The Rock Island Argus., 1885-09-05
A sfrono pllH aud up cnme the traI

A strong pun, ana up cnme he t'dp.
same! Beneath him was "a dark cavity, with
a slanting path descending into the bowels of
tho earth.
Anxious to lose no time, he squeezed him.
self through the aperture, and began de
scending. While ho did so lie heard the hol-
low roaring he had heard the night before.
As be proceeded he drew out box of
matches and candle, which he lit Pro
ceeding cautiously ON his back, and restrain
ing himself with his elbows from too rapid
descent, be found himself surrounded not 10y
sand, but by solid rock, and, peering down
ward, saw that be was looking down into a
largo subterranean cave.
Just beneath him was flight of steps cut
in the solid rock. Descending these carefully,
for they were slippery as ice, he reached the
bottom, and found It made of sea-gravel and
loose shells, forming, indeed, decline like
the seashore itself, to the edge OF which, fill
ing about half the cavern, the waters of the
sea crept with a long, monotonous moan.
Approaching the water's edge, he saw facing
him the solid back Of the cliff, but just at the
base there was au opening, a sort of slit, al
most touching the waves at all times, quite
touching them when the swell rose, and
through this opening crept beams of day
light, turning the waves to a clear, maachite
green.
The mystery was now clear enough. The
cave communicated directly with the sea,
but in such way as to make an entrance
for any large object impossible from that di-
| rection.
Turning his back upon the water, and hold
ing ND the candle he examined the interior
The damp black rocks rose onevery side, and
| from the roof hung spongy and hideous
| weeds, like those fungi to be seen in sunless
vaults Of wine, but piled against the inner
wall was hoard of treasures to make a
smuggler's mouth water or turn a wrecker'S
brain.
Puncheons of rum and other spirits, bales
of wool, plankS of mahogany and pine, oars,
| broken masts. coils of rope, tangles of run
ming rigging, flags of all nations, and articles
of such material "a is used on shipboard,
swinging tables, brass swinging lamps, mast
head lanterns and hammocks; enough and to
spare, in short, TO fit out a small fleet of YES
sells. Lost In amazement, Brinkley examined
this extraordinary hoard, the accumulation
doubtless ofmany years. All at once his eye
| fell upon large canvas bag, rotten with
age, and gaping open. Il was as full As it
could hold with pieces of gold, bearing the
superscription Of the mint of Spain.
| o William Jonesl William Jones! And all
this was yours, at least hy right Of plumber,
upon the Queens seaway; all this which,
turned into cash. would have made man
rich beyond the dreams Of ayariHe, was the
possession Of one who lived like Il misery beg
gar, grudged himself and his flesh and blood
the common necessarias of life, and had never
been known, from boyhood upward, TO give a
starving fe,.ow-creature so much as a crust of
bread or to drop penny into the poor-box
O William Jonesi William Jonesl
The above reflection and parenthe,is belong,
not Ia the present writer, but TO my adven-
turons discoverer, the captain of the car
avan.
As Brinkley proceeded on his tour of in
spection he became more and more struck
with wonder. Nothing seemed too Insignificant
or too prcposterously useless for secretion in
that extraordinary ships cavern. There were
mops and broOms, there were holystones,
there were 'squeegees, there were caniSters
of timed provisions, there were bags of
weeviled biscuits, there were sacks of potatoc,
(which esculents, long since neglected., had
actually sproued and put forth leaves). thsru
were ring-holts, there were tin mugs and
psnnikins, and lastly, nsirobile dictH, there
were books. Said books lay piled On the top
OF heap of sacks and were in the lest stare
Of mildew and decay For what purpose had
they been carried there's Certainly not to
form a library, for William Jones could nct
read. As curiosity deepened Brinkley opened
some of the forlorn volumes, covered with
mildew and full of hideous, crawling things
Most were in foreign tongues, but there were
several English novels, half a century old
and book of famous "Voyages,n also in
English. Near to them were some large
paper rolls-ships' charts, evidently, and
almost falling to pieces. And ON the top oI
the charts was tiny prayerbook, slime
covered and dripping ,3eti
What possessed Brinkley to examine tht
prayer book i cannot determine, but in after
years he always averTed that it was an in
spiration. At any rate, he did open it, anC
saw that the fly leaf was covered with writ
ing, yellow, difficult to decipher, fast fading
away. But what more particularly attractet
his attention was loose piece of parchment
fastened to the title page with rusty pin
and covered also with written characters.
Fixing the candle ON nook in the damn
wall, he inspected the title page, and de
ciphered these words: