every day they -went out on the log.</p> - -<p>It floated in shallower water than the canoe -and was easily poled or paddled wherever they -wished to go, but it had two drawbacks; first, -it had nothing to which the rope could be tied to -moor it,—but that really did not matter much -for they could roll it up on the beach out of reach -of the water; but for the second, it was so round -and smooth that it was forever rolling over and -spilling some one off into the water, and this -drawback simply had to be put up with.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_117"></a>117</span> -One morning, down in the cove, Delbert -found a small watermelon. Probably it had been -lost overboard from some steamer passing by -out in the Gulf, for it was many a long league to -where such things were grown, yet in any case it -seemed a wonderful thing that, with all that -waste of tossing water, that little melon, scarce -as large as Marian’s head, should have drifted -into San Moros and then into their cove. It was -ripe and they ate it, gnawing down the rind to -the very outside. Ordinarily Marian would not -have allowed that, but so small a melon divided -into five pieces did not give a very large piece to -each one, and they were hungry for something -besides animal food, and had not found a really -<em>good</em> bunch of bananas yet.</p> - -<p>They saved the seeds of the melon and decided -to plant a patch with them, though they -hoped to be rescued long before they could eat -of the fruits of their labor. To plant the patch -would give them something new to do, and perhaps -some one else would be benefited by the -crop even if they were not.</p> - -<p>Marian had never been much of a gardener, -but she thought the long, low, sandy point would<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_118"></a>118</span> -be a good place to plant, for by digging down a -little there they would reach soil that was always -damp with the fresh water underneath; so -the garden would not need irrigation, and she -had heard some one say that sandy soil was good -for melons.</p> - -<p>Delbert remembered reading in his history -that the North American Indians used to put a -fish in each hill of corn for fertilizer, and he -wanted to try it. But fish were not so easily secured -as to warrant that; they were growing -scarce in High-Tide Pool, and in other places -they were not very hungry somehow, and it was -rare, indeed, when Delbert could manage to -spear one with his one-pronged spear.</p> - -<p>However, the traps were gathering in rabbits -pretty frequently, and the discarded portions -of these could be used instead. So they planted -their melon-patch, digging holes down to the -damp soil and planting the seeds in the bottoms -with a little fertilizer near. Marian saved half -the seeds in case the planting should not prosper -and should have to be done over again.</p> - -<p>When they had finished that labor and were -proudly viewing their neat rows of melon holes,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_119"></a>119</span> -Delbert suddenly exclaimed, “Say, Marian! I -bet I know where we could get some more vegetable -seeds.”</p> - -<p>“For pity’s sake, where?”</p> - -<p><a id="quote"></a><ins title="Original omitted open quote">“In</ins> -my coat pocket. Don’t you remember -when Bobbie’s father sent off for seeds, and they -were so long in coming, and the rats had got to -’em somewhere on the road and chewed holes -in the papers, and the seeds were all spilling out? -Well, I helped Bobbie carry them home from -the office, and we put them in our coat pockets, -some of them, and I’ll bet there are some of -those seeds in my pockets yet.”</p> - -<p>Straight they went to the Cave and turned -every pocket wrong side out over a white cloth -and with miserly care saved every tiny seed that -fell. There was in all nearly a teaspoonful. -Marian separated them, putting each kind in a -clamshell by itself.</p> - -<p>There were seven kinds. One was peas; there -were just three of them. They were not sure of -the others, though Jennie rather thought one -kind was eggplant, and Marian was pretty sure -another was onions.</p> - -<p>Down in a corner by the bananas was the place<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_120"></a>120</span> -chosen for this second planting. They built a -fence around it, a rather frail affair, but specially -designed to keep out rabbits, and they sprinkled -the beds twice a day. All three of the peas -sprouted, but something ate them up. What -Marian had thought was onions never came up at -all, but the remaining five kinds all sprouted -and grew well, and though their ranks were -diminished by various bugs and birds,—for -Marian could not be on guard every minute of -the time,—there were a few plants of each kind -that survived all accidents.</p> - -<p>Jennie’s eggplant turned out to be big sweet -peppers; the other plants proved to be turnip, -carrots, lettuce, and—poppies. Delbert could -never understand about that last, for he was -very sure Bobbie’s father had sent only for -vegetable seeds, but Marian thought Bobbie’s -mother had probably had something to do with -the list of seeds ordered.</p> - -<p>The melons did best of all. There were so few -of the others that Marian vetoed all eating till -the seeds could be gathered, but the melon-patch -produced abundantly, so that they did not have -to worry about seeds, but began eating as soon<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_121"></a>121</span> -as the centers were pinkish, and only saved seeds -from the best ones that came later.</p> - -<p>But long before the melons were ripe, their -scanty larder had been replenished from a totally -different direction.</p> - -<p>“Marian,” Delbert had said, “those little -white-looking islands away down the bay are -duck islands. Clarence told me so, and I can -see the ducks going to them every day. Wish -we could go there; duck eggs are good, I tell -you.”</p> - -<p>Away down San Moros they could see them, -two little islands, mere trifles compared with -Smugglers’, and so far away that ordinarily -Marian would not have wasted a moment on -thoughts of a journey there, but eggs, perhaps -young ducks, and here were her hungry little -crew gazing wistfully. “Ducks” the children -called them, and it was not till long afterward -that they learned that the birds were really cormorants. -If they had known this at the time, -they might not have been so hungry for the -eggs, but cormorants’ eggs, like the eggs of other -seabirds, are not uneatable when one is hungry -enough, and they are often eaten by fishermen.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_122"></a>122</span> -The young girl thought and studied and made -ropes and looked toward the “duck islands.” -Every morning long lines of birds went out from -them to the sea; every evening long lines came -back.</p> - -<p>On those two islands thousands of these -“ducks” were nesting.</p> - -<p>All of her charges could swim now; even Davie -could help himself a little in the water. If only -the log did not turn over in the water so easily -and often! If that could be remedied, Marian -thought they might risk the voyage. She and -Delbert could easily steer the craft now. They -had picked and chosen among the few poles at -their disposal, till they had three that seemed -pretty good,—one longish one for poling, two -others that served in a fashion as paddles. Jennie -and Esther could use them a little.</p> - -<p>Then a full week was spent in cutting down -banana plants and fixing them in the corral -fence so as to release the poles that were in it, -and this was the time too when the old canoe -was put into the fence.</p> - -<p>Those big poles, though not nearly so large as -the log, were now laid parallel to it and tightly<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_123"></a>123</span> -lashed on, making an extension on each side that -would prevent the log rolling over, so that, while -they could not ride on it and keep dry, they -could at least ride it in safety. They could not -now roll the craft up the beach, but it could -easily be moored by tying a rope to one of the -poles. Good ropes were scarce, though; it had -taken the best ones to lash the queer raft together.</p> - -<p>Marian’s mind was now fully made up for -the venture. They started early. The old barrel -was tied on, also the broken demijohn. Fire -to cook their dinner with was a question. Marian -did not want to risk taking the matches -for fear they would get wet by some unlucky -accident, so she put a quantity of ashes in the -barrel and buried some good half-burned brands -in them. And because they did not know for -sure whether they would find wood on the -“duck islands” or not, they took along a little -bundle of sticks too. They had learned that the -trunks of the banana plants contain a tough, -strong fiber, and they were using this for tying, -where short strings were wanted.</p> - -<p>Their breakfast consisted of cold boiled cottontail<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_124"></a>124</span> -left over from supper and a few small and -very inferior bananas. These they ate on the -raft after they had started, and they drank from -the bottles of water which had also been put into -the old barrel. It was not a very ample meal, -and they turned longing eyes on the distant -islands. It was devoutly to be hoped that food -was plenty there.</p> - -<p>The sea was very smooth; Marian would not -have started if it had not been. The raft was -easily paddled along, and she soon lost the few -nervous misgivings with which she began the -trip, but she also soon decided that she would -never make it again till she had studied up some -way of putting up a sail. She was quite sure -that Clarence would have done it, and it did -seem as if it would take forever to get across -that stretch of water.</p> - -<p>However, they reached their destination before -noon, and, drawing their odd craft up on a -bit of beach, they took everything ashore and -hunted a good place for a fire. Having found -one, they carefully drew the embers from their -bed of ashes and, with much coaxing and blowing -and pulling of handfuls of dried grass,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_125"></a>125</span> -finally got a little blaze started, and then they -hung the kettle over it with water to heat for -the eggs which they then went to hunt.</p> - -<div class="figcenter width800" id="i-p125-sepia"> - <img src="images/i-p125-sepia.jpg" width="1000" height="945" alt=""> - <div class="caption">THE GROUND WAS COVERED WITH THE ROUGH NESTS</div> -</div> - -<p>They had to climb a little to reach the eggs, -but there were certainly plenty of them when -they got there. The ground was covered with the -rough nests,—just a few sticks with no art in the -construction,—but there were hundreds upon -hundreds of them, far beyond the children’s<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_126"></a>126</span> -power to count. There were eggs in all stages of -incubation from fresh-laid to fully hatched, and -awkward squabs tumbled about, while the air -was rent by the discordant cries of the older -ones.</p> - -<p>The unpleasant odor arising was so strong -that Jennie sickened and quickly retreated to -the beach below, where the fresh air was untainted, -but Esther and Davie were undaunted -by the noise or the smell and remained to be -taught the difference between fresh eggs and -stale ones. The eggs were smaller than the ordinary -hen’s egg, being more slender and pointed, -with a pale-blue chalkiness, which was not so -apparent in eggs that had been for some time sat -upon.</p> - -<p>Neither Delbert nor Marian had seen these -islands before or any others like them, but Clarence -had, and they remembered his teaching and -soon had all the fresh eggs they could carry -away. Delbert also picked out a couple of half-grown -squabs, whose necks he wrung as soon as -he reached the beach; and soon they had their -kettle full of eggs simmering, while the squabs -roasted before the fire.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_127"></a>127</span> -<div class="figcenter width800" id="i-p127-sepia"> - <img src="images/i-p127-sepia.jpg" width="1090" height="884" alt=""> - <div class="caption">DELBERT PICKED OUT A COUPLE OF HALF-GROWN SQUABS</div> -</div> - -<p>Cormorants’ eggs have a slight fishy flavor, -but the Hadley appetite did not stick at that, -nor at the fact that the white does not coagulate -solid, but remains a quivering jelly of a pale-green -color, through which the yellow yolk can -be plainly seen. The flavor of the squabs, too, -might not have been appreciated at Delmonico’s, -but Marian’s company was not so fastidious -as some people are. That which could be -eaten they ate without ado.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_128"></a>128</span> -And after they had eaten all they wanted, -they examined the island. There was nothing -of importance upon it but the birds and the -eggs. There was some driftwood, to be sure, -which they threw up on the high banks out of -reach of the tides, in case they might want it -some time; and down on the narrow little beaches -the children found great numbers of little clamshells, -from the size of Davie’s little fingernail -up to as large as a quarter, and of various assorted -colors, which they gathered with great -enjoyment.</p> - -<p>Their fire at home having been carefully covered -as usual, they did not need to take any embers -back with them, and so used the ashes to -pack eggs in, putting into the barrel and the old -demijohn all they thought they could use up -before they would spoil. It took several trips -up to the nests to get enough, and they took a -dozen half-grown squabs as well. These, with -their legs tied together, were also put into the -barrel, where in spite of all precautions they -managed to break quite a number of eggs before -they were landed at Smugglers’.</p> - -<p>As it chanced, they had a tide in their favor<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_129"></a>129</span> -on the way home, and they arrived in good time. -They carried their eggs up to the Cave and they -picketed the squabs out, tying each one where -it could not get entangled with its neighbors.</p> - -<p>Their supper consisted of eggs and some quail -that had got into the traps during their absence, -and as they sat about their cozy fire up at the -Cave, Marian felt that the day had been well -spent.</p> - -<p>It took considerable planning to contrive a -sail for the raft. To begin with, there was nothing -at all suitable for a mast, and, secondly, there -was nothing suitable for a sail. The hatchet, -too, was by this time very dull and needed a -great deal of sharpening. Delbert said he had -seen Indian canoes with an oar for a mast and a -blanket for a sail, and they could use a blanket -also and perhaps could make shift with a pole -of some description in lieu of an oar; but even -then it needed ropes, and they had used all theirs -in lashing the raft together, and there were no -more palm-leaves till more should grow. It was -then they resorted to banana fiber entirely. It -took considerable time to work it out nice and -clean, but they finally got serviceable ropes of it.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_130"></a>130</span> -With a great deal of bracing and tying of crooked -poles, they succeeded at last in rigging up a sail -that very materially assisted them in making -several other trips to the bird islands before the -nesting-season was over.</p> - -<p>But to carry live coals with them when they -went away from the home island was a nuisance, -and Marian did not want to use the matches -except in case of absolute necessity. Besides, -there was danger of getting them wet if they were -taken on the raft, for nothing on that craft was -sure of not receiving a bath sooner or later on -every trip, and often everything and everybody -got ducked several times; even what was in the -barrel was not always secure.</p> - -<p>The children wanted Marian to try building a -fire with the crystal of her watch, but she did -not want to take that off for fear of getting dirt -in the works.</p> - -<p>“But there are other ways,” she told them. -“Our grandparents used to make fire with a -flint and steel. Let’s watch for flints.”</p> - -<p>“Why, I’ve got a flint now in my pocket,” -said Jennie. “Carmelita gave it to me. She -said her father lit his cigarettes with it, but he<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_131"></a>131</span> -had bought him another one.” She produced a -bit of stone as big as the end of her thumb.</p> - -<p>Marian examined it.</p> - -<p>“This is too small,” she said. “It has been -used till it is nearly all chipped away; there is -hardly enough of it left to hang on to.”</p> - -<p>“Why won’t any stone do?” asked Jennie, as -she pocketed her treasure.</p> - -<p>“I guess because flint is harder than other -stone. It has to be hard enough to shave off a -little shaving of steel you know. That is what -the spark is, a tiny shaving of steel that is afire.”</p> - -<p>“Where’d we get steel?” asked Esther.</p> - -<p>“Oh, the knives are all steel.”</p> - -<p>“And the dig-spoon?”</p> - -<p>“No, that is only iron. It isn’t just the same -thing, Pocahontas, and I’m sure if we keep our -eyes open we can find little pieces of flint that -will do.”</p> - -<p>That, indeed, was not difficult. They soon -had a collection of bits of flint, some of which, -indeed, were actual arrowheads dropped in some -age long gone by.</p> - -<p>Then Marian tried over and over to strike -sparks from the bits of flint and the backs of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_132"></a>132</span> -the knives; sometimes a weak little spark would -fly out only to disappear immediately, and no -kindling she could get would ignite. They had -seen Mexicans light their cigarettes by this -method time and again, but the Mexican has a -prepared wick which catches the spark and burns -on till it is put out.</p> - -<p>Marian tried to make a wick from strips of -rag torn from the towel, but it was of no avail. -She was not very successful in striking a spark -in the first place, and she never could retain one -for a second after it was struck.</p> - -<p>“I believe we’ve got to be more primitive -still,” she said to Delbert. “The real wild Indian -makes his fire by rubbing two sticks together.”</p> - -<p>Something distracted her attention then, and -she thought no more about it till Delbert came -to her a half-hour later, flushed and tired and -disgusted.</p> - -<p>“Marian,” he said, “I don’t believe any Indian -<em>ever</em> made two sticks light by rubbing them -together!”</p> - -<p>“Have you been trying it?” she asked.</p> - -<p>“Yes, and I’ve rubbed and rubbed and <em>rubbed</em>,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_133"></a>133</span> -and they don’t light at all.” He showed the -sticks that he had been rubbing broadside -against broadside till they were quite nicely polished.</p> - -<p>Marian had to laugh.</p> - -<p>“Dear boy, they don’t do it that way,” she -said. “I don’t know that I can do it, but I saw -it done once. I truly did. Do you remember that -man—I don’t suppose you do, though, you -were so little, but he was uncle to the lady that -lived in the white house just across the stream -there where we lived before Ronald died.”</p> - -<p>“I remember the white house,” said Delbert, -“and the lady,—Mrs. Walton, wasn’t it? She -had the funny cats with long hair and she always -had pink ribbons on their necks.”</p> - -<p>“Angora cats. Yes, I remember she had a -couple. Well, her uncle came to visit her once, -and he had been agent or something out on an -Indian reservation, and he knew all kinds of -Indian things that the Walton boys wanted to -know, and so he used to tell them about these -things, and I took it all in whenever I was there. -He knew how to scalp a dead enemy, and how -to tie a live one to a horse so he couldn’t get<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_134"></a>134</span> -away. I remember those two things distinctly, -and he explained about smoking a peace pipe, -and how to tell which way you were going when -you got lost, and also—how to make a fire with -two sticks.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I just want you to show me; that’s -all!”</p> - -<p>“All right, we’ll try it. That man told just -what kind of wood to use, but I’ve forgotten -that, and probably we couldn’t get the same -kind anyway. I guess this piece will do to begin -with, and if it doesn’t work we’ll try some other -kind. Now, it wants a nice smooth, round stick. -Give me your knife; I can whittle better with -it than I can with the other one. Let me see, -it needs a—where is that broken bottle that -Davie was playing with that just had the rounded -bottom left on it? That’s it. You see, now, we -have this stick about a foot long, and we smooth -one end off nicely, and we make the other one -pointed, then we make a little notch in this other -stick and down like that. Where is your bow? -I believe that is too big. Give me Jennie’s and -tighten the string on it. Now I put this big -stick with the notches down where I can hold it<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_135"></a>135</span> -firm with my foot, so, and take a turn of the -bowstring around the little round stick, so, and—give -me that piece of bottle—I put it over -the top end of the round stick so it can revolve -smoothly, which it could not do in the palm of -my hand,—at least, not without wearing my -hand out,—and I fit the pointed end into the -top notch I made in the other stick, so. Now, -you will see how quick we’ll have a fire here.”</p> - -<p>She started drawing the bow back and forth, -thereby twirling the stick first one way and -then the other, and she whirled and whirled and -whirled it till her arm fairly ached; but nothing -came of it. She took a rest and tried again. This -time she produced smoke and charred the sticks -a little, but still no fire.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps it isn’t the right kind of -<a id="comma"></a><ins title="Original had fullstop">wood,”</ins> -said Delbert.</p> - -<p>That was the beginning of their effort to make -fire without matches. It was fascinating. With -some sticks the smoke would curl up thick and -white till Marian’s eyes fairly smarted with it, -but no fire appeared. Delbert tried it, the little -girls tried it, and Davie, with great gravity and -earnestness, tried it too.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_136"></a>136</span> -They whittled sticks constantly in the endeavor -to get one just right. Then the craze died -out for a few days; but it was taken up again. -Marian was sure that she was doing it just as the -Walton’s boys’ uncle had done it, and he had -produced fire in a very short time,—not more -than a minute, she was sure. She studied over -the problem. It seemed as if with so much -smoke and charring it simply must ignite, but -it did not. She would rub and rub, till there -would be a teaspoonful of brown powdered -wood at the foot of her downward notch, but -never a spark. She would drop the implements -in disgust and go at something else, but always -next day, or the next, she returned to them and -tried again.</p> - -<p>She had seen it done and she herself could -produce a little wreath of smoke, while her implements -grew hot and actually charred. She -tried with every kind of driftwood that seemed -different from what she had used before, and -while up in the pasture she would cut sticks from -the different growing shrubs and dry them in -the hot sun to experiment with. Then, one day, -as she watched the little pile of black powder<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_137"></a>137</span> -fall from her twirling stick, she saw a bit of it -turn to a red glow and knew that she had succeeded.</p> - -<p>How they scurried for kindlings and coaxed -that tiny bit of brightness! It glowed and glowed -till all the black powder was burned, and then -it went out. Well, having once done it, of course -she could do it again, and next time she would -be prepared and have fine stuff ready to kindle -with.</p> - -<p>So she tried again and again and again, till -her arm ached and her breath came in gasps. -And the children would squat in a circle, their -bright eyes glued to the tiny pile of powdered -charred wood, and Esther, with unvarying monotony, -would ask, “Why doesn’t it light, Marian? -Did before”; and presently, “Why doesn’t -it light, Marian? Did before.”</p> - -<p>It was fully a week after the first success before -she achieved the second one, and then also, -in spite of her best and most earnest endeavor, -she could not kindle it any farther, and when -the charred powder was exhausted it went -out.</p> - -<p>Of course, she could not spend all her time<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_138"></a>138</span> -upon it, but every day there would be a trial of -it sandwiched in between other labors.</p> - -<p>She took particular notice of the wood she -was using when success crowned her efforts. -The little round stick was from a piece of driftwood. -She did not know what it was, but it was -a soft wood that whittled easily, and the base -piece was from a kind of tree cactus called <em>echo</em>.<a id="FNanchor_4" href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote-container"> -<div class="footnote"><a id="Footnote_4" href="#FNanchor_4" class="label">[4]</a> Pronounced <em>ayʹ tcho</em>. -</div></div> - -<p>After a while she became so accomplished that -she could produce fire about every tenth time -she tried, and in course of time she became much -more expert than that. She always used <em>echo</em> -for her base piece, and for the other she found -that a certain bush up in the pasture was best. -She could cut sticks from it and dry them, and -they were straight and round and smooth without -any whittling.</p> - -<p>Also she learned that a handful of grass so -old and dry that it had all turned gray, if it were -broken and rubbed till it was very fine, made good -kindling. With a handful of that over her precious -coal of fire, she could, with careful coaxing, -get a blaze, and then it was easy to build on with -other material.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_139"></a>139</span> -Having once learned how, she felt easier. She -laid up pieces of the selected wood in several -places on the Island, where they would keep -dry,—carried some away back into the bat cave -for one place,—besides having a good supply -tucked away in the home Cave.</p> - -<p>When they went away from the Island, they -would take a couple of the fire-sticks with them -along with Delbert’s arrows. They used to tie -them high up on the mast to keep them out of -the way of spray and splashings, and Marian -would slip the bottle-bottom into her pocket. -The glass was somewhat clumsy, however, and -there was danger of cutting her fingers on it, and -afterwards they found some shells—big barnacles, -I think they were—which served the -purpose just as well and were neater and safer -to handle.</p> - -<p>Dried grass they could always find; so they -could have a fire whenever they wanted it without -using the matches, which were dropped into -the workbag to await some possible emergency. -On the Island, however, they found it more convenient -to bury the brands from one fire over -to another, as they had done before.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_140"></a>140</span> -Their trips to the egg islands, however, did -not wait on all of this. As before mentioned, -there were two of these islands. On the farther -and smaller of the two they found several things -that proved of value. It was the one the -nearer to the mainland, and some time or other -there had been a house or camp of some description -on it. They found the blackened stones -where the food had been cooked over the fire -and some broken fragments of pottery such as -the natives use, and, not far away, some scraps -of iron so broken and rusty that they could not -make up their minds what they had been, but -Marian saved them.</p> - -<p>Growing near were shrubs and bushes like -those in their own pasture, but Delbert found -one bush that had two shoots longer and -straighter than any he had yet seen, and when -cut and trimmed they made better spear-handles -than the one he had been using. And at low tide -they found there the largest oysters they had -yet discovered anywhere.</p> - -<p>When back at their own camp, Marian and -Delbert resolutely attacked the job of making a -better spear or harpoon than the one they had.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_141"></a>141</span> -It seemed to the girl that if one only understood -a little of blacksmithing, one of the pieces of -iron could be altered a little and made into a very -respectable spear-head, and perhaps, if one did -not understand, one could learn a little.</p> - -<p>She could easily poke the iron into the fire -till it grew red-hot. To handle it afterwards was -the question. She and Delbert were both afraid -of getting burned, and wasted much time because -of that fear.</p> - -<p>They rigged up a rude pair of tongs with some -green sticks and a little rope, and, using the -hatchet for a hammer and a flat stone for an -anvil, they began work. It was intensely interesting.</p> - -<p>The experiment in “duck”-raising proved -unsuccessful, for the cormorant squabs which -they brought home alive would eat nothing but -fish, and as each one of them demanded more -than his own weight in food every day, the children -soon found that the task of keeping them fed -was a hopeless one. They killed them all off at -once, therefore, and had such a feast of “duck” -that they were content to do without that -particular kind of meat for some time to come.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_142"></a>142</span> -They had plenty of eggs and clams, however, -and an occasional quail or rabbit; so they did -not need to waste any time searching for food. -Davie and the little girls wandered off to play -with the little bone dolls or the baby burro. -Marian glanced toward them or stopped to listen -sometimes, but the sight of their little forms -near by or the sound of their sweet, childish -voices reassured her, and she continued with the -task in hand.</p> - -<p>A man who understood such things would -have done much better even with those rude -tools. Time and again it seemed to the girl that -she could do no better, go no further in the task; -then some idea would come to one or the other -of them, and they would work awhile longer. A -full week went by before the new tool was finished, -a two-pronged affair, one prong a little -longer than the other and of a different shape, -but both sharp and barbed. It fastened quite -snugly to the straightest of the new handles.</p> - -<p>After that she and Delbert went spearing at -night in the little harbor, when the tide was just -right and the children were asleep. They would -go out on the raft where there were mango<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_143"></a>143</span> -bushes, but for this they had to have a torchlight -at one end of the raft.</p> - -<p>They had often seen the Indians at the Port -start out at night with great piles of <em>pitalla</em> in -their canoes to burn in a huge wire and iron basket, -which would cast a bright circle of light for -quite a space around, in which the fish could be -plainly seen. Marian thought that the light -attracted them.</p> - -<p>This <em>pitalla</em> is a kind of tree cactus the bark -of which is very resinous and when dry burns -with a very hot, bright flame. They could -gather it in the pasture, but they had no wire -basket and nothing to make one of. The best, -it seemed, that they could do was to make a -mat of green banana leaves and mud on the -poles and build the fire on that.</p> - -<p>It was very unsatisfactory, for the water was -forever washing over it and putting it out. -Necessity is the mother of invention, however, -and after a while Marian hunted in the pasture -till she found four little crotches of the same -size, which she cut and trimmed and then fastened -on the extreme end of the log by tying them -above and below it and to one another. Then,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_144"></a>144</span> -by laying little sticks across them, she made a -platform which rose about three feet above the -surface of the water. She made it quite tight -by weaving in stout twigs and banana leaves and -stems, and when it was finished, she plastered -it over with the slimiest mud she could find, and -on that laid thin flat rocks, fitting them with -care so that their edges projected past the edge -of the platform and filling in the little chinks -with mud and pebbles. On that when it was finished, -she could build her fire with safety, for it -was up out of reach of the water. It was not so -good as the iron basket of the Indians, for it was -clumsier, it cast a shadow on the water, and -there was likelihood of its needing frequent -repairs; but it would serve. The supply of fuel -could be kept dry by putting it into the barrel, -which was tied on so that its open side and end -were upward.</p> - -<p>When they were first left on the Island, Marian -would not have dared take those night trips. -She would not have dared leave the children -alone at the Cave for one thing, but in all -the time that they had been there they had -seen nothing which could have harmed them<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_145"></a>145</span> -save the one rattlesnake which Delbert had -killed.</p> - -<p>From the Cave they had cleared three paths,—one -to the beach, one to the garden and the -little pier, and one toward the pasture. This last -had needed no clearing beyond the cutting-out -of two or three bushes. The path to the pier had -been mostly a matter of clearing away loose -stones, and it was easy to follow even in the -dark.</p> - -<p>However, it was only when Davie was sleepy -that the children were left at the Cave. When -he gave promise of being able to keep awake, -they all went together. Marian would place him -on the log between the little girls and give them -strict instructions that they were not to let go -of him. Then she and Delbert would take turns -with the spear and the steering of the craft.</p> - -<p>And when she had her little flock all with her, -Marian would venture out beyond the little harbor, -where the water was shallow and the mango -bushes were thicker, and as long as their fuel -lasted they would stay out.</p> - -<p>It was a weird scene,—the star-dotted sky -above, the black, whispering water below, the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_146"></a>146</span> -clumsy raft in the light of the hot fire swept back -by the breeze, the slender, eager-eyed, half-naked -boy watching keenly, as mass after mass -of the mango bushes came into the circle of their -light. Marian generally guided the raft, for she -was better at that than Delbert, who seemed -about as successful as she with the spear.