The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1904-06-17


Durand was the last one to steal the
loot. and h in turn proposes to steal
1T from Durand. She claims, with
some ingenuity, that her ethical point
Is the strongest yet, as all is fair in
love and far, which gives her a double
claim. However, since purand is apt
to go after the chest at almost any
time, She has got to do her part of the
stealing pretty quickly, if she is going
10 do 1t at all, and as she seems to have
heard of us in some way or other, she
wants to charter the schooner to go
after the loot. told her that I'd give
her an answer this afternoon. Now
what dye say?"
We were silent for fully five minutes,
then suddenly Knapp hit the heavy
skylight a blow with his fist that made
it rattle. The dull look went out of
his eyes,, and the dark ines at the
of his mouth %deepened.
Il don like it," he growled; we've
been mixed up III some fairly crooked
deals. but SO far we haven't done amy
n dirt that didn't deserve it. This
poor cuss of q lieutenant has stumbled
on a pretty little piece of loot; then
he had the hard luck to get winged
before he could pack it off. This black
eyed lady works the Delilah racket on
him, and learns the combination of the
safe. She had a nerve, anyway" He
turned to Boles: What right had she
to think that W. mightn't get in line
and hold her for the Loot"
She was frank enough about that"
said Boles. She had to take a chance,
anyway, and l fancy she's no fool. She
just sized me up, and then gambled
on my not being quite low enough for
that. Also Ii intends to so with us"
What did h offer, anyway"
A ever half. Pretty clever-what?
And greatly misdoubt the entire truth
of her statements in regard to locality
and SO forth"
Look here" I suggested, that lieu
tenant man will never get a chance to
go down there after his loot, and wen
if he did it would probably cost him
as much as it is worth. Let's make the
one TO her, IL to the boat and to
the huff After We get the treasure,
if We decide that he is getting too
much or too little out OF it, W. can
arrange It accordingly. He'll be in no
position to kick"
for u few minutes, and finally decided
that it was fair enough. and as good as
any other.
POLES went ashor the following
morning, and arranged it with Mrs.
Hunter. and about / o'clock they came
off aboard
We weighed anchor that night as
soon as it grew dark, and morning
found us We'll out in the China sea, as
we We're going around into the Sulu
sea through the Apo west passage.
The weather was good, but the breeZes
light and tickle, and the third day out
found us still beating back and forth
off the Sultana bank.
Early in the afternoon of the fourth
day We sighted Matagorong, and by s
O'Clock had dropped anchor off the
east end of the island, where. accord
ing to the chart, the treasure was hid.
Our object was to get the box and
Hunter and I went ashore at once,
leaving Knapp in charge of the schoon-
CT. We had 40 difficulty whatever in
following the directions of the chart,
as it was very simple. consisting only
of a rough sketch of the island, which
shower three little promonitories on
the eastern end. On n of these there
was a circle marked tree" on the
south side of which there ran 4 dotted
line marked "o0-due s.; at the end
of the line there was an Y which we
took to indicate the location of the
box.
The tide was dropping and our I'M
patience had reached uch a fever by
the time that we struck the beach that
we simply hauled the dingy high and
dry on the beach and left her.
Boles whipped out his pocket COM
pass and got a range due south from
the tree, While l got out a tape and
laid off 80 feet. Rather to my surprise
1t took me into the middle of a patch
of thick bushes tina looked like
rhododendron.
This isn't right" l called to Boles.
These bushes have never been dis
turbed in the last thee months"
oh, you can't tell answered Boles:
these tropical plants grow so fast, and
he might have sunk his loot in there on
purpose. Let's try it anyway"
We probed the sandy soil here ana
there with Il long iron rod which We
mad brought Tor the purpose, and when
ever 1T struck a firm resistance for a
couple of feet we dug. After IN hours
vain effort in which we had probed and
rooted all over an area of about ten
feet square. We paused, and | for one
had a cold, leaden weight of disappoint-
mel.t under my ribs.
Mrs. Hunter had worked as hard ard
as silently as We, and now sat On The
sand with her arms clasped about her
knees and her great dark eyes brooding
out over the sea. suddenly she sprang
to her feet.
oh, sillies!-stlies!" she called to US
mockingly. and flew back to the palm
tree. h mex moment she was pac-
ing oward us IN long rhythmic strides,
her eyes sparkling. and u derisive smile
on her silently moving lips.
For a moment we looked at her
amazed, With the vague idea that she
lad an attack OF the sun. Then. to-
gether we caught the reason of it all,
and with a Wild whoop sprang to our
feet.
We're a gallus team of treasure
hunters!" said Boles. Il wonder how
long ii would take us to fine a lump
of loot that was really hidden. Any
ass might have known that the chart
meant PAGES, not feet-as IL a man
alone in the dead of night was going
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