Belt Valley times. [volume] (Armington, Mont.) 1894-1977, 1922-03-23

"A warped seam between the blanks
Then ! found that / was looking no
~ Crusoe. but into a little dim In
closure like a locker, In which some
small object family caught the Ilght
With a revived hope of finding relics
| got out my Knife present from
Cnthbert Yane-and set briskly "a
work widening the seam.
! penetrated finally into a small
locker or cubby-hole, set In the angls
under the roof Of the cabin. and. Az
subsequent Investigation showed. so
placed as to attract no notice from the
casual eye. | ascertalned this by
lying down and wriggIIng my head
aud shoulders into the cabin. In 9th
or words. | had happened on a little
private depository in which the own
or Of the sloop might stow away GER
tain small matters that concerned him
intimately. Yet the contents Of the
first seemed trffitng. they
were an oId-fashioned chased silver
~shoe-buckle, and a br%own-covered man
uscript book.
The-beek- had suffered much from
dampness, whether Of rnius or the
wash Of the sea-. / seated myself on
the cabin roof. extracted a hairpin. and
began carefully separating the close
written pages. The first three or four
were quite lllegible. the ink having
run. Then the writing became clear
or. ! made Out a word here and
there:
= directions vague. my grand
father-man Il rutfian hut ne mo-
tive police Of Havana. e. .frightful
den. i. d. grandfather made sure. reg
istry. Benny Lass"
And at that | gave a small excited
Shrek which brought Crusoe to me In
Il hurry. What had he to do. the
writer of this Journal, what had he
to do with the Benny Lassg
BreathlesSly / read Oh
-. Thought captain still living but
not sure. lost Benito Bon...."
/ closed the book. Now, while the
coast vas clear. ! must get back to
camp. Ii would take hours perhaps
days. to .decipher the journal which
had suddenly become Of such supreme
importance. | must smuggle 1t unob-
into my own quarters, where
| could read at my leisure. AS | set
out dropped the silver ~shoe-buckle +,
my pocket, smiling 10 think that
1t was 7 who had discovered the first
bit OF precious metal on the island.
Yet the book In my hand, / felt In !
stinctlvely. was of more value than /,
many s~hoe-buckles. :
Safely in my hammock, with pill /,
under which / could slip the book |,
n case of Interruption / Eesumed the !,
From this point ON. although !
he writing was somewhat faded, ii !
vas all, with a little effort. leglbIe. :
THE DIARY.
IF Sampson did live TO tell his +
aecret, then any day there may be a
all I'm the ofing. And still l cannot h
ind IT, Oh, If my grandfather had Is
zen more worldly wise If he hadn't "
teen too intent on the eternal welfare Il
t the man he rescued from the Ha- d.
ana tavern brawl to question him Il
bout his story. A cave OF Leeward N
.sland-nearby a stone marked with cl
he letters b. II. and "a cross-boneS- G
told the captain said the poor dy- OF
wretch, we wouldn't have no luck G.
fter playing it that low down on Billr A
% | presume Bill lies under the stone. f.
'Well, all l have ls In this venture. Il
he old farm paid for the Island y
'ueen-or will, IL I don't get back in
me to prevent-foreclosure. All my
taid New England relatives think me
lad. A copra gatheterl A fine Gu :,
eer for a minister's SON. Well, when y,
get home with my Spanish douh- =
there viii be another seer r
III. / won't be poor crazy Peter 49,
len. And Helen-oh. how often e.
ish l had told her everything 1t
as too much TO ask her To trust me
indy as | did. But from that mo- -
Ient | came across the story In grand
old. ha%lf-forgotten dlary-hy
lie way. the diary habit seems to run
the family-a very passion of Sc
'ecy has possessed me. II | had told wi
ellen, l should have had to dread St
lat even In. her sweet sleep she To
light whisper something to put that tri
rret, her stepmother. on the scent. 90
Helen. trust me. trust me IN,
December 20. l have a calendar tn,
it'll me, so i am not reduced to notch
z a stick to keep track of the days
mark of each carefully In the cal
ldar. II l were TO forget to do this,
ZEN for q day or two. | believe va
louid quite lose track. The days are Inc
terribly alikei ms
my predecessor here in the eoprH. raj
business. old Heintz. really Ap
IT me a very mug establishment. II aul
odd that I should have run across
m at Pannmn that way.
christmas Dayi l wonder what
are all doing at homef or
CTo BE eoNTINUED4- nj
CLEANING Marble