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would be tracked, one of the men was
sent by a different route with the poor
boy, with instructions to join them at
some distant point, after search for him
had been given up.
Years afterwards I met him, and had
the conclusion of his story from his own
lips. He was then a broken down man
of less than thirty years, without hope in
this world or the next. His father had
died without ever seeing him, and his
mother was living a heart broken woman.
His health was gone, and even if it had
not been, his habits were such that he
could not have contented himself at
earning an honest livelihood. Several
efforts were made to reclaim him, by
those who had known him in boyhood,
but they were of no avail. He lived a
few years after leaving the circus, which
were spent in hanging around livery sta
bles and bar-rooms, sinking lower and
lower until he sank finally into a drunk
ard’s grave.
And now, my dear boy, let me tell
you wbat I think about your going to the
circus. In the first place it will do you
no good, and what does us no good is
sure to do us harm. The sights to be
seen and the language to be heard at
such places are not calculated to elevate
the mind or purify the heart. Another
objection is that an attendance upon
such exhibitions is giving encouragement
to a set of people who are of no use to
society ; who contribute nothing to the
wealth or morals of the community, and
whose example is calculated to lead
others into disreputable courses.
Herbert thought seriously of what I
told him, and I am glad to say finally
made up his mind not to go to the circus.
I hoj>e that every little reader of the
Weekly will follow his example, if they
are ever similarly tempted.
The Baby.
AFE, sleeping on its mother’s breast,
The smiling babe appears,
W Now, sweetly sinking into rest.
Now washed in sudden tears ;
ifp Hush, hush, my little baby dear.
There’s none who wish to harm you
3r here.
Without a mother’s tender care,
The little thing must die;
Its chubby hands so soft and fair,
No service can supply;
And not a tittle can it tell,
Os all the things we know so well.
To nurse the dolly gaily drest,
And stroke its flaxen hair.
Or ring the coral at its waist,
With silvery bells so fair.
Is all the little creature can,
That is some day to be a man.
Full many a summer’s sun must glow,
And lighten up the skies.
Before its tender limbs can grow
To any thing of size ;
And all that time the mother’s eye
Must every little want supply.
Then surely when each little limb,
Shall grow to healthy size,
And youth and manhood strengthen him,
For toil and enterprise;
His mother’s kindness is a debt,
He surely never will forget.
BURKE’S WEEKLY FOR BOYS AND GIRLS.
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 MaroonersY
CHAPTER XXXII.
A STERN CHASE —INDIAN YELL —SUCCESS-
FUL WORK.
LO, Redskin I’ ’ shouted
Robert, strongly excited.
“ Eesta-chattee, stop! We
want that boat!” added Har
old, at the top of his voice.
The calls, however, were disregarded,
possibly failing to be heard, or, if heard,
to be understood.
“Father,” suggested Robert, “had
we not better join our voices together?”
“Good!” replied his father. “We
will take the word ‘Hallo.’ Are you
all ready? Now!”
And the voices thrown thus together,
must have been heard fully a mile over
that still water, but without any effect.
“ They pretend not to hear us,” said
Harold : “ but a gun they cannot fail to
hear. Suppose, uncle, we give them
one. They will know by this that we
are in earnest, and armed too.”
“ Sam’s musket will give the loudest
report,” replied Dr. Gordon, adopting
the suggestion. “ Shoot it into the air,
Sam.”
The piece, heavily loaded, shook the
air like small thunder. Still the boat
held on its way, and the paddles moved
perceptibly faster and dug more deeply
into the rippling water. All this time
the two canoes had been urging their
way forward without losing a stroke of
the oars, and were rapidly approaching
the stranded pilot boat.
“ Our only chance for recovering our
boat is to overtake it,” said Dr. Gordon.
“ I do not intend to use force, but to
obtain it, if possible, in a friendly way.
Push on to the marsh. Sam, do you
throw the anchor beside the pilot boat
the moment you get there ; and Harold,
do you and Sam come immediately af
terwards to our boat with y our guns and
oars. We will see whether our four
oars cannot outstrip the four paddles.”
The exchange was made almost with
out stopping, and all hands then bent
themselves to the oars with such vigor
and precision that the light canoe darted
through the water in successive leaps.
“We shall soon overhaul them at this
rate,” said Dr. Gordon, tying his white
handkerchief to a ramrod as a flag of
truce. “And I hope as soon as they
see that we come with peaceable intent,
and that they cannot get away from us,
they will slacken speed, and come to a
parley.”
The distance between pursuers and
pursued diminished rapidly, and the
flag gave frequent and significant signs
of peace, but the chased boat showed no
signs of slackening speed, or of exchan
ging words. Dr. Gordon was doubtful
what to do, for they were coming now
within fair rifle range, and it must soon
be determined whether they were to
fight or keep the peace. Summoning to
use the few words of Indian language
that could be commanded, either by
himself or by Harold, and at the same
time waving his flag of peace, he called
aloud in the Muscogee dialect :
“Eesta-chattee! Hat-is-chay !” (In
dian! stop!)
