The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1903-09-13


IN balulv breezes Of the South Seas,
a y treasure hunters, who left here in
July. 1902. on the tight little
schooner Herman returned yesterday on
the liner Mariposa, thoroughly awake and
once more in full possession Of their rea-
soning faculties The dream, in which
for the greater part of a year they spent
an unharmonIous existence, is for them
shattered. The old man whose tales of
piratical loot had been the lure that hyp-
notified. is a wicked old pirate and his
white locks. that in the dazzle Of contem-
Mated fortune had seemed venerable, are
now regarded as the hoary emblems OF
an ice cold heart, the outward and visible
signs Of Unborn. deceit and treachery.
The old man who left here as Captain
James Brown, the man with the key TO
q cavern containing golden coin and jew
els worth the modest sum Of $4,000, 900,
returned in irons, with all sorts Of legal
vengeance hanging over his head In the
game Of legal vengeance, however, the
old man won the first move. The ammu-
milton Of his enemies was contained in
an official envelope addressed TO the
United States District Attorney and con-
tanning a record of an investigation held
st Papeete by United States Consul Doty.
The old mans alleged sins are numerous,
bur the one for which his former ship
mates hoped TO hold him until they nad
time 10 set a stronger legal trap was the
abusing Of the japanese steward Of the
schooner Herman.
COULD GET NO WARRANT.
Being Saturday afternoon. however, II
was impossible TO secure a Federal war
rant for Captain Browns arrest. Without
this warrant the United States Marshal
would have none Of the prisoner. The po-
lice protested their inability to hold the
man and Captain Howard for the Oceanic
Steamship Company declined 10 take the
responsibility Of converting the Marlposa
into a place Of detention
He must be held" cried the men who
claim to have. been vict1mized by the
ancient mariner.
hold him yourselves" replied official
dom and Captain James Brown was re-
leased from the room to which he had
been confined when the liner entered the
harbor.
AS he walked down the gang-plank he
looked anything but the nautical bunko
man his former friends charged him with
being More than common tall and Of
peculiarly stalwart build, he more resem-
bIed q venerable viking Snow white hair,
frosty beard, straight nose, firm chin,
head Of intellectual lUmpiness and frank,
pale blue eyes, all seemed in contradic-
ZION 10 the picture painted by the men
who claim TO have found him out His
belongings. packed neatly in a couple OF
canvas covered grips, he turned over TO
the customs inspectors with the air OF
q king. gracefully submitting himself 10
the laws he had made for his subjects.
As the inspectors searched the old man
held I'd his head and glanced in the direc-
ton Of the men he is charged with haY-
ing victmized. His stare was long and
som. what coL.emptUous, melting, as he
turned away, into look Of pity
eFcr g 2
attention TO the inspector at his feet,
there rolled from his lips in sonorous
tones the one word:
Fools"
BAEISHES HIS STIMULATES
That was all the attention Captain
James Brown paid the men who would
have lin behind the prison bars. From
then until he staIked from the Oceanic
dock he vouchsafed them not as much as
a glance. They had ceased 10 exist He
had banished them from his $4,000, 600
world.
The story Of the Herman's mission
when she left here is. in brief. as follows:
CAPTAIN Brown, who is = years Of age,
retired from the sea some fifteen years
ago. Ills life on the deep, according to
his story. had contained more Of adven-
ture than usually falls TO the lot Of one
man II commenced when Brown was
SIN Of tender years and from the start
was strongly tinged with the romantic.
For his neighbors in Auburn, r. l., where
The old man tried TO settle down after his
retirement. and for all others who listen
cd 10 him. including such as might have
money for treasure-hunting expeditions,
be had yarns that made the widest 10
cent thriller seem tame. When he told Of
storms II was Of disturbances such as
modern sailors know nothing. His tales
q fast passa ges made the modern ocean
greyhounds seem TO limp and his Gains
were almost eternities and stiller than
the silence Of the grave. There was
nothing small about Captain James
Brown. lie had examples from his own
modern days and when the wealth Of
Americas money kings became subject
for general discussion Brown was there
with the Renaissance that three Of the
MaripOsa's passengers now declare to
have been a wicked dream.
SCHOONER BLACK WITCH.
When a bit OF a boy he served on the
schooner Black Witch The captain Of
that vessel was a man with a past He
had either been a pirate himself or had
come into possession OF valuable informa-
ton relative TO the cache Of certain re-
dOubtable buccaneers. Buried so MANY
feet In certain direction from the tree
upon which the sun on special day in a
particular month cast a shadow of char
acteristic shape, lay untold wealth This
wealth was the loot gathered at the sack