The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-06-06


lieve the aftermost superstructure used
to be called.
Carefully gathering the several folds
of my India rubber air-tube over my
arm. TO provide its getting foul of the
wreckage, / stepped through the chasm
into the black cleaning water within.
sank little. and then alighted upon
what L supposed TO have been the floor
of the stateroom. 1t was not so dark
as l had expected, which l can only &C
count for by supposing that the phos-
phorescence with which the walls of the
ancient craft were acrawl gave forth
dim light. The interior was quite empty.
Il had been prepared TO find it silted
up with slime and weeds, but whether
the fact of it's having been Theoretically
sealed prevented the accumulate n-of. de-
pOsits. / cannot say; certain it is that,
so far as 1 could make out, the bulkheads
and decks were as bare barn.
1T was lucky for me that / had en-
tered the ship in the after-part. for l
knew that the laZarette would probably
lie directly under my feet, and it was
here that the Spaniards invariably stow
ed the valuable part of their cargo. L
very soon found that there would not be
much trouble in breaking through this
second deck to get into the hold below;
the planking was so rotten that twice
/ stuck my foot right through it. 1
stepped outside again. and getting hold
Of long piece of shell-crusted wreckage,
hard as iron. which had been ripped away
from the bulwarks by the explosion, re-
turned with it into the stateroom. and
began to pound at the floor
1T broke away readily enough, and
in less than half an hour 1 had made an
orifice several feet square. floated down
through this opening, and found still the
same phosphorescent glimmer in the
water When l had alighted and begun
to grope about me, / discovered the place
to be stored with many piled-up square
shapes. undoubtedly wooden cases. My
heart began TO beat swiftly with excite
ment. l laid hold of one of the square
shapes. but could no more raise 1t than
/ could have raised the wreck itself.
Guessing il was impossible for me TO
deal with these things single-handed
down i'm the gloom of that hold, l again
returned TO the upper deck. and sig
nailed with my lifeline for a stout rope
TO be sent to me. In a moment or two
the coil Of it came swimming down like
a wriggling sea serpent; | re-entered the
lazarette, CROPPED about for a convenient
~ situated case, securely fastened the
rope to il, and signaled for it TO be
hauled up.
THE thing broke away. and went GID
ing upward in a dark shadow; 1 waited
till 1 guessed they would have got it on
board. and then signaled to be pulled up
too. came to the surface. scrambled
onto the cutter, and in mad haste
whipped off my helmet There lay the
wooden box safe enough in the middle
OF little pool that had drained from it.
covered with a sort Of green fur or sea
moss.
My Malay crew gathered around. agi-
tated with expectation and excitement.
l called for an AK, and one was almost
Immediately thrust into my hand. At
the first stroke Of the weapon the sOdden
land decayed wood was shivered. and the
steel blade struck something which gave
back a metallic chink. Trembling with
anxiety, 1 tore away the splintered frag
ments. and disclosed a level layer Of
large coins Of the color Of bronze.
Il uttered a cry Of triumph for I
knew those coins were Spanish pieces-of-
eight. and the rusty appearance of them
was merely due to tarnish. 1 drew my
sheath-Snifa. dug out one of the pieces
for they were very tightly packed-and
scrape1 it. The surface came out as
white as a new crOWn-pieCe,
But there goes the tiffin bell and.
bless my heart! sir. l am OBTAINING you
so long that you Will be putting me
down as one Of those dreadful shipbOard
bores. Yet spare me another couple of
minutes, while 1 tell you the sequel to
this singular and somewhat romantic ex-
perience. For three days was 1 at work
on that old hulk after l had succeeded
in entering her interior, and during that
time l sent up seventy-five cases, each
exactly like the first, and containing
four thousand pieces-of-eight, or old
Spanish dollars. apiece.
Il emptied the lazarette; that I might
have discovered further treasure by
searching for it. is possible, but l was
satisfied. Reckoning at the rate Of five
pieces TO an English sovereign, the value
of the ancient money cannot be worth
a penny less than f6O. 900.
What did / do with it, sir? Why. it's
all packed in cases, deep down in the
hold of this very steamer. I'm carrying
II TO England to share with the gentleman
but for whose enterprise il might still be
lying at the bottom of Table bay; and
reckon" concluded my interesting COM
paniOn, rising, with a smile, that unless
we're shipwrecked and ali the money is
lost, I've made my last dive to the bot
tom Of the sea."-CasselIs Magazine.