The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1893-09-28


it was to do down until such time as
the treasure could he recovered and
restored to the sovereign of Spain"
"A very interesting story, grand
father, said the young Louis, speak
ing now for the first time. $50 we
are of noble blood. He was a gran
dee of Spain! Blue bloodl Well,
now, grandfather, you know don't
caro- for such distinctions.
BE silent, Louis, said the old man
ste1nly. ITO decry the value of
blood is ignorance indeed" And then
he went on: 'None of us has been
able to attempt the recovery of this
treasure. Nor have we seen how it
was ever to be possible in the future.
But lately I have read of divers who
20 down to the bottom of the sea and
perform wonderful feats there. !
feel an old mans presentiment re-
garding you, Louis-that you are the
one of the race to redeem the oath to
Spain. Swear it to me, Louis"
Indeed, grandfather, cannot do
any such thing" interrupted the boy.
IF you say it is point of family
honor to try to restore this fabulous
treasure, I'll promise to do my best,
but I'll not swear it"
After a moment the eager look
faded out of the old mans eyes. He
smiled. so be it," he said. The boy
was looking at him fearlessly, and he
was struck by the resemblance to
the old portrait over the mantel-
piece, a fine, tall, muscular young
fellow, with the brilliant eyes and the
leonine expression. 1.-The .Perans
were never promise breakers" he
said. Then he added: Among my
papers is a rough chart drawn by
Don Louis. If you do not use it, pass
it on to your son."
One morning in 1877 curious look
ing craft sailed in past the capes and
anchored in Hampton Roads, about
two lengths from the rip-raps. Its
commander was a fine looking boy
about 10, and the crew were ~ stout
Cape Codders. On board were divers
outfits, planks, barrels, chains, wind
lasses, endless coils of rope and some
queer engines.
The young captain at once set all
hands at work. Drags were got out,
and the bottom of the sea was swept
for circular space of five acres. A
very old chart was consulted for bear
ings, but as it was made from mem
DRY by an old man at point of death
it was liable to be in error.
The graphing irons brought up
nothing of any value, but young
Louis Peran-for of course it was he
was not a whit discouraged.
He had sold the old manor house
and the Peran plantation after his
grandfather's death and had gone
north into the employ of famous
diver. For three years he had been in
the heavy work at He'll Gate in New
York harbor. After that he had
made a voyage to Spain.
1.-THE young captain" as he was
called, put on a divers suit and went
to the bottom. Tom Newell, a fine
diver, accompanied him. The trip
was apparently fruitless. They had
trouble with a current near the bot.
tom, which ran very fast at flood
tide and made it difficult to keep
their feet. They found the bed Of
the roads swept bare of mud in some
places; in others covered with loose
powders. Sand had been piled in
high banks by the set of the tides.
In some places the water was clear as
crystal, in others turbid and muddy.
| - There the young captain began to
study. He anchored buoys at the
corner of a square and took observa-
tions of these changes of place from
the flood and ebb tides and from the
currents. He spent hours under wa
ter examining the contour of tho bot
tom. With Newell he made a map
showing all the details for an area Of
about 10 acres.
Twill let Tom Newell step in here
and tell the rest of the story:
We worked for about 80 days at
the charting. The weather was mild
and the water in the Roads compar.
atively still, and we had had little
to hinder us. We had the usual ex.
perience with large fish at the bot.
tom. One day school of dogfish
swarmed around. These fellows are
nasty customers, for they are armed
with two short daggers of bone near
the tail, and slash from one of them
is serious. They are cannibals too
If one of their number is hurt. the
other fellows gobble him up.
Sharks, too, we had, but not man
eaters. One big fellow, however, was
sopersistent that suspected he might