The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-03-26


utes, 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
lines at the corners OF his mouth
deepened.
been mixed up In some fairly crooked
deals, but SO far We haven't done any
one dirt that didn't deserve 1t. This
poor cuss of a lieutenant has STUN
bled 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
What right had she to, think that
we mightn't get in line and hold her
up for the loot?"
She was frank enough about that"
said Boles. "She had to take a chance
anyway, and I fancy she's no fool.
she Just sized me up. and then
go with U.s." ...
= What did she offer, anyway"
An even half. Pretty clever
what? And I greatly misdoubt the
entire truth Of her statements in re-
gard 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 even
If he did it would probably cost him
as much as 1T Is worth. Let's make
the lady agree to division into thirds
one to her, one to the boat and one
to the luff.' After we get the treas
ure, If we decide that he Is getting
too much or too little out Of It, we can
arrange it accordingly. He'll be in no
position to kickw
They thought this proposition over
for a few minutes. and finally decided
that it was fair enough, and as good as
any other.
Boles went ashore 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 1t grew dark, and morning
found us we'll out in the China sea, as
we were going around into the Sulu
sea thru 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 Mataborong, and by 8
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 get
away undtsturbed, so Boles, Mrs.
Hunter and I went ashore at once,
leaving Knapp in charge Of the schoon-
er. We had no difficulty whatever in
following the directions of the chart,
as it was very simple, consisting only
OF rough sketch Of the island, which
showed three little promontories on
the eastern end. On one of these there
was a circle marked tree" on the
south side Of which there ran a. dotted
line marked "50-due 81; at the end
took to indicate the location of the
box.
Inc tide was dropping, and our i'm
patience had reached such a fever by
the time that we struck the beach that
we simply hauled the dinghy high and
dry on the beach and left her.
Boles whipped out his pocket COM
pass and got range due south from
the tree. while 7 got out tape and
laid off fifty feet. Rather to my sur
prise 1t took me right into the middle
of little patch Of thick bushes that
looked like rhododendron.
This isn't right!' called to Boles.
THESE bushes have never been dis
turbed in the last three months!"
oh, you can't tell" answered
Boles. these tropical plants grow
fast, and he might have sunk his loot
anyway"
We probed the sandy soil here and
there with a long iron rod which we
had brought for the purpose, and
wherever 1t struck a firm resistance
for q couple Of feet we dug. After
about an hours vain effort in which
we had probed and rooted all over an
area OF about ten feet square, we
paused, and I for one had a cold.
leaden weight Of disappointment under
my ribs.
Mrs. Hunter had worked as hard
and as silently as we, and now sat
on the sand with her arms clasped
about her knees and her great dark
eyes broodtng out over the sea. Sud-
denly she sprang to her feet.
"Oh, sillies!-sillies!" she called to
us mockingly, and flew back to the
palm tree. The next moment she was
pacing toward us in long rhythmic
strides, her eyes sparkling, and a
derisive smile on her silently moving
lips.
For a moment we looked at her
amazed, with the vague idea that she
had an attack Of the sun. Then, to-
gether, we caught the reason of it all.
and with wild whoop sprang to our
feet.
Were a gallus team of treasure
hunters!" said Boles. II wonder how
jolly long it would take us to find a.
lump of loot that was really hidden.
Any ass might have known that the
chart meant PAGES, not feet-as If a
man alone in the dead of night was
going to get out his yardstick and
lay it Off,
A clear and triumphant call from
the lady interrupted our count and we
broke into q run. She was executing
Spanish dance around a. small
washed-out heap of sand and shells.
We bawled at Emilio to bring the
tools and in the meantime attacked
the hummock with hand and foot.
Two minutes hard digging and we
had unearthed a brass-bound cam
phor-wood chest, about two feet by
one by one. A sudden silence fell
upon us all.
Lets open It'll" whispered our Pan
dora. ="
Nor said Boles, 'let's get it aboard
and get out as quick as we can"
Staggering under the weight of the
little chest, which was delightfully."-
heavy, we hurried back to the beach
then paused in CONSERVATION. $50.
why, where's the boat?" cried Mrs
Hunter. r s ~,
In silence we made our way to
where we had left the dinghy. Not
a trace Of her was visible.
Jordan. Knapp can tell the rest Of
the yarn better than I can.
After the rest of the people had
showed off to go ashore and look for
the treasure box, got out the glass