After a second night spent in the stage-coach on that lonely and
desolate mountain-road where we were now snow-bound, I arose early in
the morning and went into the forest to collect some fuel; and while
thus engaged I made the discovery that the snow was covered with a
hard crust which would bear my weight. After the storm had ceased the
day before, the sun had shone brightly and the temperature had
moderated very much, so that the surface of the snow had slightly
thawed. During the night it became cold again, and this surface froze
into a hard coating of ice. When I found I could walk where I pleased,
my spirits rose, and I immediately set out to view the situation. The
aspect of the road gave me no encouragement. The snowfall had been a
heavy one, but had it not been for the high wind which accompanied it,
it would have thrown but moderate difficulties in the way of our
rescue. Reaching a point which commanded a considerable view along
the side of the mountain, I could see that in many places the road was
completely lost to sight on account of the great snow-drifts piled up
on it. I then walked to the point where the two roads met, and
crossing over, I climbed a slight rise in the ground which had cut off
my view in this direction, and found myself in a position from which I
could look directly down the side of the mountain below the road.
Here the mountain-side, which I had supposed to be very steep and
rugged, descended in a long and gradual slope to the plains below, and
for the greater part of the distance was covered by a smooth, shining
surface of frozen snow, unbroken by rock or tree. This snowy slope
apparently extended for a mile or more, and then I could see that it
gradually blended itself into the greenish-brown turf of the lower
country. Down there in the valley there still were leaves upon the
trees, and there were patches of verdure over the land. The storm
which had piled its snows up here had given them, rain down there and
had freshened everything. It was like looking down into another
climate, and on another land. I saw a little smoke coming up behind a
patch of trees. It must be that there was a house there! Could it be
possible that we were within a mile or two of a human habitation! Yet,
what comfort was there in that thought? The people in that house could
not get to us nor we to them, nor could they have heard of our
situation, for the point where our road reached the lower country was
miles farther on.
As I stood thus and gazed, it seemed to me that I could make a run and
slide down the mountain-side into green fields, into safety, into
life. I remembered those savage warriors who, looking from the summits
of the Alps upon the fertile plains of Italy, seated themselves upon
their shields and slid down to conquest and rich spoils.
An idea came into my mind, and I gave it glad welcome. There was no
time to be lost. The sun was not yet high, but it was mounting in a
clear sky, and should its rays become warm enough to melt the crust on
which I stood, our last chance of escape would be gone. To plow our
way to any place, through deep, soft snow, would be impossible. I
hurried back to our coach, and found three very grave women standing
around the fire. They were looking at a small quantity of food at the
bottom of a large basket.
"That's every crumb there is left," said Mrs. Aleshine to me, "and
when we pass in some to them unfortunates on the other side of the
drift,--which, of course, we're bound to do,--we'll have what I call a
skimpy meal. And that's not the worst of it. Until somebody gets up to
us, it will be our last meal."
I took my poor Ruth by the hand, for she was looking very pale and
troubled, and I said: "My dear friends, nobody can get up to this
place for a long, long time; and before help could possibly reach us
we should all be dead. But do not be frightened. It is not necessary
to wait for any one to come to us. The snow is now covered with a
crust which will bear our weight. I have thought of a way in which we
can slide down the mountain-side, which, from a spot where I have been
standing this morning, is no steeper than some coasting hills, though
very much longer. In a few minutes we can pass from this region of
snow, where death from cold and starvation must soon overtake us, to a
grassy valley where there is no snow, and where we shall be within
walking distance of a house in which people are living."
Ruth grasped my arm. "Will it be safe?" she exclaimed.
"I think so," I answered. "I see no reason why we should meet with any
accident. At any rate, it is much safer than remaining here for
another hour; for if the crust melts, our last chance is gone."
"Mr. Craig," said Mrs. Lecks, "me and Mrs. Aleshine is no hands at
coastin' down-hill, havin' given up that sort of thing since we was
little girls with short frocks and it didn't make no matter any way.
But you know more about these things than we do; and if you say we can
get out of this dreadful place by slidin' down-hill, we're ready to
follow, if you'll just go ahead. We followed you through the ocean
with nothin' between our feet and the bottom but miles o' water and
nobody knows what sorts of dreadful fish, and when you say it's the
right way to save our lives, we're ready to follow you again. And as
for you, Mrs. Ruth, don't you be frightened. I don't know what we're
goin' to slide on, but, whatever it is, even if it's our own selves,
me and Mrs. Aleshine will take you between us, and if anything is run
against, we'll get the bumps, and not you."
I was delighted to see how rapidly my proposition was accepted, and we
made a hasty breakfast, first sending in some of our food to the other
party. The gentleman reported through the hole of communication that
they were all fairly well, but a good deal stiffened by cold and want
of exercise. He inquired, in a very anxious voice, if I had
discovered any signs of approaching relief. To this I replied that I
had devised a plan by which we could get ourselves out of our present
dangerous situation, and that in a very short time I would come around
to the door of his shed--for I could now walk on the crusted snow--and
tell him about it. He answered that these words cheered his heart, and
that he would do everything possible to cooperate with me.
I now went to work vigorously. I took the cushions from the coach,
four of them altogether, and carried them to the brink of the slope
down which I purposed to make our descent. I also conveyed thither a
long coil of rawhide rope which I had previously discovered in the
boot of the coach. I then hurried along the other road, which, as has
been said before, lay at a somewhat lower level than the one we were
on, and when I reached the shed I found the door had been opened, and
the gentleman, with his tin pan, had scooped away a good deal of the
snow about it, so as to admit of a moderately easy passage in and out.
He met me outside, and grasped my hand.
"Sir, if you have a plan to propose," he said, "state it quickly. We
are in a position of great danger. Those two ladies inside the shed
cannot much longer endure this exposure, and I presume that the
ladies in your party--although their voices, which I occasionally
hear, do not seem to indicate it--must be in a like condition."
I replied that, so far, my companions had borne up very well, and
without further waste of words proceeded to unfold my plan of escape.
When he had heard it the gentleman put on a very serious expression.
"It seems hazardous," he said, "but it may be the only way out of our
danger. Will you show me the point from which you took your
observations?"
"Yes," said I, "but we must be in haste. The sun is getting up in the
sky, and this crust may soon begin to melt. It is not yet really
winter, you know."
We stepped quickly to the spot where I had carried the cushions. The
gentleman stood and silently gazed, first at the blocked-up roadway,
then at the long, smooth slope of the mountain-side directly beneath
us, and then at the verdure of the plain below, which had grown
greener under the increasing brightness of day. "Sir," said he,
turning to me, "there is nothing to be done but to adopt your plan, or
to remain here and die. We will accompany you in the descent, and I
place myself under your orders."
