The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-01-06

sails. The mate died of his wound and so
did four more of the crew, and that got us
down to hard pan and the wind still
a blowln' the stuffin out of the sea and
scatterin' it all over the ship and the sky
and the bosom of the ocean, 1 never seen
anything like, it and the skipper said if it
kept up none of US wouldn't ever see any
thing like it again. Two days later every
thing on deck had been blowed to the four
corners of the compass aud there wasn't
anybody left but the skipper and me and
the cook, Chinyman just ornery enough
TO be the only man not to get hurt.
THE third day we sighted a ship, and
when we put up our signals for hedp the
ship bore down on us. There wasn't any
thing TO be done but for US to get out our
lifeboat then and pull over to the vessel
that was there to save us, and we done
so as soon as we could. But it was an I'M
lucky day for the skipper. for as he got
into the boat he lost his balance and went
headforemost into the water l tried to
make the Chinyman go in after him, but
the heather wouldn't, and as ] couldn't
swim, l dasent so the poor skipper was
lost. Thet left the Chinyman and me.
and we got safe aboard the other ship,
where we had good care.
I'VE didn't loose our ship, though, for
the stranger was out of repair herself, oW-
ing to the blow, and, as the wind settled
that night she lay to to fiX0lp a bit. the
next day, SEEM our old schooner beatin'
around in a mighty lonesome way, asked
the captain if l couldn't have boat
and a crew to go over to her and get out
my valuables. He let me have it, of course,
and when we got On the schooner's deck
and begun to look around we found an
something that l haven't recovered from
yet l noticed first in a broken timber
piece of yellowish-lookin' metal that SEEM
ed kind of natura,, and, goin' closer to
fI0i oAIo
or less than pure gold. AT first 1 couldn't
understand how it ever got there, but
little further study showed me that il was
a bullet, and that it had been shot there
by them dern natives back at that island.
THAT put an idea into my NOODLE, and,
not sayin' a word to anybody, l slipped
around and found another bullet hole in
the stump of the mast that was left. l
dug into it with a Ratchet and found an
other god bullet Then I chased for an
other 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 1 was doing, and made me tell them
what l had found. You ought to have
seen them after that. 1t was worse than
rush to the Klondike, for in minute,
every man had out his knife chasing bull
let holes all over that deck. They dug out
all they could find and then went over the
side of the ship that had been next 10 the
shore. I was doing my share at it, and as
I had the Ratchet 1 could do faster work
and got out something like thirty-five bull
let's the rest of them getting from twelve
to twenty apiece. In ALL about $50 ounces
was dug out of the wood, for the bullets
run some heavier than an ounce apiece.
The worth of the lot was $500 when we
finally got to San Francisco where we
turned it into the mint.
1--WE got back to the other ship az fast
] toll about
our find and what it meant to us all if
we could get to the island and open up
negotiations with the natives. 1t was a
plain case that they had gold as most
other people had iron. and they used it
for bullets, and that night they must have
shot away $500 worth, counting what
went into our timberS and the men that
we lost Nobody could tell how much
they had fired at game and other natives
all their lives, and there wasn't any rea-
son for believing that the island wasn't
full of it and the fool natives didn't know
any more what it was than to trade it off
to us by the boat load for any trinkets We
might take along with us. 1t was a bo-
nanza and no mistake. and the captain got
as enthusiastic as 1 was, while the men
were plumb crazy.
But what's the use talking? l wasn't
born with a gold island in my mouth, and
when it comes to getting back to that
one couldn't pinot snip there worth q
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 ship and
come back on the quiet looking for it
again. No good; no good. We just
couldn't find it. I made another try for
it two years later, and then I went off
on three years trading trip through Chi
na and 1 just got into New York four
daVs ago. I amt got no heart anv more
but l amt old enough yet to quit, and if
live till next year I'M going to make an
other 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,"