The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1911-06-01

tAao - 4 they had bssa % aaAy
shssA notsd that they vsrs all hers.
e1ooDe poor Miguel: PlaAek anA
ochvasts we're down toiling at ths
boiloss.
Stay Asre till l come back" hs
coonanAe1. I'm going below TO ses
that svssythings slowed all right
Whsa come back I want to talk to
you"
He disappeared down tAs after
hatchvay. switched On . light and in
dulgsd In . long, satisfied look at the
great masses Of precious metal which
were stacked. according TO his dirso-
tions. in the strongroom.
His purpose in coming down here
was throofold. He meant to So that
the gold vas stored correctly and he
meant to lock the room up. 20 that its
precious contents would not b tam
pered with. and bring the key away
with him He was not afraid that any
Of his crew would try to steal IT, but
he thought the moral effect of having
It locked away whore It was inacces-
sibls to them. and Of his keeping the
keyin his own possession, would b. Q
help In maintaining his prestige ~
commander. They knew the sea bet.
ter than he did. 1ust a. he knew the
nature oe gold-bsaring rock. It was
necessary to do something to bolster
up his position - chief Of the party
and keep It above disputs. He did not
want to have to kill any Of them yet.
The Aurora would be shorthanded
enough - It was.
But there was one more reason for
that hurried trip to the strongroom.
He wanted to be sure that . certain
rosewood box had come aboard along
with the 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
ed to his hrst impulse to shatter It,
for the thing had always mocked him
-coQuetted with him.
He had often seen 1t lying open on
Captain Fielding's table in the tiny
walled-on cubby hole of q room they
called tho captains cabin. while tho
captain himself was writing up his
journal or working upon his charts.
He had, during that first winter. fire.
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 It with
the idea that now. at least, he would
get the better Of It, He knew what
its contents were we'll enough-Cap-
tain Felding'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 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 the exception
Of the Portuguese, they tried. Hour
after hour they labored with It, and In
variably they failed.
The rest of them gave 1t 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
he. Roscoe. was the only man among
them. Such conviction was neces.
sary 10 his leadership.
It was toward the end of that WIN
ter that the Portuguese made a sug-
gestion destined to bear fruit IT'S
q curse that has sealed up that box"
he said You can't open it, and IL
you break 1t. the curse will kill you"
He evidently believed implicitly
in this theory, for no persuasion could
induce him to touch the box himself
Gradually the others had shown, by
little involuntary acts, shrinkings and
glances, that Miguers belief was In
fecting them. Sometimes. after long
succession Of sleepless. lightless days,
Roscoe found himself believing it, too.
and regarding that little box as the
sealed-up casket of the murder he had
done upon the owner of it. The crime
was there inside.
To overcome that feeling, he had
worked all the harder trying to solve
its secret
His interest, now, however, in ma
king sure that the box had really been
brought aboard the Aurora was not
superstitious, but wholly practical.
They were leaving most Of their stores
behind them. as there was no time
either to transport them to the Au-
rora or to destroy them. With these
stores and with the shelter afforded