Evening Star Newspaper, April 9, 1898, Page 18

THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, APRIL 9, ‘y wife said there was a romance at- tached to them. She felt sure one of them had siccd by Farragut or some other naval hhero’s side, when a round shot or a square shot had taken off an arm. The other she therght had been throvgh some terrible ercounter with a savage beast. Both of them certainly were minus Jegs or arms, and when I gently hinted at a circular saw er a threshing machine or a railroad wreck, the look of disdain with which I was treat- ed kept me quiet on the subject for two hours. My wife and I had taken a house out on Cape Cod. We had taken a house on Cape Cod because we had not been married very Jorg. and we yearned for a desert and soli- tude—that is, for solitude far away from all our friends and a Cesert peopled by just us two. Not having the funds neces- Bary to take us to Africa, we compromised on a hose, which was really a very small cottage, on Cape Cod. There for $8 a month we secured our cottage ready furnished, all the solitude any newly married couple could crave, and an unkmited supply of fresh air and pine woods. The first day we @pent in our cottage I proposed to settle there permanently and raise chickens. There @re no chickens and eggs in the world to compare with the Cape Cod productions. My wife said that the plan was delightful, and that she would feed the little chicks and water the eggplants. I hi never started a chicken farm on Cape Cod, but am still willing to place my wife's and my experience and skill as an offset to any man’s capital. The second day in our cot- tage we drank our fill of the fresh salt breezes, and received timid calls from the wives of some neighbors, who brought us ficwers. The third day was muggy, but in spite of the mist we plowed down to the Hfe saving station and were received with open arms by the crew. On my way back THE FIRM OF BUNKER AND BUNKS, BY THOMAS CLARESCE NOYES. (Copyrighted, 1898, by T. C. Noyes.) Bs ¢ PLL LLIULLLISULLLILSUN LSU he tends to the sea business. I’ve been to sea, but not regular, an’ I tends ta the land business. I used to be in the circus busi- ness; rod> three horses standin’, but that was before I lost my leg.” Capt. Cyrus shook hands with us, solemn- ly, and asked us to sit down. My wife said that the room was delightful. “It does, : well enough,” rumbled out the captain, “if "twasn’t for the door. Who ever heard tall oz a door in a respectable ship?” ‘This ain’t no ship,” replied his partner. t’s a house, an’ a door it needs, an’ a door it's got.” “When we built this house,” he con- tinued, turning to us, “I was in Boston, disposin’ of a twoeh2aded shark I had bought on a speculation, and: Cap’ started in to manage the buildin’. He laid a keel for the house and started the wails up so you had to put props on both sides to keep it from fallin’ over.” “Which,” interjected Capt. Cyrus, “is th right way to build a boat, an’ conserkently is the right way to build a house, if house this is, which I don’t allow.” “We changed the plan of th> house,” con- tinued Mr. Bunks, “an’ I went back to Bos- ton.” “Leavin’ behin’,” went on Captain Bunker, “a drorin’ of a mansion, with a pole in the center, an’ sides like a circus tent.” “When I came back,” resumed the other, “I found the hous2 as you see it, an’ Cap’n Bunker sittin’ on the roof—” “On the deck,” from the captain. “On the deck smokin’ a pipe. I was sur- prised at the appearance of th2 house, havin’ expected to find it roun’ an’ hand- some. I walked all around it once, to look at it. Then I walk2d all around it again to find a door. I could find no door, though there was a rudder, just at the place you came in. I called to th> cap’n, who had watched me walkin’ around, and asked him how to get in, an’ he said—? “T said,” broke in the captain, “I said she’s pretty shipshape, ain't she? You get aboard just as you get aboard any cratt, up the side, an’ I lowered tha ladder for has bean a sailor, always will be a sailor; "n Cyrus him. “I can’t climb a repe ladder very well,” the mist turned to rain, a good, honest Cape Cod rain, liable to last a week. We said Mt. Bunks, “since I became dismem- bered, although the cap’n can. I climbed it that time, though; but the next day, when the cap'n went fishin’, I had that door put in, and there she is.” . ‘An’ a shame it was to an hones’ ship,” said the captain with emphasis. “This ain't no ship, it's a hous Mr. Bunks with equal emphasis. Both partners seemed to think this ended the discussion, and immediately busied themselves getting out an assortment of oil skin coats and hats for our use. Equipped with these we started away from the dry lang boat, leaving Mr. unks standing at the door, and Captain Bunker on the roof, and both waving farewells in our direction. It rained steadily during the next few days, and we got out very seldom, and saw nothing of our new " replied ‘were not very well acquainted with Cape Cod rains, and not knowing that it might. last week we sought shelter, and in doing so made the acquaintance of our two he- roes, about whom my wife and I had our first difference of opinion. We saw a house ahead of us and made for it. Even in the driving rain there was —— queer about the looks of that use. Nearly ail Cape Cod houses have a rautical look about them, but this one