The Arvada enterprise., 1911-05-18

them ~ II they had been 10 many
sheep. noted that they were all here.
except poor Miguel: Planck and
Schwartz were down toiling at tho
boilers.
Stay here till I come back" he
commanded. "Pm going below to see
that everything's slowed all right.
When l como back want to talk to
you"
He disappeared down the after
hatchway. switched on light and in
dulged In a long, satisfied look at tho
great masses of precious metal which
were stacked. according to his direc-
tions, In the strongroom.
His purpose in coming down here
was threefold. He meant to SEQ that
the gold was stored correctly and he
meant to lock the room up, SO that its
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 it, but
he thought the moral effect of having
1t locked away where 1t was inacces-
sible to them. and Of his keeping the
keyin his own possession. would bs
help In maintaining his prestige as
commander. They knew the sea bet
ter than he did, Just as he knew the
nature OF gold-bearing rock. It was
necessary to do something to bolster
up his position as chief Of the party
and keep 1t above dispute. He did not
want to have to kill any Of them yet.
The Aurora would be short-handed
enough as 1t was.
But there was one more reason for
that hurried trip to the strongroom.
He wanted to be sure that a 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 1t. He had
sometimes wished that when 1t came
into his hands that day he had yield
ed to his first impulse to shatter 1t,
for the thing had always Knocked him
-coquetted with him.
He had often seen 1t lying open on
Captain Fielding's table in the tiny
walled-off 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, 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 1t. He knew what
Its contents were well enough-Cap-
tain Ffelding'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 1t 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 it 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 it up, and
thnyr ,I, IArn
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 a conviction was neces.
sary to his leadership.
1t was toward the end of that WIN
ter that the Portuguese made a sug
gestion destined to bear fruit. IT'S
curse that has sealed up that box"
he said, You can't open it, and II
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 Miguel's belief was in
tecting 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 thsrp 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
by the hut and the little clump of sur.
rounding out-buildings, 1t was prob.
able that some members of the Au.
rora's party at least, would survive
the winter. II relief ship should