Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1898-04-07

low, the wind brought us noise be-
tween shrieking and singing. 1t was
only a snatch that reached our ears,
followed by the former silence.
Heaven forgive them" said the doc
tor; "'tis the mutineers!"
"All drunk, sir" struck in the voice
of Silver from behind us.
Silver. I should say, was allowed his
entire liberty, and, in spite OF daily re-
bluffs, seemed TO regard himself once
more as quite privileged and friendly
dependent. Indeed, it was remarkable
how well he bore these Sights, and with
what unwearying politenens he kept
at trying to ingratiate himself with all.
Vet. / think, none treated him better
than a dog; unless it was Ben Gum,
who was still terribly afraid of his old
ouartermaster, or myself, who had real
ly something to thank him for; al
though for that matter, suppose,
had reason to think even worse OF him
than ANYBODY else, for had seen him
meditating fresh treachery upon the
plateau. Accordingly, it was pretty
gruffiy that the doctor answered him.
Drunk or raving!" said he.
Fright you were, SIR" replied Silver;
land precious little odds which, to you
and me-"
'I suppose you would hardly ask me
to call YOU a humane man." returned
the doctor, with sneer, and so my
feelings may surprise you, Master Sill
yer. But if / were sure they were raw
ing-as | am morally certain one, at
least, of them is down with fever-l
should leave this camp, and, at what
ever risk TO my own carcass, take them
the assistance of my skill"
"Ask your pardon, sir, you would be
very wrong" quoth Silver. You would
lose your precious life, and you may
Law to that I'm on your side now, hand
and glove; and l shouldn't wish for 10
see the party weakened. let alone your
self. seeing as l know what i owes you.
But these men down there, they
couldn't keep their word-no, not sup
posing they wished to; and what's more,
they couldn't believe as you could
NO" said the doctor. You're the
man to keep your word, we know that"
Well, that was about the last news we
had of the three pirates. Only once we
heard q gunshot great way Off, and
supposed them to be hunting. a coun-
Gil was held, and it was decided thatwe
must desert them on the island-to the
huge glee, 1 must say, of Ben Gum,
and with the strong approval of Gray.
We left good stock of powder and
shot, the bulk of the salt goat, a few
medicines and some other necessaries,
tools, clothing, a spare sail, fathom or
two of rope, and, by the particular de-
sire of the DOCTOR a handsome present
of tobacco.
That was about our last doing on the
land. Before that we had got the
treasure slowed, and had shipped
enough water and the remainder of the
goat meat, in case of any distress; and
at last, one fine morning, we weighed
anchor, which was about all that we
could manage, and stood out of North
inlet, the same colors flying that the
captain had flown and fought under at
the palisade.
The three fellows must have been
watching us closer than we thought for.
as we soon had proved. For, coming
through the narrows, we had TO lie
very near the southern point, and
there we saw all three of them lsneeling
together on n spit of sand, with their
arms raised in supplication. 1t went
to all our hearts, / think, to leave them
in that wretched state; but we could
not risk another mutiny; and to take
! them home for the gibbet would have
been a cruel sort of kindness. The
| doctor hailed them and told them of
the stores we had left, and where they
were TO find them, but they continued
to call us by name and appeal to us,
! for Gods sake, to be merciful, and not
| leave them to die in such place.
At last, seeing the ship still bore on
| her course, and was now swiftly draw
| ing out Of carshot, one of them-I know
not which it was--leaped to his feet
with hoarse cry, whipped his musket
to his shoulder and sent a shot whis-
| Ting over Silver's head and through the
| mainsail.
| After that we kept under cover of
the bulwarks, and when next looked
out they disappeared from the spit,
and the spit itself had almost melted
out Of sight in the glowing distance.
That wa, at least, the end of that; and
before noon, TO my inexprcssible joy,
the highest rock of Treasure Island had
sunk into the blue round Of sea.
We were 80 short of men that every
one on board had to bear hand-only
the captain lying on a mattress in the
stern and giving his orders; for, though
greatly recovered, he was still in want
of quiet. We laid her head for the
nearest port In Spanish America, for
we could not risk the voyage home
without fresh hands; and, as IL was.
what with battling winds and n couple
of fresh gales, we were all worn out
before we reached It.
II was just at sundown when we cast
anchor In most beautiful land-locked