The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-05-26

one Of the Virginia islands. OF which there
are five, lying to the eastward of the island
Of st. Thomas. There was the usual rough
map drawn by a sailors hand. but Drake
had lost this. He remembered. however
I that the treasure was on Petrol island and
that one must step of p PAGES from a GER
tain tree toward a certain great rock.
The dying sailor had not been pirate. but
mutineer, and the treasure had come
from an English vessel which was carry
ing the gold to one of the Bahamas to pay
government claim.
L can't remember all the particulars as
Drake related them. but he was a smooth
tongued and plausible liar and made out
a fine story. He was sure the gold was
still there, and he had been waiting to find
some one who would deal honestly with
him. My Uncle Abel drank in and believed
every word the liar uttered, but not so with
Aunt Hetty. She sized the man up for
what he was and plainly told him that he
was EARNING. He pretended to be much
grieved at her suspicious, and when he
went off to bed he said he would go to
kennebunk and try to find some ship
owner or captain who would be willing to
bring the treasure off and make a fair di-
vide. There was $300. 900 in coined gold, and
| all he wanted for himself was $25,OOO
Next morning, after Drake had retold
HIS yarn anu dQueQ 10 IT, aunt 6eLtN De-
gan to weaken in her objections and fin
ally came to believe there was something
in it. Before the day was over she was as
enthusiastic as Uncle Abel, and that was
the beginning Of what l have termed a
strange voyage. In the course of a couple
of days the captain and Drake went over to
Kennebunk to look for a suitable craft
They found the brig Foam for sale. and
the captain drew his last dollar from the
bank, mortgaged his farm, sold off three
COWS, forty sheep ten hogs and yoke Of
oxen and raised the money to buy her
AS everybody knew he had given up the
sea, this move of his was productive of
great gossip
When it was known that Aunt Hetty was
to so along the gossip increased. Drake
got drunk and boosted of the treasure,
and so it came about that everybody knew
| the object of our quest though no one
| knew just where we were going. Capt
! Jones was called a fool by his best friends,
but neither ridicule nor abuse had any
effect on him. BY the time he was ready
for sea he was a firm believer that he
would return with money enough to buy
out all Kennebunk. and his wife was
even more enthusiastic. We shipped a
mate and four sailors on the '1ay' plan.
Each was TO have a certain per cent of the
treasure if found. Aunt Hetty was to
act as cook. This gave us seven men, and
l went along as cabin boy. The brig sailed
for Boston got a cargo for Porto Rico,
and we We're finally off.
We were hardly clear of the land when
trouble arouse. Drake wanted to live in
the cabin and play passenger instead Of
doing duty as a sailor, and Aunt Hetty
started out to boss things in a way to
give offense to all. The mate, whose name
was Kurdish. had forgotten his instru-
ments, and Capt. Jones had bought some
.---rA 41,..f reerk
of their contents had leaked out before we
left the wharf. When four days out we
had to hail an incoming ship and buy two
casks of water and within a week Aunt
Hetty's economy left us without tea or
coffee. 1t has always been marvel TO
the seafaring men of Kennebunk that the
brig reached her port of destination.
b Capt. Jones was an old-fashioned sailor,
who made his way almost altogether Ivy
dead reckoning. He could get the lati-
tude of the sun at MONDAY after ire
mendous struggle, but when he had work.
ed out his sights he wasn't sure of his
position within 50 miles The briggs sails
were old, the rigging sadly out of repair,
and her foremasts were so insecure that
only about half the usual amount of sail
was spread 1t was pure luck that she
ever reached Porto Rico, even though she
made the longest passage on record. She
was hardly in port before Drake deserted
and shipped on a craft bound for Liver
pool. The sailors disliked him to a man.
and strong hints had been thrown out
that if the treasure was not found it would
be worse for him. The mans desertion
made no difference in our plans. Uncle
Abel and Aunt Hetty were certain they
could find the buried gold without his
assistance, and when the matter was talk
ed over everybody was glad he had de-
parted, as there would be $4,000 more TO
divide up among the rest
When the cargo had been discharged the
brig started for Petrol Island The Vir-
gin group lay dead to the east and vet
Capt Jones managed to miss 1t and run
100 miles into the Atlantic before he fig
ured out what had happened Then he
turned back, came very near wrecking his
craft on the reefs OF Sombrero, and after
many days came to anchor off the east
coast of Petrol Island. Drake had de-
scribed certain bay. While he had never
seen 1t, we did find bay answering pretty
well to the description. The beach of the
north side of this bay was something like
the one he had told US of, but there was
no tree nor rock where he had placed
them. 1t was decided to go ashore ana
prospect, however, and an examination
of the shore resulted in a stay of three
weeks, during which there was some live
~ digging We might have remained long.
er but for the trobule between the captain
and his wife.
when the long search and hard work
brought nothing, Aunty Hetty called him
an idiot and bewailed their financial rI,tn
Uncle Abel fired up and talked back. and
they had it hot and heavy for an hour or
two. At last the captain said he was
going home. His wife declared she wouId
stay until she found some gold. Every
body was drawn into the quarrel and
Capt. Jones and three of the men tootr
the yawl and started off, and four Of us
were left with the brig. I must explain
that the captains move was made with
a view Of bulldozing his wife. He ex-
pected to be called back and to see Aunt
Hetty knuckle down, and when nothing
of the sort happened he concluded to
coast around the island and make a fur
Their search for the treasure
gale Of wind blew them out upon the
broad Atlantic. and for fourteen DAYS
they looked upon themselves as doomed.
They had but little water and provisions,
lost mast and sail the first day and were
within a week driven to cut up their
boots and chew the leather. on the four