The Washington herald., 1912-06-02

lulcICSL le.
So. seizing the spades, the two now
worked assidhousiy wfiie the night
wind, blowing fresh IN their faces,
sobbed through the branches, the
few scattered trees, and through the
long reeds, with a sombre and thrilling
wall. Some curious bird eroaked from
the march, a fish splashed at the wat
er's edge, and, as the two dark forms
bent to their task, the dull thud of the
sand. .ss it was thrown out of the hole
by their exertions, sounded ominousiy
dull and sombre.
No sooner had the trapper's spade
gone down two feet, than he struck
some hard material, and. as the sand
was worked away, it could be seen
that this was the top of large cask,
or box. The iron ring was attached
to a chain, which led to the top of this,
and as the two gradually uncovered
the boards, It was evident that here
was a cask of full six feet in diameter.
Further excavation disclosed the fact
that it had sQuarish sides and that the
round top was part of a somewhat OBJ
long oaken chest, which, as they dug
deeper, seemed to be sunk full four feet
in the ground
The moon had now come up. and,
although shadowed by heeting clouds,
pale light aided the two treasure
hunters. Down, down into ohe sand
they went, and, after an hour had been
consumed in this work, all sides of the
chest were visible 1t was too heavy
to be lifted
wall, reckon that I'd better open
her up, son." said the trapper. AN
I'm goin' kinder easy like, tod, cause
she's liable tew have somethin break
able on top"
So, with the pick and sheath knife,
he carefully made a wedge in the top,
and, after much prying and exertion,
finally lifted the round top from the
case. A black piece of tarpaulin was
below, and, on top of this, small pack
age, wrapped in oil skin.
Ripping open the tarpaulin with his
sheath-knife, the trembling hands of
the trapper now disclosed a sight which
made them both stare in bewilderment,
for, in the dim light of the lanterns,
assisted by the still DINNER moon, copld
be seen the glisten and glimmer of
gold and silver coins of many shapes
and sizes. There were Jewel-hilted
daggers, a pistol of two, silver-mount-
ed. and a Damascus blade of much
beauty and skilful workmanship. Sew
eral candle-sticks of gold were buried
underneath, which looked Spanish in
design, and. as they put etheir eager
fingers into the bottom of the pile, they
unearthed a small gun, heavily jeweled,
and from an inscription upon the han
die, saw that it dated from the century
previous.
It's a reglar treasure trove, an I
reckon we're got all that belonged tew
tn Sparhawke," whispered Old Flint
lock. Now, suppose you rip open this
here yellow oilskiu package an we'll
see what other treasure We have tew
carry of with US"
But, the opening of this was TO prove
a disappointment, for instead of a roll
of English banknotes, or other treas
ure, was yellow paper and log book.
The second gave the record of the ship
Sparhawke. sailing from the coast of
England and operating for two years
in Cuban and South American waters.
That was seen at a glance The paper,
on the other hand, was of greater in
terest, for. upon opening it, it was
found to be a statement of the amount
of treasure there buried, and a little
history of those who participated in the
cruise Suddenly Jack, who was read
ing the parchment, looked up, aston
ished-
by George, F1intlock," he said. 'T1l
be hanged If one of these old robbers
wasn't a relative of mine. Here It
gives a list of the crew. and among
them is Richard Loughboro. seaman.
Aha! then this perhaps is the fellow
who was to leave me so much in Eng
land. and this, perhaps, is what he had
to leave I'm certainly in luck, and, II
| am correct in NJ suspicious, this gay
blade of an uncle left in America that
which there are explicit directions for,
at my family barrister's Office in the
old country"
Old F1intlock did not reply immedi-
ately, for he was busy with his pick
and shovel Finally, he looked up with
a curious expression on his counten-
ance.
Il thought So" said he. Here's a
couple Nv skeletons. Bullet holes in
their heads, too. It's alters tn case
when pirates and sech bury anythin'.
Alters fall out with each other an go
to KILN. Never knew EN- to do 9TH
erwise fer they're tn worst lot NV
brawlers in tn world. But now, son.
lets git this ar stuff aboard an stow
it in them sacks which l brung with
me, cause we've got tew work hard
until we git this swag oA tn boat"
That's good advice" Jack replied,
and. running to the boat, he soon
brought up two stout sacks, which they
filed with the treasure and then took
to the little vessel where it was slowed
away under the seats. Without speak !
ng, they continued their work of trans !
porting the. treasure, and, before long, !
lad piled up half of it in their little |
vessel, in several stout bags brought |
along by the far-seeing trapper. But, |
low something occurred which made |
10Th of the midnight marauders drop !
heir sacks and their treasure, for, as |
hey were bending over the hole in the
and, and were busily shovelling in the /
lubloons. suddenly the sound of a faint |
luavering voice was borne to them on
he gentle breeze. blowing across the
sland from the mainland. Again the
'oice sounded, and, standing perfectly
Iuiet. they listened as if frozen to their
positions. Now, the sound was more
listant, and, as a more vigorous gust
anne by, they distinctly heard the
words,
Leave it alone Leave it aloneP
Jack was fairly trembling in his
hoes, but the trapper seemed to have
ays;nad his cOn1nosrre for he uttered