Sioux County pioneer., 1921-11-10
copYRroHr
HaH BOBBS. MERRILL
COMPANY


tell you In word, that / have located
the tombstone Of one William Halli-S
well, deceasedi"
OF course. Not once had thought
OF 1t. Bare. stark, glaring up at the
|.sun, lay the stone carved with the let
ters and the cross-bones. Forgetting
in the haste Of my departure to re-
place the vines upon the grave, / had
left the stone to shout its secret to
the first conner. And that happened to
be Mr.. Tubbs Happened, say, for
knew that he had not had the slight
est notion where to look for the grave
OF Bill Halliwell. This running to
earth Of clues was purely an affair Of
his own picturesque, Imagination.
wondered uncasily what. he had
made of the uprooted vines-but he
would lay them to the pigs, no doubt.
In the countenance Of Mr.. Tubbs,
flushed and exultant, there was no
suspicion that the secret was not all
his own.
Miss Higglesby Browne had a closed
umbrella beneath her arm, and she
drew and brandished 1t like saber
as she took long stride forward. 4.
"Mr. .Tubbs," she commanded, lead
onW
But Mr.. Tubbs did not lead on. "Oh,
no indeed" he said. "Old II. II.
wasn't born yesterday. It may have
struck you that to possess the sole and
exclusive knowledge Of the where
about million or two-ratin' it
lows some considerable Of an asset.
And It's one I amt got the least idee
Of partin' with unless for inducements
held OUT
Aunt Jane gave q faint shrek. 4
had been silently debating what my
own course should be in the face Of
this unexpected development. Sud-
denly I saw my way quite clear. I
would say nothing. Mr.. Tubbs should
reveal his own perfidy. And the cur
tain should ring down upon the play,
leaving Mr.. Eubbs foiled ALL around:
hereft both Of the treasure and Of
Aunt Jane.
Little I dreamed what surprises en-.
suing acts Of the play were to hold
for me, or their astounding contrast
with the farce Of my joyous imagina-
tion. , ..'s
took mo part In the storm that
ragged round Mr.. Tubbs. His face
adorned by a seraphic, buttery smile,
he stood unmoved, while Miss Higgles-
hy-Browne uttered cyclonic exhorta-
tions and reproaches, while Aunt Jane
sobbed and said, "Oh. Mr.. Tubbs 4"
while Mr.. Shaw strove to make him
self heard above the din. He did at
\ least succeed in extracting from the
I traitor a definite statement OF terms.
4 These were nothing less than fifty per
Gent Of the treasure, secured to him
4 by q document, sealed and delivered
Into his own hands. To a suggestion
i that as he had discovered the all-im-
4 pOrtant tombstone, SO might some one
else, he replied with tranquility that
he thought not, as he had taken pre-
4 cautions against such an eventuality.
In other words, as / was later to dis
cover the willy Mr.. Tubbs had con-
A tltved to raise the boulder from. its
bed and push 1t over the cliff into the
sea. afterward replacing the mass Of
vines upon the grave.
As to the entrance to the tunnel, 1t
was apparent to me that Mr.. Tubbs
had not yet discovered 1t. Even II he
had, am certain that he would have
been no more heroic than myself about
exploring 1t, though there was no
missing Peter to haunt his imagina-
tion. But with the grave as a start
ing point, there could be no question
as to the ultimate discovery gof the
cave. 81 (,
was SO eager myself to see
the inside Of the cave. and to know
4 whatever 1t had to reveal Of the fate
OF Peter, that I was inclined to wish
Mr.. hbbs success In driving his hard
Il bargain, especially as It would profit
4 him nothing in the end. But this SEN
timent was exclusively my own. On
N oil hands indignati ion greeted the rig
Orous demands Of Mr.. Tubbs. With q
II righteous 10y / saw the fabric Of
Aunt James Illusions shaken by the
n rude blast Of reality. For where was
the Tlbbs Of yesterday--th honey
tongued, the suaye, the anxiously OBJ
seqn ntous Tubbs Gone. quite. gone.
/ Instead, here was q Tubbs who cooked
4 his helmet rakishly, and leered round
upon the company, deaf to the claims
Of loyalty, the pleas Of friendship, the
|5yoice Of tenderness Amt James. {
Manfully Miss Higglesby-B Browne
4 stormed up and down the beach. She
il demanded Of Mr.. Shaw, a. ,Cuthbert
4 lvane. Of Captain Magnus, each and
severally, that Mr.. Tubbs be compelled
to disgorge his secret. Y0u saw that
she would not have shrunk from reg.
LINEN of racks and thumbscrews. But
SI.there were no racks and thumbscrews
on tie island. OF course we could have
invented various Inst trlments Of torture
- felt I could have developed some
Iingenuity that way myself but too "a.
4 tally well Mr.. Tubbs knew the civil.