had more than usual It had all the appearance of a boat that had been driven up there by some big gale, and left high and dry by the recediag waters. There was a fence around the house and little garden, and the fence was painted red, white and blue. The house lf had a curve to its sides, like a boat, while its windows were round and looked like port holes. There was a flag- staff and stove pipe on the flat roof, and smoke was coming out of the pipe. The smoke encouraged us to look for a door. At first there did not seem to be any way of getting into the place, except by the little windows, and they were too small even for my wife to get through, and besides they were closed. We walked all around the house without finding a door. The closer. we examined the house the more it looked like a ship, and yet we could se it wasn't a ship. One end tapered some, but did not come to a point for a bow. It was as much like a ship, though, as a house could be, and still be a house and not a chip. Finally I Tapped on one of the port holes, and as the most appropriate thing called out, “Ship ashoy.” I was not much of a sailor, but I knew that anybody who lived in that house would hear “Ship ahoy” much more easi- ly than a plain “Hello.” There was a stir inside at once, and pretty soon we heard a voice somewhere up above us saying, “Who hailed?” We moved back a little, and then could see a man on the roof, leaning over 8 railing, and looking down at us. “Do you want to come aboard?” he said. “Because if you do, you have to come up the ladder. My partner uses the door and I don’t. He's gone to the store with the key. Can your lady climb a ladder, because if she ean’t there ain't no use of my lettin’ it down.” I told the man we were only looking for shelter from the storm. “Storm!” he said, looking up at the clouds, which were heavy enough, although it_was not raining very hard just then. “This ain't no storm. It’s only a little rain. There won't be wind enough to wet a sheet; but here comes my mate, and if you ‘Want to come in he'll show you where he’s spoilt this craft by puttin’ in a door.” With this he disappeared, and looking around, we found another man close by us. He had a short oilskin coat on and a hat to match, and stumped along on a wooden leg. On one arm he carried a basket. He ‘was a bronzed, pleasant-looking fellow of ebout fifty years, and he took in our situa- tion at a gance. “Want to git in out the wet?" he began. “All right, but you'd bet- ter be gettin’ along home. It’s set in for a few days’ drippin’ strikes me. Howsomever, ‘we'll fix you up with coats as will keep out the moisture; those little footy rubber things ain't worth w ." We agreed ‘with him regarding our mackint and he stumped around to what would have Teen the stern of the boat had it been a oat and not a house, and put a key in a keyhole. We could see then that there was @ door there, although it was almost tm- possible to fird the joinings. We also saw that higher up was painted in gold letters ete : “The Emma, Boston, Mess., Our host operéd the door and ushered us fmto the cabin of the dry land vessel. It ‘Was hard to tall which it resembled most, @10om or a cabin. There was a stove, for one thing, which was against nautical ethics; but then there were rockers, hang- ing brackets and lamps, a swinging table, Seagoing-looking charts, and a v2ritable ecmpanionway going upward. There seem- ed to be a couple of small rooms forward, @nd wide seats ran around the room. The Iittle round windows, covéred with mist, added to the ship appearanc>, and very little imagination was necessary to feel the heave of the vessel. Just as we entered, th: little door, at the top of the companion- way or staircase, opened, and the man who had tgiked with us from the roo! came down. He had both an arm and jeg missing. He did not have a wooden sti on, Bek i ie f 4 ‘3 & 3 i | i friends. We spent a good deal of our time Playing checkers. I am a much better checker player than my wife; but she becomes so much interested in the game that it makes her decidedly sick when she loses any number of games. I there- fcre make it a rule to allow her to win atout two cut of every four games. Through my carelessness in the other two games, she usually wins one of them, too, ard the average of beating three out of four games keeps her from being sick, and in fact gives her such an opinion of her own skill that sometimes I feel that I will have to stop allowing her to win two out of four contests. The first moderately clear day I took a stroll down by the beach, and returning came by the shore ship, as we called it. The place looked a litile different in the sunlight, and an American flag was flying frcm the flagstaff. There was a little shed-like building, a little distance from the main house, and finding no signs of life at the boat, I walked down there. Inside I found Mr. Bunks, contemplatively look- ing at a codfish with two tails. The little recom was crowded with curious looking birds and fish, stuffed and mounted. On a bench in the center was a dried looking cbject, apparently the body of a fish and the head of a child. When Mr. Bunks saw me he waved his hand toward the codfish, and remarked meditatively, “It'll need an- other head, which will make it quite a feature. “I'wo headed and two-tailed cod,’ in_big letters, ‘Caught today.’ ” Mr. Bunks noted my perplexity and ex- plained. “Ye see, sir, it’s this way. Since I severed my connettion with my leg, and the circus business, simultaneous, I’ve been in the freak business. That is, I provides fr2aks forall sorts of people who may need them. It would surprise you the number of freaks as comes out of the sea. Cap’n Cyrus he goes fishin’. He fish2s most every day, an’ he most generally makes one trip a year tothe banks. He keeps his eye open specially for freaks, or such as can be made into freaks. Th2n I takes them, stuffs them, patches them, adds a head here or a tail there, ar’ sells them to whoever wants them.” “and who wants them?” “Well, various kinds of people wants them,” w2nt on Mr. Burks, “that mermaid there is for a museum in Boston. Mer- maids are mighty easy made, and there is always a fair demand for them. Two- headed sharks go off like lightnin’ when they’s genuine, which thsy mighty seldom is. Howsomever, I can put up a mighty good imitation. Then there is the two- headed an’ two-tatled small fish; but this is just between you and me, as man to man. That class of freaks I sell mostly to the piers. Ye see, nearly every seashora plac has a pier, and every pier has a big net, which they pull twice or once a day, while the people, who has all paid ten’ cents apiece, stands around and sizes up the catch, and says, ‘Oh!’ when it’s s2en that a big one is in the net. Well, sir, you can imagine the ‘Oh’s!’ when the net comes up, and the crowd sees a blue fish or cod. They come ths next day with their and when the fish is put out in front of the pier, with seaweed around bim, and a big si “Two-headed blue fish! Caught today off pier!’ there's an im- mejiat2 rush to get lines an’ pay ten cents to fish off the end of the pier. Mes, sir, trade ts always brisk i two-headed small In this way did we become acquainted with Captain Bunker and Mr. Bunis, in the weeks following we saw them quit2 frequentiy. Several times we went out fishing with the captain and kept a lookout for freaks. Often I strolled down by myself and sat and mr arg th3 captain, up on deck, or . Bunks construct mermaids or two-headed mon- stroaities. ita t th said, was retired vow, but who had made @ name from one erd of the land to the other as the proprieter~of Drake's three- fing circus and hippodrome. Mr. Lighter ‘was a lawyer in a Massachusetts town, who been a member of the legislature and might have been a congressman if re had not voted for a dog tax law. Dr. Sawyer, they both agreed, was the most skillful surgeon of tha age. It was many days before the complete story of the visitors and 6f the queer part- rership was revealed entirely to me. Grad- ually I picked it up in small pieces. Some of it from Gark hints dropped by the cap- tain, some from the more loquacious Mr. Bunks and some details from the fishermen along the shore. Then I took Mr. Bunks aside one day and told him some of the things I had learned, and he meade a clean breast of it. “Welt,” said Mr. Bunks on this occasion; “I never did conceive the necessity for all this secret business. Now, there’s noth- ing so far from me as secret business. Of ccurse, business is business, an’ I don’t ge around tellin’ Tom, Dick and Harry hew I makes a two-headed fish, but with friends, why, friends is different, an’ any friends is welcome to come right in this room an’ watch me construct a mermeid or anythin’ els:. That's the way this Emma business looks to me; but the cap’n, Cap'n Cyrus Bunker, he's all for a Secret lay. It's mos’ly professional pride, I think, because there was a wreck, you know. "Cap'n Bunker has been wrecked three times, but he don’t talk much about any of them.” Mr. Bunks sat down upon his bench, lit his pipe, and proceeded again: ‘Back in °68, the spring of ’68, John Ambrose Drake's T™mammoth circus was playing just outside of Boston. The leading attraction of the show was, everybody admitted, Senor Car- valho, the world-renowned bareback rider and trick equestrian, In private life Senor Carvalho was known as Martin Van Buren Bunks, at your service. The second lead- ing attraction of Drake's circus was Madamofiselle Marcini, the aerial beauty, who took the thrilling leap to the flying trapeze. She was a beauty, too, was sarah Cutler; Sarah Cutler was her name when at homie in Trenton, N. J. John Drake had planned that summer to take his circus up in Maine and New England, an’ we were pretty near ready to start, when one day John Drake fell through an open sewer trap in Boston an’ hurt himself consider- able. He had himself carried out to the show grounds, an’ immejiate he sent for a doctor an’ a lawyer. The doctor he need ed in his own personal business, an’ the lawyer was intended to sue the city of { Boston for $100,000 damages, with display lines in all the city papers, an’ interviews. galore, in which Mr. Dake said he sued not for his own sake, but for public wel- fare, an’ would give all he got to charity. “The lawyer who took charge of the case was William Pitt Lighter, an’ the doctor was Dr. Arnold C. Sawyer, an’ besides "tendin’ to their professional duties as con- nected with John Drake, both of them pro- ceeded to fall in love with Sarah Cutler. They both come to the conclusion that Drake's case was a most serious one, an’ they was on hand most any hour of the day or night. They even ’tended rehearsals