"The first thing," said I, "is to bring here your carriage cushions,
and help me to arrange them."
When he had brought the three cushions from the shed, the gentleman
and I proceeded to place them with the others on the snow, so that the
whole formed a sort of wide and nearly square mattress. Then, with a
rawhide rope, we bound them together in a rough but secure net-work of
cordage. In this part of the work I found my companion very apt and
skillful.
When this rude mattress was completed, I requested the gentleman to
bring his ladies to the place while I went for mine.
"What are we to pack up to take with us?" said Mrs. Aleshine, when I
reached our coach.
"We take nothing at all," said I, "but the money in our pockets and
our rugs and wraps. Everything else must be left in the coach, to be
brought down to us when the roads shall be cleared out."
With our rugs and shawls on our arms we left the coach, and as we were
crossing the other road we saw the gentleman and his companions
approaching. These ladies were very much wrapped up, but one of them
seemed to step along lightly and without difficulty, while the other
moved slowly and was at times assisted by the gentleman.
A breeze had sprung up which filled the air with fine frozen particles
blown from the uncrusted beds of snow along the edge of the forest,
and I counseled Ruth to cover up her mouth and breathe as little of
this snow powder as possible.
"If I'm to go coastin' at all," said Mrs. Aleshine, "I'd as lief do it
with strangers as friends; and a little liefer, for that matter, if
there's any bones to be broken. But I must say that I'd like to make
the acquaintance of them ladies afore I git on to the sled,
which,"--at that moment catching sight of the mattress,--"you don't
mean to say that that's it?"
"Barb'ry Aleshine," said Mrs. Lecks from underneath her great woolen
comforter, "if you want to get your lungs friz, you'd better go on
talkin'. Manners is manners, but they can wait till we get to the
bottom of the hill."
Notwithstanding this admonition, I noticed that as soon as the two
parties met, both Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine advanced and shook
hands with the ladies who had been their neighbors under such peculiar
circumstances, and that Mrs. Lecks herself expressed a muffled hope
that they might all get down safely.
I now pushed the mattress which was to serve as our sled as close as
was prudent to the edge of the descent, and requested the party to
seat themselves upon it. Without hesitation Mrs. Lecks and Mrs.
Aleshine sat down, taking Ruth between them, as they had promised to
do. My young wife was very nervous, but the cool demeanor of her
companions, and my evident belief in the practicability of the plan,
gave her courage, and she quietly took her seat. The younger of the
two strange ladies stepped lightly on the cushions, and before seating
herself stood up for a good look at the far-extending bed of snow over
which we were to take our way. The prospect did not appear to deter
her, and she sat down promptly and with an air that seemed to say that
she anticipated a certain enjoyment from the adventure. The elder
lady, however, exhibited very different emotions. She shrank back from
the cushions towards which the gentleman was conducting her, and
turned her face away from the declivity. Her companion assured her
that it was absolutely necessary that we should descend from the
mountain in this way, for there was no other; and asserting his belief
that our slide would be a perfectly safe one, he gently drew her to
the mattress and induced her to sit down.
I now, for the first time, noticed that the gentleman carried under
one arm, and covered by his long cloak, a large package of some sort,
and I immediately said to him: "It will be very imprudent for us to
attempt to carry any of our property except what we can put in our
pockets or wrap around us. Everything else should be left here, either
in your carriage or our coach, and I have no fear that anything will
be lost. But even if our luggage were in danger of being molested we
cannot afford to consider it under circumstances such as these."
"My dear sir," said the gentleman, speaking very gravely, "I
appreciate the hazards of our position as keenly as yourself. Our
valises, and all the light luggage which we had with us in our
carriage, I have left there, and shall not give them another thought.
But with the parcel I hold under this arm I cannot part, and if I go
down the mountain-side on these cushions, it must go with me. If you
refuse in such a case to allow me to be one of your party, I must
remain behind, and endeavor to find a board or something on which I
can make the descent of the mountain."
He spoke courteously, but with an air of decision which showed me that
it would be of no use to argue with him. Besides, there was no time
for parleying; and if this gentleman chose to take his chances with
but one arm at liberty, it was no longer my affair. I therefore
desired him to sit down, and I arranged the company so that they sat
back to back, their feet drawn up to the edge of the mattress. I then
took the place which had been reserved for me as steersman, and having
tied several shawls together, end to end, I passed them around the
whole of us under our arms, thus binding us all firmly together. I
felt that one of our greatest dangers would be that one or more of the
party might slip from the mattress during the descent.
When all was ready I asked the gentleman, who, with the elder lady,
sat near me, at the back of the mattress, to assist in giving us a
start by pushing outward with his heels while I thrust the handle of
my wooden shovel into the crust and thus pushed the mattress forward.
The starting was a little difficult, but in a minute or two we had
pushed the mattress partly over the brink, and then, after a few more
efforts, we began to slide downward.
The motion, at first slow, suddenly became quite rapid, and I heard
behind me a cry or exclamation, from whom I knew not, but I felt quite
sure it did not come from any of our party. I hoped to be able to make
some use of my shovel in the guidance of our unwieldy raft or
mattress-sled, but I soon found this impossible, and down we went over
the smooth, hard-frozen slope, with nothing to direct our course but
the varying undulations of the mountain-side. Every moment we seemed
to go faster and faster, and soon we began to revolve, so that
sometimes I was in front and sometimes behind. Once, when passing over
a very smooth sheet of snow, we fairly spun around, so that in every
direction feet were flying out from a common center and heels grating
on the frozen crust. But there were no more cries or exclamations.
Each one of us grasped the cordage which held the cushions together,
and the rapidity of the motion forced us almost to hold our breath.
Down the smooth, white slope we sped as a bird skims through the air.
It seemed to me as if we passed over miles and miles of snow.
Sometimes my face was turned down the mountain where the snow surface
seemed to stretch out illimitably, and then it was turned upward
towards the apparently illimitable slopes over which we had passed.
