Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1888-04-29
CHAPTER XXI.

/ don't desire 70 weary you with a close
account of our proceedings. How we open
ed the main deck hatch, rugged up tackles,
clapping purchases on the falls, as the cap
stan was hard frozen aud i~mmoyable; how
we hoisted the powder barrels on deck,
and then by tackles on the foreyard lower
ed them over the side: how We filled a
number of bags which We fouud in the
forecastle with powder; how we measured
the cracks in the ice, and sawed q couple
of spare studdiogsail booms into lengths to
serve as beams whereby to poise the bar
rels and bags-would make but sailors
talk, half of which would be uninteliigiole
and the rest wearisoms.
The Frenchman worked hard, and we
snatched only half an hour for our dinner.
The split that had happened in the ice
during the night showed by daylight as a
gulf betwixt eight AID ten feet wide at the
seward end, thinning to a width OF three
feet, never less, to where it ended, ahead OF
the ship, in a hundred cracks in the ice
that showed as if q thunderbolt had fallen
lust there. | looked into this rent, but
it was as black as a well past a certain
depth, and there was no CLEAN OF
water. When we went over the side to
roll our first barrel of powder to the spot
where we meant to lower it, the French
man marched up TO the figure of Trenta-
move, and, with no more reverence than a
boy would show in throwing a stone at q
iackass, tumbled him into the chasm. He
then stepped up to the body of the Portu-
gese boatswaiu, dragged him to the same
assure and rolled him into 1T.
There ~ cried he; ''now they are
properly buried"
And with this he went cody on with
his work.
1 said nothing, but wa secretly heartily
disgusted with this brutal disposal OF his
miserable shipmates' remains. However,
it was his doing, not mine; and l confess
the removal of those silent witnesses wasa
very great relief to me, albeit when l con.
sidered how TaSsard had been awakened,
and how both the mate and the boatswain
might have been brought to by treatment,
| felt as though after a manner the French
man bad committed q murder by buryiDg
them so.
We got our supper and sat smoking aud
discussing our situation and chances. Ias-
aard was tired, and this and our contem-
plation of the probabilities Of the morrow
sobered his mind, aud ne talked with q Ger.
tain gravity. He drank sparely, and for
bore the hideous recollections or inven-
tions he was used to bestow on me, and,
indeed, could find nothing to talk about
but the explosion and what it was to dofor
us. l was very glad he did not again refer
to his project to bury the treasure and
carry the Schooner TO the Tortugas. The
subject fred bis blood, and it was such
nonsense that the mere naming OF 1t
was nauseous to me. Eight and forty
years had passed since his ship fell in with
the ice, and not tenfold the treasure in the
hold might have purchased for him the
sight of so much as q single bone OF the
Youngest of those associates whom he idly
dreamed Of seeking and shipping and sail
ing in command OF. Yet imbecile as was
his scheme, having regard to the half CEN
fury that had elapsed, / clearly witnessed
the menace to me that it implied. His
views were to be road as plainly as if he
had delivered them. First and foremost,
he meant that l should help him to sail
the schooner to an island and bury the
| plate and money-which done he would
take the first opportunity to murder me.
His chance of meeting with q ship That
would lend him assistance to navigate the
schooner would be as good as If he were
alone on her as if l were on board too.
There would be nothing, then, in this con-
sideratiou TO hinder him from cutting my
| throat after we had buried the treasure
and were got north. Two motives would
imperatively urge him to get away with
ms: fret, that l should not be able to serve
as 8 witness to his being a pirate; and,
next, that he alone shonld possess the
secret of the treasure.
He little knew what was passing in my
mind rs be surveyed me through the curls
of smoke spouting up from his deaths
head pipe. / talked easily and confden-
TALLY; but l saw in his gszs the eyes of my
murderer, and was so sure of his intentions
| that had | shot him in self defense AZ he
sat there, l am certain my conscience
would have acquitted me of his blood.
1 passed two most uneasy bours in my
| cot before closing my eyes. / could think
of nothing but how to secure myself
aga.sst the Frenchman's treschery. You
would suppose that my mind must have
been epgrossed with considerations of the
several possibilities of the morrow, bat
that was not 30. My reflections ran wholly
to the bald. headed, evil-eyed pirate whom
in an evil hour ] bsd ttawed Into being,
and who was likely TO discharge the debt
of his own lite by taking mine. The truth
is, l had been too hard at work all day
too full of the business of planning, cut
ting, testing and contrisiug-to find leis-
ure to dwell upon what he had said at
breakfast, aud now that / lay alone in
darkness il was the only subject / could
settle my thoughts to.
However, next morning / found myself
less gloomy, thanks to several hours of
solid sleep. / thought: What is the good
of anticipating? Suppose the schooner is
crashed by the ice, or becomes jammed in
consequence of the explosion. Until we
are under way-nay, until the treasure is
buried-I have nothing to fear, for the
rogue cannot do without me. And, reas-
suring myself in this fashion, l went to
the cook room and lighted the fire; my
companion presently arrived; and We sat
down to our morning meal.
We breakfasted in silence, and then /
rose, saying: LET us now zee what the
g%unpowder is going to do for u.s."
The wind, rs before, was in the south
west, blowing without much weight, bus
the sky was overcast with great masses Of
white clouds, with q tint Of rainbows in
their shoulders and skirts, amid which the
sky showed a clear liquid blue. Those
clouds seemed to promise wind, and per-
hsps snow, anon; but there was nothing to
hinder our operations. We got upon the
ice and went to work to fix matches to
the barrels and bags, and to sling
them by the beams we had contrived,
ready for lowering when the matches
were fired, and this occupied rs the
best part of two hours. When all was
ready / fired the first match, aud we low
cred the barrel smartly to the scope Of line
we had settled upsn; 80 with the others.
You may reckon we worked with all imsg-
Unable wariness, for the stuff we handled
was mighty deadly; and If q barrel
should fall and burst, with the match
alight, we might be blown in an instant
into rags, it being impossible TO tell how
deep the rents went.
The bags being lighter, there was less 10