in the mornin’s,-an’ a man what ‘tends cir- cus rehearsals, where the tinsel is au off, an’ the ladies and gents rides around in raggedy clothes, while the ringmaster stan’s In the center an’ swears—the man what goes regular to circus rehearsals, un- less he has to, is badly in love or he is crazy. Those two gents were certainly in love, an’ Sarah Cutler's father bought him- self.a new big club. Sarah Cutler’s father Was a terror, an’ the way h> made himself unpopular with his daughter’s followers would a made the heavy payrent in the melly-drama wiid with envy. Sarah’s fa- ther divided his tire between trainin’ a pair of lions. an’ fussin’ with young men who wanted Sarah. H2 was equal as em- phatic with each an’ all, an’ would just as soon use a snake whip on a young man as on a lion. He used to say that the young men were safer, an’ afforded more amusement, because they howled loud2r. “Waen we wer? al lready to go north beth Mr. Lighter an’ Dr. Sawyer consented to go with us for a little. I say consented in order to l2t them two young men down Nght. Dr. Sawyer said Mr. Drake's condi- tion was such that it was absolutely neces- sary to stay by him for a time. Mr. Lighter opined that his duty to the poor of Boston demanded the completion of the suit for damages at once, an’ he would stay by Mr. Drake until ajl pr2lim’naries were ar- ranged. “Cireuses traveled different in those days to what they do now. The quality was bet ter then, but the quantity was lighter, an we didn’t travel aroun’ with any special cars. On the road w3 used horses to pull everythin’, an’ when big jumps was to be made some stuff went by rail an’ some by boat. This time we started a lot of stuff up to Portlan’ by road an’ a lot more by rail, an’ Drake chartered three big schoon- ers to go ‘roun’ by water. At the Jast mo- ment he comes to the conclusion he would go by water himself, for the benefit of his health, so he takes on another schooner, an’ tells the dector an’ the lawy2r they were in for a voyage, which don’t seem to Please them much, when they fin’s Sarah Cutler was a goin’ by rail. Drake tells me I'm to go along with him, ‘cause he wants som> cne to keep the lawyer from makin’ his will an’ the doctor from feedin’ him enough medicine to make the dockeymeat of use to his heirs. Then they sent downa little stuff to put on th> echooner an’ a cago with two lions in it, an’ on3 mornin’ the four of us, with a man to look after the ions, went down an’ got aboard. “We sailed out’n Boston harbor on May 15 on that schooner which was named the Emma. The cap’n was Cap'n Cyrus Bun- ker, an’ he had two sailor men as crew, an’ a Portuguese fellow to cook. Durin’ the af- ternoon the wind was light, an’ we did a whele pile of tackin’. The weather was fine an’ we all spent most of the time up on deck. The cage with the lions in it was lashed to the deck forward, an’ I poked them up pretty often. Dr. Sawyer didn’t poke the lions up, but he poked Mr. Lighter @ good deal. The doctor was a pleasant, rcun’ fellow, even when he was younger, while the lawyer always had a leanin’ to- wards -biliousness. We had somethin’ to eat on deck, an’ Drake swore se powerful at the Portuguese cook that you might have thought you was back under the tents. I turned in kinder early, leavin’ the rest dis. cussin’ of the general adaptability of la- ies in the show business to becomin’ good wives. The lawyer an’ the dector was up- holdin’ the affirmative, an’ Drake was con- tgndin’ the negative. He was sayin’, as I went below, that when he married he was 1898-24 PAGES. I went to look for the doctor, an’ I found | went overboard without any hesitation. We im in bis bunk as sick as ‘the lions got lose, but 1 Drake. When 1 him wanted was smashed htm, he 3 t . ta eS ‘was a double-| J an’ a despicao! the boat picked us tyrant, to hoot, it to disturb a dyin’ as we were man with his "paxtty sickness. I judged heave to one the weenversation that hs ‘an’ went down bow from @idn't intend to, angwer any ‘The wasy't in his bunk, re: islan’, an an’ I foun" ", ant him in the little’ cudlty ‘cabin sittin’ on the It was the floor, which was @ safest place, an’ island 1 ever @ cigarsd © 3 Tock stickia’ “I couldn't sleep; he said, ‘this ship “tree to be seen. i jumped aroun’ sp,’ “I don’t wonder,’ F said, ‘this is awful.’ pase spe ten schooner her nose lown, as if she was atryin’ to stan’ on her head, an’ the lawyeran’ me comes together in a hi in one corner of the cuddy. When she hi righted, the lawyer sits up an’ says he: ‘I've never been to sea, an’ I thought this was,the,erdinary run of things at night, byt what you say leads me to be- lieve different. Now, have been to sea,’ he says to me, sdlemi Ifke, ‘an’ I want you to answer this question, as if you was on the witness stand: If anythin’ happens to this bowt, she sinks of somethin’ of the kind, or if anythin” happens to me dy this shakin’ around, sayI breaks an arm or a leg, who do I sue, who is the responsible party to recover damages from? “I told him I didn’t know, an’ he said he knew what he'd do, he'd sue*John Drake side we were, sand, an’ then rock. We rowed all aroun’ in’ it didn’t take long either, over three or four acres in all. a ny direction. Finally we pulled started from an’ landed . I jumped out ahead of an’ the first thing I see, up on the rock, was a lion, an’ I recognized