The Red Cloud chief., 1888-07-27

see II the sounds would be repeated. All
was quiet however, and I seized a bush and
pulled myself up 70 where the Stone had
sunk. There wa q hole in the earth as large
as q bushel basket, and saw that . cave OF
some sort existed below. 1t took five minutes
Of looking around 70 ind Il, - the mouth
was cunningiv hidden by vines. hui rs soon
as found il I kneN that human beings had
been there. 1t was . hole about twenty-five
feet long. and at tbs spot where the cave
was it was twenty feet high. I could enter
the mouth only on hands and knees, and l
did not 60 far in until the light which came
down assured me that it vas vacant. And
yet il wal not. As crept in to where the
rock had crashed through I found that It
had fallen urOn Q man-very probably the
native I had seen early in the morning. He
had been sitting down. and the big stone had
fallen upon his head and crushed him out of
shape. The yell l heard was his death CRY.
was ready to crax: out and take to my
heels as I made this discovery, brt another
detained me-. The fall of rock AMI dit had
knocked over . torch which the mai had
lighted. and now q bit Of flame fiared up all
of . sudden to show mo that tho cave con-
tanned boxes and baskets. l dug out the
torch, blew up the fame. and became dumb
with establishment. It was q treasure cave
the recep tacle of the pirates plumber.
have been told by Malays, who may have
been Penang pirates. that under the ules
which bound those rascals together .
treasurer was chosen for every gang.
Every thing of value was turned over to him
to rare for, and once in about every two
years he made a division of the spoils- This
treasure had to be zealously guarded, and in
this instance it was 80 carefully hidden that
no one but the treasurer could q found
it. He had come in advance Of me to odd
fresh plumber to the great store. and there
were Jewels in his hands as he lay there .
bloody mass.
Some of You may doubt what I am going
to tell you. but there is abundant proof in
the Royal Museum. in the old files OF the
Timex, and yet in my " possession. The
treasures Of that ave amounted to millions
upon millions Of dollars. 1t must have been
the bank Of o thousand pirates, and It had
probably been several years since . division
was made. Many of the baskets n boxes
were of European make. but there were
many OF native manufacture. The pirates
had not stored away silks and velvets and
laces. They had no such common stun -
that. The treasure consisted OF money.
watches, diamonds. rings, bracelets, car
rings, watch chains. charms, and whatever
else could be called jewelry. There were
crosses and badges and medals by the score,
and no less than six jeweled hits of swords.
There were at least fifty gold chrOnOmeters.
and l verify believe the number OF gold
watches would have reached five hundred.
Cniettered and unlearned, and brought up
to look on Q go note As . fortune, l would
not have believed that the world held 50
much money IS l found here. There were
English. American, French. German. Rus
slams, Swedish, Belgian, and all other sorts
Of paper money, and gold and silver was
heaped up until my eyes were ready to an
swer for hat pegs.
Strange how human nature works! Be-
fore finding this wealth I would have given
a year Of my life to know hat l could make
the next hundred miles in safety. I had no
sooner got my eyes on the great wealth
than l began to figure on how l could keep
everv last shilling Of it. I would not go
without it. A quarter Of an hour ago l was
alarmed at the slightest sound. Now l
would have faced and fought tho whole
pirate gang. Inever susp .cted l had u
determination. or that l would care 50 much
for money. 1t took me a good while to cool
OF and calm down. and then I found my
self in favor of sticking right there. was
like two men arguing. There wasn't one
chance in q thousand Of my getting OF with
q tenth of the plumber. and to remain there
was to invite discovery. Then the other
char as it were, argued that l was a fool to
leave such wealth behind, n that l had
only to remain in the cave to be hidden from
any search hat the pirates might make.
As a result I stayed. There was fresh
water ut hand. plenty Of wild fruits around
me, and the only unpleasant thing was the
CORPSE. As soon as my mind was made up TO
STAY I pulled it out from under the stone and
| buried it in the bank as well rs l could with
ONLY q stick and my hands to work with.
There was no alarm thai day, but on the
next day l had nc sooner eaten \ hasty
breakfast and returned to the cave than
heard men in the woods. From an hour
after sunrise to sunset the pirates were con-
stantly coming and going through the
ravine, calling to each other and to the miss
ing man. 1t was the same for the next
three days, and the hum was given Up or
extended far beyond me. They may have
reasoned that the man had sailed away from
| the island, and l have no doubt that search
ing parties were started out by sea Is we'll
as BY land. l had to lie quiet now, and dur
ing the three Gays i SUHeTcO uuCu IEOW
hunger and thirst. l knew the fellows
! would not give up Is long As there was any
hope, and it was well that l was over eau
| tious. On the fifth day a hundred or more
OF them were in the ravine for several
hours, pulling dOwn rocks. uprooting
bushes. and passing SO near the mouth OF
| the cave that I held my breath. This
| minute search satisfied them AID no one
| came near me again.
1t was two weeks to a day before l con-
| tinued my journey. On the second day after
burying the body I exhumed it and stripped
| it of outside clothing, and when ready to 20
| l left my sailor toys behind me- in place Of
them. After handling every thing over and
| over again I fought down my avarice and
used judgment in determining what to take.
l unset and took owe eighty diamonds, up
ward Of el8,OOO in English paper money,
about - O in English and American gold,
and q little over $1,000 in French notes.
| The paper money was all bills Of large do
nomination. WANTED to load myself down,
| but l had sense enough to realize the tramp
before me. Icould not, however, resist Sc
lecting three of the finest gold watches, one
| of which can TO this day be seen in the Royal
Museum at London. 1t is Of French make,
! but has never been further identified.