The Montgomery tribune. (Montgomery City, Mo.) 1892-1910, 1910-06-24

decks In discomfort, now that the shin
and weather rave us little occasion
for concern. Here they vigorously
piled the cleaver, working In relays OF
two hours each. during the remainder
OF the day and night. After break
fast had been served we all of us went
below to unite our strength in hauling
forth the loosened box from the ice
cavity.
We accomplished this by ~resorting
to block and tackle, and even then ex-
perienced no small diff Guilty in drag.
ging 1t away from the ice grip. Under
the dim candlelight 1t appeared a fair
sized sea-chest, constructed OF some
heavy, dark wood, and bound secure
ly by metal bands, with a cumbersome
lock. A considerable quantity of wa
ter from somewhere continued to seer
down into the lazarette, making the
hoor an icy puddle, and so we tailed on
to the ropes again, and hoisted the
chest up through the trap-door out up
on the cabin deck. / could find no
keys in any of the state-rooms. and
we must have been half an hour break
ing the rusty lock and prying open
the lid, the only sounds audible the
blows struck and the heavy breathing
OF the men. Finally we wrenched apart
the last band, and our eager eyes be-
held the revealed contents-pieces-of-
eight. yellow and level to the top,
There was a wild yell. a fierce scram-
Bile, the crazed men digging their fin
gers into the coins, handling them,
fondling them, laughing and crying
like children in their excitement, and
cursing each other as they struggled
for a chance at the box. For the mo-
ment, staring down at the dull glow of
the metal, l ever lost control Of my
sell, scarcely aware of the mad uproar.
1t was actually there-there before
me! That old Spanish record had all
e true; here, and beneath that ice
between decks lay the remainder
three million pesos! Here was the
wealth of a king; here, almost within
reach of u hands, and it was all ours
ours, IL we could only bring it forth
to where it possessed value.
If we only could! The thought
struck me like a blow. 1 knew the
truth, the truth. There was not one
chance in a thousand-not one. /
made no effort to deceive myself. The
men, even the mate, blinded by the
gold-lust had ignored facts plain as
day to me-the terrible listing of the
ship to port, the constant seeping of
water into the hold, the increasing
soddenness of the staggering hull-all
these combined to tell the story--that
the Donna Isabel was doomed. No
power of men, situated as we were,
could ever save her. The protecting
ice-sheath. by help of which she had
drifted ghost-like out of the Antarctic,
pounded by the fierce seas, loosened
by the milder air of more northern
attitudes, had already commenced to
make of, and the invading water was
discovering %crevices everywhere along
her ancient seams. We had come to
the gold; We had discovered 1t; it
was ours. But we could only gaze on
1t, and give it back to the ocean in ex-
change for u lives. i Strengthened
up, my lips compressed. and looked be.
yond the struggling figures of the men
into Doris questioning gray eyes.
Father of Mercy, 1 possessed some
thing worth more than ~money-the
o " of a woman! Ay. but what OF
the men? What of the men? 1t would
be cutting their hearts out; yet it
must be done-done. If necessary, with
all the brutality of a slave driver. She
had said this treasure was a curse. a
legacy of crime and death, a prize
dead e Not while retained
mind and body to battle should it cost
our lives I pushed De Nova back
ward, and planted myself across the
open chest, scowling into the uplifted,
angry faces.
That's enough, men. This is part
OF the treasure all right, but there is
no occasion for you to go crazy over
It. Put those coins 5ack-do you hear,
Mcknight?-put them back, and we'll
down the lid. They're nice to
look at. and dream over, but that's
about all the good we'l ever get OF
Were there any signs of 9TH
ers down there in the ice, J~ohnson?"
CTo BE CoNTINUEpo
M LI