Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-09-12

III you are weakl1ng, either you are made
strong, you die
An honest ship, but down at the heel,
rode at anchor in the sound, a fourth-rater of
the hooker breed; that is, her principal line
of business was hauling barges up and down
the coast When she could not pick up enough
barges to make it pay, why, she'd go galavant-
ing down to Cuba for bales of tobacco or over
to the Bermudas for the heaven smelling
onion. Today she was an onion ship; which
precludes any idea of adventure. She was
about 1000 tons, and her engines were stern
ward and not amidship. She carried two
masts and half dozen hoist booms, and the
only visible sign of anything new on her was
her bowsprit This new doubtless because
she had poked her nose too far into her last
slip.
Her crew was orderly and tractable. There
were shore drunks, to be sure, because they
were sailors; but they were a peaceful lot
withal. At this moment they were at work
They moved about briskly, for they were on
the point OF sailing for the Bahamas-perhaps
for more onions. Presently the windIass
creaked and shrilled and the blobby links,
much in need of tar paint red as fish gills,
eIattered down into the bow. Sometimes they
painted the chain as it came over; but paint
was costly, and this was done only when the
anchor threatened to stay on the bottom.
There was a sailor among this crew, and
he went by the name of Steve Blossom; and
he was one of his kind. A grimy dime novel
protruded rakishly from his hip pocket, and
his right cheek was swollen as with the tooth
ACHE due, probably, to a generous chaw" Of
Seaman's Delight He was a real tobacco
chewer for he rarely spat. He as peace
full as a backwater bay in summer; nom
areumentative and passive. he stood his watch
in fair weather and foul
No one gave the anchor any more atten
tion after it came to rest The great city
over the way was fairy-like in its haziuess
and transparity. 1t was the poetry of angles,
Of shafts and spars of stone; and Steve
Blossom, having a moment to himself, leaned
against the rail and stared regretfully. He
had been generously drunk the night before,
and it was a pleasant recollection. Chance
led his glance to trail down the cutwater His
neck stretched from his collar like a turtles
from its shell.
INJURED, shifting his cud from starboard to port
Caught on the fuke of the anchor was the
ktrangest looking box he had ever laid eyes on.
There was leather and steel bands and da-
mond-shaped ivory and mother of pearl, and it
hung jauntily on the point of the rusty fuke
Anybody would be hornswogged to glimpse
such a droll jest of fate. On the fluke OF the
oIJ I..-
all the wild sea yarns he had ever read or
heard there was nothing to match this.
Treasure!
And Steve was destined never to be passive
again. His first impulse was to call his COM
panions; his second impulse was to say moth
i Is at all, and wait for an opportunity to get
the box to his bunk without being detected.
TREASURED Diamonds and rubies and pearls
aud old Spanish gold all hanging to the iuke
of the anchor.
Hornswoggled! in a kind of awesome
whisper this time. An we a-headin' for tn
Eahamas!" For under his feet he could hear
the rhythm of the engines. Wkat'll l do? If
leave it, some one esell see it, He scratched
his chin perplexedy; and the cud went back
to starboard. al got it,"
He took off his coat and carefully dropped
it down over the mysterious box. 1t was
growing darker and darker all the time and
shortly neither coat nor anchor would be Wis
ibe without close scrutiny Treasure: greed,
curidity, crime. Steve saw only the treasure
and not its camp followers. What did they
call them ?-doubloons and pieces-ot-eight?
He ate his supper with his messmates, and
lie ate heartily usual 1t would have taken
something more vital than mere treasure to
disturb Steve Blossoms appetite He was
one of those enviable individuals whose imagi-
nation and gastric juices work at the same
time. And while he ate he planned. In the
first place, he would buy that home at Bed
ford; then be would take over the Gilson
house and live like a lord. If he wanted a
drink, all he would have to do would b. to
turn the spigot or tip bottle; and more
than that, he'd have a bartender to do it.
Onicns! He swore he would not have an
onion within a mile of the ellison house.
" Onions! !" Quite unconsciousy he spoke
this word aloud.
Huh? Well, if We don't like onions, find
hooker that packs violets in her hold" was
the cheerful advice of the man at Steve's j
elbow.
Who's talkin' t your" grunted Steve.
"Wha' did say?"
Onions, ye lubber! Don't we know whut
onions is? Amt we smelt 'em so long that
ye could stick yer nose in tn starboard light
an never smell no kerosene? Onions! Pass
tn cavity"
Steve helped himself first. The man who
spoke bunked over him, and they were not on
the best of terms. There was no real reason
for this frank antagonism simnly they did