Gilpin observer., 1911-05-11

them as If they had been so many
sheep. noted that they were all here.
except poor Miguel; Planck and
Schwartz were down toiling at the
boilers.
Stay here till 1 come back" he
commanded. I'm going below to see
that everything's slowed all right.
When / come back want to talk to
you"
He disappeared down the after
hatchway. switched'on a light and in
dulged in a long, satisfied look at the
great masses of precious metal which
were stacked. according to his direc-
| tons. 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, 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 be
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. 1t was
necessary to do something to bolster
up his position as chief of the party
and keep it above dispute. He did not
want to have to kill any Of them yet.
| The Aurora would be short-handed
| enough as 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 1t. He had
sometimes wished that when it came
into his hands that day he had yield
ed to his first impulse to shatter it.
-coquetted with him.
| He had often seen 1t lying open on
Captain Ffelding'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 1t with
the idea that now, at least. he would
| hatfar M Ho " a
Its contents were we'll enough-Cap-
tain Fielding'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 it could
have. One by one, with the exception
Of the Portuguese, they tried Hour
after hour they labored with 1t, 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
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. TITS
a curse that has sealed up that box, '
he said You can't open It, and II
you break it, the curse will kill you. y
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
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 hat
done upon the owner Of 1t. The crime
was there inside.
To overcome that feeling. he hat
worked all the harder trying to solve
its secret.
His interest, now, however, in ma
king sure that the box had really beer
brought aboard the Aurora was no
superstitious. but wholly practical
They were leaving most OF their store.
behind them. as there was no tim,
either to transport them to the Au
rora or to destroy them. With thes,
stores and with the shelter afforde,
by the hut and the little clump of sur
rounding out-buildings, 1t was prob
able that some members of the Au
roras party. at least, would surviv,
| ~. IT, t-p ~