Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1911-03-02
Do nnlanea AZ any tImo.

Do nnl6ned AZ any time.
of tho way for the prosen.
Roscoe hurried on, searching rtate
rooms and passagewaya and hnally
the crews quarters, forwgrd.
Whom no had satlHed himself tina,
ho and his men were In undlsputed
possession OF the yacht, no emerged
on deck again by the forward hatch
way and found Captain Planck al
ready there He directed him to I'd
below with Schwartz, who had beet
engineer aboard tho whaler, and ge
Ri"am mp as promptly AZ possible. Hl
himself remained on deck. drectlni
tho unloading and Btowage Of thos
precious golden slabs that the reRN
Of tho party were bring out In boat.
from the shore,
We've got It all, Roscoe, unless yo
want them barrels OF whale OIL"
man IN the last boat sang out as the,A
came alongside :
Wen leave them to pay for TIL
nlckel.plated ship" Roscoe answere I
'Comel Look alive and get aboar-5
Wen bo ready to start as soon US "
can get little daylight" -
He looked them over, numborN
them No II they had been 40 ma! :
sheep, noted that they were all hoi
except poor Miguel; Plauok arg
Schwartz we're down toiling at III
boilers "A
Stay here TN I come back" M
commanded I'm going below to seE
that eyerything's slowed all right
When l como back want to talk toI
you"
He disappeared down the after
hatchway, switched on light and in.
dulged in long, satisfied look at the
great masses OF precious metal which
we're stacked according to his dlrec.
tions, 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, 80 that It's
precious contents would not be tam.
pered with, and bring the key away
with him. He was not afraid that any
Of HIS crew would try to steal II, but
he thought the moral effect of having
It locked away whore 1t was lnacces.
sible to them, and Of his keeping tho
keyin his own possession, would bo a
help in maintaining his prestige 40
commander. They knew the sea bet
ter than he did, Just as he knew the
nature Of goldbearing rock It was
necessary TO do something 10 bolster
up his position as chief OF the party
and keep It above dispute. lie did not
want 20 have to kill any Of them yet
The Aurora would be shorthanded
enough rs 1t was
But there was one more reason for
that hurried trip to the strongroVm
He wanted to be sure that q certain
rosewood box had como aboard along
with the treasure and what few stores
they We're 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 II came
into his hands that day he had Yield
ed to his first impulse to shatter IT,
for the thing had always Knocked him
-coluetted with him.
lie had often seen It lying open on
Captain Fieldlng's table in the tiny
waled-o6 cubby hole of room they
called the captains cabin, while the
captain himself was writing up his |
Journal or working upon his charts.
lie had. during that drst winter, fre-
Quently thought OF trying to open It,
should the opportunity offer Itself,
After the murder, when he took that .
little room for his own quarters, he
found the box and preserved II with
the idea that now, at least, he would |
got the better Of II, He knew what .
its contents we're we'll enough-Cap- |
tain Fieldlng's charts and Journal, and |
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 So he would kick the thing TO
pieces and destroy its contents
That was all there was to It at frst
but during the next winter when the
long night kept them prisoners in
their narrow quarters, the mystery |
OF thnt 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 the exception
Of the Portuguese, they tried Hour
after hour they labored with It, and In
v0rlably they failed
The rest Of them gave It up, and |
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 were fools and weaklings, that /.