him, tco, It was the same cne as was trailin’ me on the boat. Hcw he had managed to ficat or swim to that rock is past me, but there he was big as life. He sneaked back when he saw me, an’ I couldn't follow him with my eyes amorg the rocks. “John Drake and Dr. Sawyer were nighty glad to get their feet on firm land again, I can tell you, an’ when I told them i “aw THE FIRST THING I SEE WAS A LION.” for goin’ to Portlan’ by sea instead of by land. He asked me to let him know when we got in sight of Portlan’. “I poked my nose up on deck-again, an’ the gale was a. drivin’ the rain an’ the spray in perfect sh2ets. Cap'n Cyrus was lashed to the wheel, wes shakin’ his fist at the lions’ cage. “That storm was the worst, pretty near, ever known on the coast. There was plenty of wrecks, an’ ther2 would have been plenty more, but the wind was froin the northwest, an’ carried most everythin’ out to sea, instead of drivin’ them into the breakers. . “It blowed down most every chimn2y in North America, I reckon, an’ it took the tents of Robinson's‘circus, which was pitch- ed near Hartford, an’ carried*them two miles, an’ scattered wild Snimals, an’ ele- phants, an’ homes, an’ camels over th> state of Connecticut to that extent that women was afraill to go out of their doors for weeks. That storm was movin’ south, an’ it was carryin’ a whole procession of frien’s behin’ it. We moved right along with it, an’ for three days an’ nights w2 never was safe in leavin’ hold of some por- tion ofthat ship, or we'd get thrown agin somethin’, an’ thrown hard. Cap'n Cyrus had nearly every one of his sails carried away tryin’ to steady that vessel to ke2p her from rollin’ over. ‘Neither John Drake or Dr. Sawyer took much interest in any- thin’. Mr. Lighter kept sayin’, it was most remarkable that’ with the speed wa was agoin’ we didn’t git to Portlan’. He judged there was somethin’ wrong, an’ he Wanted to know if there was any time limit in our contract with’ Cap’n Bunker on which we could eu. He spent a good deal of his time makin’ wills. for John Drake an’ Dr. Sawyer, #n’ he told me he had made his expenses anyway. * abeut the lion, they-said lion or no lton they was a-goin’ to stay where they was, an’ if the lion was bigger than they, why, he could have the islan’. Cap'n wented somebody to clim’ up on the rocks an’ see if anythin’ was in sight, but no cne seemed anxious to ge. Finally we com- Promised by all of us goin’. We took every- thin’ out of the boat first an’ hauled it up on the beach, an’ takin’ some biscuits along to eat we started off, John Drake carryin’ the gun, which was loaded with buckshot. ‘We climbed up to the top of the rocks, an’ each one of us took a turn at lookin’ all aroun’ with the glass, but we couldn’t see @ speck. Then we climbed down on the other side an’ foun’ a little spring. There was tracks in the san’ aroun’ the spring, and we knew the lion had foun’ water an” was not sufferin’ from thirst, which was a consolin’ thought to its proprietor. There wasn’t a sign of vegetation on the whole islan’, an’ a most discouragin’ aspect it had. “Along in the afternoon we climbed back to the bozt an’ sat down on the san’ to think. The result of all the thinkin’ was that we was hungry, so we built a fire with seme drift wreckage which was lyin’ all aroun’ an’ fixed up some dinner. Night was ccmin’ on by that time, an’ Cap'n Cyrus thought we cught to get in the boat an’ pull out aways an’ sleep so as to te quit of the lion, but John Drake said that it would take a bigger lion than Romeo, which was the beast’s name, to make him sleep in a boat again. The other two agreed with John Drake, Mr. Lighter ve- markin’ that he intended to stay right where he was till the Portlan’ steamer came by. Finally we agreed to keep a fire up all night for Romeo's benefit an’ to chance it. We piled on a lot of driftwood an’ sat aroun’ for awhile discussin of what “Cap'n Cyrus hardly’ ever left the wheel durin’ that whole tifn3, an’ we saw mighty little of him: The third’ evenin’ the wind we ought to do. We were all mighty tired, however, an’ gradually cne by one dropp>d off to sleep. I watched the fire for awhile, an’ it was worth watchin’. There was mcre colors than you could imagine in the blaze from those old sea-soaked timbers. ‘The last thing I saw was a blue flame, with a pink figure of Sarah Cutler in it, dancin’ on a green tight rope. - “When I woke up it was da: he fire was out, an’ Romeo vas standin’ over John Drake, apparently choosin’ a portion of his anatomy for his breakfast. I gave a big yell, an’ Romeo looked et me reproachful like, an’ then sneaked off. We foun’ he bad nessed up all of our provigions, an’ not findin’ anythin’ to his likin’ had de- cided to take a meal off of John Drake. John Drake expressed his opinion of Romeo in language which was free an’ easy. He said that Romeo was an ungrateful brute, after the care, an’ attention, an’ advertisin’ he had lavished on him, to choose him out of five men for his breakfast. Jchn Drake was jist gettin’ in his best work on his ramarks when Cap'n Cyrus interrupted the performance by callin’ our attention to the boat, which wag floatin’ out by the reefs, a good hundred yards from the shore. “he high tide had carried it off the beach, an’ it was in a fair way to get clear out to sea. “We all united in tellin’ Cap'n Cyrus what we thought of