The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-03-09

Deen heard of, and when at last /
sat down with Mr. Granger to learn
what we should do it struck me for
the first time that there was some.
thing queer about him. He did not
betray the disappointment one
would have expected. and l thought
ne glanced at me in a furtive, cum
ming way. asked him to go over
his story again, al I to my astonish-
ment he doubled on himself. He had
GELD IN the first place that his brig
was bound to Japan when lost.
He now declared that she was
homeward bound. He got his days
and dates mixed up. and if 1 hadn't
concluded that he was under the in
huenco of liquor I should havo
thought him crazy AS near as l
could figure out from the statements
no made the Red King was between
the capes Of Sium and the Philippine
islands when caught in the typhoon
and driven to the eastward. The
Philippines are counted by the hun.
dred, large and small, and it would
not have been at all strange had he
landed on one Of the w~esternmost.
he agreed with me in my deduc
tons, and the schooner was put
about and ran to the south for three
days.
When we finally got among tho
islands, the difficulty was in locat-
ing the right one. Granger had been
swept ashore at night. He had land
ed on IL side of the island and been
taken off on another. He claimed to
remember certain landmarks, how
ever, and for ten days we threaded
our way among the islands, and he
took a long and close look at each
one. His queer demeanor passed
away soon after our talk, and l
found myself fully believing in him
again. No man could have heard
his story and doubted it. He went
into each minute particular. and you
felt certain he had passed through
all he claimed, and back of all were
the souvenirs he had brought away
with him. 1t might have been on
the twelfth day of our search that
we came to his island, and the find
ing Of 1t gave me q queer feeling.
There were no such landmarks as he
described, nor was the lay of the
ground according to his description.
1t was a totally different island in
size and appearance, but he stoutly
insisted that it was the ono he had
come in search of.
We Carried deep water to within
half a mile Of the beach, and then
the schooner was anchored and we
pulled ashore in the yawl. This was
just after noon on a certain Wednes-
day. There would be plenty of timo
to overhaul the island and get the
more valuable STUFF aboard before
dark. Tho schooner was snugged
down a1d three men left aboard,
and it al only when the boat was
ready to set us ashore that I told the
crew the nature of our errand.
We had come to carry away q
great treasure, instead of looking
for castaway sailors, and Mr.. Gran
ger authorized me to say that each
man might look for a handsome
present in gold coin when the plum
der was safe aboard. This put ev-
erybody in good spirits, and Gran
gers demeanor was such that / had
no doubt of beholding and handling
those boxes and kegs within an hour.
We landed on a sandy beach, and
Granger headed into the forest with
out hesitation. After walking for
half All hour he began to recognize
certain landmarks and said the
treasure was not FIR oG. just at
that moment we entered R we'll beat
en- path and saw two or three goats.
He had never said q word about
there being goats on the island, but
1 did not give it NOR than a passing
wonder. He cried out that come
thing had worked into his shoe and
for us to keep right On till we reach
ed the rocks, and as he sat down and
began unlacing his shoe we went
ahead along the path.
We found no rock. We found 9th
er paths and saw other goats, and by
and by we had crossed the little is
land and stood on the beach. Gran
ger had not yet joined us, and after
waiting Is minutes I sent one OF the
men back. He had not only gone to
the spot where we left the men sit
ting, but rs far as the beach, and he
reported the yawl sone. ali my sus.
picions were now aroused, and the
crowd Of us started into a run as we
headed back. We reached tho beach
to find the yawl gone, but next mo-
ment we sighted her alongside the
anchored schooner.
AS we were about to hail the craft
we saw Granger and the two men
descend into, the boat and shove off
for the beach. His going aboard
aloha was 81 matter to wonder over,