</p> - -<p>Not that either of them had any startling success. -Indeed, for a long time it always seemed -accidental, more the fish’s fault than theirs, -when one became impaled upon the iron prongs. -But the sport was exciting, and there was always -the need that lay back of it to keep their interest -spurred up, and after a while they both learned -to strike quickly and with force, so that, with -constant practice, the time came when a night’s -spearing meant enough fish for one meal at least, -and, if luck was with them, for more.</p> - -<p>They had better luck with the spear at night -than with the line in the daytime, for the hairpin -hook was very inadequate and big fish were -forever straightening it out. When a fish was -speared, they put it into the barrel with the fuel, -where one of the girls held a piece of drift-wood -over it till the wildest of its flopping was past.</p> - -<div class="figcenter width500" id="i-p147-sepia"> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_147"></a>147</span> - <img src="images/i-p147-sepia.jpg" width="1000" height="1585" alt=""> - <div class="caption">THEY HAD BETTER LUCK WITH THE SPEAR AT NIGHT THAN WITH -THE LINE IN THE DAYTIME</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_148"></a>148</span> -Davie generally fell asleep, and then it took the -whole attention of Jennie to hold him safe. Indeed, -Marian would not risk him with just that, -and used to take a rope along to tie him when -he finally dozed off. He objected strenuously to -being tied as long as he was awake enough to -know it, but, once he was asleep, she could moor -him securely, and Jennie could devote herself -to keeping him cuddled and covered, with no -fear that he would roll out of her hands when -the raft careened with some of the spearman’s -wild lunges.</p> - -<p>When they had as many fish as they wanted, -or, more often, when their fuel was exhausted, -they would paddle back to the little pier, moor -the raft, wash the fishiness off their hands and -climb back up to the Cave, where they would -cuddle down in bed and quickly go to sleep.</p> - -<p>Then in the quiet, as she thought of her -mother, Marian’s eyes would fill with tears and -her outstretched hand would pass lovingly over -each little form. “Safe as yet,” she would whisper, -“and, O mother, I promise to keep them safe -till I can give them back to you again.”</p> - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider x-ebookmaker-drop"> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_149"></a>149</span> -</div> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="vi">CHAPTER VI<br> -<span>THE JAGUAR’S TRACK</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">One</span> day, while poking her inquisitive little -nose into Marian’s workbag, Esther fished up -five or six knobby, roundish little lumps, demanding, -“What are these, Marian?”</p> - -<p>“Nasturtium seeds,” replied Marian carelessly.</p> - -<p>“’Sturtium seeds?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“Why, Marian,” reproachfully; “why haven’t -you been planting ’em? Don’t you know ’sturtium -seeds are good to eat?”</p> - -<p>Marian gazed steadily for a moment at the -seeds in the little girl’s outstretched hand, then -she slowly took them into her own.</p> - -<p>“Pocahontas,” she said solemnly, “I never -thought of that. Of course they are good to eat,—the -seeds, leaves, flowers, stems, and all. -We’ll plant them before the sun goes down to-night.”</p> - -<p>“You’re a great squaw chief, you are,” said<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_150"></a>150</span> -Esther scornfully. “Jennie! Dellie! Looky, -here’s ’sturtium seeds been in Marian’s bag all -this time, an’ she never thought of planting ’em.”</p> - -<p>Jennie and Delbert came up excitedly. Jennie, -too, was rather inclined to scorn at such evidence -of Marian’s lack of thought, but Delbert threw -his arms around her and planted vehement -kisses on her cheeks.</p> - -<p>“You shan’t scold her,” he declared. “She’s -the best squaw chief ever was. Nobody could do -better, <em>nobody</em> could, and I love her!”</p> - -<p>“So do I! So do I!” shrieked the girls, rushing -in to contribute their share of affectionate demonstration, -and Davie, dropping the dig-spoon, ran -up, crying, “Do I! Do I!” in parrot-like refrain; -and Marian, laughing, had much ado to keep -from being knocked down with the onslaught.</p> - -<p>But the seeds were straightway planted, and -in time became a profusion of red and gold and -green which delighted the eyes, and incidentally -the palates, of Marian’s nestful of hungry little -hawks, as she called them.</p> - -<p>In time also came warm weather and rains, -and in some respects this bettered their condition -and in some respects it made it worse.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_151"></a>151</span> -With warm weather they needed less bedding -and less clothing at all times. Moreover, the -rains made things grow. In the pasture there -were several things that they knew to be good -for greens, and they gathered a mess of some -kind every day, boiling them with salt, and wondering -how it had been that they had once upon -a time thought that greens must have butter -and vinegar to be really good.</p> - -<p>But the rains brought gnats and mosquitoes -to some extent, and sometimes these were so bad -among the mango bushes that they could take -no comfort in fishing. Sometimes, too, they -troubled them so that they could scarcely sleep -of nights, though their Cave was so high up on -the hill that there was usually a light breeze that -drove away the insect invaders. When the pests -were very bad, the tribe would draw the tablecloth -over their faces or would throw grass and -green leaves on the fire, making a “smudge” -that would subdue their tormentors.</p> - -<p>Marian thought the bananas had begun to respond -a little to the cultivation she had given -them in the way of thinning out their numbers. -At any rate, they were bearing a slightly better<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_152"></a>152</span> -class of fruit. As soon as a bunch ripened a little, -the birds would promptly start in to take their -share, and she would cut down the stalk and -take the bunch up to the cave, where she could -keep it safely covered up till it was ripe enough -to be good eating.</p> - -<p>With these and the greens and the watermelons -she felt always sure of a sufficient commissary -supply. Still, they were as keen as ever -to detect new food. One day Delbert came in -with several bulbs, or roots, that he had dug up -in the pasture. He said they looked good enough -to eat and he wanted to try them.</p> - -<p>Marian was very doubtful, but finally put them -to roast in the coals while they went down for -their morning swim, intending to offer one to -the baby burro when they got back. They had -taught the burro to eat everything that they -did, and Delbert had suggested that they try -the new food on him first.</p> - -<p>He was willing to be cautious, but he was not -willing to let a perfectly good food lie in the -ground unused because they were not courageous -enough to find out about it. If the burro -had no trouble with it, Marian herself would<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_153"></a>153</span> -sample a little, but very cautiously. She would -hold a little of it in her mouth awhile first and -see if anything came of it, and if it seemed all -right they would all eat a little.</p> - -<p>They had a fine swim. There were nice little -breakers on the open side of the Island that -morning. The children would run out a little -way, wait till the right moment, then turn dextrously -and let the foamy wave sweep them up -on the beach. Marian kept hold of Davie, for -the water was far too rough to trust his safety -to his own little legs, sturdy though they were. -But, with her to hold his hand, he had no fear, -and laughed as loudly as the rest when the water -slapped him off his feet and swept him up with -the seaweed and the crabs. After a while he said -he was tired and wanted to go and dig; so his -sister let go of him, and he trotted off to where -he had left the dig-spoon under a rock, and a -moment later was excavating most industriously, -while Marian turned her attention to -the others.</p> - -<p>They all joined hands and waded out a little -farther than she had cared to go with Davie. -It was splendid fun, but pretty soon Jennie<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_154"></a>154</span> -called out, “Look, Marian! Davie is going up -to the Cave!”</p> - -<p>They all looked; sure enough the little fellow -was almost up the hill. Delbert became excited -immediately.</p> - -<p>“I’ll just bet he will go to monkeying with -those potatoes!” he cried, and started forthwith -for the beach. The same thought had crossed -Marian’s mind at the same instant, and, ordering -the little girls to come too, she followed close at -Delbert’s heels.</p> - -<p>They made all speed for the Cave, but they -got there too late. Davie was just gulping down -the last mouthful as they reached him.</p> - -<p>He did his best to look sweetly innocent as he -told them it was “goo-ood!” Delbert’s face was -a study. He was provoked enough to shake his -little brother thoroughly, yet he was frightened -enough to cry. Marian’s face turned pale. Perhaps -the things were perfectly harmless, perhaps -even highly nutritious, but again perhaps -they were deadly poison. She dared not risk it, -and tried everything she could think of to force -the small gourmand to disgorge his stolen—or -shall we say misappropriated?—tidbit.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_155"></a>155</span> -It was no use. Davie would not drink a lot of -warm salt water, and he would not let Marian -run her fingers down his throat either.</p> - -<p>She tried coaxing first, to no avail, and then -she used force, but though they managed, by -holding his nose, to get a few spoonfuls of the -emergency emetic down his throat, and though -Marian got her fingers well bitten, at the end of an -hour or so the potatoes had not reappeared, and -Marian, regarding the thoroughly enraged and -squawling youngster, reflected that if any harm -had been going to result from his impromptu -lunch it would probably have begun to take effect -before then, and so gave up the struggle.</p> - -<p>Still she was not easy. She watched him -closely all day. After he got over his fit of temper -he went about his play just as usual.</p> - -<p>Several times in the night the elder sister -awoke with a start, and, leaning over him, held -her breath till she heard the regular rising and -falling of his. All the next day she watched, but -everything seemed to be perfectly normal, and -in the afternoon Delbert brought in another -batch of the potatoes, which they did try on the -burro. Davie watched with great interest. He<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_156"></a>156</span> -said again that they were “goo-ood,” but he did -not offer to eat any himself. Marian thought -that if her fight the day before had not accomplished -the end she worked for, it had probably -taught Davie to attend more strictly to his own -business, which might be of great advantage -some time in the future.</p> - -<p>The burro also said the bulbs, or potatoes as -Delbert called them, were good, and ate all Delbert -would give him; so afterwards they tried -them themselves. They found them somewhat -like rather poor sweet potatoes, but they were a -welcome change for their bill of fare, nevertheless. -But they could not find them very often.</p> - -<p>The baby burro was a great comfort to the -children. Sometimes, when they were quite sure -his mother was not near, they would let him out -of the corral, and he would follow them about -like a dog. They even made him drag home little -bundles of wood for them sometimes. The other -burros were quite tame, but not enough so to be -handled at will.</p> - -<p>Often the children had glimpses of the deer -and sometimes of the pigs. Marian had been -afraid at first that these latter might be the wild<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_157"></a>157</span> -peccaries and more or less dangerous, but, after -seeing them quite close one time, she concluded -that they were not, for they certainly looked like -the domesticated pig except that they were not -at all fat.</p> - -<p>Always they kept watch of the sea, never forgetting -that each day might bring rescue, but, -though many and many a sail passed by in the -distant Gulf, never a one turned into San Moros. -Sometimes, indeed, Indian canoes had been seen -inside the narrow sandbars that divided San -Moros from the Gulf, hunting turtles maybe, -but they did not come within signaling distance -of Smugglers’.</p> - -<p>Marian’s white skirt was flapping itself to -tatters. Sometimes a heavy wind and rain tore -it down altogether, and they would find it beaten -into the sand, but it was always rescued, washed, -dried, and sent aloft again.</p> - -<p>The rainy days were the dreariest. Then -there was nothing to do but curl up at the Cave. -The brush shade they had built in front did not -avail to keep out the rain. Before the rainy -season was over they got so sick and tired of -huddling in the Cave every time it rained that<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_158"></a>158</span> -they would reduce their clothing to a minimum -and go on with their occupations as if nothing -were happening. If you really don’t mind getting -wet, there is a fascination in becoming a part -of the gray, drizzling landscape. But they preferred -the sunshine.</p> - -<p>One day, as Jennie tossed down an armload of -wood beside the fire down by the beach, something -about her suddenly arrested Marian’s attention. -She looked startled.</p> - -<p>“Jennie,” she said, “come here.”</p> - -<p>Jennie came wondering, while Marian, dish-towel -in hand, stood motionless, gazing at her.</p> - -<p>“What is it?” asked the sweet-faced little girl.</p> - -<p>Her sister did not speak for a moment longer, -then, “Lift up your skirt,” she said. Jennie -obeyed, revealing her little bare legs.</p> - -<p>Esther, drawing near, lifted her skirt also. -Marian put down her dish and towel and knelt -in front of the two for a closer inspection.</p> - -<p>“Jennie,” she said finally, “Jennie, you are -actually getting fat.”</p> - -<p>“Is she?” questioned Esther. “She isn’t as -fat as I.”</p> - -<p>Marian took off Jennie’s jacket and inspected<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_159"></a>159</span> -her arms. Delbert drew near, and Davie came -up to pass his expert opinion on the subject. -“You are getting fat,” repeated Marian.</p> - -<p>And it was so. The little face was rosy, the -cheeks were not hollow now, and the chin was -not so pointed as it used to be. The little legs, -though not so plump as those of Esther’s showing, -were really and truly rounded out.</p> - -<p>“Well,” said Delbert, “she hasn’t been sick, -you know, not since we have been here, and we -have been here ’most a year.”</p> - -<p>“No,” said Marian, “she has not been sick. -She has not even complained of feeling badly, -as far as I can remember. Do you ever feel bad -any more, Jennie?”</p> - -<p>Jennie soberly examined her sensations for a -moment.</p> - -<p>“I feel hungry,” she said.</p> - -<p>Marian laughed,—a long ringing peal; but -there were tears in her eyes too as she went back -to her task. It was stewed “duck” that morning, -one that Delbert had shot with his bow and -arrow and then swam out and got. It was stewed -duck and watermelon,—all they could eat of -the latter,—and after breakfast they armed<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_160"></a>160</span> -themselves with the longest poles they could get -and went up into the pasture after the fruit of -the <em>pitalla</em> cactus.</p> - -<p>This was the cactus whose dried bark they -burned on their spearing expeditions. The fruit -grows high up and must be poked off with a long -stick and then have its many spines carefully -removed before it can be eaten. Fortunately, -when it is ripe the spines come off easily and the -center is cool, sweet, and nutritious. They were -very plentiful, and sometimes they stewed them -down in the little granite kettle, stirring them -constantly. This made a thick, syrupy jam that -the children were very fond of indeed.</p> - -<p>Marian filled her two-quart glass jar and set -it away till times when there should be none of -the fresh fruit to be had.</p> - -<p>Conning their prospects over and over, Marian -often pondered on the chance held out by the -mainland. With the aid of the log they could -easily reach it. It was not nearly so far across the -harbor as it was down to the egg islands. They -could manage the raft so well now, and they -could all swim so well, that she was not afraid -of going anywhere when the water was smooth.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_161"></a>161</span> -And the mainland was just across the quiet -little harbor. Suppose they crossed over, what -was the chance of making their way to some -ranch or settlement? Delbert could not remember -just what it was that Clarence had said -about it, but it was something about there not -being a house for fifty miles, or was it a hundred?—he -was not sure.</p> - -<p>A wild tangle of thorny woods, no road or -path, no compass to guide them! Perhaps a -lagoon of water, perhaps not; perhaps plenty of -<em>pitallas</em>, perhaps not! Marian always shook her -head at the end. Here on the Island she was sure -of food, here was safety and shelter, but out -there—How long would it be before Davie -would tire out and she would have to carry him? -And then their path to be cut through how -many miles of thorny brush? And no certainty -then that they were not traveling in the wrong -direction.</p> - -<p>No! And still it drew her, that mainland.</p> - -<p>Perhaps if they could climb to the top of those -hills they could look out over the land beyond, -and perhaps some sign of a ranch might be seen -in the far distance.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_162"></a>162</span> -Many a time she had felt humbly grateful to -Clarence for the things he had taught them, odds -and ends of stray knowledge that had come in -their need to be like precious jewels,—how to -get oysters and clams, how to sail a boat, how -to paddle, and many other things. Now she felt -a little provoked that he had not taught them -more.</p> - -<p>Why in the wide world couldn’t he have told -Delbert where the nearest habitation was, and -what it was?—for it was quite likely that he -knew. How had he got his information? she -wondered.</p> - -<p>When she suggested to Delbert that they -cross over the harbor and climb that highest -mountain and see what they could see, he was -very willing; he had thought of it himself.</p> - -<p>So they started out one morning, taking -water with them, but depending on the <em>pitallas</em> -they would find for food. They crossed over -easily enough and did not have much trouble -in reaching the foot of the mountain. But the -ascent was not an easy matter. There was cactus -of every description, all interwoven with -thorny brush,—such a thick, matted underbrush<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_163"></a>163</span> -that the children were scratched and -pricked all over.</p> - -<p>Davie was crying lustily before long, and -Jennie fell and, in her efforts to catch herself, -rolled a stone on Esther’s foot that showed black -and blue for many a day afterwards. Sometimes -there would be a space comparatively clear where -they could pick their way without encountering -thorns at every step, and it was in one of these -that Marian saw that which turned her back and -kept her feet from the mainland for a year to -come.</p> - -<p>They had just come up a particularly steep -part of the mountain, where an outcropping -ledge added to the difficulties for little climbing -feet. Above it was space to breathe before one -had to cope with the next ledge above, which rose -in an abrupt cliff. There was a <em>pitalla</em> tree there -with a dozen fruit on it, all opened out red and -inviting, and Delbert started with the long pole -to bring them down.</p> - -<p>Marian paused to get a thorn out of Esther’s -thumb and two from her next-to-the-littlest toe, -and when that was finished the little girl ran on -to help the others gather the fruit, and the older<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_164"></a>164</span> -one, rising, put the needle carefully into a little -case she had and slipped it into her pocket. Her -supply of needles was limited and she must not -lose a single one.</p> - -<div class="figcenter width800" id="i-p164-sepia"> - <img src="images/i-p164-sepia.jpg" width="830" height="920" alt=""> - <div class="caption">THERE WAS A CAT-TRACK</div> -</div> - -<p>Then, as she turned to join the others, her eye -fell to the ground at her feet, and there, plain -and distinct, was a cat-track so large that she<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_165"></a>165</span> -could not have covered it with one of her hands, -and her hands were not so very small either. -Fascinated, she stared at it. There was no doubt -as to what it was. She glanced around, but -could see no others. The ground chanced to be -a little soft in that particular spot. But surely -that one was enough; there was no need of more. -What a monster it must have been to have made -that track! Marian drew in a quick breath and -then threw up her head and called casually, “O -children, come back now. We won’t go any -farther.”</p> - -<p>Delbert, his eyes wide with surprise, came -quickly with some protesting words, but Marian -frowned warningly at him and with a tilt of her -chin indicated the track. His gaze found it instantly. -Indeed, it seemed to Marian to be the -most conspicuous feature of the landscape.</p> - -<p>He bent his head toward it a moment; then -his eyes met hers again. For a second they looked -at each other; there was no need of words. He -turned back to the <em>pitalla</em> to hurry the others -back, and Marian saw him casting surreptitious -glances at the cliff above them.</p> - -<p>The little girls and Davie were so glad to turn<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_166"></a>166</span> -back that they asked no questions, taking it for -granted that the plan was changed because there -were too many thorns.</p> - -<p>The two older ones were rather silent on the -way back. They went as quickly as they could, -but it was not a thing that could be done so very -quickly, and Marian grew more and more nervous. -Supposing the creature saw them, supposing—she -jerked herself up and mentally -gave herself a good scolding, but never was she -so glad as when they left the mountain behind -and pushed through to where the raft was tied, -waiting for them.</p> - -<p>As they pushed out and paddled back, calmness -came to her. There were hard things in her -pathway, dreary things to face, but, compared -with what might be, her life seemed full of rosebuds -and sunshine.</p> - -<p>Four pair of bright, loving eyes looked at her; -four healthy, warm, breathing little bodies would -lie within reach of her touch that night. Suppose -one were ever missing through her fault -or carelessness, what pleasure would life hold -then?</p> - -<p>Looking back at the face of the mountain, she<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_167"></a>167</span> -judged that they had climbed about a third of the -way up.</p> - -<p>It was well into the afternoon when they got -home, and a hungry lot they were, too.</p> - -<p>That night Delbert waited till he was sure the -little ones were asleep and then he cautiously -spoke Marian’s name.</p> - -<p>She was awake. “What is it?”</p> - -<p>He turned over and raised himself on his elbow.</p> - -<p>“Do you—do you suppose—it could swim -over?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t think so,” said she; “it is probably -strong enough, but it seems to me I have read -that they never go into the water unless they -are compelled to. No, I am quite sure it would -never do that.”</p> - -<p>Delbert drew a long breath of relief.</p> - -<p>“I know the house kitty never wanted to get -her toes wet,” he said.</p> - -<p>“No, we are quite safe from it here.”</p> - -<p>“I guess we’d better stay here,” he said.</p> - -<p>They did stay there. When the weather -turned cold again, they were in better condition -than they had been the year before. They had -two rabbit-skin blankets, or robes, that kept out<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_168"></a>168</span> -the chill winds at night, and they had the brush -shelter in front of the Cave so thick and matted -and interwoven with banana leaves and strips -of stalk that the wind did not penetrate that -either; so with the bright fire they could be comfortable -through the evenings and cold nights. -In the daytime they were always so active that -the cold did not much trouble them. Besides, it -soon warmed up after the sun rose.</p> - -<p>One day, while up in the pasture, hunting food -and fuel, they noticed an unusually large mescal -or century-plant. These were very common on -the island, and Marian had never thought of -any use they could put them to, but that day -it suddenly dawned upon her that very similar -plants were cultivated in some places for the -rope fiber in the great sharp-pointed leaves. -Perhaps it would be stronger and better than -banana fiber. So they dug this one up by the -roots and dragged it home.</p> - -<p>They chopped off the thick leaves and tossed -the stump to one side. Then, with some stones, -the hatchet, and the knives, they thumped and -pounded and smashed the leaves and worked -and scraped away till they got the fiber out, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_169"></a>169</span> -when they finally did get it, it seemed to Marian -that it really was better than banana fiber. That -evening they would see what kind of a rope -could be made out of the new material. So after -supper they got at it, sitting before their fire at -the Cave.</p> - -<p>They did not braid their ropes any more; they -had learned better than that; but they both felt -that their method of rope-making could be vastly -improved upon, for it was a very slow process at -best, and the rope finally produced was a very -uneven thing.</p> - -<p>But ropes they had to have. The raft must -always be well lashed together, and ropes so -used soon wore out. Their fences were tied with -ropes in many places. They never went on any -excursion without taking some ropes along, for -they were constantly wanting them, chiefly, -perhaps, to tie about their bundles of wood. A -very large bundle of heavy sticks could be quite -easily dragged home with a rope.</p> - -<p>In the first place they had had only Delbert’s -hair rope and had used it for everything, but -now they were trying to be as saving of it as possible, -never using it when another one would<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_170"></a>170</span> -suffice, but Delbert always carried it with him, -coiled up and tied at his waist.</p> - -<p>When they finished working out the fiber it -was clean, straight, and pretty as it lay in a neat -pile.</p> - -<p>“Now, how is the best way to do this?” asked -Marian in a businesslike tone.</p> - -<p>“I have been thinking,” said Delbert. “Remember -that time I went with Clarence and his -father after a load of corn? Well, at one place -where we stopped there was an old Indian making -ropes. I’ve been trying for a long time to -remember how he did it. Dear me!” he exclaimed -in disgust, “why didn’t I pay ’tention? Clarence -explained it all to me, but I just let it go into one -ear and out the other. I wasn’t interested in -making ropes then.”</p> - -<p>“Can’t you remember anything about it at -all?” asked his sister sympathetically. “If you -could just remember a point or two, we could -work it out from that, maybe. Davie, don’t you -want to put a stick of wood on the fire? Not that -one, dear; that one won’t burn,” for Davie had -picked up the stump of the mescal plant and -heaved it into the center of the flames.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_171"></a>171</span> -“Yes, will burn,” asserted he complacently, -and returned to his play of fitting little clamshells -together and laying them in a row.</p> - -<p>Jennie poked the stump to one side and raked -the coals and hot ashes over it. “We’ll dry it -out, and then maybe it’ll burn, Davie dear,” -she said.</p> - -<p>“Here,” said Esther, gingerly handing over -a piece of particularly thorny <em>pitalla</em>; “this -will make a light.”</p> - -<p>“Why, you see,” said Delbert, “they had the -fiber—<em>este</em> they call it—all in a pile, but tangled -as if they must have tangled it themselves. -They had that part of it all done when we got -there, but I remember Clarence said they laid it -on something—a board, I guess—and hooked -one end over a nail to hold it, and scraped it -with an old machete blade fixed in a crooked -stick,—scraped it and scraped it till there wasn’t -anything left of the leaf but the fiber; then, -I s’pose, they tangled it all up next; anyway, -the man had a thing he whirled and he backed -off across the yard, a-whirling it and whirling it -and spinning a strand of rope out from that pile -of <em>este</em>.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_172"></a>172</span> -“Was it a wheel he whirled?”</p> - -<p>“No, it wasn’t. It was just a little stick thing -he held in one hand,—two sticks, one of them -whirled on the other.”</p> - -<p>“Give me your knife,” said Marian, “and, -Jennie, hand me that piece of driftwood there -by you; no, the other one. Was the stick he had -as long as that, Delbert?”</p> - -<p>“Just about, but it was nice and smooth.”</p> - -<p>“This will be nice and smooth when I get -through with it. You just tangle some of that -fiber the way the old Indian had his.”</p> - -<p>Delbert began picking it apart and dropping -it careless and crisscross.</p> - -<p>“You can just bet,” he burst out, “you can -just bet your <em>boots</em>, if I ever have a chance to -see anybody else doing anything again, I’ll -<em>see</em> what they are doing; don’t care what it -is.”</p> - -<p>“That is the best way,” admitted Marian. -“There are a whole lot of things, simple things, -that would help us a great deal if we only knew -how to do them. Can’t you remember anything -more Clarence said about this?”</p> - -<p>Delbert wrinkled his brows. “There was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_173"></a>173</span> -something about a balance-wheel. What is a -balance-wheel?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know that I can explain it, though -I know what it is myself. Maybe I can show -you pretty soon. Hand me that little smooth -stick about a foot and a half long, that one with -the knob on the end. Yes, I think that will do -nicely.”</p> - -<p>She had shaved and whittled the piece of -driftwood till it was about a foot long, an inch -thick, and two and one half inches wide at one -end and tapering to a point at the other, which -point she whittled into a button-like knob. Just -back of the knob she made a hole big enough to -slip the second stick into. It slipped down, but -was prevented from slipping clear off by the -knob on the end of it. Then, grasping this second -stick, she began to whirl it so that the driftwood -stick whirled round and round on it.</p> - -<p>“There!” she cried; “does that look anything -like it, Delbert?”</p> - -<p>“It does! it does! That’s it exactly! How did -you guess?”</p> - -<p>“I didn’t guess. I have seen one myself -somewhere, but didn’t know what it was for.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_174"></a>174</span> -I think I saw a couple of them down at Doña -Luisa’s one morning when I went down for milk. -But the proof of the pudding is in the eating. -Let’s see how this complicated machine will -work.”</p> - -<p>She twisted a little of the tangled fiber round -the knob on the driftwood stick and began to -twirl. Of course it promptly twisted the fiber -into a little strand.</p> - -<p>“Here, Delbert,” she said, “you whirl this -while I spin out the strand, or else it will all -twist up in bunches.” Sitting down by the little -pile of fibers, she grasped the twisting strand in -one hand so that it should spin out of an even -size. “Now, whirl away,” she said, “and back -off as fast as it spins out.”</p> - -<p>“This is just the way they did it,” said Delbert. -“I remember now, there were two of them; -one whirled the stick, and the other sat down -and pulled the strand out of the pile of fiber just -as you are doing it.” And he backed off, whirling -vigorously, until the little pile of tangled -fibers was all used up.</p> - -<p>“There,” she said, “that is a lot better than -twisting it just with our fingers, as we have been<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_175"></a>175</span> -doing with the banana fiber, and it certainly -beats braiding all hollow. We can twist and -twist and twist, and then we can put as many -strands as we want to into the rope.”</p> - -<p>They worked that night till they had used up -all their fiber, and then went to bed, agreeing -to go next day and gather more mescal plants.</p> - -<p>In the morning, when Marian raked open her -fire, she raked out the stump of the mescal plant. -It was brown and juicy. She began to examine -it.</p> - -<p>“Looks good. Doesn’t it?” she said to the -children, who were rolling out of the Cave.</p> - -<p>Esther came suddenly forward and bent over -it. “It is good, too,” she declared. “That is the -stuff they had down at Julianita’s one day. They -were eating it, and said for Jennie and me to eat -some too, but Jennie wouldn’t touch it ’cause she -was ’fraid it would make us drunk.”</p> - -<p>“You didn’t eat any either,” remonstrated -Jennie.</p> - -<p>“I didn’t ’cause you didn’t.”</p> - -<p>Marian was cutting the stump in pieces. They -all tried it. It was sweet and good, though there -was a great deal of string and fiber to be discarded<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_176"></a>176</span> -after the sweetness and goodness had -been chewed out and swallowed.</p> - -<p>“But it <em>is</em> what they make mescal of; isn’t -it?” asked Delbert.</p> - -<p>“I presume it is; in fact, it must be, only this -wild plant doesn’t grow just the same as the -tame ones, maybe; but it must be that they -cook the centers something like this and mash -them and let them ferment and distill it some -way. It seems to me I have heard how it was -done, but I was like you about the ropes; I didn’t -pay enough attention to remember. It certainly -never occurred to me that there was anything -about it that was any good to <em>us</em>. I think -we owe Davie a vote of thanks.”</p> - -<p>“Clarence ought to have told us,” said Esther -reproachfully.</p> - -<p>So another food was added to their list, and -after a little practice they could turn out mescal -fiber ropes that were so smooth and well twisted -that they could be used to lasso with.</p> - -<p>The two little girls had learned to lasso burros, -but Marian’s aim was not much better than -Davie’s. She did not practice the art as her little -sisters did. She whittled out a big crochet-hook,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_177"></a>177</span> -though, and then twisted a very fine strand of -fiber and crocheted a bag of it that was very -useful to put things into on their travels. Whenever -there was a storm, they would always go to -Bonanza Cove afterwards to collect the riches -found there.