The Ravalli Republican., 1898-08-17

concerning her. It was curiou!
enough that l was the first person
he spoke to on landing at Singapore
I was reporter on The Times ant
had been aboard Of craft in tbt
harbor.
Matthews accompanied me to the
Office and gave me the particulars
Of his story, and in return supplied
him with inoroy for his immediate
wants. He said nothing to me OF
the wreck in telling his adventures.
It was three days later before he
Fought me out and gave me that bit
of information. ......
He lad concluded from the first
that the hulk was that Of a Malay
pirate, and lie was strong in his be-
lief that she would have treasure
aboard. He could not get at her
alone, and, being penniless and only
common sailor, he feared that if
he gave his information away he
would not be fairly dealt with. /
think he trusted me simply because
he felt obliged to trust some one,
though having been sailor myself
my heart had warmed toward him
a bit.
His plan was to equip craft and
send her to the island to overhaul
the hulk. II there was no treasure,
then itwould be dead loss; it any
thing were found, there would be
no one to dispute our claims.
It WASH t matter to 10 decided
in day, and as a matter Of fact it
was a week before I made up my
mind to take the chances. l had a
bit Of money laid by, as did one Of
the political editors Of the paper,
and we took in as fourth man the
proprietor Of q marine store. The
three OF us Were to bear the eS-
pcnses and the four Of us to share
and share alike in whatever might
be found. .....-s *."*
There was little trading schooner
in port, which we chartered at q
moderate figure, and it was agreed
with the captain that if any treasure
was found he should have hand
some present in addition to his
wages. I resigned my position on
The Times to 60 as mate Of her, and
when we finally sailed away our
crew consisted of Captain Cross, an
Englishman and the owner of the
craft, Matthews, myself and four
Chinamen. 5m w.. -...M#
I had my last dollar in the outfit,
as did the editor, and though we
had induced tho merchant to invest
with lis he had no confidence that
anything Of value would be found.
IN due course OF time and without
adventure VIC reached the island,
and the first thing before us was
the hulk Matthews had told about.
After q cursory examination Cap
tain Cross pronounced her native
Malay craft, and the fact Of her be-
ing armed seemed to prove that she
had cruised as a pirate She had
not moved un inch since Matthews
left the island, and we had to face
the question of how to get at her.
We had talked this over before
leaving Singapore, however, and
had come prepared. just where the
hulk lay the reef made curve to-
ward the beach and approached it
within a cables length. Outside the
reef there was deep water, and we
could sail the schooner close up.
Our first move was to take blocks
and tackles ashore and make them
fast to the trees and to the bow of
the hulk. Then the free end of a
cable was brought off to the schooner
and made fast to her stern, and after
waiting q whole day for a change
OF wind we got it from off the island
and gave her all sail. The idea was
to make our sail power move the
hulk up the shore, but for half an
hour the scheme was a failure.
The cable tightened until it sang
like telegraph wire, but the hulk
was heavy and imbedded in the
sand. We were condoling with each
other over the failure when there
came a heavy gust of wind and the
schooner began to crawl. Had the
cable been smaller it would have
broken under the heavy strain as
the schooner surged away.
That hulk had to be moved up an
incline q distance of 60 feet, and it
moved almost inch by inch. Some
times the schooner gained, some
times she stood still, and we expect
ed to see the sails fly away or tho
masts 60 overheard Everything
held, however, and at the end of an
hour the hulk was so far ND the
beach that she would be entirely
clear at low tide.