Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1897-04-23

III Jus HHA|sAaHAaHH 80
seized a club and laid about him 80
vigorously that his assailaut ran away
II vas n white man, aud from the
marks on HE hands he must have been
a sailor. How long be had lived there
aud how be reached the island IN tue
first place are matters for couleciurs,
ont the fact % his being nude went TO
show that he had been there long
enough 20 wear out his clothes In
breaking away from the Captain be
ran for the beach. The latter followed
Al his heels. shouting foI him TO stop
but the unknown ran 10 the water
minced in. aud swan straight ont 10
sea, looking back now anu then al1
/ seeming TO be in a terrible fright. lie
held 10 his course until he couid no
! Longer be seen. and there was no doubt
he went to his death, as he dld not re
turu. In q dense thicket the Captain
. founi a rude shelter which the man
! had used, and among the dried grass
forming his bed were few fragments
Of cloth, which had once been "a pea
Jacket. The-e was also a sailor pipe
and an empty tobacco box. Living
T there alone FOR wears aud years, with
neither the note OF bird nor the chlrp
. OF cricket TO cheer him, the man had
lost his mind, and, looking upon Cap.
tain Graham as an intruder, had meant
TO take his life.
When the castaway had been a
month on the island without sighting
I a sail, he made up his mind that the
fate OF the poor fellow who had dashed
/ into the sea would some day be his.
Only the surf beating on the shore
and the wind signing through the trees
broke the maddeuIag silence broodIng
over the island, and the man shouted
with delight when gale swept ont OF
the west and blew down scores Of trees
about him. He felt that he would
soon lose his mind unless he made a
great effort to divert it rom the
gloomy situation, and he began a
closer survey OF the island. The
centre OF it was considerably higher
than elsewhere, aud exactly IN the
middle was a single tree, surrounded
/ by thicket which he had never vet
penetrated In carrying out his ex-
plorations he entered this copse, find
ing a hard beaten path, evidently
made by crazy man. Piled up at
the roots OF the tree the Captain found
great stock OF small, Iron-b bound
boxes, and it needed but one glance
to satisfy him that they were treasure
boxes. There was the cavity where
they had once been buried, and the
boxes we're weather beaten AS if long
exposed. Two or three large shells
Law about. which had doubtless been
used to dig cut the dirt, and one OF
the boxes had been opened.
The Captain shouldered this box
and carried it down to the spot he
called "home," and there inspected
its contents. In contained about $4,000
in gold coin of all nations, but prin-
cipalIy English, and not coin among
them was OF recent date. In fact,
there were some which no longer cir.
culated IN England or India. From
the material and construction the
Captain Judged that the boxes had
been made by ships carpenter. In
the pile at the foot of the tree were
fifteen other boxes of the same size.
One was broken open, and its contents
found to be the same as the first, and
, the amount very nearly the same.
There was total, as the Captain
figured, of 500, GOO more or less. Thi,
was based on the suppositIon that all
the boxes contained gold, but rs b,
looked into only two he could not be
. sure OF the contents of the others,
How came the treasure there? Cap
tain Graham believed ii to be pirate
, cache, and that the gold hai been
= there long years before he was thrown
t on the beach. Perhaps the mad sailor
2 had been one OF the pirate crew. i
/ was certain that he had unearthed tn,
: treasure at any rate, and it was hardl!
. probable that he stumbled upon II by
t accident
. Well, there was big fortune there
| aud it belonged to the finder, but
4 might have been so much sand for al
e the good it could do him. Days am
a weeks and months passed away, an
S one day the castaway counted the pep
bles he had laid in rows along tn
-. beach to mark the time, and foun
{ that he had been eleven months on tn
. island. On that day there came FUR
e GUS gale from the east, with yer
4 high tide, and from some wreck at Sc
e the waves brought in a vast quantlt
t of stuff. There was nothing to eat o
/, to wear among the wreckage, Du
:, there were planks and spars and
It carpenters tool chest, and as soon
e the storm had abated tie castawa
d went to work to build him raft. h
/, had determined to leave the island
!. any hazard, and after four or hH
:, DAYS work he had his raft completed
}. 1t was rude but stout affair. WI
lie fruits were taken for provisions, an
$50 fresh water was taken in wine Ike
TO which had come ashore with IL
a wreckage. From one of the box
lie the Captain took $500 in gold piece
IN and one morning when the wind W
10 from the west he launched his raft al
ut drifted off before it. By his recko
ed ing, which is probably correct, 1t W
ly seven days before he was picked up
lg the John J. Speed, an American me
n chant vessel, homeward bound.
nd The raft had made good weather
he it, drifting most of the time. to t
to east, and the captain judged her tot
as drift to have been one hundred mile
nd His loss had been alluded to in Il
if newspapers and talked OF amo1
lid sailors, and he WAS given a hear
ID. welcome aboard the American.
on | ,LnlnAnl L L. IL, f,,n a