PIECE
Eien
BEING THE AUTHENTIC NARRATIVE
TtcACHDt nKrnvFRFD'IN THF BAHAMA,
rtvrM TH THF PIIRIir ' 'iW5U:l
7 '(W ) 'I
of Yly
La
6? RicliaixJ Le (fallrmf
Book I.
CHAPTER L
Introduce! tha Secretary of the Treat-
ury of Hie BrlUnnlo Majesty's Goo
ernment at Nassau, New Provi
dence, Bahama Islanda,
During the summer of 1903 I w
paying what must hare seemed like an
interminable visit to my old friend
John Saunders, who at that time filled
with becoming dignity the high-sounding
office of secretary of the treasury
of his majesty's government. In the
quaint Utile town of Nassau. In the
island of New Providence, one of
those Bahama Islands that lie half
lost to the world to the southeast of
the Caribbean sea and form some
what neglected portion of the British
AVest Indies.
Time was when they had a sounding
name for themselves in the world;
when- the now sleepy little harbor
pave shelter to rousing freebooters
'aud tarry pirates, tearing In there un
der full sail with their loot from the
Spanish Main.
Bat those heroic days are gone, and
Nassau is given up to a sleepy trade
in sponges and tortoise shell, and
peace Is no name for the drowsy tenor
of the days under the palm trees and
the scarlet poinclunas.
Here a hr.mlful of Englishmen,
clothed In the white linen suits of
t!:o tropics, carry on the government
after the traditional manner of Brit
ish colonies from time immemorial,
each of them, like my friend, not with
out an English smile at the humor of
the thing, supporting the dignity of
offices with Impressive names lord
chief Justice, attorney general, speak
er of the house, lord high admiral,
colonial secretary and so forth.
My friend the secretary of the
treasury Is a man possessing In an un
common Ucruc that rare and most at
tractive of human qualities, conipin
lonableness. As we sit together In the
hush of his snuggery of an evenlug.
surrounded by guns. Ashing Hues and
old prints, there are times when we
scarcely exchange a dozen words be
tween dinner and bedtime, and yet
we have all the time a keen and sat
isfying sense of companionship. It Is
John Saunders' gift. Companionship
seems quietly to cote out of htta,
without the need of wools.
And occasionally we have as third
In those evening conclaves a big. slow
smiling, broad-faced young im-rehnut
of the same kidney. In he drops with
a nod and a smile, and takes his place
In the smoke cloud of our meditations,
radiating without the effort of speech
that good thing humanity; though
one must not forget the one subject
on which now and agjln the good
Charlie Webster achieves eloo.uence
In spite of himself duck shooting.
John Saunders' subject Is shark
fishing. Duck shooting and shark
fishing. It Is enough. Here, for sen
sible men, Is a sufficient baslsafor life
long friendship, and unwearying. In
exhaustible companionship.
It was In this peace of John Saun
ders' snuggery one July evening In
1903, the three of ns being duly met
and ensconced In our respective nrm
chairs, that we got onto the subject
of burled treasure. It was I who smart
ed us off by asking John what he
knew about buried treasure.
At this John laughed his funny little
quiet laugh. "Curled treasure!" he
said; "well, I have little doubt that
the Islands ore full of It If one only
knew how to get at It,"
"Seriously?" I asked.
"Certainly. Why not? Weren't
these Islands for nearly three centu
ries the stamping ground of all the
pirates of the Spanish Main? Morgan
was here. Blackbeard was hero. The
very governors themselves were Utile
better than pirates. This room we are
sitting iu win the denofont of the
biggest rosues of them all John Tin
ker the governor when Bruce was
here building Fort Montague at the
east end yonder; building It Against
pirates, nnd little else but pirates at
the Government houso all the time. A
g"cat old time Tinker gave the poor
fellow. You can rend all about It In
his 'Memoirs.' Nassau was the ron
deivous for all the cutthroats of the
Caribbean sea. Here they came In
with their loot, their doubloons and
pieces of eight ;" nnd Johu's eyes twin
kled with enjoyment of the1 rich old
romantic words, as though they were
old port.
"Here they squandered much of It,
no doubt, but they couldn't squander It
all. Some of them were thrifty knaves,
too, ivnd these, looking around for
some place of safety, would naturally
think of the bush. The triggers keep
their little hoards there to this day.''
"It Is their form of stocking," put In
Charlie Webster.
'Precisely, Well, as I was saying,
those c'd fellowa would bury their
hoards In some cave or other, and then
go off and get hanged. Their ghosts
perhaps came back. But their money
Is still hero, lots of It, you bet your
life."