</p> - -<p>These consisted mostly of driftwood, and the -small pieces could go into the bag, while the big -ones were tied together and carried or dragged -home. But sometimes other things came, bottles -empty but corked,—so many of them -that Marian concluded all sailors must be sad -drinkers,—bits of board, an old leaky bucket, -and, best of all, this second year, a broken -oar.</p> - -<p>“I hope it didn’t incommode any one much -when it broke,” Marian said, “but we certainly -can make good use of it.” It was just barely -long enough to use as a paddle.</p> - -<p>When it came nesting-time again, they were -right on hand at the bird islands. They would -put the eggs into the bag and the demijohn and -a few young squabs into the barrel, and they -were so much better equipped for the cruise -than they were the first time they made the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_178"></a>178</span> -trip that it did not seem such a big undertaking, -and they could go oftener.</p> - -<p>Once, while out on one of the sandbars, hunting -clams, they saw something farther out still, -something dark on the water. Delbert thought -it was probably only a mass of seaweed, but he -wanted to go and see. So, as the water was very -smooth that morning, they paddled the raft -out, though they had never been so near the -Gulf before since their arrival.</p> - -<p>They found the dark spot to be another log, -much smaller and somewhat shorter than the -one in their raft, but they took it in tow just -the same.</p> - -<p>They found some turtle-eggs on those sunny -sandbars that second summer. Sometimes they -saw the turtles themselves, but they were never -able to catch one, though Delbert was very enthusiastic -in the pursuit.</p> - -<p>That summer they had vegetables; and how -good they were! The turnips and carrots grew -splendidly, and the children devoured them both -cooked and raw. The green peppers, for some -reason, did not flourish so well till the next year, -but they were eaten with a relish also. The lettuce,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_179"></a>179</span> -when transplanted and cared for, set in -solid heads that reminded them of cabbage, and -the children ate it like so many hungry little -calves eating clover, and Marian often boiled -a head of it with a fowl, and they voted it -fine.</p> - -<p>The bananas bore good fruit now, large, well-filled-out -bunches. Marian dried some. Among -the edible fruits of the Island was the wild tomato. -They found very few of these, and the -fruit was very small, scarcely larger than the tip -of Marian’s little finger, but when the seeds -were planted in their garden they came up and -did well, plenty of water increasing the size and -quality of the fruit somewhat. The plants bore -abundantly, and the flavor was good. They -put them in soups or stewed them by themselves -sometimes, sweetening them with the -juice boiled from the <em>pitallas</em>, or, at rare intervals, -with wild honey. But the greater portion -of them were eaten raw.</p> - -<p>There was certainly no lack of food now. -Delbert did not set traps any more. He could -shoot so well with his bow and arrow that he did -not need traps to secure a rabbit when one was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_180"></a>180</span> -wanted, and the little girls could sometimes hit -a hopping mark as well as he.</p> - -<p>They lost the hook one day, some big fish -making off with it, and they caught their fish -entirely with the spear after that.</p> - -<p>They were milking two burros. Jacky, being -thoroughly weaned, was turned out of the corral -and went where he pleased, and he generally -pleased to go with the children whenever they -were going where he could follow. Jennie was -really plump now, strong and healthy, but not -so strong or so healthy as Esther, who, solid -little urchin, could follow Delbert very closely -in all his exploits. She could run as far without -getting tired, she could shoot an arrow with almost -as accurate an aim, and she did not always -miss the fish she aimed her spear at.</p> - -<p>She was a splendid little swimmer, better -even than Marian, and it used to seem to Marian -that she was the prettiest little mermaid any -one ever set eyes on.</p> - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider x-ebookmaker-drop"> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_181"></a>181</span> -</div> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="vii">CHAPTER VII<br> -<span>THE MUGGYWAH</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> time came when Marian had to face the -problem of clothing. Every bathing-suit was -worn to rags, and everything else was so near it -that there was no trusting anything. When the -weather was cold they had their wraps, and these -covered a multitude of tattered sins, and none -of the tribe save Marian herself ever wore anything -into the water any more, but even with -such economy there was no dodging the issue -any longer. Unless she were willing that her -flock should revert to extreme savagery in costumes, -something had to be done.</p> - -<p>Her first attempt was to crochet clothing out -of fiber, but it took so long to make a garment -that way that she was always eagerly on the -alert for other modes. She remembered that -soaking skins in wet ashes would remove the -hair. Old Mr. Faston had said so once. So she -tried it with some rabbit-skins. It worked very -well. After being packed in a little hollow of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_182"></a>182</span> -rock with ashes and water all night, the fur -was easily pulled off. Then, when the ashes -were washed off and the skin was nearly dry, -it could be rubbed and worked till it was soft -and pliable and Marian could begin dressmaking.</p> - -<p>Rabbits were getting scarce in their immediate -vicinity, however, and the search for better -hunting-grounds took them back to the mainland -again. They did not cross the harbor and -go to climbing mountains this time, however. -They took the raft down the bay and followed -one of the winding <em>esteros</em> that led between -mango bushes, off and off, farther and farther, -twisting and turning and growing narrower and -more and more shallow till they came out into -a comparatively level country, with no hills -near at hand, but great stretches of mud flats -and sandbanks and miles and miles of <em>pitalla</em> and -scrubby brush.</p> - -<p>They took the raft as far as they could and -tied it to some bushes and proceeded afoot. They -wandered several miles, taking care not to lose -their bearings. They found wagon-loads of fine -<em>pitalla</em> and some other wood, rabbits galore, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_183"></a>183</span> -a few stone or flint arrowheads, but no sign -whatever of human habitation.</p> - -<p>Delbert shot eight big jack rabbits, Esther -got three, and Jennie two, thirteen in all. They -decided that the unluckiness of the number was -for the rabbits, not for them. They took only -the skins home with them, for they did not need -the meat, and they had plenty of other things -to carry back to the raft.</p> - -<p>They loaded it with all the good dry <em>pitalla</em> -they could pile up and tie on. Down close by -the water, half buried in the salty mud, Delbert -found a stone hatchet. Once before he had found -a broken one, but this was perfect. He held it -in his hand with a dreamy look on his face. -“How long ago do you s’pose it was, Marian, -when they made ’em and used ’em like this one?”</p> - -<p>“Mercy! I have no idea; hundreds of years at -the least and like as not a million.”</p> - -<p>“Well, anyway, it’s mine now,” he said decidedly, -as he dropped it into the fiber bag.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I think you can keep it with a clear -conscience. Now, get on here, all of you. Never -mind that crab, Davie; you don’t need it, anyway.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_184"></a>184</span> -They did not get home till the moon was well -up.</p> - -<p>There was probably stuff growing at her hand -that would have given those skins a good tan, if -Marian had only known what it was and how to -use it, but she did not. The soaking in ashes did -fairly well; only if the skin got well wet afterwards, -it would dry stiff unless it was worked -and kept pliable while drying. Of course there -was no strength in the rabbit-skins. They tore -easily, but they were, nevertheless, a material of -which Marian could make simple clothes, so that -they should not be entirely naked if any one ever -did come along. She made dresses for the little -girls first, the simplest style she could think of, -eliminating sleeves altogether and not continuing -the skirts below the knees.</p> - -<p>She crocheted belts of fiber, and used it also -to sew with, for her supply of thread was very -low indeed. There was no need of buttons; the -little girls just slipped the dresses over their -heads, slipped their arms through the generous -armholes, belted the slight fullness at the waist, -and there you were—pretty as pictures, too.</p> - -<p>The only foreign articles in the construction<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_185"></a>185</span> -of those robes were the belt-buckles, which -Marian had contrived out of the fasteners of -their old stocking-supporters. Of course the -elastic and the stockings had worn out long ago. -Every one was barefoot now except Marian, -who was near enough to it, but the soles of her -shoes had been very thick and good, and though -the tops were worn out she still managed to use -the bottoms as sandals and thus had some protection -to her feet, which somehow she could -never get toughened as the children’s were.</p> - -<p>After several more trips up the <em>estero</em> and more -or less success in hunting, they had enough rabbit-skins -to make Marian a dress too. She made -it just as she had the other two, belting it with -her red leather belt, which she had worn for -several years, but which was still as strong as -new. Her dress came a little below her knees.</p> - -<p>The rabbit-skins were not at all satisfactory -for Delbert. He was in and out of the water so -constantly, and climbed and scrambled over -the rocks so much, that a garment that must not -be wet and that would not stand strain was not -at all what he needed.</p> - -<p>He told Marian that all he wanted was a loin-cloth<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_186"></a>186</span> -such as other Indians wore, but Marian -was not at all sure how loin-cloths were made or -worn. She thought about cutting off an end of -one of the blankets, but rather hated to do that; -so she worked away with her hook and the banana -fiber till she had evolved what satisfied -him. And when he donned it and strode along, -shirtless and barelegged, his hair stringing over -his shoulders and kept out of his eyes by a red -rag tied around his forehead, and the rag stuck -full of feathers, he certainly looked not unlike -an aborigine of some sort.</p> - -<p>Davie declined even a loin-cloth; simple nature -unadorned suited him to a T.</p> - -<p>Thus, between the bananas and the rabbits, -Marian managed to keep her family clothed.</p> - -<p>They took many trips to the mainland. There -were several <em>esteros</em> that led far inland, and they -explored them all. They became accustomed -to going without water. They always had <em>some</em> -with them, but it was such a bother to take a lot -of bottles along every time they stirred out from -home that they trained themselves not to want -a drink every little while. They would take a -big drink before they left the Island in the morning,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_187"></a>187</span> -and often no one would take another till -noon. Also they learned to go without much -food in the middle of the day and to eat that -little raw.</p> - -<p>Children are children the world over, I fancy. -These had their little games and plays, which -Marian was always ready to foster. The little -girls and Davie used to put their dolls to bed -every night, tucking them in as carefully as -they did themselves. Also the dolls were usually -carried with them, if they were making a trip -of any great length, lest they should get lonesome -and frightened if left too long alone. They -traveled in a little fiber bag Jennie crocheted, -and were generally hung up on the mast where -they were well out of the way of the water, and -if they went inland Jennie would wear the bag -hung about her neck.</p> - -<p>When they went in swimming, the children -would play they were fishes and other water -creatures and would imitate the different characteristics -as well as they could. Davie’s favorite -characterization was that of the crab. He would -run sideways on all fours and pinch the other -children’s toes. He played this so strenuously<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_188"></a>188</span> -that he often made himself something of a nuisance -and had to be tactfully guided into other -channels of thought.</p> - -<p>They were all perfectly delighted when Marian -taught them how to stay under water as -long as they pleased. On one of their inland trips -they had found some large hollow weed-stalks. -They played with them at first by simply blowing -bubbles in the water and drawing up mouthfuls -of water which they blew out at each other, -but when Marian showed them that by holding -one of the hollow tubes in the mouth one could -stay under water as long as he remembered to -breathe always through the mouth and to keep -the top of the tube above the water, they invented -all kinds of games that the new trick -could be used in.</p> - -<p>Delbert could do it best. He declared he -could lie under the water and go to sleep, it was -so easy. Marian did not advise him to try it. -“You might get to snoring and drown before -you could wake up,” she told him.</p> - -<p>Their novel clothing gave new impetus to -their Indian play. There was some discussion -at first as to which tribe they belonged to.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_189"></a>189</span> -They could not seem to recognize themselves -as belonging to any they had yet heard of and -they finally invented a new one and called -themselves the tribe of the Hawks. Marian -had been calling Delbert that for some time, -he was always so keenly on the alert for anything -to eat. And when he perched himself -on a rock and fished patiently,—that was -before they lost the hook,—he reminded her -of nothing so much as a fish hawk ready to -swoop.</p> - -<p>They spent more and more time on the trips -inland. They began to skirt the hills a little. -Davie was so big now that he did not seem to tire -out any quicker than Jennie, and the little feet -were all so tough that hard roads did not daunt -them.</p> - -<p>They saw no more cat-tracks, but Marian -never forgot that one, and because of it kept the -tribe away from the high rocky hills and the -thick growth.</p> - -<p>The country beyond the largest <em>estero</em> became -familiar to them for several miles. There was a -certain lagoon there that they liked to go to in -the rainy season,—and there was no lagoon<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_190"></a>190</span> -there except in the rainy season. There were -beautiful blue pond-lilies in it. Marian dug -up some roots and planted them on the home -Island.</p> - -<p>They frequently found arrowheads and sometimes -other stones, broken, but showing the work -of human hands upon them, all of which spoke -with certainty of bygone people, but never anything -of modern times. Near the lagoon were several -low hills, and on these they found the cotton-tree. -This tree in its season produces big pods -full of silky white cotton, and though the yield -is not so very abundant, nor the quality so very -fine, yet they saved every pod they could find, -Delbert and Esther often climbing up for those -that could not be reached from the ground with -a pole.</p> - -<p>“Some day I will invent a spinning-wheel and -a loom,” said Marian, “and we will make cloth.” -And the children, remembering the rope-making -machine she had made, never doubted her ability.</p> - -<p>Once, when they were about two miles from -the end of the <em>estero</em>, they found a good-sized -tree that had blown down some years before on<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_191"></a>191</span> -the side of a little hill. It was larger than any -tree growing there now and seemed to have been -alone among its dwarfish neighbors. It was too -heavy to be dragged all that distance, but if they -could manage to chop off the few limbs and the -roots that stuck up so high, they could roll it -down to the <em>estero</em> and float it home.</p> - -<p>It was a big task, but because they had plenty -of time on their hands and no pressing social -duties, and also because they needed that log in -their business, they made trip after trip, starting -at daylight and not getting home till nearly -dark, chopped and chopped with the hatchet until -they had the log smooth enough to roll, and -then rolled it over and over all that distance -and floated it home in triumph.</p> - -<p>Then they set about improving the raft. The -new log was a little crooked, but otherwise was -about the equal of the one they had captured -out in the bay. The three logs together would -be much better than the raft as it was. Delbert’s -idea was to lash them together as they -had been doing, but Marian had thought of -an improvement, though it almost seemed as -if it could not be done with their limited facilities.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_192"></a>192</span> -They had already accomplished so many -tasks that seemed hard, however, and Delbert -was such a bright and willing helper, and the -little girls were always so willing to contribute -their share to any labor, that she told Delbert -that at any rate they would have a try at shipbuilding.</p> - -<div class="figcenter width800" id="i-p192-sepia"> - <img src="images/i-p192-sepia.jpg" width="1010" height="970" alt=""> - <div class="caption">CHOPPED AND CHOPPED UNTIL THEY HAD THE LOG -SMOOTH ENOUGH TO ROLL</div> -</div> - -<p>Long and longingly she looked at the old canoe,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_193"></a>193</span> -but in the end left it where it was in the corral -fence. She could think of no way to combine it -with the logs to make a more serviceable craft.</p> - -<p>The new log was rolled up on the beach beside -the one they had found out on the water, and -then the raft was taken to pieces, and the log in -the middle of it was also rolled up on the beach. -After they were all fixed in just the right position, -they were kept in place by stakes driven -into the ground.</p> - -<p>The next thing was to make a new tool. Among -the scraps of iron found on the little egg island -was one about an inch in diameter and nearly -three feet long when straightened out. It was -round, an immense bolt maybe, but rusted and -bent and twisted. What Marian did first was to -heat it to straighten it out.</p> - -<p>It was very hard to handle it when it was -hot. She had an assortment of green sticks and -matted-fiber holders for this purpose. As when -they were making the fish-spear, they used a flat -rock for an anvil and the hatchet for a hammer, -and after many heatings and hammerings they -got the iron straight with a blunt point on one -end.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_194"></a>194</span> -But straightening the bar was only the beginning -of the work. She kept the fire hot and -heated the bar time after time, and burned three -holes entirely through the two outside logs and -corresponding ones well into the middle log. -Then they took six of the toughest stakes they -could find, whittled them straight and smooth -to the right size, and drove them in through the -burned holes like huge nails. Next they burned -and whittled a big hole down into the center log -as a socket for the mast. Then they picked out -the best of the poles that had been in the raft -and set it in place and drove in wedges to hold it -solid. This got rid of the clumsy lashings and -proppings, besides giving them a straight instead -of a crooked mast, and it was not difficult -then to rig up a sail that could be easily raised -and lowered, using, of course, one of the blankets -for a sail as before.</p> - -<p>The platform that they burned their <em>pitalla</em> on -when spearing next demanded their attention. -It was too clumsy and was always needing repairs. -Once out on the salt reef they had found -a dead sea turtle half buried in the sand. They -had fished it out and fastened it with stakes<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_195"></a>195</span> -where it would not be washed away, though -every tide would cover it, and the elements combined -with the scavengers of the sea to clean the -shell for them. With rocks and the hatchet they -broke away the under part of the shell, and the -top part, about two and a half feet in diameter, -curved and dished, would hold the <em>pitalla</em> -nicely.</p> - -<p>Two stout, widespread crotches were cut and -driven tightly into burned holes at one end of -the projecting middle log, so that they supported -the inverted turtle-shell. It did not, -however, rest firmly enough till Marian had wired -it to the crotches by means of the bail from the -old wooden bucket, which was passed through -little holes burned in the shell.</p> - -<p>Away off up in the pasture they had found a -place where the soil partook of the nature of -clay. They brought some from there, mixed it -to the right consistency and spread a coating all -over the inside of the turtle-shell. It dried without -much cracking, and the fire would harden it. -This was a vast improvement over the old platform, -which, in spite of their best efforts had -always been a trifle wobbly and evinced a tendency<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_196"></a>196</span> -to spill the fuel off into the water at the -slightest provocation.</p> - -<p>Delbert thought they had their task about -finished now, but Marian had a great deal more -to do to it still. She wanted to build on the other -end a platform of some sort, where they could -put things and have them stay dry. By burning -holes and driving in stakes and then weaving in -with small, tough green sticks, she succeeded in -making that end of the raft look not unlike a -huge basket. Then by filling that same basket -with dried seaweed and such material, which was -bulky but light, she had a place where things -could be carried out of reach of the waves and -where a little girl could lie down if she was tired. -Of course, the waves slopped up and soaked -through the seaweed to some extent when the -raft was in use, but when it was moored quietly -to the beach the hot sun dried it out pretty well.</p> - -<p>When the raft was finished, their third rainy -season on the island was past. Marian was learning, -and the others along with her, something -of the eternal patience of the universe. So long -as she was accomplishing her purpose, she did -not count much on the time it took to do it.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_197"></a>197</span> -They all thought the new raft was such a -beauty that it deserved a name. Marian suggested -everything she could think of from “Fleet -Wings” to “Annabel Lee,” but they finally decided -on Jennie’s choice, which was “Muggywah.” -She said it was Indian and meant something -very safe and strong that nobody could -conquer. Where she got the name or the notion -Marian could not imagine, and she herself could -not tell, but the Muggywah became one of the -family forthwith.</p> - -<p>Out where the center log projected, at the -turtle-shell end, Marian burned the name. “Oh, -we are getting wonderfully aristocratic,” she -told the children. “It is not every family that -can have their own private yacht.”</p> - -<p>They went on a big spearing expedition when -the Muggywah was finished. The tide was just -right, and the fish were plentiful. They got -three enormous red snappers and a lot of smaller -fry, and it was the most satisfactory trip they -had ever made.</p> - -<p>Marian sat Turk-fashion on the seaweed deck -and steered with the broken oar, which had been -spliced to make it better to handle, and Davie<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_198"></a>198</span> -was in front of her, dry and warm. When he -went to sleep, it was the easiest thing in the -world to tie him safely, for some of the stakes of -the basketwork had been left high for that especial -purpose, and then he did not have to be -watched.</p> - -<p>Jennie took the spear first, and when, after a -while, she grew tired and gave the spear to -Esther, who had been teasing for it, she too -crept back and crawled in with Davie under the -shawls and lay on her back, watching the bright -stars above and the mango bushes, weird and -grotesque with the flare of the <em>pitalla</em> fire and -the backward swirl of the smoke. When the -game became an old story to Esther, she yielded -the spear to Delbert, and, after replenishing the -fire from the fuel in the barrel, she too curled -down on the deck at Jennie’s feet.</p> - -<p>Delbert and Marian then took turns at steering -and spearing, and only turned the Muggywah -back toward the pier when the fuel was all -gone.</p> - -<p>Along with their feathers the children took -up other modes of Indian decoration of their -persons. They did not quite come to war paint,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_199"></a>199</span> -but they wore long strings of beads, principally -of the <em>guaymuchel</em> seeds. These are flat black -seeds that grow embedded in a thick sweetish -pith enclosed in a pod which grows on a big -tree. The pithy part is highly prized by the -Indians for eating, and the Island Hawks gathered -them for that, and saved the seeds, which, -when soft, are easily strung.</p> - -<p>Then there were the tiny many-colored clamshells -that they found so plentiful on the beaches -of the bird islands. They bored holes in these -with Marian’s big fat darning-needle and strung -them into valuable wampum belts. There were -other seeds and beans that they strung, but -these were the staples.</p> - -<p>One Christmas, Marian gave Jennie a string -of bone beads. She had found a number of the -bones of some big bird, long, smooth, and hollow, -and she whittled them into little sections and -strung them on a string of her own hair. That -same year her gift to Esther was a headdress of -pink feathers taken from a dead bird that Delbert -had found washed up on the beach one -morning. To Delbert she gave a gay feather-trimmed -quiver for his arrows and two new<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_200"></a>200</span> -arrow-points of bone, and to Davie a number of -little toys whittled out of driftwood. The children -had remembered their kindergarten lore -that year, and each one made Marian a little -basket. They were rather loose and ill-shapen, -but they were the forerunners of better ones.</p> - -<p>With the Muggywah their food problem was -still further simplified. They had lived so long -on the Island now that they knew the tides, -when they would be high and when low, and -always took these into consideration along with -the wind. With their gay striped blanket for a -sail and a paddle of some sort in the hands of -each, with their trips planned to have the tide -in their favor as much as possible, they could -accomplish much more business than formerly. -They could take a dishpanful of boiled-down -sea-water out to the salt reef, put it into the -rock-hollows there, where the sun finished the -evaporation for them, and maybe gather up a -dish of dry and quite passably clean salt to take -back with them; go on to some other place and -gather a lot of clams for dinner, or perhaps -oysters; go back again to Smugglers’, put up -the salt and attend to the clams, and strike<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_201"></a>201</span> -off across the bay toward some distant <em>estero</em>, -which would lead back into good <em>pitalla</em> country, -or perhaps to a <em>panal</em> which they had seen some -days before and been too busy to gather in; and -by night they would have accomplished several -times as much as when they had crept over the -water on the old log with only driftwood and -poles for paddles, or else had had to stay on land -because the water was a little rough. With the -new firm mast which was in no danger of falling -down, they could utilize a wind that had been -much too strong for them to tamper with before, -and with the children able to swim like little -fishes, they could brave a possible capsize or -tumble overboard. Of course Marian was not -going to risk the great waves outside in the -Gulf, and when the wind blew the water into -breakers on the Island, white and thunderous, -she kept her tribe busy in the pasture or the -garden.</p> - -<p>Some time during each day they took their -bath and swim. If the water was too rough on -the seaward side, they took it in the harbor, -where it was quieter, but there were not so very -many days when it was too rough. Marian<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_202"></a>202</span> -would keep her eye on Davie if they were out -very far, but she had little anxiety about the -others. Sometimes they took the Muggywah out -into deep water and anchored her with a stone, -and had their swim from there.</p> - -<p>They had had no storm yet equal to the one -on the night of their arrival on the Island, but -during the fall after the Muggywah was finished -they had one which came nearer to it than any -in the three years. It lasted two days and two -nights and certainly gave them a miserable time. -They turned the little burros out with their -mothers to save feeding and milking, and they -collected vegetables and bananas in the Cave, -which they ate raw, not being able to have a fire -to cook by. Indeed, their precious embers were -all put out, so that they had to start anew with -the fire-sticks when the storm was over.</p> - -<p>They snuggled up in the Cave, not going out -except when it seemed absolutely necessary, and -Marian sang over all the songs she knew and -which she had sung to them on rainy days a -hundred times before,—or at least it seemed so -to her,—and told over all the stories they -called for and racked her brains for new ones.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_203"></a>203</span> -The Cave had never been a roomy chamber, -and now it reminded Marian of a nest that is -filled to overflowing with nestlings which are -ready to fly. Neither of the little girls could -stand up in it now, not even in the widest part, -and Davie, fast growing up into a big, strong -boy, had to be very careful.</p> - -<p>The first day dragged, the second crawled, -and in the afternoon Marian delivered herself of -the emphatic remark, “We are not going to live -in this Cave through another rainy season; we -will build us a house!”</p> - -<p>The children were all struck dumb for a second -and then fired volleys of comments and -questions.</p> - -<p>“You see,” said Marian when quiet reigned -again, “this Cave was all right in the first place. -You were all little then, and it was the best -we could do, but now,—why, see! Delbert is -stretching up nearly as tall as I am; Jennie and -Esther take up as much room as all four of you -did then; we spread out so we can’t keep ourselves -covered from the mosquitoes; and I am -sick and tired of camping out forever; I want a -home.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_204"></a>204</span> -“But, Marian,” said Jennie, “don’t you think -some one will find us now before long?”</p> - -<p>“I think,” said Marian, “that there is no likelihood -of any one but Indians coming into San -Moros. There is nothing to bring any one else -here, and, as you know, we have seen very few -canoes in all the time we have been here. I don’t -understand it; it seems as if they would all know -about there being bananas and good water here -and be coming all the time, but evidently there -are no settlements anywhere near, and the poor -Indian is not going very far from home in his -canoe. Clarence must have found out about -the place from some old Indian who, I suppose, -had happened to stumble on to it somehow, and, -as far as I know, Clarence was the only white -person who ever came here, but”—she paused -and looked impressively at the children—“some -day, when we can sail the Muggywah a -great deal better than we do now, when Davie -is big and strong enough so that I dare risk him -out there on the Gulf waves, and when the rest -of you are bigger and stronger than you are now, -we’ll stock the Muggywah up with provisions -and we’ll go back to the Port ourselves. I don’t<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_205"></a>205</span> -dare risk it overland and I shall not try it by -water so long as there is any risk in it, but if no -one comes for us before then, the time will come -when you children will be so big that we can go -in safety, and then we’ll go.”</p> - -<p>“I’d be willing to take some risk,” said Delbert -moodily.</p> - -<p>“I’m not,” said Marian. “Four children -mother left in my care when she went to Guaymas -that time, four I shall return to her. Your -lives are safe here. If I lost one of you in trying -to get back, I should never be happy again.”</p> - -<p>“How well shall we have to swim?” asked -Esther.</p> - -<p>“Better than any of us do now,” said Marian. -“We must be able to swim so well that if the -Muggywah should swamp or turn turtle out -there, we could all get to shore if we had to. It -is a good deal, but we can do it in time. Clarence -could have done it, but it may take us several -years yet. We don’t dare go out of the bay -yet, and we all get tired out if we have much hard -paddling to do; but to go to the Port in the Muggywah -would take several days. Unfortunately, -she doesn’t go as swiftly as the launch did.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_206"></a>206</span> -“If Clarence was here, he’d make her go better -than she does,” said Delbert.</p> - -<p>“I think he would,” returned Marian; “but -what we don’t know about sailing her we must -learn; and meantime, I am tired of living in this -little hole in the rocks, and the next job on hand -is to build a house. We can do it.”</p> - -<p>The first thing to do usually is to select a site. -Esther thought a good place to put the new -dwelling in would be down by the pier, where -the smugglers had had their house. It would -be close to the water and the garden. But that -took them out of sight of the bay and the distant -Gulf, and mosquitoes and gnats were apt -to be plentiful there at night, and so it was not -to be thought of. Jennie, too, still retained her -fear of the water during storms, and the higher -they could get the better it would suit her. One -thing about the Cave which they meant to improve -upon in their new habitation was the fact -that their view was cut off by the big rock in -front. To see what might be out on the water -they had to go clear past it, out of the house, -as one might say. Of course, it sheltered them -from wind and rain to a great extent, but Marian<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_207"></a>207</span> -wanted to be sheltered from the elements and -still be able to see out on the water.