Presently, my position now being in front of the little group that
glanced along its glittering way, I saw at some distance below me a
long rise or terrace which ran along the mountain-side for a
considerable distance, and which cut off our view of everything below
us. As we approached this hillock the descent became much more gradual
and our progress slower, and at last I began to fear that our acquired
velocity would not be sufficient to carry us up the side of this
elevation, and so enable us to continue our descent. I therefore
called to everybody in the rear to kick out vigorously, and with my
shovel I endeavored to assist our progress. As we approached the
summit of the elevation, we moved slower and slower. I became very
anxious, for, should we slide backward, we might find it difficult or
impossible to get ourselves and the mattress up this little hill. But
the gentleman and myself worked valiantly, and as for Mrs. Lecks and
Mrs. Aleshine, they kicked their heels through the frozen crust with
such energy that we moved sidewise almost as much as upward. But in a
moment the anxious suspense was over, and we rested on the ridge of
the long hillock with the mountain-side stretching down to the plain,
which lay not very far below us.
I should have been glad to remain here a few minutes to regain breath,
and to give some consideration to the rest of our descent, but some
of those behind continued to push--the mattress slid over the edge of
the terrace, and down again we went. Our progress now was not so
rapid, but it was very much more unpleasant. The snow was thinner;
there was little or no crust upon it, and we very soon reached a wide
extent of exposed turf over which we slid, but not without a good deal
of bumping against stones and protuberances. Then there was another
sheet of snow, which quickened our downward impetus; and, after that,
the snow was seen only in occasional patches, and our progress
continued over a long slope of short, partly dried grass, which was
very slippery, and over which we passed with considerable quickness.
I wished now to bring our uncouth sled to a stop, and to endeavor to
make the rest of the descent on foot. But although I stuck out my
heels and tried to thrust the handle of my shovel into the ground, it
was of no use. On we went, and the inequalities of the surface gave an
irregularity of motion which was uncomfortable and alarming. We turned
to this side and that, we bounced and bumped, and the rawhide ropes,
which must have been greatly frayed and cut by the snow crust, now
gave way in several places, and I knew that the mattress would soon
separate into its original cushions, if indeed they still could be
called cushions. Fearing increased danger should we now continue bound
together in a bunch, I jerked apart the shawl-knot under my arms, and
the next moment, it seemed to me, there was a general dissolution of
our connection with each other. Fortunately, we were now near the
bottom of the slope, for while some of us stuck fast to the cushions,
others rolled over, or slid, independent of any protection; while I,
being thrown forward on my feet, actually ran down-hill! I had just
succeeded in stopping myself, when down upon me came the rest of the
company, all prostrate in some position or other.
And now from an unwieldy mass of shawls came a cry:
"O Albert Dusante! Where are you? Lucille! Lucille!"
Instantly sprang to one foot good Mrs. Aleshine, her other foot being
entangled in a mass of shawls which dragged behind her. Her bonnet was
split open and mashed down over her eyes. In her left hand she waved a
piece of yellow flannel, which in her last mad descent she had torn
from some part of the person of Mrs. Lecks, and in the other a bunch
of stout dead weeds, which she had seized and pulled up by the roots
as she had passed them. Her dress was ripped open down her rotund
back, and the earth from the weed roots had bespattered her face. From
the midst of this dilapidation her round eyes sparkled with
excitement. Hopping on one foot, the shawls and a part of a cushion
dragging behind her, she shouted:
"The Dusantes! They are the Dusantes!"
Then pitching forward on her knees before the two strange ladies, who
had now tumbled into each other's arms, she cried:
"Oh, which is Emily, and which is Lucille?"
I had rushed towards Ruth, who had clung to a cushion, and was now
sitting upon it, when Mrs. Lecks, who was close beside her, arose to
her feet and stood upright. One foot was thrust through her own
bonnet, and her clothes gave evidence of the frenzy and power of Mrs.
Aleshine's grasp, but her mien was dignified and her aspect stately.
"Barb'ry Aleshine!" she exclaimed, "if them Dusantes has dropped down
from heaven at your very feet, can't you give 'em a minute to feel
their ribs and see if their legs and arms is broken?"
The younger lady now turned her head towards Mrs. Aleshine. "I am
Lucille," she said.
In a moment the good woman's arms were around her neck. "I always
liked you the best of the two," she whispered into the ear of the
astonished young lady.
Having found that Ruth was unhurt, I ran to the assistance of the
others. The gentleman had just arisen from a cushion, upon which,
lying flat on his back, he had slid over the grass, still holding
under one arm the package from which he had refused to part. I helped
him to raise the elder lady to her feet. She had been a good deal
shaken, and much frightened, but although a little bruised, she had
received no important injury.
I went to fill a leather pocket-cup from a brook near by, and when I
returned I found the gentleman standing, confronted by Mrs. Lecks,
Mrs. Aleshine, and Ruth, while his own companions were regarding the
group with eager interest.
"Yes," he was saying, "my name is Dusante, but why do you ask at this
moment? Why do you show such excited concern on the subject?"
"Why?" exclaimed Mrs. Lecks. "I will tell you why, sir. My name is
Mrs. Lecks, and this is Mrs. Aleshine, and if you are the Mr. Dusante
with the house on the desert island, this is the Mrs. Craig who was
married in that very house, and the gentleman here with the water is
Mr. Craig, who wrote you the letter, which I hope you got. And if that
isn't reason enough for our wanting to know if you are Mr. Dusante,
I'd like to be told what more there could be!"
"It's them! Of course it's them!" cried Mrs. Aleshine. "I had a
feelin' while we were scootin' down-hill that they was near and dear
to us, though exactly why and how, I didn't know. And she's told me
she's Lucille, and of course the other must be Emily, though what
relations----"
"Am I to understand," interrupted the gentleman, looking with earnest
animation from one to the other of us, "that these are the good people
who inhabited my house on the island?"
"The very ones!" cried Mrs. Aleshine. "And what relation are you to
Emily? and Lucille to her?"
The gentleman stepped backward and laid down the package which he had
held under his arm, and advancing towards me with outstretched hands,
and with tears starting to his eyes, he exclaimed:
"And this man then, to whom I owe so much, is Mr. Craig!"
"Owe me!" I said. "It is to you that we owe our very lives, and our
escape from death in mid-ocean."
"Do not speak of it," he said, shaking his head with a sorrowful
expression on his face. "You owe me nothing. I would to Heaven it were
not so! But we will not talk of that, now. And this is Mrs. Craig,"
he continued, taking Ruth by the hand,--"the fair lady whose nuptials
were celebrated in my house. And Mrs. Lecks, and Mrs. Aleshine." As he
spoke he shook hands with each. "How I have longed to meet you! I have
thought of you every day since I returned to my island, and discovered
that you had been--I wish I could say--my guests. And where is the
reverend gentleman? And the three mariners? I hope that nothing has
befallen them!"
