Vnable, by reason of my affliction. to method of replying lo the (riends wHq * my b elp le w n e s s . flood „ , sympathetic and m ail, and of saying ,o them «ha, words are lmpoteI)t tQ my appreciation of the.r kind thoughtfulness. The self-denying helpfulu. s', of those volunteers who have m inistered in the sickroom, and all who have visited spoken w ord, of love and hope, w ill also have a sacred m y memory. Thank you, friends. T hank you her of sand. Whatever salt tn the ontiij 1- A n u s t ill i et wounds there were iu her burled sides And It ! Oh. If were hidden. Vo« felt that some wild b e e n m ...a uw .u.y my w grandfather , ; lu , enprlce of the storm had lifted her been too Intent on the eternal welfare and set her down here, not ^oo rough of the man he rescued from the H a 1}. then whirled away and left her vana tavern braw l to question him to the sand. , about hts story. A cave on Leeward Crusoe slipped Into the narrow space inland— nearby a stone marker! with under the roof o f the cabin, and I the letters B. H. and a cross-bones— leaned Idly down to watch him through T told the captain,' said the poor dy- Th“ ’ '! * ? Sea™ the planks j Ing wretch, ‘we wouldn't have no luck Then 1 found that I was looking, not a fte r playing It that low down on Bill !• at Crusoe, but Into a little dim tn- So I presume S ill lies under the stoue. closure like a locker. In which some “W ell, all I have is ln this venture. small object fain tly caught the light. The old farm paid for the Island With a revived hope of finding relics, Queen— or will, | f I d.m't get hack In I (tot out my knife-—a present from tim e to prevent foreclosure. A ll my Cuthbert \ aue— und set briskly to staid New England relatives think me work widening the seam. mad. A copra g atherer! A tine ca I penetrated finally into a small reer for a minister's son ! Well, when locker or cubby hole, get In the angle I get home w ith my Spanish doub under the roof o f the cahln. and, as loons there w ill be another story to subsequent Investigation showed, so tell. I won't be poor eruxy Peter placed as to attract no notice from the then. And Helen— oh, how often 1 Casual eye. 1 ascertained this by wish I hnd told her everything! It lying down and wriggling my head was too much to ask her to trust me and shoulders Into the cabin. In oth blindly as I did. But from that mo er words, 1 had happened fin a little ment I came across the story In grand private depository, in which the own father's old, half-forgotten diary— by er of the sloop might stow away cer the way, the diary habit seems to run tain small matters that concerned him in the fam ily— a very passion o f se ntlmntely. Yet the contents of the locker at first seemed trifling. They crecy has possessed me. I f I had told Helen, I should have had to dread were an old-fashioned digged sliver that even in her sweet sleep she shoe-buckle, and a brown-covered man might whisper something to put thal uscript book. , i ferret, her stepmother, on the scent, The book had suffered much from j Oh, Helen, trust me. trust me! dampness, whether of ral'ne or the “December 25. I have a calendar wash of the sea. I seated myself on with me, so l a m not reduced to notch the cabin roof, extracted a hairpin, and l Ing a stick to keep track of the day hegnn carefully separating the close- ! I mark off each carefully In the cal written pages. The first three or four ! endar. I f I were to forget to do this, C a lifo rn ia S u n s h in e and O r a n g e s Appeal to countless thousands each year W hy not go to California's Sunny Southland «Ins w inter ? T here you w ill en;o) the warmth of t o unclouded »un, the bathing beaches, outdoor »ports and the fragrance of flowers and oranges. Through Sleeping Cars % Observation and Dining Cars Via The Scenic Shasta route Provide all the comforts of modern travel. Tlie rail journey affords an opportunity of teeing many interesting places along the W ay. Round Trip Excursion Tickets are on sale to Santa Barbara...Ix>s Angeles...San Diego For fares, train «chedules, descriptive foblersor sleeping car reserva tions, ask Ticket Agents, or write Southern Pacific Lines J O H N M SCOTT, General Passenger Agent I even for a day or two, I believe I j should quite lose track. Th'e days are so terribly a lik e !. any elaborate work of conceataeut “My predecessor h e r e jn the copra Moat likely they laid the che.t In some the cave under the point was useless. gathering business, old Heintz, really left me a very snug establishment. It iiatural niche. Sailors are unskilled ( I f he hnd knowp the strange confirm In the use of such Implements as c o p v ra is -H T T > L g B O B B S - P 5 E R . r ? . | i i C O fd P A N Y atory echo which this awoke lu my was odd that I should have run aerosi spades, and besides, the