The Island School — page 90: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE DESERTED TOWN. 7h “Me spec dat de ole folks miss me ab home,” he said. ‘Dey got to do all de work now, and lay dere own sperrits. Goridledum! It serb dem right, anyway.” “ Why do you stand their nonsense ?” asked Terry ; “you are a grown man. Why don’t you rebel r” “Me hab too much fiddlerum piratety,” answered Romeo. “Too much what ?” exclaimed Terry, aghast. ‘He means filial piety,” quietly explained Morse. “ You got him right, sure,” said Romeo; “ but de oder ting near nuf for me.” | So the time passed, until it was considered tims to turn in, and Romeo made up the last fire for the night. Personally, he meant to sleep near the tent, but inthe open air. He explained that he did a lot of that sort of thing at home—“ when he went out night-fishing.” So he stretched himself across the opening of the tent, and the boys, with the greater part of theit clothing removed, covered themselves up with the light rugs they had brought, and, barring Jim, were soon asleep. He lay near the entrance, close to Romeo, and through the tree-tops he could see the bright stars twinkling. Jim felt most unaccountably sad as his thoughts wandered homeward. He called to mind his natural tendency to be an idle boy, and take to the wood and river, rather than to scholastic work, and how it had culminated in his being sent, after much reproof, from a kindly father, to the island school to cure him of his gipsy-like pro- pensities. But had the island school effected the desired cure ? He was afraid, or, rather, he was glad, it had not. He felt certain, although he would lke to see the dear faces at home again and again, that the life there would henceforth be distasteful to him. And when. he had arrived at this conviction a pleasant calm came over him, and he fell asleep. And they all slept soundly, none awakening until the dawn had come, and a new form of wood-life made apparent to them. Around the camping party, perched on the tree- tops, were innumerable grey parrots, which seemed to have found the wanderers out, and were dliscussing them with forcible freedom. At first there was little sequence or meaning in their chattering apparent, but, by dint of listening closely, Morse declared that some were uttering words in the Spanish tongue, and he had reason to believe that many of them were more florid than polite. “Do you mean to tell me,” said Felton, “ that they can talk like human beings ?” “No,” answered Morse, “ but I reckon that some of those birds have been in captivity, or have had his dry way. opportunities for getting out fragments of conver- sation. Not necessarily now, or even recently, for a parrot often lives to a hundred years, and the words they are uttering now may have been heard by them the better part of a century ago.” “Or they may have learnt them from their grand- fathers and grandmothers,” said Terry, with mock gravity. “More unlikely things than that,” said Morse, in “You learnt your language from your father and mother, and, anyway, you are a bit ofa parrot.” A general laugh at Terry’s expense followed Morse’s reply, and at the sound the parrots rose in a body in the air, screaming and wheeling aloft for awhile prior to flying away. “It is wonderful that we never saw nor heard any- thing of parrots or monkeys on the other side of the island,” remarked Ganthony. “They naturally keep out of the reach of man,” said Jim, “knowing his propensity to kill. Besides, I should not think that they could live half so well in our district, if I may so callit. And again, they may only visit here occasionally, migrating to the other islands round here.” ‘““De monkeys,” said Romeo, as he rolled up the tent, “ orfen come ober to de school inde night. Me see ’em.” “And you never mentioned it,” exclaimed Terry. “What de good ob my being. branded as a liar, Massa Terry? When a pusson hab lorse him character for trufe, he berrer be buried out of de way.” And Romeo shook his head as if he would rather die a hundred miserable deaths than indulge in any’ form of falsehood, cr speak of that which might cause him to unjustly lose his character for veracity. Once more in the wood, hastening on, now through denser parts, now where the trees thinned, but still, to their great disappointment, through wood, and nothing but wood, until the morning was almost gone, and they were talking of halting for the noonday rest. Then suddenly a wonderful spectacle, unexpected and startling in its sudden appearance, burst upon them. They came upon a thick line of bushes, where the rees had thinned almost to a vanishing point, and were’ obliged to force their way through them, the barrier extending a long way to the right and left. Jim Gordon was the first through, and the spectacl¢ that saluted his eyes roused his unbounded astonish, ment. Practically they had arrived at the end of the wood, although not by any means had they come within sight of the sea. As they afterwards learnt, they were even then a good ten miles from the coast, The ground before them sank into a hollow, from the base of which uprose a town, built of stone, and comicbooks.com