, 1923-02-17
WHAT'S HAPPENED

lHS I"O buINtNblb WIS
John Winters, who wrote down in
his Log of the finding OF vast quahti-
ties of amberErls, the substance so
valuable because OF the demand for
It as a perfume base, and OF the stor'
ing Of the precious stuff in n of the
innumerab'e caves in the Island. His
Log goes on to tell of the strange fate
Of his companion who believed that
the weird noise coming out OF a mys-
FERROUS hole in the island was the
voice Of n ma he had murdered, call
ing him. and finally, Crazed' had
jumped into the pit. Winters, accord
ing TO the Log, fearing the same tate
for himself, abandoned the Island in
a small boat. He jotted down the po-
sitlon OF the cave where the amber
girls was stored in code on a piece OF
skin and inserted Il In the binding OF
his Log book. Dementcd. he Is picked
UP and brought to Honolulu. There
he dies, leaving his Log, with It's
cipher message OF such tremendous
value, in the hands Of the keeper OF a
Chinese resort. In this place, many
years later,
Little Billy Corcoran, ~.hunchback
steward of the brig Cohasset. recov'
ering from n spree. accidentally finds
the Log among the Chinaman's co,lec-
ton Of odds and ends. He judges
from the description that the Fire
Mountain, with its many caves and
queer lava formations. including one
that looks like an Elephants Head"
is the one which gave refuge not long
before to the Cohasset's crew when
T.=- -.,, Arut FIR
violating the rule against trading for
seal skins with the Siberian natives.
Square Jim Dabney is the blind
captain OF the Cohasset. His attrac'
tive grand daughter
Ruth lie Moyne, is mate Of the
brig. They are told Of the Log and
OF the hunchback's opinion that their
island was tho one where the great
store OF ambergris was hidden. They
are all in the dark as to the location
OF the cave, but Ruth suddenly dis
covers the skin within h binding
and the following cipher message is
revealed.
43344544236I5 3314G1215l1132S6 c4336l
bSlI53523ll3344 623l5l11464643+41l132
o384l I42l46522S221454613l151 1562G3J
5442446l13I S42l446344236l33 44233l54
26l44I546I3Il5lI5.
DR.. Ichi, a japanese. had been
shipped as cook by the Cohasset and
feiGning almost complete ignorance OF
English, Is disregardel as tho Cohas.
sets officers talk over h discovery.
Ichi steals the cipher and in San
Francisco becomes associated with
Wild Bob Carew, Il splendid looking
but interruptions sea captain. Ichi
employs
Josiah Smatt, a sharp lawyer to de.
cipher the message. And this brings
uc 10
Martin Blake, our hero, who, con.
vcying the decided message and The
latitude and longitude Of Fire Noun.
tain to Carew at the command of
Ematt his employer. meets Billy.
Feigning i~ntoxication. Billy substi.
tutes blank sheets OF paper for the
matter in Martins pocket. The sub
stitution when it is revealed to Carew
at the Black Cruiser saloon results in
Martins being set pom by Carew's
underlings and imprisoned in a room.
Carew's gang also seize and imprison
Ruth. but Little Billy and
The BOsun, Thomas Henry. his de.
voted and gigantic friend rescue both
the girl and young Blake. As they
flee a pistol battled follows in which
Martin shoots,
SpulvedO, keeper OF the dive and is
shot himself by Carew. Martins
wound is not serious and he is wei
coined as q partner In the Cohasset's
euterprise-the salvage of the um.
bergris. Tho brig is well on her way
oUt of San Francisco when Ruth, the
hunchback and Dabney tell him the
story. Partly by reading Poe's Gold
bug Little Billy says he solved the
cipher and shows Martin this key.
As they sailed Northward toward
their goal, hoping to reach it ahead
Of Carew. who is in Low with Ruth
5ia-tin. overwhelmed by her beauty
and under the influence Of a story
night, kisses her. He too has fallen
under her spell. .
The Cohasset reaches Fire Noun.
tain in such a fog that Dabney de.
cides not to attempt to land search
for the ambergrls until It clears.
MacLean, a superstitious member
or n crew. tells Martin tina some.
thing evil IS to happen to Little Billy.
He curses the gloomy mountain,
which he calls the 'De'n's Kirk" That
night he awakens Martin TO tell him
that the hunchback has disappeared.
As he and Martin search for the fog
enveloped deck, he later hears Mac.
Lean call for aid in n curiously
s%trangled voice and then hears the
sound OF falling body.
Carew and his Japanese, who
reached the island secretly. board the
brig and, after a fight, imprisou Mar
lin and the Bosun IN the lazarct.
They FREQ themselves from their
EhaCkIes.
The boatswain tells Martin OF a
door Il through from the lazaret
10 the hold forward and they decide
10 appear still ghackled should my.
one come into their prison. and to
walt until a good opportunity comes
before renewing tho battle. The
boatswain tells Martin that Carew's
ship, the Dawn. had been wrecked.
He says hat when he was brought
n the lazaret Charley 30 Zip. the
Cohasset's Chinese cook. had winked
at him. IchI comes down and takes
Martin before Carew
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