The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1902-02-21

nngerS were itching to open it: but. in
stead OF doing that, he put it quietly in
the pocket of his coat.
Squire said he, when Dance has
mad his ale he must, of curse, be Off
on his majesty's service; but l mean
to keep Jim Hawkins here to sleep at
my house, and, with your permission. 1
ropos we should have W the cold pie,
and let him sup"
AS you will. Livesey," said the
squire; Hawkins has earned better
than cold pie"
So a big pigeon pie was brought in
and put on a sic table, and I made Il
hearty supper. for l was as hungry as
4 hawk, while Mr.. Dance was further
complimented, and at last dismissed.
And now, squire" said the doctor.
And, now, Livesey," said the squire,
in the same breath.
One a at time, n at a time"
laughed DR.. LiVesey. You have heard
Of this Flint, I SUPPOSE"
Heard Of hint" cried the squire.
Heard of him, you say! He was the
oloodthirstiest b]uccaneer that sailed.
blackboard was a child to Flint. The
Span1ards were so prodigiously afraid
or him, I tell you, sir, l was some
times proud he was an Enslishman.
I've seen his topsails with these eyes,
OH trinidad, and the cowardly son of a
ruln-puncheon that l sailed with nut
pack-put back, sir, into port of
Spain"
Well. I've heard of him myself, in
England said the doctor. But the
point Is, had he money!"
Money" cried the squire. Have
you heard the story? What were these
villains after but money? What do thew
care FOR but money? For What would
they risk their rascal carcasses, but
money!"
mat we shall 500 know" replied
the doctor. But you are so %confound-
edly hot-headed and explanatory that
:! cannot get a word in. What l want to
kno" IS this: Surprising that 1 have
here my pocket some clew to where
tllnt buried his treasure will that
treasure amount to much?"
Amount, sir!" cried the squire. 1T,
Will mount to this: if we have the
clew we talk about, I fit out a ship in
bristol dock. n take you and Haw-
klns mere along, and I'll have that
treasure If I search a year"
very WELL" said the doctor. Now,
then, If Jim is agreeable, Wen open
the packet" II he laid it before him
on the table.
The bundle vas sewn together, and
the doctor had to get out his instru-
> "io u lie SlllCilGS With MS
medical scissors. 1t contained two
thlngs-a book and a sealed paper.
FIRST OF all We'll try the book OBJ
served the doctor.
The squire and 1 were both peering
over his shoulder as he opened it. for
DR.. Livesey had kindly motioned me to
ofne round from the side table, where
L mad been eating, to enjoy hi sport
or the search. On the first page there
were only some scraps Of writing, such
as a man with a pen in lis hand might
make for idleness or practice. Cne was
the same as the tattoo mark. BILLY
Bones his fancy" and then there was
Mr.. w. Bones, mate" mo more rum"
ON Palm Key he got itt;" and some
other snatches. mostly single words
n unintelligible. / could not help
wondering who It was that had got
ltt, and what lit" was that he got.
"A Knife in his back as like as not.
Not much instruction there said
Or: LlVesey, as he passed on.
The next ten or twelve pages were
1llied with a curious series Of entries.
Ihere was & date at one end of the line
n at the other a sun of money, as in
common account books; but instead of
explanatory writing only a varying
number Of crosses between the two.
On the 18th of June, 1745, for instance.
a sum of G7O had plainly become due
TO some one, and there was nothing but
SIX crosses to explain the cause. In
a few cases, to be sure. the name of a
place would be added, as "Offe Carac-
cas- or a mere entry of latitude and
longitude. as "62 degrees, II minutes,
~ seconds, 10 degrees 2 minutes 40 sec
onds."t%
The record lasted over nearly 20
years, the amount of the separate en-
tries growing larger as time went on,
n at the end a grand total had been
made out after five or six wrong ad-
ditions, and tese words appended.
Bones his pile"
Il can't make head or tail Of this"
said DR.. Livesey.
Ehe thing is clear as noonday."
cried the squire. This Is the black
hearted hounds account book. These
crosses stand for the names of the
ships or towns that they have sunk or
p%lundered. The sums are the scoun-
dreIs share, and where he feared an
ambiguity, you see he added something
clearer. 'ofe Carcaccas, now; you see,
here was some unhappy vessel boarded
off hat coast. Sod help the poor souls
that manned her-coral long ago"
Right, said the doctor. See what
1t is to be a traveller. Right! And the
amounts increase, you see, as he rose
in rank
There was little else in .he volume
u a few bearings of places noted in
the plank leaves toward the end, and
a table for reducing French, English
n Spanish moneys to a common
value.
Thrifty man" cried the doctor.
he wasn't the one to be cheated"
And now" said the squire, ""for the
other"
The paper had been sealed in several
places with a thimble by way Of SEAL:
the very thimbie, perhaps. that I had
found in the captains pocket. The doc
tor opened the seals with great care.
and there fell out the map of an ISL
and, with latitude and longitude:
soundingS, names of hills and ba vs. and