The Forrest City times., 1888-03-24

ambled head foremost into the excavation; he man with the bmdage spun round like eetotum, and fell all hls length upon his tide, where he lay dead but still twitching; md the other three turned and ran for il with all their might
 Before you could wink Long John had tired two barrels of a pistol into the strug- gltng Merry; and as the man rolled up his ryes at him in the last agony, George said he, "l reckon l settled you.'
 At tse som moment the doctor, Gray and Ben Gum joined us, with smoking muskets from among q nutmeg trees.
 "Forwardr cried the doctor. Double quick my lads. We must head 'em oil the boats"
 And we set of at great pace, sometimes punging thT Igh the bushes to the chest.
 1 tell you, [ Silver was anxious 10 keep up with us. The work that man went through, leaping on his crutch till the mus cles of his chest were fit to burst was work no sound man ever equaled; and SD thinks the doctor. As fl was, he was, already thirty yards behind us, ana on the verge of strangling, when we reached the brow of the slope.
 Doctor" he hailed, ''see therel no hurry"
 Sure enough there was no hurry. In a more open part of the plateau, we could see the three suTvlvOrs still runnin. m the same direction as they had started, r,ght for Miz- Ienmast Hill. We were already between them and the boats; and so we four sat down to breathe. while Long J Inn, mopping 'ls face came slowly up with us.
 "Thank ye kindly, doctor" says he. "Yo~ came in in about the nick. guess. for me anI Hawkins. And 5, i;'s You Ben Gunur he aided. -wen, you're nice one 70 DC sure"
 Pm Ben Gnnn, 1 am," replied the ma room, wriggling like an eel In his cmbarraSs ment And" he added, after long pause, how do, MT. Silver? Pretty well, 1 thank ye, says you"
 Ben, Ben" murmured Silver. ito think as you've done meT
 The doctor sent back Gray for one of the pickaxes deserted, in their flight by the mutineers; and then as we proceeded leis- urely down hill to where the boats were ly- ing, related, in a few words. what had taken place. IL was a story that profoundly interested Silver; and Ben Gum. the half idiot maroon, was the hero from beginning to end.
 Ben, in his long, lonely wanderings about .he island, had found the skeIeton-:t was he that had ritled It; he had found the treasure; he had dug 1t up Ct was the half of his pickaxe that lay broken in the exca- yation); he had carried 1t oil his back, in many weary journeys, from the foot of the tall pine 10 a rave he had on the two-pointed hill al the noi heast angle of the island, and there it had la n stored in safety since two months before the arrival of the Hispaniola.
 When the Goctor had wormed the secret from him, on the afternoon of the attack. and when, next morning. he saw the an- chorage deserted. he had gone to Silver, given him the chart which was now useless, given him the stores. for Ben Gums cave was well supplied with goats meat salted by himself-given anything and everything tn get a chance of moving in safety from the stocsade to the two-pOinted hill, there to keep clear Of malaria and keep guard up- on the money.
 "As for you, Jim" he said. ''it went against my heart but did what thought best for those who had stood b, their duty; and if you were not cne of these. whose fault was itY'
 That morning. finding that was to be In volved in the hofrid disappointment he had prepared for the mutineers. he had run all the way to the cave. and. leaving squire to guard the captain. had taken Gray and the maroon, and started. making the ciaSonA