White Pine news weekly mining review. [volume] (East Ely, Nev.) 1910-1920, 1914-11-01


his mates he was lost. He would
have to divide with them all, from
the captain down to the cooks boy
1t was a heart-rending thought
From being the most open and frank
man abroad. he became the most cum
ming. From being a man without
enemies. he saw an enemy even in his
shadow.
At 4 o'clock he turned in and slept
like a log.
In the morning he found his oppor-
%tunity. For half an hour the fore
castle was empty of all SAVE himself.
Feverishly he pried back the boards,
found the brace beam. and gently
laid the box there. 1t was a mighty
curious looking box. Once he had
stocked up the Chinese coast from the
Philippines, and he judged 1t to be
Chinese in origin. He tried to pry
open the v and feast his eyes
upon the treasure; but under the
leather and ivory and mother of pearl
was i%mpreyious steel. 1t would take
an ak or a crowbar to stir that lid.
He sighed. He replaced the boards,
and because TO all appearances his
stolid self again.
But all the way down to the Bahia
mas he was moody, and when he an
swered any question it was with
words spoken testify and jerkily.
Il know whut's tn matter" said
Dunkers. He's in love"
shut your mouth"
Didn't | tell yuh? laughed the
tantalizer. dancing toward the COM
panionway. Steve's in love. r he
didn't get drunk enough on shore t
satisfy his whales BELLY"
A boot thudded spitefuliy against
the door jamb.
You fellahs let me alone, r I'll
bash in a couple o. heads,"
20, yuh will, will yuh cried
Dunkers from the deck. IF yuh
want a little exercise. yuh can begin
on me, yuh moonsick swab, Whut's
tn matter with yuh. anyhow?
Where'd yuh git this crouch?
Whut've We don t yuh? Huh
You keep out o. my way. that's
all I'm mindin' my watches. an
don't ask no odds of you buffers.
What If | have a grouch2 Is it any
O. lour blame business? All right.
When We step ashore at tn Bahams,
Jim Dunkers. I'll tear the ropes out
o you pnlly blocks. But till We git
there, you L the upper bunk an me
L mine,
Leave tn oil crouch alone, Jim.
Tn mate Wont stand for no scrap
pin aboard. Well have tn thing
done right in tn custom sheds. Well
have a finish fight. Queensberry rules.
an may tn best man win"
I'm within" said jim.
Som /, agreed Steve. But his
intentions were not honorable. He
proposed to desert before any. fight
took place. Not that he was physi-
eally. afraid: no; he wanted to dig
his hands deep into those doubloons
and pieces-of-eight.
So the four days down passed
otherwise uneventfully, amid paint
pots and iron rust and three meals a
day of pork. onion soup. potatoes
and strong. bitter coffee. The winds
became light and balmy and the sea
blue and gentle. The men went
about in their undershirts and
dungarees, barefooted. OF course
the coming fight was the main top
ic OF conversation. 1t promised to
be a rafting good scrap. for both
men were evenly matched, and both
had a kick in either hand. Even
the captain took a mild interest in
the affair. He was an old sailor.
He knew that there was no such
word as arbitration in a sailors vo-
e~abulary; his disputes could be set
tied only in one manner. by his cal
loused fists.
When the old mudhook land some
day Steve was going to buy it and
hang it over the entrance of the Gil
son house) slithered down into the
smiling waters of the bay, Steve
concluded that discretion was the
better part of valor. He would steal
ashore on the quarantine tug which
lay alongside. He was willing to
fight under ordinary circumstances,
but he must get his treasure in safe
ty first. They could call him a WEIGH
er If they wanted to; devil a bit
did he care. So he pried back the
boards of his bunk wall. took out the
box. eyed IL fondly. and noted for the
first time the lettering on it:
STANLEY HARGREAvE.