very heart of m ind!) him at Panama that way. He proposed That the shore SY N O PS IS . I he undertaking was haste and •» or th«, lalnnd to a reasonable distance Cookie took his hands out of the wa "Christmas Day I I wonder what •’ recy. They must have worked they are all doing nt home? on eith er side of the buy entrance ter and wiped off the suds, casting C H A P T E R I. -J a n e H a r d in g respect night and between tw o tides, for few should be snrveyetl, w ith a view to ¡•bout stealthy and mysterious glances. "December 28. ( i f course the eave able and co n s e rva tiv e old s p fn s te r-b u t >r the eaves can he reached except a I n e ie r too old to th in k o f m a rria g e —w ith under the point Is the logical place. I Then he rolled a dubious eye at me. liseover whether some other eave did ihe ebb. And I take It as certain that more m oney th a n brains, is inveigled by have been unable to find any stout “W hat was It, Cookie?” I urged. not exist which would answer the de a strong-m inded spinster. Miss H lgg lesb y- he cave must have opened dlreetly Bi-owne. Into fin an cing an expedition to marked B H . on the ground above It, scription given by the dying Hopper- "W ar am Cap'n now?” >n tlie sea For three iRpn to trans i- n t for burled trea s u re on i-eew ard but I fear that a search a fte r B ill’s down as well ns that first explored. “Down on the beach; he can’t possi Island H e r alece. V ir g in ia H a rd in g , un port such a weight and bulk by land d e rtak in g to stop her. gets on the vessel tombstone would be hopeless. Under bly hear you.” Mr. sbaw s words were addressed to would be sheer Impossibility î" * ,84! 8*1 for.„t,he h u n t’ an d ln ‘ he confu circumstances such as those of tin ihe Indies, the organizer and financier, “You won't say nothin' to git Cookie sion is u n w illin g ly c a rrie d along. “February 10. Today a « ran ge mate's story, It seems to me that all In a rumpus?" espectlvely, of the expedition, to the thing happened— so strange, the probabilities point to their con very deliberate exclusion of M r Tubbs. . I I . —B y no m eans concealing "Cross my heart to die, Cookie.” wonderful and glorious that It distaste fo r the expedition and her Hilt he might ns well have made up his "W ell, deo”— Cookie spoke In a ceallng the chest In the cave wit? contempt for its m em bers, V irg in ia makes might to be recorded In luminous Ink the acquaintance o f (he H o n o ra b le C u th nlnd to recognize the trium virale. En hoarse whisper— “Cap’n say he forglt an opening on the buy. To get the And I owe It all to Benjy I L ittle dog bert Vane, and is som ew hat impressed. boat, laden with the heavy chest, throned on a camp-chai? sat Auttt to lake his gun ca’tridges. Miss Jinny, vou - shall go In a golden collar and through the surf fo any o f the othei lane, like a little goddess of the Dol a h 7 iA I»TE ? I H - —T a lk in g w ith Dugald when he come back, I see him empty ♦*bt Innih chops every Shaw, the leader o f the expedition. V ir - day I This lar Sign, and on one hand Mr. Tubbs eaves— If the various cracks and fls his gun ca’tridges out'n hlg belt and morning— M '® r y fr a n k ly expresses her views, sures I have seen are Indeed properly mlled blandly, nnd on the other VI- put back h!s pistol cartridges. So dere rnTm V ïï y * “ ualn< ¡« la w and the other Across my absorption In the diary members o f the p a rty . In cluding a some now !” to be called eaves— would lie silfi •et rliHimed Yon «<iw that la sacred what un certain personage. C ap tain M ag- ul the unwelcome clangor of Cookie s council Mr. Shaw's announcement had work for three men. Yes, everyth .ip I turned Prom Cookie, too surprised to h a , 5' '*hn a n cler, H am ilto n gong Itlght on the breathless edge of licei! foreseen nnd deliberated upon. r î i . i i Ï ? * ' ° ! being In a conspiracy to de- Indicates the cavern under the point. ¿peak. Why had Captain Magnus fraud Miss Jane H la a r d in ----- ilscovery I was summoned with m.v g. — T h o - lr relations, The only question Is, Isn't It Indicated Miss Browne, who curried an Invia n a tu ra lly . a re s om ew hat strained. been at pains to Invent a lie about so hrllllng secret In my breast, to Join tile rostrum with tier wherever she too clearly? Would a smooth old trivial a matter? I recalled, too, that I V . —L a n d in g on th e Isrand iny unsuspecting iximpantons. I hid went, now alertly mounted It. scoundrel such as tills Captain Samp ■M r. Shaw's “ question unu had « confused him. is a m a tte r o u lty , V irg in ia v i f some suine d G iffic im cuiiy, ................. t-m nun, he book carefully In my cot. Not “My friends," she began, "those i J ? gvCarr,ed * Mhore ,n a rm s o f CUth- D ______ „ ha d h e s lta ,e d son must have been have hidden his t l,! t „ hp