The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-04-18

He leaned over to fasten his line to the boat and tow it ashore. Scarcely had
 he laid his head on the boat before the man opened his eyes and began to move but in a way that filled even the reck-
 less Fake with an unnameable dread.
 "Where am F" asked the old man in 1 Dutch, after a deep sigh. Fake, who had learned their language
 from the herring catchers of Holland,
 told him the name of the island and asked him whence and how he had come. "I come" replied the old man in a
 hoarse voice, ito search for the Carmii- han"
 "The Carmilhanr' screamed wilm
 Fake, unable tocontrol himself. Speak!
 In heavens name, what is the Carmil- | han?"
 "I will not answer questions that are put in that way" replied the old man with visible terror.
 well, then" roared Fake, what Is the Carmilhan?"
 "The CarmIlhan," replied the yellow l figure, 'fs nothing now. Once it was a
 fair ship, laden with more gold than ever was carried by any other vessel that sailed the seas"
 "Where did it sink and when?" de- manded Fake.
 "It was hundred years ago. Where 1t was I do not know exactly. I come to seek for 1t. If you will help me fish up the lost gold, we can share it. I know how to discover the spot where the Car
 milhan lies"
 q will help you. Tell me what can i do," said wilm Fake. his brain a-whirl | with desire.
 l "What must be done demands courage" croaked the little yellow man. "A little | before midnight you must lead a COW | into the widest and most desolate part l of this island. There you must kill the | animal and let somebody wrap you close | ly in her skin. Your companions must l leave you there. Before the hour of 1 | o'clock strikes you will know where the | treasures of the Carmilhan are hidden. | Wilm Fake stared at the old man with dread. "In that way old Engrol fell into the hands of the devil with body and
 soulr' he cried, shrinking from the boat | that held the creature. ''You are the Evil One! Go back to your hell"' He | pulled away with mighty strokes. 'I
 will have nothing to do with you!" he
 shouted.
 l The little old man gnashed his teeth, | cursed and screamed after him, but Wilm | Fake soon was out of sight and hearing
 behind the rock tongue that jutted into l the sea-
 1 His belief that the Evil One had tried l to win his soul did not deter the fisher man from continuing his search for the l gold. On the contrary, 1t confirmed him in the determination to find the treasure which he now felt certain lay somewhere
 near the cavern. He thought that he could use the old mans information with out falling into the snare of the devil.
 From that moment he did not cast a net again for fish. He let the field lie
 untitled Day in and day out he cast his
 dredge along the bleak shore until at last all the money that the two men had saved was gone and actual privation came to them.
 Kaspar Strumpf tried hard to work foi both. Although their condition was due solely to Wilm Fakes madness foi
 wealth, his companion made neither
 complaint nor objection, but showed tht
 same confidence in Fakes superior in-
 telligence and sense as he had shown ir
 the days when everything that Fake at
 tempted was successful
 Fake was keenly alive to the condi
 ton to which he had brought the affec
 tionate Kaspar. That he had robbed hin | of his savinGs was source of intens