The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1914-09-05
CHAPTER XVII.
Treasure-TroVe.


Now viii some one tell me
Eho is Bucks?"
Blythe spoke up like a flash.
He was one of the sailors that
took the Santa Theresa. Quinn
gave a list of them in his story.
This fellow must have escaped,
somehow. when the ship was
blown up"
Eyes. but Quinn does not men
tion that Bucks got ashore.
That's funny, too. because he says
that he was the only man from
the Santa Theresa left alive after
Bully Evans was shot"
THAT Is queer. But it's plain
Bucks did escape. Don't you think
IL might be this way? When he
got to shore he ran forward to
tell the four who had landed with
the treasure what had happened
to the Theresa. But before he
reached the top of the hill he
heard shots and suspected dan
ger. So he stole Harvard eau
tiously and saw what happened.
So he kept hidden while the two
survivors buried the treasure"
s.Of course. Like a wise man,
too" assented Tom. And when
Quinn and the mate had pulled
their freights he steps out and
buries the gold in another place
The treasures gone. That's rock
bottom fact" Yeager commented.
I'm not so sure about that" |
reflected aloud. Look here. II
Bucks dug the gold up he had to
-rebury IL somewhere. He couldn't
have hauled the other boxes far.
Therefore, 1t follows that he
buried them close to where he
found them. The one thing We
don't know is whether he came
back later and got the treasure.
I'll bet he didn't. The man was
a common sailor and had no
means"
Even IL we give you the
benefit of every doubt, the treas
ure is hidden. We don't know
where. In year we might not
find it."
True enough Sam. And we
might stumble on 1t tomorrow"
The crews disappointment was
keen, but to a man they were
eager to search further.
Hitherto we had staked our
chances for success upon the map,
but Il was now manifest that the
chart was no longer of any use.
decided first to take a look along
the shore from the point where we
had discovered the first box.
Fortune is a tickle jade. We had
spent a week here and met only
disappointment, working on care
full calculations made from the d.
rections left by Quinn. BY chance
Gallagher had hit on the first
cache. BY chance l hit on the sec
ond.
Fighting my way through the
Jungle just adjacent to the beach
/ stumbled over what I took to be
a root. I looked again. My foot
had been caught by a bone stick
:. ing out of the ground.
I piled my machete and uncov-
cred the remains of a skeleton. An
old sack lay beneath these. This
I removed. There, lying in the
sand. were three bars of gold.
looked around quickly. Alder
son and Gallagher were the only
men / had brought ashore with me
that day. They were digging at
haphazard in the sand a hundred
Yards away. With one stroke of
the pick I upended several more
yellow bars.
That was enough for me. I laid
aside the first three and covered
the others with sand. The three
original bars I buttoned under my
coat and then walked down hill to
the beach.
I'm going aboard" told the
men.
Gallagher, you may row me
out. I'll be back presently, Alder
son."
MY news was hailed with en-
thusiasm on board, and Blythe
sent more men back with me.
chose Yeager, the chief en-
gineer-he was a lank Yankee
named Stubbs-and Jamaica Gin
ger. as we called our second fire
man. With us we took ashort a
stout box, in which to pack the
loose gold.
BY this time 1t was late in the
afternoon. As the bars of gold
were ", vered we packed them
in the brought for the pur-
pose.
Alf made a suggestion.
h't expect to get all the
treal II tonight, do you, sir?"
g" irhaps not by tomorrow
nigh Is hard digging among
so D bots. And MIR. Bucks
doef sem to have put it all
toes ...n . un.r, her.
ND ek?"
looks like a deserted
ne woods. but well take
-
II what I was thinking,
III light / couldn't sleep
for the :. and / strung a ham
mock on deck. About three o'clock
this morning a boat passed on its
way to the mouth of the river.
"ChoIo Indians, likely"
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