Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-04-21

be able by blasts % powder to free the blocl
/ on which the schooner rests
] "Goodl" cried he; come, let US hurry will
this meal. How is the weather.
"Quiet, believe / have not been on decl
since the explosion aroused me early thi!
morning."
| While we ate he said, Suppose we get the
schooner afioat, what do you proposer
| why" answered, 'if she prove tight
and seaworthy. what but carry her homer
| "What! you and | alone"
mo" said I, "certainly not we must
make shift TO sail her to the nearest port, and
ship a crew.
| He looked at me attentively and said
what do you mean by homer
| "England," said |.
| He shrugged his shoulders, and exclaimed
in French; "'Tis natural;n then proceeding
in English: Pray said he, showing his
fangs, "do not you know that the Boca del
Dragon is a pirate' Do you want to be
hanged, that you propose to carry her to a
port to ship menF'
n have no fear of that" said l.; "after all
these years she'll be as clean forgotten as il
she had never had existence"
"Look ye here, Mr.. Rodney cried he, in
a passion, 'let's have no more of this snivel-
ing nonsense about years. You may be as
mad as you please on that point, but it sha'n't
hang me. 1t needs more than few months
to make men forget craft that has carried
on such traffic as our hold represents. You'll
not find me venturing myself nor the schooner
into any of your ports for men. No, no, my
friend am in no stupor now, you know;
and I've slept the punch off also, dye sect
What betray our treasure, and be hanged
for our generosityN
He made me an ironical bow, grinning
with wrath
"Lets get the schooner aaoat first said l..
GAY, that's all very well, he cried; but
better stop hero than dangle in chains. No,
my friend; our plan must be n very different
one from your proposal | suppose You want
your share of the bootyl" said he, swapping
his fingers
81 deserve it,, said l, smiling, that rNght
soften his passion
And yet you would convey the most noted
pirate of the age, with plumber in her to tho
value of thousands of doubloOns, to a port in
which we should doubtless find ships of war,
n garrison, magistrates, governors, prisons,
and the whole of the machinery it il, our bust
ness to give our stern to! Ma fol, Mr. Rod
ney! surely you are out in something more
than your reckoning Of timet'
"Whnt do you proposed" said |.
"Hal" he exclaimed, while his little eyes
twinkled with cunning, ''now you spoek sen
sibly. What do propose3 This, my friend.
We must navigate the schooner to an island
and bury the treasure; then head for the
shipping highways, and obtain help from any
friendly merchantmen we may fall in with.
Home with US means the Tortugas. There
we shall find the company we need to recover
for us what we shall have hidden. We shall
come by our own then. But to sail with this
treasure on board-without a crew to defend
the vessel-by this handl the first cruiser
that sighted us would make Il clean sweep,
and then no for the hangman, Mr. Rodneyh
How much | relished this scheme you will
imagine; but to reason with him would have
been mere madness. l knitted my brows and
seemed to reflect, and then said: "Well,
there is a great deal of plain, good sense in
what yon say. | certainly see the wisdom of
your advice in recommending that we should
bury the treasure. Nor must we leave any
thing on board to convict the ship of her true
character
His greedy eyes sparkled with self-com-
placency. He tapped his forehead and cried:
"Trust to this! There is mind behind this
surface. Your plan for releasing the
schooner is great; mine for preserving the
treasure is great too. You are the sailor,
the strategist; by combining our genius we
shall oppose an invulneTable front to adver-
sity, and must end our days as princes. Your
hand, Paulr'
laughed and gave him my hand, which
he squeezed with many contortions of face
and figure; but, though l laughed 1 don't
know that | ever SO much disliSed and dis
trusted and feared the old leering rogue as at
that moment.
"Come!" cried I, jumping up, "let's get
about our work. And with that | pulled
open lag of matches and fell to testing
them. They burned well The fire ate into
them as smoothly as if they had been pre-
pared the day before. They were all of one
thickness. cut them to equal lengths and
fired them, and waited, watch in hand one
was burned out two minutes before the other,
and each length took about ten minutes to
consume, This was good enough to base my
upon.