The age-herald., 1898-01-09

when we got on the schooner's deck and begun to look around we found something that I haven't recovered form yet. I mo- ticed first in a broken timber a piece of yellerish lookin' metal that seemed kind of natural, and goin' closer to examine it, l found it wasn't nothing more or less than pure gold. At first l couldn't understand how it ever got there, but a little further study showed me that it bullet, and that 1t had been shot there by them dern natives back at that island.
 "'That put an idea into my noddle, and, not sayin' a word to anybody, I slipped around and found another bullet hole in the stump of the mast that was left. I dug into it with hatchet and found an- other gold bullet. Then I chased for an- other one and found it lower down in the mast, and soon dug out my third ounce By this time the men with me got onto what I was doing, and made me tell them what I had found. You ought to have seen them after that. It was worse than a rush to the Klondike, for, in minute, every man had out his knife chasin' bullet holes all over that deck. They dug out all they could find and then went over the sides and got all there was in the side of the ship that nad Leen next to the shore. was iof~e- esa~e st ii, and I had the hatchet I could do faster work and got out something like thirty-five bullets, the rest of them getting from twelve to twenty apiece. In all about 150 ounces was dug out of the wood, for the bullets ran some heavi- CT than an ounce apiece The worth of the lot was $3,O0O when we finally got to San Francisco, where we turned 1t into the mint.
 "We got back to the other ship as fast as we could and I told the caotain about our find and what it meant to us all if we could get to the island and open up negotiations with the natives. It was plain case that they had gold as most other people had iron, and they used it for bull let's, and that night they must have shot away $5,000-worth, counting what went into our timbers and the men that we lost. No- body could tell how much they had fired at game and other natives all their lives, and there wasn't any reason for believing that the island wasn't full of it and the fool natives didn't know any moreswhat it was than to trade it off to us by the boat load for any trnkets we might take along with us. It was bonanza and no mistake, and the captain got as enthusiastic as l was, while the men were plumb crazy.
 "But what's the use talking? I wasn't born with a gold island in my mouth, and when it comes to getting back to that one, -'f|-.'- 'nt mere worth cent We sailed around looking for the dern thing for a month, when the captain couldn't stay no longer and then we went on to San Francisco and got a ship and came back on the quiet looking for it again. No gofd; P f.sa~ sAe ii;' cefdn't md 1t l made another try for it two years later, and then I went off on three years trad ing trip through China, and just got into New York four days ago. I aint got no heart any more, but I ain't old enough yet to quit, and if I live till next year I'm going to make another try. It's got to be the same thing, though. No Klondike or any other strange gods That island is for me or I'll die lookin' for it.