Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1922-03-02

| t@tv~S - NHue PVAb VIII ANN AANNS
shrewd guess at the destination Of tn
party which had shipped on the Rufui
Smith. ! then pursued my course t
Leeward. But admit, my friends, tina
l have not by my arrival, caused yOl
any material loss. Except that l have
unfortunately been compelled to pre-
sent you to yourselves in the charac
ter of-as says the young lady-pi
rates-madam, / speak under correc
toni have done you no INJURY, chi
And that for the simple reason that
you have not discovered what you
sought, hence cannot be required to
surrender It,"
We looked at one another doubtful.
~. The ambiguous words Of the Span.
lard, the something humorous and
hooking which lay behind his courtly
manner, put us quite in the dark.
"SenOr Gonzales" replied the
Seotchman, after a moments heslta.
ton, ut is true that so far only a
negligible amount of what we came to
find has rewarded us. But cannot
in honesty conceal from you that we
know where to look for the rest Of 1t,
and that we had certainly expected to
leave the island with it in our posses
sion"
The dark indolent eyes of our Wis
itor grew suddenly keen. Half-veiled
by the heavy lashes, they searched the
face of Dugald Shaw. 1t seemed that
what they found in that bold and open
cOuntenance satisfied them. His own
face cleared again.
II think we speak at cross-purposes,
Mr.. Shaw" he said courteOusly, land
that we may better understand each
other, am going to tell you a little
story. At about this season, two years
ago, the navy Of Santa Marina, the
same which now lies off the island,
was making voyage of inspection
along the coast of the republic. 1t
was decided to include Leeward In
the cruise, as 1t had been unviSited for
a considerable time. i hold no naval
people, and the captain of La Colon
drina is person from Massachusetts,
jeremiah Bowles by name, but as the
representative Of his excellency l aQ-
companied La Golondrina. On our ar
rival at Leeward l came ashore in the
boat, and found to my surprise a small
slOop at anchor in the cove. About
the clearing were the signs of recent
habitation, yet l knew that the old
German who had had the copra con-
cessiOn here had been gone for some
time. No one responded to our shouts
and calls.
Il turned my attention to the sloop.
In the cabin, besides few clothes, l
found something that interested me
very much-a large brass-boundt chest,
Of"an antique type such as is common
enough in my own country.
"Of course l had heard of the many
legends Of treasure buried on LeewaFd
island. Consequently / was somewhat
prepared to find in the chest, what in
fact l did find there, over million
dollars in old Spanish coins.
These coins, which were packed in
strong canvas bags, were as you may
fancy, Very quickly transferred to the
cutter We did not trouble ourselves
with the unwieldy chest, and it re-
1gnains, | suppose, in the cabin of the
sloOp, which l observed as we crossed
the cove to have been washed up upon
the rocks"
This Is very interesting story,
Senior Gonzales" sOid Dugald Shaw,
quietly, land as you say, your visit
here deprives us of nothing, but mere
ly saves us further Improbable labor.
We>are grateful to you"
The Spaniard bowed.
"YOu do me too much honor. But,
as you remark, the story is interesting,
1t has also the element of mystery.
For there remains the question of
what became of the owner of the
slOOp. His final preparations for leav-
ing the island had evidently been
made, his possessions removed from
the hut, provisions for the voyage
brought on board the sloop-and then
he had vanished. What had befallen
him? Did the gold carry with 1t some
deadly influence? One plays, as it
were, with this idea, imagining the. so
melancholy and bloody history Of these
old doubloons. How, in the first place,
had he found them? Through chance
--by following some authentic 'clue3
And then, in the moment of success,
he disappears--pouf! y And Senior
Gonzales disposed Of the unknown By
blowing him airily from the tips of his
fingers. H
However, we have che treasure
the main point, is it nOt2 But have
often wondered"
IF you would like to hear the rest
of the story" said Mr.. Shaw, 1--WE are
In position to enlighten you. That
we are so, is due entirely to this young
lady, Miss Virginia Harding"
The Spaniard rose and made obeis-
ance profoundly. He resumed his
seat, prepared to listen--no longer the
government official. but the cordial
and interested guest and friend.