"Alas!--for three of them at least," ejaculated Mrs. Aleshine; "they
have left us, but they are all right. And now, sir, if you could tell
us what relation you are to Emily, and what Lucille----"
"Barb'ry!" cried Mrs. Lecks, making a dash towards her friend, "can't
you give the man a minute to breathe? Don't you see he's so
dumflustered that he hardly knows who he is himself! If them two
women was to sink down dead with hunger and hard slidin' right afore
your very eyes while you was askin' what relation they was to each
other and to him, it would no more 'n serve you right! We'd better be
seein' if anythin' 's the matter with 'em, and what we can do for
'em."
At this moment the younger of Mr. Dusante's ladies quickly stepped
forward. "O Mrs. Craig, Mrs. Lecks, and Mrs. Aleshine!" she
exclaimed, "I'm just dying to know all about you!"
"And which, contrariwise," cried Mrs. Aleshine, "is the same with us,
exactly."
"And of all places in the world," continued the young lady, "that we
should meet here!"
No one could have been more desirous than I was to know all about
these Dusantes, and to discuss the strange manner of our meeting, but
I saw that Ruth was looking very pale and faint, and that the elder
Dusante lady had sat down again upon the ground, as though obliged to
do so by sheer exhaustion, and I therefore hailed with a double
delight the interruption of further explanations by the appearance of
two men on horseback who came galloping towards us.
They belonged to the house which I had noticed from the road above,
and one of them had seen our swift descent down the mountain-side. At
first he had thought the black object he saw sliding over the snow
slopes was a rock or mass of underbrush, but his keen eye soon told
him that it was a group of human beings, and summoning a companion, he
had set out for the foot of the mountain as soon as horses could be
caught and saddled.
The men were much surprised when they heard the details of our
adventure, but as it was quite plain that some members of our party
needed immediate nourishment and attention, the questions and
explanations were made very short. The men dismounted from their
horses, and the elder Dusante lady was placed upon one of them, one
man leading the animal and the other supporting the lady. Ruth mounted
the other horse, and I walked by her to assist her in keeping her
seat, but she held fast to the high pommel of the saddle and got on
very well. Mr. Dusante took his younger companion on one arm, and his
package under the other, while Mrs. Lecks, having relieved her foot
from the encircling bonnet, and Mrs. Aleshine, now free from the
entangling shawls, followed in the rear. The men offered to come back
with the horses for them if they would wait; but the two women
declared that they were quite able to walk, and intended to do no
waiting, and they trudged vigorously after us. The sun was now high,
and the air down here was quite different from that of the
mountain-side, being pleasant and almost warm. The men said that the
snows above would probably soon melt, as it was much too early in the
season for snow to lie long on these lower sides of the mountains.
Our way lay over an almost level plain for about a mile. A portion of
it was somewhat rough, so that when we reached the low house to which
we were bound, we were all very glad indeed to get there. The house
belonged to the two men, who owned a small ranch here. One of them was
married, and his wife immediately set herself to work to attend to our
needs. Her home was small, its rooms few, and her larder very plain in
quality; but everything she had was placed at our disposal. Her own
bed was given to the elder Dusante lady, who took immediate possession
of it; and after a quickly prepared but plentiful meal of fried pork,
corn-bread, and coffee, the rest of us stretched ourselves out to rest
wherever we could find a place. Before lying down, however, I had, at
Ruth's earnest solicitation, engaged one of the men to ride to the
railroad station to inquire about Mr. Enderton, and to inform him of
our safety. By taking a route which ran parallel with the mountain
chain, but at some distance from it, the station, the man said, could
be reached without encountering snow.
None of us had had proper rest during the past two nights, and we
slept soundly until dark, when we were aroused to partake of supper.
All of us, except the elder Dusante lady, who preferred to remain in
bed, gathered around the table. After supper a large fire,
principally of brush-wood, was built upon the hearth; and with the
bright blaze, two candles, and a lamp, the low room appeared light and
cheery. We drew up about the fire--for the night was cool--on whatever
chairs, stools, or boxes we could find, and no sooner had we all
seated ourselves than Mrs. Aleshine exclaimed:
"Now, Mr. Dusante, it ain't in the power of mortal man, nor woman
neither,--an' if put the other way it might be stronger,--to wait any
longer before knowin' what relation Lucille is to Emily, and you to
them, an' all about that house of yours on the island. If I'd blown up
into bits this day through holdin' in my wantin' to know, I shouldn't
have wondered! An' if it hadn't been for hard sleep, I don't believe I
could have held in nohow!"
"That's my mind exactly," said Mrs. Lecks; "and though I know there's
a time for all things, and don't believe in crowdin' questions on
played-out people, I do think, Mr. Dusante, that if I could have
caught up with you when we was comin' over here, I'd have asked you to
speak out on these p'ints. But you're a long-legged walker, which Mrs.
Aleshine is not, and it wouldn't have done to leave her behind."
"Which she wouldn't 'a' been," said Mrs. Aleshine, "long legs or
short."
Ruth and I added our entreaties that Mr. Dusante should tell his
story, and the good ranch man and his wife said that if there was
anything to be done in the story-telling line they were in for it,
strong; and quitting their work of clearing away supper things, they
brought an old hair trunk from another room and sat down just behind
Mrs. Lecks.
The younger Dusante lady, who, having been divested of her wraps, her
veil, and the woolen shawl that had been tied over her head, had
proved to be a very pretty girl with black eyes, here declared that it
had been her intention at the first opportunity to get us to tell our
story, but as we had asked first, she supposed we ought to be
satisfied first.
"I do not wish, my good friends," said Mr. Dusante, "to delay for a
moment longer than necessary your very pardonable curiosity concerning
me and my family; and I must say at the same time that, although your
letter, sir, gave me a very clear account of your visit to my island,
there are many things which naturally could not be contained within
the limits of a letter, and about which I am most anxious to make
inquiries. But these I will reserve until my own narration is
finished.
"My name is Albert Dusante. It may interest you to know that my father
was a Frenchman and my mother an American lady from New England. I was
born in France, but have lived very little in that country, and for a
great part of my life have been a merchant in Honolulu. For the past
few years, however, I have been enabled to free myself in a great
degree from the trammels of business, and to devote myself to the
pursuits of a man of leisure. I have never married, and this young
lady is my sister."
"Then what relation," began Mrs. Aleshine, "is she to----?"
At this moment the hand of Mrs. Lecks, falling heavily into the lap of
the speaker, stopped this question, and Mr. Dusante proceeded:
"Our parents died when Lucille was an infant, and we have no near
blood relations."
