Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1910-12-20
CHAPTER VII.
q

ROSCOE ala uOt pause TO iuVSSIiSSts
the effect Of his blow, o to waste
second one. II the man who had con.
'fronted him there In the companion
way was dead, 90 much the better. II
he we're only %half-dead, the job could
be finished at any time. He was out
OF the way for the present at least
Roscoe hurried on. searching state
rooms and p~aesageways and finally
the crews quarters. forward.
When he had satiaed himself that
he and his men were in undisputed
possession of the yacht, he emerged
| on deck again by the forward hatch
way, and found Captain P1Anck al
ready there. He directed him to 60
! below with Schwartz, who had been
engineer aboard the whaler. and get
steam up a. promptly az possible. He
himself remained on deck. directing
the unloading and stowase Of those
precious golden slabs that the rest
of the party were bring out in boats
from the shore.
We've got 1t all. Roscoe. unless you
want them barrels Of whale OIL" q
man in the last boat sang out q they
came alongside.
Well leave them to pay for this
nickel-plated ship" Roscoe answered.
Comet Look alive and get aboard.
Well be ready to start as soon - we
can get a little daylight"
He looked them over, numbered
sheep. noted that they were all here.
except poor Miguel; Planck and
Schwartz were down telling at the
boilers.
Stay here TIL 1 come back" he
commanded. I'm going below to see
that everything's slowed all right.
When I come back I want to talk to
you"
He disappeared down the after
%hatchway. switched on a light and IN
dulged IN a long, satisfied look at the
great masses Of precious metal which
were stacked. according 20 his direc-
tons, in the strongroom.
His purpose in coming down here
was threefold. He meant to see that
the gold was stored correctly and he
meant to lock the room up, sc that Its
precious contents would not be AM
pered with, and bring the key away
with him. He was not afraid that any
of his crew would try to seal It, but
he thought the moral effect Of having
Il locked away where It was inacceo-
sible to them. and Of his keeping tho
keyin his OWL possession, would b Q
help in m~aintainlng his prestige -
commander. They knew tho e BET
ter than he did. Just as he knew the
necessary to do something to bolster
up his position AZ chief Of the party
and keep It above dispute. He did not
want to have to kill my Of them yet.
The Aurora would be short-handed
enough as 1t a
But there was n more reason for
that hurried trip to the strongroom.
He wanted to be sure that q certain
rosewood box had come aboard a1on8
with tho treasure and what few stores
they were taking away with them.
That little box had occupied much
Of his leisure since the day when he
had murdered the owner Of IT. He had
sometimes wished that when 1t came
into his hands that day he had yield
cd : his first impulse to shatter It,
Tor the thing had always Knocked him
-coquetted with him.
He had often seen 1t lying open on
Captain F1elding's Aable in the tiny
walled-oR cubby hole Of . room they
called the captains cabin. while the
captain himself was writing up his
Journal or working upon his charts.
He had, during that first winter. ire
quently thought Of trying to open IT,
should tho opportunity offer itself.
After the murder. when he took that
little room for his own quarters, he
found the box and preserved 1t with
the idea that now. at least. he would
get the better Of 1t. He knew what
its contents were we'll enough-Cap
tain F1elding's charts and journal. ana
he had no curiosity concerning them.
But the secret mechanism Of the box
itself tantalized him. and he meant
some day to solve It. Once he had
done 80, he would kick the thing to
pieces and destroy its contents.
That was all there was to It at first
but during the next winter. when the
long night kept them prisoners in
their narrow quarters. the mystery
Of that little rosewood box took on
an added importance to him and to
the others. out of all proportion to any
effect which the solution Of 1t could
have. One by one. with tho exception
Of the Portuguese, they tried. Hour
after hour they labored with II, and In
variably they failed.
The rest Of them gave 1t up. ana
their admitted defeat gave Roscoe an
other incentive for solving the thing
himself, for he meant to leave no
stone unturned to convince them that
they we're focls and weakltrga: that
he, Roscoe, vas the only man amonS
them. Such q conviction was neces'
sary to his leadership.
It was toward the end Of that win
ter that tho Portuguese made . suS-
gestion destined to bear fruit "1ts
q curse that has sealed up that box"
he said. You can't open 1t, and II
you break 1t, the curse win hill you"
He evidently believed implicitly
In this theory, for no persuasion could
induce him to touch the boz himself
Gradually the others had shown BY
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