San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-02-05

"SAS vi n ldoulOu VI ca WV
centuries ago.
"lsland ahoyr' cried the mate.
Come ashorep' cried George.
who are your" said the mate, still in
doubt.
ave are two shipwrecked sailors from
the Kohola, which went to pieces on Rock
Rodondo four years ago." answered
George.
Don't you believe him, air" said an
old sailor, touching his hat. ''Them's no
real men. Them's pirates or their
ghosts"
But the mate paid no attention to this
uncanny fear and again sung out:
"What are your names and where
from?"
"Mine's Job Maxwell and his'n's George
and we shipped in New York for a whaIin'
vy'ge, and we hadn't no water and tried
to come through, but the currents cotched
us, and here we is, and we wants to get
away. You can come ashore without fear,
for there's nothing alive here but this
boy'n me and the turkles and other rep
tiles"
After a short parley they came ashore,
and in answer to the mates questions told
all their mishaps and dangers and their
tedious life on the island, and finally he
asked if they would go abroad and talk
to the captain, which they willingly did.
There their story was repeated and the
captain ordered them a dinner such as
they had not tasted for four years; yes,
and longer, and never in this world did a
dinner of salt beef, pork and beans, duff
aud ships bread washed down with black
coffee sweetened with molasses taste so
good.
The captain told them hat they were
on tine way to San Francisco with a cargo
of general merchandise from Liverpool,
and kindly offered them passage to the
former place "if they wished to CO."
""Why, that's all we do want" said
Maxwell.
eve wish for nothing else," said
George, "but we can pay our passage"
and then he told him of the large amount
OF treasure in the robbers cave, and
asked to bring it on board, telling the
captain at the same time that they would
pay most literally for the labor and the
transportation, and besides which they
would also make each one of the crew a
handsome present, as well as the captain
and officers.
81 want nothing except tho pay for
Noul DtloNtSO III hhO AIN iOob ~ cAOhlhS
your baggage, but you may give the rest
what you choose, only don't let them
know of your intentions until we get to
port. Sailors are hard enough TO manage
at best, and if they had money they would
feel too big for their duties. You say
there is good water. If you will show
them the place to get ii l will take it as a
favor, and when we have all the water we
roa1 1 yrill bD va urnr fhinnQ hrnurht on
board. | will go on shore with you and
see the island if you like"
George and Maxwell were delighted
with the prospects, and soon four boats
were manned and each had a cask for
water and two buckets for each man, and
they reached the island, and in a short
timo all the men were at work filling the
casks with the pure water which sprang
from no one knows where to this volcanic
island in the midst of the ocean.
George, Maxwell and the captain went
to the cave and examined all the chests to
see if they would bear the strain of re-
moval, and they showed the treasure they
had found, and decided to bring cords the
next morning to fasten the boxes so that
they could be moved. One box was filled
with clothing and arms and curiOsities,
anu IL IL wa dIoO DllCcl OllC VI JIG Ddlh-
boo buckets they had made.
George laid the telescope upon a rude
table in plain sight, and left all the uten-
sis and meat and dried fish where it could
easily be found by any other unfortunate
who might fail upon this island, and then
they took n few of the shells and breast
plates of the great turtles they had killed,
and were ready to leave the island, taking
+ l-,I o,,1 4, ..,lr ,,uIn
wine, which they thought they would
drink on reaching civilization again. They
had kept it there untouched all those
years in case of emergency.
That night they slept on the brig Abso-
lutte, and in the morning began the labor
of bringing their treasures down to the
shore. George felt for any one who might
ever suffer shipwrcCk here, and had
begged for n pot Of white paint, II with
that he wrote upon the blackencd rocks
where the cave WIS, II in that he left
everything his fertile brain could imagine
to soften the hard lot of any other cast
away.
in with the precious proofs Of his own
identity 10 placed the valuable jewels he
hal found and s2wcd them up tightly in
n waterproof covering and hung it around
his neck.
The sailors having filed the water casks
were now ordered to take these boxes on
board, and they did so, it is true, but not
without u good deal of extra grumbling,
and George and Maxwell were greatly re-
uevcd when everything was or board, yet
somehow they both felt badly to leave the
island that had sheltered them so long,
and they looked at it rs long as they could
see its black and UIinviting shore. Us
they sailed around it on their departure
they looked with awestruck eyes Mt each
other, for at no other point could they
nave landed, had fate drifted them to any
~ thar C,ct