Another Ocracoke Story

I was visiting an older islander recently, and she told me this story about her father:

George, didn't like to talk much. Telephones had just come to Ocracoke, and he especially didn't like to talk on the telephone. One evening the phone rang and George answered it. His wife could only hear his half of the short conversation: "Hello...No...No, he isn't here...I have no idea when he will be back."

When the call ended, his wife asked George who had called. "I don't know who it was. He had the wrong number. He was calling for Mr. Rondthaler."

"Did you tell him he had the wrong number?"

"No, he just asked if Mr. Rondthaler was here, and I told him 'No.' Then he asked when Mr. Rondtaler would be back. I told him I had no idea."

"But Mr. Rondthaler is dead. Why didn't you tell him he was dead?"

"He didn't ask me if he was alive or dead. He just wanted to know when he would be back, and I told him I had no idea."

Our latest Ocracoke Newletter is the story of Augustus Cabarrus, early inlet pilot, and the present day d'Oelsnitz family. Click here to read the Newsletter: Ocracoke...The French Connection.