Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1889-03-22

| sard was tired, and this and our contempla-
ton Of the probabilities Of the morrow So
bered his mind and he talked with a certain
gravity. He drank sparely and forbore tho
| hideous recollections or inventions he was
used TO bestow on me, and indeed could find
| nothing to talk about but the explosion and
what it was to do for 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 fired his blood, and
! IL was such nonsense that the mere naming
| of it was nouseous to me. Eight and forty
| years had passed since his ship fell in with
thu ice, and not tenfold the treasure in the
hold might have purchased for him the sight
of so much as a single bone of the youngest
of those associates whom he idly dreamed of
seeking and shipping and sailing in command
of. Yet imbecle as was his scheme, having
regard to the half century that had elapsed,
| clearly witnessed the menace to inc that it
implied His views were to be read us plainly
as if he had delivered them. First and fore
most he meant that l should help him to sail
the schooner to an island and bury the plato
and money-which done he would take tho
first opportunity to murder me. His chance
of meeting with a ship that would lend him
assistance to navigate the schooner would be
| rs good If he were alone in her as if / were
on board too There would be nothing. then,
in this consideration to hinder him from cut
ting my throat after had buried tho
treasure and were got north. Two motives
would imperatvely urge him to make away
with me: first, that l should not be able to
serve as a witness to his being pirate; and,
next that he alone should possess the secret
Of the treasure.
He little knew what was passing in my
mind as he surveyed me through the curls Of
smoke spouting up from his deaths head
pipe. talked easily and conlidentialy; but
] saw in his gaze the eyes of my murderer,
and was SO sure of his intentions that had
shot him in self defense as lac sat there, | am
certain my conscience would have acquitted
me of his blood
passed two most uneasy hours in my cot
before closing my eyes. | could think OF
nothing but how to secure myself against the
| FrenChman's treachery. You would suppose
that my mind must have been cngi-sscd with
considerations of the several possibilities of
the morrow; but that was not so. My re-
Elections ran wholly to the bald headed, evil
eyed pirate whom i'll an evil E-ur | had
thawcd into being, and who was Ike to dis
charge the debt of bis own life by taking
mine. The trSth is, had haAn too hard at
work all daJ--tOo full Of the business OF
planning. cutting testing ard contriving-
to find leisure TO dwell upon what he had sad
at breakfast; AID now that | lay alone in
darkness, it was the only subject could set
tie my thou dts to.
However, next morning | found myself
less gloomy, thanks TO several hours of solid
sleep. I thou. 1T: What is the -lol of an
ticipatins, Suppose the schooner is crushed
by the ice, or becomes jaume1 in consc-
qucnce of the explosion! Until We are under
way-nav, until the Treasure is buricd-I
have nothing t. fear, for the rogue cannot do
without me- And, Teassurn2 myself in this
= fashion, went to the cook room and lighted
the fire; my companion presently arrived,
and we sat down TO our morning meal
5 We brealfa-tcd in silence, and then rose,
saying: Let SNOW see what tho eunpowder
is going to do FOR u.s.
, The wind, as before, was in the southwest,
blowing without much weight hut the sky
was overcast with great massos Of white
: clouds, with a tint OF rainbovs III their
shoulders and skirts amid which the sky
, showed a clear liquid blue. Those clouds
seemed to promise wind, and perhaps snow,
anon; but there was nothing TO hinder oar
operations. We got upon the ice and went
to work to tx matches to the barrels and
2 bags and to sims; them by the beams we he'd
contriyed, ready for lowering when tho
matches were fired, and this occupied rs the
: best part Of two hours. When all woS ready
; [ fired the .irst match, and We lowered the
e barrel smartly to the scope Of line we had
e settled upon; so with the others. Yon may
reckon we worked with all imaginable wari-
Q ness, for the stuff we handled was mighty
: deadly; and if n barrel should fol- and burst
+ with The match alight, ", might lie blown in
an instant into RAGS, it being impossible to
h tell how deep the rents went
@ The BAGS being lighter, there was loss t.
I fear; and presently all the barrels and ba~s
= with the matches burning, wcro poised in the
t places and hanging at the depth we had fixed
upon, and we then returned 90 the schooner
t tho Frenchman breaking INTO a run, and
/ tumblng over the rail, in his alarm, with the
: dcxterity Of n monkey.
o Each match was supposed to burn an hour
: so that when the several explosions happened
G they might all occur as nearly us possible al
! once, AMI we had therefore n long time tc
@ wait. Tho margin may look unreasonable
; in the face of our dispatch; but you will moi
. think it unnecessary if you consider that oul
y machinery might not have worked very
smooth and that meanwhile all that wa.
lowered was in the way Of exploding. Sc
interminable period as now followed | dc
believe never entered before into the expert
ences Of a man. Tho cold was intense ant
y we nou 10 NOFe ABOUT. Dut also were We
Il repeatedly coming to halt TO look at oul
), watches and cast or eyes over the ice i
J. was like standing under a Calows with tn,
y moose around the neck, waiting for the car
d 10 move OFF. Ny own suspense became
n torture; but ! commanded my face, Tn,
9 Frenchman, on tho other hand, could no
= control the torments of his expectation ono
:, fear.
Il Holy Virgin3' he would cry, "suppose w,
J are blown up tool suppose we are ingulfeC
o in the ice suppose it should be vomited III
l. in vast blocks, which in falling upon us mus
crush us to pulp and smash the cecks !nn
e 1t was three or four minutes past the hour
r and was looking breathlessly at my watcl
g when the first of the explosions took place
3 Before the ear could well receive the shocl
d of the blast the whole of the barrels exploded
II along with some twelve or fourteen parcels
n Tassard, who stood beside me, fell on hi
if face, and believed he had been killed. /
d was SO hellish thunder that | suppose til
Ii blowing up OF a first rate could not make