The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1899-04-12
.KEGOF DIAMONDS
u DEAD PIRATES TREASURE HID
DEN IN THE CATsKILL HILLS.
They Are Supposed to BE Secreted in
Old Ninety-Nine's Cave-Uncle Peter
De Wits Plant ms to His Lost
Rfghts-Jenny Lind Got Some of the
Diamonds, but There Are Bushels
Of Them Still Remaining.

should have died and previously disappoint-
ed him. Boots Van Steenburgh was of
Saugerties and an old man when he died,
but fifty years ago he was young and dash
Ing. and had money. He came to New York
to hear Jenny Lind sing at her first concert
at Castle Garden, and fell madly in love with
her. He followed her everywhere about the
country where her singing tour led her. and
sent her jewels and other gifts, which she as
persistently returned. His passion at last
destroyed his mental balance, and all the
remainder Of his life he was a wanderer
about the Catskill region, says the Chicago
Inter- Ocean.
While he was following the Swedish singer
about the country his fellow jewellers among
his native hills wondered long how he came
to have the money that enabled him to travel
so and to purchase the diamonds and other
valuable presents he sent Jenny Lind. They
came to the conclusion that both the money
and the jewels were from the long-hunted
for stores in Ninety Mines cave, a cave that
tradition located somewhere in the wild
Shawangunk mountains near Port Hicksop
or Port Ben. or perhaps Port Even. At any
rate. wherever the treasure might be, moth
ing was more certain in the mountaineer
mind than that Boots Van Steenburg had in
some way discovered it and was drawing
upon its rich deposits for the means by
which he hoped to dazzle the great Swedish
songstress and to win her. This belief was
MADE more certain to the mountaineers by
the TACT that Boots Van Steenburgh had an
cestors named Depew, among them one
Benny Depew. and Benny Depew was the
only dweller in the Catskills who ever saw
the inside of Ninety Mines cave, except
Ninety Nine himself. When Van Steen-
burgh returned to the Catskills after Jenny
Lind had sailed away from America the
charge was made against him that he had
found the treasure cave. He did not deny it.
but he would not reveal the location to any
soul; and after years of deferred hope that
he would reveal it people at last made I'D
their minds that he had forgotten where it
was himself and that he could not reveal it
II he would. While Boots Van Steenburgh
declared positively that he hadn't forgotten
1t, nobody believed him except Uncle Peter
De Witt
1T was terrible negligent o. Boots" as
Uncle Peter will tell you any day you
may meet him, either at Kerbankson, Fly
Mountain, Port Ben, or wherever else he
may happen to be in that legendary region,
II you will listen to his plant. ct was ter
rible negligent and dilatory o. Boots put
tin off takin' me to Ninety-Ni cave the
way he did. PrOcasternation wasn't only
the thief of time in this case. 1t was
the thief of whole lot of goods tha'd be
comm in about now and helpin' me along
with things I'd laid out to do Boots
ought not to a done it, but then what kin
you expect of man that amt only in love;
but that's been in the same old love for
80 years and better? Come to think it all
over it don't seem that l ought to blame
Boots much only why in the name of all
that's glorious didn't he die first and fall
In love afterwards. That'd a saved me
lot of disappointment and 1 could "a gone
to Bolts funeral with pleasure.
"Of course. you've heard all about Nine
ty-Nine and his cave. No? That's amaz-
Ing Some says that Ninety Nine was an
Indian. and some says that he was Span
ish. It's too late in this day and genera
alton to say which one O. them critters he
actuly was, or whether he was human
bein', or to say why he was called Ninety
Nine instead of an even One Hundred. It
don't make no sort O. difference neither,
so fur as l can see. The important pint
is that Ninty-Nine was here and hereabouts
wounst on time, and that he had this here
cave o hs'n There's people now alive and
I'm one of 'em, that had fathers that re-
membered hearin their fathers say that
they remembered hearin about Ninety Nine
comm down from somewheres in the
mountains now here and now there, and not
sayin' word till he had called for rum.
So Gimme RUM he used to boiler. Gin
me rum!
Il spose that in them days that was
about the easiest call to answer in the
affirmative that anybody could make, and
consequently whenever Ninety-Nine come
he got what he called for and got it quick.
Them must a been good old days. they
must. You might make that call nova
days, the way I'm pretty gener'lly fixed and
the ayes wouldn't never have it, no, not if
your tongue was hangin out! But in the
days when NinetyNin used to come down
and make that call he got what he called
for, right on the nail.
"He was ponderous fond O. rum, Ninety
Nine was. and after he'd get loaded up
foiv vxyith hot Nync hic ~
what rum was for-he had way O. haulin'
out handfuls O. gold and silver money and
scatterin it round permisc ous, and takin'
out heops O. di'mon's from one pocket and
clusters of rubies from another one. and all
sorts o glitterin jewels from other pockets,
and just drivin' folks crazy with the sights
of EN-. Then he'd grin the most aggravatin
kind and tantalize folks by saying:
Bushels and bushels more where these
come from! Ninety Mines cave is full O.
EN-! Gimme rum!
When Ninety-N Nine got all the rum into
him he could carry, he'd git up and pull out
two tremendous big hoss-pistols and say:
I'm goin' to the bosom O. my family
now If anybody wants to foller me he kin,
but he won't never come back ag'in.'
$50 nobody never follered him, and con-
sequently nobody couldn't find out where his
cave was with all it's heaps O. money and
bright jewels shinin.
There never was but one man that
Ninety Nine every took any kind of shine
to, and that was Benny Depew.
eyes, SIR NinetyNine used to declare;
Benny Depew is the only real gentleman I
know Consequently, him and Benny got
closer than peas in pod, and one time when
Ninety-Nine came down out O. the hills and
called for rum, Benny bein' there waitn'
for him. and called for 1T so often that even
Benny was beginnin to get enough, Ninety
Nine got surprisn' gracious
Benny said he, 4 don't s'pose you'd
give hGoter O rum to see my cave?'
THAT sort O. depends said Benny. Jest
this here minute I'd give a gallon O. rum to
see it. Tomorrow mornin' have my doubts
If I'd give a hotter to see it, hotter in the
mornn' is worth a good DEAL Ninety Nine,
specially the way I'm goin' to be apt to look
at things tomorrow morning, for instance,
said Benny.
"NinetyNine he laughed and said: TO
morrow you go with me and I'll show you
my cave, Benny, said he-
Benny said he'd go. but when next morn
ing come Ninety Mines rum had quit talk
in and he wanted to back out.
az was only jokin',' he said to Benny.
"But Benny wouldn't have it, and hung
to Ninety-Nine so that he had to give in
and take Benny along with him. Folks
never expected to see Benny again, for their
idee was that Ninety Nine would Just take
him somewhere up in the mountains and
use one o them big hoss-pistols on him.
But folks was wrong. Two days after
Ninety Nine and Benny went away together