s ta m m e re d ueit van e , to h e r disquietude. T h e land- i r , , Made Out a Word Her« and Thera. I treasure In the very place certain to 'inti! the light of tomorrow morning Iwelllng on a plane where the M ate hlg, how ever, is sarely s a fe ly effected effected. hefnre answering It. Why? Was he could I return to Its perusal. How 1 rial is all may ÿ ill to grasp the J be ransacked If the secret ever gol a bad shot and ashamed of It? Had were quite Illegible, the Ink having was to survive the Interval I did not „ C H A P T E R v ~ Le d by M iss H igglegby- thought which I shall put before you out? Unless It was deeply hurled he preferred to say that he had taken run. Then the w riting became clear know. But on one point my mind wa> Browne the p a rty d ra w s up an agree this evening. My friends, this expe- ment w hereby V ir g in ia H a rd in g 1* barred the wrong aniinunltlon rather than ad er. I made out a word here and i which It cou bX iave been -only at cer made up— no one should dream of the fr°m p a rtic ip a tio n In the profits o f the lltlon was, so to apeak, called from tain stages of the tide, even old Heintz mit that he could get no bag? That there: •xlstsnce of the diary, until I knew all expedition B elieving the whole thing to | would have been apt to run across li the Void hy Thought. Thought It wus, must be the explanation, because there , i r,a ?dl V irg in ia is not g re a tly wor- that It had to Impart. ----- directions vague------my grand as realized In wteainshlpfl and other re i h * A . 2 U tVb e r t . V a n " a,on e votes against was no other. Certainly no imagina father------ man a rufflnn h u t___ no mo i In the course of Ills desultory the exclusion o f V irg in ia . e|*hemeral forms, which bore us over searches for the riches of the buc ble errand hut the one assigned could t iv e .. . .police of H a v a n a . . . .frig h tfu l C H A P T E R X. rolling seas. How, then, can It be oth caneers. And I am certain placid old V I . —W ild pigs abound on have taken the captain to the other d e n .. . .grandfather made sure___ reg the islaigl, and "C o o k ie ,'' the colored erwise than thnf Thought should In H e ln ti did not mislead me. Besides, side of the Island. ¡ueml’er o f the p a rty insists he has seen is tr y .. . .Botiny L a s s ...." Mlsa Browne Has a Vision. fluence our fortunes— Hint auecesa at Panama, he was making arrange a bant, In th e fo rm o f a w h ite pig Several days went by, and still the Perhaps because o f the secret ex And at that I gave a small excited P uL’b8 a w a lk V irg in ia m eets the " h a n l* should be unable to m aterialize before ments to go with some other Germans treasure was unfound. O f course, as shriek which brought Crusoe to me In !i_ buH t e r r l®r, and prou dly brings clternent under which I was laboring persistent nttltude of Negation? My him into cam p. on a small business venture to Romoa. the unexplored space In the cave con » hurry. What had he to do, the which lie would not have been likely I seemed that evening unusually awart tracted. so dally the probability grew •>f the emotional fluctuations of timer w riter of this Journal, what had he to do If he hail Just unearthed a vast . V I I —On the island Is the stronger that Fortune would shed her to do with the Bonny Lass? nut of a copra g a th e re r, and the presence ■ bout me. Violet looked grlmmei fortune In hurled treasure. Still, I or tne dog. nam ed ’ ‘C rusoe’ by V irg in ia , golden smile upon us before night. 'him ever, so that I Judged her strug Breathlessly I read o n : and ?l i? w * i w *A io r * R a m b lin g about, shall expbge the cave thoroiigbly, Nevertheless, It seemed to me ttiat the and feeling h e rse lf not to be a reg ular gles with her mnndnne consclouanesx " ----- thought captain still living but though with little hope. member o f the exp editio n V irg in ia comes optimistic spirits of most were begin not sure----- lost___ Benito Hon___ " O have been exceptionally severe "and-im bedded sloop, the Isianu "f»h, Helen, If I could watch these ning to flag a little. Only Mr. Shaw, n„ .R e tu r n in g to the cam p, she is « uptaln Magnus seemed even beyond I closed the book. Now, while the trofiic stars with you tonight I c»P<ed by C ap tain M agnus, who ac- though banned as a confirmed doubter coast was clear, I must get back to his wont restleaa, loose-jointed and WO? ,i.er “ "P 's a a a n tly - She escapes him. “January 6. I think I am through and pessimist, now by the exercise of camp. It would take hours, perhaps with the a id o f “C ru so e.” rtanderlng-eyed, and performed ex with the cave under the point— the will kept the others to their task. As ’lays, to decipher the Journal which traordlnary feats of sword swallow C H A P T K H V I I I . —F ire d w ith the Idea Cavern