The St. Johns herald., 1922-06-29

 it now? And indeed think 1t Is very we'll employed at this moment"
 "But it must be employed much more strenuously," I remarked, mOv- ing a little away, eff you are to get me what want. Before you came, l was meditating possible ways of getting 1t for myself. I wanted 1t for a melan- choly relic-a sort of mausoleum in which all my hopes were buried. Now its purpose is quite different; 1t is to be my brides chest and hold the dowry which I shall bring to one Dugald Shaw"
 "You mean the chest-the chest that held the Spanish doubloons-that lies under the sand in the sloOp?"
 Exactly. And now I shall know whether you are the true prince or not, because he always succeeds in the tasks he undertakes to win the prin- cess."
 It was low tide, such tide as had all but lured me to my death in the cave. One could go and come from the beach along the rocks, without climbing the steep path up the cliff. It was not long before Dugald was back again with spade and pick. He tore off the shrunken, sun-dried boards from the cabin roof, and fell to work.
 It was not, after all, laO"r of Her. cules. The cabin was small and the chest large. I watched with the pride of proprietorship the swift ease with which the steel-sinewed arms of the Scot made the caked sand fly. Then the spade struck something which sent back a dull metallic sound through the muffiing sand.
 gave a little shriek of excitement. Hardly could have been more thrilled if I had believed the chest still to con- tain the treasure of which 1t had been ravished. It was filled to its brass bound lid with romance, if not with gold.
 At length, kneelIng before 1t, l raised with an effort the heavy lid.
 Empty, of course-no more brown bags. But oh, Dugald, had ever a girl such a wonderful brides chest as this? O-ohW
 Whats wrOngr
 Nothing, only there is a crack in the bottom, running all the way along where 1t joins the side"
 Warped a bit, I suppose. No mat ter, 1t can be easily repaired-cracki I say, Iassie, look herei"
 Under the pressure of Dugald's f1n- gers the floor of the chest was swing ing upward on an invisible hinge. Be. tween 1t and the true bottom was a space of about three inches in depth. It seemed to be filled with a layer of yellowed cotton-wool.
 For a long moment we held our breath, gazing at each other with eyes which asked the same question. Then Dugald lifted a corner of the sheet of cotton and plucked 1t away.
 At once all the hues of the rainbow seemed to be flashing and sparkling before us. Rubies were there like great drops of the blood that the chest and its treasure had wrung from the hearts of men; sappEires, mirroring the blue of the tropic sky; emeralds, green as the island verdure; pearls, white as the milk of the coconuts and softly luminous as the phosphOrescent foam which broke on the beach in the darkness. And there were diamonds that caught gleams of all the others beauty, and then mocked them with a matchless splendor.
 There were nine heavy bracelets, all jewel-set; twenty-three rings, eight of them for the hand of man. Some of these rings contained the finest of the diamonds, except for three splendid unset stones. There were numbers of elaborate old-fashioned earrings, two rope-like chains of gold adorned with Jewels at intervals, and several jew eled lockets. There was a solid gold snufr-box, engraved with a coat of arms and ornamented with seventeen fine emeralds. There were, besides the three diamonds, eighty-two unset stones, among them, wrapped by itseli in cotton, 6 ruby of extraordinary size and luster. And there was a sort Oi , coronet or tiara, sown all over Wltn clear white brilliants.
 Ours2 Yes, for whether or not there were an infection of piracy in the very air of the island, so that to seize with the high hand, to hold with the iron grasp, seemed the law of life, we decided without a Qualm against the surrender of our treasure-trOve to It's technical owners. Technical only; fol one felt that, in essence, all talk oi ownership by this man or that had long ago become idle. Fate had held the treasure in fee to give or to with hold. Senor Gonzales had had hiE chance at the chest, and he had missed the secret of the hidden hoard, had left if to lie forrotten under the sanC