* 1 mm . /7 A c^^-t> AN OLD MAN'S BLESSING. Page 126. THE FORTUNATE ISLAND AND OTHER STORIES BY MAX ADELER AUTHOR OF " OUT OF THE HURLY BURLY " " ELBOW ROOM ' " RANDOM SHOTS " ETC. BOSTON LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS NEW YORK CHARLES T. DILLINGHAM 1882 COPYRIGHT, 1881, BY CHAS. HEBER CLARK. All Rights Reserved. PREFACE. THE custom which has ordained that a book shall have a preface is useful enough to writers who have to say to their readers something which could not properly be said in the body of the text ; but it imposes a burden upon those who have no such communication to make. The author of the present volume considers that he may fairly per- form the task by remarking that if the tales herein contained are not so amusing as others he has written, they will perhaps be found to be quite as entertaining, and possibly, in some particulars, more instructive. If they shall be received by the public with the favor that was found by the preced- ing volumes, the author will have reason to con- gratulate himself that they have achieved success of a somewhat remarkable character. MAX ADELER. 2200606 CONTENTS. AGE THE FORTUNATE ISLAND 9 THE CITY OF BURLESQUE 107 AN OLD FOGY 221 MAJOR DUNWOODY'S LEG 252 JINNIE 311 THE FORTUNATE ISLAND THE FORTUNATE ISLAND. CHAPTER I. THE ISLAND. HEN the good ship "Morning Star," bound to Liverpool from New York, foundered at sea, the officers, the crew, and all of the passengers but two, escaped in the boats. Professor E. L. Baffin and his daughter, Matilda Baffin, preferred to intrust themselves to a patent india-rubber life-raft, which the Professor was carrying with him to Europe, with the hope that he should sell certain patent rights in the con- trivance. There was time enough, before the ship sank, to inflate the raft and to place upon it all of the trunks and bundles belonging to the Professor and Matilda. These were lashed firmly to the rubber cylinders, and thus Professor Baffin was encour- aged to believe that he might save from destruc- 9 IO THE FORTUNATE ISLAND. tion all of the scientific implements and apparatus which he had brought with him from the Wingo- hocking University to illustrate the course of lec- tures which he had engaged to give in England and Scotland. Having made the luggage fast, the Professor handed Matilda down from the ship's side, and when he had tied her to one of the trunks and secured himself to another, he cut the raft adrift, and, with the occupants of the boats, sorrowfully watched the brave old " Morning Star " settle down deeper and deeper into the water ; until at last, with a final plunge, she dipped beneath the surface and disappeared. The prospect was a cheerless one for all of the party. The sea was not dangerously rough ; but the captain estimated that the nearest land was at least eight hundred miles distant ; and, although there were in the boats and upon the raft pro- visions and water enough for several days, the chance was small that a port could be made be- fore the supplies should be exhausted. There was, moreover, almost a certainty that the boats would be swamped if they should encounter a severe storm. The Professor, for his part, felt confident that the raft would outlive any storm ; but his ship- mates regarded his confidence in it as an indication of partial insanity. The captain rested his expectations of getting THE ISLAND. II ashore chiefly upon the fact that they were in the line of greatest travel across the Atlantic, so that they might reasonably look to meet, within a day or two, with a vessel of some kind which would rescue them. As the night came on, it was agreed that the boats and the raft should keep together, and the captain had provided a lantern, which was swung, lighted, aloft upon an oar, so that the position of his boat could be determined. The Professor, with his raft under sail, steered along in the wake of the boats for several hours, Matilda, meanwhile, sleep- ing calmly, after the exciting and exhausting labors of the day, upon a couple of trunks. As the night wore on, a brisk wind sprang up, and shortly afterward the light upon the captain's boat for some reason disappeared. The Professor was somewhat perplexed when he missed it, but he concluded that the safest plan would be to steer about upon the course he had hitherto held, and then to communicate with the boats if they should be within sight in the morning. The wind increased in force about midnight, and the raft rolled and pitched in such a manner that the Professor's faith in it really lost some of its force. Several times huge waves swept over it, drenching the Professor and his daughter, and fill- ing them with grave apprehensions of the result if the storm should become more violent. 