The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1898-08-27


powers, I'll face him dead. There's
8 100000 not quarter Of q mile from
here. When did ever . gentleman o.
fortune show his stern to that much
dollars. for booty old seaman with .
blue mug--and him dead, too?"
But there was no sign of reawakening
courage in his followers; rather, in
deed, Of growing terror 1T the irrever-
ence Of his words
"Belay there, Johni" said Merry.
Don't you cross a sperrit."
And the rest were all too terrified to
reply. They would have run away
severally had they dared, but fear kept
them together, and kept them close by
John, as IL his daring helped them.
He. on his part, had pretty well fought
his weakness down.
"Sperrit? Well, maybe" he said.
But there's one thing not clear TO me.
There was an echo. Now, no man ever
seen a sperrit with shadow; well,
then, what's he doing with an echo to
him, should like to know? That amt
In natcr'. surely?"
This argument seemed weak enough
to me. But you can never tell what will
affect the superstitious, and, to my
wonder, George Merry was greatly re-
lieved.
"Well, that's So" he said. you've a
head upon your shoulders, John, and
no mistake. Bout ship, mate~i This
here crew Is on the wrong tack, do be-
lieve. And come to think on II, IL was
like Flint's voice, i grant you, but not
just so clear away like II, after all II
was liker somebody else's voice now
II was like"
"By the powers, Ben Gunnl" rosred
Silver.
SAY, and so II WERE" cried Morgan,
springing on his knees. "Ben Gum Il
werei"
"Tt don't make much odds, do II,
now?" asked Dick. "Ben Gums not
here in the body. any more'n Flint"
But the older hands greeted this re-
mark with scorn. "Why. nobody minds
Ben Gunn,- cried Merry; dead or alive,
nobody minds him."
1t was extraordinary how their spir-
its had returned, and how the natural
color had revived In their faces Soon
they were chatting together, with In
tervals OF listening; and not long after,
hearing no further sound, they shout
dered the tools and set forth again,
Merry walking ART with Silver's COM
pass to ke.r them on the right line
with Skeleton island. He had said the
truth; dead or alive, nobody MINDED
Ben Gum.
Dick alone still held his Bible, and
looked around him as he went, with
| fearful chances; but he found no SYM
patty, and Silver even joked him on his
precautions.
"I told YOU" said he-"I told you. you
had spilled your Bible. II II amt no
good to swear by, what do you suppose
a sperrit would give for It? Not thatl"
and he snapped his big fingers, hating
a moment on his crutch.
But Dick was not TO be comforted;
indeed, IL was soon plain TO me that
the lad was falling sick; hastened by
heat, exhaustion, and the shock OF his
alarm. the fever, predicted by DIR. Live
sey. was evidently growing swiftly
| higher.
II was fine open walking here, upon
| the summit; our way lay little down.
hill, for, as have said, the plateau
| tilted toward the west. The pines,
| great and small. grew wide apart; and
even between the clumps of nutmeg
and azalea, wide open spaces baked In
the hot sunshine. Striking, as we did,
| pretty near northwest across the
island, we drew, on the one hand, ever
| nearer under the shoulders of the Spy
| glass, and on the other, looked ever
wider over that western bay where /
had once tossed and trembled in the
coracle.
The first of the tall trees was reached,
and by the bearing. proved the wrong
one. So with the second. The third rose
nearly 200 feet into the air above q
clump OF underwood; a giant OF veg.
etable, with red column as big as a
cottage, and a wide shadow around In
which a company could have man
euve-ed. II was conspicuous far 70 sea
both on the east and west, and might
have been entered as a sailing mark
upon the chart.
But II was not It's size that now I'm
pressed my companions; II was thu
knowledge that 100000 in gold lay
somewhere buried below its spread
ing shadow. The thought OF tn,
money, ns they drew nearer, swallowed
up their previous terrors. Their eyes
burned In their heads; their feet grew
speedier and lighter; their whole SOU
was bound up In that fortune, thai
whole lifetime OF extrnvagance ant
pleasure, that lay waiting there FOL
each of them.
Silver hobblcd, grunting, on hi
crutch, his nostrils stood out and quiv
cred; he cursed like a mailman wher
the flies settled on his hot and shiny
countenance; he plucked furiously a
the line that held me 20 him, and. from
time TO time. turned his eyes upon M
with deadly look. Certainly he tool
no pains TO hide his thoughts; and Ger
| tafnty \ raa1 tharn lfLe pr-int In th,