The review. [volume] (High Point, N.C.) 1908-19??, 1921-10-20

rest,
Yo no no and a bottle of rum
New YOrk.-But there was no roar
Ing crew of drunken buccaneers on
board the steam trawler Ripple as
Captain Carmichael, a serious, stocky
man with steady eyes and black mus
tache, climbed the short ladder to the
trawler's wee bridge and bawled, Cast
f." Deck hands unloOped the lines
from the ancient bollards on Pier 3,
North river, the propeller wash swirled
under the sturdy little ships counter,
and with lusty cheer from the crew
the dingy looking hulk steamed down
the river and out to sea.
The treasure hunting cruise was I'M
der way.
Had Robert Louis Stevenson stood
On the wharf and watched this Twen-
tieth century HiSpanOla puff down
stream and fade away in the harbor
mists, he would no doubt have gone
Straightaway to his desk and woven
from the fact, instead of fancy, tale
of treasure trOve as gripping as
Treasure Island" At first glance the
Staid observer, but r. L. S. would find
characters among the Ripple's crew of
more than twenty, as fascinating as
Long John Silver, the Doctor, the
Squire, Jim Hawkins and Billy Bones.
To be sure, the Ripple had no pratt
cal parrot to scream, "Pieces Of eight,
pieces Of eighth but, none the less,
there will be quiet conversations in
the fO'c'sle of the clink of Mexican
gold and the heavy clink of silver bull
lion, and although there is no wallet
Worn chart of Treasure island with
It's three red crosses and Skeleton
island and Spy Glass hill, yet there
are those on board who saw the $1,000
WV treasure buried.
Buried Ten Years Ago.
This treasure was buried ten long
years ago, and not by blowing, swear
Ing, cutlass-bearing pirates, but the
ocean itself, and the Ripple's treasure
island is one that would not scratch
lne hull Of the deepest ship, for it lies
% tathoms under the surface of the
Sea, 30 miles east and One-half north
OF Cape Charles.
The story Of the "burying" Of this
treasure is not long one, and not so
dreadful as it might have been, for
Hot a single life was lost.
May II, 1911, the Ward liner Merida,
crack 19-knOt twin-screw steamer
oouhd from Havana via Vera Cruz for
Sew York, was lurching through the
udfk oO Or 60 miles off the Virginia
apes She carried 800 passengers, Fl
wlS Of bar silver, kegs of gold coin,
'"iuaDle jewelry, and a rich cargo Of
upper and lead from the Mexican
nliieS. 1t was whispered about on
gO"ru that $2,OOO,OOO would hardly buy
b 1 SHINING stuff packed deep in the
MT At was an ugly night, pitch dark,
hau more opaque by a thick fog |
n.y. 49, rolled in toward the capes and !
Mo "ppeu everything in clammy
o oi"nAet Eight bells-midnight-
h"p Bclanged over the ship some time
oee' reaching the ears of the watch |
AMY ,er on the bridge in muf1ed tones,
CIV, lie struck his hands together |
aboy and peered into the black |
hnu' The quartermaster stepped |
vor1 ISL Ihe darkness to the bell lam |
ho !, 10 give it a single stroke, for
a. 10 u'n clock in the wheelhouse stood !
Don ~ 'oo in the morning But the gong |
camn sounded, for at that moment
Cor a rehdlng crash that pitched Off
Cant "nd man to the deck and brought
bridge. '0er'Son running " Tue
telaaee. Merida staggered, the engine
~~Se"ph changed "Stop," and the next