Page:The Granite Monthly Volume 8.djvu/405

 Reuben Tracy s Vacation Trips.

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��Reuben spied the weather-vane, in the form of a fish, which crowned the little wooden tower, in which was the bell, still used, although rather dismal in sound.

As they wandered on, Mrs. Tracy noticed that the march of improvement had torn down most of the old fishing- houses, as well as the little old school- house, which she knew had once been there. They soon came upon the old burial-ground among the rocks, where they found inscribed on two horizontal slabs the only two inscriptions which were there. On one they saw this tribute : —

IN MEMORY OF

THE REV. JOSIAH STEPHENS,

A FAITHFUL INSTRUCTOR OF YOUTH, AND PIOUS MIN- ISTER OF JESUS CHRIST, SUPPORTED ON THIS ISLAND BY THE SOCIETY FOR PROPAGATING THE GOSPEL, WHO DIED JULY 2, 1804. AGED 64 YEARS.

��LIKEWISE OF

MRS. SUSANNAH STEPHENS,

HIS BELOVED WIFE, WHO DIED DEC. 7, 1810. AGED 54 YEARS.

and, on the other, this high eulogy : —

UNDERNEATH ARE THE REMAINS OF

THE REV. JOHN TUCKE, A. M.,

HE GRADUATED AT HARVARD COLLEGE, A. D. I723; WAS

ORDAINED HERE JULY 26, I732. AND DIED AUG. r2, I773. yET 72.

HE WAS AFFABLE AND POLITE IN HIS MANNER,

AMIABLE IN HIS DISPOSITION,

OF GREAT PIETY AND INTEGRITY, GIVEN TO HOSPITALITY,

DILIGENT AND FAITHFUL IN HIS PASTORAL OFFICE, WELL LEARNED IN HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY, AS WELL

AS GENERAL SCIENCE, AND A CAREFUL PHYSICIAN BOTH TO THE BODIES AND

THE SOULS OF HIS PEOPLE. BRECTED 1800. IN MEMORY OF THE JUST.

Miss De Severn bowed reverently in honor of such lives having been lived in the midst of the ignorance and cor- ruption which she knew to have then pervaded the islands.

From this rocky burial-ground they wended their way to the three-sided

��monument, enclosed within a railing, which was on one of the highest rocks on the island. Frank remembered that it was erected in 1864, in honor of Captain John Smith, one of the first explorers of the islands ; but as he was ignorant of the meaning of the Turk's head on its top — the one left of the three which were once there — Mrs. Tracy told him and Reuben about Smith's successful encounter with the three Turks, as well as some other tales pertaining to his brave exploits, after which they read on the sides of the monument the words inscribed in his honor.

As they stopped to gaze around them for a moment, they saw, a little more than half a mile off, Haley's (or Smutty Nose) Island, with its few black houses, prominent among which was the one stained by an awful tragedy. Mrs. Tracy hoped that it would soon be taken down, for it was too suggestive of terror and wickedness to be always in sight of those seeking rest and peace on the islands. Reuben said that Smutty Nose was the most verdant of all the islands, and the one the earliest settled ; while Duck Island, three miles away, was noted for its game. He also remembered, much to his mother's surprise, that Cedar Island was only three eighths of a mile distant, and Londoner not a quarter of a mile away. When Frank added that Apple- dore was seven eighths of a mile off, and White Island nearly two miles dis- tant, Reuben, not to be outdone. by him, said that Star Island was three quarters of a mile long, and half a mile wide, while Appledore was a mile long. They would have gone on till all their knowledge had been told, if Mrs. Tracy had not suggested that they continue their walk over the rocks

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