his not pullin’ the boat higher on the beach, an’ he said it was no matter, he’d get the boat. So he took his clothes off qn’ started to swim toward it. He hadn’t gone far when he turned aroun’ and started back twice as fast as he had been goin’. There was somethin’ after him, too. We ran down into the water an’ hauled him in just in time to hear the suap of teeth an’ see the ugly snoot of a big shark, which had just miss- ed uippin’ him. Cap'n Cyrus sald he would rather go to bed with Romeo than swim for thet boat after that, so we watched the little affair go out to sea, bobbin’ aroun’ on the waves like a cork, an’ all by Itself. Pilea om Driftwood. died almost opt, an’ we saw the sun for the first time. Even John Drake an’ the doc- tor came up on deck for a minute to take a look roun’. Then Cap'n Cyrus gave up the wheel an’ the deck to the two sailor men, the Portuguese cook an’ the lion man. came below to take a rest, “Alorg toward mornin’, when it was dark as the ace of spad2s, there was the most awful crash on that boat you ever heard, an’ everythin’ an’ everybody came up standin’. We all rushed up on deck, an’ you couldn't see nothin’, at first, a foot in front of your face. There was a faut light in tha east, showin’ it was almost day. Cap'n Cyrus runs to the side, ar’ then down below. I yells out as loud as I could, an’ tells the others to yell also, which they did powerful, bein’ inclined that way, any- thow. I knew right away we had been struck by some boat, an’ I want2d them to come back for us. I couldn’t see anythin’ of the sailor men, or the cook, an’ I judged ‘ked overboard they -had either beén knoc! or had jumped on the vesss! as had run us down. We found afterward hed had done the last, an’ reached New York all right, reporting us as lost. Cap'n Cyrus come up in a few minutes, an’ says ther’s 2 hole in The Emma’s sid3 ‘big enough to drive a calf through. He'd stuffed it full of bed- din’, but the water was comin’ in fast. He sent me down to do wkat I could to it, an’ starts to get up a sail, so as to heel the boat over a@ little. The sail did somethin’, " The faces without cause. This is a momentous period in tas history of this islan’, its people, sur- rounded on one side by a lion, an’ on the other by a shark, an’ its means of escape lost, through the carelessness of a man whom I will not name, but who should be prosecuted to the utmost limit of the taw; its people, I say, are called on to take ac- tion for the common safety, an’ as the first step, I propose to you, as the presi- dent of this republic, the name of Mr. who is well known to you but the way in Emma couldn't lust over an hour, an’ I told “John Drake was unanimously elected, Cap’n Cyrus so. —S ee the made a feelin’ h, “John Drake was mighty glad | ®2! that he <: office, not from any he'd made his 5, 4 never had |-| Personal ambition, but only for the pub- ed his brother's to get any of his lic. good. Personally he preferred the quiet money; an’ Dr. asked him what the | n’ seclusion of private life, but when thundsr good his was if we ail went | uty called he was ready to obey, an’ to down, will an’ sf said that | do his best for the ‘population of the was that he’d | islan’, conc’ of five men an’ a lion, over- | the ‘mentioned bein’ a person of ill- min’, into whese carcass he in- tended to fre a load of buckshot at the eyes} first chance. Cap'n] “That day we moved all of our things ‘water, | up on the rocks fn’ rigged up a little pole a lot of hard tack an’ salt meat, with some] on the highést point, on which we fixed a other thifigs, Includin’ a shotgun, which | couple of shirts as a singel of distress. At ponent docer apg a apr paler ang me are night we iit a ‘Dre to sét ese signal an’ swung 01 cabe need. Pretty secon, keep Romeo proper place. Romeo when it was gga & Ught, Mr, | had traveled with a show too much to care Light ve gives a y3il| very much fire, an’ some time of lan’ ahead, an’ sure enough, was Cap'n ‘was on somethin’ in the shape of an islan’ a one howl, lit square nes ee eet ae moa was eget Ante aE ion mighty Jogsy by this time, an’ rapid. | ered ‘some, didn’t light on any- ‘We got our bags up from below, an’ body direct, he clawed the ‘whole v . sah aaitie ot] his buckshot at omen, as he hed boom: as float “ten | ised, an’ the animal another tained Mr. Lighter to sue viously poisonin’ Romeo, a valuable, Intel- ligent, an’ docile lion, for no cause whatso- ever. Romeo may heve been valuable an’ intelligent, but he was very peaked; an’ whether he died from natural causes, as Mr. Lighter put down in the papers in our case, an’ as Sawyer said the autopsy showed, or from poison, as Mr. Lighter stated in John Drake's papers, there was @ pretty general idea that had he lived ill night he would have made a meal off of some one. “There's no use goin’ into all the details of our stay on that tsland. We watched the sky line all Gay tong, an’ at night we kept a signal.fire goin’, but we didn’t see anythin’ but blue sky stretchin’ bluer and higher every day. I acquired a dislike for blue sky at that time I have never gotten over. The third day Mr. Lighter made for- mal charges against President Drake of extravagant expenditure of provisions, an’ although the president retained Mr. Light- er to defend him, we deposed John Drake an’ elected William Pitt Lighter to suc- ceed him. The new