It is a solid granite island, covered in most parts with bracken and furze, which makes it a very paradise for the rabbits with which it abounds. There are two small stone-built houses upon it, around one of which is a prolific fruit and vegetable garden. There are out-buildings attached, and at a distance of nearly a quarter of a mile from the white house is an apology for a harbour. It is a remarkably nice place for a holiday--sunny, healthy, quiet, and not too far from aid in case of sickness or accident; but it is not a resort for the general public, being private property. It was on this island that in 186-- a young Norfolk gentleman elected to spend twelve months as a recluse, or as he was pleased to term it--a Crusoe. He went to the island for two reasons; one of which was the anticipation of a happy and adventurous time, and the other the winning of a wager (that he would not leave the island before twelve months had expired). In neither object was he disappointed. While papering the walls of his little sitting-room, he had the good fortune to find a parchment, hidden away in a niche in the wall, which had hitherto been concealed by the thick covering of wall-paper, of which he peeled off no less than five layers. He had read Edgar Allen Poe’s story of “The Golden Beetle,” and finding a parchment covered with hieroglyphics, he surmised that if he could only decipher it there might be as thrilling a sequel as followed on the solution of the cryptogram in Poe’s story. Unfortunately he was not so clever as the man in the story, and failed--unassisted--in discovering the secret of the parchment. The puzzling document was a list of some sort which the finder could not understand, as it was in French; beneath it was a drawing of a square with a human skull in the centre, from which radiated lines ending in certain letters, and having figures upon the rays. The solution was discovered, however, after the young Crusoe had been on the island for upwards of twelve months (he stayed eighteen months in all), and in a most unexpected manner. Being a Crusoe, it was not at all a surprising matter that he should have a man Friday, and one day during a storm a Friday really did appear, in the form of a French sailor, whose little vessel was wrecked upon the hostile granite shores of Jethou. The man saved, the sole survivor of a crew of four, was at once christened Monday, from the day on which he was saved. This man (Alec Ducas) spoke very fair English, and the two young men soon became fast friends. One day the young Englishman, whose name was Harry Nilford, bethought him of his curious parchment, and producing it from his box, asked his friend if he could decipher it. The first part of the document was quickly read, and no doubt astonished the finder. It was as follows-- “THIS IS THE LAST WILL of Jean Tussaud (sometimes known as Barbe Rouge), Master Mariner, of C----.