The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1897-04-07

pit l took it in my hand. 1 wa
away from the world of air in this lone
ly world of water. Cameron and
were the only human occupants, witt
none to overlook US, and l felt that ]
ought to be on my guard against him
From his point of view it was clear
knew too much.
Presently he returned from out Of
the pit, and was about to 60 back again
round the bows of the steamer, but ]
touched him with my shovel and he
turned. Then 1 pointed to the front
glass of my helmet, and he came UP
close and peered at my face and as
quickly recoiled. Then again he came
toward me, this time with clenched fists
but menaced him with with the up.
lifted shovel and he kept his distanse.
How l longed for speech then to say to
him what wishedl
For full minute we stared at one
another, and then with a sudden GEES
ture he picked fragment of stone from
the ground and wrote message on the
rusted plating of the wreck.
Hold your tongue, Mac" read,
"and you shall share"
Il wrote laborious reply with The
peak of the shovel "Cannot deal with
you. Am bound to employers"
He scrubbed I" eos 900" and watched
my face.
g. shook my head inside the helmet
He wrote " $50, 900" and looked at
me again.
81 wrote "Not for e27O, OOO." 1 saw
be was ready to spring upon me, and
held the shovel edge above my shoulder
handy to cut him down.
He considered for minute and then
wrote: eff you blow on me you will
kill her. She knows. She never liked
the idea, but 1 persuaded her into it.
We wanted to marry; we wanted to be
rich. There was no other way. She is
half dead with anxiety. You must
have seen that"
nodded. He wrote on:
"Then consider her, Mac, and make
your own fortune at the same time"
l could not stand any more of this.
l have been poor enough all my life,
and God knows ken the value of sill
Ter. If it had not been that Captain
Boyd treated me in the way he did, and
looked in my eye when he gave me the
job, I'll not say what might have hap
pened. 1t takes strong man to resist
the bigger temptations, and-Im no
over lusty. l beckoned to the water
surface above with my shovel and took
a step forward. With his arm he i'm
plored me to pause.
Are you going to report what you
have SEEM" he wrote.
shrugged my shoulders.
Through the glass of his helmet
saw his face harden.
81 give you fair warning" he wrote
on the rusted iron, "t that if you do
will kill you first and then myself. So
you will not find it cheap to ruin me-"
l nodded my head to show that 1
understood, and beckoned him to 90
on. He lifted his hands-I thought he
was going to grapple with me, and l
slashed at him with the shovel. He
drew back, and, once on the move,
drove him before me furiously. He
might be desperate, but l was savage
enough myself. The thought of all
that wealth lying within touch made
me grit my teeth in cruel rage. If only
the skipper had not said what he did
We ploughed our way across the
shiny sea floor to where the boats lay at
and first Cameron went up,
and then followed. On the row back
to the Cleaner we said nothing either
of US; and for long enough we did not
find opportunity of being alone. But
that night, when most of the hands
were turned in, he and l sat out to-
gether on the bridge deck, and he
talked whilst l looked out at the stars
where they hung above the black ridges
of the island.
He told me the whole tale of what he
and Storey intended to do. They could
not go far from the wreck, as the air
air bubbles, rising to the surface, would
advise their movements; SO they had to
set to work and make hiding place
for their plumber close at hand. They
decided to dig out chamber beneath
the steamer, and infinite labor it cost
them. Meanwhile, TO mask what they
were doing, they gave out the tale of
the ooze covering the treasure out of
reach. Their efforts were nearly ended
when Storey got his stroke; the nit
was made; part of the gold was already
transported; and when the rest was
hid, then they intended to cover the
mouth OF the pit so that it never could
be found by chance explorers. Then
they were going to tell Captain Boyd
that the job beat them, and get his per-
mission to blow into the Corinth's
strong room with dynamite from the
outside. The explosion would be so
contrived that the steamer would be in
pieces, and the ooze would cover all
her fragments.
lyon think that the Cleaner would
return home then?" / asked.