At this, the faces of both Mrs. Aleshine and Mrs. Lecks assumed
expressions as if they had each just received a letter superscribed in
an unknown hand, and were wondering who it could possibly be from.
"The lady who is now resting in the adjoining room," continued Mr.
Dusante, "is a dear friend who has been adopted by me as a mother."
"Upon my word!" burst from Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine, in as much
unison of time and tone as if the words had been a response in a
church service, while Miss Lucille leaned back against the wall near
which she sat, and laughed gleefully. Mr. Dusante, however, continued
his statements with the same quiet gravity with which he had begun.
"This lady was a dear friend of my mother, although younger than she.
I adopted her as a mother to my little orphan sister, and,
consequently, placed her in the same maternal relation to myself,
doing this with much earnest satisfaction, for I hoped to be able to
return, as a son, something of the tender care and affection which she
would bestow on Lucille as a daughter."
"And she is Emily?" cried Mrs. Aleshine.
"She adopted our name," answered the speaker, "and she is Mrs. Emily
Dusante."
"And she is your adopted _mother_?" said Mrs. Aleshine.
"Adopted mother!" ejaculated Mrs. Lecks.
"Yes," answered Mr. Dusante.
"And that is the only relation she is to you two?" said Mrs. Lecks.
"And you to her?" added Mrs. Aleshine.
"Most assuredly," answered Mr. Dusante.
Here Mrs. Lecks leaned back in her chair, folded her hands in her lap,
and ejaculated: "Well, well!" and then allowed her face to assume a
rigid intention of having nothing more to say at the present moment.
"One thing is certain," remarked Mrs. Aleshine, in a tone which
indicated that she did not care who heard her, "I always liked Lucille
the best!"
At this Ruth and I exchanged smiles with Miss Lucille, and Mr. Dusante
proceeded:
"I do not wish to occupy too much of your time with our personal
affairs, and will therefore state that the island on which you found
refuge, and where I wish, most heartily, I had been present to act as
host, was bought by me as a retreat from the annoyances of business
and the exactions of society. I built there a good house----"
"Which it truly was," said Mrs. Aleshine, "with fixtures in it for
water, and letting it off, which I never saw in a house so far out of
town."
"I furnished it suitably," said Mr. Dusante. "We had books and music,
and for several years we passed vacations there which were both
enjoyable and profitable. But of late my sister has found the place
lonely, and we have traveled a good deal, making intermittent and
often short visits to the island.
"As I never cared to leave any one on that lonely spot during our
absences from it, I arranged a gateway of bars across the only opening
in the reef, with the intention of preventing marauding visits from
fishing-boats or other small craft which might be passing that way. As
the island was out of the ordinary track of vessels, I did not imagine
that my bars would ever prove an obstacle to unfortunate castaways who
might seek a refuge there."
"Which they didn't," remarked Mrs. Aleshine, "for under we bobbed."
"I never exactly understood," said Mr. Dusante, "and I hope to have it
explained to me in due time, how you passed my bars without removing
them, and I have had a sore weight upon my conscience since I
discovered that shipwrecked persons, fleeing to my house from the
perils of the sea, should have found those inhospitable bars in their
way----"
"Which is a weight you might as well cast off and be done with it,"
said Mrs. Lecks, her deep-set notions on the rights of property
obliging her to speak; "for if a man hasn't a right to lock up his
house when he goes away and leaves it, I don't know what rights
anybody has about anything. Me, or Mrs. Aleshine, or anybody else here
who has a house, might just as well go off travelin' or to town
visitin' and leave our front door unlocked and the yard gate swingin'
on its hinges, because we was afraid that some tramp or other body
with no house or home might come along and not be able to get in and
make himself comfortable. Your business, sir, when you left that house
and all your belongin's on that island, was to leave everything tight
and safe, and the business of people sailin' in ships was to go on
their proper way and not be runnin' into each other. And if these last
mentioned didn't see fit to do that and so got into trouble, they
should have gone to some island where there were people to attend to
'em, just as the tramps should go to the poor-house. And this is what
we would have done--not meanin' the poor-house--if we hadn't been so
over long-headed as to get into a leaky boat, which, I wish it
understood, is sayin' nothin' against Mr. Craig."
"That's true," said Mrs. Aleshine, "for nobody has got a right to
complain that a fellow-bein' locks his own door after him. But it does
seem to me, sir, that in such scattered neighborhoods as your island
is in, it might be a good thing to leave something to eat and
drink--perhaps in a bottle or in a tin pail--at the outside of your
bars for them as might come along shipwrecked and not be able to get
inside on account of bein' obliged to come in a boat, an' not as we
did; an' so when they found they'd have to go on, they might have
somethin' to keep up their strength till they got to another house."
"Now, Barb'ry Aleshine," said Mrs. Lecks, "when you start off on a
journey to Japan or any other place an' leave mince-pies and buttered
toast a-stickin' on the p'ints of your palin's for tramps that might
come along and need 'em, you can do that kind of talkin'. But as that
time hasn't come, let's hear the rest of Mr. Dusante's story."
"When I first visited my island this year," continued the narrator,
"we made but a short stay, as we were all desirous of taking a
somewhat extended sea voyage in my steam yacht. We visited several
places of interest, and when we returned, just six weeks ago
to-day----"
"Just one week, lackin' a day," exclaimed Mrs. Lecks, "after we left
that spot!"
"If I'd 'a' knowed," said Mrs. Aleshine, rising to her feet, "that
you'd be back so soon, I'd 'a' made them sailor men live on fish, I'd
'a' eat garden truck myself, and I'd be bound I'd 'a' made the flour
hold out for six days more for the rest of 'em, if I'd 'a' had to work
my fingers to the skin and bone to do it!" Then she sat down solemnly.
"When we returned," continued Mr. Dusante, "I was pleased to find my
bars intact; and when these were unlocked, and the boat from our yacht
went through with ourselves and our servants, it was very agreeable to
notice the good order which seemed to prevail everywhere. As we passed
from the wharf to the house, not even fallen boughs or weeds were seen
to indicate that we had been away from the place for more than two
months. When we entered the house, my mother and sister immediately
ascended to their chambers, and when the windows had been opened I
heard them from above calling to each other and remarking upon the
freshness and cleanliness of the rooms. I went to my library, and when
I had thrown open the window I was struck with the somewhat peculiar
air of order which seemed to obtain in the room. The books stood upon
their shelves with a remarkable regularity, and the chairs and other
furniture were arranged with a precision which impressed me as
unusual. In a moment, sir, I saw your letter upon the table addressed
to me. Greatly astonished, I opened and read it.
