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Entered according to Act of Congress, in June, 1867, by J. W. Burke & Cos., in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for tto Department of Georgia. Vol. I. MAEOONER’S ISLAND ; OR, Dr. Gordon in Search of His Children. BY REV. F. R. GOULDING, Author of “ The Young Marooners.” CHAPTEB I. THE CAUSE OF THE SEARCH. fOON after sunrise, on the morning of October 26th, 1830, a scene of wild ex citement occurred upon the edge of a bluff that iked the pure and tranquil of Tampa Bay. A gentleman, of thirty-five or V s - forty years of age, stood for a moment gazing with anguished face over that beautiful expanse of water, then fell upon his knees and wrung his hands with grief. A few steps behind him stood a man in the rrarb of a United States soldier, hold ing a horse by the bridle, and apparently awaiting orders.; and close, on either hand, were negroes, who, in eager sym pathy, had thrown themselves beside their master, and were mingling their sorrows with his. Upon the surface of the bay, at the dis tance of half a mile, was a pleasure boat containing four persons, passing rapidly towards the sea. Without sails or oars, or any other sign of a propelling power, it nevertheless moved with such velocity as to raise before it a sheet of spray, and to leave a train of whitened water in its wake. The kneeling figure, in the foreground, was Dr. Gordon, a gentleman from Geor gia, who had recently come to Tampa to prepare a winter residence into which he hoped soon to introduce his invalid wife. The persons in the boat were his children and a nephew, the son of his sister, who had come with him as companions and pupils for the time. MACOIST, G-A., JULY 6, 1867.- Five minutes before, no group could be found on earth with brighter faces or more hopeful hearts ; now, none could be found more miserable. They had all ta ken their seats in the boat, read}’ to start on a marooning party to one of the wood ed keys at the mouth of the Bay, when the Doctor was called by a sudden mes senger, to his house, and in the interval the anchor of the boat had been tripped by a Devil-Fish, and the young voyagers were dragged seawards under the grasp of one of the most powerful and most dreaded monsters of the deep.* Overwhelmed, and, for a moment, al most paralyzed by this accident, Dr. Gor don was nevertheless too much ol a man to remain lbng inactive. Springing to his feet and issuing a few rapid orders to his servants, which sent them running in dif ferent directions, he turned to the soldier, who had been a silent though not unmov ed spectator of the scene, and said to him: *lt is neither unusual nor unnatural for thos* who are strangers to the peculiarities of sea-board life to regard all stories told of the Devil-Fish as so many draughts up on the imagination, or, in more familiar terms, as salt water yarns.” But that the uncouth monster known as Devil-Fish has a real existence, can be attested by the author himself, who has seen it with his own eyes; and that it is in the habit of playing just such wild pranks as that alluded to in the storjjJailPPjW^^^^BT 0 doubted by those who fr^^W^lh BW c - v “ Sergeant, you have seen what has happened. Hurry back to Fort Brooke. Tell your commandant of my misfortune, and ask him from me to send without de lay a boat and boat's crew to go in search of my children. I know he will do what he can, for he is not only a man of hu manity, but he is my relative and friend. Lav your horse to the ground, good sol dier; I will be responsible for damages.” “ Had }*ou not better give me a line in writing?” suggested the soldier. Dr. Gordon drew from his pocket a book, and penciled the following words upon a blank leaf, which he tore out, folded, and gave to the soldier. The lan o-uaere was informal, but to the point: “ Bellevue, Tampa, Florida. “ For mercy’s scud me a boat with hands, to be absent for several days. The bearer of this will tell you the dreadful reason, and will give you all necessary information. Y ours, Charles Gordon, M. D. To Major Burke, Commandant at Fort Brooke. By Sergeant Tompkins. The soldier, with a respectful touch of his cap, received the paper, deposited it in his pocket, mounted his horse, and No. 1.