The Glenwood post., 1911-05-27

SASSks kSSA NAtedS AohSA SAN
schwartx were down toiling at the
boilers.
Stay here till l come back" he
commanded. I'm going below to see
that everything's slowed all right.
When I come back I want to talk to
you"
He disappeared down the after
hatchway. switched on a light and in
dulged in q long, satisfied look at the
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 see that
the gold was stored correctly and he
meant to lock the room up. 80 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 1t, but
he thought the moral effect of having
1t locked away where 1t was inaoces-
sible to them. and Of his keeping the
keyin his own possession, would be q
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 a. 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 ~ 1t 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 first impulse to shatter it,
for the thing had always Knocked him
-coQuetted with him.
He had often seen 1t lying open on
Captain Feldings table in the tiny
walled-off cubby hole of a 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
found the box and preserved 1t 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 F1elding'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 80, 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 1t could
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
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.
1t was toward the end of that WIN
ter that the Portuguese made sug
gestion destined to bear fruit. Its
curse that has sealed up that box"
he said. you can't open it, and If
you break it, 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
fecting them. Sometimes, after a 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 1t. 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
by the hut and the little clump Of sur
rounding out-buildings, it was prob
able that some members Of the Au-
rora's party. at least. would survive
the winter. II relief ship should
arrive the next summer. or even. the
summer thereafter. It would probably