"Po they ever make any finds?" 1
asked.
"Nothing big that I know of. A Jug
full of old colus now and then. I
"Those Old Fellows Would Bury
Thtlr Hoards," "
found one a' year or two ago In my
garden here burled dowtj among the
roots of that old fig tree."
"Then," put In Charlie, "there was
that mysterious stronger over at North
Cay. He's supposed tu have got away
with quite i vile,"
"Tell me about him," said I,
"Well, there used to be an old ec
centric character In the town here a
hnlfbrecd by the name of Andrews.
John will remember him "
John nodded.
"He used to go around all the time
with a big umbrella, and muttering to
himself. W used to think him half
CMty, Cone so brooding over this
very subject of burled treasure. Bet
ter ItMik out, young man I" smiling at
mo, "lie used to ho ulways grubbing
about In the bush. Well, several years
ago there came a visitor from New
York, 'anil he got thick with the old
fellow. They used to go about a lot
together, and wore often off on so
called fishing trips for days on end.
Actually, It Is believed, they were
afler something on North Cay. At all
events some months afterward the
New Yorker disappeared as lie had
come aud has not been heard from
since. But since then they liavo found
a sort of brick vault over there which
has evidently been excavated. I have
seen It myself. A sort of walled cham
ber. There, It's supposed tho New
Yorker found something or other.
That'i the slory for what It's worth."
As Charlie finished Johu slapped his
knee.
"The very thing for youl" he sold;
"why have I never thought of It be
fore?" "What do you mean, John?" we both
asked.
"Why down at the office I've got the
very thing. A pity I haven't got It
here. You must come In and see It
tomorrow."-
"What on oarsh la It? Why do yon
keep us guessing?"
"Why, It's un old manuscript that
come Into my hands a short time ago,
Charlie, you remember old Wicks old
Billy Wlcks-'Wreiker' Wicks, they
railed him "
"I should say I do, A wonderful old
villain"
"But the document, for heaven's
sake," I said. "Tho document first;
tle story will keep."
"Well, they were pulling down
Wicks' own house Just lately, nnd out
of tho rafters there fell a roll of pa
per now I'm coming to It a roll of
pnper, purporting to be the account of
the burying of a certain treasure, tell
ing the place where It 'Is burled, aud
giving directions for finding It"
Charlie and I exclaimed together;
and John continued, with tuntullilng
deliberation;
. "It's a statement purporting to be
made by some fellow on his death
tedsome fellow dying out In Texus
a ctondnm nlrate. anxious to mat"
his peace at the end and to give bis
friends the benetlt of bis knowledge."
Hill, John I" said I, "1 shan't sleep
a wink tonight."
"1 don't dike much stock Iu II," said
John. "I'm Inclined o think It's i
hoax. Someone trying to fool Hie uld
fellow, , , , But, boys, It's bed
time, anyhow. Come down to tin
olllee In the morning n ml we'll loot
It over."
Rti our meeting broke tip for tin
lime being, and tailing my cnmlle I
went upstairs, to diciiin of caves over
flowing with gnldpleces, olid John Tin
ker, tierce and mustachioed, slniidln:
over me, a cutlass between his tucth
nud a revolver In each hand.
Jfi 111 -jj fl
Sec. wU wtfounl in jour awikase oil!
THIS lens shows some of the dirt that can be
found in any crankcase after a few weeks of
driving road dust, carbon and fine particles of
metal. Such dirt circulates with the lubricating
oil through the engine, together with gasoline that
escapes past the pistons and dilutes the oil
Have the dirty, diluted oil in your crankcase
drained out-nou-before unnecessary wearbegins.
We can do that best for you with Modern
Crankcase Cleaning Service convenient, quick,
economical. We use Calol Flushing Oil, the scien
tific, thorough flushing agent which does not con
taminate the fresh oil. We assure proper lubri cation
for your engine by refilling the cleaned
crankcase with Zerolene of the correct grade.
Make a regular habit of Modern Crankcase
Cleaning Service.lt gives better engine perform
ance and longer life to your car. .
MONMOUTH GARAGE
Graham & Son Props.
CHAPTER II.
Tht Narrative of Htnry P, Tobias
es-Plrate, as Dictated cn His Doth
bed, In tht vMr of Our Lord 1850
Tho goid John hid scarcely mad.
his leisurely, distinguished appearand
at his desk on tho iiioi'mw when I tot
entered by one door ami I'hurllt Web
ster by tho other.
