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time included the present State of Mis
souri, where he was presented with a
large body of land by the Spanish author
ities. Here he continued his life of hunt
ing and trapping until September, 1822,
when he died, in the eighty-sixth year of
his age.
Boone was a man of fine appearance,
about five feet ten inches in height, and
well proportioned. He had but little ed
ucation, but was a man of strong mind,
of mild and pleasant manners, and of
blameless character. A more friendly
and hospitable man never lived.
Bed Time.
tOSEBUD lay in her trundle-bed,
With her small hands folded above her head;
And fixed her innocent eyes on me.
While a thoughtful shadow came over their glee,
f" Mamma,” said she, “when I go to sleep,
I pray to the Father my soul to keep ;
And he comes and carries it far away,
To the beautiful home where his. angels stay;
I gather red roses and lilies so white:
I sing with the angels through all the long night
And when, in the morning, I wake from my
sleep.
He gives back the soul that I gave him to keep,
And I only remember, like beautiful dreams
The garlands of bliss, the wonderful streams.”
Little Corporal.
Written for Burke’s Weekly.
MAROONER’S ISLAND;
OR,
Dr. Gordon in Search of his Children.
BY REV. F. R. GOULDING,
Author of the “ Young Marooners.' 1 ' 1
CHAPTER XIX.
NAVIGATING BY RAFT SAIL OR SEA-BIRD ?
—COUNCIL OF WAR, SECOND —AN INDIAN
CAMP-FIRE —SIGNS OF DANGER —DARING
INTRUSION.
jyfe <Wr the course of the morn
ing it was discovered that
the supposed tongue of
land w^ere they had ex
perienced the terrific gale
'i&S&J which had deprived them of their
boat, was virtually an island, en-
closed on one side by the sea, and
W on the other by a miry marsh over
flowed daily by the tide. They were thus
as secure as they could expect to be from
hostile approach, but they discovered, al
so, after a short search, that they were
likely to suffer for the want of fresh wa
ter. Unwilling to leave a spot so well
suited, in many respects, to their circum
stances, they not only explored the beach,
and even attempted distillation, as they
had practiced on a former occasion, but,
under Wheeler’s direction, they bored*
the island in several places to the depth
of the ordinary tide mark upon the beach,
* For the details of these processes of boring and distil
lation, see Chapter IX.
BURKE’S WEEKLY.
but in vain. It was manifest that they
must remove to some other point.
Several miles to the northward was a
bold, sandy bluff, which they had noticed
in passing the day before, and which they
could still see, that promised a better
look-out upon sea, and at the same time
the precious fluid, of which they were be
ginning to feel already the need. By Dr.
Gordon’s advice, the men were set to work
to make the best raft they could construct
out of the very poor material furnished
by the island. A number of the longest
logs to be obtained, were fastened firmly
together, with all the length and with the
least breadth possible for the load to be
carried; and to this rude structure were
attached the gunwales, and row-locks, and
seats of the barge, with whatever else
could be of use ; so that, although appear
ing in very different shape, and possessed
of vastly inferior qualities, every portion
of the wreck was consumed in the work.
The next day, (Tuesday, Nov. 2d,)
about three o’clock in the afternoon, they
embarked with all the stores they had
saved, and by vigorous plying of the oars
they worhed their sluggish way against
what little there was of wind and tide,
until they reached a low sandy key, cov
ered on one side with saw-palmettoes, and
on the other with an impenetrable growth
of mangroves. While toiling heavily un
der the lee of this little island Jones sud
denl} r sung out, “A sail!”
“Whereaway?” asked Wheeler, who
had temporarily given up his place at the
stern to Jones, and who looked seawards
with a vain attempt to penetrate the
dense intervening foliage.
“Through the opening in the palmet
toes we have just passed,” answered Jones,
“and right over the clump of oaks on the
island beyond.”
“Backwater, men! back water!” was
Wheeler’s order to the oarsmen.
The raft was backed until it reached
the spot indicated by Jones, but nothing
could be discovered towards sea except a
large mixed flock of gannets, gulls and
curlews, and Wheeler impatiently re
marked :
“ I gave you credit for a better eye,
Jones, than to mistake a flock of birds for
the sails of a vessel.”
“Those were not birds I spoke of,”
Jones quickly replied ; “ I saw the birds,
and saw the sails, too. It was but a
glimpse I had, it is true, but if that was
not a vessel, you and the men may laugh
at me all the rest of my life, and never
trust my sight again. I tell you it was
a vessel. She had all her sails spread,
was at least four miles away, and seemed
to be sailing very fast.”
This earnest reiteration on the part of
Jones stopped the laugh that had arisen
when Wheeler added:
“We must run no risks about the cut
ter. Pull away, men ! and all of you keep
a sharp look-out for some opening through
these mangroves. We had better get
ashore and raise a smoke, even if it is to
be seen only by gannets and curlews.”
They made all the speed possible with
their clumsy craft along the soft margin
of the marsh, until they found a place
where the mud was hard enough to bear
their weight, and the mangroves open
enough to allow of a passage through;
and no sooner had one of the men pushed
his way to a point where he could see
than he cried out:
“Jones is right. The cutter is pass
ing!”
“You had better say she has passed,”
said Tomkins hastily; then with a shout,
“All hands to work to raise a smoke.
Quick! quick ! before our chance is gone!”
Each man sprung to his duty, and with
pocket-knife, hatchet, or axe, severed and
brought together so large a pile of green
foliage from the mangroves and palmct
toes that, ere Tomkins had his fire of dry
twigs ready, he had to say to the men,
“ Hold ! enough !” Wheeler, meanwhile,
had tried other signals. Asking the as
sistance of Dr. Gordon and Wildcat, he
had brought ashore the boat’s flag, which
he fastened to two oars, lashed end to
end, and then waved it high as they could
reach. The loaded muskets of the men
had also been brought ashore, and as soon
as the flag was ready for waving, he ask
ed a moment’s use of the men, who not
only fired their volley simultaneously, but
also discharged their pieces upwards, that
their smoke as well as sound might serve
as a signal to the cutter.
Eagerly did they watch the effect of
these signals, and afterwards of the dense
smoke from the pile of green herbage,
rising obliquely in the wind until it had
attained its equilibrium, then stretching
like a streamer for miles over the land
and water. None of them, however,
seemed to have reached the eyes or eais
of any one on board. The white canvas,
distinctly visible behind the low growth
of a distant island, continued spread and
set as before, until it passed wholly out ol
sight. They had seen the cutter just a
few minutes too late to arrest her atten
tion.
With her disappearance, the men look
ed anxiously into each other’s faces, am
asked, by expression of countenance, i
not by so many words, What shall we do
now? But this question they were not
allowed many minutes to discuss, for Tom