president put us on short rations, an’ a day or so later, when Cap'n Cyrus said he thought he could fix up a line an’ maybe catch some fish, we deposed Lighter an’ elected Cap'n Cyrus Bunker president. Cap'n Cyrus made a line from a shirt an’ fixed up a hook from a piece of wire, an’ baited it with one of the last pieces of pork we had. Then he got on a rock an’ started to fish. He had a bite right away: In fact, there was a tight for his hook. Six sharks fit like blazes to get caught, an’ the one that succeeded was the first two-tailed shark I ever seen in his native lair. He swallowed the pork an’ went right on away with the bait, hook an’ line. Cap'n Cyrus let go of the line with promptnese, or he would have gone along with the rest of the outfit. After that we deposed Cap'n Cyrus an’ elected me presi- dent. During my term we lived for four days on the skin of Romeo. Before John Drake would let us have the skin for pro- visions he made us sign a paper with- drawin’ our suit for da:nages on account cf Romeo's misdoin's. Then when I dis- tributed tho first meal from the skin 1 weuldr’t give John Drake his piece till he s‘gned @ paper withdrawin’ of his suit for for Romeo's death. Mr. Lighter drew the papers in both matters, an’ made notes of the charges. He had a little book most full of charges for suits he had becn retained for. “As I say, Romeo's skin lasted four days, an’ there was some nourishment in ft. Scme boot tops an’ leather belts lasted two days more; but as food they were not up to the mark, cook them as we might. Then when we only had a little bit of belt left an’ was sittin’ in council Dr. Sawyer got up. He wasn’t roun’ an’ jolly any more, by any means. As soon as Dr. Baw- yer arose I knew that my official career was drawin’ to a close, an’ I felt like those old emperors must have felt when the somethin’ or other guard came aroun’ Signal of Distréss. on their regular Sunday mornin’ deposin’ trip. Dr. Sawyer raid that the provisions furnished durin’ the last administration weuld have disgraced a monarchy, let aione a free republic, an’ he moved that ] be fired, or words to that effect. Mr. Lighter seconded the motion, remarkin’ that I ought never have been elected. Joan Drake said it was an outrageous piece of impudence for me to have ever thought ot bein’ president, an’ Cap'n Cyrus said the same. I never saw such a unanimous sen- timent among a body of men, en’ { arose with dignity an’ said that owin’ to a pres- sure of private business I was obliged to resign. I had the proud distinction of bein’ the only person to ever resign in that re- public. “Mr. Lighter then stated boldly that the next president, in order to retrieve the blunders of ihe past, should be of a legal bent of mind. John Drake opined that a business man was needed, an’ Cap'n Cyrus argued that we was at sea an’ a sailor should fill the berth. Then Dr. Sawyer got up again an’ said he was a candidate. He knew he had been defeated in the past etection, he said, because John Drake had fought him on account of the death of Remeec, which he laid to his door. Through John Drake's corruption fund, said the Goctor, a numbskull had been elected presi- dent, who had fed the republic on a moth- esten lion's skin an’ a job lot of boot tons. He, the doctor, had 5 tion would rise abeve the p: get them somethin’ to eat. The idea of stmethin’ to eat carried the election with a rush, an’ Dr. Arnold C. Sawyer was made president without a dissentin’ voice. ‘ken Dr. Sawyer made another speech, in which he said he had studied ship wrecks and castaway incidents since he was a boy, an’ his soul had been harrowed by the un- scientific way in which they had been con- ducted. “‘As soon as a castaway party,’ said Dr. Sawyer, ‘runs out of food an’ boots, they senerally proceed to draw lots an’ eat some cne of the party. “ ‘It is a ridiculous, unscientific business,” continved the doctor, ‘to kill a whole man an’ eat him, when a portion of him wiil do. Now take our case. We expect a ship to pass here any day an’ take us off. Suppose today we kill—’ an’ the doctor looked hun- grily eround at the circle—‘say we kill John Drake, who brought us here.’ “ ‘I object,’ remarked John Drake, ‘an’ 1 g Br 5 ff » ii i i | ! | af i i & E i a i 8 4 i 3 [a : 5 fe 3 i a8 fet Hee if] Ee B ip F ef i ! i i i é : | rt! i Ff Fee H iE el iff 2 few i ¥ board. Then Mr. Lighter remarked that he had carefully watched the splendid pep pee by his frien’, Dr. Sawyer, an’ felt confident he could do an cperation himself, an’ he moved that Dr. Sawyer be firmly requested to donate a leg to the republic. The motion was adopt- ed in spite of the docior'’s refusal to put the question, but was never put into effect, use we were picked up the next morn- in’, a ship heavin’ in sight just when we had got Dr. Sawyer penned up in a corner "were preparin’ to tie him. government boat, looking for” dere- Nets, picked us up. an’ a most surprised lot they was when we were taken aboard. On the way home Mr. Lighter drew up apers in twentty-iwo suits, an’ presente is to US amountin’ to $46,000 for Cap'n Cyrus ended the suits, however, callin’ attention to the fact that w So much mixed up regardin’ our anatomi: that it would be ike suein’ ourselves. “That's about is to the story, excepti? that every year the five of us gets torether an’ compares notes. Oh, I forgot to