The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1898-01-29

no mistake. Bout ship. mates! This
here crew is on the wrong tack, do be-
lieve. And come to think on it, it was
like Flint's voice, grant you, but not
just so clear away like it, after al. It
was ll.er somebody else's voice now
it was like"
"By the powers, Ben Gunn!" roared
Silver.
SAY, and so it were." cried Morgan,
springing on his knees. "Den Gum it
were!"
ut don't make much odds. do it,
now?" asked Dick. Ten Gums not
here in the body. any nore'n Flint"
But the older hands greeted this re-
mark with scorn. "Why, nobody minds
Ben Gunn." cried Merry; dead 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 i1-
terva.s of listening; and not long after,
hearing no further sound. they Shout
dered the tools and set forth again,
Merry walking first with silver's COM
pass to keep 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 glances; but he found no SYM
patty. and Silver even joked him on his
precautions.
II told you," said hc-"I told you, you
had spilled your Bible. If it amt TO
good to swear by, what do you suppose
sperrit would give for il? Not that!"
and he snapped his big fingers. hating
moment on his crlltch.
But Dick was not to be conforted;
indeed, it was soon plain to me that the
lad was falling sick; fastened by heat,
exhaustion, and the shock of his alarm,
the fever, predicted by DIR. Livesey, was
evidently growing swiftly higher.
1t Was fine open walking here, upon
the summit; our way lay a little down
hill. for, rs I have said, the plateau
tilted toward the west. The pines,
great and small, grew wide apart; and
even between the clumps of nutmeg
and azalca, 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 trenbled 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 a
clump of underwood; giant of veg
ctab,e. with red column as big as
cottage, and Il wide shadow around in
which a company could have man
euvere1. twas conspicuous far to sea
both on the east and west. and might
have been entered as a sailing mark
upon the chart.
But it was not it's size that now inn
pressed my companions; it was the
knowledge that e7co,0o0 in gold lay
somewhere buried below it's spread
ing shadow. The thought OF the
money, os they drew nearer, swallowed
w liiStA lJiSHioto lCA4 " AHSl4 Ca
burned in their heads; their feet grew
spcedier and lighter; their whole soul
was bound up in that fortune, that
whole lifetime Of extravaganza. and
pleasure, that lay waiting there for
each of them.
Silver hobbled, grunting, on his
crutch. his nostrils stood out and qliv-
cred; he cursed like mailman when
the flies settled on his hot and shiny
co;ntcnanec; he pluclzed furiously at
the line that held me to him, and, from
time to time, turned his eyes upon me
with Il deadly look. Certainly he took
no pains to hide his thoughts; and GER
tainly read them like print. In tie
immediate nearness of the gold, all
else had been forgotten; his promise
and the doctors warning were both
things of the past; and I could not
doubt that lie hoped to seize upon the
treasure, find and board the Ellis
PAMELA" under cover of night, cut every
honest throat about that island, and sail
away as he had at first intended, laden
with crimes and riches.
Shaken as I was with these alarms,
it was hard for me to keep up with the
rapid pace of the treasure hunters.
Now and again tumb]ed; and it was
then that Silver plucked SO roughly at
the rope and launched at me his muir
dcrous chances. Dick, who had dropped
behind us, and now brought up the
rear, was babbling to himself both
prayers and curses, as his fever kept
rising. This also added to my wretch
edncss, and to crown all, was haunted
by the thought of the tragedy that had
once been acted on that plateau, when
that ungodly buccancer with the blue
face-he who had died at Savannah,
singing and shouting for drink-had
there, with his own hand, cut down
his sixaccompliccs. Thisgrove that was
now so peaceful, must then have rung
with cries, thought; and even with
the thought could believe 1 heard it
ringing still.
We were now at the margin of the
thicket.
''Huzza, mates, altogether" shouted
Merry; and the foremost broke into q
run.
And suddenly, not ten yards further.
we beheld them stop. A low cry arose.
Silver doubled his pace, digging away
with the foot of his crutch like one
possessed. and next moment he and l
had come also to a dead halt
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