The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1899-01-28
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CLARENCE HEReeRT New.
lcspyr,xh.. 1897. BY J. 3. L,pplneott Col

ing. l had noticed T. pecul.ar haze
across the sun when It first came up;
and, looking again after. heading for
Tomil, l could plainly distinguish the
smoke from . steamers funnel; there
being no other in that vicinity,I knew,
It must be the good old Countess. My
proa was going through the water.
nearly two knots to her one; so,shold-
Ing on until l was directly in her:
course, took in sail and let her over-a
haul me. On she came, nearer and
nearer; l could make out her Yards,
the boats at the davits, one of the
mates on the bridge; then I 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;
I 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:
"What's 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 I
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 1t? For Gods snke 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'll tell us all about it after he's
had something to eat"
The compass, log, seStant and bag
of doubloons hastily slowed in a can
vas sack which Halstead lowered to
me at the end of stout line; then,
mounting to our old quarters, we
before saying 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-
citedly 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
file to make sure of it's genuineness.
Taking his pencil out, he asked:
"How many have you in this bag?"
"a little under 1900. l figured the
weight at 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. It was rather bulky
luggage, but thought we'd have to
use money 10 getting the stuff away
from Guajan. SO brought 1t 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. II wait three months
for you, we stand chance of losing
every dollar before the steamer shows
up-always providing she is sent out
here again. Sebastiano can't get the
money where 1t Is now, in the wreck;