</p> - -<p>From the mound that had been the smugglers’ -house projected a crotched timber, and -Marian suggested that they dig it out for their -new dwelling, though she had not yet decided -where to build nor what material to use.</p> - -<p>They made some wooden rakes and shovels,—that -is, they called them that,—and these did a -little better for the work than the old dig-spoon -and the little spade. As they dug and scraped, -Marian told them of the ancient cities which -lay buried for centuries and then were sometimes -discovered and excavated and of the wonderful -things found in them. The children were -very much interested, and straightway they -ceased to be Indians and became a band of eminent -scientists who had discovered an ancient, -oh, a very ancient, city. It was very interesting -indeed, for, when you came to think of it, -there was really no knowing what you might or -might not find.</p> - -<p>They finally got the timber out. It was shorter -than Marian had hoped, but then the children -wanted to go on and dig the whole mound over.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_208"></a>208</span> -They had found a few bits of broken pottery, -which they seemed to think very wonderful, and -they hoped for more riches.</p> - -<p>So, as it seemed a pity to veto anything so -exciting, Marian consented to go on with the -work. It seemed almost strange that they did -not find more things than they did. There were -a number of other timbers unearthed, but all -but one of them were too rotten to be of use. -There was the half of a <em>metate</em> stone<a id="FNanchor_5" href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> which -they made a great deal of use of afterwards, and -a broken pitcher and more pieces of pottery, but -none of it big enough to be of any use. There -were some very small fragments of glass and -quite a number of bricks; also a few rusty scraps -of iron, one of which had been an oarlock and -one a knife. The bricks were mixed in with a -number of stones, all bearing the marks of -fire,—a cooking-place of some sort evidently.</p> - -<div class="footnote-container"> -<div class="footnote"><a id="Footnote_5" href="#FNanchor_5" class="label">[5]</a> A stone used for grinding Indian corn. -</div></div> - -<p>The children were most excited over the -pitcher. It had a gay flower on one side of it, -and they watched eagerly for other fragments. -They found a few and fitted them together, but -when all was done there was still a hole in it as<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_209"></a>209</span> -big as Delbert’s fist and a piece gone from the -nose, but they took as much pride in that old -fragment as if it had been really something -valuable.</p> - -<p>But to Marian the bricks appealed the most. -She meant to have a real fireplace in the new -house, and they would aid very much. The -crotched timber, short though it was, would -also come in very handy, and the ground they -had dug over so industriously was in fine condition -for a garden.</p> - -<p>Every day they took their swimming-lesson. -Now they began to practice on long swims. -They would take the Muggywah out, and while -Marian or Delbert paddled it along, or tended -the sail if there was a breeze, the rest would -swim by the side. As soon as one got tired, all -he had to do was to climb in and take his turn -with the paddle. Even Davie was learning a -little about paddling, and Jennie and Esther, -now eleven and nine years old, could manage -very nicely.</p> - -<p>Out on the blue water they made a pretty -picture,—the Muggywah dancing along with -her gay striped sail, Marian in a garment<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_210"></a>210</span> -constructed of her old brown petticoat which -reached to her knees but left neck and arms -bare, Davie’s old straw hat tied under her chin, -her long braids falling to her waist as she steered -with the oar; the four children, their slender -bodies gleaming white in the water, splashing -each other, laughing, calling, now and again -climbing on the seaweed deck to rest a few minutes -before plunging down again into the salty -waves.</p> - -<p>And when they had been out long enough, -they would turn the Muggywah and run for -Smugglers’, pretending they were fleeing from -their enemies,—smugglers escaping from the -government revenue men maybe, or Indians -returning from striking some decisive blow at -their tribal foes.</p> - -<p>Always there were the little burros to be -tended, a little gardening to be done each day, -fresh water to be carried up to the Cave, and -wood to be gathered. Marian had learned that -as long as she worked with them her tribe did -very well, but it was not well to leave them at -separate tasks. She still felt, too, the desire to -have them within her reach, to know for a certainty<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_211"></a>211</span> -where each one was and that he or she -was safe. So they fished together, gathered wood -together, worked together in the garden.</p> - -<p>Delbert sometimes went to the pasture alone -when Marian was busy with something else, -yet as a rule he took Esther with him even there. -Jennie was more apt to stay with Marian, to -help with the cooking, or maybe just to sit on -the rocks gazing out over the sea. As for Davie, -he stayed with Marian too. Delbert never -wanted him along when he was after game, for -the little fellow was sure to make some sort of a -noise at the wrong time, which Delbert always -found hard to forgive, while Esther, on the other -hand, would follow at his heels like a well-trained -dog, moving silently, stealthily, and her -aim was nearly equal to his own.</p> - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider x-ebookmaker-drop"> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_212"></a>212</span> -</div> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="viii">CHAPTER VIII<br> -<span>THE BUILDING OF THE WICKIUP</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Delbert</span> came laughing to his breakfast one -morning. “I’ve found the ideal spot for a house,” -he said.</p> - -<p>“Good for you!” said Marian, as she carefully -raked out from the embers the red snapper -which had been stuffed with green peppers, -wrapped in green banana leaves, and buried in -the hot coals and ashes overnight. “All right, -tell us about it as we eat.”</p> - -<p>“It can’t be told. It will have to be seen to be -appreciated,” he said.</p> - -<p>“In that case we will go and see right after -breakfast.”</p> - -<p>Which they did, and he led them to the highest, -rockiest point of that end of the Island, facing -the long, sandy point where the watermelons -were and where one could see both the bay and -the harbor.</p> - -<p>“Now,” said he, seating himself on a big -boulder, “you observe the lovely view we have.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_213"></a>213</span> -Nowhere on the whole Island can you get a better -one. With a little clearing there is a fair -chance of a path down to the pier. We are not -so very far from the Cave either. And then, too, -you see, this nice high cliff would save our making -more than three sides to the house, and those -big rocks there would be handy to brace against.”</p> - -<p>“Where would be our floor?” asked Jennie. -“It’s all rocks here.”</p> - -<p>But Marian was looking. The cliff, as Delbert -called it, would save making one side of the -house, and several of the big rocks Jennie was so -scornful of were in a direct line for working into -the walls, while the others could be moved by -means of crude levers that they could work. The -floor could then be leveled by building up with -rocks from the lower side. It would be impossible -to dig holes to set posts in, but, if one were -not too particular about having the house symmetrical, -there were several fissures in the rocks -where posts could be put, and braced solid with -other stones packed in about them. The face of -the big rock, or cliff, back of them was very irregular, -and there were several good places to set -roof-timbers in.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_214"></a>214</span> -The ground sloped rather steeply down to the -sandy point and was covered with brush, but a -path, as Delbert said, could be cleared down to -the pier, and it would be a better one really than -the one they were using, too. Also a little tossing -of the rocks to one side would clear the way back -to the Cave, where they could use the old path -to the beach. The heavy task would be bringing -all the material up the hill, but that would have -to be done in any case; only, of course, if they -built at the Cave, for instance, they would not -have to carry things so far.</p> - -<p>“Delbert,” she said, “what we are going to -need, and need badly, is lime.”</p> - -<p>“Lime? What for?”</p> - -<p>“To mix with sand and fresh water to make -mortar to pack around the roof-timbers, where -we set them into the cliff there, and around the -posts, where we put them into this crevice below. -Good mortar would set and keep them solid.”</p> - -<p>“They dig lime out of the ground, don’t they?”</p> - -<p>“No; they dig a certain kind of rock out and -burn it, and it turns into lime; and they burn -shells, and that makes lime too.”</p> - -<p>“Shells? Well, we can get plenty of shells.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_215"></a>215</span> -“Yes, but I don’t know how to burn lime,—how -long it takes or how it ought to look when -it is right,—and I don’t know exactly how to -work it afterwards either.”</p> - -<p>“Can’t we experiment and find out? Burn just -a few at first and see how they work?”</p> - -<p>“I guess we’d better, for I don’t want this -house falling down on us in a storm, and if I can -get the frame of it absolutely solid, I’ll risk but -what we can manage the rest of it all right.”</p> - -<p>“What will you make the roof of?” asked -Jennie.</p> - -<p>“Thatch,” promptly responded Marian. -“Don’t you remember all that tall thatch grass -out beyond the lagoon? The Mexicans at the -Port sometimes make their whole houses of it. -And, Delbert, there is another big job ahead of -us. We are going to need every pole that is in -the corral fence; we must build a good brush -fence to hold in the burros, so that we can have -every stick and pole there, every piece of driftwood. -I guess we’d better clear that patch of -brush beyond the garden. It will be nicer cleared -away, and we can pile it all on to the fence.”</p> - -<p>They gathered a lot of shells that day, and,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_216"></a>216</span> -after a few experiments in their cooking-fire, -made a little pile of alternate shells and wood and -started it burning. Marian thought the shells -ought probably to burn slowly; her idea was to -rake out a few every now and then and see how -things were going. Her only safe way was to -mix a little mortar and see if it set hard.</p> - -<p>Between times they worked on the brush fence. -They had not progressed very far before they -wished they had got at it at least two years -sooner, for in the midst of the tangled growth of -bushes, choked and stunted but still struggling -to keep alive, they found a goodly number of -cotton plants.</p> - -<p>These must have been, along with the palms -and the bananas, a part of the smugglers’ garden. -There were three straggling rows, and most -of the bushes had a few sickly-looking cotton -bolls on them. They are never very large on -that particular variety of plant, but none of these -were larger than a small hen’s egg; indeed, most -of them more closely resembled marbles. But -they contained actual cotton, and with care and -some cultivation the plants would produce more -and larger bolls. They gathered them—what<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_217"></a>217</span> -few there were—and put them with the cotton-tree -pods.</p> - -<p>“As soon as the house is done, I shall have -to see about a spinning-wheel and loom,” said -Marian, “and oh! if we had only found them -before!”</p> - -<p>They cut out the brush systematically, clearing -out, as thoroughly as they could, each bush -as they came to it. Delbert and the little girls -would take sticks and bend back the bushes, so -that Marian could get at them to chop them off -near the ground with the hatchet; then with -ropes they would drag them to the corral and -pile them on the fence. They were trying to -make it very solid and compact, also a little -larger than before.</p> - -<p>In this way they managed to release every pole -that had been in the fence, and they piled them -at one side to await the time when they should -be ready for them at the new house.</p> - -<p>They were not so very successful with the lime. -They burned a good many shells before they produced -what was at all satisfactory.</p> - -<p>They found that there were not enough shells -near by, but off across the bay, at the mouth of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_218"></a>218</span> -one of the <em>esteros</em>, was a bank that had seemed -to be composed almost entirely of shells; so they -took the Muggywah and made several trips -there, coming back loaded down with all the -shells they could carry. These shells were very -old and broken, but Marian thought they would -probably make as good lime as fresh ones would. -There were other places, too, where shells were -more plentiful than near home, and they made -trips after them.</p> - -<p>While they were gathering the shells they cut -a good many <em>pitalla</em> poles, peeled the green bark -off them, and left them to dry before taking -them home. Delbert used his stone hatchet for -that work; he had made a handle for it, as Marian -said probably the first owner had, by splitting a -stick down and tying it above and below where -the hatchet was inserted, and while he could not, -of course, chop wood with it, the soft green -<em>pitalla</em> bark yielded to it very well. To be sure, -it was no better, even for this purpose, than the -other hatchet, but think how much more romantic -it is to work with an ancient stone hatchet -than with an ordinary little modern steel one!</p> - -<p>Delbert thought so much of that hatchet that<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_219"></a>219</span> -Marian said he had better give it a name, and -told him about King Arthur’s sword Excalibur; -but when Delbert asked her if she thought that -would be a good name for the hatchet, she said -she thought they had better modify it a little and -call it the “Exscalper” instead, because, though -it might once have been used to scalp with, it -was not in that business now.</p> - -<p>These <em>pitalla</em> poles are hollow, but durable and -comparatively straight, and are much used in -building the humbler homes of western Mexico.</p> - -<div class="figcenter width500" id="i-p219-sepia"> - <img src="images/i-p219-sepia.jpg" width="1722" height="648" alt=""> - <div class="caption">EXSCALPER</div> -</div> - -<p>The poor little overworked hatchet had to be -sharpened many, many times. There was no -need now to put the whetstone beyond Davie’s -reach. He was too sensible to want to hide it, -realizing as well as any of them that what the -whole community needs should not be selfishly -regarded as private property.</p> - -<p>Delbert’s jack-knife had been worked and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_220"></a>220</span> -overworked till it was about used up. One blade -was broken, and the other leaned backward in a -most heartrending fashion. He did not use it -much, but always had the butcher-knife tucked -into his belt beside the Exscalper.</p> - -<p>The two case-knives had been sharpened, and -the two little girls carried them. Davie never -felt at home without the dig-spoon. With much -use its edge had become as sharp as a knife, and -he used it for that right along. And he, like all -the others, except Marian, always had his bow -and arrows slung at his back.</p> - -<p>They did not take much time off the work till -the season for “duck” eggs came again; then -they dropped everything and sailed for the little -white islands. It took only a part of a day to -make the trip, and they could get eggs enough -for several days. They almost lived on them -through the season, and when it was over -dropped back to their vegetarian diet, varied -only by an occasional meal of fish from a night’s -spearing.</p> - -<p>When, after much time and labor expended, -and many, many experiments, Marian decided -that there was enough lime to make the mortar<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_221"></a>221</span> -to set the posts and roof-timbers, they began the -task of getting their timbers up the hill.</p> - -<p>They had thought that they could utilize -Jackie for that, but he soon undeceived them. -He was not averse to carrying small loads of -wood, but when it came to pulling anything really -heavy, Jackie called a halt, and, moreover, remained -halted till the load was removed.</p> - -<p>They found no means of coaxing or persuasion -that availed in the least. It made not an iota of -difference to Jackie whether those poles remained -at the top or the bottom of the hill, and if the -children wanted them at the top, why, let them -take them there, that was all. In the end they -had to drag them up themselves. They tied -ropes to them and used main force. It was not -a very long job when they once got over trying -to make Jackie do it for them. As for him, he -skipped along beside them, gay and carefree.</p> - -<p>Then they debated long and earnestly as to -just which crotched timber should be placed in -this place and which pole in that. They tried -each one in all the places to see where it would -fit best, and everybody expressed his opinion. -They planned where to put the doors and the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_222"></a>222</span> -window, and where was the best place for the -fireplace.</p> - -<p>When they had these momentous questions -settled, Marian mixed her mortar. Each upright -was made solid by being packed tightly with big -rocks and all set in mortar; each roof-pole was -set in the same way where it rested on the cliff. -At the same time Marian tried not to be too -prodigal with her mortar, for she wanted to have -enough left to lay up the chimney, at least where -it would come above the roof and be exposed to -the wind and weather. And her supply of lime -was not at all large, for it took so long to gather -up the shells, and often they had not got them -well burned after they were gathered.</p> - -<p>After her timbers and poles were well set, she -began on the fireplace. For this they brought up -the bricks and the blackened stones from the -smugglers’ old house; for some kinds of stones -will crack and split with heat, or even go so far -as to pop into little pieces which fly in all directions, -and Marian wanted that fireplace built of -tested stones that would be up to no mischief. -The stones she had cooked over at the Cave -were brought, and two nice, smooth, large ones<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_223"></a>223</span> -from the cooking-place at the beach. She used -clay from the pasture as mortar for the fireplace -and the lower part of the chimney.</p> - -<p>Once, on a trip up an <em>estero</em> that wound past a -little hill, they had noticed a big flat rock that -Delbert thought would make a fine hearthstone. -They could find other flat rocks, of course, but -this one had especially appealed to the boy, because -it was much larger and smoother than any -other they had seen, and he thought it would be -nice to have the hearth of one big stone. Marian -thought so, too, but was afraid it was too big for -them to manage. However, she finally consented -to try it. If they could get it on board the Muggywah -at all, they could find some way of getting -it off again and up the hill and into place.</p> - -<p>After all, thought Marian, if her flock learned -to achieve things, to overcome difficulties, to persist -in spite of obstacles, was that not of itself -a fair education? And to bring that great rock -home would certainly be a lesson in achievement.</p> - -<p>So they went after it. They took plenty of -ropes along and several round pieces of driftwood -to serve as rollers under the stone. They found -it readily. One side was so flat and smooth that<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_224"></a>224</span> -it seemed as if it must some time have been -worked upon by human hands; the other was -rough and irregular, being much thicker at one -end than at the other. It was all Marian and -Delbert could do to lift it alone, and even with -Jennie’s and Esther’s help it was none too easy. -Fortunately it was not far from the water’s edge. -They got it on their two largest rollers, and, by -smoothing the way and prying the rollers along, -they got it down to the Muggywah.</p> - -<p>Then it developed that it would be more easily -got aboard at low than at high tide. At low tide -the Muggywah could be placed under a bank and -the big stone swung off on to her; at high tide -it would have to be lifted up to get it aboard.</p> - -<p>So they made their preparations. They tied -the Muggywah fore and aft, and rigged up a tripod -to assist in swinging the hearthstone over -on to her just where they wanted it. They pushed -and pried the rollers, and tugged and twisted till -they had the big stone in position on the edge -of the bank, and then retired to the shade of a -scrubby mesquite to eat their lunch of turnips -and carrots and drink Island water from the -bottles, while they waited for the tide to go out.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_225"></a>225</span> -And when the lunch was finished, they sallied -forth and hunted for <em>panales</em>, clams, oysters, and, -incidentally, arrowheads and more hatchets.</p> - -<p>When the Muggywah dropped below the -bank, they rallied again to the task in hand. The -tripod was a big help; they had the hair rope for -that. Carefully they worked. It was not merely -the getting of the big stone that Marian had in -mind; she wanted to be quite sure no one was -going to get hurt in the process.</p> - -<p>“Delbert, don’t lift on that till you really -strain yourself,” she said. “Davie, you stand by -that pole and see that it doesn’t lift up; I -don’t want your little fingers mashed under this. -Esther, poke that stick under there where -Jennie’s fingers are. There, that’s right; that -holds it instead. Now, Jennie, you stand there -where Delbert is. Delbert, you and I will have -to swing round below here now. Davie, hold that -pole down tight.”</p> - -<p>Davie held valiantly with all his might. There -was no danger of that particular pole budging, -but Marian wanted him out of the way, and -knew that the only way to be sure he would not -slip in at the wrong minute, and maybe get a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_226"></a>226</span> -finger jammed before she could help him, was -to keep him busy elsewhere.</p> - -<p>“There, now, you see, part of the weight -comes on the tripod. Carefully now, Esther. -Jennie can do that alone now; you jump down -and be ready to help here.”</p> - -<p>In the midst of it all she began to laugh. “Delbert, -if it takes all this fuss to get it aboard, how -in the world are we ever going to get it off again? -We may have to dump it into the harbor yet.”</p> - -<p>“Not much we don’t,” muttered Delbert between -his teeth.</p> - -<p>“Well, all steady now! Gently there, Jennie! -That’s right! Now jump down and help Esther. -There, there she is, neat as a whistle. Look how -it pushes the Muggywah down, but it’s all right. -Knock up that tripod pole there, Delbert. We’ll -have the rope off. Where did you put your -oysters, Jennie? Oh, I see. Well, drop ’em in -here; we must be starting back. It will take us -all day to-morrow to get this hearthstone off the -deck, and two more to get it up the hill, as like -as not.”</p> - -<p>As a matter of fact, it took a great deal longer -than that, but they did not work at it all the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_227"></a>227</span> -time. They rigged up another tripod to help -them swing it off the Muggywah, and by aid of -rollers got it to the foot of the hill safely. There -they tied it to something to make sure it would -not slip and roll down on them, and little by -little, as they felt inclined, they pushed it up the -hill. Sometimes a day or two would go by without -its being touched, and then, some morning -when they felt vigorous, they would get at it -with levers and rollers and work it up the hill -a little farther. Davie got quite expert in slipping -the stones in back of it to block it up while -they rested.</p> - -<p>In the course of time it was taken into the -frame of the new house and settled into place, -being blocked with stones till it did not wiggle -in the least; and as they stood back surveying -it, they all felt that it was worth all the trouble -it had been to get it. The fireplace itself was -built up waist-high when the hearthstone was -put in place.</p> - -<p>Marian was planning a good handy place to -cook over, and several of the scraps of iron were -used with that idea. The old twisted, rusty oarlock, -for instance, was converted into a hook to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_228"></a>228</span> -hang the kettle on at one side, and there were -various little places made, to put things on to -keep hot or to go on slowly cooking. At the -proper height a mantel-shelf was put in, too, -a smooth piece of driftwood. It had once been a -board about a foot wide by three or three and -a half long, but it had been tossed and beaten -till the edges were thin and ragged. Marian -fitted it across and surveyed it with pride.</p> - -<p>It seemed as if the longest and most tiresome -part of the work was the building of the chimney. -Massive was the word for it. It was continued -up pretty high. Marian climbed up on the roof-timbers -and had the children hand her the stones -and mortar.</p> - -<p>They got well tired of the job before it was -finished. At the last, Marian herself would help -gather a pile of stones, and then, after mixing -the mortar, would climb up on the roof and work -away, and Delbert would hand up the rocks one -by one and the mortar in the little wooden pail. -She used the dig-spoon and the little spade for -trowels, assisted by a piece of old board she had -whittled into shape.</p> - -<p>Yet, after all, considering how tiresome it must<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_229"></a>229</span> -have been, the children were pretty good about -it. Delbert never complained of the monotony, -and though the little girls were quite sure Marian -was building that chimney higher and thicker -than was at all necessary, they did their work -cheerfully.</p> - -<p>They stopped when their good lime gave out, -but Marian was sure that she had it high enough -to draw well at all times, and so big and solid that -it would not blow over in a storm, even if it had -not been protected to some extent by the high -rock, or cliff, back of it.</p> - -<p>She would have been glad of more lime, but -it was such a task to gather and burn the shells -that she decided to finish the house without it. -They gathered up their <em>pitalla</em> poles now, clean, -creamy-white poles, which they fastened in -place by tightly lashing with small ropes. Where -they needed them in the walls they packed the -end that rested on the ground with rocks and -mud and tied the upper ends. The house began -to take shape rapidly. The <em>pitalla</em> poles were -easily split when smaller, finer pieces were -needed.</p> - -<p>Finally they were ready for the thatch. It<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_230"></a>230</span> -would take a great many trips to get that. They -knew of but one place where it grew, and that -was away up by the lagoon. They would go and -cut grass, or rather dig it out by the roots, till -they had enough for a bundle for each one. These -bundles were graduated in size, of course, but -Marian allowed no shirking. Nobody really -tried to shirk but Davie. He didn’t like to carry -thatch-grass down to the <em>estero</em>, and he tried all -kinds of excuses to get out of it, but Marian was -firm.</p> - -<p>“Every little helps,” she said. “It is work that -you can do, and you must.”</p> - -<p>So, in spite of his grumblings and groanings, -Davie carried his little bundle as well as the rest. -They would make several trips, stacking the -grass in a pile at the pier; then they would stop -and carry it all to the top of the hill to the new -house, and Marian and Delbert would put it on -the roof. Jackie helped them there. He did not -mind carrying quite a bundle of grass up the -hill, for it was light and did not tax his strength. -It was pulling that Jackie objected to.</p> - -<p>They put the grass on very thick, tying each -little bunch very firm and tight to the split<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_231"></a>231</span> -<em>pitalla</em> prepared for it. Here again the little -girls felt very sure that Marian was doing a much -better job than was at all necessary. They were -quite sure that much less grass would do just as -well. But Marian, remembering the fury of that -first storm on the Island, was not going to run -any risks, and Delbert backed her up in her determination. -So for weeks they worked at it, -digging and tugging at the grass up by the lagoon, -often cutting their fingers on the sharp edges, -toiling down through the hot sun to the <em>estero</em> -with their bundles, tying them on the Muggywah, -and then paddling back home. Then, when -Marian and Delbert climbed up on the roof, the -little girls handed up bunch after bunch of the -rank, heavy grass to the two above, who tied -them with the stout little cords that they sometimes -took a day off to make. And finally the -whole roof was covered with a thick mat of the -rustling grass, the long loose ends of each row -hanging well down over the root ends of the row -below. Several poles were fastened across to -hold it down better and make it all the surer that -the wind would not get in underneath and undo -any of their labor.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_232"></a>232</span> -Then there were the sides to come next. -Marian had thought that they would maybe -thatch them too, but the children were tired of -going after grass. Indeed, they had gathered all -the best of it; what was left was so much shorter -and thinner that it would take much more time -to get it. So she cast about for other material -nearer home.</p> - -<p>There were several big rocks in a line with the -walls, two of which were immovable, but there -were several others that they succeeded in prying -up and swinging round into place. In between -them Marian built up a wall even with -their tops, using for her mortar the shells that had -not been well burned, mixing them with clay -brought from the pasture. It was very tiresome -bringing it, but it did nicely after they got it -there, for it dried hard and smooth and would -stay so as long as it was kept dry at least.</p> - -<p>One thing Marian was particular about was to -use only the fresh water for her mortar. It was -more trouble than it would have been to use salt, -but she had heard some of the men at the Port -once talking about some one who had made a -failure of a kiln of bricks because he had used<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_233"></a>233</span> -salt water in the making. She did not remember -what they had said was the reason why the -salt was bad in that particular place, nor just -what effect it had had, but she intended to -run no risks; so her mortar was all mixed with -water from the well on the pier side of the -Island.</p> - -<p>But she could not build up the entire wall that -way, and by the time she had it up as high as the -big rocks there were no more loose stones near -them and she had used up every bit of her burnt -shells. All hands were very tired, too, of lugging -earth from the pasture, and they could find no -clay nearer home.</p> - -<p>She turned to the banana-patch then, and -they tore the big stalks into strips of uniform -size and used these to weave in basket-fashion -between the uprights and the split <em>pitallas</em>. It -did very well except that, as with everything else, -Marian insisted upon its being done so well that -it seemed to take forever to do it. They also used -the dried leaves, weaving them in and out and -pounding them down so as to have a good thick -wall. Some kinds of brush they used, too, fine -branches that had no thorns, or at least no large<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_234"></a>234</span> -ones, but the fibrous strips of the banana stalks -were the main material used.</p> - -<p>This part of the task was something they -could all work at. Even Davie learned quickly -how to weave in brush and banana stalk and -work and pound them down. Up under the eaves -they were not quite so particular to have it thick -and firm.</p> - -<p>Finally it was all done. There remained now -but the floor, the doors, and the windows.</p> - -<p>The floor must be leveled and made as smooth -as possible. It was so rocky and rough that it -seemed the only way would be to build up from -the lower side with stones. There were plenty of -stones, but they had to be brought from some -little distance now, as everything loose in the -neighborhood had been pretty well cleaned up. -Marian packed stones in as well as she could, -and when it was comparatively level, filled in -the chinks with pebbles and wads of banana -leaves, and then they lugged up pailful after pailful -of sand from the beach.</p> - -<p>Jackie helped here too. They made a pair of -sacks by folding a blanket over once and sewing -up the ends. This could be thrown over Jackie’s<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_235"></a>235</span> -back. They put in as much sand as they thought -he would stand, and then, when the rest of them -had their loads ready, they would all go up the -hill together. Some one had to watch pretty -closely to see that the load did not slip off over -Jackie’s tail on the steep parts of the path, but -he carried so much more than any of them cared -to that it paid to use him. Of course, if they had -really put much of a load on him, he would probably -have balked as was his habit, but they were -careful not to do that. Marian thought that he -would gradually get used to carrying loads and -be a great help to them some time in the future.</p> - -<p>They poured the sand on the floor, where it -ran down into the cracks and little holes, till -after two or three days of pretty steady work the -cracks seemed to be all filled up and their floor -was level and smooth.