Belt Valley times. [volume] (Armington, Mont.) 1894-1977, 1922-02-16
v--contInued.)

On this first day we gathered In tbs
rool of the afternoon about our table
Of packing-b0xes for an wen which
even /. whose role was that OF skep-
tic. found exciting. Miss Browne was
at last to produce her map and re-
veal the secret of the island. So far,
except In general terms, she had i'm
parted IL to no one Everybody, In
coming along. had been buying q pig
In g poke-though to be sure Aunt
Jane had paid for IL. The Scotman.
cuthbert Yane had told me incidental
~. had insured himself against loss
oy demanding a retaining fee before
hand Somehow my opinion, both OF
ais honesty and of his intelligence,
had risen since I knew this. AS TO
Cuthbert yane, he had corue purely
Ia a spirit OF adventure. and had paid
his own expenses from the start.
However. now the great moment
was at hand. But before II comes.
] win here set down the treasure
story of Leeward island. as / gathered
Il later, a little here and there, and
pieced IL together into a coherent
whole through many dreaming hours.
In 1920. the city Of Lima. In Peru.
being threatened by the revolution
aries under Bolivar and San Martin.
cautious folk began to take thought
for their possessions. To send them
out upon the high seas under a for
eign flag seemed TO offer the best hope
Of safety. and soon there was more
gold afioat on the Pacific than Hf n
time since the sailing of the great
plate galleons of the Seventeenth cen
fury. Captain Sampson. OF the brig
Benny Lass, found himself with a
passenger for nowhere In particular
In the shape Of a certain Spanish mer-
chant OF great wealth. reputed Gus
of the private funds of the
bishop of Lima. This gentleman
brought with him. besides some scanty
personal baggage-for he took ship
In haste-a great iron-bound chest.
Four stout sailors Of the Bonny Lass
staggered under the weight of IT..
The Benny Lass cruised north along
he coast, the passenger desiring to
In at Panama In the hope that
word might reach him there of quiet
n times at home. But somewhere Off
on a dark and starless night,
he merchant of Lima vanished over {
'eard-rand what could you expect
sked Captain Sampson In effect, {
when a lubber like him would stay '
n deck in a gale?" Strange to say.
he merchants bo~dy7seryant met the
ate of the needless also. '
Struggling his shoulders 1t the care !
OF passengers. Captain Samp- !
on bore away to Leeward island. per- |
APPS from curiosity 10 see this old
of the buccaneers, where the J
polls of the sack Of Guayaquil were q
aid TO have been buried. Who knows l
ut that he, too. was bent on treasure A
Be that as ii may, the little {
rig found her way into the bay on the e
ortheast side of the island, where q
anchored. Water was needed, and
here is refreshment In tropIc fruits b
fter a diet OF salt horse and hard n
lex. So all hands had a holiday a
shore, where the captain did not dis Il
AIN to Join them. Only he went e
part, and had other occupation thar b
warming up the palms for coco II
uts. [,
One f~ancies, then. a moonless night, Il
crew sleeping OIL double grog, gen b
rously allowed them by the captain
boat putting OF from the Bonny n
ass. In which were captain, mate, a
I'D q Bill HaIIiweli. able seaman, q II
OF mighty muscle and as freight a
. object large. angular and ponder 3.
u. 70 that the boat Jagged heavily m
meath the rowers' strokes. q,
Later, Bill. the able seaman. grows vs.
senumptuous on the strength OF n
10 excursion with his betters. II m
wosd and 4 blow with tbs cap W
- " the Benny Lass, and Bill is ID
'nveotentiy disposed Of Dead, as 81
II - hvisx, b. serves the purpose IA
~ eaptntn, but Of that later. o,