The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1899-06-22
CHAPTER II.

The captains cabin was an exceed
lngly comfortable one, with a large
chart table in the middle, cushioned
transoms around the sides, and sew
eral luxurious rattan chairs. 1t was
situated upon the hurricane deck di-
rectly under the wheel-house, and had
large windows instead of the usual
uorts, so that we had an uninterrupted
view of everything that was going on.
While | smoked an after-dinner cigar
end enjoyed the breeze which blew
through our quarters, the strange and
rapid succession of events that had
resulted in my being bound for the
most forgotten corner of the earth's
surface struck me very forcibly. Every
Few moments some "reminiscences of
cid times would occur to one or the
othe of us, and ] finally asked Hal
stead II he were married.
No." he said; Pm not. l was just
going to ask the same question. 1t
sc ems rather odd that we two should
Lave reached the age of-let's see; I'm
S. and you can't be- far from it
without settling down. Do you know,
cid chap, I'm beginning to think |
haven't made much of a success in
| life"
"Oh, / don't know. You're likely to
have a ship as long as you want to go
10 sea, aren't you? And the house
would probably offer a fairly good
berth ashore, if you felt like taking it,"
II suppose so, as long as the pres.
| cnt management remains unchanged.
But, even so, there's no chance of
Ulakiug q fortune at it. Here we are,
you and l, two men in the prime of life,
aud able thoroughly to enjoy all the
good things in it, yet ] suppose we are
likely to keep on drudging for some
one else al long as we live. In the
long run TIE fellow who persistently
drudges comes out ahead, and ther
he's too old to enjoy his good fortune
1t takes a young man to appreciate
the things that money will buy. Now
why can't we strike bit of luck some
where. find buried treasure or some
thing of the sort, and then live like
princes in London or New York, in
stead of frying our giZzards out il
the East Indies? Isn't there a fairy
godmother that we might propitiateP' 2
"M-m-m, ] don't seem to remember
any in my family. But, speaking o
treasure, aren't we sailing over prett,
much the same track as that followed
ty the old galleons?"
That's right; same track, to a mile
Tomorrow morning I'll show yol
Port San Jacintc, on the island o
Ticao, where they used to wait for
favorable wind in beating through th
San Bernardino passage. Anson'
ships watched for them just outsid
.he 'Embocadero,' as it is called il
Spanish, and they all stopped at tn
Ladrones for pigs and water on tn
voyage across"
"Well, weren't they usually loade
with a pretty rich cargo?"
"Rich! Why. man, the Acapulco ga
Icon brought between two and thre
: millions-in silver dollars, gold dout
looms, and indigo-to Manila, once O
twice every year. You see, the junk
used to come down from Hong-Kon
10 March or April, loaded with silk bro
cades, fine linen, gold ornaments an
Jewels, which the Manila Spaniard
bought and, after keeping what the
wanted for personal use, shipped I
Acapulco on speculation. Mexico wa
viceregal province then, and th
Philippines was a subdependcncy. Til
return galleon brought the proceed
OF these speculations; though, as II
; boletas. or shipping permits for tram
: portation space, were issued by th
gobernadors for revenue, they pral
tically amounted to Philippine sui
sidy."
! That's about as l remember
: There were good many galleoI
wrecked on the coral islands, weren
there?"
= Lots of them; they were great III
. wieldy tubs, always loaded beyou
? their carrying capacity. And, by II
way, that reminds me of an instauC
b which ! happen to know about, moi
; or less directly. Last voyage, Padr
4, Julian, who has been in charge of Il
: mission on saipan for 80 or 40 year
!, came home with me. The old cha
is a good deal of student, and hi
the history of these islands at h
. finger-ends-best judge of rum al
sherry | ever saw. ] used to fill hi
up with good liquor, just to see hi
!, enjoy it and hear the stories he to
a when the stuff got into his blood
[ro BE Continued