</p> - -<p>Then they went to Bonanza Cove, where in -the storms the seaweed had been pounded and -churned and tossed far up on the beach; there -it had dried and bleached in the suns of later days -till now it could be peeled up in great white -layers. They took this dried seaweed in as big -flakes as they could carry without breaking it,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_236"></a>236</span> -and carpeted every bit of the floor, clear up to -the hearthstone. But Marian was a little afraid -this was too near the fire for safety; so they -hunted till they found enough big flat stones to -lay a row all around the hearth. Then, by wetting -the seaweed, they could pack this row down to a -level with the hearthstone, and finally, after filling -with sand all the little corners where the -stones did not just match, they felt pretty certain -that no sparks would fly out far enough to set -their carpet on fire.</p> - -<p>Then they moved in. It was not so tremendous -a task. There was no packing or unpacking -to do, no bickering with drivers of moving-vans. -They simply gathered up their bedding and bags -of feathers and dumped them down in one corner -on the floor, and then brought over the few utensils -from the Cave. A very few more trips -brought over all the odds and ends that had -accumulated,—pretty shells and other small -treasures such as children always collect.</p> - -<p>The new home was very irregular in shape, for -their material had been far from regular or uniform -and they had had to place their posts and -poles where the unyielding rocks would receive<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_237"></a>237</span> -them best, but the room averaged about eight -feet by fifteen, the eaves being about six feet -lower than the side built against the cliff.</p> - -<p>There were two narrow doors and one window, -and for the doors Marian made a light frame of -split <em>pitalla</em> tied together at the corners and then -wove a sort of mat of palm-leaf across them. -This was too light and thin to be trusted in a -storm; so of stouter material, split <em>pitalla</em>, but -heavier pieces, she made a pair of large, heavy -frames and covered these with thatch-grass, for -which they made another trip to the lagoon. -Even then it was not quite enough, and she finished -with palm-leaves, the old dried ones that -were not strong enough for ropes, but could be -used whole. Some of these, too, she tied on the -outside of the house where the wattling seemed -to be a little thin; they would help a little when -the rains came.</p> - -<p>The light doors she fastened on permanently -with fiber ropes, but the heavy storm doors were -left outside, where they were out of the way -ordinarily, but could be quickly put into place -and tied over the others when a storm came up. -She did not bother to make a mat frame for<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_238"></a>238</span> -the window, but contented herself with the one -heavy thatch one, which was fastened across the -top so that it could be swung out and up and be -propped with a stick, thus making a shade over -the opening like an awning; it could also be -swung down and tied tight whenever desired.</p> - -<p>Inside there were several shelves put up by -swinging them from the roof, and their largest -piece of driftwood, laid across two rocks, made -a very good table. These and the mantel-shelf -were enough to hold all their dishes and other -valuables. The bedding, folded up neatly in a -corner, did not take up much room. The fireplace -did not smoke, and it was very convenient -indeed for the cooking.</p> - -<p>At night the children lay down where they -chose on the clean, springy seaweed floor, and -pulled a part of a blanket or a rabbit-skin robe -or the big cape over them and slept the sleep of -the healthy till morning.</p> - -<p>They had no lamp or lantern, but the bark of -the <em>pitalla</em> burned with a white light that made -the inside of the little house very cheery and -cozy of an evening, and was a good enough light -for anything they might want to do.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_239"></a>239</span> -They had begun the house at the end of one -rainy season; they had it finished just as the next -one was upon them. They went with the Muggywah -and gathered up all the <em>pitalla</em> bark, now -nicely dry, which had been stripped from their -poles and which they had not already brought in, -and stored it in the Cave to keep it dry, and -when they had that full they piled another heap -in another cave, where it would be partially protected -from the wet.</p> - -<p>They gathered, too, a big pile of driftwood -near the house,—light stuff such as the waves -were always tossing up, and as much heavy stuff -as they could get for back-logs to bury at night, -so as to have good embers in the mornings when -it was cold, for a bed of hot embers was a comfort -indeed to start in with.</p> - -<p>The children had begun calling the new home -a wigwam, but Marian said she was quite sure -that a wigwam was always made of skins -stretched over poles, but she believed—she was -not quite <em>sure</em>, but she believed—that a wickiup -was made of wattles with a thatch or dirt roof; -so, of course, <a id="wickiup"></a>theirs was a wickiup.</p> - -<p>Rainy days had no terrors for them now, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_240"></a>240</span> -no dreariness. They would do what was needful -to make the little burros comfortable, gather -into the wickiup what food and fuel was needed -for the next day and night, close the storm -door, on the side the wind and rain were coming -from and open the other to let in plenty of -light.</p> - -<p>A very small fire would keep the room comfortable, -and they could sit warm and dry, and -do whatever amused them best,—weave baskets, -or make little ropes, or sharpen knives or -the hatchet. Rainy days were good times to -crochet fiber into bags or clothing and to bore -holes in wampum. Delbert made himself a -beautiful wampum belt. It was woven of fiber -about two inches wide, and he covered it with -little shells sewed on through two little holes -bored in each one. It was a great deal of work, -but he was very much interested in it, and -showed such ability in boring holes without -breaking the shells, and in sewing them on so -that they made a pretty pattern, that Marian -was as proud of him for doing it as he was proud -of the belt when it was done.</p> - -<p>It was that summer that Marian took up the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_241"></a>241</span> -long-neglected task of the children’s education. -She was handicapped certainly; her sole schoolroom -equipments were half a lead-pencil, a piece -of blue chalk half as big as her thumb, which -chanced to be in her workbag, and a part of a -newspaper that had lain in the bottom of their -lunch-basket and had a dozen times only narrowly -escaped being used up for something else. -This paper consisted mainly of advertisements -of real estate for sale, male and female help -wanted, and a page of sporting news and market -reports, with half a column of mineral discoveries. -It was not an ideal primer, but it would do -to teach Davie his letters from.</p> - -<p>There was a place on the rock wall that was -comparatively smooth, and Marian made it -more so by rubbing it with flat stones small -enough to be handled easily and as much like -a grindstone in composition as she could find. -She would rub and rub, throw on a little water, -and rub again, and she kept that up till she had -a space that would serve very well as a blackboard. -Of course the blue chalk did not last -long, but then they used bits of charcoal, and if -bones were burnt just right they made a very<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_242"></a>242</span> -good substitute for chalk. A bunch of mescal or -banana fiber made a very good eraser.</p> - -<p>There were several pieces of driftwood smooth -enough to do for slates, and one or two bits of -flat stones also. Clamshells were useful. They -had quite a number of these, as big as saucers, -that they had used as dishes. Marian took them -now and made school readers of them. With the -lead-pencil she wrote lessons on them, Mother -Goose verses, bits of poetry that did not have too -many big words in them, remembered proverbs, -and little stories. When the three older children -could read and spell all the words in them, she -washed them out and wrote another lesson.</p> - -<p>Arithmetic was taught by means of the blackboard -and little shells, stones, and seeds. Delbert -always did his figuring on the hearthstone. -He would stretch out on his stomach and elbows, -his chin in his hands, and his feet kicking at all -angles.</p> - -<p>The other children had to give him a wide -berth or they got all kinds of cracks. Jennie -complained that she could not think lying down, -so she always used the blackboard. Esther used -it too, not because her brain would not work<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_243"></a>243</span> -horizontally, but because when Delbert had the -hearth there was no room for any one else there, -and he made his figures as big as all out-of-doors -anyway. After all, mental arithmetic was more -satisfactory, and Marian drilled them pretty well -in that.</p> - -<p>The paper-tree proved a treasure to them. It -is, I think, in some respects a distant cousin of -the birch. At any rate, its bark can be peeled -off in the same way, only it is much thinner—of -paperlike thickness, or thinness rather—and -partially transparent. When she could get good -pieces of this, Marian never failed to acquire -them, and she made books of it, clumsy, of -course, but serving a little better than the clamshells.</p> - -<p>She was constantly experimenting for ink, -testing every juice she came across that seemed -at all likely. Pens she could make, as her ancestors -had before her, of big quills. Her little -penknife had never been much used except to -whittle out toys for Christmas, and it was just -the thing to make quill pens with.</p> - -<p>Fortunately, Delbert and the girls were eager -to learn. They did not want to be behind their<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_244"></a>244</span> -mates when they got back to them, and as they -were all three pretty bright, Marian’s task was -much easier than it would otherwise have been.</p> - -<p>But Davie was not over anxious to spend -time on what seemed to him so useless. He was -more backward than either of the others, too, -and with him Marian had need of the most loving -patience, also of ingenuity in thinking up -ways to get him interested. Fortunately, she was -patient, and, moreover, loved the little fellow so -fervently that she would have developed patience -even had she been naturally devoid of it.</p> - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider x-ebookmaker-drop"> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_245"></a>245</span> -</div> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="ix">CHAPTER IX<br> -<span>DAVIE’S PANAL HUNT: AND WHAT CAME OF IT</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Davie</span> was really getting to be quite a chunk -of a boy. He was different from Delbert,—more -square and solid of build, of quieter and -calmer temperament too, slower in his motions -and also in his thought and speech. In features -he resembled Esther more than any of the others.</p> - -<p>He was a very straightforward little fellow. -No matter how much he differed from the others, -he never saw any reason for concealing his opinions -or denying his actions. He did not talk -much, but seemed to do his share of thinking, -and when he reached a conclusion was apt to -cling to it rather tenaciously. He usually yielded -to Marian’s authority with a pretty good grace, -but as he grew older he was more and more apt -to disregard the wishes of the others when they -crossed his own. Jennie could, as a rule, manage -him pretty well, for she was very diplomatic -about it, and seemed to have a gift for knowing -when to coax and pet him into doing what she<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_246"></a>246</span> -wanted him to and when to twist him adroitly -round her fingers in some other way.</p> - -<p>Esther, too, though she was not so successful -as Jennie, rarely clashed with her little brother, -but Delbert, having perhaps less of the guile of -the serpent in his make-up, often did clash in a -small way. He thought that as he was older his -wishes should have the preference as a matter of -course. But Davie held other ideas. He did not -propose to have Delbert bossing him just because -he was bigger, and often he was stubborn -just for the pleasure of plaguing his older brother. -The trouble was never very deep-seated. Two -minutes after an explosion of hot words on Delbert’s -part had called Marian’s attention so that -she could settle the matter, whatever it was, -the little boy would be cuddled up beside the -older one, sweet-tempered and smiling as you -please.</p> - -<p>Delbert never seemed to lay Davie’s naughtiness -up against him after the immediate occasion -had passed. But one day there were after effects -which neither of them had counted upon.</p> - -<p>Davie had gone with Delbert and Esther up -into the pasture to see how a certain <em>panal</em> was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_247"></a>247</span> -growing, Marian and Jennie being detained at -the wickiup. The <em>panal</em> was still too small to be -molested, so they went back, skirting the high, -rocky part of the Island that lay overlooking the -shallow part of the harbor. They went down to -the water once and then climbed up again, and -Delbert suggested that they go back to the level -pasture and follow the path home as the quickest -way of getting there. Davie, for no reason -save that Delbert wanted to go back to the path, -decided that he wanted to continue climbing over -the rocks; he said he was looking for <em>panales</em>.</p> - -<p>Delbert did not want to go on and leave him -behind, for they were a long way from the -wickiup, and Davie was little. But he coaxed -to no avail and issued positive orders with as -little result. Esther, too, tried her hand, but it -was useless. Davie continued wending his way -along the roughest, rockiest part, “looking for -<em>panales</em>.”</p> - -<p>Delbert fretted and fumed, and presently they -came to where Davie must come back to the -level land or else crawl along where it was really -dangerous for him to go.</p> - -<p>Had it been Jennie, she would have looked the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_248"></a>248</span> -other way, started a conversation with Esther -about something a long way off, and pretended -to forget all about the little boy, and he, finding -himself no longer in the lime-light, as it were, -would have quietly come back and trailed -along in the path behind her. But Delbert was -pretty well worked up anyway, and he was truly -alarmed for Davie’s safety in that spot.</p> - -<p>“Now, Davie, you will have to come back,” -he said.</p> - -<p>“No, go along here,” returned Davie with -true Indian brevity.</p> - -<p>“Why, you can’t! Honest, Davie, it isn’t -safe. Marian wouldn’t let you if she were here. -Come on, now.”</p> - -<p>Davie hesitated a minute, debating whether -he should attempt farther advance where he was -or go back with the others. To jump across to -the next rock was almost beyond his daring, but -it would be having his own way. He made, or -appeared to make, preparation for it.</p> - -<p>A quick, hot wave of anger flashed over Delbert. -He started forward, intending to catch his -naughty little brother and carry him back along -the path by force, at least till they were well past<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_249"></a>249</span> -the rocky danger. He knew he could do it, once -he got hold of him.</p> - -<p>Davie knew it, too, and made all haste to jump -before Delbert could get to him. Perhaps he -could have made it, if he had done it with deliberation, -but, as it was, he slipped, missed his -mark, lost his balance, and, slipping, failed to -regain it and fell.</p> - -<p>Delbert and Esther never will forget the sickening -horror of that moment. They rushed forward -and scrambled down the rocks as best they -could to where the little boy lay, making no effort -to get up, but screaming at the top of his lungs.</p> - -<p>Esther was crying, too, but Delbert managed -to control himself enough to refrain from that, -and, frightened as he was, horrified through and -through, he could still reflect that though such a -fall might easily have broken his neck, Davie’s -yells proved he was still very much alive.</p> - -<div class="figcenter width500" id="i-p250-sepia"> - <img src="images/i-p250-sepia.jpg" width="830" height="1058" alt=""> - <div class="caption">DAVIE’S FALL</div> -</div> - -<p>When he reached his little brother and tried to -pick him up he screamed louder than before, if -possible, and then Delbert saw that one leg was -bent in a way that proved even to his inexperience -that the bone was broken. There was also -a cut on the head that was bleeding badly. With<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_250"></a>250</span> -white face and shaking fingers Delbert examined -the head and was relieved to find that the skull -did not seem to be broken, so he took off the rag -that was tied about his own head to keep the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_251"></a>251</span> -hair out of his eyes, and tied it about Davie’s to -stop the bleeding. There was only salt water to -be had just there, and Delbert did not know -enough to know whether that would do at all to -put on or not, but he knew it would make the -wounds smart badly, so he did not risk washing -them with it.</p> - -<p>Esther had already started off to carry the -news to Marian. Delbert almost wished he had -gone himself, as he would probably have reached -the wickiup a few minutes sooner. Still, supposing -Davie were hurt inside! Supposing he -were to die before Marian got there!</p> - -<p>If Delbert had been older and wiser, he would -have known that only about half of Davie’s yells -were from the pain of his injuries, and the other -half were from fright at the pain. As it was, not -daring to move the little fellow a bit lest he hurt -him more, he could only curl down beside him -and, putting his arms around him, kiss him and -talk as soothingly as he could.</p> - -<p>One arm that lay under him Davie did not try -to move, but he put the other about Delbert’s -neck and sobbed, “I—want—to go—back—to—to -the—path, Dellie!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_252"></a>252</span> -A week later Delbert sat down and laughed -till his sides ached over the memory of that -speech, but at the time it did not strike him as -being at all funny.</p> - -<p>As soon as she got back to the smooth ground, -Esther ran like a little deer, ran and ran, stumbled -and fell twice, and picked herself up and ran -again till she was out of breath, and walked -till she regained it, and ran again. She was -all out of breath when she stumbled into the -wickiup.</p> - -<p>Marian was not there. She and Jennie had -started down the new path for water, but in answer -to Esther’s wild calls they quickly returned. -The tears had made streaks through the dirt that -Esther got on her face when she fell, and she was -sobbing so she could not talk straight.</p> - -<p>“Oh, he wouldn’t mind Dellie, Marian, he -wouldn’t mind Dellie, and he fell way down on -the rocks, and he’s all broken and bleedy!”</p> - -<p>It was not a very reassuring way to tell news -certainly. Jennie began to cry, but though -Marian’s face went white, she remained calm.</p> - -<p>“Esther, who fell?”</p> - -<p>“Davie. He wouldn’t mind Dellie—”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_253"></a>253</span> -“There, there! Listen, Esther! Esther, is he -dead?”</p> - -<p>“N—n—not yet,” gasped Esther, “but he’s -all bleedy and Dellie says his leg is broke, and -he is crying awfully.”</p> - -<p>Marian drew a long breath; then, “Jennie, -stop crying, so you can help me,” she said. -“Esther, sit down there and get your breath. -Where is Davie? Where did he fall?”</p> - -<p>“Down by Little Pig Cove. He wouldn’t go -in the path, and he tried to jump and he fell, and -Dellie stayed with him.”</p> - -<p>Marian pressed her hands tightly to her -temples for a moment, and in that moment -thought of all that she could do.</p> - -<p>“Esther,” she said, “fold that blanket to take -back with us. Did Delbert have his good lariat -with him? Yes? Then see if you can find another -stick like this out in the pile. Jennie, hold -this jar so I can pour what water is in the demijohn -into it. There, it isn’t full, but we can’t -stop to go for more now.”</p> - -<p>Esther appeared with the two sticks. Marian -made a bundle of their old ragged clothes and -gave it to Jennie to carry; then, taking the jar of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_254"></a>254</span> -water and the blanket, she followed Esther’s lead -as fast as she could.</p> - -<p>When they got back to where the boys were, -they found Davie still lying where he fell, sobbing, -but not quite so wildly as at first.</p> - -<p>Delbert, white-faced and shaken still, crouched -beside him.</p> - -<p>Marian examined the child as well as she -could. The cut on the head was already ceasing -to bleed, and the other scratches and bumps, -ugly though they were, did not alarm her, but at -sight of that little crooked leg her heart sank. -How could she set a bone? She mistrusted that -the under arm was injured too, and goodness only -knew how much more.</p> - -<p>She set Jennie and Delbert to making a -stretcher out of the two sticks and the blanket, -while she and Esther hunted up some sticks as -nearly straight as they could find to make a -temporary splint for the leg, till they could get -back to the wickiup.</p> - -<p>Every time they moved the leg, Davie -screamed and beat at them with his good arm. -He made no attempt to move the other one. At -last Marian ordered Jennie and Esther to hold<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_255"></a>255</span> -him and his pugnacious little arm, while she and -Delbert managed the leg.</p> - -<p>Jennie began to cry. “O Marian, don’t! -don’t!” she sobbed.</p> - -<p>Marian sat up and pushed back some loose -strands of hair that straggled over her eyes.</p> - -<p>“Jennie,” she said, “we have <em>got</em> to hurt him. -We can’t help it. We have <em>got</em> to get him back -to the wickiup, where I can fix it—as well as I -can. If we don’t get it right, he will be a cripple -all his life. The pain won’t kill him; just the pain -won’t, dearie. He may faint, but it won’t be any -worse. Don’t make it worse by your crying.”</p> - -<p>So Jennie controlled herself as well as she -could, and she and Esther, steeling their hearts, -held the little arm and head and shoulder down, -while Marian straightened the leg a little and -arranged it so it would be held fairly steady as -they carried him back. Then she turned him -over and examined the arm. She could not see -that it was hurt, but she knew it must be. As -gently as she could, she lifted him on to the -stretcher and gave him a big drink of water. -Then they started back. Davie and Esther cried -all the way.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_256"></a>256</span> -At the wickiup they laid him as gently as they -could on the floor, but he screamed with the pain -nevertheless. Marian set all three of the others -to bringing up water, and she put some on in the -little kettle over the fire.</p> - -<p>She washed off the blood and dirt and tore her -bathing-suit into bandages. Fortunately, it was -clean, having been washed and boiled in fresh -water, as it chanced, since she had used it, -and she put a clean bandage around the head -in the place of the rather dirty rag that Delbert -had tied it with. Then she gathered all -the little pieces of board they had, and while -the others brought the water, she worked at -splints.</p> - -<p>When she had got these ready, she straightened -her patient out on the floor on his back, -and undid the first hasty bandaging and tried to -straighten his leg till it would look and feel just -like the other one. Jennie and Esther were too -much wrought up by Davie’s suffering to be of -much service, but Delbert set his white lips together -and held the screaming child firmly. At -last they thought it seemed to be right and bandaged -it up.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_257"></a>257</span> -“Marian,” said Delbert, “his shoulder cracked -awful funny just now.”</p> - -<p>After a little examination she said, “I guess it -must have been twisted out of place a little and -slipped back in. You see, he moves it now, and it -certainly feels just like the other one, at any rate.”</p> - -<p>She felt him all over, but could find nothing -more that seemed like broken bones, for which -she was devoutly thankful.</p> - -<p>She had an idea that Davie must not be moved -at all for a week at least, and as a precaution -against this she tied the bandaged leg to the side -of the wickiup. For the life of her she could not -remember how long it took a broken bone to heal, -though she must some time have heard some one -say; and of course the others were no wiser. Delbert -had it running in his head that it was three -weeks, but Jennie said, “No, that is how long it -takes a chicken to hatch.”</p> - -<p>“Anyway,” said Esther, “when it does grow -together it itches awfully. I heard Mr. Faston -say so.”</p> - -<p>Davie was so exhausted that he slept quite a -while that afternoon, but by night he was awake -and feverish, and, of course, very fretful.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_258"></a>258</span> -Marian kept pouring a little cold water on his -bandages. She was sure that was the right thing -to do, and she sat beside him, soothing him by -every device she could think of and feeling her -heart grow heavier and heavier as his fever rose -and he struggled to turn and toss, and moaned -and cried.</p> - -<p>At night the little girls slept, and Delbert too -to some extent, but there was no sleep for -Marian. She was afraid there was some internal -injury, not knowing that the fever was the natural -result of the shock and hurt and only what -any doctor would have expected.</p> - -<p>She kept the bandages wet with cold water -and wrung out hot cloths and applied them to the -sore and lame spots. She bathed and rubbed and -worked over Davie and she kept her voice cheerful -and her eyes smiling, though a sickening fear -held her heart.</p> - -<p>It was days and days before she could feel at -all easy, but the fever departed, the swellings -went down, and no more lame spots came to -light. Davie ate well and slept fairly well too. -He began to regain his old sunny ways, and the -tension on Marian’s nerves relaxed. But, of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_259"></a>259</span> -course, she had to stay by him pretty closely; -so the other children performed the business of -the day alone.</p> - -<p>They attended to the garden and went down -after each tide to see if there were any fish -in High-Tide Pool, because, though they never -found a whole school in there as they had on that -day soon after their arrival, still there were very -likely to be one or two lurking in the dark hole in -the rocks, and one child would wade in and scare -them out, and Delbert, standing ready with the -spear, would gather them in. There were quite a -number of places among the rocks where fish, -and often big fish, were to be found after high -tide. If they could get them that way, it saved -going at night, and of course they could not well -do that now. Anyway, it took quite a pile of -<em>pitalla</em> to light them for a night’s spearing, and -<em>pitalla</em> was getting scarce in the near neighborhood.</p> - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider x-ebookmaker-drop"> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_260"></a>260</span> -</div> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="x">CHAPTER X<br> -<span>DELBERT’S BIG GAME</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Delbert</span> was getting tired of small game now. -He began to plan for deer and pork. He made -himself a new bow, larger and stronger than he -had ever had before, with a new, strong string, -and he made new arrows tipped with the best -points he could get, and then he and Esther -went deer-hunting.</p> - -<p>Jennie always stayed with Marian, to help -with Davie and because she really did not like -hunting. She could not bear to kill things nor -to see them killed. She carried her bow and arrows -and shot at marks along with the rest of -them, and sometimes at game, but she never -seemed to enjoy it when she hit it.</p> - -<p>As soon as it was light enough for them to see -their way at all, Delbert and Esther would creep -out and try for a close approach to the deer. -Sometimes they did not come back till about -noon, their only breakfast having been some -raw vegetables carried with them, a few bananas<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_261"></a>261</span> -usually, which they carried in their quivers -with their arrows,—sometimes not even that. -Marian had no hopes of their ever getting a deer, -but she never discouraged them. She and Jennie -could manage Davie and tend the little burros, -and the lessons could be studied in the afternoons. -Davie, poor boy, certainly had to take -his lessons with great regularity in those days; -there was no way he could escape from them. -Marian had had to loosen his bandages a number -of times, but she did not yet dare take them off, -though she had not kept him strapped to the -house very long.</p> - -<p>Marian now began to study very earnestly on -the spinning and weaving problem. Rabbit-skin -clothing was very unsatisfactory, as were the -crocheted fiber things, too, though for different -reasons, but little King David’s misfortune had -simply wiped every other kind out of existence. -What with bandages and towels, there was not -one single thin, worn garment left, only a little -pile of frayed rags. Marian took her swim at -night now. It was imperative that new clothes -be acquired in some way, and she thought and -thought, and was just beginning to see light on<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_262"></a>262</span> -the subject when Esther came tearing in one -morning, breathless and disheveled, to announce -that Delbert had killed his deer.</p> - -<p>His sisters could scarcely credit the story, -but Marian took the path straightway, leaving -Jennie to keep Davie company and give him his -frequently demanded drinks of water and dampen -his bandages and see if he had remembered from -yesterday the little words written on the big -clamshell. Marian found Delbert dancing a veritable -war dance round a fair-sized buck. The -thing had happened almost as far back as Little -Pig Cove, where Davie had fallen, and, in a way, -the two occurrences were somewhat similar.</p> - -<p>Delbert and Esther had crept along that -morning, as luck would have it, in time to witness -a very serious disagreement between two -bucks. The wind was in their favor; otherwise -they might not have got quite so close to where -the two were struggling together.</p> - -<p>Perhaps one of them had thought they should -cross the pasture on the level land, perhaps the -other wanted the herd to hunt <em>panales</em> among -the rocks. Delbert never knew what the quarrel -was about. He had read of such things, but this<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_263"></a>263</span> -was his first chance to see anything of the sort. -His blood leaped, and his eyes sparkled. Esther, -a little behind him, practically inclined, fitted an -arrow to her bow and shot. In her excitement the -shaft went wide of the mark; so much so that no -one, not even the deer, noticed it at all, a result -which so sobered her that she did not try again. -Delbert was actually forgetting to shoot at all, -which Esther afterwards declared was worse -than shooting and missing, even as wildly as she -had.</p> - -<p>But the stronger of the two bucks was beginning -to push the other about, and in the scuffle -they worked nearer and nearer to the edge of the -rocks, though it is hardly likely this was other -than accidental. Probably they were so taken up -with their tussle that they did not notice where -they were going. But presently a rock loosened -and slipped, and then, before they could realize -what was happening, a great mass of rocks and -earth and bushes fell thundering down the steep -to the level strip below.</p> - -<p>Esther screamed and ran back; the group of -deer which had been watching the combat also -fled, and did not stop till they had reached the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_264"></a>264</span> -safety of the farther pasture. One of the fighting -bucks was able to spring back and save himself, -and he fled with the rest, but the other one went -down with the avalanche.</p> - -<div class="figcenter width800" id="i-p264-sepia"> - <img src="images/i-p264-sepia.jpg" width="1250" height="982" alt=""> - <div class="caption">HE COULD SEE THE BUCK STRUGGLING TO FREE HIMSELF</div> -</div> - -<p>Delbert, with a shout, ran forward and began -clambering down where it was not so steep and -appeared to be perfectly safe. In a minute he -could see the buck struggling to free himself -from the mass of débris. Even then he did not -think of the trusty bow and arrows he had -taken such pains with for this very occasion,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_265"></a>265</span> -but, pulling out his long knife, he ran forward, -and, by the time Esther had scrambled down -beside him, the deer had ceased to kick, and -Delbert was tugging at the rocks that still partly -covered it. He sent her post-haste for Marian, -and when they got back to him, he had the deer -pulled out on a clear space and was already beginning -to skin it.</p> - -<p>Neither of them knew a thing about cutting -up such an animal except what they dimly remembered -used to be done at “Grandpa’s” at -hog-butchering time, but they managed to get -the skin off after a fashion and they chopped and -cut away at the rest, breaking the bones with a -stone or the hatchets when they could not find a -joint.</p> - -<p>The discarded parts they would leave there, -for it was too far to carry them to the watermelon-patch -for fertilizer, and there were plenty -of the scavengers of the sea waiting for them to -go so that they could clean up after them. The -good meat they tied up in the skin, and they -swung it on a pole and carried it home between -them, Esther carrying the hatchet and -knives.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_266"></a>266</span> -It was past noon when, blood-stained and -weary, they arrived at the wickiup. Jennie was -getting anxious, and Davie was decidedly fretful. -Delbert was then sent out to the salt reef to bring -back all the salt there was there. They would -need it besides what they already had in the -wickiup, for Marian was determined not to lose -a bit of that meat. She cleaned up the pail and -hung it over the fire too, for the kettle would not -hold all the bones. Some of the ribs were put to -roast immediately, and then she set to work cutting -up and salting and hanging up to dry. They -stretched a line out in the sun and hung the -pieces over that.