The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1914-05-28

peacr' where she went 10 pieces, but not
before the survivors. who numbered but
chests Of treasure.
This they buried we'll upon the island.
and for three years they lived there in
constant hope OF being rescued.
ON by one they sickened and died Until
only one man was left. the writer Of the
letter.
TIL men had built a boat from the
wreckage Of the g~alleon; but, having no
idea where the island was located. they
had not dared TO put to sea.
When all were dead except himself. how
ever, the awful loneliness SO weighed upon
the mine Of the sole survivor that he
could endure ii no longer, and, choosing
to risk death upon the open sea rather
than madness on the lonely isle. he set
sail in his little boat after nearly a year
Of solitude.
Fortunately he sailed due north and
within a week was in the track of the
Spanish merchantmen plying between the
West Indies and Spain and was picked up
by one Of these vessels homeward bound.
The story ne told was merely one Of
shipwreck In which all but a few had per-
jshed, the balance, except himself, dying
after they reached the island. He did not
mention the mutiny or the chest Of buried
treasure.
The master OF the merchantmen as
sured him that from the position at which
they picked him up and the prevailing
winds for the past week he could have
been on no other island than one OF the
Cape Verde group which lie of the west
coast of Africa in about l6 degrees or II
degrees north latitude.
His letter described the island minutely,
as we'll as the location OF the treasure,
- 49,, 49, -.aAl Ast f,hD
NEST little old map you ever saw, with
trees and rocks all marked by scrawly
KS 70 show the exact spot where the
treasure had been buried.
When papa explained the real nature
of the expedition my heart sank. for l
know so well how visionary and imprac-
teal the poor dear has always been that
l feared that he had again been duped,
especially when he told me that he had
paid a thousand dollars for the letter and
map.
To add to my distress l learned that he
had borrowed 10000 more from Robert
Canler and had given his notes for the
amount
Mr.. Canler had asked for no security,
and you know, dearie, what. that Will
mean for me If papa cannot meet them.
Oh, how / detest hat mani!
We all tried to look on the bright side
Of things, but Mr.. Philender and Mr..
C~layton-he joined US in London just for
the adventure-both felt as skeptical as l.
To make a long story short, we found
the island and the Treasured great iron
bound oak chest wrapped in many layers
Of oiled sailcloth and as strong and firm
as when 1t had been buried nearly 200
years ago.
1t was simply filed with gold coin and
was SO heavy that four men bent beneath
its weight.
The horrid thing seems to bring nothing
but murder and misfortune to those who
have to do with it, for three days after
we sailed from the Cape Verde islands our
own crew mutinied and killed every one Of
their officers.
1t was the most terrifying experience
one could imagine. / cannot even write
of it.
They were going to kill us, too, but one
of them, the leader, a nan named King,
would not let them, and so they sailed
south along the coast to a lonely spot
where they found a good harbor, and here
they have landed and left us.
They sailed away with the treasure to-
day, but Mr.. Clayton a they will meet
with a fate similar to the mutineers of
the ancient g~alleon, because King, the
only man aboard who knew aught OF nav
igation. was murdered on the beach by
one Of the men the day we landed.
l wish you could know Mr.. Clayton. He
is the dearest fellow imaginable, and, I'M
less | am mistaken, he has fallen very
much in love with poor little me.
He is the only son of Lord Greystoke
and some day will inherit the title and
estates. In addition, he is wealthy in his
own right. But the fact hat he is going
to be an English lord makes me very sad.
You know what my sentiments nave al
ways been relative to American girls who
married titled foreigners. Oh, If he were
only a plain American gentleman!
But it isn't his fault, poor fellow, and in
everything except birth he would do cred
1t to my darling old country, and that is
the greatest compliment l know how to
pay any man.
We have had the most weird experiences
since we were landed here-papa and Mr..
Philander lost in the jungle and chased
by a real lion; Mr.. Clayton lost and at
tackled twice by wild beasts: Esmeralda
and 1 cornered In an old cabin by a per-
fectly awful man eating tiger! Oh, 1t was
simply 'terrifical." as Esmeralda would
say!
But the s~trangest part of it all is the
wonderful creature who rescued US all. |
have not seen him. but Mr.. Clayton and
papa and Mr.. Philander have, and they
say hat he is a perfectly godlike white
man tanned to a dusky brown, with the
strength Of a wild elephant. the agility Of
a monkey and the bravery OF a lion.
He speaks no English and vanishes as
quickly and as mysteriously after he has
performed some valorous deed as though
he We're a disembodied spirit.
Then we have another weird neighbor,
who printed a beautiful sign in English
and tackled 1t on the door Of his cabin,
which we have pre-empted. warning US to
destroy none OF his belongings and sign
ing himself "Tarzan of the Apes"
We have never seen him. though we
think he is about, for one Of the sailors
who was going to shoot Mr.. Clayton in
the back received a spear in his shoulder
from some unseen ham in the jungle.
The sailors left us but a meager supply
Of food, so. as we have only a single re-
volver with but three cartridges left in 1t,
We do not know how we can procure meat,
though Mr.. Philander says that we can
exist indefinitely on the wild fruit and
nuts which abound In the jungle.
l am very tired now, so l shall go to my
funny bed Of grasses which Mr.. Clayton
gathered for me. but will add to this from
day to day as things happen. Lovingly,
JANE PORTER.
To Hazel Strong, Baltimore. Maryland.
Tarzan sat In a brown study for a
long time after he finished reading the
letter. 1t was filed with so many new
and wonderful things that his brain
was in a whirl as be attempted to d.
gest them all.
So they did not know that he was
Tarzan OF the apes. He would tell them.
In his tree he had constructed a rude
shelter Of leaves and boughs. beneath