The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1901-07-04

were Off both forward anu aft, and al-
ready the cargo had begun to diminish.
The black men OF the district had been
making good use Of their time.
News came from the cool mysterious
water to the baking region Of nIr above
almost ut the second hour OF the search
that the Grecian could never be re-
fonted. In addition to the holes al
ready made In two of her compnrt-
ments, She had settled OH sharp jag
OF rock. which had pierced her In q
third place. art. This one piece Of rock
was the only solid spot In the neighbour
hood. All the rest OF the sea floor was
pulpy white clay, and In this the unfor-
tunatc wreck had settled till already it
was flush with her lower decks. There
were evidences. too, that the ooZe was
creeping higher every day, so that all
that remained was to strip hor as quick
ly as might be before she was swallow.
ed up.
Tnzzuthi asked Captain Kettle for
his opinion that night while in tho
chnrthousc. "Fm to be guided by
you, of coursr.' he said, 'Dut my idea
Is that wr-Should go for the specie first
thing and let everything else slide TIL
that's snugly on board here. Birds
gave t5.IuO for the wreck, and there's
$4,000 In cash down there in Il room
they built specially for it over the
Shaft tunnel. If we can grab that, II
Will pay ouv expenses and commission
anu all the other actual outlay, and
Brds VIII be out Of the wood"
Ars,' thought Kettle; "you want
those gold boxes In your hands, you
blessed daYo and then you'll begin to
play your monkey tricks. | wonder If
You think you're going to jam n knife
into me by way of making things snug
and snfc?"
But aloud he expressed agreement to
captain IazZuchi's plan. He felt that
TINS was diplomacy. and. though the
0lplomhtlc art WAS new and strange to
him. he told himself that il was the
correct weapon TO uSr under the cir
cumstnnccS. He had risen out or his
old grade OF hole and corner shipmas.
ter lie Was Il captain in Il regular line
NOW. and Wild tlightS aud scrimmagcs
were beneath the dignity Of his posi-.
tlon.
Accordingly, as soon as dawn gave n
waking light the boats put out again.
and the divers were given orders 10
put all their Efforts into getting the
specie boxes on to the end Of the sal.
wage steamers winch chaiu. \ lot OF
dhows were showing here and tusre
among the reefs, obviously Watching
them. and Tazzuchi was beginning to
get nervous.
Were In for trouble. In sf-aiI." he
said to Kettle. That rock % which
she's settled astern bias made hcle In
her you could drive cart through"
"Wrll?'
"pldn't you hear the report they've
just sung of from the boats? Oh, |
forgot; YOU don't understand Italian
We'll, the news is that the rocks split
hole In the bottom Of the strong room,
and those gold boxes have topplea
throUgh.'
And buried themselves in the sllme?"
"lhats IT, And Lord knows how
man. feet they've sunk. It's dreadful
stun 10 dig Among; slides I'm on you az
soon as you start to dig and levels up
They'll have TO brnt,ice as they work
It'll he q big job'
All that day Kettle watched the sea
with an anxious eye. From below the
mud came up in white pillows, AMI out
beyond, In and among the reefs and
along the distant shore swung ana
shIInmered IN the heat haze hungry
dhoWs prOwling like carrion birds tenn
pOrarily driven away from prey.
TazZrch AMI the chief engineer bus
led them selves In binding together
fragments Of fire bars with Iron wire
The Italian shipmaster had great no
tion Of the damage his signal guns
could do against dhow II they were
provided with orthodox solid shot. AS
soon as tlle second night came down
and the darkness became fairly fixed
In hue there began to crackle out Of
the distance desultory rifle fire from
every quarter Of the compass. 1t was
not very heavy. At the outside there
were not score Of weapons firing, but
It Was annoying for all that. and as
the narkSncn and their vessels were
completely swallowed up by the black
ness OF the night it was impossible to
repay their compliments in kind
Morning showed the damage Of one
port winLow smashed. two Danes yon,.
lf"m IT." engine room Skylight and the
air pump In one Of the boats alongside
with plangcr neatly cut into two
pieces. hut there was a spare air puup
III store, nli after dawn came work
went on a. usual The dhowS came no
nearer; neither dii t'cy 20 much far
t!'"i away. InZZ lchl. ful! Of cnlhusi
al" tor hiS artillery, tried n carefully