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  THE DUSANTES

     THE DUSANTES

     A SEQUEL TO "THE CASTING AWAY OF MRS. LECKS
     AND MRS. ALESHINE"

     BY
     FRANK R. STOCKTON

     NEW-YORK
     THE CENTURY CO.




     COPYRIGHT, 1888, BY FRANK R. STOCKTON.

     ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

     THE DE VINNE PRESS.




THE DUSANTES

A SEQUEL TO "THE CASTING AWAY OF MRS. LECKS AND MRS. ALESHINE"

PART I


When the little party, consisting of Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine, Mr.
Enderton, my newly made wife, and myself, with the red-bearded
coxswain and the two sailor men, bade farewell to that island in the
Pacific where so many happy hours had been passed, where such pleasant
friendships had been formed, and where I had met my Ruth and made her
my wife, we rowed away with a bright sky over our heads, a pleasant
wind behind us, and a smooth sea beneath us. The long-boat was
comfortable and well appointed, and there was even room enough in it
for Mr. Enderton to stretch himself out and take a noonday nap. We
gave him every advantage of this kind, for we had found by experience
that our party was happiest when my father-in-law was best contented.

Early in the forenoon the coxswain rigged a small sail in the bow of
the boat, and with this aid to our steady and systematic work at the
oars we reached, just before nightfall, the large island whither we
were bound, and to which, by means of the coxswain's pocket-compass,
we had steered a direct course. Our arrival on this island, which was
inhabited by some white traders and a moderate population of natives,
occasioned great surprise, for when the boats containing the crew and
passengers of our unfortunate steamer had reached the island, it was
found that Mrs. Lecks, Mrs. Aleshine, and myself were missing. There
were many suppositions as to our fate. Some persons thought we had
been afraid to leave the steamer, and, having secreted ourselves on
board, had gone down with her. Others conjectured that in the darkness
we had fallen overboard, either from the steamer or from one of the
boats; and there was even a surmise that we might have embarked in the
leaky small boat--in which we really did leave the steamer--and so had
been lost. At any rate, we had disappeared, and our loss was a good
deal talked about, and, in a manner, mourned. In less than a week
after their arrival the people from the steamer had been taken on
board a sailing vessel and carried westward to their destination.

We, however, were not so fortunate, for we remained on this island for
more than a month. During this time but one ship touched there, and
she was western bound and of no use to us, for we had determined to
return to America. Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine had given up their
journey to Japan, and were anxious to reach once more their country
homes, while my dear Ruth and I were filled with a desire to found a
home on some pleasant portion of the Atlantic seaboard. What Mr.
Enderton intended to do we did not know. He was on his way to the
United States when he left the leaking ship on which he and his
daughter were passengers, and his intentions regarding his journey did
not appear to have been altered by his mishaps.

By the western-bound vessel, however, Mrs. Aleshine sent a letter to
her son.

Our life on this island was monotonous, and to the majority of the
party uninteresting; but as it was the scene of our honeymoon, Mrs.
Craig and I will always look back to it with the most pleasurable
recollections. We were comfortably lodged in a house belonging to one
of the traders, and although Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine had no
household duties to occupy their time, they managed to supply
themselves with knitting materials from the stores on the island, and
filled up their hours of waiting with chatty industry. The pipes of
our sailor friends were always well filled, while the sands of the
island were warm and pleasant for their backs, and it was only Mr.
Enderton who showed any signs of impatient rep