The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1874-11-12
THE HIDDEN TREASURE,

THE HIDDEN TREASURE,
At fort in Florida, during the Semi
mole war, man named Richard Blount
lay wounded and dying. A keen OBJ
server might have discerned in the
emaciated features, we'll covered by
an lron-gray, untrimnaed beard, traces
OF retinement-almost effaced, it is true,
by the unmistakable marks of turbu.
lent, and perhaps criminal, career.
The surgeon in charge of the stock
ade seemed man of warm heart and
tender sympathies, which had not been
blunted by familiarity with suffering.
He carefully tended the dying soldier.
doing all in his power, by words and
actions, to soothe his last hours, This
kindness was not without results. I'm
pressed by attentions to which he had
long been unaccustomed, Richard
Blount-taciturn and reserved by
habit, il not by nature-erew more
communicative, and, at last, made GER
tain revelations concerning transactions
OF which no other living man had any
knowledge.
One afternoon, as the sun was setting
red and broad in burning hoze behind
the motionless palmettoes, and the
mocklng-bird was pouring forth his
wealth of music by the still bayous
where the alligator basked unmolested,
Richard, who was feeling stronger than
usual, after y period of silence and
mental struggle with himself, said
"Doctoif, you've been mighty good
to me. You are the first person who
has r,poken kind word to me for
may years. I've led hard life of it,
and very likely don't deserve any bet
ter than I've received, yet I can't for
get that L was once better man and
used to kind words from those who
lived me. And now, although l am
both poor and forsaken, yet believe me
when 1 say that it is in my power to
make you as wealthy as your widest
fancies could desire.
g was born in England have not
a single relation now living, and to you
it can be Of 10 consequence what were
the early circumstances of my life. 1t
is enough to say that was the younger
son of Il good family, and was destined
to the church, for which L was totally
unftted. [ was sent to Oxford, but an
Unsuitable thirst for adventure caused
me to run away. After various fortunes
in many parts of the world, in which
the cards were generally against me, il
was at last my luck to find myself
shipped with the crew of a pirate
schooner, and a motley set we were
Spaniards, Englishmen, Frenchmen,
Italians, Yankees, Greeks-men of all
races Two or three years [ sailed in
her, boarding and burning vessels in
the Spanish main. At length rumor
reached the nest of pirates to which l
belonged that the English government
was about to take vigorous measures
to capture our vessels and destroy our
rendezvous. As we had for long time
been very successful, without any
serious molestation, there was all the
more reason to believe the report. A
council of war was called, in which
words ran high. But it was decided
that, as our rendezvous was we'll known
and would most likely be attacked
first, and we should be unable to defend
ourselves successfully against such
forces as could be sent against us, we
ought at once to remove our possessions
and conceal them for awhile in some
unknown hiding-place. With us to de-
eide was to act, and without further
delay the treasure, which was enor-
nous, being the accumulated spoil of
many hard fights and scuttled ships,
was slowed in the holds of our vessels.
A little water, surgeon, if you'll be SO
good)
$50 immense" continued Richard,
after a moment, "was the stock of dol
lars and doubloons and jewelry that no
other ballast was needed for the schoon-
ers. When everything was on board we
set fire to the cabins on shore, and by
the glare of the burning houses dropped
down the lagoon and made an otfing.
We headed for the coast of Florida,
and, the moon being at the full, showed
the schooners into an inlet, whose
whereabouts was known to one of our
captains, a native of Florida, born at
Key West, son of wrecker, think. 1t
was very quiet part of the country,
without so many people as there are
about it now; and they aren't over
thick even now. We had sent some
men ashore in boat in the morning to
find the exact entrance, and after dark
they lit fire on the beach so We knew
Just where to put the schooners. At
daylight we sailed long way up the
bayou, winding about from bend to
bend, with sweeps or tacking along the
shore, and blazing the trees as we went
along, until we came to a clearing in
the woods, where the trees seemed to
have been felled by a hurricane. 1t
was gloomy and silent enough-a soli-
tude which we disturbed perhaps for
the first time. Here we made the ves-
sells fast to the trees, and all hands went
ashore. We made tents of old sails,
and in few hours, to see the smoke
streaming up among the trees, and see
the boys capering after squirrels and
climbing after birds nests, or finging
sticks at the alligators, you would have
thought it was an old settlement"