Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1898-02-11

inn, presses some,hing in Zones hand
e ahe ss SIX hours Ven Do hs yet snes
nlevv
| found little round paper. biackened on
one side. on the other the words: You
| have till ten, tonight" Gold Is found IN
| Bones sea chest, and an Cilskin packet.
G''inht taken from inn
CHAPTER V.
THE LAST OF THE BLIND MAN
My curiosity, in a sense, was strong
er than my fear; for / could not remain
where I was. but crept back TO the
| bank again, whence, sheltering my
| head behind a bush of broom, nigh
command the road before the door
| was scarcely in position ere my en-
emies began to arrive, seven or eigh
of them, running hard, their feet beating
out of time along the road, and tn,
man with the lantern some PAGES il
front. Three men ran together, hant
| in hand, and l made out, even through
the mist, that the middle man of thi:
trio was the blind beggar. The mex
moment his voice showed me that
was right.
/ bON IL Will tllG u6 CTleQ,
"Ay, ay, SIR" answered two or three
and rush was made upon the Ad
miral Benbow, the lantern bearer fol
lowing; and then I could see then
pause, and hear speeches passed in
lower key, as if they were surprised t,
find the door open. But the pause wa!
brief, and the blind man again ISSUED
/ Ii S- nd 4
louder and higher, as if he were afr,
with cagerness and rage.
In, in, in!" he shouted, and cursed
them for their delay.
Four or five of them obeyed at once
two remaining on the road with til,
formidable beggar. There was pause
then a cry of surprise, and then voic,
shouting from tn. house:
"Bill's dead"
But the blind man swore at then
again for their delay.
Search him, some of you Sinking
lubbers, and the rest of you aloft ant
| get the chest" he cried.
l could hear their feet rafting up oul
old stairs, SO that the house must hav,
shaken with it. Promptly afterward
fresh sounds of establishment arose
the window of the captains room wa!
! thrown open with slam and a jingle
of broken glass; and man leaned GU
into the moonlight, head and shoul
ders, and addressed the blind beggar OF
the road below him.
"Pew," he cried, they've been be
4 81 ~.
out allow and aloft."
"Is it there?" roared Pew.
"The moneys there"
The blind man cursed the money.
'Flint's fist, I mean," he cried.
eve don't see it here nohow," re
/ turned the man.
Here, you below here, is it on Bill p
cried the blind man again.
AT that another fellow, probably h
who had remained below to search th
captains body, came to the door o
the inn. "Bilrs been overhaule,
already" said he, "nothin' left"
| "It's these people of the INIT
that boy. I wish 1 had put his eye
out!" cried the blind man, Pew. "The,
were here no time ago-they had tn
door bolted when 1 tried it. Scatter
lads, and find 'em."
"Sure enough, they left their glin
here" said the fellow from the window
Scatter and find 'em! Rout tn
house Quit" reiterated Pew, striking
with his stick upon the road.
Then there followed a great tod
through all our old inn, heavy fee
pounding to and fro, furniture al
thrown over, doors kicked in, until tn
very rocks reechoed, and the men cam
out again, one after another, on tn
road, and declared that we were nc
where to be found. And just then tn
same whistle that had alarmed m
mother and myself over the dead cap
tain's money was once more clearl
audible through the night, but thi
time twice repeated. had thought
to be the blind mans trumpet, so t
speak, summoning his crew to the as
sault; but l now found that it was
signal from the hillside toward tn
hamlet, and, from its effect upon tn
buccaneers, signal to warn them O
approaching danger.
there's Dirk again." said one
'Twice! Well have to bulge, mates.
| "Budge, you skulk!" cried Pew
'Dirk was fool and coward from tn
first-you wouldn't mind him. The
must be close by; they can't be far; yo
| have your hands on it. Scatter and loo
for them, dogs. Oh, SILVER my soul,
he cried, "if had eyes!"
| This appeal seemed toproduce som
effect, for two of the fellows began t
| look here and there among the lumber
but half heartedly, 1 thought, and wit
half an eye to their own danger all tn
time, while the rest stood irresolute O
the road.
''You have your hands on thousand.
you fools, and you hang a leg! You
be as rich as kings if you could find i
and you know it's here, and you stan
there malingering. There wasn't on
Of you dared face Bill, and I did it
blind man! And Tn to lose my chanc
for you! I'm to be poor, crawlin
beggar, sponging for rum, when
might be rolling in a coach! If you ha
the pluck of a weevil in biscuit, 70
would catch them STILL"
Hang it, Pew, we've got the dout
loons!" grumbled one.
''They might have hid the blesse
thing" said another. take til
Georges, Pew, and don't stand her
squalling."
L IL