The times., 1901-06-16

/
| ing: they never had time to send it
! away. All in gold too. Hang it.' he con-
tnued, losing his temper for a minute.
| nid ever any body hear such wild story
| as I've sat here and listened patiently to?
| 10 you mean 70 tell me-" he cried. that
| you never mad any suspicious before that
! unfortunate boy came 10 yOu2 Well I
tell you now that you We been conniVing-
l won't say knowingly-at the escape OF
! three of the biggest rogues and swindItrs
! on earth Croft that's Benton was the
/ business manager Of the great Westralian
/ Land Mortgage and Mining Company. The
/ other two, the brothers Carlton. supposed
! to be South American Spaniards and
| their real names Espartero, were direct
! ors of the same affair. And after convert
/ ing every security they held into cash,
| besides taking a big sum in ready money,
I Tue trio cleared, leaving ruin and misery
| behind them -
| But there were only two" I said. the
| first long pause Of surprise over.
Three. replied Conway, cooling down:
/ the younger Carlton. your cook and ste
ward. was SincIair's brother. Oh a C!ev-
| er scheme and three clever rogueS; and,
/ excuse me for saying so. two very simple
| sail0rmen They disappeared like n dream
| leaving no clue; and, until the Redvers
Butler. arrived saying she had met q
| small boat in mid-PaCific that fought shy
[ of her. we hadn't the least idea which way
! TO turn. Then the shareholders chartered
/ the Cudgegong yonder. and on spec we
| came at a nfteen-kuOt bat after YOU
! Probably. IL things hadn't taken this curl
! Gus twist. we might have been Just IN
/ time to steam over where you all lay at
| the bottom of the sea with your thrOats
| cut. A narrow squeak you've hadf But
| the moneys what l want. 1 must search
| the cutter--ever inch of heri"
! Search and welcome" a" l replied. Take
her and do what you please with her
| I'm sick and tired of the whole business
| Seems to me that Phil here and / are apt
10 get more kicks than ha'pence for what
| we've done already"
| only let US find the money" replied
conway and Wen talk about that. And
don't forget that, at any rate. you've
saved your own skins. Now, l think III
| have a word with Messrs.-what?-o
| yes, Benton and Sinclair. One at a time
| please" And. Phil giving him the keys
ne entered the formers berth. He was
not more than five minutes with each
prisoner.
Yes" he said. when he re-entered the
cabin, they're my birds all right. I've
only seen them once before this. But
| there's no possible doubt Looki' and he
threw couple of photographs on the
taDle, IN whose features. even lacking
Whlskers and moustaches. were easily re-
cognizabie those of the men who had got
US into such a mess. a third picture that
conway produced showed Rafael attired
| ike the others in tall hat and frock coat.
ara with a skin several shades lighter
| than we were accustomed to, but still un-
nlstakably the late cook and steward of
the Ddrthea, and as unTnistakabIv re-
sembhng his brother passenger. Present
| ~ II was arranged that the Cudegong
should take us in tow. Also CONWAY de-
cloed 10 transfer his prisoners 10 the
steamer IN cndrge OF the c0nsta BILE him
| self staying on board to make a search
lor the treasure was astOnished to see
the change week had. made in Benton
and his partner as. with an offi-
| Ger guarding eacHg they came on deck
Benton had Obviously lost many mounds
| IN weight and the skin hung in folds and
| creases about his great face as he smiled
and bowed to me and suaveIv hoDed tbat
| felt none the worse for my little acci-
cent sinclair. TOO, was shadow Of his
| former self, and looked like lean, yellow
I Wolf as he showed his white teeth and
scOWled at me, staring out Of torpid eve
/ but saying uaught.
| Conway began his overhaul in high
| feather Phil having told lin Of the Of
| ferGd Az.OJ each-a detail forgotten at
| the FIRST hurried recital. But as the days
| passed whilst we dragged along in the
wake of the swift Cudgegong. and the de
| tectiye, aided by the rest of us, nearly
I took the cutter TO bits in fruitless en-
| deaVor to find the money, he lost heart
somewhat. And certainly Phil and
could give him no encouragement, for both
| OF Us were morally sure that no such
amount of gold could have come on board
without our KnoWinS il.
! At last one day he went on the Cudge-
gong to see II ne could pump anything ut
( OF the prisoners He returned in a very
| bad temper. They had Indignantly offered
Phil a bribe, and declared that they pos
| sesSed no money other than the sum al
! ready found They asked, however. as
| favor. that they might be allowed to see
| Adams. But this Conway refused.
| When the detective was telling rs all
| this we were, Phil and l. in q big stern
| berth which We had rooted up in all di-
| rectIons during our searchiags.
What do they want with Adams, l
WOuderT said Phil.
TO tell him where the stuff is" replied
| the detective; .Or, at any rate, to sound
him as to his willingness to secure it for
| EN- after We give up
At this Phil and / both smiled. II tell
you it's here" exclaimed Conway. in a
rage, seeing US. 4 m as sure of 1t as that
this is lndia-rubber."
At the moment he was sitting upon one
of the packages We had dragged out from
amongst lumber of provision cases, etc.
The big coil was sewn up in canvas.
attached to which, as / have before men
toned. ere the trade tickets OF ceIebrat-
ed Sydney firm. Someone had drawn
sharp knife across the wrapper. exposing
to view a section of the tubing that
bUlged black ana shiny. There were three
more similar packages, and / remembered
Row noticing that two had been shifted
| into Sinclair's half of the berth whilst
the others remained in BentOnS s.
Perhaps it isn't" chafingiy remarked
Phil, in reply TO the detective. The for
Tner was sitting near. and, leaning over,
he gave a pull at the stuff, short end Of
which spranS out and came away in his
hand. oh, yes. it's india-rUbber all
right" said Phil, examining it closely.
Dashed solid stuff, though-eh-what2
oh, blaztSt" The last word was n per
feet shout. Whilst bending the stiff hose
over he showed US through a broad slash
the knife had made a CLEAN OF yellow
metal. \ minute more and foot OF
ripped tube disclosed 4 nest of golden
coins packed in such a way as not to in
terfere with the coiinS of the loaded
short lengths each parcel was composed
of. Truly. cunning device. And 4 most
jubilaut man was Conway, as together,
We split up the portions with our knives
and extracted the golden hoard.
"A tradesmanS been at this business,
made
for the occasion. Look at this seam, and
Der is. First the gold was inserted, and
then the pipe neatly closed. | shall have
something TO say presently to the skilled
worker who fixed this up These labels
were good notion. Blow me If IL isn't
the cutest dodge ! ever heard of! No
wonder they wanted TO see Adamsl Why,
it the greatest fiuke in the world they
didut I eUchre us after ALI Bet your life
once we get to Sydney, some of their
friends would have been making enqui-
rieS about rubber hose. And what finer
fashion could be found of evadiug prying
eyes if they had managed to reach the
West Coast. Expect TO find the iOtE Not
much, | dOn'ti II il only comes out El 100
short wen be thoroughly satisfied. And
/ tell You what, I'm as pleased as Punch
that one of you fellows sprung the plant
and not myself. There's reward for
this job, and III see that YOU don't lose
your whack of it-at least. III do my best.
(iadi 50 far as / can see at present you r.
entitled to the lot"
If / get the cutter for mine and PhiIs
share, together with enough to pay the
men. I'll be satisfied | replied.
Well said Conway, I'VE won't count
our chickens before they're Matched And
ii I'm not mistaken these chickens, as l
expected, are a bit short. However. the
never expected to see penny OF II. Ihls
is like Shelliug peas. isn't IL , What 3 that