The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-12-19

on deck with ouf. guns and banged away ten
% ssp S,a g ~ tss, Ms Drs' our Sss t sUS, e vas .p ths "o oSIs 's ssiS@
they oooid hit except Wind and water. 50 they
co @NI1 I'M %0 sim tn ,he w SsS S1aii was going ON opr
skipper wa. trying TO get the he . ship heSd .S,
knew, il them natives ever got their boats out
and surrounded. us. ,Our, crew was crippled.
ing ship. but we managed somehow. and just as
soon ne thcro was 9 bit OF light to show us how
. 10 sG stIif p Slo sSi I1G q gale mG ana SHq ist her me go % right ' oas
70 tho open; We ven; lie ii sht too, and
Of his wound, and so did four more
and the wind still lila sS-baioowini' the stSfin out OF
the sea and scotterin' 1t all over the ship and
seen anything like It, and tho skipper said Il it
kept up none Of US wouldn't ever see anything
deck asS 1t S SSs'nbi been n~0 b SSys '"i 10 ttESS the four co on
ners of the compass and there wasn't anybody
left but the skipper and me and the cook. a
The third day we sighted a ship. and when
down, on us. There wasn't anything to be
done but for us to got out our lifeboat then and
us. and we done so as soon as we could. But. it
wa, , an u nh SGS, day lay , for The his S SsiI ? for for as ash, he
Reinforcement into the water. | tried to make
tho Chinyman go in after him, but the heather
wouldn't ndn and as ! couldn't s Tsn, ! dHsse9 IT; SO
man and me, and wo got safe aboard the other
ship. where we had good care.
We didn't loose our. ship. though. for the
blow, and, as the wind settled that night, she
lay to TO fix up q bit. The next day, seem our
some way. l asked the Captain II 1 couldn't have
a boat and q crew to go over to hcr. and get out
when we got on the schooner's deck and begun
70 look around we found something, that I
SSyen,t , TsSSyepe S,a freo 81 yet ss,,d ! nS,i Iost, frs, m. in Z
that seemed kind Of natural. and, goin' closer to
examine it, I found 1t WASH. nothing. more or
study showed. me that it was a bullet. and that
II had been shot there by them dern natives
That put an idea into my noddle. and, not
found another bullet hole in he stump Of the
mast that was left. I dug into 1t with a Ratchet
and found another gold bullet. Then ! chased
mast. and soon dug out my third ounce. By
this time the men with me got onto what was
You ought to have seen them after that. 1t
was worse than a rush to the Klondike.
chasin' bullet holes all over that deck. They
dug out all they could find and then went over
OF tho ship that had been next to the shore. /
was doing ny share at it, and as had tho
thing like thirty-flve bullets, the rest Of them
getting from twelve to twenty apiece. In all
about $50 ounces was dug out OF the wood. for
tho bullets run some heavier than an ounce
apiece. The worth of the lot wrs SO. 900 when
we finally got to San Francisco where we turned
1t into the mint.
"Wo got back to the other ship rs fast as we
could, and 1 told the Captain about our find and
what 1t meant to US all If we could get to the
island and open up negotiations with the ma
tives. 1t was a plain case that they had gold as
most other people had iron, and they used H. for
bullets. and that night they must have shot
away 5000 worth. counting what won't into
our timbers and the men that we lost. Nobody
could tell how much they had fred ut game and
other natives all their lives. and there wasn't
any reason for believing that the island wasn't
full Of it and the fool natives didn't know any
moro what 1t was than to trade 1t off to us by
tho boat load for any trinkets we might take
along with US. It was a bonanza and no mis-:
take, and tho Captain got as enthusiastic as I
But VIII is the use talking l wasn't born
with a gold island in my mouth. and when it
comes to getting back to that one. I couldn't
pilot a ship thoro worth a cent. We sailed
around looking for the dern thing for n month,
when the Captain couldn't stay no longer and
then we went on to San Francisco and got n
ship and como back on the. quiet 10 king for it
again. No good; no good. We Just couldn't
find it. ! made another try for 1t two years
later, and then l went Off on II three years trad
ing trip through China, and l Just got into Now
York four days ago. l amt got no heart any
more. but 1 amt old enough yet to quit, and IL I
live till next year I'm going to make another
try. It's got to be the same thing though. No
Klondike or my other strange gods. That island
is for me or I'll die lookin' for It,"