The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-01-29

\ known ran " the water, psla'-ed II y ]
/, snun straight cut to Sea, lrukiag lack
| now and then and feemiEy TO b in q
tsrribis fright He held 70 his coarss
until he could no longer bs ssen, and
| thCre was no doubt hs went 10 his
death, ~ be did not return. In dense
thicket the captain found rude shelter
which the man had uFed, and among
the dried grass forming his bed were a
few fragments of cloth which had oneo
been pea jacket There were also sail
or's pipe and an empty tobacco box.
; Living there alone for years and years,
with neither the note Of bird or the
ohirp Of cricket to cheer bin, the
man had lost his mind and, looking
upon Captain Graham as an intruder,
bad meant to take his life.
When the oastaway had been month
on the island without sighting sail
he made up his mind that the fate Of
the poor fellow who had dashed into the
sea would some day BIO his He felt that
he would lose his mind unless he made
an effort to divert it from the gloomy
situation, and he began closer survey
Of the island The center of it was con.
siderably higher than elsewhere, and
exactly in the middle was single tree,
surrounded by thicket which he had
never yet penetrated. In carrying out
his explorations he entered this copse,
finding hard beaten path, evidently
made by crazy man. Piled up at the
roots Of the tres the captain found
great stock of small iron 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 were
weather beaten as if long exposed. Two
or three large shells lay about, which
had doubtless been used to dig out the
dirt, and one Of the boxes had been
opened. 3
The captain shouldered this box and
carried it down to the spot he called
"home," and there inspected its con-
tents. 1t contained about SO, 900 in gold
coin Of all nations, but principally Eng
lish, and not coin among them was Of
recent date. In fact, there were some
which no longer circulated in England
or India From the material and con-
struction the captain Judged that the
boxes had been made by ships carpen-
ter. In the pile at the foot Of the tree
were is 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, 900 more or less. This was based
on. the supposition that all the boxes
contained gold, but as he looked into
only two he could not be sure Of the
contents Of the others. How came the
treasure there? Captain Graham beliey-
ed it to be pirates cache and that the
gold had been there long years before
he was thrown on the beach. Perhaps
the mad sailor had been one of the pi-
rate crew. 1t was certain that be had
unearthed the treasure at any rate, and
it was hardly probable that he STUN
bled upon it by accident.
Well, there was big fortune there,
and 1t belonged to the finder, but it
might have been so much sand for all
the good 1t could do him. Days and
weeks and months passed away, and
one day the castaway counted up the
pebbles he had laid in rows along the
beach to mark tho time and found that
he had been IL months on the island.
On that day there came furious gale |
from the east, with very high tide,
and from some wreck at sea the waves
brought in vast quantity Of stuff.
There was nothing to eat or to wear
among the wreckage but there were
planks and spars and q carpenters tool
chest, and as soon as tho storm had
abated the castaway went to work to |
lhs.ild- Io--hea-- determined |
to leave the island at any hazard, and |
after four or five days work he had his |
raft completed. 1t was rude but stout |
affair. Wild fruits were taken for pro-
visions, and fresh water was carried in
q wine key which had come ashore with
tho wreckage, From one Of the boxes
the captain took $500 in goldpieces, and
one morning when the wind was from
the west be launched his raft and drift
cd off before 1t. By his reckoning, which
was probably correct, it was seven days
before be was picked up by the John J.
Speed, an American merchant vessel,
homeward bound.
The raft had made good weather of
It, drifting most of the time to the east,
and the captain judged her total drift
to have been 100 miles His loss had
been alluded to III the newspapers and
.alked of among Sailors and he was !
given a hearty welcome aboard the
American. He related his adventures in
'ull, except as to the treasure, and in
lue time was landed at Cape Town. He
lad figured out the latitude and longi.
ude Of his island to his own satisfac.
ion, but the chart on board the Speed
allied to show any such island. Captain
Graham at once set about finding a ship
o bring the treasure of. A brig was
lnally chartered and sailed with him
board, but after cruise Of months she
allied to find the island. Where Captain
'raham said the Island ought to be lead
ound bottom at 40 feet, and in the i'm
Mediate neighborhood mass of trees
nd bushes was found floating about.