"When I had finished it, my amazement was great indeed; but obeying
an instant impulse, I stepped into the dining-room which a servant had
opened, and took the ginger-jar from the mantel-piece. When I lifted
from it the little brown-paper parcel, and beneath it saw the money
which had been mentioned in the letter, you may imagine the condition
of my mind. I did not take out the money, nor count it; but covering
it again with the paper parcel, which I believe contained fish-hooks,
and with the jar in my hands, I returned to the library, where I sat
down to ponder upon these most astounding revelations. While so doing,
my mother and sister hastily entered the room. Lucille declared in an
excited manner that she believed that the brownies or some other
fairies had been there while we were away and had kept the house in
order. The whole place was actually cleaner, she said, than when we
left it. She had taken down a thin dress from her closet, and it
positively looked as if it had just come from the hand of a laundress,
with the ruffles ironed smoother and more evenly than they had ever
been since it was first stitched together. 'Albert,' said my mother,
her face pale, 'there has been somebody in this house!' Then she went
on to say that the windows, which were left unwashed because we went
away in somewhat of a hurry, were as bright and clean as if the maids
had just been rubbing them; the floors and furniture were cleaner and
freer from dust than they had ever been before; and the whole house
looked as if we had just left it yesterday. 'In fact,' she said, 'it
is unnaturally clean!'"
During this part of Mr. Dusante's story, Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine
sat very quiet, with an air of sedate humility upon their faces; but I
could see by the proud light in their eyes that they felt their
superiority to ordinary women, although they were properly resolved
not to show such feeling.
"At that moment," continued Mr. Dusante, "a servant came hurrying into
the room, and informed us that the flour was all gone, and that there
was scarcely anything in the pantries to eat. At this my mother and my
sister, who knew that an abundance of provisions had been left in the
house, looked at each other aghast. But before they could express
their consternation in words, I addressed them. 'My dear mother,' said
I, 'and Lucille, there truly has been some one in this house. By this
letter I am informed that for several weeks eight persons have lived
here under this roof; a marriage has been solemnized, and the happy
couple have gone forth from our doors. These persons have eaten our
food, they have made use of our property, and this has been their
temporary home. But they are good people, honest and true-hearted, for
they have left the house in better order than they found it, and more
than the price of all they have consumed is in that ginger-jar.' And,
thereupon, I read them your letter, sir.
"I cannot undertake to describe the wonder and absorbing interest with
which this letter filled our minds. All needful stores were brought
ashore from the yacht, which lay outside the reef, and we began our
usual life on the island; but none of the occupations or recreations
in which we formerly employed our time now possessed any attractions
for us. Our minds were filled with thoughts of the persons who had
been so strangely living in our house; and our conversation was mainly
made up of surmises as to what sort of people they were, whether or
not we should ever see them, and similar suppositions."
"Yes, indeed!" exclaimed Miss Lucille, "I thought of you by day and by
night, and pictured you all in various ways, but never as you really
are. Sometimes I used to think that the boat in which you went away
had been sunk in a storm in which you were all drowned, and that
perhaps your ghosts would come back and live in our house, and sleep
in our beds, and clean our windows, and wash and iron our clothes, and
do all sorts of things in the night."
"Goodnessful, gracious me!" cried Mrs. Aleshine, "don't talk that way!
The idea of bein' a cold ghost, goin' about in the dark, is worse than
slidin' down a snow mountain, even if you had to do it on the bare of
your back."
"Barb'ry!" said Mrs. Lecks, severely.
"The idea is jus' as chillin'," replied her undaunted friend.
"Two things connected with this matter," continued Mr. Dusante,
"weighed heavily on my mind. One of these I have already
mentioned--the cruel inhospitality of the barred entrance."
I had refrained from adding to the interruptions to Mr. Dusante's
narrative, but I now felt impelled to assure the gentleman, on behalf
of myself and wife, that we shared the opinions of Mrs. Lecks and Mrs.
Aleshine, and felt that he could in no way be blamed for thus
protecting his private property.
"You are very good," said Mr. Dusante, "but I will say here that there
are now no bars to that entrance. I have left some people on the
island, who will take care of my property and succor any unfortunate
castaways who may arrive there. The other matter to which I alluded
was, however, the heavier load which oppressed me. This was the money
in the ginger-jar. I could not endure to reflect that I had been paid
actual money for the hospitality I would have been so glad to offer to
you poor shipwrecked people. Every sentiment of my being rebelled
against such a thing. I was grieved. I was ashamed. At last I
determined I would bear no longer the ignominy of this brand of
inhospitality, and that, with the ginger-jar in my hand, I would
search over the world, if necessary, for the persons who in my absence
had paid board to me, and return to them the jar with its contents
uncounted and untouched. Your letter informed me of the island to
which you were bound, and if I did not find you there I could discover
to what port you had taken your departure. There I could make further
inquiries, and so follow you. When I proposed this plan to my family
they agreed to it instantly, for their interest in the matter was
almost as great as mine; and in a day or two we started on our quest.
"I easily traced you to San Francisco, and found the hotel at which
you had stopped. Here I obtained fresh news of you, and learned that
you had started East, and that the destination of the party was
believed to be Philadelphia. I had hoped that I should meet with you
before you left California; but supposing that by that time you had
reached your destination, or were, at least, far on your way, I
yielded to the solicitations of my sister and made some excursions in
California, intending then to follow you to Philadelphia and there to
advertise for Mr. Craig, if he could not otherwise be found. However,
by the rarest and most fortunate of chances, we have met thus early,
and for this I can never be too devoutly thankful."
"Nor we," said I earnestly; "for our greatly desired acquaintance with
you and your family could not have begun too soon."
"Now," said Mr. Dusante, "I will perform the duty for which my journey
was undertaken, and I assure you it is a great pleasure to me to be
able, so soon, to carry out this cherished purpose."
He then took up from the floor by his side the package which he had so
safely guarded during his swift and perilous descent of the
mountain-side, and which he had since kept close by him. Placing this
upon his knee, he removed the light shawl in which it had been rolled,
and then several pieces of wrapping-paper, revealing to our eyes the
familiar fat little ginger-jar which had stood on the mantel-piece of
the dining-room in the house on the island, and in which we had
deposited our board-money.
"It would be simply impossible for me," said Mr. Dusante, "to consent
to retain in my possession money paid for the aid which I
involuntarily rendered to shipwrecked people. Had I been present on
the island that aid would have been most heartily and freely given,
and the fact of my absence makes no difference whatever in regard to
my feelings on the subject of your paying for the food and shelter you
found at my house. Having understood from Mr. Craig's letter that it
was Mrs. Lecks who superintended the collection and depositing of the
money, I now return to you, madam, this jar with its contents."