</p> - -<p>The skin would fill several long-felt wants, one -of which was to provide Marian with sandals. -Her leather ones had worn entirely out, and she -had tried fiber ones without much success; she -had even tried wooden ones.</p> - -<p>Before that meat was half gone,—and they -ate with true Indian appetites,—Delbert had -determined to go after pork. There was a certain -place on the farther end of the island where the -pigs were pretty apt to be found, especially in the -heat of the day. It was back from the shore, but<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_267"></a>267</span> -low. In fact, it was a lagoon of water in the rainy -season and contained water till near the rains -again. In one or two places the fresh water oozed -out all the year round. It was here that the -young hunter proposed to make his attack.</p> - -<p>The boy’s idea was certainly novel. Good as -his new bow and arrows were, he did not really -suppose he could kill a hog with them except by -accident. Perhaps a shot through the eye would -be fatal,—he was not sure,—but if one was -merely wounded there was danger of the rest -showing fight, and—well, Delbert proposed to -take no chances.</p> - -<p>So where the big rocks, solid as the Island itself, -overhung the bushes and little pools below, -he would establish himself. Here he would be -where the game could not get at him without -making a détour of a quarter of a mile or so, and, -after he had cut some brush and piled it properly, -they could not see him either.</p> - -<p>So with his hair rope he made a trap or snare -across a much-used pig path, the rope running -up over a crude but strong pulley and being tied -about a good-sized cactus in the rocks above. -With the butcher knife lashed to the end of a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_268"></a>268</span> -good stout pole and several such implements by -his side he sat and waited patiently.</p> - -<p>When it became pretty warm, the pigs assembled -by the lagoon to drink and wallow in the -mud. Before so very long the Muggywah appeared, -with Jennie and Esther on board. They -moored her out a little way and waded in. -Quietly they drove the herd up toward the rocks -and bushes, for, though not what could be called -wild, the pigs would not permit a close approach. -Presently one of them poked his nose through -Delbert’s waiting noose, and Delbert fairly held -his breath till he stepped on, and then he gave a -mighty jerk and began hauling in his rope over -the pulley. He had caught the porker just back -of one front leg, and the astonishment of that -pig and his companions when he was thus lifted -bodily into the air was enough, Delbert afterward -said, to pay him for all his trouble.</p> - -<p>From behind his screen of rocks and bushes he -pulled the squealing animal up till he could reach -him with a sort of shepherd’s crook he had provided -himself with; whereupon he fastened the -rope and pulled the pig in out of sight of its companions -and dispatched it.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_269"></a>269</span> -At the first squeal the girls had retreated most -hastily to the Muggywah and pushed off, paddling -back till they were well out of sight of the -herd of pigs, when they moored the craft again, -this time to a rock on shore, and, ascending the -hill, circled round back till they found Delbert -cutting up the game.</p> - -<div class="figcenter width500" id="i-p269-sepia"> - <img src="images/i-p269-sepia.jpg" width="930" height="1040" alt=""> - <div class="caption">DELBERT PULLED THE SQUEALING ANIMAL UP</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_270"></a>270</span> -They did by it as they had done by the deer,—skinned -it and carried the meat home tied up in -the skin slung over a pole. They had a stick -with a fork at one end, so each of the girls could -take a fork, and Delbert managed the other -end.</p> - -<p>After that Delbert had no more taste for potting -small game. He spent his time thinking up -tricks and traps for deer and pigs. The deer -were not such easy marks, but the pigs, being -more stupid or less shy, could often be successfully -bagged by practically the same tactics as -he had used the first time.</p> - -<p>Finally Marian suggested to him that it would -be in the long run a great saving of time and an -all-round better plan if he would build a good -little pen somewhere and catch rather small pigs -and put them into it, where they could fatten -them up on garden stuff, of which they had -plenty now,—the inferior bananas, for instance,—and -then they could kill them when -they chose. Jennie thought of a good place for a -pen, close to the watermelon-patch, where there -was a scrubby tree or two and a great overhanging -rock that the pigs could go under for shade<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_271"></a>271</span> -and shelter, and where they would not have to -build a fence except on two sides.</p> - -<p>The plan was put into operation and worked -very well. They built the fence mostly of rocks -piled up into a wall, and when it was finished, -Delbert stocked it with youngsters that he was -sure were quite old enough to leave their mothers. -And the catching of them and the conveying of -them across to the pen gave him much glee in -spite of the hard labor involved.</p> - -<p>The pork when killed was cured with salt and -smoke. Marian did not have very good success -with the last method, yet she managed it after a -fashion. First she tried smoking the meat by -hanging it over their chimney, but that was too -hot, for it cooked it as well as smoking it and -fried out all the grease too. But she did better -when she built a smokehouse where a tiny fire -discharged its smoke through a tunnel in a bank -that terminated in a little cubby-hole affair of -sticks and rocks where the meat was laid. They -called it a smokehouse. It was a sort of doll -smokehouse. The meat was always cut in rather -small pieces and well salted, for Marian had a -horror of spoilt meat.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_272"></a>272</span> -Soap was also attempted,—staggered at, -Marian said. She knew little about it, but had -seen Bobbie’s mother making it, and she happened -to know that ashes contained lye. The -bottom of the wickerwork around the good demijohn -had worn clear through. Marian carefully -broke it away at the neck as well and took it off -entirely. Then, tipping it upside down, she had -a basket forsooth. She lined the sides with green -banana leaves and filled it full of ashes.</p> - -<p>She rigged it up where she could slip under it -the old broken demijohn they had found in the -cove and had used so much, which would hold -about a gallon. Then she poured a little water -on the ashes, and when that soaked in, a little -more, and kept it up till she had it dripping -through into the old demijohn below. Thus she -leached out her lye. And if it did not seem very -strong, she could boil it down in the porcelain -kettle, which was the only thing she had that -she dared use for that purpose, though she could -boil things and even try out her grease in Mr. -Cunningham’s pail.</p> - -<p>When the lye was stout enough to suit her, she -put it into the two-quart glass jar or the bottles,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_273"></a>273</span> -and finally she started in with the soap-making. -Well, she made it, but don’t imagine it was nice -white, sweet-smelling soap, such as you can buy, -for it certainly was not. She made, first and last, -a good many batches. Some of it would harden, -and some would not.</p> - -<p>What did harden she cut into cakes and put on -a shelf to dry, where it would proceed to do so, -shrinking itself up into the most absurd shapes -of about half its former size. And what would -not harden, she put into broken bottles or great -shells or hollowed-out pieces of wood, but it was -nearly all black in color and smelled—oh, like -nothing in the world but very strong-smelling -soap, but it would make a lather, after a fashion, -and would take out dirt and grease.</p> - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider x-ebookmaker-drop"> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_274"></a>274</span> -</div> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="xi">CHAPTER XI<br> -<span>WHEREWITHAL SHALL WE BE CLOTHED?</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Marian’s</span> grandmothers had known how to -spin and weave, and as a little girl she herself had -seen the old wheels and looms of her ancestors -and had had their workings explained to her. -But her childish mind had understood little, and -the intervening years had wiped out much of -that. Still, there remained a little, a wavering -memory that she called up now and caused to -supplement her grown-up knowledge of how -such things must needs be worked out.</p> - -<p>“I need two wheels, Delbert,” she said, “and a -band to go from one to the other as on mother’s -sewing-machine. One wheel must be small, and -I think this spool will do. Jennie, you can wind off -what’s left of the thread on to this little stick instead. -But where can I get the other wheel? It -must be big.”</p> - -<p>“There’s the bottom of the old barrel,” suggested -Delbert. “We can make something else -to put on the Muggywah to carry things in.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_275"></a>275</span> -“That’s so,” said Marian; “I could burn a -hole through the center to run an axle through -and another one to stick a handle in near the -edge to turn it by.”</p> - -<p>“But doesn’t the wheel have to have a groove -on it? Mamma’s machine wheel did,—grooved, -you know, so the band couldn’t slip off.”</p> - -<p>“No, if I remember rightly, the big wheel on -grandma’s spinning-wheel was very wide, or had -a wide tire, and the band was so narrow there -was no danger of its getting off. There probably -was a groove on the little wheel, and our spool -will fix that, you see, as well as if it had been -made specially; but I don’t see my way clear yet -to making that barrel-bottom carry the band. -Maybe I can char the edge and make a groove -in it.”</p> - -<p>Investigation proved the bottom of the barrel -to be made of two pieces which would come apart -as soon as the pressure of the staves was removed. -That, however, was remedied by nailing -two bits of boards across the two pieces.</p> - -<p>Where did she get the nails? Well, she had -been saving them up for a long time. Two of -them had been in Davie’s apron pockets when<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_276"></a>276</span> -they came to the Island, and one had chanced to -be lying in the bottom of the lunch-basket. The -others had been picked up one time and another -in bits of driftwood on the beaches. Most of -these were too crooked and rusty to be good for -much, but there were enough good ones to fasten -the pieces of the barrel-bottom securely together. -Then they knocked off the hoops and staves and -released the round piece, and burned the center -hole, and another near the rim to put a handle in -to turn it by, as Marian had said.</p> - -<p>By this time she had abandoned the idea of -charring the edge and making a groove. She -gathered a lot of little straight pieces about five -inches long and varying in width, some round -but most little flat pieces, and in the center of -each she cut a V-shaped notch and pounded -them down tight on the edge of the wheel till -she had circled it entirely, in that manner, then -tied two strings round near the ends of the little -sticks to bind them so they would not loosen up -and come off.</p> - -<p>She decided to use the same iron bar for an -axle for the wheel to turn on that she had used -to burn the holes in it with, and she pounded it<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_277"></a>277</span> -into a crack in the rock wall of the wickiup. The -outer end of the bar had a sort of knob on it,—it -might once have been a nut,—so that the -wheel would not slip off, and to keep it from -wandering in the other direction up to the wall -she twisted a bit of rope round the bar and tied it -to make a good-sized knot on that side.</p> - -<p>She was not quite satisfied with the rim of her -wheel, and she worked a long while, weaving and -winding fiber in and out till she had it all smooth -with no chance of any of the little pieces being -knocked loose. For the rest of her apparatus she -had to do some searching for materials. She -spent a full half-day up in the pasture before she -found what she had decided she must have,—a -straight little tree that divided into two branches -about three feet up. She cut it close to the ground -and trimmed off the top, leaving the forks about -six inches long.</p> - -<p>A piece of driftwood flat on one side was taken -for the base, and a hole was burned in the middle -of it and enlarged till the forked stick could be -inserted and made snug by driving in little pegs -where it did not fit tight. Two little holes were -burned through the two forks. She used a big<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_278"></a>278</span> -old nail to do that, for she did not want such -big holes as the bar would have made,—besides, -the bar was tight in the wall now with the big -wheel swung on it. A little round stick that fitted -snug into the spool was then made into a spindle. -It turned nicely in the two little burned -holes in the forks.</p> - -<div class="figcenter width800" id="i-p278-sepia"> - <img src="images/i-p278-sepia.jpg" width="1440" height="994" alt=""> - <div class="caption">THE SPINNING-WHEEL</div> -</div> - -<p>However, the standard was not heavy enough -of itself to stand as firmly as would be required, -so one end of the driftwood base was slipped -under a rock projection, and then Delbert tugged -in as big a rock as he could lift and set it down on -the other end.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_279"></a>279</span> -Now all that was lacking was a band to connect -the two wheels. Marian crocheted this out -of fiber, just wide enough to fit the spool.</p> - -<p>Any of the children could turn the big wheel. -Even Davie would be able to when he got up. -This left Marian’s hands free to manipulate her -cotton at the spindle.</p> - -<p>Probably no spinning-wheel that was ever -built was just like that one, but that did not disturb -Marian’s equanimity so long as her wheel -would spin, and that it certainly did. True, her -yarn was always lumpy; she never did get so she -could make it nice and smooth, but she was convinced -that that was the fault of the manipulation -of the cotton, for the wheel itself went quite -swiftly and smoothly.</p> - -<p>After she had spun up all their cotton, which -included that from the wild cotton-tree, which -she mixed in with that of the now flourishing -bushes in the garden, she got out the little bundle -of the combings of their hair, which she had -saved ever since about the first of their being on -the island, and she finally got that all spun into -yarn too. It took as much time to prepare her -material for spinning as it did to spin it, but the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_280"></a>280</span> -children helped with the cotton. They all, Davie -included, got to be quite expert at picking out -cotton seeds.</p> - -<p>The next problem was weaving. Delbert was -unexpectedly helpful at that. He knew nothing -of his grandmother’s loom, but once upon a time -he had seen a woman weaving a rag carpet, and -on that never-to-be-forgotten trip with Clarence -and his father he had seen an old Indian weaving -on a loom.</p> - -<p>As, however, the son of the old Indian had -been blest with a number of fighting cocks which -he was very desirous of showing off to the Americans, -the small boy had bestowed most of his -attention on the pugnacious birds instead of on -the sober and less interesting loom; with the -result that of the two processes that of rag-carpet -weaving was really the clearer in his -mind, though it had been witnessed earlier.</p> - -<p>“There were two rollers,” he told Marian. -“One had the threads and one had the carpet, -and there were two little frame things something -like in a beehive, only with strings across, and -when one jerked up it lifted up every other -thread, and she’d throw the thing through and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_281"></a>281</span> -then the other would jerk up and that lifted the -other every other thread, and she’d throw it -back again and pound it down with a stick.”</p> - -<p>Marian drew a long breath. “Delbert,” she -said, “it sounds just like a nightmare.”</p> - -<p>Delbert stared. “Why,” he said, “I can see it -just as plain as can be, only I can’t remember -how it was made.”</p> - -<p>“Probably we couldn’t make one just like it, -anyway,” she consoled him.</p> - -<p>Indeed, after much cogitating, she decided -that an actual loom was beyond their resources, -just at that time, at least, and concluded to weave -by the simple method followed by the Indians in -weaving the <em>fajas</em>,<a id="FNanchor_6" href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> or narrow sashes the men -wear. They had seen this done by an Indian -woman at the Port.</p> - -<div class="footnote-container"> -<div class="footnote"><a id="Footnote_6" href="#FNanchor_6" class="label">[6]</a> Pronounced <em>fahʹhahss</em>. -</div></div> - -<p>This calls for two pairs of forks set in the -ground and two round sticks laid across the forks. -The thread for the warp is wound round these -sticks, from one to the other, over both and then -under both, across and across, till the sticks are -full.</p> - -<p>A thin flat stick is then woven in under one<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_282"></a>282</span> -thread and over the next of the top layer of -threads, and then turned up on edge. This makes -a space to pass the shuttle through, and the -shuttle, by the way, is simply a slender stick -with the filling wound on it.</p> - -<p>Then the flat stick is pulled out and woven in -again and the process repeated again and again. -As fast as is needed, the round sticks are turned -over, thus turning the woven cloth underneath -till all but a few inches of the warp has been -woven. These threads are then cut and form the -fringe on the ends of the <em>faja</em>.</p> - -<p>Marian changed the plan a little. Two little -crotches were set in the floor of the wickiup just -at the right height to be handy to work at. They -had to dig up the floor to get them set right, -but when they were set, the children smoothed -things over and packed the seaweed carpet down -again.</p> - -<p>A smooth round stick about as big as Marian’s -wrist was laid across the crotches. The other -roller was much smaller around, and instead of -being put on a pair of crotches was fastened to -the side of the house with loops of rope, being -just loose enough to turn easily in the loops.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_283"></a>283</span> -Then came the task of wrapping the warp -round the two rollers. It had to be very even and -snug, and every once in a while a thread would -break and have to be tied, and altogether it -called for a good deal of patience.</p> - -<div class="figcenter width800" id="i-p283-sepia"> - <img src="images/i-p283-sepia.jpg" width="1050" height="892" alt=""> - <div class="caption">THE LOOM</div> -</div> - -<p>“I remember,” said Delbert, “that on the -carpet the lady wove, this part was all red and -green. She had a wide stripe of red in the middle -and a wide stripe of green out a little way from -it on both sides, and in between were narrow<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_284"></a>284</span> -stripes, but, on the very outside, on each edge, -there was a stripe of red just half as wide as the -one in the center, and she explained it to me. -She said it was so that when the carpet was all -sewed together it would make a red stripe just -the same size as the one in the middle. The rags -that she put in the other way were all kinds of -colors.”</p> - -<p>“How came you to remember all that?” asked -Jennie.</p> - -<p>“Dunno, but I do.”</p> - -<p>When the warp was all ready, Marian tried -weaving in the cross-thread with her darning-needle, -as she would have mended a sock; but -that was altogether too long and tedious a process, -so she hunted for a thin flat stick such as the -Indians have, to weave in and turn up on edge to -hold the threads apart, while she slipped through -a shuttle which she made of a weed stalk. That -did better, but was not wholly satisfactory, and -Delbert kept thinking and thinking, trying to remember -how that part of the work had been done -on the carpet-loom. He could not get it entirely -clear in his head, but he finally evolved a plan -that answered the purpose.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_285"></a>285</span> -He arranged a pair of harnesses—though -neither he nor Marian knew that that was their -name—of two sticks wound with thread that -looped down round the threads of the warp. -These harnesses were connected by a rope that -ran over a spool pulley that he fixed in the roof. -Marian pulled this rope a little; and that lifted -one of the harnesses and with it every other -thread of the warp; she thrust through her weed-stalk -shuttle, then pulled that harness down, -which released the upheld threads, at the same -time lifting the harness and with it all the other -threads.</p> - -<p>With this device she could accomplish two or -three times as much in the same space of time, -and she was not at all niggardly in her praise. -Delbert glowed in consequence and, of course, -Esther glowed with him. Even Jennie, who was -most apt to be a little skeptical of Delbert’s abilities, -had nothing but the most respectful remarks -to offer on the subject.</p> - -<p>With this crude loom they could weave a piece -of cloth about a foot wide by six feet long, and -the children were all so interested and eager to -work at it, and it was such a simple process, that<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_286"></a>286</span> -they all easily learned; so Marian did not have -all the weaving to do.</p> - -<p>Marian had kept Davie’s leg bandaged till she -was very sure that it must be well knit together, -and then she would not have him bear his -weight on it for almost a week after. She was so -very ignorant as to how such things should be -attended to that she simply did not know what -might happen. So she would undo it every day -and bathe and rub and work with it and then do -it up again, leaving it more and more loose and -finally gave him permission to walk on it a little, -but even then she kept the splints on it and provided -him with a sort of a crutch.</p> - -<p>When at last she discarded all bindings and -allowed him to go free, they watched him most -jealously. There was a queer little half-limp that -Marian saw immediately. She hoped it would -pass off in a week or so, and it did get better, but -it never entirely disappeared. In spite of all her -care, something had not been just right, and little -King David never walked quite straight again.</p> - -<p>Marion felt much worse about it than he did. -As long as he could walk and run and swim, -what did he care if one leg was a trifle shorter<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_287"></a>287</span> -than the other? He could roam the Island wilds -with the rest of them now, and that was joy -enough.</p> - -<p>Marian hoped his experience would teach him -wisdom, and she did her best to impress it upon -his mind that when she was not there Delbert’s -authority came next; that, as Delbert was the -oldest, it was his duty to take care of the younger -ones, and they must obey him.</p> - -<p>Davie admitted that he had not really needed -to look for <em>panales</em>, that he could plainly see he -would have saved himself a great deal of pain and -trouble if he had minded Delbert, and he even -went so far as to say of his own accord that he -wished he had. Also, at Marian’s request, he -promised to be “more good” in the future.</p> - -<p>This was all she could hope for in that direction, -and she took pains to instruct Delbert, -when the others were not present, that, while she -fully intended to back up his authority, at the -same time he must take care not to issue orders -that were not really necessary. She did not -worry about his having trouble with the girls, -for Esther would think anything Delbert wanted -was the thing to do, anyway, and Jennie was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_288"></a>288</span> -growing into such a sensible little woman that -her judgment could be depended upon as well -as Delbert’s own; but Delbert was to take care -that he came pretty near letting Davie have his -own way in the minor, unimportant things and -only issue orders to him when there was some -reason for it.</p> - -<p>She also privately instructed the little girls to -use their influence whenever they could to keep -Davie within bounds and see that he gave Delbert -as little trouble as possible. And there she -had to leave the matter, trusting for the best, for -she could not always go with them now, the -spinning and weaving and the making of their -clothes took up so much of her time. The children -would go off of a morning and sometimes -not be back till nearly noon, coming in laden -with fish, or maybe clams, or with great armloads -of wood.</p> - -<p>While they were gone, Marian would clean up -the wickiup and work a while among the great -mass of poppies and nasturtiums she had growing -about the house and paths; but the wheel -and loom were the principal things. She spun -her cotton and hair-combings as fine as she could,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_289"></a>289</span> -so as to make them go as far as possible, and -then she was always looking for new material. -She learned to work in a great deal of fiber without -spinning, especially in the filling, and many -and many a morning was spent in cleaning out -banana fiber to be used in her cloth. Oh, there -was always plenty to keep her busy till the children -came back at noon. They would be hungry, -and there would be dinner to eat, and then lessons, -and afterwards they would help with whatever -she had in hand.</p> - -<p>And for the lessons she took up another labor, -that of making books of rabbit-skins. She had -Delbert bring her some new skins, and she used -part of the old skin clothes, which had been -promptly discarded as fast as she had made new -ones. She would trim her pages to the desired -size and sew them together with fiber or hair. -She used her little buttonhole scissors for the -cutting, and of course she had real needles, -though she thought that she could have made -shift with thorns if she had had to. Her ink was -brown.</p> - -<p>Her pens were made of quills, and she could -not write very nicely with them. Fine lines and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_290"></a>290</span> -graceful curves were not easy to achieve with -them, so she discarded script and “printed” her -books, as little children do before they have -learned to write.</p> - -<p>I think in time she would have worked out a -printing-press to print her books on. Indeed, -she did take the first step; she began to make -type. It began accidentally almost. A pen had -gone bad, and in fixing it her knife slipped and -spoiled it altogether. Then, her mind on something -else, she began toying with it idly and -presently cut it square across and, pressing it -down on her wrist, noted the neat <em>o</em> it printed -there. Then it struck her that if it were inked it -would make a better <em>o</em> than she could with a -pen. She tried it, and it worked.</p> - -<p>A second quill cut across and a section taken -out made a <em>c</em>. It gave her an idea. Why not -make a lot of type? It could not all be made -with quills, but it would be amusing to see -what she could do. She whittled out from bits -of wood a capital <em>A</em>, and a <em>W</em>, and a <em>D</em>. She -needed an ink-pad, and made it by padding a -chip with cotton and then covering it with one -of her last scraps of lawn.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_291"></a>291</span> -Her type worked well enough, but it would be -too much bother to whittle out the whole alphabet. -The little letters would be beyond her skill, -anyway, and it would be slower printing one -type at a time than it was writing them. But by -that time she had thought of a way whereby she -might make a few types serve for the whole alphabet, -as all letters are composed of curves and -straight lines.</p> - -<p>The curves she could make of quills, which -were finer than anything she could whittle out, -and the straight lines she made on the end of a -little bone, two of them,—one for long lines, -one for short ones. Four quills properly cut furnished -her with an assortment of curves, and she -could hold all six in her left hand between the -first and middle fingers, which was better than -laying them down and picking them up each -time she wished to change. It was too much -bother to change with every letter, too, so she -would take one and make all she wanted of that -kind clear across the page, then she would change -and make all of another kind, and so on. She -soon learned to gauge her distances properly.</p> - -<p>It was no quicker than writing, but she could<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_292"></a>292</span> -put her lines closer together, thus getting more -on a page, and her letters were more uniform, -and there were no more blots. It used the ink -up faster than plain writing, for it dried out from -the pad, but, as it chanced, there were plenty of -ink materials.</p> - -<p>The children were delighted; it was easier to -read than the old-time script, and it looked so -neat and businesslike.</p> - -<p>In those soft skin books Marian put every -poem or set of verses that she could remember. -She began with Mother Goose rhymes and graded -on up to “The Charge of the Light Brigade” and -“Thanatopsis,” which she had learned to speak -at school. Into one book went Bible verses and -several whole chapters from the holy book, notably -the twenty-third Psalm and the thirteenth -chapter of First Corinthians.</p> - -<p>Anything and everything pleased the children. -They learned to read everything and to repeat a -great deal by heart. Esther especially was a perfect -little parrot and could reel off all kinds of -lofty sentiment of the meaning of which she had -no conception. Jennie and Delbert always had -to study longer on a thing, and Davie, where<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_293"></a>293</span> -lessons were concerned, was a little lazybones. -Davie never learned anything that he did not -have to, and Marian had such a time getting -the fundamentals well rooted in his memory -that she never tried to plant anything there that -was not necessary. He was as quick and keen as -any of them in other things, though, and it filled -Marian’s heart with pride to see how fearless he -was in the water and how little he was behind -the others in that element.</p> - -<p>As fast as she could, Marian replaced the rabbit-skin -clothes with the newer, better ones, but -the style of making was the same,—low-necked, -sleeveless dresses with rather scant, short skirts, -for material was scarce. Delbert still clung to -his “loin-cloth,” and Marian was more than -willing, it was so much simpler than trousers. -Even David, for the sake of wearing some of the -product of their combined labor, consented to be -clothed like Delbert, and as he found a loin-cloth -did not impede his actions in any way, he -continued to sport one from then on. There was -one thing in favor of the new clothes: they certainly -wore well; there was no shoddy in them.</p> - -<p>Gradually Jennie spent more and more time<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_294"></a>294</span> -at the wickiup. For one thing, the children did -not like to go off and leave Marian alone all the -morning, and as Davie was growing so big that -he could help appreciably, there was really no -need for so many of them on the morning excursions.</p> - -<p>So Jennie stayed with Marian. Her particular -forte was making baskets. Jennie could make -beautiful baskets. She wove them of straws and -tough weeds and palm-leaf. Her only teachers -were her memories of certain kindergarten lessons, -the big basket they had brought their -lunch in, and a rather blurry picture down in one -corner of the old newspaper of a half-dozen Indian -baskets with strange designs. For the rest -she taught herself, and when she once got interested -in the work she wanted to do nothing else.</p> - -<p>It was Jennie who made a basket of split -palm-leaves to take the place of the old barrel on -the Muggywah. She would sit for hours on the -seaweed carpet of the wickiup, leaning against -the pile of bedding, and weave and weave, the -work growing much faster under her slim brown -fingers than it did under Marian’s. Indeed, after -Jennie took to making baskets, Marian and the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_295"></a>295</span> -rest quit. What was the use of their wasting -their time when Jennie could do it so much better -and quicker?</p> - -<p>She made big baskets to carry wood and clams -in; she made little ones to hang up in the wickiup -to drop little pieces of moss and seashells into. -She loved the little ones best. She made them in -patterns. She colored some of her material a -dull red with juice from the cactus fruit and -some of it brown with Marian’s ink. She used -some kinds of seaweed, and she made one basket -with a row of starfish around the edge and over -the handle, and she made some with lids. When -Marian’s hat wore out, Jennie made her a new -one, weaving it as she did her baskets and trimming -it with sprays of seaweed and shells.</p> - -<p>The ordinary rains did not inconvenience -them, but when they were very severe the wickiup -leaked a little down the rock wall. They had -not been able to make the roof perfectly tight -there, and the water, when the wind blew hard, -would find its way down; then they would have -to remove whatever was hanging or leaning -against that side, and Marian would turn back -the seaweed carpet so that it should not get wet,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_296"></a>296</span> -and the water would run down the wall and soak -into the sand and rocks of the floor. They enjoyed -the big rains, though. They could always -keep warm and dry, and the wickiup was big -enough to allow each one to move about a -little and follow whatever occupation he or -she chose.</p> - -<p>It was on a rainy day that Marian conceived -the idea of weaving up the old rags that had been -their clothes into new cloth, though the task was -not finished on that one day by any means, nor -in two. She had used up everything she had on -hand in the way of thread; so she made the warp -out of new hair clipped from her own and the -children’s heads with the buttonhole scissors; -and with the same sharp little instrument she -cut the old rags into strips, as narrow as she -could and have them hold together at all, and -wove them in as rag carpets are woven; and lo! -she had new towels, and they needed new towels -very much.