Then, as one of them turned his head
to look, Dr. Gordon held out his hand,
waving the white flag and saying 1 ‘ Tuck
a-noy ! tuck-a-noy !” (money! money !)
then changing to the Cherokee language,
he hallooed “Tay-luli! tah-10-ne-ca
(money! gold money!)
It was, however, all in vain. The
boat held on her way, right towards the
surf, that broke o ver a low sand flat, as
if resolved to plunge into it rather than
be captured. He had just said, “ 1 fear
we shall not be able to recover her
without a fight, and I would not bring
that on for ten such,” when one of the
Indians was seen to turn suddenly round
and level his rifle. A small jet of
smoke shot several yards forward ; then
there was a slight splash in the water an
oar’s length away, followed by a light
“tap,” as the ball buried itself deep in
the bow of the canoe.
“A pretty decided hint,” said Dr.
Gordon.
“The villain!” exclaimed Harold,
angered beyond control by this act of
wanton hostility, then snatching up his
rifle, he was about to give the boat a
ball in return, when the quiet voice of
his uncle was heard, saying:
“Do not shoot at the boat , Harold,
but send your ball to ricochet on the
water beyond her. That will show that
we could hurt them if we would, but
that our intentions are peaceable. Per
haps they will stop.”
Away went the ball, tipping here and
there upon the now roughening surface
of the water, and throwing up a little
shower of spray wherever it struck.
The Indians seeing the ball pass far
beyond them in its dangerous play, were
evidently disturbed, for they turned their,
heads back to see if more balls were
about to come, still they pushed on.
Dr. Gordon then said to Harold :
“Take the musket , and give them a
larger ball in the same way, only farther
ahead,” and as it went the flag waved,
and Dr. Gordon shouted his mixed dia
lects, “Hatisehay! tuckanoy! tay-luh!”
etc.; but the only response he received,
as \he boat neared the breakers was the
leveling of another rifle, which, however,
was not discharged, but accompanied
by an imperative exclamation in Indian
that sounded as if it were the Creek
word “ Ily-ee-bus-ehay !” (be off! or go
away!)
The water rolling over the shoals from
sea was by this time too rough for the
canoe, and it was manifest that she
could not with safety go much farther.
Dr. Gordon then said:
“ I am now convinced that we cannot
peaceably recover our boat. Let us
therefore return. We have shown these
marauders that we can fight if we choose,
and that we are not afraid of them. No
doubt their object in making for this
rough water, where their boat can live
and our’s cannot, is to get rid of us. We
will, therefore, use it as our excuse for
giving up the chase.”
Harold’s countenance indicated great
disappointment, and so in a degree did
Robert’s. Their blood was up ; but
they yielded without a word of remon
strance. They only looked longingly
at the beautiful boat that was now al
most ready to plunge into the surf at a
place where there was a partial opening,
.and Harold was heard to mutter some
thing between his clenched teeth that
did ,not.!sound very complimentary to
the persons ahead. They turned, and
in the act of doing so, they saw the In
dians drop their paddles, put their hands
to their mouths, and work their fingers
very fast against their lips. A second
afterwards there came rattling over the
waters a shrill broken sound; it was
the Indians’ yell of triumph.
The chase had occupied them the
greater part of an hour, during which
their thoughts had been so much en
grossed with what was before them that
they had not stopped to inquire what
mischief might have been enacted at
the pilot boat. Directing their thoughts
now to that point, the oar-strokes were
so quickened with anxiety that the dis
tance was soon overpassed. Hastily
mooring the canoe, they sprang ashore,
and were about to hurry around, when
Dr. Gordon warned them to be cau
tious.
“There have hostile visitors been
here,” he said, “and there is no cal
culating what traps they may have laid
for us.”
A guarded inspection of the vessel
and its surroundings, however, revealed
no changes, except the disfiguration of
Torgah’s tuclcassee, as if in contempt,
and the falling of one of the long heavy
levers, which seemed to have inflicted
a terrible w-ound on someone, since the
mud just beside it was marked with
fresh blood, imperfectly covered with a
few handfuls of trodden weeds. Several
coils of the smaller rope were also miss
ing, and so was Sam’s hatchet, which
had been left sticking in one of the
timbers. If their object was plunder,
they were grievously disappointed, and
Robert expressed the hope that the ill
luck befalling the one whose blood they
saw, would deter them from any future
visits to the Enchanted Island.
Not many minutes now elapsed before
they were at work again upon their
launch. The Row and stern were alter
nately lifted and blocked. Three strong
railways of parallel logs were laid in
the channels cut for them in the rock.