12 THE FORTUNATE ISLAND. Even amid the peril, however, Professor Baffin could not but admire the heroic courage and com- posure of Matilda, who sat upon her trunk, wet and shivering with cold, without showing a sign of fear, but trying to encourage her father with words of hope and cheer. When the dawn came, dim and gray, the gale abated its force, and although the sea continued rough, the raft rode the waves more buoyantly and easily. Producing some matches from his water- proof box, the Professor lighted the kerosene-lamp in the tiny stove which was in one of the boxes ; and then Matilda, with water from the barrel, be- gan to try to make some coffee. The attempt seemed to promise to be successful, and while the process was going on, the Professor looked about for the boats. They could not be seen. The Pro- fessor took out his glass and swept the horizon. In vain ; the boats had disappeared completely ; but the Professor saw something else that attracted his attention, and made his heart for a moment stop beating. Right ahead, not distinctly outlined, but visible in a misty sort of way, he thought he discerned land! At first he could not believe the evidence of his sight. The captain, an expert navigator, had as- sured him that they were eight hundred miles from any shore. But this certainly looked to the Pro- THE ISLAND. I 3 fessor very much like land. He examined it through his glass. Even then the view was not clear enough to remove all doubts, but it strengthened his con- viction ; and when Matilda looked she said she knew it was land. She could trace the outline of a range of hills. " Tilly," said the Professor, " we are saved ! It is the land, and the raft is drifting us directly towards it. We cannot be sufficiently thankful, my child, for this great mercy ! Who would have expected it ? Taken altogether, it is the most extraordinary circumstance within my recollection." " Captain Duffer must have made a miscalcula- tion," said Tilly. " The ship must have been off of her course when she sprang a leak." " It is incomprehensible how so old a sailor could have made such a blunder," replied the Professor. " But there the land is ; I can see it now distinctly. It looks to me like a very large island." "Are you going ashore at once, pa ? " " Certainly, dear ; that is, if we can make a land- ing through the breakers." " Suppose there are cannibals on it, pa ? It would be horrid to have them eat us ! " " They would have to fatten us first, darling ; and that would give us an opportunity to study their habits. It would be extremely interesting ! '' " But the study would be of no use if they should eat us ! " 14 THE FORTUNATE ISLAND. " All knowledge is useful, Tilly ; I could write out the results of our observations, and probably set them adrift in a bottle ! " " It is such a dreadful death ! " " Try to look at it philosophically ! There is really nothing more unpleasant about the idea of being digested than there is about the thought of being buried." " O, pa ! " " No, my child ! It is merely a sentiment. If I shall be eaten, and we have volition after death, I am determined to know how I agreed with the man who had me for dinner ! Tilly, I have a notion that you would eat tender ! " " Pa, you are simply awful ! " " To me, indeed, there is something inspiring in the thought that my physical substance, when I have done with it, should nourish the vitality of another being. I don't like to think that I may be wasted." " You seem as if you rather hoped we should find savage cannibals upon the island.! " " No, Tilly ; I hope we shall not. I believe we shall not. Man-eaters are rarely found in this lati- tude. My impression is that the island is not in- habited at all. Probably it is of recent volcanic origin. If so, we may have a chance to examine a newly-formed crater. I have longed to do so for years." THE ISLAND. 1$ " We might as well be eaten as to be blown up and burned up by a volcano," said Matilda. fi It would be a grand thing, though, to be per- mitted to observe, without interruption, the opera- tion of one of the mightiest forces of nature ! I could make a magnificent report to the Philosophical So- ciety about it ; that is, if we should ever get home again." " For my part," said Matilda, " I hope it contains neither cannibals nor volcanoes ; I hope it is sim- ply a charming island without a man or a beast upon it." " Something like Robinson Crusoe's, for example ! I have often thought I should like to undergo his experiences. It must be, to an inquiring mind, exceedingly instructive to observe in what manner a civilized man, thrown absolutely upon his own resources, contrives to conduct his existence. I could probably enrich my lecture upon Sociology if we should be compelled to remain upon the island for a year or two."