The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1910-05-30

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lunch room took . seat and gave my
order to . waiter. who. when he had
~ oiled II, sat down at the table with me-
v2SSSS22 Il was very late. and his duties were
you're looking WELL" he remarked. q his glance
travelled over my evening clothes: a cov.
cred with mud, carrying . stern line ashore In the
Welland Canal"
II know the we,land Canal, however. though / am
trying to forget that ditch"
you can't" he laughed mo man can WI" no ever e,s
SANTANA was my hrst and last ! struck Tor san
water again when the old man paid mo Of at Port
me?" He mentioned his name, and with little
effort I recalled him-a schoolmate . little older
tesn navigator to .
ON his record. nrst mate In the schooner tnat
carried me before the mast and to meet MS water
loo in the Welland Canal. the navigation OF which
demands qualities never taught nor acquired In the
curriculum Of seafaring After grounding the
several - ;, q. In: an
coming Of his mistakes. he was discharsed by the
skipper A. thought Of =; : The he. 3.Ss 5s
Q waiter I Q writer, fought out grudge OF
twenty years standing. But It ended amicably;
called him farmer. he called mo . soldier ana
"rve learned" he said. a. We settled back: only
in the last month or So that you're the fellow that
write real sea stories?
"For the same reason that you don't serve real
j answered,
connection he had served me. IT couldn't sell a
real story. Truth 10 too strange to pose a. hcuon
Were all buffers. guess You are here In this
not now. I'm singing hash. ana glad Of the chance
But was . millionaire for time. Not long But
while It lasted had dreams-big dreams
"You must have read in the papers few weeks
back" he began. about that bunch Of college men
that chartered the old racer Maynower. nned ner
up with diving gear and dynamite. and went down
after the treasure in the Santa Margherita."
nodded assent Yes, and hurricane hit them
They're keeping num-" he said "and mean to
try again; but It's use. That treasure 10 seven
hundred miles to the nor noreast now. and was
the hold Of . small schooner. sunk IN four hundred
fathons. I never heard. Of that treasure ship un-
1t Cedar Keys and mixed in with the boarding
house crowd. There was . fellow out Of Job
that he talked about. but never showed. He told
10 al about that old Spanish ship that went down
with all hands in the sixteenth century. carving
and Jewels: and he knew the location. He had got
It from drunken diver who had seen her on the
sn her en While he
wormed out Of the skipper the latitude and longi-
tude OF the place. And now he wanted to enlist
CAPITAL. or make up Q crew OF men that would do
the work. Dead easy. he said Just to get there.
drag the bottom with two boats and length Of
chain until the wreck was located. then to down
In . diving suit hook on to the chests and hoist
:Wsi, IN the crowd that he talked to there wasn't
. dollar. We were all dead broke, but We were all
ambitious. There was Pango Pete. nigser six foot
tall. who couldn't write his name. but he was
Pasqualai. These two were the kind that will choke
you before they ask the time Of night. Then there
was Sullivan. old man Sullivan. decrepit
his life. and never got nrst mates berth
because he couldn't master NAVIGATION. And
the romance and the glory Of tho life at sea-rot.
% you and know. but he was enthusiastic, and
that was enough. A trio Of Dutchmen were taken
Au-U ya~~ waSso ~nA PnYlou
down on their luck. A Portuguese named Christie.
and two sou'wesian brothers named Swanson COM
end Of the fruit dock. where the oyster boats
In and make fast, and where the downsand.outs
congregats to smoke and boast Of the prosperous
past
But this crowd talked OF the prosperous future
Seven millions, said Gleason. lay down there on
Turks Island in less than sixty fathoms. and all
We needed was some kind Of = craft to get
there diving suit. and storage battery to light
up bulb to search for the treasure These things
for supplies We ssed her up. and Gleason went
Wild a. her different fittings and appliances showed
up. There were the diving dresses We needed:
there was the storage battery: there the
extra anchors for moorinE craft over certain
spot. and the air pump: and paraphern.na for div-
. small craft. and was manned by men who did not
act and talk like sailors There seemed to be no
and talked back and forth ~ though all were equal
company said Gleason. Just like 10. only
they've got the money. and possibly the secret.
such matters as the ownership Of the schooner and
the outdt can be settled afterwards. possibly out
q court. What do you say? Are you game!'
I'VE we're. We laid low but watched and when
that schooner WAS filed up with grub. we were
ready to raid her and chuck the crew overheard:
but It wasn't necessary to DO the latter. They
Alsd mp too late for the tide and went ashore for
the evening. leaving no one aboard but japanese
cook we remembered - We climbed aboard after
dark. that We hadn't man among US who could
cook and 90. instead Of dropping that jap over
the rail- We sscspiy locked him into stateroom and
made sa0.