Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1904-12-10


chief he pressed to his lips was stained
with his life blood.
Tom hastily summoned the captain.
but the old miner sank into an uncon-
scious state, and before morning Tom
was the only living occupant of the lit
tie stateroom.
But behind the thin partition which
separated it from the mates room sat
that worthy himself with look of tri-
umph on his evil face.
There were no witnesses, and what
is TO prevent my being Mr.. Tom Scott
and becoming a mine owner" he NUT
tered to himself. 81 must have that pa
per IL have TO kill him to get It'll"
On the following day the remains of
the old miner were consigned to the
deep, and as Tom saw the weighted
canvas disappear beneath the blue wa
tiers, his grief outweighed every other
sentiment and drove all thoughts of his
inheritance from his head. He had
grown to love the rugged old man like
brother. and ii was the first time he
had been brought face to face with
death.
That night as he was about TO retire,
he remembered the slip of paper given
him by his dying friend. and which he
had not yet examined He had placed
II In the belt and tossed the latter into
his chest at the time. and a huge lump
swelled in his throat now as he lifted
the lid and drew II forth.
Carefully arranged in the various
compartments were bills to the amount
II $1,000, and these he transferred to
his own belt at once. The paper was
evidently torn from a blank book, and
contained these lines in a bold hand:
''Old Partner; II YOU haven't forgotten
the old days and the bargain we made,
come out and share my find with me.
i have struck II rich. l have written to
Eli l have & new vham with me, too.
Come TO Dyea and take the old Dalton
trail No one uses IL now. IL goes Just
west OF Arkell lake and runs straight for
Fort Selkirk. It's almost dead north by
the compass. About 80 miles before II
reaches the fort 1t splits of to the left.
A big white clife faces the trail You can't
mistake II. The main trail keeps on TO
the right. Take the other 1t only goes
about so miles and leaves you at the en-
uance OF big gorge. Camp there and
make a big smoke. IL you have TO bring
ANYONE 10 nClD DC sure OF your man. we
have grub enough TO last till spring, and
then my partner, Joe Tarbox, is coming TO
Dyca for supplies. Hell get the re in April
or May, l expect. There is gold here by
the ton II we only had water 10 wash Il out
i am sending this from the fort by an In
dian packer. Came here after candles and
hour. Your old friend.
DICK TAYLOR"
Toms heart was beating like a trip
n "a rar, Ea g. ~ Il. l..
now realized that the old miners words
were not of ligh, import. The note bore
the imprint of truth in every line, and
FOR awhile he could scarcely realize
what he had read.
He had no suspicion that the mate
was at that moment gluing his eye to
crack in the bulkhead and vainly try
ng TO get a glimpse OF the paper of
which he had heard the dying man
speak the night before. In his villain
Gus heart, he had sworn that Tom Scott
should never grasp the golden treasure,
but how 10 prevent him was the ques-
ton. Clearly he must obtain possession
of the precious paper, but how was this
TO be done?
His pcephole was TOO small TO enable
him to tell where Tom kept it, but as he
heard the lid Of the chest closed he
drew a long breath ana muttered:
Its in his donkey! ri find a way TO
have peep inside.,f il before we get to
Frisco. Ii would never do to trouble it
now. He'd suspect n, The first thing of
he missed it. must rig some kind of
a derrick on him. that's sure!"
For the next few days he cudgeled
his brains for some safe means OF at
tanning his ends, but without success.
Then chance did what he had failed
to do.
Land ho!" was the welcome cry
from aloft one morning just after sun
rise, while the captain and second mate
were asleep, the mate was stumping
the deck and Tom, who had turned
out earlier than usual, was standing on
the topgallant forecastle watching a
school of fish play about the bows. He
ran up the forerigging at once TO catch
glimpse of the welcome sight
''Now's my time" said, the mate, I'M
der his breath, as Tom went over the
foretop and began to swarm up the
topmast rigging. He'll go clean up to
the man on the gallant yard before he
sees it."
The next moment he had stolen soft
ly down the cabin stairs, entered Toms
room and tried the lid of the chest.
To his surprise it was not locked, and
there on top, half hidden by the sleeve
of an old coat, lay John Avery's belt be-
fore him. His fingers trembled as with
feverish haste he pulled it open, and
then a furious oath came through his
bristling beard.
The belt was emptyi
A rapid search convinced him that
the object he sought was not in the
chest. and hastily rearranging the arti-
cles as he had found them he closed
the lid and stepped out Of the room to
meet Capt. Coffin face to face in the
narrow passage.