ch he carried had been
written only a few hours before by the wife of the man Deschard, telling
him of her loving quest, and of her and her children's presence on board
the brigantine.

IV.

At daylight next morning some native women, passing by the deserted
house on their way to work in the _puraka_ plantations of Oneaka, saw
the figure of the messenger lying dead. One of the women, named Niapo,
in placing her hand upon his bosom to feel if he yet breathed, found
the letter which had cost him his life. For nearly twenty years she kept
possession of it, doubtless from some superstitious motive, and then it
was bought from her by a white trader from Apamama, named Randall,
by whom it was sent to the Rev. Mr. Damon, the "Sailors' Friend," a
well-known missionary in Honolulu. This was the letter:--

My Dear Husband,--It is nearly three years since I got your letter, but
I dared not risk writing to you, even if I had known of a ship leaving
for the South Seas or the whale fishery. None of the sandalwooding
people in Sydney seemed even to know the name of this island (Courier?).
My dear husband, I have enough money now, thank God, to end all our
troubles. Your letter was brought to me at Parramatta by a sailor--an
American, I think. He gave it first to Maurice. I would have rewarded
him, but before I could speak to him he had gone. For ten years I have
waited and prayed to God to bring us together again. We came to Sydney
in the same ship as Major D------, of the 77th. He has always been so
good to us, and so has his wife. Nell is sixteen now, Laura eighteen.
God grant that I will see you in a few hours. The captain says that he
will land us all at one of the places in the Dutch East Indies. I have
paid him L100, and am to pay him L100 when you are safely on board. I
have been so miserable for the past year, as Major D------ had heard
that a man-of-war was searching the islands, and I was in such terrible
fear that we would never meet again. Come quickly, and God bless you, my
dear husband. Maurice insisted and begged to be allowed to take this to
you. He is nineteen years old now, but will not live long--has been a
faithful and good lad. Laura is eighteen, and Nell nearly sixteen now.
We are now close to Courier,{*} and should see you ere long.--Your
loving and now joyful wife,--Anna Deschard.

* The native pronunciation of Kuria is like "Courier."--
L.B.

*****

In the big _maniapa_ or council house