Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1899-08-10
CHAPTER XII.
THE BALANCE OF THE GOLD.


Captain Colepepper was pacing the
deck Of the Eureka and watching anx-
iously for the daylight to come. The
captain was nervous and irritatcd ana
showed it in the unwonted ierkiness Of
his gait His crew had certainly been
giving him a good deal of trouble late
ly by their various adventures on Piper
cay, and kind of superstitious dread
of the sinister influences of his piratical
ancestors island headquarters had tax
en- hold CT the shippers mind The run
of i'll luck which had logged the Eu.
rekas people ever since their arrival
seemed to him more than the chances
of the game warranted.
"Confound that farming lout" he
and watched for the signs of the COM
ing morning in the sky Ten to one
he's got himself into scrape with his
poaching foolishness, and Henrietta and
Guthrie with him. Confound Piper
and his island too! There seems to be
blight on the place.
A faint Frightening in the east
showed where the day was coming. The
clear parts of the sky took on thin
blush Of purple, and the scattered
clouds caught fire on the horizon and
burned like furnaces on the water line
Then the conhagration Of the heavens
spread up and mp while the stars still
winked down undimmed from the ze-
NTH. Then with rush the light came
and it was day.
DR.. Tring came ont from the com
panion way and took his stand beside
the skipper.
Wed better have the boat ont
soon, - said he, land go and look for
them.
Captain Colepepper nodded and then
made an impatient gesture.
Eyes, he grumbled irritablv, "and
likely as not come to grief ourselvesl
The spirit of that blackguard ancestor
of mine seems to haunt the place like
malevolent genius. There's no other
way of accounting for it begin to
think the whole island is accursed "
DIR. Tring did not answer. His gaze
was fixed on point of the reefs about
mile TO the eastward.
Got your glass with You. Colepep-
PERI he asked presently.
The captain handed him his binocu-
lar, and the doctor after minute s
close scrutiny of the moving thing in
the distance which had attracted his
attention, returned the glass to his COM
panion.
"What do you make of it9" he asked.
The captain took long look. Its a
boat, said he, with two people in it, d"
Yes; Guthrie and Henrietta, aren' t
theyf But don t see the farmer
There's something in the stern,
pronounced the captain. Looks like a
man. Yes; he sat up just now It's
that lubber Cain, and he's got white
thing round his head. d"
"SureY" asked the doctor in tone
of relief
Certain. Wonder what's the matter
with him!"
"Tumbled over pebble and broken
his crown. ] dare say-the numbering
idiot !"
But where, in the name of all that 8
unaccountable. have they got a boat
from"
Cant say, but dare say the man
with the blood blister may have some
thing to do with it, Colepepper, doesn t
it strike You that they may have had a
skirmish and that the farmer may have
got damaged in fight with the owners
of the boatG'
"By Jupiter, yesl" cried the captain
excitedly, "We'll take the jolly and 90
to meet them, The others may be hurt
too. Here, you Spiedernichel, inst go
and tell my daughter to come and steer
usi''
THAT'S right, Colepepper. COM
mented the doctor, with a sage nod of
his head; "thoughtful Of you. She has
been just as anxious as any of us about
the truants. She was out of her bunk
an hour ago asking if there was any
sign Of them. Quito right that she
should have chance of welcoming
them,
"I'll give that young man piece of
my mind, though" declared the cap
tain fiercely, ''if find he's been play
ing the fool again. His talent for get
ting into scrapes is Just trifle too
pretty for my notions of discipline. -
But when the tale of the night
work came to be told in the little cabin
of the Eureka half an hour afterward