Evening journal., 1891-07-07


The schooner lay exposed to the westerly
gales and sens, and it would only be a ques-
tion of a week or two when she would
break up or be buried in the sands. 1t
therefore stood me in hand tc get all out
Of her that could before this disaster took
place. began right after dinner, and it
would surprise You to know how much
accomplished in the next four days BY
use of the capstan, WINCH and a block aud
pulley in the main rigging, got out TWEEN.
ty-one barrels Of flour, eight Of pork and
beef, three OF sugar and of meal, and be.
sides these got ashore all the sails, cabin
furniture, cooking utensils etc. There
were axes, shoyels, picks, hoes, rakes, gard
en- Seeds carpenters tools, and a host OF
other things which could be handled, and
got out enough boards to make me a
cabin and floor It. On the evening OF the
fifth day strong wind came mp from the
west, accompanied by very high tide, an.l
instead of the schooner breaking up she
fioated and current pulled her off, and
she drifted down the coast about mile.
She then struck on a sunken ledge, turned
over, and the seas broke her up.
There was no prominent point on the
island where | could set signal. there
fore contented myself with keeping a look
out to the west. Twice during the first
two weeks saw ships afar OIL by the aid
Of the glass. Then six weeks passed with.
out my sighting anything. Meanwhile
had erected my house back about forty feet
from the shore, got all the goods under
cover, and was more satisfied with my lot
than some men would have been had
no way Of knowing whether fathers brig
went down in the collision or not, but was
raff fis4If fl.nf \ tr
would make search for me.
had been on the island for three months
when | one day made wonderful dis
covery. | was on the south shore, where
the forest was more open and the soil com
posed Of sand and shell, and | stopped for
moment under the shade of a tree. AsI
did so small animal only about half rs
large as hare ran past my feet and into
its burrow, only yard away As | fol-
lowed it with my eye | saw something gilt
ter in the fresh dirt thrown out, and
picked it up to find that It was an English
sovereign. Raking over the dirt with my
fingers, | soon found four others, together
with some small pieces of moldy canvas. /
at once jumped to the conclusion that
there must be n store of treasure below,
and ran for a shovel. it was easy digging
there, and had not gone down over two
feet before was throwing out more money
than dirt.
The treasure had been contained entirely
in canvas bags These had been stout
enough at the outset, but the dampness of
the earth had finally rotted them. / could
could not lift a single one of the bags out
by itself on this account, but brought
down piece OF saiIcloth and spread it on
the ground, and then piled the treasure
on it as freed 1t from the dirt. There had
been twelve bags of money, every piece Of
gold. | knew the value only in English
currency. There were pieces | knew to
have been coined in India, Spain, France,
Holland and the United States, and gave
a guess at the value by the weight alone
found the treasure about o'clock in the
morning, and it was after noon before
had all the money on the sailcloth. / was
a stout, healthy boy, but could not have
lifted tenth part Of the total weight
doubt If stout man could have dragged it
a foot
The first thought was to get the money
TO my house-a mile away got a stout
sack, and planned to carry the pile away in
such loads as | could lift; but then began
to argue that, as / was the only person on
the island, the money was as safe where it
was as it would be in my house. there
fore filled my pockets with the larger pieces
as specimens, and contented myself with
spreading piece of canvas over the heap
and throwing ON some branches. / was
not greatly ratified over the big find, al
though l knew there must be tens Of thou
sands Of dollars there. was simply a lit
tie more anxious to sight a sail, and for the
next week did nothing but patrol up and
down the shores and look seaward. | Wis
tied the money every morningan and evening.
and now and then paved the heap over and
carried away such coins as l desired to
more closely inspect.
II was, believe, on the morning Of the
thirteenth day after finding the money
that l walked down TO the water for my
morning dip to see a whaling bark hove
TO about mile away and one Of her boats
pulling in. 1t was the English whaling
craft Grampus, and father had met her
captain in New Zealand port and asked
him to call Mt the islands as he bore away
and look for traces Of me. When it was
found that l was alive and well the captain
came ashore. He would not promise to
carry me to New Zealand under six months
as he was bound to the banks Of Brazil
but he listed all my property off at a fair
value aud put it 60 my credit. When
hnAAH httA bNtu htktu dDOtiu
showed him my pocket pieces and told
him of my find. What | had brought up
to the house counted up nearly goo Eng
ligh money
/ started with him for the spot where the
treasure was lying, accompanied by three
of his men, and we reached it TO find that
everything had disappeared. There was
the hole had dug--here were the withered
branches which had covered the heap
there the tracks OF men leading down to
the waters edge. had been there at sun
down the night before During the night
a party had landed and removed the last
silver Of money. From whence they came,
in what craft, how they knew the treasure
was there, which way they sailed, an these
were queries which all could put but no
one answer A day after leaving the island
the bark encountered British gunboat,
and we told her captain the story. He
cruised in search Of the mysterious craft
for several days, but did not sight her, aud
all official inquiry made by the New Zea-
land government failed to trace anything
further.-New York Sun.
Unanimous Verdict.
Some fifteen years or 80 ago, when Robert