"And which," said Mrs. Lecks, sitting up very rigidly, with her hands
clasped behind her, "I don't take. If it had been a day and a night,
or even two nights and over a Sunday, it wouldn't have mattered; but
when me and Mrs. Aleshine--and the rest of the party can speak for
themselves--stays for weeks and weeks, without leave or license, in a
man's house, we pay our board--of course, deductin' services.
Good-night."
With that she arose, and walked very erect into the adjoining room.
"It was all very well, Mr. Dusante," said Mrs. Aleshine, "for you to
try to carry out what you thought was right, but we have our ideas as
to what our duty is, and you have your ideas as to what your duty is,
an' consciences is even."
And she followed her friend.
Mr. Dusante looked surprised and troubled, and he turned towards me.
"My dear sir," said I, "those two good women are very sensitive in
regard to right and justice, and I think it will be well not to press
this subject upon them. As for my wife and I, neither of us would
consent to touch money which was placed in that jar by Mrs. Lecks with
the expectation that no one but you or one of your family would take
it out."
"Very well, sir," said Mr. Dusante, replacing the wrapping-paper
around the jar; "I will drop the subject for the present. But you will
allow me to say, sir, that I also am very sensitive in regard to right
and justice."
Early the next morning the man who had been sent to the railroad
station came back bringing news that a four-horse wagon would shortly
be sent for us, and also bearing a letter from Mr. Enderton to Ruth.
In this that gentleman informed his daughter that he was quite well,
but that he had suffered anxiety on account of her probable hardships
in the abandoned stage-coach. He had hoped, however, that the snow
which had precluded his return with assistance had fallen lightly in
the elevated position in which she had been left; and he had trusted
also that Mr. Craig had bethought himself to build a fire somewhere
near the coach, where his daughter might be warmed; and that the
provisions, of which he knew an ample quantity had been packed for the
trip, had been properly heated for her and given to her at suitable
intervals. This anxiety, he said, had added very much to his own
mental disquietude occasioned by the violent vituperations and unjust
demands of the driver of the stage-coach, who had seen fit to attack
him with all manner of abuse, and might even have resorted to personal
violence had it not been for the interference of by-standers and the
locking of his room-door. He was now, however, much relieved by the
departure of this driver, and by the news that his daughter had
reached a place of safety, which, of course, he had supposed she would
do, her detention having occurred on an ordinary route of travel.
While waiting for the arrival of the wagon, the adventures of Mrs.
Lecks, Mrs. Aleshine, and myself, as well as those of Ruth and her
father, from the time the one party left America and the other China,
were related at length to the Dusantes, who showed a deep interest in
every detail and asked many questions.
Mrs. Dusante, whose nervous equilibrium had been fully restored by her
night's rest, and who, although feeling a little stiff and bruised,
now declared herself quite well, proved to be a very pleasant lady of
fifty-five or thereabouts. She was of a quiet disposition, but her
speech and manner showed that in former years, at least, she had been
a woman of society, and I soon found out that she was much interested
in the study of character. This interest was principally shown in the
direction of Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine, whom she evidently looked
upon as most remarkable women. If any of her sentiments were those of
admiration, however, they were not returned in kind: Mrs. Lecks and
Mrs. Aleshine had but a small opinion of her.
"There's mother-in-laws, and step-mothers, and real mothers, and
grandmothers, and sometimes great-grandmothers livin'," said Mrs.
Lecks to me apart; "but though Mr. Dusante may be a well-meanin'
man--and I don't doubt he is--and wishing I haven't the least reason
to disbelieve, to do his whole duty by his fellow-men, still, I must
say, bein' brought up as I was, he hasn't any right to make a new
kind of mother. To be sure, a man can adopt children, but that isn't
goin' backward like this is, which is agen nat'ral law, and gospel."
"I expect," said Mrs. Aleshine, who was with us, "that them French has
got fashions that we don't know about, and thankful we ought to be
that we don't! I never had no patience with French heels an' French
arsenic-green beans, an' now if there's to be adoptin' of mothers in
this country, the next thing will be gullotynes."
"I don't see," said I, "why you look upon the Dusantes as French
people. They are just as much American as French."
"Well," said Mrs. Lecks, "it's not for me and Mrs. Aleshine to set
ourselves up to judge other people. In our part of the country we
don't adopt mothers, but if they do it in France, or the Sandwich
Islands, or down East, I don't know that we ought to have anythin' to
say."
"He might as well have adopted a father at the same time," said Mrs.
Aleshine, "although, to be sure, he would 'a' had to been particular to
take one that was acquainted with Mrs. Dusante, and not had 'em
strangers to each other, though parents to him."
"If I was you, Barb'ry Aleshine," said Mrs. Lecks, "I'd adopt some
sort of rag to the top of my head to serve for a bonnet, for here
comes the wagon, and I suppose now we'll be off."
We took leave of the kind-hearted ranch people, who looked upon us as
a godsend into their lonely life, and disposed ourselves as
comfortably as we could in the large wagon. Our journey of seven or
eight miles to the railroad station was slow, and over ways that were
rough. Mrs. Dusante was a delicate woman and not used to hardship,
whereas Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine were exceedingly vigorous and
tough. The consequence of this difference was that the kindly hearts
of the latter prompted them to do everything they could to prevent
Mrs. Dusante feeling the bumps and jolts, and to give her such
advantages of wraps and position as would help her to bear better the
fatigues of the journey.
In doing this these good women gradually forgot the adopted mother and
came to think only of the very pleasant lady who needed their
attentions, and who took such a lively and agreeable interest in their
family histories, their homes, their manner of living, and everything
that pertained to them; and before we reached the end of our trip,
these three were talking together like old friends. Ruth and Miss
Lucille had also struck up a warm acquaintance, while I found Mr.
Dusante a very entertaining man,--of sedate and careful speech,
ingenious ideas, and of a very courteous disposition.
When we arrived at the railroad station we were met by Mr. Enderton,
who showed a moderate degree of pleasure at seeing us and an
immoderate amount of annoyance, exhibited principally to me, in being
obliged to give up to the women of our party the large room he had
occupied in the only lodging-house in the little settlement.
When I informed him that the strangers with us were the Dusantes, on
whose island we had been staying, he at first listened vaguely. He had
always looked upon the Dusante family as a sort of fable used by Mrs.
