The daily Alaskan., 1915-01-19
AN ISLAND STOREHOUSE
 By M. QUAD ICUpyrlght, 1914. by the Mcclure Newspaper Syndicate,I
By M. QUAD

island on Mauritius and almost be
 tween that and the Seychelles group is
 the lone island of Agalrgas. 1t is an
 island about six miles III circumter-
 euce, with it's highest point about 100
 feet above the sea There We're no in m5itantS up to lSS2, though traders
 aud shell gathercrS often calIrt there
 for wood and water
 lt waS in the year 1881 that rhr cap
 tain oi trading schooner entered the | port of St Louis in the Mauritius to l tell wonderful story about this island i ug A-alugaS He had called there for wood and water and tU make repairs. and willie his grew was at work he ex 1 plorrd the island Amid the rocks he | discovered a great cave, aud from that rHve hr had taken and brought away 1 two elephants Wsks. box of silver harS aul a jewel handled sword He was u cunning chap this trader, and 1 he had got the Stutt aboard without 1 his crew being the wiser and had said ] nothing about the cave. He did not l report u.s fud-to any consul or other official lt St Louis. but after hanging abuvt for awhile he decided tO make a rruliGaut of the firm of DIyne x Go l This was French trading and export 1 ing firm. and as l was in it's employ l
 cawp to hear tHu story first hand.
 The puuGcg Bar'aS had brought
 away WIS worth SIUoOO, but he as surrd Us that this was a mere flea bite
 compared 10 what had been left be
 hiuI He had counted 20 tusl,s, which . did not Include ull He had counted l lS0 boXcs Of silver bars, worth over $1.O0O per box. but there were others 1 behind them. There were bales, boxes and barrels he had not attempted to open. and he believed the contents of
 the cave would pan out $l.ooO0UO and
 ballast a trading brig It was very | iiguifed and respectable firm, that Of l Dayne x Co.,. but 1t got down oR its high horse pretty fast to make a bar
 gaIn with BarCas 10 bring that treas
 ire away aud dodge customs officials | and government authorities. What they offered to do after consultation was
 10 Gt out a ship, bring the stuff or
 convert il into cash and give him a
 quarter. IL wasn't liberal offer on l their part, but Barcas closed at once
 and the enterprise was turned over to
 ne 10 engineer
 The Gru had a trading brig called
 tho Foam. and as soon as she arrived
 in port she was cleared of cargo and
 her crew discharged. then began to
 pick up Madagascar sailors and soon 1 had ten of them. with au English A. B | who had cut and run from merchant man. Barcas was to act as captain,
 and was to go along as supercargO, IL
 was e&sy enough to deceive the Mada l ga&raritCS, while tie sailor was satisfied
 with an offer of dcnblc wages and $500 ] cyirr. We left MuurtiuS~Uith 'hN OS ! rvi,>.hle object of visiting thr islands 1 To the r%St IO establish trading StHIions 1 but when We GId made good uuI oaing l Nc Lv&lvd for tue north and the island l If -uI.-.S We We're uu uuI way to 1 H3 .. rrafl wi:h p'T"dcr rom a ..r-r2anSC G''cI hundreds of years be | farr 2"l worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. but the voyage was pruSaic | None of Us were excited over it until 1 the last day. and then it was through fear that the cave might have been 1 discovered by some other caller
 We ran Into bay and dropped an. 1 rhor d; 10 o'clock ln the furcmuon, and
 before midday Rarcas had visited the treasure house and reported all safe. 1 Our first move was to establish a
 camp on the highest spot of the island | and divide our forces. l took charge of the land party and Barcas of the l brig My party removed tn" plunder | from the cave and carried it halfway | down to the beach. and his men car l ried 1t aboard and slowed it away. On
 q certain evening when we knocked l ofr work l figured the value of the ! gems already taken out at $1,5O0,00O and there was yet a weeks work to re, move the rest The day had been hot md stilng and the work harder than usual The cook was half an hour late
 ID rubbing his eyes open, and he had hardly reached his feet when his shout ! of surprise alarmed the rest of us. At ] ~ume hour during the night and so 1 .luIvtly that not a man of Us had been 1 disturbed the waters had retreated in i every direction from the shores of the
 rSIand until there was only the bed of he sea to loOl; at. Here and there
 lprp hole created a little lake, but one nuid hHve walked for six or eight ] g4--"z--- EZT%--.--~-7E - -~~E-