Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1898-03-24

EOOu uuIllOI hON'. VI 49, tN--''
horribly cast down. Should the scheme
he had now sketched prove feasible. Sill
yer, already doub,y traitor, would not
hesitate TO adopt it. He had still 4 ioot
in either camp, and there was no DOUBT
he would prefer wealth and freeNom
with the pirates TO bare escape from
hanging. which v.is the best he nae 70
hope on our side.
Nav. and even if things 50 fell out
that he was forced to keep his faith
with DR.. Iivesev, even then what dan
Ger lar before us! What moment that
would be when suspicious Of his fol-
lowers turned TO certainty, and he and
7 should have to fight for dear life
he. a cripple, and I, q boy-against fVe
strong and active seamen!
Add 10 this double apprehension, the
mystery that still hung over the be-
havior OF my friends; their unexplained
deser+iou OF the stockade; their mex
n1icab1e cession of the chart; or, harder
stiu to understand, the doctors last
warning to Silver: Look out for
SQUALLS when you find it" and you Will
readily believe how little taste l found
in nv breakfast, and with how uneasy
a heart I set forth behind my captors
on the quest for treasure.
We made a curious figure had
anyone been there to see us; all in
soiled sailor clothes, and all but me
armed TO the teeth. Silver had two
Guns slunr about him, one before and
one behind-besides the great cutlass
at his waist, and a pistol IN each pock-
ct of his square-tailed coat. To complete
his strange appearance, Capt tllnt SAT
perched upon his shoulder and gabbled
odds and ends of purposeless sea-talk-
I had n line about my waist, and tol-
lowed obediently after the sea-cook,
who held the loose end of the rope, now
in his free hand, now between his pow
erful teeth. For all the world | was LED
like a dancing bear.
The other men were variously bur
dened, some carrying picks and shov-
els-for that had been the very first
necessary they brought ashore from
the Observation-Disclosures laden with
pork. bread and brandy for the midday
meal. All the stores, l observed, came
from our stock; and i could see the
truth of Silver's words the night before.
Had he not struck bargain with the
doctor he and his mutineers, deserted
by the ship, must have been driven to
subsist on clear water, and the proceeds
of their hunting. Water would have
been little to their taste; sailor is not
usually a good shot; and, besides all
that, when they were so short OF eat
ables, it was not likely they would be
very flush of powder.
Well, thus equipped, we all set out
even the fellow with the broken head,
who should certainly have kept in shad-
ow-and struggled, one after another,
to the beach, where the two gigs await
ed us. Even these bore trace of the
drunken folly of the pirates, one In
broken thwart, and both In their mud
died, unbailed condition. Both were &c
be carried along with us, for the sake OF
safety; and so, with our numbers di-
vided between them, we set forth upon
the bosom of the anchorage.
AS we pulled over there was some
discussion on the chart. The red cross
was, of course, far too large to be a
x
back, as you will hear, admitted OF
some ambiguity. They ran, the reader
may remember, thus:
Tall tree, spy-giass shoulder bearing
= point to the n. OF n. n. Z.
Skeleton Island, L. S. e. and by z.
Ten feet"
A tall tree was thus the principa.
mark. Now, right before us, the an
chorage was bounded by plateau from
two to three hundred feet high, adjoin-
| ing on the north the sloping southern
| shoulder of the Spy-glass, and rising
again toward the south into the rough.
| cli1fy eminence called the Mizzen-mast
| Hill. The top of the plateau was dotted
thicllly with pine trees of varying
height. Every here and there, one of {
| different species rose forty or fifty feet
clear above its neighbors, and which OF
these was the particular tall tree" OF
Capt. Flint could only be decided on the
spot, and by readings of the compass.
Yet, although shat was the ease.
| every man on boar! the boats had
! picked Il fayorite of his own ere we
were halfway over, Long John alone
| ahrugging his shoulders and bidding
| them wait till they were there.
We pulled easily by Silver's direc.
| tions, not to weary the hands prema.
turely; and, after quite long passage
| landed at the mouth of the second
river-that which runs down a woody
cleft of the Spy-glass. Thence, bend.
ing to our left, we began to ascend the
slope toward the plateau.
At the first outset, heavy, miry
| ground and matted, marsh yegeta'
| ton greatly delayed our progress
but by little and little the hill began tc
| steepen and become stony underloot
| and the wood to change its character
and to grow in a more open order. II
was, indeed, q most pleasant portion OF
the island that we were now approach
ing. \ heavy-scented bloom and many
Towering shrubs had almost taken the
place of grass. Thickets of green nut
meg trees were dotted here and there
with the red columns and the broad
shadow of the pines; and the first min
gled their spice with the aroma of the
others. The air, besides, was fresh and
stirring, and this, under the sheer sun
beams, was a wonderful refreshment
| to our senses
The party spread itself abroad, in a
| fan shape, shouting and leaping to and
fro About the center, and a good
way behind the rest, Silver and fol-
lowed-I tethered by my rope, he plow-
Ing, with deep pants, among the slid
ing gravel. From time to time, in
deed l had to lend him a hand, or he
must havemissed his footing and fallen
backward down the hill.
We had thus proceeded for about
half a mile, and were approaching the
brow of the plateau, when the man
upon the furthcst left began 20 cry
aloud, as if in terror Shout after
shout came from him, and the others
! began to run in his direction.
He can't have found the treasure" !"
said old Morgan, hurrying past US
from the right, "for that's clean atop
Indeed. as we found when we also
reached the spot. 1t was something
very different. At the foot of pretty
big pine, and involved in a green
creeper, which had even partly lifted
some of the smaller bones, a human
skeleton lay, with a few shreds of cloth
| ing. on the ground. / believe Il chill
struck for a moment TO every heart.
HE was a seaman" said George
Merry. who, bolder than the rest, had
gone up close, and was examining the