The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-03-29

L
been in it from the very first, and, in
deed, I've a strong notion the whole
plot to steal the treasure was in the
beginning theirs, and theirs alone. 1
can't be sure, but I've an idea that
Miss Bradbury came into the business
seen after we sailed from Liverpool,
and if one may hazard a guess, it was
because Willie Cameron the diver with
the black hair, fell in love with her
and let out the secret. However, |
didn't arrive at any Of this till later,
and if l hadn't been logged into the
business by the Veriest outside chance,
it's my belief the three of them would
have walked off with all the gold, and
the salvage company would never have
seen so much as the bare color of it.
There was a distinct understanding
between me and Capt. Boyd when 1
signed as third" of the Cleaner that l
was doing it only as a personal oblga-
tiCn to himself. The berths of second
and chief engineer had been filled; they
wanted a man who wouldn't mind
bearing a hand if anything went wrong
with the diving tackle, and they
couldn't have picked a better than my
self. I was thoroughly well grounded
in the shops before ever | thought of
the sea, and, though l say it, few bet
ter filters and all-rOund mechanics
have ever stood on the foOtrlGtes Of a
steamboats, engine room. If it wasn't
for the Board of Trade and their rot
ten examinations Id have been chief
long ago; and with a chiefs ticket in
7 II
got the master hand over the whisky,
at any rate at sea, ard ashore in sight
of anyone for that.
OF course it was cOndescension for
a man like me TO be third on a bit of
a steamboat like the Cleaner; but l
was drawing f8 a month, which was the
same as the second engineer got, and
I'll not deny I was in a manner forced
into taking the first berth that offered.
I'D been paid off from my last ship in
Liverpool, and I'd met friends who
knew Ballindrochater, where my father
had been Free kirk minister, and we d
got a little noisy and found trouble
The fat English brute of a magistrate
did give us the option, but it took all
the money I had.
I might even admit, too, that the
business of the Cleaner had some at
traction for me. She was eff treasure
fishing to the Canaries; she was char
tered by a little company that called
itself the S. S. Corinth Salvage associ-
alton, and the work for her engineers
promised to be light. We should steam
down channel, through the bay and
down to the spot among the islands
where the COrinth had been sunk And
there wn should swing at anchor while
the boats went off with the divers to do
their work. We should keep banked
fires in case an OnShOre breeze came
and we had to steam out, but as a gen.
eIal thing there would be no watches
for US engineers and full pay going all
the time.
It'll be the softest job you've tum-
bled into for many a long day, Mr.
McTOdd,' said the old man when he
offered me the berth. 1--WE Shall be
quite a family ship. There's a big
large cabin, and we shall all mess to-
gether-mates, engineers, divers and
passengers your chief at one end
of the table and me at the other
Passengers said l. Il thought
this was a salvage job?"
'They are coming just for a cruise
a Mr.. Kent and his wife and her sister,
q Miss Bradbury. Of course, the
Cleaner hasn't got a passenger certi
1icate, so they will have to sign arti-
Cles like the rest Of us to set to wind
ward Of the Board Of Trade. The Ia
dies will be stewardesses, and MIR. Kent
ran take his choice between being doe
ton and fourth mate"
Are they interested in this salvage ?''
mot a bit said Capt. BOyd. 1eyre
people of means, and Miss Bradbury
writes novels. They pay for their grub
and rooms as they would on a regular
packet. They're just coming to see the
diving and get a blow of sea air, and
1 shouldn't wonder but what the young
lady writes a book about it when she
gets home. So keep your hair cOmbed
straight, MIR. McTOdd. It's a pretty
big affair anyway. The COrinth took
down f270,000 worth of gold with her
when she foundered. She was cape
boat, you know, coming home"
Her propeller shaft broke, didn't it,
somewhere in the after end of the
tunnel?"
That's the idea, Mac There was
bree exc on at the time, and | suppose
she was racing badly. And it ripped
the stern plating to SmithereenS when
it went. OF course, the sliding door to
the shaft tunnel damned when it was
swamp. There was no help for 1t.
They'd half an hour to get clear in,
and the boats saved about two-thirdS
of her people. L guess the rest of the
poor beggars are in her now, and an
ugly sight they'll be for the divers
when they go to try to weigh that
gold
The captain had other business to
attend to then, so l left him. but after
WE got fairly started and had dropped
our Mersey pilot at Point Lynas there
was information about the work ahead
for anyone who chose to listen. The
talk was upon nothing else. The three
passengers fairly brimmed with it.
They said treasure diving was so ro-
mantle.
For myself, when 1 thought of those
dead bones guarding chests of gold far
down in the slime and the weed and
the cold wash of the sea, l thought
the business was merely griSly. But
then l never did understand the ways
of those writing people. They would
have suited my father better. He was
a writer that everyone who reads will
have heard of. 1t was he who wrote
"SiXty-two Years in Ballindrochater,"
by "A Scourger of Sin.
1 cannot say, either, that Miss Brad
bury was my idea of a woman who
could write a book. To begin with.
she was young, and as bCnny looking
a lassie as you could pick up during
q three hours search in Buchanan
street Glasgow She'd a fine color to
her cheeks, and big brown eyes that
fairly lit when she warmed in her talk.
She was not small but her white can
vas shoes would stand within the palm
of my hand. tried that one day when
the steward was pipe-claying them.
Shed a guitar with her on board, and