The Ordway new era., 1922-05-12
SPANISH BY KHMYoN KAM155A
DOUBLOONS ':'':'l' ::::.'

It was not long before Dugald was
hack again with spade and pick. He
tore of the shrunken, sun-dried boards
from the cabin roof. and fell to work.
1t was not, after all. q labor OF Her
cules. The cabin was small and the
chest large. l watched with the pride
of proprletorship 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 n dull metallic sound through the
mufillng sand.
gave little shrek of excitement.
Hardly could have been more thrilled
IL had believed the chest still to con-
tain the treasure of which 1t had been
rayished. 1t was filed to its brass
bound lid with romance, II not with
gold.
AT length, kneelng before 1t,
raised with an effort the heavy lid.
Empty, of course-no more brown
bags. But oh. Dugald, had ever n girl
such a wonderful brides chest as this?
O-ohl"
whats wrongf"
Nothing, only there is crack In
the bottom, running all the way along
where it joins the side"
"Warped bit, suppose. No mat
ter, 1t can be easily repaired-crack7
say, lassle, look here!"
Under the pressure of Dugald's fin
gers the floor of the chest was swing
ing upward on an invisible hinge. Be-
tween it and the true bottom was a
space of about three inches in depth.
1t seemed to be filed with layer of
yellowed cottonwood.
For a long moment we held our
breath, gazing at each other with eyes
which asked the same question. Then
Dugald lifted n 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; sapphires, mirroring
the blue of the troplc 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 CLEANS Of all the others
beauty, and then Knocked them with
matchless splendor.
| There were nine heavy bracelets, all
jewel-set; twenty-three rings. eight of
them for the hand of man. Some of
| ,-tr tot nl 80
diamonds, except for three splendid
unset stones. There were numbers of
elaborate old-fashioned earrings, two
rope-like chains of gold adorned with
| Jewels Mt intervals, and several jew
eled lockets. There was a solid gold
snuff-box. engraved with coat of
arms and ornamented with seventeen
fine emeralds. There were, besides
the three diamonds, eighty-two unset
stones, among them, wrapped by itself
In cotton, ruby Of extraordinary size
and luster. And there was u sort of
coronet or tiara, sown all over with
clear white brilliants.
Ours? 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 qualm against the
surrender OF our treasure-trove to its
technical owners. Technical only; for
one felt that, in essence, all talk of
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 his
chance at the chest, and he had missed
the secret of the hidden hoard had
left 1t to lie forgotten under the sand
until In some tropic storm 1t should
be engulfed by the waters of the cove.
More than this, had he not most spe-
cihcahy made over to me the Island
queen ana all that 1t contained? This
was title clear enough to satisfy the
most eXacting Journalist. And we were
not journalists, nor inclined in any
quibbling spirit to question the de-
crees Of Fortune. AS treasure.hunt-
ers, we had been her deyotees ton
long
So after all it was not nv scornfu,
skepticism but the high faith of Miss
Higglesby-Browne which was justified
Dy the event. and the Harding Browne
expedition left the island well repaid
for Its tolls and perils. Plus the two
bags OF doubloons, which were added
10 the spoils, the treasure brought us
sum SO goodly that dare not name
, IT. Tor FEAR of the apparltion of Senior
gonzales and the Santa Marinan navy
looming up to demand restitution
Like true comrades we divided sbare
anu snare alike, and be sure that nc
, one grudged Cookie the percentage
which each was taxed for his benefit
And now I come to the purpose ~