Newspaper Page Text
50
Written for Burke’s Weekly.
MAROONER’S ISLAND ;
OR,
Dr. Gordon in Search of His Children.
BY REV. F . II . GOULDINO,
Author of “ The Young Marooner». ,>
CHAPTER VI.
SCOUTING AND FISHING —A PROPOSITION.
Bjv A R L Y next morning,
k when the men had gath
y/ ered around their fire, in
I preparation for breakfast,
r ere perplexed at the non
ance of Jones and Wildcat,
e could tell how, when or
iey had so unceremoniously
their departure. Simpson,
who was the last on guard duty, said that
just at daybreak, when his face was turn
ed towards the sea, he heard the hollow
tread of someone walking, but ho saw
nobody, and had no suspicion that any
one wished to desert. Indeed no one sup
posed that either of the missing ones were
guilty of desertion , for Jones was too good,
a soldier to think of it, and for Wildcat
there was no motive. While they were
engaged in discussing the probabilities of
the case, they saw the two emerge from
a little recess in the cove, each bringing
a mess of delightful-looking fish, sheep
head, whiting and eavally, strung by their
gills on a stalk of marsh grass, knotted
at one end.
Wildcat came with his to Dr. Gordon,
and presented them with a look and man
ner of undoubting satisfaction. Jones
brought his to Tomkins, whose brow was
somewhat clouded, and said to him in a
free and easy way, betokening a clear
conscience, “I was sorry, Sargent, to go
off without asking leave, but you were all
fast asleep, and I concluded, as we were
not on strict duty, and I was fully certain
of doing what you all would like, that it
was best to take leave first, and ask for
it afterwards, and I shall feel much ob
liged if you and the Captain here ” (look
ing at Dr. Gordon) “ will grant it to me
now.”
“So far as I am concerned,” said Dr.
Gordon, “you have it from the time you
left.”
“It was not soldierly,” Tomkins rather
sternly replied, “to go off without leave,
and I hope none of the men will do the
like again. But as no harm was done
this time we will let it pass.”
The fine mess of fresh-looking fish ex
cited Dr. Gordon’s admiration, and he
remarked it was a great pity they had
not been brought a few minutes earlier,
as they would have made a pheasant ad
dition to the breakfast of the men.
BURKE’S WEEKLY.
“If you will allow me ten minutes
time,” said Jones, “you will not say that
they have come too late.”
The Doctor and Tomkins exchanged
looks, and the latter answered —
“We will give you a trial. But you
must not neglect your own breakfast, for
we are almost ready to spread sail.”
Jones gave a nod of invitation to the
others, who all followed him to the fire,
where he distributed the fish among them,
selecting several of the finest, which he
wrapped in the green leaves of the pal
metto, and thrust fluttering under the
hot embers. In a very few minutes he
took them out, put them on a clean pal
metto leaf, stripped off their skin and the
scales attached, skillfully separated from
the bones the white flesh, which he trans
ferred to a hot plate, and bore smoking
and steaming to be enjoyed by Dr. Gor
don, who pronounced the cookery capital.
Just before the tent was taken down
preparatory to embarking, Wildcat came
to Dr. Gordon, who was alone, and said,
“Jones and Wildcat been on a scout.
Tell Tomkins call Jones and hear what
he say.”
Dr. Gordon hesitated a moment, when
Wildcat earnestly reiterated,
“ Call Tomkins. Moccasin too near.’/
Tomkins came, as requested, and sum
moned Jones, who, as soon as he w r as
freed from the presence of the other men,
went on to say, “ Sergeant, I had anoth
er object besides fishing, in going out this
morning. Just at tattoo last night, Wild
cat came and whispiered in my ear, ‘Eesta
chattay* in the bush.’ I asked him why
he thought so. He pulled me along to
the edge of yon cedar thicket, where we
heard something moving off very slowly
and softly. I told him to say nothing
about it to the men, but to join me at
daybreak this morning, when we would
kill two birds with one stone, by going
both a-scouting and a-fishing. As soon
as it was light, we went to the spot where
the sounds had come from, and saw there
the print of two pairs of moccasins in the
sand not forty steps from our fire.”
“Did you follow the track?” asked
Tomkins hastily.
“ I did,” Jones repdied. “It came from
the south, and it ended on the beach,
where the persons seem to have gone off
in a canoe.”
“How do you know they did not go
along the beach in the shallow of the tide
water?” inquired Tomkins.
“Because I followed the beach to a
muddy creek, and saw no signs of a trail
coming out. The persons must either
* Red man.
have gone off in a canoe or taken to the
water.”
Tomkins looked grave. “ I will go and
see for myself. Jones, you may return
to the company ; but say nothing to them
about this. Doctor, can you spare Wild
cat for a little while, to go with me ?”
“Certainly,” replied the Doctor, “and
go myself, too, if you have no objection.”
On arriving at the ground and looking
about, Dr. Gordon could not but admire
the ease and precision with.which the
keen eyes of Tomkins and Wildcat ena
bled them, not only to discover human
footprints in the soil, where to his un
practiced sight there was scarcely a visi
ble impression, but also to distinguish the
tracks from each other by their differ
ence in size and shape, and also to decide
how many hours had elapsed since they
were left. As he was in the act of ma
king some remark upon the subject, an
expressive Indian grunt from Wildcat,
(for which we have no suitable spelling
unless it be Ugh ! or Umpih !) called their
attention, and they saw him bending over
an impression in the sand, which Tom
kins instantly recognized as the mark
left by the butt of a rifle.
The barge was by this time ready for
sailing; and when Dr. Gordon and Tom
kins, on their return, came within ear
shot of the conversation there, they could
scarcely avoid laughing to learn the de
vice of Jones for averting the suspicions
of the men. He had given them a very
interesting account of the curious object
which the two superiors had gone out,
under Wildcat’s guidance, to examine,
namely, the skulls of two large bucks
that had engaged in a fight in which
their horns had become inextricably lock
ed, and they had, consequently, perished
from starvation, or had been drowned —a
fact in natural history that does some
times occur, but which, on the present
occasion, had its existence only in the
fertile fancy of the narrator.
♦♦♦
Population of Great Towns.
The population of London in the mid
dle of the present year is estimated by
the Register-General at 3,082,372; of Ed
inburgh (city,) 170,081 ; of Dublin (city
and some suburbs,) 319,210 ; of the bor
ough of Liverpool, 492,439; of the city
of Manchester, 363,823; of the borough
of Salford, 115,013; of the city of Glas
gow, 440,979; of the borough of Birming
ham, 343,948 ; of the borough of Leeds,
232,428; of the borough of Sheffield,
225,199; of the city of Bristol, 165,572;
of the borough of Newcastle-on-Tyne,
124,960; of the borough of Hull, 106,740.