Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1889-02-01

What for, l should like TO knowf"-fr-
ing up.
Look at this, and you will see what fort"
And with that whipped out the sketch
and laid it before him.
He looked at it curiously, but when its
meaning dawned on his mind las it did
very quickly his countenance changed as
if he had seen Gorgeous head. His high
color gave place to death-like palior, the
paper dropped from his trembling hand,
and there was hoarse gurgle in his throat
which made me fear that he was going to
nave fit
You seem faint, Mr.. Brandyman; drink
this, and you will feel BETTER said, fill
ing tumbler of water from carafe that
stood on the table.
THANK your he gasped. "'Tis sud-
den faintness. 1t must be the heat of the
room, think. "A curious sketch thisi
Where-where did you get it?"
81 drew it, Mr.. Brandyman-from in
formation recetUed."
Really looking at it again; 81 did
not think you were so clever, Mr.. Erie,
and-and- what can do for you, Mr. Erle'"
Nothing at all. Only, with your per-
mission, should just like to give you
hint"
''Of course-certainly- am sure-yes-
what is it," returned Mr.. Brandyman, a
little incoherently.
"Well, if l were you, / would not send
round for that check. We are a young
company, and don't want litigation; but"
81 will think about it, Mr.. Erie. l will
speak to my partner, and think about it.
And this sketch-you can perhaps leave it
with me. | should not LIKE mean l
should like to keep it, if you will let me.
1t is so very curious"
"By all means Keep it as memento Of
our interview, Mr.. Brandyman-and OF the
'Niobe.'"
And then babe him goodbye, and re-
turned to the office in the full assurance
that the twenty thousand pound check
would never be sent for. True, | had no
evidence of the barratry worth mentioning
from a legal point of view-but con-
science makes towards of US all. Mr.
Brandyman gagged our knowledge of the
facts by his own fears. He believed, too,
though had not said so, that we should
resist payment of the claim; and as could
well see, he dreaded the scandal of law
suit, involving a criminal charge, as much
as we dreaded litigation and heavy law ex-
penses.
The Beard fully approved of what l had
done, and | received many compliments on
my smartness. | had saved the Oriental
and Occidental from serious danger, and
given it new chance of life; which is an
other way of saying that had saved the
directors a good deal of money, for as all
were shareholders, the failure of the COM
pany would have brought them both loss
and diScredit.
A few days later Tom BolsOver called at
the office to tell me (what | knew already
that the Diana" had arrived in the Mersey
and to remind me of my promise.
This was quite work of supererogation
on his part | was not likely to forget
either his services or my promise, and
renewed my offer of handsome reward;
but he would accept nothing more valuable
than pound of cavendish tobacco and
box of Havana cigars.
Shortly afterward l saw Captain Peyton
and asked him, as favor 10 me, to grant
Bolsover's request if he possibly could.
"Well," he said, smiling, "I'll do my
best Crazy Tom is a thorough seaman;
and, yes-I dare say | can"
Cray Tomn exclaimed in surprise.
"Why craZy' l never met saner man In
my life"
ooh, he is sane enough except on one
point, and what is more, he's honest. A
good many folks call him Honest Tom
1t was only on my ship they called him
crazy. | expect that is why he left me; and
he may be thinks that if | make him boat
swain he will escape being chaffed."
But why on earth did your people call
the poor fellow crazy, and what did they
chatf him abOut?"
"Well, he has fad; tells yarn about
lost galleOn, with a lot of treasure on board,
and not only swears it is true, but believes
the galleon is still afloat, and that one day
or another he'll find her"
"And why shouldn't she be still afloat?"
well seeing that, from his account, it's
more than a century since she disappeared,
it is not very likely, Think The idea is
perfectly ridiculous and absurd-cr4zy, in
fact" said Captain Peyton. who was
bluff, matter-of-fact north-countryman.
But all this is secondhand. Tom never
spoke To me about it in his life and he has
been so numerically chafTed that l fancy
he does not like to speak about it. 1 dare
say, though, he would tell you the yarn if
you have any curiosity on the subject"
"Well, rather think l should like to
hear the story of the lost galleon; for if not
true, it is pretty sure to be interesting,
and that's the main point in a story, after
all. Sc non G zero, ben trOUdtO, you
know"
However, l did not hear Toms yarn just
then, nor until several things had hap
pened which | little expected. Captain
Peyton got fresh sailing orders sooner than
he anticipated, and made Bolsover happy
by engaging him as boatswain; and the
latter was so much OccuDipd that he had
barely time to call and say goodbye" the
day before the DIANA was lowed out to
sea. did not see him again for several
months, in circumstances which l shall
presently relate.