say that when we reached Portlan’ we found that Sarah Cutier had run off an’ married a man which played a drum in the circus band, an’ that the man, whose pame was Wilkins, had whipped Surah Cutler's father so that he was in bed for a month. The marriage of Sarah Cutler was asad blow to Dr. Sawyer a Mr. Lighter, an’ I felt it considerable my- self, because Saran Cutler hadn't promis: Dr. Sawyer an’ Mr. Lighter anythin’, » an’ She had promised to marry me.” a THE THREE KRUPPS. Ga Works at Ensen. From the Iron Age. The city of Essen is located In the center of a hilly valley, which abounds in coal and fron ore, and the digging for both and the melting of the ore and casting the metal into ingots and rolling it into bars huve been the occupations of the inhabt- tants for centuries past. Frederick Krupp, the founder of the great works bearing his name, born in 1787, and when crucible cast steel was first being introduced in England, and its importation from there into Germany had been made impossibie through the edict of Napoleon, called “the continental sperre,” F. Krupp began to Produce crucible cast steel, first in small quantities for files, stamps, rolls for coins and shears, but only slowly could he con- vince and persuade German manufacturers to use his cast steel, and after a life full of disappointments and hardships, he died in 1826, after a long and severe fliness, leaving to his son Alfred little else than the old homestead, which still stands in the midst of the great works, and the se- cret of his intention. Aifred Krupp’s energy and enterprise scCn conquered. His first success was to be able to furnish a cast steel of a vary: ing Gegree of hardness, thereby Inoreasti its adaptability for many *new pu! . Next came the invention of the weildless car-wheel tires, which were patented in 1833 in all countries, and furnished him ccpital for enlarging his plant. In 1865 he interested himself in coal mines, fron ore mines and furnaces, whith should furnish the material for his own works, end in 1867 he began to reap the harvest from his experiments, inaugurated long since, with steel cannons, and the great Franco-Ger- man war of 1870-71 proved beyond doubt their superiority as against the old bronze cannons. Since then the success of these werks and their growth have been phe- ucmenel, and when Alfred Krupp closed the busy and successful and philanthropic work of his life in 1887 at Villa Huegel, his princely home on the side hills of the valley of the Ruhe, the city of Bssen, in recognition of his great work, erected in his memory a beautiful monument on tne most prominent square of the city, and deputations from many nations mourned at his grave. Essen ts a city of 96,000 inhabitants, and over 2),000 of this population are em- ployed in the works of the able and ener- getic son of Alfred Krupp—Friedrich Al- fred. Over 1,200 acres of ground are cov- ered with buildings and machinery. Many coal mines furnish fuel for the works, over 400 iron ore mines furnish the metal and large iron ore deposits in Spain, near Bil- bao, have been purchased in addition, and @ special fleet of steamers have been built which bring over 300,000 tons of this Span- ish ore from Spain to the German coast and up the Rhine. Twenty furraces at Duls- burg and Neuwied-on-the-Rhine are reduc- ing this ore for the Krupp works and are owned or controlled by them. The main street of Essen divides the Krurp works in two parts, connected over- head with imnumerable mamn.oth steam- pipes and bridges, and parallel with it, running east and west, the tracks of the Rhenish railway pass the works on the north, while in the south the railroad lead- ing from Dusseldorf to Bremen, Hamburg and Berlin skirts the mills. Innumerable tracks connect these two main lines of rail- road, surrounding in an inextricable net- werk the buildings and crossing the street leading to Muelheim below ite level. Pow- erful locomotives bring train-leads of raw material into the yards and leave the works with valuable products, finished and ready for shipment to all parts of the globe. Miniature engines and cars move about between the buildings on narrow- gauge tracks, bringing material of smaller size from one building to another until it is finished and ready for the market. cared Se = Pyramid Climbing. From the Chicago News. Climbing the pyramids is no slight task. Mountain climbing is no more difficult. The trip to the pyramids is now easy for visi- ters, as a good road has been made. A ten-mile drive rings one to the foot of Gizeh, the largest of them all, and om whose construction 100,000 men were em- pioyed for thirty years—ail to make a safe resting place for the bo@y of a monarch whose corpse was afterward stolen. The second largest pyramid is almost equal in size, and then follow’ other pyramids of varying height, the total number still standing being about fifteen. Many visl- tor® ascend Gizeh and most are sorry after- ward. It is astonishing to see the Be- dcuins, wno run up and down Gizeh against time. The two factest runners there agree to get to the top and down again in eight m‘nutes. ‘Vistiors, however, have to be helped up each step. i H i] E ie ‘that the world ever knew. Day and from he: ‘burn: pains in it EF it i i H A iy ; i i i i if F if i f ft | [ Tr I fl uf | | i & 4 E i F ail li iit ul ih #8 ! it T i i and 7