Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1902-02-15

| the tnOuRHI Oh IndI utLtSldDie iid
beggar lowering near at hand and
ready 10 return. there were moments
when, as the saying goes. 1 jumped In
my skin for terror. Something must
speedily be resolved upon; and 1t oc-
CURED to US at last TO go forth to-
gether and seek help In the eighbo
ing hamlet. No sooner said than done.
Bare-headed as we We're, we ran out
at once in the gathering evening and
the frosty fog.
The hamlet lay not many hundred
yards away, though out OF view, on the
other side OF the next cove; and, what
but that, as II proved, was the best
OF the help we were likely TO get In
that quarter. For-you would have
greatly encouraged me, It was in an OPP
posite direction from that whence the
blind man had made his appearance,
and whittier he had presumably re-
turned. We were not many minutes on
the road, though we sometimes stopped
to lay hold Of each other and hearken.
But there was no unusual sound-noth-
ing but the low wash of the ripple n
the croaking OF the crows in the wood.
II was already candle-light when we
reached the, hamlet. and / shall never
forget how much 1 was cherred to see
the yellow shine In doors n windows;
thought men would have been ashamed
OF themselves-no soul would consent
to return with us to the Admiral Ben
bow. The more we told of our trou-
bles, the more-man, woman n child
they chung TO the shelter OF their
houses. The name of Captain Flint,
though II was strange to me, was well
enough known to some there, and car
ried q great weight Of terror. Some Of
the men who had been TO fleld-work
or the far side OF the Admiral Ben
bow remembered, besides, 10 have seen
several strangers on the road, and,
taking them TO be smugglers, to have
bolted away; and one at least had seen
n little lugger In what we called Kits
Hole. For the matter, anyone who was
n comrade Of the captains was enough
to brighten them to death. And the
short and the long Of the matter was,
that while We could get several who
were willing enough to ride to DIR.
Livesey's, which lay In another direc-
tton, not one would help us to defend
the Inn.
They say cowardice Is infectious; but
then argument is. ON the other hand,
a great emboldener; n so when each
had his say my mother made them a
speech. She would not, she declared,
lose money that belonged to her faith
erless boy; III zone OF the rest Of you
dare she said, Jim q. | I dare. Back
we will go, the way W. came and small
thanks to you big, hulking, chicken
hearted men. Well have that chest
open, II we de for It. And I'll thank
you for hat bag. Mrs. Crcssley, TO
bring back our lawful money n"
or course, | said / would go with my
mother; and Of course they all cried
out at our foolhardiness; but even then
not a man would go along with us. All
| fhay would do u,ag m uiya mo a 1na 1n1
pistol, lest we were attacked: and to
promise to have horses ready saddled,
In case we were pursued on our re-
turn; while one lad was to ride for
ward to the doctors in search OF armed
assistance.
My heart was beating flercely when
we two set forth In the cold night up
on this dangerous venture. A full moon
was beginning TO rise and peered red
ly through the upper edges Of the fog,
n this increased our haste, for 1t
was plain. before we came forth again,
that all would be bright as day, and
our departure exposed TO the eyes Of
any watchers. We slipped along the
hedges, noiselcss and swift. nor did we
~terors, TIL, to our huge relief. the door
of the Adm!ra Benbow had closed be-
hind us.
/ slipped the bolt at once, and we
bloOi anu DtIlltu s'I u lloIIlClll III lllt
dark, alone In the house with the dead
captains body. Then my mother got a
candle In the bar, and, holding each
others hands. we advanced into the
parlor. He lay as VIC had left him, on
his back, with his eyes open, and one
arm stretched out
Draw down the blind, jim" whis-
percd my mother; they might come
n watch outside. And now" said
49, - - ill., -.
get the key off that, and who's to touch
It, | should like to known and she
gave 4 kind OF sob as she said the
words.
l went down on my knees at once.
On the floor close TO his hand there was
a little round OF paper, blackened on
the one side. l Gould not doubt that
this was the black spot; and, taking 1t
up, ] found written on the other side,
In d very good, clear hand. this short
message: You have till ten tonight"
"He had till ten, mother" said /;
and, just as / said II, our old clock
began striking. This sudden noise
startled us ~shockingly; but the news
was good, for II was only six.
Now, jim" she said, that key"
l felt in his pockets, one after an
other. A few small coins, a thimble
and some thread ard big needles, q
piece OF pigtail tobacco bitten away at
the end, his gully with the crooked
handle, a pocket compass and a finder
box, were all that they contained, and l
began to despair.
Perhaps its round his neck" sug-
gested my mother.
Overcoming n strong /
tore open his shirt at the neck, and
there, sure enough, hanging to n bit
OF tarry string, which l cut with his
own gully, we found the key. At this
triumph we were filed with hope, and
hurried upstairs. without delay, to the
little room where he had slept so long,
and where his box had stood since the
day of his arrival.
+ 1t was like any other m chest
on the outside, the initial "B." burned
on the top Of 1t with a hot iron, and
the corners somewhat smashed and
broken as by long, rough usage.
Give me the key" said my mother;
snd though the lock- was very stiff she
had turned il and thrown back the lid
In 4 twinkling.
A strong smell OF tobacco and tar
rose from the interior, but nothing
was to be seen on the top except a suit
Of very good clothes, carefully brushed
and folded. They had never been worn,
my mother said. Under that, the mis-
cellany began-a quadrant, a tin can
kin. several sticks of tobacco, two brace
Of very handsome pistols, a piece of
bar silver, an old Spanish watch and
some other trinkets of little value and
mostly Of foreign make, a pair of com
passes mounted with brass, and five or
six curious West Indian shells. 1t has
often set me thinking since that he
should have carried about these shells
with him in his wandering, guilty,
hunted life.
In the meantime, we had found moth
ing Of any value but the silver and the
trinkets, and neither of these We're in
our way. Underneath there was an old
boat-cloak whitened with sea-salt on
many a harbor-bar. My mother pulled
1t up with Impotence. and there lay
hafOra ne the la CT things IN tho cbast