Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1909-08-28
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Gadtz

Holy Mother of God!" and De No
va, in his excitement, danced about
recklessly, forgetting the slipperiness
Of deck underfoot. 1T was re treas
ure ship! 1t was ze tree million
pesos! Sacre dam!
1t does not appear possible that I
perceived 1t all, but now. looking back,
l can recall the attitude of every man
as this revelation Of the vessels iden-
tity was swiftly borne in upon his con-
seriousness. Sanchez sank affrighted-
ly to his knees, lingering the beads
of rosary, his lips muttering inar-
ticulate fragments of prayer; Dade
stared, white-faced and trembling, his
mouth wide open; Kelly jerked his
cap from off his red hair and swung
1T over his head with a wild yell;
Johnson never stirred, motionless
statue, his lips compressed; the negro
Joined De Nova, his eyes rolling, his
great feet pounding the snow; while
Mcknight grabbed the ak from KEEL
ly's needless fingers and began slash
ing at the door. AS for myself, at
the instant everything was chaos Tut
tie was right, then; he had seen all
that he said; our voyage had not been
causeless, search after a will-o'-the-
wisp; the sacrifices, suffering, loss of
these past months, were not all in
vain. Out of Antarctic solitudes, re-
leased from the merciless grip Of the
ice by some marvel Of deliverance,
this treasure galleon of Old Spain,
this ancient tomb Of dead sailors. had
come drifting down to US, veritable
gift Of God. The knowledge stunned
me; dazed my perceptions. It seemed
miracle. could only press my
hands to my eyes, stare blindly at that
inscription, and struggle back to
conception of reality. It was Kelly's
wild shout and Meningitis blow that
aroused me, recalling me as instantly
to command.
stop that" shouted, catching the
latter roughly by the arm. I'VE shall
need that cabin door. II there indeed
be treasure down below, we can
hunt for 1t like men and not maniacs.
Mcknight, II you strike another blow
I'll drop you where you stand. Take
knives and dig the ice out Of the
cracks. Get down on your knees at
the bottom, Dade, and don't stand
there like fool. De Nova, see If you
can locate the front windows-there
must be two of them-and cut the ice
away from the shutters"
AS they labored feverishly, their
breath steaming In the frosty air, the
moonlight silvering them and gleam-
ing weirdly on the scattered ice-frag-
ments, the haunting mystery of that
hermetically sealed cabin brought to
me feeling of unutterable horror
Heaven! how long had it been thus
frozen in? What awful tragedy Of an
other century was about to be re-
vealed? What years Of loneliness, of
darkness. of polar night and cold had
this derelict of the grim Antarctic ex-
perienced? Where had 1t been? What
Of those who had sailed on board out
Of Guayaquil that fair June day Of
1853, dreaming of the glad welcome
awaiting them in sunny Spain? What
Of the crew, hardy seamen all, black
bearded, the gold loops, in their ears?
What Of the passengers? What Of the
five women who had walked these
decks? Where had they died, and
how?
clenched my hands, nay nerves
throbbing. tramping from rail to rail
in excitement as the men hacked, yet
I was first to grasp the exposed latch,
and force the released wood back
ward in its groves. Through the mar
how opening thus attained there came
whistling a blast 50 frigid as to drive
us headlong back, gasping for breath.
Cold az it was w::tthAoS: there On the
open deck, that cabin revealed tenn
perature so awful in intensity as to
make US recoil before 1t, our hands to
our faces. A hundred years Of win
ter-the black eternal winter Of the
south pole-smote us with icy breath,
seeming fairly to scar the flesh with
it's frozen touch. Dade dropped un-
der it, and we dragged him aside. sob
bling like baby. It was several min
utes before we could even draw near
enough to hack away more of the ice
and. with the Ak. drive the door far
Their back into it, grooves.
It was intensely dark within, every
window and portfolio shrouded, only
the narrow door-opsning permitting
the slight glimmer Of the moon to
touch the edge Of the black interior.
wrapped nay mufder to the very eyes,
and stepped across the threshold, feel.
ing az II the icy air Erasped me- with
actual fingers, yet resolute to learn
all. and confident no other there would
ever venture It. touched IN over
turned bench with my knee; my An
gers explored the back of q heavy
iichair having . csJvs1 '::cS;; >. snA then