, 1926-06-16
Porto Bello Gold
By ARTHUR D. HOWDEN SMITH
COPYRIGHT by ARTHUR L. HowDEN SMITH

1at a0 WoaAb
We say to the Bermoothesf"
TOO many reefs to pile ourselves
on-Hamilton is a port o. call for the
kings ships"
"Them's the very words 1 said my
self" exclaimed Silver. "And what
would re say to Savannah, cap'n,
which same Is a quiet spot and has no
garrison, seem as Georgy is the new
est o. all the colonies in Ameriky?'
Flint reached down to the deck be-
| him and lifted a bottle of rum to
his mouth, going through the usual
performance of draining 1t at one CO.
lossal gulp to the considerable admI-
ration of the crew.
"Aaa-aah,' he muttered, wiping his
lips with the back of his hand. asa
vannah, Ell? That might do. But
mind We, men, I'll ha' no talk o. dis
bandment there or elsewhere. Wen
stop by to clean up the fever and
water, n when that's done We'll
square off south and collect what's
comm to us on the Dead Mans Chest.
I'm a man o. my word ~
Silver made quick assent.
Fairly put. n the while we're
lying off Savannah the frigates will
be a-wearin' themselves out on false
scents. 1t works both ways, cap'n."
It'll work my way" raped Flint.
He slid Off the barrel, balanced dir
lilly for a moment and walked into the
companionway under the poop.
"Darby McGrawl' he called harshly.
"Ho, Darby, fetch aft the rum"
That night he had another of his
fits, declaring that Andrew Murray
was come aboard to Stay him. He
chased Bone from the cabin. hanger
In hand, and vas for setting upon the
watch on deck when Darby restrained
him with a bottle of rum, asserting it
to contain Murray's hearts blood.
Flint tossed it off with bowls of infer
nal glee n retired to snore on the
cabin floor, twitching and foaming at
the mouth In his slumber like n pos
sessed. The e. day as we rolled in
the oily swell under a torrid sun with
the pitch pricking up In bubbles from
the seams, the fever laid it's hot hand
upon aim.
He babbled childishly of his luck.
Y wouldn't break my luck, God !
oh, Ye wouldn't There never was
none like John F1int to rove the seas,
John Flint as outwitted old Murray
and was the end of him."
The droning voice would ramble on
day and night, with intervals of ex-
hausted sleep, punctuated by awful,
explosive screams:
"Ho, Darby! Darby McGraw!
Fetch aft the rum, Darby I"
And again:
I'm Albumin In my CUTS, Darby.
Ye wouldn't leave me to burn. Fetch
me a noggin O. ruml'
Other times he would sing, and al
ways the II song hat had been my
introduction to his company:
Bellamy's hangin' all dried and brown.
Yo-ho-ho. and a bottle O. rum!
A-rattlin' his chains by Kingston
town
Yo-ho-ho. and a bottle O. rum!
But words cannot describe the hor.
rors of the week which succeeded.
For five days men died at the rate of
three a day. Then the disease seemed
TO diminish in ~virulence, and although
we had a many as seventy sick at
once, practically all survived. As a
rule, men who We're stricken either
persisted within twenty-four hours or
else made a slow recovery. Flint was
one of the few exceptions, and can
only suppose hat in his case the ILL
ness resolved itself into q battle he.
twiXt a naturally sinewy frame and
the weaknesses developed by the
strong liquors with which it had been
saturated.
That we three and Darby were I'M
touched l attribute as much as any.
thing to the measures which Peter
took. He brewed "A drastic purgative
of rum, molasses and gunpowder, and
he was insistent that Darby should
procure a large earthen crock to con-
tain boiled water which we kept In
Moira's stateroom. Bones, Silver, Pew
and those others of the crew who es.
capped the infection did so simply be-
cause of their physical vigor, or per
haps because they were so accustomed
to living in filth that the exaggerated
conditions aboard the walruS might
not harm them.
A week from the day we steered
westward we sighted the mouth of a
broad river, crossed a bar at high tide
and bore upstream between low,
sandy shores overgrown with pine for
ests. On the verge of evening we
rounded a point of land and dropped
u anchor opposite a little l~og-built
town perched on a sandy bluff.
Peter and l had seized the opportu-
nifty of the semidarkness to escort
MORA to the rail for a view of our
new surroundings, and we were star
ing hungrily at this outpost of civil
lization when the thud-thud of Silver's
crutch sounded on the deck behind us