</p> - -<p>So time passed, rainy season and cold weather -and rainy season again. Often at night they -built brush fires out on the rocks where they -could be seen a long way off. Their signal flag<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_297"></a>297</span> -had been blown down one stormy night and lost -altogether.</p> - -<p>Sometimes, far out, they saw canoes and -started out in the Muggywah to intercept them, -but the canoes always went on their way too -fast and too far to be overtaken.</p> - -<div class="figcenter width800" id="i-p297-sepia"> - <img src="images/i-p297-sepia.jpg" width="1350" height="895" alt=""> - <div class="caption">IT SEEMED AS IF THEY MUST SURELY HAVE SEEN OR HEARD HER</div> -</div> - -<p>Once, when the children were gone in the -Muggywah after eggs, Marian sighted a canoe -and started to swim out to it with only a piece -of driftwood to help keep her afloat. She got -so close to them that it seemed as if they must -surely have seen or heard her, but they put up -their sail, and, despairing, she had to see them -depart. Giving up the chase, she rested a little<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_298"></a>298</span> -before battling her way slowly back, but she -arrived so tired that she could scarcely drag herself -out of the water and across the beach, to find -the children returned and hunting desperately -for her.</p> - -<p>Then one day they hauled the Muggywah up -on the beach for repairs. Two of the sticks -driven through the burnt holes had broken, and -they were going to put in new ones. They took -it apart and rolled the logs up beyond the soft -sand into the shade of a mesquite tree that grew -at the foot of the hill.</p> - -<p>The next day they found the material they had -got was not so good as they had thought it was, -and so they spent the day hunting for something -better. And that night came the second big -storm.</p> - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider x-ebookmaker-drop"> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_299"></a>299</span> -</div> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="xii">CHAPTER XII<br> -<span>DISASTER AND A NEW TASK</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> storm was fully as severe as the one that -had welcomed the children to the Island, though -they did not realize what they were in for till -midnight. When it began to blow so strong that -they were really sure a storm was coming, Delbert -took their best ropes and securely moored -the logs of the Muggywah to the tree, thinking -it barely possible that the waves might reach up -to them if the wind kept on increasing. And such -a terrible wind as it threatened to be!</p> - -<p>They turned the little burros loose with their -mothers,—there were four of them that year,—and -the one little pig that they happened to -have in the pen was also turned out to seek its -shelter where it chose. The little girls tried to -get it into the wickiup, but it was wild and escaped -them, and Marian told them to let it go, -that it would take care of itself.</p> - -<p>They gathered in the best of the melons, for -there was no knowing if there would be one left<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_300"></a>300</span> -by morning, the sandy point was so low; and they -piled up a great stack of wood and <em>pitalla</em> by the -fireplace; and then it was too dark to do any more.</p> - -<p>The wind howled and the waves broke on the -beach like mighty thunders. The thatch of their -roof struggled to be gone, and the water poured -down the wall in a steady sheet. Fortunately, it -could soak through the sand and rocks of the -floor and run off down the hill as fast as it came -in; otherwise they would have been flooded. The -window and the storm doors were tied as tightly -as possible, and Marian watched them closely -and thanked her stars that she had insisted on -taking such endless pains to have everything -about the house solid and sure.</p> - -<p>Of course, they were protected somewhat by -the cliff, and the girl shuddered to think what -would have happened had they not been. She -imagined how it would seem to go crawling -through the fury of the storm, holding to one -another’s hands, beaten to the ground and half -drowned, and finally reaching the old Cave, the -only possible other shelter, and crawling in, -soaked and chilled, to lie, packed like sardines in -a box, till morning.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_301"></a>301</span> -It was not a pleasant picture; she was glad to -come back to the reality,—the interior of the -wickiup, somewhat disorderly with so much -wood and everything piled away from the rock -wall, but warm and dry and safe; Delbert -stretched out by the fireplace, a great strong -boy, his eyes, steady and straightforward, regarding -the flames as they spluttered in protest -against the water that found its way down the -chimney; Davie sprawling at her feet, sleeping in -utter carelessness of the storm, well knowing -that whatever happened he would be taken care -of; the two girls on a blanket beyond him, awake, -and Jennie a little nervous but Esther calmly -confident that everything would turn out all -right,—that they were, and would continue to -be, safe.</p> - -<p>Marian’s throat swelled a little as she watched -them. How dear they were, every one, and so -big and strong now, even Davie! Surely now, -when this storm was over and the Muggywah -repaired, they might start back to the Port. The -first few miles outside the shelter of the bay -would be the worst. The waves were always -very big and high out there, but after that,—well,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_302"></a>302</span> -they might not make very good time, -but what mattered it if they were a week on the -way, so they got there at last? They could take -food and water with them, though for that matter -they could go hungry and thirsty if need be; -what mattered it so they got home?</p> - -<p>All that night the wind tore at them; all the -next day it screamed about their ears, and the -breakers on the beach were like great guns of a -battle. The next night it calmed down, and the -next morning they sallied forth to take account -of the damage done.</p> - -<p>They found a considerable amount of damage,—the -felling of many banana plants, half the -patch in fact, the complete disappearance of -every melon vine on the point, every plant in the -garden beaten into the ground, the little pig -gone, and their carefully gathered woodpile scattered -to the four winds. But all this sank into -insignificance beside the fact that not one log of -the Muggywah was left to them. The tree had -been uprooted and washed away bodily, and all -search up and down the beaches revealed no -trace of it. The great storm had cast many -treasures at their feet, but they were so dispirited<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_303"></a>303</span> -over their losses that they could not be very -joyful over the gains.</p> - -<p>Mechanically they lugged the wood up out of -reach of the waves, which were still pounding -angrily, gathered in a number of new bottles, -and took note of the great masses of seaweed -that would make fresh carpet when it was dry. -But with all the wood there was no log like those -of the lost Muggywah, and with all their gazing -to sea they could not see anything that might of -a bare possibility be an uprooted tree.</p> - -<p>They fashioned a poor sort of a raft out of the -best pieces of the driftwood, and with its aid explored -the outer reefs and <em>esteros</em> and even as far -as the egg islands. The raft was clumsy and -slow and generally unmanageable, and Delbert -said that it made him sick just to look at it, but -they wanted to go longer distances than they -could swim, and the float was made to serve.</p> - -<p>At the end of about two weeks, however, Delbert -said: “It’s no use, Marian. We are only -wasting time. The Muggywah simply did not -lodge anywhere near us. Maybe it didn’t -lodge at all; it may be going yet, in three different -directions, and our best ropes with it.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_304"></a>304</span> -“Yes, more’s the pity, Delbert. I hate losing -your hair rope about as bad as losing the Muggywah -herself.”</p> - -<p>“Well,”—and the boy’s jaw set solid and -square,—“there’s not a bit more use crying -over a lost boat than there is in crying over spilt -milk. We can’t find it, and we haven’t got a -stick of timber fit to put into a new one either. -We can’t walk back to the Port; it would be hundreds -of miles to follow the coast line, and we -should be sure to get lost if we tried any short -cuts. If Davie was a couple of years older, I’d -say to risk it. But we aren’t going to wait two -more years. I want to see mother.” His voice -broke a little, but he conquered it and went on. -“There is only one thing to do; it has been in my -head kind of hazy for some time, but now I’ve -got it clear; we must fix the old canoe, Marian.”</p> - -<p>“How?” asked Marian quietly, for she had -never been able to think of any way to do -that.</p> - -<p>“Well, we must put a framework in the side -that is gone, the hole, you know. I’m not sure -yet just what is the best material, but I think -palm-leaf stems would be,—we can burn holes<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_305"></a>305</span> -through the canoe to fasten to,—a solid framework, -that will not break and give way at any -little tap, and as near the shape of the other side -as we can make it. Then we’ll weave in basketwork, -strong as we can, and, as we go, pack all -the cracks full of fiber and <em>pitalla</em> tar. I’ve got -it all studied out, Marian. We’ll weave the -basketwork double with a space between, and -in that space we can put stones, just enough -to make that side of the canoe as heavy as the -other. We’ll mix the fiber and tar together and -pound it down as we go along, and when it’s all -finished, if there come any cracks, we can fill -them in with cotton and tar, and if we can’t jam -it in tight enough so but what it still leaks some, -why, one of us can bail all the time.”</p> - -<p>“Do you know how to make <em>pitalla</em> tar?”</p> - -<p>Delbert threw up his head.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I do! That is <em>one</em> thing I saw made that -I paid enough attention to to know how it was -done. Bobbie’s Uncle Jim used to try it out. -Don’t you remember? He had a place fixed down -by the old blacksmith shop, and we kids were -always fooling around there, and he showed and -explained all about it to us.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_306"></a>306</span> -“And for a wonder you listened?” asked -Jennie.</p> - -<p>“For a wonder I listened,” he answered, smiling -grimly.</p> - -<p>“Good boy!” said Marian. “From now on we -bend our energies to the canoe. When it is done, -we won’t wait for anything more,—once we can -sail it,—we won’t wait for anything more except -a still day. The first still day we’ll start for -home.”</p> - -<p>Delbert had a great time making a retort to -extract his tar. He found a place near High-Tide -Pool where there was a hole in the rock which he -could utilize, and he built it up with stones and -earth till it suited him.</p> - -<p>Then they began gathering the <em>pitalla</em>. They -had gathered everything near them for the fireplace, -but they knew where there was plenty -more to be had, so they went after it,—up the -<em>estero</em>, past the tide-flats toward the lagoon. -There they could gather it, pile it high on the -clumsy raft, and float it home as they had -brought the thatch-grass. It was slow work, but -there was no other way. It was not so easy to -get down to the <em>estero</em> as the grass had been,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_307"></a>307</span> -for the <em>pitalla</em> is thorny indeed, but they managed -it somehow, because they had to. They -could gather a good deal on the shores nearer -home, but nowhere was there such an abundance -as beyond that particular <em>estero</em>.</p> - -<p>They decided, however, never to leave the -home Island alone. They had seen several canoes -since the storm, and they hoped one might come -into San Moros and near enough to be signaled. -Delbert and the girls were perfectly capable of -gathering the <em>pitalla</em> and bringing it home; so -Marian and Davie stayed at home to do the -work there and watch the bay for canoes.</p> - -<p>Marian put in a little garden, for they could -not tell how long it might take them to finish -the canoe, and she planted part of the melon-patch -over again, thinking that what they did -not reap perhaps some one else would. She -straightened up the bananas and mended the -fence where they had dragged the old canoe out -of it.</p> - -<p>As soon as they had got quite a little pile of -<em>pitalla</em>, they began to burn it in the retort, and -some one had to watch that and attend to it. -Delbert was sure that he lost a great deal of tar<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_308"></a>308</span> -because his retort was so crude. He was sure -Bobbie’s Uncle Jim got much more out of a pile -of <em>pitalla</em> than he did, but he had to manage as -best he could. And the tar did come; it trickled -down into the little dishpan slowly but surely, -and Delbert, impatient though he was, would set -his face toward the <em>estero</em> and bring more <em>pitalla</em>.</p> - -<p>Every morning the three were in such a hurry -to get off that they did not stop for a hot breakfast, -and they took only a light lunch with them -for noon, but Marian always had a good hot -meal ready for them upon their return. The destruction -of the garden was a drawback, for the -little new one was not of service yet. Still, not -all the plants had been destroyed by the storm; -some had been rescued, straightened up, washed, -and tied to stakes, and were pursuing the even -tenor of their way again, and, of course, the turnips -and carrots that had already attained their -growth were as good as ever, and the newly -planted seeds would soon be making quite a -showing.</p> - -<p>Twice since the storm Delbert had killed a -deer, and the meat was not allowed to spoil. -What could not be cooked immediately was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_309"></a>309</span> -salted and dried, some of it smoked, and all was -watched carefully to thwart the flies. When the -raft came back at night it would bring game of -some kind,—a rabbit killed in the brush of the -shore or a fish speared on the way down the -<em>estero</em>. These would be put into the kettle and -left simmering over the coals till morning, or -wrapped in green banana leaves and buried in -the hot coals, to be raked out hastily for breakfast; -and of the remnants Marian would make -a stew to have piping hot for supper, flanked by -a dish of greens which she and Davie had picked.</p> - -<p>As they ran across them, the children brought -in other things that they needed,—tough sticks, -or mescal plants to make ropes of,—and Davie -was always waiting for them on the pier to see -what the particular booty of the day was and to -carry it up to the wickiup to show Marian. And -Marian always had warm water ready for them, -and when they had washed off the day’s accumulation -of dirt and combed the tangled hair and -braided it anew,—they did not stop for that in -the morning,—they would sit down and eat; -and they always ate all Marian had prepared for -them, too, and then filled up on bananas and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_310"></a>310</span> -chattered and chattered like a flock of birds all -the time. Then they would go down and unload -the <em>pitalla</em> and carry it over to the retort, and by -that time they were ready to settle down in the -wickiup in front of the <em>pitalla</em> fire for a rest.</p> - -<p>There would be a very short session of school -then, a little reading from the rabbit-skin book, -a review of the multiplication or division tables, -and a spelling-lesson. It was not much; Marian -had got them about as far as she could without -books, and it did not seem as if it mattered so -much, now that the home-going was, as you -might say, in sight. They always sang in the -evenings. Their mother had come of a musical -family, and Marian had taught them all the -songs she knew, and there was not one of them -that could not sing sweet and clear and strong. -Marian gloried in their voices and knew that her -mother would too.</p> - -<p>And she always had to tell them a story after -lessons were over. They said that was Marian’s -lesson. She had become quite expert at it. -Usually it was a rehashing of some dimly remembered -thing that she had read, but sometimes -it was a pure product of her imagination.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_311"></a>311</span> -If it was an Indian story, why, so much the -better, for the tribe never forgot that it <em>was</em> a -tribe, though sometimes the Indian names and -pretenses would be dropped for several weeks, -only to be taken up with renewed vigor later.</p> - -<p>When Marian thought that it was long enough -since they had eaten, and about bedtime,—her -watch had stopped the year before,—they -would go down to the water and have their swim. -Sometimes the water was pretty cold, but they -were so used to it that they did not stop for that -any more. Once in a while Davie was left asleep -at the wickiup, but as a rule he went with them.</p> - -<p>They would take the raft away out from shore -and have oceans of fun plunging from it, diving, -swimming races, floating, in short doing everything -that could be done in the water.</p> - -<p>A favorite game was “rescue.” One of them -would fall overboard with a yell of “Oh, save -me!” and then do as little as possible to help -himself, while another one would dive in after -him and those on the raft would paddle it off a -little, so as to give the gallant rescuer scope for -his or her endeavors. They got so that there -was not one of them—except Davie—who<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_312"></a>312</span> -could not take care of himself and one other in -the water, and even Davie could make a very -respectable stagger at it.</p> - -<p>Delbert and Esther were the best swimmers; -they could do the most difficult stunts. In a -straight swim, though, Marian would outlast -Esther, while Jennie fell considerably behind her.</p> - -<p>Moonlight nights were best for this play. -Marian, her paddle in hand, watched them with -exultation in her heart, they were so strong and -full of grace; and they were hers,—she had -thought, studied, prayed, watched, and worked -for them. Once she had read a novel whose hero -had been described as being “straight and handsome -as a young god.” That was the phrase that -always came into her mind out there on the raft -as she watched Delbert,—“straight and handsome -as a young god,”—but she never said it -aloud.</p> - -<p>And Jennie,—puny, sickly little Jennie, always -the least pretty of them all,—how slim -and lovely she stood in the moonlight, her hair -in two dripping braids, her eyes like shining -stars! It fairly took Marian’s breath away sometimes -to realize what a winsome beauty was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_313"></a>313</span> -growing to be Jennie’s. She had always expected -Esther to be pretty, but that Jennie should blossom -out like this!</p> - -<p>Sometimes the water was full of phosphorescence. -This was, of course, more noticeable on -dark nights, and then every move they made was -a pale blaze. That was better than moonlight; it -was magic; it was a fairyland made real. Then -they quit playing they were Indians and played -they were mermaids and sea-goblins of the deep. -The raft was a Spanish galleon wrecked in ages -past and drifting still, filled with treasure. Just -see how the jewels gleamed! Or it was a great -sea turtle, ridden by sea nymphs, plunging -and careering, unable to throw off its tormentors. -Then it was foam of the waves, unsubstantial -and formless, and the fish that -came scurrying by in silver flashes were chased -in glee.</p> - -<p>It was always hard to coax them back to land -on these nights, but sooner or later they had to -go, and they would then huddle about the fire a -little, drying their hair, before they lay down to -sleep soundly till morning. Then early the three -would be up and off, generally taking their breakfast<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_314"></a>314</span> -with them to eat on the way up the <em>estero</em>, -while Marian and Davie took up their daily -tasks.</p> - -<p>Davie found it a little lonesome with Delbert -and the girls gone all day, but he was such a -sunny-tempered little chap that he managed -pretty well after all. There were his lessons, -which went much faster and smoother than they -had done at first, and then he helped Marian do -everything, even cook. And he made little boats -and sailed them, and he rode on Jackie, who was -growing very steady and sedate this year, and he -gathered in wood and crabs. Always he watched -for little shells and other treasures of the sea, to -bring to Marian for her inspection, as she sat -weaving or writing in the rabbit-skin books. It -was at this time that she wrote out “Thanatopsis,” -all but six lines that she could not for the -life of her remember.</p> - -<p>She kept her subconscious mind on the retort -and went out every so often to attend to it, for -all things now were subordinate to the tarring -of that canoe. When the little dishpan was full -of <em>pitalla</em> tar and they had a nice big pile of -<em>pitalla</em> on hand, they decided to begin on the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_315"></a>315</span> -work. So they dragged the canoe into the water -at the pier and paddled it round to the other side -of the Island and dragged it up high on the beach -not far from the tar retort. Then they began the -main task to which all these weeks had been preparatory.</p> - -<p>Marian left the housework and cooking to the -girls; they could spear the fish and gather the -greens and cook them, they could boil down -the salt water and take it out on the raft to the -reef and bring back the dry salt, and they could -watch the dry meat and gather the bananas. -The older sister and Delbert devoted their time -to the canoe. There were holes to be burned and -the toughest and strongest of pegs to be whittled -and driven in; there was much testing of materials, -much discussion of ways and means, -much sighting and squinting and balancing. -This work must be done right.</p> - -<p>Slowly the framework grew. The basket work -would be made entirely of the split palm stems, -or, if there were not enough of them, they would -put the next best thing on the top.</p> - -<p>They tipped the old canoe into the best position -to work on and propped it up with stakes<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_316"></a>316</span> -and stones. And when the framework was finished, -they called in Jennie for her opinion on the -next step. So she worked too, for none of them -could weave so well—so neatly and tightly—as -she. And as she wove, Marian and Delbert began -packing in the tarred fiber. It took a lot of it, -but Delbert thought that, if they ran out entirely, -they could, perhaps, use some kinds of seaweed -at the top where it would not matter so -much.</p> - -<p>Egging-time came and went. They stopped -work long enough to go for eggs once, and then -Davie and the girls went alone, or Davie and -Esther, while the three older ones worked steadily -on the canoe.</p> - -<p>They had it about two-thirds done and were -shifting it into a different position one day and -propping it up, when Esther and Davie came -running down the hill laughing. They had been -off in the pasture. As soon as she got within -calling distance Esther began to shout, “Davie’s -found a <em>panal</em>! Davie’s found a <em>panal</em>!”</p> - -<p>“Don’t believe it,” said Delbert shortly.</p> - -<p>“Have,” declared Davie, coming up with a -grin reaching from one ear round to the other.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_317"></a>317</span> -“Have, too. ’S whopper. Heap big chief me. -Find whopper <em>panal</em>. All the tribe eat.”</p> - -<p>Marian smiled indulgently. “Great brave, -Hiawatha! Where did you find it? Where Pocahontas -had just pointed it out to you?”</p> - -<p>“No,” with great scorn; “I saw it myself. <em>I</em> -pointed it out to <em>her</em>.”</p> - -<p>“Is that so, Pocahontas?” asked Marian, -still smiling.</p> - -<p>“Yes, it is,” declared Esther; “and it is a -big one, bigger than we ever had before, and -we have been by it lots of times and none of us -ever saw it before. Come on, Marian, let’s -have it for supper. We haven’t had one for -a year.”</p> - -<p>“I guess we haven’t,” agreed Marian. “Somehow -<em>panales</em> are not very plenty. What do -you say, Delbert? Shall we knock off work -and take in this newly discovered and most marvelously -large <em>panal</em>?”</p> - -<p>“All right,” said Delbert, throwing down his -stake. “Let me fix the retort first.”</p> - -<p>So they all trooped off and were soon <em>en route</em> -to the pasture. It was a big <em>panal</em>, and it was -so near to the path that it was a thousand<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_318"></a>318</span> -wonders that they had never seen it before, -with all those little workers flying back and -forth. But then it was a long way from the -wickiup, and they had been so busy with the -canoe lately that they had not been much in -the pasture; and probably it had grown pretty -fast and a few weeks earlier would not have -shown much.</p> - -<p>At any rate, they took their toll of the little -workers now, taking care to leave enough of the -center for them to build on again and going off -with their booty in the kettle and pail well covered. -They had not gone far when they came -upon the deer, and, of course, Delbert must try -for a shot. He could have got one, a little fawn, -but his heart forbade. It was such a dainty little -darling that he wouldn’t have minded catching -it alive, but as long as there was other food he -would not kill it.</p> - -<p>It was past noon as they wended their way -back. Those who were not carrying honey -gathered up wood. Davie was ahead. As they -came out by the rock where the path wound -smoothly down to the pier, Davie stopped suddenly -and let his wood fall to his feet.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_319"></a>319</span> -“Look!” he said excitedly. “What’s that? Is -that a canoe by the pier?”</p> - -<p>They all looked.</p> - -<p>“Canoe!” said Delbert in a queer, quiet voice. -“That’s the launch.”</p> - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider x-ebookmaker-drop"> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_320"></a>320</span> -</div> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="xiii">CHAPTER XIII<br> -<span>HOW THE LAUNCH CAME BACK TO SMUGGLERS’</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">When</span> the Hadleys had left Mexico they had -turned their steps toward California. They had -some friends there, but the place they finally -bought was not near any of them. It was many -miles inland, too, for Mrs. Hadley had said she -did not want to live by the ocean.</p> - -<p>“All my life I have been fond of it,” she said, -“but now I don’t want ever to have to see it -again.”</p> - -<p>So they had settled down on a little fruit farm -in the interior.</p> - -<p>They are not cheap, those little fruit farms of -California. The price asked per acre is usually -enough to make your head swim till you get used -to it, and the Hadleys were not rich, which explains -the fact that every cent they had in the -world was not enough to pay for that farm. -But they paid over what they had and set out to -raise the rest from the farm itself. In a few years -they had succeeded.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_321"></a>321</span> -Neither of them was old yet; they could still -work, and did work. But Mrs. Hadley’s face -was quieter than it had been in former years, -though she went about patient and cheerful, a -busy, kindly woman much beloved by her neighbors.</p> - -<p>Mr. Hadley was older than his wife by a number -of years. He was beginning to turn gray -when their sorrow came to them, and his hair -whitened rapidly after that, and somehow he did -not seem so tall as he had been; but, aside from -that, one would not have seen any great change -in him.</p> - -<p>They made a fair living, nothing more, out of -the farm. Sometimes there is drought, you know, -or there is failure of crops for some other reason, -or the crop is too large and then prices go down, -and transportation takes most of the profits in -any case. And because of all these things the -Hadleys had been in California over six years before -they felt free to take a little visiting-trip -among their friends who lived in the State.</p> - -<p>They had to plan most carefully then to keep -within the limits of their very modest income, -for already there loomed on the horizon of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_322"></a>322</span> -future the expenses of the coming season. But -they went and had a good time, being heartily -welcomed everywhere, and nowhere more heartily -than at the Harrises’, the last place on their -list. The Harrises had been old neighbors at the -Port, being in fact none other than the family -who numbered among its members the Clarence -to whom the Island Hawks felt that they owed -so much.</p> - -<p>Clarence was not a boy now; he was a man -grown, but he still lived at home and helped his -father run a fruit ranch of about four times the -size of that of the Hadleys. A man grown he -was, but in many respects the same boy, as was -proved by the way his widowed sister’s children -trailed at his heels all day.</p> - -<p>The Hadleys arrived in the evening, and it -was not till the next day at noon that the conversation -turned upon their loss at the Port. -The Harrises had heard about the happening at -the time, for Mrs. Harris corresponded with -Bobbie’s mother, and they had received, too, -several newspapers containing reports of the -occurrence, these having been marked and sent -out by Mr. Cunningham to various persons to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_323"></a>323</span> -whom he knew the event would be of interest. -But there were, of course, details that they -had never heard, and it was only natural that -they should ask for the story and that Mr. -Hadley should tell it over as they sat about -the table after the main part of the meal had -been eaten.</p> - -<p>Clarence was sitting between his lively little -niece and nephew, cracking walnuts for them, -picking the meats out into their eager little -hands, and making little boats and turtles of the -shells. The little boy had slipped down and -brought him the mucilage-bottle, a piece of stiff -paper, and his grandmother’s best shears, purloined -from her basket with many sideways -glances.</p> - -<p>Mr. Hadley told the tale quietly. They were -undemonstrative people, and after these years -they could talk of this quite without emotion. -He told it all,—all the little incidents,—how -Esther had been sent for the forgotten bathing-suits -the evening before; how Marian had started -out without sufficient wraps and Bobbie’s -mother had made her take her big cape; of the -question Mr. Faston put to them as they were<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_324"></a>324</span> -going down to the pier and Delbert’s answer. -Of the long search and nothing to pay for it save -the little handkerchief beaten into the sand. -The others asked a question now and then during -the recital, but Clarence sat silent, letting no -word of the story escape him, but making no -comments as he worked quietly on the little -shell boats.</p> - -<p>When Mr. Hadley finished, he laid his shipbuilding -tools down by his shell-littered plate, -and, looking into the white-haired father’s eyes, -spoke.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Hadley,” he said, “Smugglers’ Island -was not within fifty miles of the Rosalie Group.”</p> - -<hr class="tb"> - -<p>In one of the busy seaport towns of our Pacific -Coast Mr. Hadley sat at a little restaurant table, -eating an inexpensive meal alone. Every cent -that he and his wife possessed in the wide world -had gone into that little fruit farm up in the -hills, and now by means of a mortgage on it he -had raised money enough to carry him back to -the coast to take up the old heart-breaking task. -His passage was already engaged on a steamer -to sail for the Port the next day. Mrs. Hadley<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_325"></a>325</span> -remained on the farm to carry on the work there -as best she could alone.</p> - -<p>If this were a model story, Clarence would -most assuredly have gone with his old neighbor, -but in real life people do not start on journeys -unless they have the railroad or steamship fare, -which Clarence did not have. It takes money to -travel, and ordinary people cannot get money so -easily that they can afford to spend it on anything -that is not strictly necessary. Certainly -Clarence wanted badly enough to go and show -the way to Smugglers’ and search for his old -playmates, but the best he could actually do was -to make a map of the coast and San Moros as -well as he could remember it, and give it to Mr. -Hadley, with the name of the old Indian who -had told him about Smugglers’ in the first place, -but who, doubtless, had slept with his fathers for -years now.</p> - -<p>What did Mr. Hadley expect to find on Smugglers’? -Certainly not his living children, for had -they lived through the storm, even though the -launch were disabled or destroyed, Pearson -would have found some way to get back. No; -it was only a confirmation of death which the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_326"></a>326</span> -father looked for at best, something to show -where and how his children had perished,—some -fragment of the launch, perhaps, all but -buried in the sand.</p> - -<p>As he sat eating, there came slowly into his -consciousness a face at a table near him. He -looked at it. Surely it had not been there when -he came in. Whose was it? Why did it seem to -claim his attention more than the dozen others -on all sides? He tried to resume his meal, but—who -was that man? where had he seen that face -before?</p> - -<p>In a blinding flash it came to him. It was -Pearson! Pearson, the man whom Cunningham -had sent with Marian and the children in the -launch. But, of course, that could not be. Pearson -was dead,—dead these nearly seven years -ago,—but this fellow—</p> - -<p>Just then the man looked up and met his gaze. -It was the look of a complete stranger. Mr. -Hadley politely dropped his eyes. But he did not -drop his thinking, and so keenly conscious was he -of that face that he knew instantly when the -other rose from the table.