Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-05-23

dropped 6ucnOr ABOUT d uiie from the DeacH
1t was Just at shutdown when we came t
anchor. and that evening the captain CAV
them the uss of the cabin for couple q
hours to look over their papers. The island
with all the indentations, as well as tn
shoals, reefs and depth of water, was pict
ured on our chart, and they compared thei
pen and ink sketch with this, and consultes
another paper which none Of Us had befor
seen. until they came to decision. wa
looking down upon them through the opel
skylight from the corner of my eye, and
saw Stebbins strike the table with his fist
and heard him whisper:
''We've got it, sure as shooting!"
| 'sHush!n she admonished. ''Of cours.
we've got it. We hain't nobody's fools, iona.
Stebbins. Do you suppose I'd have consented
to put all our money into this venture if thers
was chance to lose it!'
'.By guml but we'll be rich!"
"Of course we will
s'Richest folks in the hull county,"
YES but don't get excited"
They sat on deck for an hour or two, Steb-
bins smoking and his wife knitting, and as
they were about to retire for the night felt
bound to observe:
''Well, Mr. Stebbins, here we are in good
shape, and now, as / was sent to manage your
business, you'd better explain matters pretty
clearly I may want to make some prepare
tions for tomorrow"
"How long will it take you to get diver
ready to go downs" he asked
Not over half an hour"
"Wen, that's all the preparations needed"
''What is the diver 30 go down afterG"
''Sunthin' that won't run away before
morning. answered Mrs. Stebbins, and with
! that both went below.
| It was only natural that all of us should be
curious about the expedition, but every at
tempt to find out anything had thus far been
cleverly frustrated. The captain and talked
/ it over again for the twentieth time, and we
came to the same old conclusion-that Steb-
bins had come on a wild goose chase after
some old wreck In our pique at his refusal
to furnish particulars we almost hoped he
wouldn't find it. Stebbins was on deck at
daylight next morning, and his wife half an
hour later, and after breakfast, when the
captain asked for orders, the Yankee waited
to fill his pipe before replying:
II guess we'll jog westward about five
miles" The schooner was got under way,
and when she had accomplished the distance
named she was about mile off shore, in
fifty feet of water, and midway between her
and the beach was reef covered with not
more than ten or twelve feet Of water at low
tide. As the anchor went down the schoon-
er's head pointed directly toward the land,
and Stebbins and his wife appeared to make
out some landmarks, the sight of which
brought smiles to their faces 1t was beau
tiful morning, with only a slight breeze
blowing, and as the anchor went down Steb-
bins came to me and said:
1--WE shall have to go into the reef in a
small boat, / suppose. Can diver work
from herr"
I assured him that it could be done, and
we got down the boat, put in the pump and
dress, and were shortly ready to pull off.
Stebbins and his wife were both to go, MAX
ing party of six Of us. We pulled almost
straight for the reef, ported little after
crossing it, and then, as we anchored in three
fathoms of water looked about and discov-
cred that we were in what might be called
basin, although it was open to the east.
ayes, this is the spot" said Stebbins as b
stood up and looked around.
sd almost know it at midnight" added
his wife.
what am to look forzn asked the diver
as he donned his dress.
'Some boxes about the size of them that
axes come in" replied the Yankee. "There
orter be ten of 'em down there. They are
iron bound and purity betty, but you hook on
and Wen do the hauling"
The diver winked at me to express his in
credulity, and then his helpers screwed on
his helmet and got him over the side on the
rope ladder The water was wonderfully
clear, and we could follow him to the very
bottom and see him move about. He headed
north and crossed the basin; thence east to
its mouth; then around to the north and
after being down twenty-five minutes he
came up with a shell, and said, as soon as
clear of his headpiece:
Nothing but shells down there, sir. The
bottom is hard sand, and could have seen a
dime down there"
Didn't see no boxes!" gasped Stebbins.
''No, sirn
snow, Jonas, don't get excited" eau
toned bis wife ''Them boxes is lying along
side O that wall (reef) to the west The
waves coming in from the east would shunt
'em over there"
That's So" replied Stebbins, and when the
diver had rested he was directed to search in
bLlat CHScllOu, anu tuc WdS
that we might hover over him as near as
possible He had not been down three min
utes when he signaled Us to haul away on
the line attached to the tongs, and up came
one of the boxes the Yankee and his wife |
were searching after. In five minutes we had |
another, and inside of an hour we had ten
We were an excited lot-au but Stebbins and |
his better half They seemed to take it as q |
matter Of course, and after the diver had |
sent up the tenth box and came up to rest the |
ankee said:
''There might have been an eleventh box |
Ny bill calls for ten, but there may be an |
Extra one. And say when you are down /
here kinder look around for any loose coin /
3r other staff
Nothing further was found, however, and |
hat afternoon we stood away for New Or |
cans When aboard the schooner Stebbins
informed US that there was SIS, 900 in Span
SD coin in each box, and that every box was
n good order / could not help but express
nv amazement over the find, aud he calmly
'eplied:
"Well, you see, men the woman are great
lands TO dream, and we dreamed it all out.
There wasn't much chance for slip after we
lad roth dreamed
But the pen and ink chart was no doubt
AIKEN from the wallet Of the sailor who died
II the country tavern.-New York Sun.
How Utterly Impossible.