Daily camera., 1901-09-07
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4 great effort: "Shipmates," he cried
"I'm here to get that stuff, and I'll moi
he beat by man nor devil. never was
feared OF Flint in his life, and. by the
rowers, I'll face him dead. There's
e TOO, 600 not o quarter Of mile from
here. When did ever q gentleman o
fortune show his stern to that much
dollars, for q boozy old seaman with
blue mug-and him dead, too?
hut therewas no sign OF reawakening
courage In his followers; rather. In
deed, of growing terror at tho irrever'
ence Of his words.
"Belay there, John!" said Merry
"Don't you cross sperrit."
And the rest were all too terrified to
reply. They would have run away
severally had they dared, but fear kept
them together, and kept them close by
John, as IL his daring helped them
He. on his part, had pretty well fought
his weakness down.
"Sperrit? Well, maybe" he said,
"But there's one thing not Gear to me,
There was an echo. Now. no man ever
seen q spcrrit with shadow; well,
then, what's he doing with an echo to
him, should like 10 know? That ain't
in natur', surely?"
This argu nent seemed weak enough
to me. Blu, you can never tell what will
affect the supersliliOus, and, to my
wonder, George Merry was greatly re
lieved.
swell, that's so. he said. you've a
head upon your shoulders, John. and
no mistake. Bout ship, mates! Thi'
here crew is ON the wrong tack, do be-
lieve. And come to think on II, It wa,
like Flint's voice. grant you, but not
just SO clear away like II, after al. II
was liker somebody else's voice now
il was like"
"By the powers. Ben Gunn!" roared
Silver.
"Ay. and 70 1t were," cried Morgan
springing on his knees. Ben Gum il
were!"
ut don't make much odds. do it.
now?" asked Dick "Ben Gums mol
here in the body. any more'n Flint
But the older hands greeted this re-
mark with scorn. "Why, nobody mind,
Ben Gunn." cried Merry; dead or alive,
nobody minds him."
1t was extraordinary how their spir-
its had returned, and how the natural
color had revived in :heir faceS. Soon
they were chatting together, with in
terva.s Of listening; and not long after,
hearing no further sound. they shoul-
dered the tools and set forth again,
Merry walking first with Silver's COM
pass TO keep them on the right line
with Skeleton island. He had said the
truth: dead or alive. nobody minded
Ben Gum.
Dick alone still held his Bible. and
looked around him as he went. with
fearful glances: but he found no SYM
pathy. and Silver even joked him on his
precautions.
II tod you," said he-''I told you. you
had spilled your Bible. II 1t amt no
good 20 swear by. what do you suppose
sperrit would give for it? Not that!"
and he snapped his big fingers. hating
moment on his crutch,
But Dick was not to be comforted;
indeed. ii was soon plain to me that the
lad was falling sick: FASTENED by hent.
exhaustion. and the shock OF his alarm.
the fever, predicted by DR.. Livesey, was
evidently growing swiftly higher.
II was fine open walking here. upon
the summit; our way lay little down.
hill, for, as / have said, the plateau
tilted toward the west. The pines.
great and small. grew wide apart; and
even between the clumps OF nutmeg
and azalea, wide open spaces baked in
the hot sunshine. Striking. as we did.
pretty near northwest across the
island. we drew. on the one hand. ever
nearer under the shoulders Of the Sny-
glass. and en- the other. looked ever
wider over that western bay where l
had once tossed and tremb,ed in the
coracle.
The first Of the tall trees wos reached,
and by the bearing. proved the wrong
one. SO with the second. The third rose
nearly 200 feet into the air above a
clump OF underwood; giast OF veg
etable, with 4 red column as big as a
cottage. and wide shadow around in
which company could have man
euverel. 1t was conspicuous far to sea
both on the east and west. and might
have been entered as sailing mark
upon the chart.
But it was not it's size that now inn
pressed my companions; II was the
knowledge that 100000 in gold lay
somewhere buried below iis spread
ing shadow. The thought Of the
money, as they drew nearer. swallowed
up their previous terrors. Their eyes
burned in their heads; their feet grew
speedier and lighter; their whole soul
was bound up in that fortune, that
whole lifetime of extravaganza and
pleasure, that lay waiting -there for
each of them.
Silver hobbled, grunting, on his
crutch. his nostrils stood out and quiz
cred; he cursed like madman when
the flies settled on his hot and shiny
countenance; he plucked fufiously at
the line that held me to him, and, from
time to time, turned his cyA upon me
with deadly look. Certainly he took
no pains to hide his thoughts; and Ger.
tainly read them like print. In the
immediate nearness Of the gold, oil
else had been forgotten; his promise
and the doctors warning were both
things of the past; and could not
doubt that he hoped to sei7e upon the
treasure, find and board 1.-the His
PAMELA under cover of night, cut every
honest throat about that island, and sail
away as heshnd at first intepfie.l, laden
with crimes and riches.
Shaken as l was with these alarms.
II was hard for me to keep nm with the
rapid pace Of the treasure hunters.
Now and again tumbled; and 1t was
then that Silver piuckcd % roughly at
the rope and launched at ine hia muir
derous glanccs. Dick, who had dropped
behind US, and now brought up the
rear, was babbling to himself both
rre vnru md rurap~ ne his fevap kent