Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1899-02-23

| trips TO the wreck, bringing back heavy
/ loads of silver ingots, which we slowed
| in the assure. Then, early Saturday
| morning, after telling the gobernador
Of my intention 10 sail among the is
lands for day or two and being most
Hospitality provisioned for the cruise,
/ headed the proa out TO sea.
All day long the boat sailed like a
witch, holding beautifully to her
course, and it was not until after dark
that realization of my position i'm
pressed me. had then made, accord
ing to my log, over 250 miles, and was
consequently over 200 miles from the
nearest land-a mere pin-point upon
the open sea, with nothing but hol-
low tree-trunk and a few sticks be-
tween me and eternity. 1t was a pc
culiar feeling. yet there was nothing
of fear in it; the sense of exhilaration
was too great for that. Ny chief dan
ger lay in the possibility of falling
asleep. This ] provided against by
drinking half a bottle of wine and
pint of cold, strong coffee; besides
which. ! smoked incessantly; cigars
were good company about that time,
and stimulated the Imagination. NY
eyelids were pretty heavy toward day
break, in spite of these precautions;
but, lowering the sail for a few mo-
ments, | undressed and jumped over
board, rolling and floating in the cool
water until thoroughly refreshed.
Pretty soon it began to get gray in
the east, and when the sun poked its
81 al, IL, I, T i,
breath Of relief; for there, 20 miles to
the southwark. was the peak of zap,
rising over a thousand feet from the
sea-level 1t was impossible to mistake
it. With the exception of one or two
reefs which scarcely showed above
their surf. there were no other islands
within hundred miles.
But still another stroke of good for
tune was in store for me that morn
ing / had noticed a peculiar haze
across the sun when ii first came up;
and, looking again after heading for
Tomil, | could plainly distinguish the
smoke from a steamers funnel; there
being no other in that vicinity, | knew
II must be the good old Countess. My
proa was going through the water
nearly two knots to her one; so, hold
ing on until | was directly in her
course, / took in sail and let her over
haul me- On she came, nearer and
nearer; | could make out her yards,
the boats at the davits, one of the
mates on the bridge; then | could see
Halstead come out of his room, climb
to the bridge and fix his glass on the
island. AS the steamer came nearer,
waved my helmet and shouted. They
recognized this with salute from the
whistle. but paid no further attention,
which put me quite out OF patience;
| would show them their old tub wasn't
in it with an island proa. Up went my
sail. and in few moments was along
side. near enough to shout:
whats that matter with you fell
lows? Can't you be civil enough to
stop and pass the time of day with
friend? You needn't be so stuck up,
Dick. I'll bet a doubloon onza that l
can give the Countess five knots and
beat her into Tomil from here"
| could see the color fade out of Hal
stead's face as he leaned far over the
rail and looked at me. As for Diaz,
his eyes almost started from his head.
Harry, old man, it isn't really you,
is it? For Gods sake grab line and
come aboard. No, I'm not fool enough
to race your proa. Here, Diaz, swing
YOUR starboard tackle over that cata-
maran and make fast to her, then lay
her up on the to'gall'nt fo'c'sle.
Stevens'Il tell us all about it after he's
had something to eat"
The compass. log, seXtant and bag
of doubloons | hastily slowed in can
vas sack which Halstead lowered to
me at the end of stout line; then,
mounting to our old quarters, we
Rugged each other like two grizzlies
before saying a word.
With the bag of doubloons upon the
table between US, told him what had
accomplished. 1t was all too good TO
be true. He couldn't sit still, but kept
getting up and walking about, ex-
citedIy throwing away his cigars half
smoked and lighting fresh ones. When
| had brought the yarn down to my
coming aboard half an hour before, he
spread handful of the doubloons
upon the table and scraped one with a
file TO make sure of its genuineness.
Taking his pencil out, he asked:
How many have you in this bag?'
a little under 1900. l figured the
weight al something like SO pounds
troy"
And they're worth more than $3.50
each. Why, man. there must be nearly
$4,000 right here on this tablet"
about that. II was rather bulky
luggage, but l thought we'd have to
use money in getting the stuff away
from Guajan, 50 brought it along.
Now. how in blazes are we going to
manage it? I've thought of dozen
schemes. but there's a hitch in every
one Of them. If l wait three months
Cor YOU, we stand chance of losing
every dollar before the steamer shows
up-always providing she is sent out
d SIS 3 fNa