Page:Traits and Trials.pdf/185

Rh now the provisions, saved from the wreck, were almost exhausted. All that were left he put by carefully for the rainy season; he also, unless one now and then, as a rare treat to Marion, saved all the cocoa-nuts; and they lived entirely on what birds he shot, and the tamarinds. Both, however, continued in perfect health; and Marion now began to read prettily. Still, he dreaded the approach of the rainy season; for, with all his exertion, his stock of food ran short, and his crop of pease had failed.

During Michael’s lifetime, not a day had passed but he had gone to the sea-shore; now he could only go at intervals, for he had no one to take charge of Marion in his absence, and it was too far for her to walk, unless they could give nearly the whole day, and, by dining under the palm-trees, allow sufficient time for her to rest. The red flag still floated in the air, and on the trunk of the tree he carved the following inscription—"Francis and Marion Selwyn were saved from the wreck of the Warren Hastings, and are now living on this island. Should any land, they are implored not to leave the shore without first searching the interior." Having thus taken every possible precaution, they rarely left their