Lecks to countenance her exactions of money from the unfortunate
sojourners on the island. But when I told him what Mr. Dusante had
done, and related how he had brought the board-money with him, and had
offered to pay it back to us, an eager interest was aroused in him.
"I do not wonder," he exclaimed, "that the conscience-stricken man
wishes to give the money back, but that any one should refuse what
actually belongs to him or her is beyond my comprehension! One thing
is certain--I shall receive my portion. Fifteen dollars a week for my
daughter and myself that woman charged me, and I will have it back."
"My dear sir," I said, "your board was reduced to the same sum as that
paid by the rest of us,--four dollars a week each."
"I call to mind no reduction," said Mr. Enderton. "I remember
distinctly the exorbitant sum charged me for board on a desert island.
It made a deep impression upon me."
"I do not care to talk any further on this subject," I said. "You must
settle it with Mrs. Lecks."
Mr. Enderton gave a great sniff, and walked away with dignity. I could
not but laugh as I imagined his condition two minutes after he had
stated his opinions on this subject to Mrs. Lecks.
When Mr. Dusante had started from San Francisco on his search for us,
he had sent his heavy baggage ahead of him to Ogden City, where he
purposed to make his first stop. He supposed that we might possibly
here diverge from our homeward-bound route in order to visit the
Mormon metropolis; and, if we had done so, he did not wish to pass us.
It was therefore now agreed that we should all go to Ogden City, and
there await the arrival of our effects left in the snowed-up vehicles
on the mountain-side. We made arrangements with the station-master
that these should be forwarded to us as soon as the stage-coach and
the carriage could be brought down. All the baggage of my party was on
the coach, and it consisted only of a few valises bought in San
Francisco, and a package containing two life-preservers, which Mrs.
Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine said they would take home with them, if they
took nothing else.
On the morning after our arrival at Ogden City, Mr. Dusante took me
aside. "Sir," he said, "I wish to confide to you my intentions
regarding the jar containing the money left by your party in my house,
and I trust you will do nothing to thwart them. When your baggage
arrives, you, with your party, will doubtless continue your eastern
way, and we shall return to San Francisco. But the jar, with its
contents, shall be left behind to be delivered to Mrs. Lecks. If you
will take charge of the jar and hand it to her, sir, I shall be
obliged greatly."
I promised Mr. Dusante that I would not interfere with his intentions,
but asserted that I could, on no account, take charge of the jar. The
possession of that piece of pottery, with its contents, was now a
matter of dispute between him and Mrs. Lecks, and must be settled by
them.
"Very well, then, sir," he said. "I shall arrange to depart before you
and your company, and I shall leave the jar, suitably packed, in the
care of the clerk of this hotel, with directions to hand it to Mrs.
Lecks after I am gone. Thus there will be nothing for her to do but to
receive it."
Some one now came into the smoking-room, where we were sitting, and no
more was said, on this subject. Mr. Dusante's statement of his
intention very much amused me, for Mrs. Lecks had previously taken me
into her confidence in regard to her intentions in this matter. "Mr.
Dusante," she had said, "hasn't dropped a word more about the money in
that ginger-jar, but I know just as well as he does what he is goin'
to do about it. When the time comes to go, he's goin' to slip off
quietly, leavin' that jar behind him, thinkin' then I'll be obliged to
take it, there bein' nobody to give it back to. But he'll find me just
as sharp as he is. I've got the street and number of his business
place in Honolulu from his sister,--askin' about it in an off-hand
way, as if it didn't mean anything,--an' if that jar is left for me,
I'll pack it in a box, money and all, and I'll express it to Mr.
Dusante; and when he gets to Honolulu he'll find it there, and then
he'll know that two can play at that sort of game."
Knowing Mr. Dusante, and knowing Mrs. Lecks, I pictured to myself
a box containing a ginger-jar, and covered with numerous
half-obliterated addresses, traveling backward and forward between the
Sandwich Islands and Pennsylvania during the lifetime of the
contestants, and, probably, if testamentary desire should be regarded,
during a great part of the lifetime of their heirs. That the wear and
tear of the box might make it necessary to inclose it in a keg, and
that, eventually, the keg might have to be placed in a barrel, and
that, after a time, in a hogshead, seemed to me as likely as any other
contingencies which might befall this peregrinating ginger-jar.
We spent three days in Ogden City, and then, the weather having
moderated very much, and the snow on the mountains having melted
sufficiently to allow the vehicles to be brought down, our effects
were forwarded to us, and my party and that of Mr. Dusante prepared to
proceed on our different ways. An eastward-bound train left that
evening an hour after we received our baggage, but we did not care to
depart upon such short notice, and so determined to remain until the
next day.
In the evening Mr. Dusante came to me to say that he was very glad to
find that the westward train would leave Ogden City early in the
morning, so that he and his family would start on their journey some
hours before we should leave. "This suits my plans exactly," he said.
"I have left the ginger-jar, securely wrapped, and addressed to Mrs.
Lecks, with the clerk of the hotel, who will deliver it to-morrow
immediately after my departure. All our preparations are made, and we
purpose this evening to bid farewell to you and our other kind
friends, from whom, I assure you, we are most deeply grieved to part."
I had just replied that we also regretted extremely the necessity for
this separation, when a boy brought me a letter. I opened it, and
found it was from Mr. Enderton. It read as follows:
DEAR SIR: I have determined not to wait here until to-morrow, but
to proceed eastward by this evening's train. I desire to spend a
day in Chicago, and as you and the others will probably not wish
to stop there, I shall, by this means, attain my object without
detaining you. My sudden resolution will not give me time to see
you all before I start, but I have taken a hurried leave of my
daughter, and this letter will explain my departure to the rest.
I will also mention that I have thought it proper, as the natural
head of our party, both by age and position, to settle the
amicable dispute in regard to the reception and disposition of
the money paid, under an excusable misapprehension, for our board
and lodging upon a desert island. I discovered that the
receptacle of this money had been left in the custody of the
clerk, addressed to Mrs. Lecks, who has not only already refused
to receive it, and would probably do so again, but who is, in my
opinion, in no wise entitled to hold, possess, or dispose of it.
I, therefore, without making any disturbance whatever, have taken
charge of the package, and shall convey it with me to Chicago.
When you arrive there, I will apportion the contents among us
according to our several claims. This I regard as a very sensible
and prudent solution of the little difficulty which has
confronted us in regard to the disposition of this money. Yours
hurriedly,
DAVID J. ENDERTON.
P. S. I shall stop at Brandiger's Hotel, where I shall await you.