Arizona republican., 1899-03-06
TreaSure
 ..IslaDd.&
BY ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
(Continued From Yesterday)

heard of Darby" he muttered; ''2ot one but Us that's here" And then, making a great effort: "Shipmates," he cried, I'm here to get that stuff, and I'll not be beat by man nor devil. never was feared of Flint in his life, and, by the powers, Til face him dead. There's { 7oO. GOO not quarter of mile from here. When did ever a gentleman O fortune show his stern to that much dollars, for q boozy old seaman with a blue mug-and him dead, too?"
 But therewas no sign of reawakening courage in his followers; rather, in- deed, of growing terror at the irrever- ence of his words.
 "Belay there, John!' said Merry. Don't you cross q sperrit."
 And the rest were all too terrified to reply. They would have run away severally had they dared, but fear kept them together. and kept them close by John, as if his daring helped them. He. on his part, had pretty we'll fought his weakness down.
 "Sperrit? Well, maybe" he said. But there's one thing not clear to me. There was an. echo. Now, no man ever seen a sperrit with q shadow; well, then, what's he doing with an echo to him, I should like to know? That ain't in natur', surely?"
 This argument seemed weak enough to me. But you can never tell what will affect the superstitious, and, to my wonder, George Merry was greatly re- lieved.
 ''Well, that's so," he said. You've bod ,1ror xro,,,, Tol,p 10 mistake. Bout ship, mates! This lere crew is on the wrong tack, Edo be-
 ieve. And come to think on it, it was
 ike Flint's voice, 1 grant you, but not
 ust so clear away like it, aftera5l. It vas lilzer somebody else's voice5now-
 was like-'
 By the powers, Ben Gunn!" foared Silver.
 'Ay, and so it were," cried Morgan, springing on his knees. Ben Gum it Herei"
 Tt don't make much odds, do it, now?' asked Dick. "Bcn Gunn's not here in the body, any more'n F1iEt."
 But the older hands greeted this re- mark with scorn. ''Why, nobody minds Ben Gunn." cried Merry; ''dead or alive. nobody minds him."
 It was extraordinary how their spir- it's had returned and how the natural color had revived in their faces. Soon they were chatting together, with in- terva,s of listening: and not long after. hearing no further sound. they shoul- dered the tools ard set forth again, Merry walking first with Silver's com pass to keep them on the right line with Skeleton island He had said the truth; dead or alive, nobody minded Ben Gum.
 Dick alone still held his Bible, and looked around him as he went. with fearful glances; but he found no sym pathy, and Silver even joked him on his precautions.
 q tod you" said he-"I told you, you had spilled your Bible. If it ain't no good to swear by. what do you suppose a sperrit would give for it? Not that" and he snapped his big fingers, ha1ting q moment on his crutch.
 But Dick was rot to be comforted; indeed, it was soon plain to me that the ad was falling sick; hastened by heat, exhaustion, and the shock of his alarm, the fever, predicted by Dr. Livesey, was evidently growing swiftly higher.
 It was fine open walking here, upon the summit; our way lay a little down hill, for, as 1 have said, the plateau tilted toward the west. The pines, great and small, grew wide apart; and even between the cluInps Of nutmeg and azalea, wide open spaces baked in the hot sunshine. Striking, as we did, pretty near northwest. across the island, we drew, on the enc hand, ever nearer under the shoulders of the Spy glass, and cn the other, looked ever wider over that western bay where I had once tossed and trembled in the eoracle.
 The first of the tall trees was reached [ and by the bearing, proved the wrong one. So with the second. The third rose nearly 200 feet into the air above q clump of underwood; giant of d veg etabie, with T red column Gs big as a cottage, and q wide shadow around in which a company could have man. i euvered. It was conspicuous far to sea . both on the east and west. and might have been. entered as q sailing mark | upon the chart.
 But it was not it's size that now i'm pressed my companions; it was the knowledge that 2 7C0,OC0 in gold lay somewhere buried below it's spread ing shadow. The thought of the money, os they drew nearer, swallowed uD their previous terrors. Their eyes burned in their heads; their feet grew speedier and lighter; their whole soul was bound up in that fortune, that whole lifetime of extravagance and pleasure, that lay waiting there for each Of them.
 Silver hobbied, grunting, on his crutch, his ncstriIs stood out and quiv- cred; he cursed like q I1adnaan when the flies settled on his hot and shiny he plucked furiously at the line that held me to him, and, from time to time, turned his eyes upon me with deadly look. Certainly he took
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