| Summary: | "A Modern Robinson Crusoe (With Climate Reversed)" by Marcelline Hemingway Sanford, 1915. A story of Robinson Crusoe's fight for survival after journeying on the Titanic. Includes Marcelline's grade of A++ and a compliment for inventiveness by her teacher. Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park [A++] March 1, 1915. Page I. Marcelline Hemingway A Modern Robinson Crusoe (With Climate Reversed) I had been graduated from the Michigan engineer-ing school the year before I stated for my trip around the world. As luck would have it, the largest ship in the world had just been finished and I, curious to see her was well as to start my voyage, took passage on the S.S. “Titanic,” then the new mistress of the seas. We had been out some three days when it became very foggy and suddenly a cry of, “Iceburgs[sic]”, sent us all scurring[sic] to the deck. I do not remember how many hours elapsed while we gazed at the grand[?] pieces of ice so close to use; but I do know that suddenly we were all thrown to the deck by a violent lurch of the vessel and before we had recovered our balance, the sailors were lowering the boats and the women and children were being hurried into them. We men stayed on board and did our best to re-assure the crying children and frightened women. At last the were all off and we had waved them out of sight when Bill Jakes, a sailor who I had taken a fancy to, leaned toward me and said, “Keep dark, Old fellow, there ae four life preserves left and as nobody seems to care much about jumping into this here cold water, we might as well use [Margin Notes Shows keen imagination] im[sic].” Well, I wanted to; so off we went for the life preserves and some food to start our dash for the only possible means of preserving our lives. Splash! We were in, and it was even chillier than expected. We made slow progress in the cold water and I began to feel numb. Bill remarked that he had about the same feeling and “if something diden’t[sic] happen purty[sic] soon, he reckoned he would hand over his preservers and sink ‘peaceful like’ to the bottom.” “Better be a sunken corpse than a floating ice burge[sic],” he said. I don’t remember much after that except a dazed feeling of numbness creep-ing over me and then Bill’s voice saying, “Well, pardner[sic], here goes,” and then silence forever and ever. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - They were bending over me and pouring hot blubber all down my throat and over my chest and back. It felt good so I closed my eyes and let them keep on pouring. Soon a voice said something that sounded like “Bluggi-goo-doo-gug,” or words to that effect, and I opened my eyes to see two Eskimo, a tallow candle and some fur robes the latter of which I was lying upon. “Well,” thought I, “Your somewhere, Mr. Crusoe, March 1. Page III. Marcelline Hemingway A Modern Robinson Crusoe (Continued) and somebody is trying to talk to you, only you can’t answer them because they arn’t[sic] talking loud enough for you to understand.” I must have slept some more for pretty soon I was rudely awakened by a rush of cold air and I found myself lying in a snow bank. The two Eskimoes[sic] were running like the wind and shouting something unitelligable[sic] to a a[sic] third who was fishing off the little dugout from the shore. They soon reached him and all three bid me a fond farewell, minus the “fond” part. Well, here I was, without a soil in sight, lying on an arctic ice flow[?] without food, shelter, or warmth and only sufficient clothing to keep me from freezing. I jumped up and beat my arms together but I was so weak I nearly fell, tho[sic] I managed to save my-self by grabbing hold of a queer kind of spear which was stuck in the snow bank. Here I rested a few minutes and feeling refreshed by the cold air, I started to walk slowly around the snow bank. Page III. Imagine my joy when I found the “snow bank” was really a snow house, the one in which I had been lying when I had first awakened. There were no other houses in sight so I decided that this one must be a rest house, such as the Eskimoes[sic] build at their sealing or fishing holes. The house was well supplied with blubber, tallow dips, dried reindeer meat, some dried ptarmigan and plenty of fur robes. A small flint stone was in one corner and some sealing spears and an old dugout occupied the rest of the space. I had read of these “rest houses” as the Eskimo call them, and I remembered that each tribe has four or five of them always well supplied for the use of any hunters or fishermen of the tribe, who happen to stop there for rest while out getting food. After looking carefully around inside the hut and also outside of it, I began to wonder what had made these seemingly kindly savages abandon me so suddenly when they had taken the trouble to fish me out of the water and March 1st. 1915. Page V. Marcelline Hemingway. A Modern Robinson Crusoe (Continued) restore me to consciousness. I started to pick up a piece of blubber and my watch fell to the floor. Here was the solutution[sic] of my problem. I picked it up and found that it was still running. It was an Elgin watch, so the back was not as remarable[sic] as it might other-wise have been. Just then it started to ring. You know some of these watches have a bell which rings every hour and, as it was a five day watch, the bell was still wound. Evidently it had suddenly rung and the start-led native had imagined the hut to be the haunt of ghosts, or something of the like, and they had made all possible haste to leave the spot. Well, since supposed “ghosts” were the cause of their departure, it would probably be a long time before anyone would venture near the hut again, so I made up my mind to make the best of my solitary state. I ate sparingly of the dried meat and tried to think of a means of escape. In two weeks I had enlarged my abode Page VI to two rooms and had built a tunnel to a third which I had begun. The fishing spears were very useful in shapping[sic] ice for building blocks. I also managed to catch a few fish which I cooked over the tallow dips in a kind of stove dish I found outside the hut. My days were filled with hard labour and tho[sic] I was dead tired at night, my healthy exercise kept me warm and also kept me from taking time to be lonesome. By the time a month had passed I had almost given up hope of being rescued but I had finished the three rooms to my house; using one for a sleeping apartment, one for a combin-ation kitchen and work room and the other for a stove house. I had a good supply of fish and one seal which I had luck-ily found asleep and, tho[sic] it seemed to be taking an unfair advantage of the poor creature, I felt that I must have the meat and blubber so I gave it a whack on the head from which it never recovered. The preparing of the seal had given me much to do so I had not had time to think of natives. One day, when March 1st 1915. Page III. Marcelline Hemingway. I returned from fishing, I found that a company of them must have passed by but, having heard of the ghosts in the hut, they had molested my house or even my food supply. [sic] I was glad to think that human beings had been there and more than glad when I found that each native had left a gift to appease the wrath of the spirit. Among the gifts were a stone knife, a lump of dried fish, several fishing imple-ments and, to my great joy, I found at the bottom of the heap a real, old musket. Somewhat rusty to be sure but exquipped[sic] with some six dozen bullets and a full powder horn. The Eskimo that left it must have received it from some of the fur trading stations in exchange for perhaps a dozen prime seal skins. Well, I can tell you I used that musket to good advantage. Two reindeer, a dozen ptarma-gan[sic], and one seal were the results of my first month. I was, however, very careful of my ammunition as the source of supplies was “absent for the present.” I had been living in this way, killing and cooking my own food, making my own VIII house and candles when I suddenly realized that I could not live on like this forever. My bullets would soon be gone, and my clothes were wearing out and soon, in fact before another month had passed, I should either starve or freeze, perhaps both. Well to concentrate the events of many days into a few moments, I shall tell you night now that within two weeks a party of eskimoes[sic] and two white men happened upon my camp and, after resting one night and refreshing themselves with the last of my stock of fried meat, they gave me some new clothing and took me with them on their exploring trip. The men were English men, geoligists[sic] from London University, and were very kind to me all the way home. I was glad to be able to repay them with the good sum which I had not been able to spend in my trip around the world.
|
|---|