</p> - -<p>Mr. Hadley glanced up again. The other was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_327"></a>327</span> -leaving his dinner almost untouched. Mr. Hadley -himself arose. His memory for faces was remarkably -good; that man had Pearson’s face, he -might be a brother; at any rate, he would speak -to him; it could not be Pearson, but why was he -leaving his dinner uneaten?</p> - -<p>The man, who was sauntering out apparently -without haste, glanced back and saw Mr. Hadley -advancing toward him, and a look came over his -face that Mr. Hadley did not mistake. In a flash -he knew it <em>was</em> Pearson; impossible as it seemed, -it <em>was</em> Pearson, and he was afraid!</p> - -<p>A moment or two later a placid policeman just -turning a corner was knocked nearly off his feet -and out of his dignity by a man coming from the -opposite direction, a man past middle age with -white hair and flashing eyes.</p> - -<p>“Officer,” he cried, grasping the representative -of the law by the arm, “arrest that man! the -one in brown with the striped coat!”</p> - -<p>“What’s the charge?” inquired the policeman.</p> - -<p>“There will be charge enough,” cried the -other; and from his earnestness and the rapidity -with which the striped coat was disappearing<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_328"></a>328</span> -down the street, the policeman concluded that -the owner of it needed arresting and started -forthwith in pursuit.</p> - -<p>Within two blocks he had two of his brother -officers chasing with him, and farther on they -gathered up another one, to say nothing of the -several onlookers who joined for the pure pleasure -of the chase.</p> - -<p>The policemen were used to chasing men, but -Mr. Hadley was not, and in spite of his utmost -efforts he was soon left in the rear. As he kept -on, panting and puffing, and seeing more and -more ground stretch between himself and the -bluecoats, and was finally left out of sight altogether, -it came over him what a good idea it -would have been for them to have carried paper -scent, as the boys used to when they played hare -and hounds, for now they were like to catch -their man so far away that he would never be -able to find them.</p> - -<p>And, indeed, it was a long and merry chase, -and when it came to an end, as luck would have -it, a patrol-wagon was just passing, and into it -the triumphant bluecoats thrust their man in the -striped coat, one of them going with him while<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_329"></a>329</span> -the rest dispersed, the first retracing his steps -till he met the breathless Mr. Hadley.</p> - -<p>“Got him? Of course we got him. He’s safe -enough, never you worry. You can go down and -appear against him in the morning.”</p> - -<p>“In the morning!” gasped Mr. Hadley. “In -the morning! I’m not waiting till morning. It’s -right now that I want to talk to him!”</p> - -<p>The officer regarded him a moment, and then, -“Would yer mind tellin’ me what the man has -been doin’?” he inquired.</p> - -<p>Mr. Hadley leaned against a building till he -had regained his breath and his self-control.</p> - -<p>“Six or seven years ago,” he said, “my five -children went out in a little gasoline launch for -a day’s excursion. That man went with them to -run the launch for them. We never saw them -again and could get no trace of them, and supposed -they had all drowned together. But to-day -I ran across him, and when he saw that I recognized -him and was going to speak to him, he -ran. You will understand that I can’t wait till to-morrow -to know what became of my children.”</p> - -<p>The officer glanced at his watch. “My own -time is up,” he said. “I’ll walk up with you.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_330"></a>330</span> -“Take your time an’ get your breath back,” -he added presently. “He is safe enough; ’twas -Larry O’Flannagan had him by the shoulder, -an’ no man ever yet broke from Larry’s grip -when he once got a good grip on ’im. He’s safe -enough.”</p> - -<p>Safe enough he certainly was, and an hour -later he stood face to face with the father of the -Hadley children.</p> - -<p>“You’ve made a mistake,” he repeated. -“You’ve made a mistake. My name is not -Pearson. My name is Franks, John Franks. I -never lived in the Port; never was across the -line into Mexico at all, in fact. No, I never saw -you before, not to my knowledge at least.”</p> - -<p>He said it all over again stubbornly, and, with -dark and scowling face, he declared that Mr. -Hadley would be sorry for this trouble he was -making him, and he wanted it understood most -emphatically that he had never been in Mexico -six years ago or at any other time and that his -name was John Franks.</p> - -<p>But Mr. Hadley knew he was <em>not</em> mistaken, he -knew the man <em>was</em> Pearson, and he would not -back down or give one hair’s breadth, and under<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_331"></a>331</span> -his steady, stern gaze Pearson suddenly threw -up the game with a vehement burst of profanity, -winding up with the inquiry as to what earthly -difference it made to Hadley about the launch, -anyhow?</p> - -<p>Mr. Hadley stared at him a moment.</p> - -<div class="figcenter width800" id="i-p331-sepia"> - <img src="images/i-p331-sepia.jpg" width="1100" height="948" alt=""> - <div class="caption">“WHAT DID YOU DO WITH MY CHILDREN?”</div> -</div> - -<p>“Launch!” he said slowly,—“launch! What -do you suppose I care about the launch? What -I want to know is, what did you do with my -children?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_332"></a>332</span> -It was now Pearson’s turn to stare. His jaw -dropped, and his face turned ashy.</p> - -<p>“Your children? What do you mean? -Didn’t they find Miss Marian and the kids all -right?”</p> - -<p>“Find them! Where? Where did you leave -them? They’ve never been seen from that day -to this. Speak up! What did you do with -them?”</p> - -<p>Pearson crumpled down into a chair. There -was no more resistance in him.</p> - -<p>“Good Heavens! Hadley, I never dreamed of -any harm coming to them. I’ll tell you all I -know about it.”</p> - -<p>And tell it he did, holding nothing back. He -told it all,—how Cunningham had discharged -him for no fault of his, so he declared, and how -he had vowed that he would get even with the -dude; he wouldn’t take dirty treatment from no -man. He had nothing against the girl and the -kids; he wouldn’t have hurt them, but he didn’t -suppose it would. People were going out to those -picnics every day, and they often camped overnight, -and when he saw what a daisy the launch -was,—she ran like oil,—it just came to him<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_333"></a>333</span> -that he could leave them there on the Island -and run the launch over to Santa Anita, where -he knew a couple of fellows who would take it -off his hands.</p> - -<p>So he did it; he was owing the fellow at Santa -Anita about seventy-five dollars that he would -have paid long before if Cunningham had not -fired him; and he got there before the storm got -really bad and hunted up his friend that night -and found he would be glad to take the launch -on the debt and pay him the difference.</p> - -<p>The storm was sure a bad one, but he had -thought that Miss Marian and the kids would -be all right, for the boy had been telling about a -house on the Island around on the sheltered side -and a cave, too, and he left them all the food and -blankets, and he thought Cunningham would be -after them the first thing in the morning. He’d -left Santa Anita as soon as the storm was over -so anybody could leave, and, of course, he had -not heard anything about the tragedy at the -Port, but he’d swear by everything holy that -he never dreamed of any harm coming to -them.</p> - -<p>Mr. Hadley explained then; he told the man<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_334"></a>334</span> -huddled up before him of the search that had -been made, and how he himself had just in the -last week learned what and where Smugglers’ -Island was, and how he was even then on his -way to see if after all these years there was -some trace still to be found in San Moros.</p> - -<p>When he had finished, Pearson straightened -up a little.</p> - -<p>“Look a-here, Hadley,” he said, “I’ve been -some tough, but I’d never ’a’ done a thing like -that if I’d ’a’ known it, and since then I’ve -been straight. I told you the truth when I said -my name was Franks; that is my name; I used -Pearson at the Port for other reasons, but when -I got back to God’s country I went back to my -own name. I was married under it about a year -later. My wife is a fine woman, and we’ve got -two fine children. I’ve been as straight as a -string and we’ve got some ahead. O Hadley, -don’t put me through for this!—it will come -harder on my wife and the kids than it will on -me if you do,—and I’ll go down with you and -help you hunt, show you the way and all; and -you can use my money to the last cent; it ain’t -much, but it’s all yourn to carry on the search;<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_335"></a>335</span> -and I’ll stand by you and help you as long as -there’s life in me, for, as God is my witness, Hadley, -I never meant no harm to Miss Marian and -your kids. I wouldn’t ask it if’t wasn’t for my -own kids.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Hadley was thinking. He believed the -man was telling the truth, and no punishment -meted out to him would bring back the dead. -As far as that went, what punishment would be -fitter than to take him back with him and let -him see, if, indeed, there was anything left to -see, the terrible suffering his act had caused? -And there would be something left; not six years -nor seven would destroy what five deaths had -left on that grim island in San Moros.</p> - -<p>Before they sailed, Mr. Hadley had time to -write to his wife and tell her of his finding Pearson -and of what he had learned from him and of -the latter’s agony of remorse. After receiving the -letter, Mrs. Hadley sat down and wrote most of -its contents to Mrs. Harris, for she knew their -old friends would be anxious to hear any news. -After hearing that letter read, Clarence declared -that he could have lived seven years, or twice -seven years on Smugglers’, and he dared bet<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_336"></a>336</span> -Marian could. But his father and mother were -quite sure there was no hope of that.</p> - -<p>“Why,” said Mrs. Harris, “Jennie would not -have lived three days after exposure to that -storm. I never knew such a delicate child.”</p> - -<p>“And,” Mr. Harris declared, “if they had -lived any length of time at all, some one would -have seen some sign of them in all this time. -Probably they took refuge in that cave and were -washed out and drowned the first night.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps,” he admitted. “I’d forgotten -about Jennie being so sickly, and Delbert himself -was not what you would call rugged, but if -they lived through the storm there’s a chance, -I tell you. Their not being seen since doesn’t cut -any figure. There was a reason for that. I never -told Delbert, for I didn’t want to frighten him, -and he was a nervous little chap, but no Indian -ever went to Smugglers’. You couldn’t have -hired one to, and I tell you, if they lived through -the first night, there’s a chance! and oh, glory! -<em>wouldn’t</em> I have liked to go along?”</p> - -<p>The steamer that Mr. Hadley and Pearson -had taken passage on was pretty well filled up -with passengers. Among others there was a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_337"></a>337</span> -group of mining men going to the Port, whence -they would make their way inland, and there was -a wealthy Mexican family also bound for the -Port, with a half-dozen fine-looking daughters -who reminded you of all the Spanish romance -you had ever read every time you looked at -them.</p> - -<p>There were various others, and among them -all Mr. Hadley and Pearson attracted no particular -attention until the morning they were -nearing the Port, when it was learned that Mr. -Franks and the white-haired gentleman with -him had a launch aboard and were going to be -set down in it out in the Gulf and were not going -into the Port at all. It seemed that the captain -had known about it all the time, but to the -passengers it seemed like a very queer thing -to do.</p> - -<p>However, some one made the announcement -that the two were going to examine some guano -caves for a rich company, and that seemed to -explain everything, and the passengers watched -with interest while the launch was being made -ready and lowered, and the mining men all hung -over the rail and cheered as she shot off across<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_338"></a>338</span> -the water, and the pretty señoritas waved their -handkerchiefs, and then everybody turned his -attention to watching the channel, for if the passengers -did not keep a sharp lookout, what was -to hinder the captain from forgetting himself -and coming up sharp on the rocks?</p> - -<div class="figcenter width800" id="i-p338-sepia"> - <img src="images/i-p338-sepia.jpg" width="900" height="913" alt=""> - <div class="caption">THE PRETTY SEÑORITAS WAVED THEIR HANDKERCHIEFS</div> -</div> - -<p>They passed the Rosalie Group before long. -On dark and cloudy nights people on boats passing -there can hear children crying, and if the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_339"></a>339</span> -night is actually stormy, you are likely to see -Marian Hadley walk across the white-capped -waves wrapped in a long cloak. This is a solemn -fact. The captain told it himself. He said he did -not tell the tale at night. No one connected the -name of Hadley with the white-haired Mr. Hadley -who had left them in the launch.</p> - -<p>Pearson was running the launch. Mr. Hadley -had Clarence’s map spread out on his knee. -There was silence between them. Pearson’s face -looked drawn and old. Mr. Hadley was tired and -patient; he was looking at the map, but he was -not thinking of it.</p> - -<p>Pearson leaned forward to look at the little -map.</p> - -<p>“I don’t remember just what the shore-line -looked like along here,” he said, “but I guess I -shan’t miss San Moros.”</p> - -<p>He did not, either. About noon he turned into -the place, remembering Delbert’s instructions -which tallied with the map correctly. The tide -was high just then, anyway, and there was no -danger of sandbars or sunken rocks. In a little -more he could point out to Mr. Hadley the -outline of Smugglers’ Island as he remembered it.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_340"></a>340</span> -Afterwards, as they got pretty close to it, he -said in a low voice, “Maybe we’d better go in -back of it. That’s where they said the harbor -and the pier were, and it will be a better place to -moor the launch than this pile of rocks ahead.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Hadley assented; so they turned her nose -and ran out by the sandy point and round it in -back into the harbor.</p> - -<p>It seemed shadowy in there. It was dark and -uncanny, Pearson thought. He shuddered. Not -a sign of life had they seen other than the seabirds, -for the old canoe was too far up the beach -to catch the eye, and the wickiup was so covered -with vines that it blended perfectly with its -background, especially as the doors and window -were shut.</p> - -<p>Had they landed, they would have seen the -path. Had Marian’s watermelons been a little -higher, they would have attracted attention by -reason of their regular rows, but they were -scarcely above the holes yet. At the pier, too, -there was nothing to tell them anything. The -raft was farther along, back of some mango -bushes.</p> - -<p>There were the bananas and the palms. The<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_341"></a>341</span> -corral fence was so overgrown that, like the -wickiup, it attracted no attention till one was -very close to it.</p> - -<p>They stepped out of the launch and moored her -to the pier. Mr. Hadley noticed that Pearson’s -face was gray again. He was losing his nerve. It -seemed to him as if the air in this narrow slit in -the hills were suffocating him.</p> - -<p>“I’ll take the things out,” he said to his companion.</p> - -<p>“All right,” said Mr. Hadley. His voice was -quiet and even, and, turning, he walked toward -the hill.</p> - -<p>Pearson stepped back into the launch, cursing -himself under his breath for his own lack of self-control, -for he was trembling; but taking the -things out and carrying them up past the pier -steadied him a little.</p> - -<p>Then he started to follow Mr. Hadley, and -was glancing about wondering if there was any -particular choice of spots to pitch camp in, when -something on the hilltop caught his eyes. He -stopped and stared with his mouth open. Out -from among the bushes into an open space came -one, two, three, four, five persons, and some of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_342"></a>342</span> -them were children! A sudden weakness came -over him. He dropped where he was, and for a -moment everything went whirling black. When -he came to himself he was sitting on the ground, -his knees clasped in his arms, as he rocked back -and forth, repeating over and over his wife’s -name, “Rose, Rose, Rose, it’s them! O Rose, -it’s them! I ain’t killed ’em, Rose! Rose!”</p> - -<div class="figcenter width500" id="i-p342-sepia"> - <img src="images/i-p342-sepia.jpg" width="1225" height="1170" alt=""> - <div class="caption">SUDDENLY CAME A CHORUS OF CLEAR YOUNG VOICES</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_343"></a>343</span> -Mr. Hadley had scanned the hillside to no -avail as he started to walk toward it, and then he -noticed what seemed to be a path leading to a -mass of brilliant bloom beyond. He followed in -the path. The tracks seemed to be those of deer.</p> - -<p>But when he came to the blossoms he was surprised. -There were nasturtiums and poppies, a -wild riot of them beside a little spring, or shallow, -scooped-out well, that was walled with rocks -except at one place where stepping-stones led -down. And there, sitting half buried in the -clear water, shaded by overhanging bloom, was -a two-quart Mason jar about half full of oysters.</p> - -<p>A most charming refrigerator truly, and Mr. -Hadley stared at it stupidly, not even yet understanding, -when suddenly came a chorus of clear -young voices calling to him from above, and, -turning, the father saw what he had never hoped -to see again this side the gates of heaven,—his -five children racing down the hill to meet him.</p> - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider x-ebookmaker-drop"> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_344"></a>344</span> -</div> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="xiv">CHAPTER XIV<br> -<span>THE END OF THE PICNIC</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Pearson</span> sat on the pier, swinging his feet. -His feelings would have been hard to describe, -they were so very mixed up. One moment he -was swearing softly at the launch that was dipping -gracefully up and down before him, then he -grinned and whistled, also softly, a few bars of a -rollicking tune.</p> - -<p>He glanced out of the corner of his eye at the -group up there by that tumbled pile of red and -yellow and green. He could hear their voices, -but he could not hear what they were saying. -By and by, when they had had a little more -time, perhaps he would go up there, though -what in thunder he would say was more than he -knew. Anyway, they were alive. That was -something to tell Rose. Rose! How her face had -looked when she bade him good-bye. She had -known that he had been tough,—thank goodness -he had not lied to her!—but he had not -gone into details, and when he had had to tell -her about that affair at the Port,—well, it was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_345"></a>345</span> -a darned sight worse than anything else he had -had to do. And when she kissed him good-bye, -she had whispered that she would pray for him. -Pray! Pearson laughed a little and kicked at -the rocks. Wa’n’t that just like a woman? Pray! -What good was it going to do to pray now about -a thing that happened seven years ago? But she -would pray all right, and like as not she would -always feel that her prayers had had something -to do with their finding the lost ones alive and -safe. Suppose they had died! What good would -praying have done then? he wondered.</p> - -<p>But Rose would pray just the same, and when -he got back to her,—he might have to ride a -brake-beam to do it,—she would turn in and -work her fingers to the bone to help him get -another nest-egg rolled up, and never a word of -blame would she say. No; she would spend all -her spare breath thanking God that her prayers -had been answered.</p> - -<p>What a queer thing life was, anyway! Here, -seven years ago Cunningham had served him, -Pearson, low-down mean, and he had retaliated. -The affair was between him and Cunningham, -wasn’t it? It would seem so; but look you,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_346"></a>346</span> -seven years afterwards the blow he dealt recoils -on—whom? Himself? No, not by a jugful! -On Rose; on Rose and his youngsters, the very -people of the whole wide world that he loved -and wanted most desperately to protect. If it -had only been him, he wouldn’t say a word, -but—darn it all!</p> - -<p>Well, there they were coming down. He rose -and turned. It was an awkward situation. -Really, it would have been easier to stand up to -be shot.</p> - -<p>It was Marian and Delbert. Pearson drew a -long breath, and, throwing back his shoulders, -went to meet them.</p> - -<p>Marian was first. She held out her hand, all -brown and calloused, and her eyes shone at him -from under wet lashes.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Pearson,” she said, “papa has explained -it all to us, and—well, I guess I am too happy -to lay up anything against you to-day.”</p> - -<p>Pearson took her hand. He choked a little, but -found nothing to say. Then Delbert, the little, -slender, nervous, eager lad, stood there, tall as -his sister, straight and strong, and his clear eyes -were steady and stern.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_347"></a>347</span> -“Marion is of a pretty forgiving disposition,” -and his voice was cold and held scorn. “I think -myself—”</p> - -<p>But Pearson reached out and gripped the hand -the boy had not offered him, and found his voice.</p> - -<p>“Young man,” he said, “I am so all-fired -glad to see you that I don’t care a red cent <em>what</em> -you think!”</p> - -<p>Marian laid a gentle hand on her brother’s -arm.</p> - -<p>“O Delbert,” she said softly, “not to-day, -dear, not with papa here to take us all back safe -to mamma. Besides,—it isn’t a parallel case, -I know,—but suppose Davie had died that -day he fell!”</p> - -<p>Delbert looked from her face, tremulous -with joy, back to Pearson’s, and, remembering -that terrible day that he had been in some small -measure to blame for, he suddenly understood, -understood something of what the man in front -of him probably had been suffering.</p> - -<p>His face softened, and he returned the pressure -of the other’s hand.</p> - -<p>“All right!” he said boyishly. “I guess what -Marian says goes. You will have to fight it out<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_348"></a>348</span> -with Mr. Cunningham about the launch, but -come on up to dinner now. Say,” he continued -with a wistful eye on the pile of things from the -launch, “you got anything to eat in those?—any -bread or crackers?”</p> - -<p>Up at the wickiup Mr. Hadley sat on a chunk -of driftwood and looked over the treasures -Esther and Davie showed to him, while Marian -and Jennie prepared dinner.</p> - -<p>There was a great deal to show. There were -the rabbit-skin books and the paper-tree-bark -ones and the shell and bone and wooden toys. -There were the ropes and baskets.</p> - -<p>Davie could not remember his father, but he -curled down at his feet and, with an angelic -expression on his face, smiled up into his eyes -in the sunniest way possible. And every two -minutes he would remember some other treasure -and, hopping up, would go to fetch it. His -father, watching his little limping gait, smiled -at Marian, who shook her head sadly. “Too -bad, daughter, but I think mamma will be willing -to accept him, even if he <em>is</em> a little damaged.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll throw off a little on his price,” said -Jennie.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_349"></a>349</span> -Pearson had brought up the lunch from the -launch, and the Hawks fell upon it with the -greatest enthusiasm. After dinner they began -to pack up those things they wished to take with -them.</p> - -<p>And, of course, before they left the Island -they had to show the old canoe that would not -need to be finished now, and the tar retort, and -High-Tide Pool, and the watermelon-patch, and -everything else.</p> - -<p>“I’ll bet,” said Delbert, “that this place will -be more popular for picnics from the Port than -the Rosalies for a while.”</p> - -<p>So Marian left her dishes, the kettle and little -dishpan, the knives and forks, and even the -glass jar on the table. They put everything in -neat order and tied the window down, and put -the storm doors in place and fastened them, for -though they did not expect ever to see the place -again, they could not -<a id="bear"></a><ins title="Original has 'bare'">bear</ins> -to think of the dear -little wickiup standing untidy and open to the -elements.</p> - -<p>They took a last survey from the top of the -hill and then went down the path, the smugglers’ -old path, to the pier.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_350"></a>350</span> -They turned out the little burros, but when -they called Jackie, he was nowhere to be found. -He had wandered off somewhere with the other -burros, as he had done sometimes of late. The -children, Davie especially, felt badly to go without -saying good-bye to Jackie, but Marian explained -that he would probably forget them in -a little while and would be perfectly happy with -the other burros, and perhaps would be happier -than if they had stayed and made him carry -loads for them once in a while. So Davie -smoothed out his face, and curled down at -his father’s feet again, quite contented. Nothing -ever upset Davie for any great length of -time.</p> - -<p>So the launch puffed out of the harbor and -round the point, and then Smugglers’ was left -behind them, and they were crossing the bay -past the salt reefs, and now were out of sight -of the egg islands, and soon were encountering -the big waves that had guarded their prison so -long. Jennie laughed, remembering how seasick -she had been when they came in. Then San -Moros itself passed from their sight, and the -life there glided into a closed past.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_351"></a>351</span> -Already Marian was planning a new and different -future.</p> - -<p>“Father,” she said, “you say you had to mortgage -the home to get the money to come for us. -A mortgage is always a hard thing to lift, isn’t -it?”</p> - -<p>“Apt to be, daughter,” replied Mr. Hadley, -“but after seeing what you children did with -your bare hands back on that Island, I am not -worrying about a little thing like a mortgage. If -you don’t like the place, we’ll get your uncle -to let us in some way on some of that wild land -of his up in the mountains, and you can carve -out and build up a place to suit yourselves.”</p> - -<p>The steamer at the Port had unloaded her -passengers,—those that were to get off there,—and -had since been busy taking in a nice -little pile of cargo. Her captain wished to go -out that night, and they were about ready to -start. There were a good many down on the -pier, coming and going, and the place was lighted -by a few lanterns, leaving great spaces of shadow -in between their circles of light.</p> - -<p>Mr. Cunningham’s new launch was just in -with a picnic party from the Rosalies. They<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_352"></a>352</span> -were unloading shawls and baskets and pails of -clams.</p> - -<p>“I say, Cunningham,” called out one of this -party, “is that Beekman’s crowd we passed out -there?”</p> - -<p>“No,” was the answer; “Beekman will not be -in for two days. I had a wire to-day.”</p> - -<p>“Well, who in thunder was it, then? We -passed a launch out there. If it wasn’t Beekman, -who was it?”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps it was the two men the captain -dropped in the Gulf this morning. He said they -would be in in a few days. Perhaps they changed -their minds.”</p> - -<p>“Not much. This batch had women and children. -They were laughing and singing,—mighty -fine voices, too. We supposed it was -those new cousins of Mrs. Beekman’s from New -York.”</p> - -<p>“No, not they yet, but there comes a launch -now. By Jove, there are women in it too.”</p> - -<p>Out of the darkness of the night and the -water a launch came swiftly into the broad -light of the stream. A moment they showed -clear as in daylight to the crowd on the pier,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_353"></a>353</span> -but that was not long enough for any one to -recognize those upturned faces before they glided -into a shadowy place not far from the other -launch.</p> - -<p>People watched the new arrival curiously as -it discharged its passengers, but they did not -come out of the shadow.</p> - -<p>Then one man detached himself from the -group and advanced into the light in front of -Cunningham.</p> - -<p>“Well, Cunningham,” he said in a clear voice, -“there’s your launch.”</p> - -<p>Cunningham stared at him.</p> - -<p>“There’s your launch, I say,” repeated the -other, thrusting his face forward a little. Still no -answer from the bewildered Cunningham, who -could not imagine what he was talking about.</p> - -<p>The newcomer straightened up and placed his -arms akimbo.</p> - -<p>“I say,” he repeated again, “that I have -brought back your launch. Launch, man, -launch! There—is—your—launch!”</p> - -<p>From the group in the shadow came a little -rippling laugh.</p> - -<p>Cunningham started. It was nearly seven long<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_354"></a>354</span> -years, but he had not forgotten Marian Hadley’s -laugh. He snatched at a lantern, but before he -could detach it from its hook, a young fellow -beside him, a great stalwart fellow, yelled and -began to swing his hat.</p> - -<p>“The Hadleys!” he shouted, “the Hadleys!” -and threw the hat into the air, but before it -could fall he was rushing over, calling Delbert.</p> - -<p>Marian, laughing, grasped his arm.</p> - -<p>“For Heaven’s sake, Bobbie,” she said, “take -us girls up to your mother before they get here -with those lanterns.”</p> - -<p>Late, very late, that night Delbert sat on the -edge of Bobbie’s bed and said to him:—</p> - -<p>“Now, look here! what I want to know is, how -in creation it could happen that, with that bay -fairly <a id="teeming"></a><ins title="Original has 'teaming'">teeming</ins> -with fish and turtles, there could -be over six years with never a canoe really inside -of it, never one within hailing, or even signaling, -distance of the Island, though it must be -known among the Indians that there is fresh -water and an old banana-patch there.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter width500" id="i-p355-sepia"> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_355"></a>355</span> - <img src="images/i-p355-sepia.jpg" width="698" height="1077" alt=""> - <div class="caption">THE HADLEYS! THE HADLEYS!</div> -</div> - -<p>“Simplest thing in the world,” said Bobbie, -tossing his shoes to one side and peeling off his -socks. “All the Indians around these parts know -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_356"></a>356</span>that San Moros is bad medicine for a native. I -never thought much about it, but I’ll bet on it -now, that it was those same old smugglers. Probably -they murdered some Indians there to prevent -their going off and telling of the place, or -something like that. I never heard of the Island, -but I have heard the Indians say numbers of -times that people who go in to camp there never -come out again. They think the farther shores -are inhabited by some style of devil or hobgoblin, -and I remember now I have heard them saying -that in the last few years they have seen devil -fires burning there.”</p> - -<p>“Devil fires!” said Delbert helplessly, dropping -his hands to his sides. “Devil fires!”</p> - -<p>“Your camp-fires, of course,” returned Bobbie; -“but if those fellows in the canoes that you -tried to go out and intercept,—if they saw you -at all,—that would be explanation enough of -why they put up their sails and put off as fast as -they could.”</p> - -<hr class="tb"> - -<p>To the mother waiting on that far-off mortgaged -farm, a message went out that night, the -last one sent from the office. It contained eight<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_357"></a>357</span> -words, and it was followed by a fat, fat letter the -next day, which explained that it in turn was to -be followed by a party of six just as soon as certain -absolutely necessary sewing could be done.</p> - -<p>But, after all, the telegram contained the -heart of the matter, the sunshine of the whole -wide world and part of that of the next world, -all on a piece of yellow paper. At least, Mrs. -Hadley thought so when she tore it open and -read:—</p> - -<p>“All found alive and well on Smugglers’ -Island.”</p> - - -<hr class="divider2"> -<p class="center p120">THE END</p> - -<p class="center">The Riverside Press<br> -CAMBRIDGE . MASSACHUSETTS<br> -U . S . A</p> - - - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="divider x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="tn"> -<p class="center">Transcriber’s Note</p> - -<p class="noi">Spelling, hyphenation and punctuation have been retained as published -in the original publication except as follows:</p> - -<div class="tn-container"> -<ul> -<li>Page 40<br> -to take if off and show them <span class="italic">changed to</span><br> -to take <a href="#it">it</a> off and show them</li> - -<li>Page 57<br> -cluster of towsled heads <span class="italic">changed to</span><br> -cluster of <a href="#tousled">tousled</a> heads</li> - -<li>Page 119<br> -In my coat pocket <span class="italic">changed to</span><br> -<a href="#quote">“In</a> my coat pocket</li> - -<li>Page 135<br> -kind of wood.” said Delbert <span class="italic">changed to</span><br> -kind of <a href="#comma">wood,”</a> said Delbert</li> - -<li>Page 349<br> -they could not bare to <span class="italic">changed to</span><br> -they could not <a href="#bear">bear</a> to</li> - -<li>Page 354<br> -with that bay fairly teaming <span class="italic">changed to</span><br> -with that bay fairly <a href="#teeming">teeming</a></li> -</ul> -</div></div></div> -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SMUGGLERS’ ISLAND AND THE DEVIL FIRES OF SAN MOROS ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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