"Now for the document," we boll
exclaimed In a breath.
"Hero It la." he sold. Inking up i
rntlier grliny-looklng roll of foolscni
from In front of til in, which, ns hi
pointed out, was evidently the wml
of a person of very llttlo education
and botiiti to read ns follows;
County st Travel, gists ol Tumi,
December IM.
Willis my end Is war, I muk lh ful
lowing iuuiikmiI ol niy own fre will sin
without aollcltatlon. In full eierciae of i
n. y facultlea, nnd fuel Hint 1 tin doing lit)
duty by so doing.
1 waa born In iht rlty of Liverpool, K"C
land (n th tth day ol Decumiior I.MI
My footer waa a eaaman slid when I wto
youni 1 followed tin Hums occupation
And It happened, that when, oa s paaita,
from Spain to th Weal tndiee, our mill
was sturlicd by rroo-trudari, tho
called thiittlvi, but they wcr plraiti
N til did our but, but wars ovtr
ltowrd, sod the wtiula crow, sxrp
tlirot, won killed. I u on ol tti Mum
limy did not kill. Tiny curried ui
bonnl thrtr ship and kept us until nrxi
diy wlwn Ihi.y kd ua to Join tham
Tlmy irird to K"t ua to Join tham willing
ly, but wa would nut, whan tliay pmaim
enruicud nnd loaded ttin-s Ottinton and
Inahad each una ol us befora the nioull.
ol uch cannon and told ua to Hike our
choice to loin thorn al they would luucb
the lima and that damn oulrk. It la ua.
tana to say w a. coined verthlu( baton
death, so wa cams on ol Ilia pirates'
crew, both of my companions wara killed
In Iras Urn than sis momha, but I waa
with them lor more than two years, In
which tlm we collected a vaat quantity
f vi muiiv nuui ooterviit enilte wa CBpiuieu
i and w burlud a great amount In two
I different lots. I helped to bury It with
my own hands. Tlie loratlun of which It
la my purpoa to point out, so that It can
be lound without trouble In lha Bahama
lalnnda. After I had been Willi them for
nior than two years, we were attacked
by a la rue warahlp and our commander
told us to ftsbl for our Uvea, as It would
b death If w war taken, tlut tha suha
of our ship wara too arnall lor the war
ahlp, so our ablp soon txitun to sink.
when tha man-of-war ran alonsaid of our
veaaeli and triad to board ua. but w wen-
Sloklng too fuat, ao ah bad to haul oft
amort,, whan mir reaaer'aank with every
Uilnt on hoard, and I weaned by swim
mlng under tha item of th ahlp, al oura
sunk, without being aern, and holding on
to tha ship until d.trk, when I awain to a
portion ol tha wrecked vernal floating not
lar away. And oa that I floated. The
neat morning th ship was not seen. I
waa . picked up by a paaalng veeaal the
next day as a shlpwrrked seaman.
And let me say her, I know that no
on eacaped allv from our vaaael except
myaelf and thoaa that war taken by tha
man-of-war. And thoaa war all eitrutad
aa plralee-eo I know that no other man
knowa of thla treneure eept myai.lt and
It must be and Is where we burled It until
today and unleaa you get It through thla
statement It will remain ther always and
do no on any good,
Tnarerore, It la your duty to trnc up
and get It for your own benefit, as wall aa
others, so delay not, but act as soon sa
poasioia.
I will now describe the placet, locations.
marks, etc., etc., ao plainly that It can be
round, without any trouble,
The fliHt li a sum of one million snd s
nair doiiari (U.wo.ooo)-
At this point John paused, We all
took a long breath, nnd Charlie Web
nter gave a soft whlstlo and suiuckcd
his lips.
"A million and a hr.lf dollars. What
hoi" ,
Then I, happening to cast my eye
through tho open door, caught sight
of a face gazing through tho Ironwork
of tho outer olllee with a died and
glittering expression, a fuce anything
but prepossessing, the fnco of a half
breed, deeply pockmarked, with a
coarse hook nose and cvll-Iooklngeyes,
unnaturally close together, It was
evident from his expression that he
had not inlsscd a word of the reading.
"There Is someone In the ouler of
fice," I Bald, and John rose and went
out.
"Good morning, Mr, Saunders," said
nn unpleasantly soft and cringing
voice. , -
"Good morning," snld John, some,
what grumpily, "what Is It you want?"
It wus some detail of account, which,
being dispatched, the man shuffled off,
with evident reluctance, casting a
long, Inquisitive look at us seated at
the desk, and John, taking up the man
uscript once more, resumed:
.... a sum of on million and one
half dollarsburled nt a cny knowa ai
licud Men's Blines, noar Nubbiiu, in th
Bahama Islands, About fifty feet (00 ft.)
south of thla Dead Men's Shoos la a rock,
on which we cut th form of a oonmaaa.
And twenty font (20 ft.) liast from the cay
Is another rock on which w cut a croaa
(X). Under this rock It Is burled four tout
(t ft.) deep.
The other Is a sum of on million dollars
(11,000,01X1). It Is burled on what waa
known as Short Shrift Island; on the
highest polat of this Short Shrift Inland
Is a torse cabbage wood stump and twenty
feet (20 ft.) south of that stump la the
treasure, burled five feet (5 ft.) deep and
can be found without difficulty. Short
Shrift Island U a place where paining
vessels stop to get fresh water. No great
aiaiance irom Nassau, so It can be eailly
found.
The first pod was taken from a Spanish
merchant and It Is In Spanish silver
dollars. ,
The other on Short Shrift Island Is In
different kinds of money, taken from dif
ferent ships of different natloni-lt Is all
good monoy. . .
Now friends, I have told you all that Is
necessary for you to know to roenvnr
those treasures and 1 leave It In your
hands ami It la tnv reauest that when
you roan tmt, you win at one ua nap
to recover It, and whan you gt II, It I
my wleh that you na It In a way niual
K"d to youi aclf and ulhtrs, TIUs Is all I
ask, (
I am, truly your friend,
ilL'NUV f. TQUIAS.
"Henry P. ToWnsT" nl! Chsrlla
Webster. "Never heard of hint Did
you, John J"
"Never I"
And then thera was stir In tha
outer (illicit. Someone was asking for
the seerelury of (he treasury. Bo John
rose,
1 must tot to work now, boys, nt
can talk It over tonight." And then,
limiillng hie the manuscript: "Take
It home with you, If you Ilka, tnd
look It over at your leisure."
As Charlie Webster and I passed
mt Into lh. street I noticed Iht fel
low of tho sinister pockmarked vlaago
muiiillng near the window of Iht In
ner oftlco. The window was ntien, and
anyone standing outside could easily
have heard everything that passed
limltle. As tlu fellow caught my tyt
he Vnllcd unpleasantly and slunk off
lowu the street.
"Who Is that fellow T I asked Char
!e. "He's a queer-looking specimen."
"Yes! he's no good. Yet he'i mora
Who Is That Fillowr I
Charlie.
Alktd
lilt
linlf-Hltted thiin bad, perhaps,
fuce Is against him, poor devil.
And we went our wayt till tht tve
nlng, to post homo to the further
iiinly of the narrative. There, tested
on the pleasant veranda, I went over
It Carefully, sentence by sentcne.
While I was rending, someone called
me Indoors, I put down lha manu
script on .the llttlo bamboo tablt at
my side and went In. When I re
turned t few moments afterward tht
manuscript waa gontl
Continued next week
Best of All Holidays
TAKING It all In all, It ran '
ba safely ssaened l'.,r J
Christinas Is themerriet at.ii ' '
best of all holidays, nnd
which Is likely to be ohm rve ' -ages
yet to come. No fir
rise and fall, new belief" n
llglons may sweep h i
but that wouhl c
dreary and empty t
brought no merry ''
its minimi roii...'
therrime Ion. .
day 'to mniikiiiM
hearts" of ull'wlih i -and
may eueh C'Iii'Ikiuiiii
still merrier than the luxl
An Ancient Christmas Dish
An Indispensable Christmas dish of
ancient times was "frumenty" ol
"frtimunte." Here Is the recipe for
making the dish according to a faith
ful old chronicler: "Take clean wheat
nnd brny It In a mortar until the hulls
he all gone off, and seethe It until It
burst, nnd Inke It up and lot It cool:
nnd tnke clean, fresh broth and sweat
tiilft of nlmuiuls or sweet milk of klnt
and temper It all; nnd lake the yolks
of eggs, Ilnll It n little nnd set It
down aud mess It forth with fat veni
son or fresh mutton." Frumenty wtt
often served alone without venison or
mutton. When served by Itself II wat
well sweetened.
A BIG. JOKI
Duoki Now I
hop I wtn't
get t treatlta en
"How to Swim"
for a Chalet
mat gift
Up In tht Air.
Tho Maglstrate-What't tht chant
against his man, officer)
The Air Cop He was speeding In I
high-power racing plane and ran down
a child's goplnne.