of the Tw o Archea, I have for Captain Magnus, his restlessness hud suddenly l>eronie of snch supreme Ing. M r. Shaw was very silent, and or herself d iscovering the treasure, V ir named It. I peered Into every crevice ginia pays a v is it to the cave which has was manifest. Several times he had Importance. I must smuggle it unob bis forehead knitted now and then i n singled out as the most lik e ly place In the walls, and sounded Hie sands suggested blowing the lid off the island served Into my own quarters, where into a reflective frown. As fo r myself, n which It has been concealed, and w ith a d rill. I suppose i would have *7ara " ? • *? cau g h t by the tide and res- with dynamite as the shortest method I had much ado to hide my abstrac I could read at my leisure. As I w»t i u i u , b?~.,U u i ald Shaw , from certain imide a more thorough Job of It If I of getting at the gold. He was always out I dropped the silver shoe-buckle Hon, and turned cold from head to foot * ‘itn . T h in k in g her unconscious, Shaw bad not been convinced from the first whispers words o f endearm ent, which vanishing on solitary excursions lu into my pocket, smiling to think that that the chest was not there. Shall with alarm when I heard my own •lie treasures. land. It was I who had discovered the first I ever forget the feeling that stirred voice addressing Cninne as Benjy. A faint ripple o f surprise passed Mr. Tubbs remarked, scornfully, bit of precious metal on the Island. C H A P T E R IX . me when first I turned the pages of round the table. that a man with a nose for money Yet the book In my hand. I felt In my grandfather's diary and saw there. “Nemed your dog over again. ought to have smelled out the chest W hat Crusoe and I Found stinctively. was of more value than In his failed writing, the story o f thè Miss J in n y r Inquired M r. Tubbs. M r When a fte r those poignant moments before this, but If his own nasal pow many shoe-buckles. mate o f the Bonny Lass, who died In In the boat I met Dugald Shaw in ers were of that character he did noi Tubbs had adopted a facetiously pa ¡Safely In m.v hammock, with a pil Havana In my grandfather's arms? ternal manner toward me. I knew In offer to employ them In the service of low under which I could slip the book commonplace fashion at the table, My grandfather had gone ns mipercar- sudden, queer, altogether unprece the expedition. In case of Interruption, I resumed the go In Ids ewn ship, ami while he did anticipation of the moment when he Miss Hlgglesby- dented shyness seised me. I sat look reading. From this point on, although a good stroke of business In Havana— would Invite me to call him Uncle Hrowne. however, had taken to retir Ing down at my plate with the ing to the hut for long private sessions the writing was somewhat faded. It trust his shrewd Yankee Instincts for Ham. "• **7 . you knew,** expostulated KSiicherie of a silly chUd. was all, with a little effort, legible. with herself. My aunt reverentially that— lie managed to combine tlie Cuthbert Vane, " I thought Crusoe rath , During the meal Mr. Shaw asked expla'ned their purpose. The hiding- T H E D IA R Y . service of God with that of Mammon. • uptaln Magnus If he had had good place of the chest being of course " If Sampson did live to fell his Many a poor drunken sailor, taking er a nice name. Never heard o f any secret, then any day there may be a his fling ashore In the bright, treach chap named Benjy that lived on an »port on the other side of the Island known to the Universal Wisdom, all Island." * uptaln Magnus, as usual, had seemed Violet had to do was to put berseif enough to make one fnney that the erous plngue-rldilen city, found In I tried to rally from my confusion, to feel ^ a t tim e consecrated to eat in harmony and the knowledge would unknown Bill, who paid for too much blm a friend, as did the mate of the big was wasted In conversation. At tie hers. The difficulty was that you knowledge with his life, has his own Boi.uy Lass In his dying hour. Oh, but I knew my cheeks were burning "Thia Expedition Was Called From Looks of deepening surprise greoted Il Is point-blank question he started con had first to overcome your Mundane fashion of guarding the hoard. But If my good grandfather had hut made the Void by T h o u g h t" the scarlet emblems of discomfiture fuscdly, stuttered, and finally ex- Conscidbsness. To accomplish this I rnmble. I was going to say, that sure from the man's own lips exact that I hung out. I 'lined that though he had taken a rifle Violet was struggling in the hut. friends, you w ill perceive that there from the moment when I learned from ly where the treasure la y ! It Is "By heck, bet there's a feller at I" bad carried along pistol cartridges, Is no break In this sequeoce of Ideas; A fter my meeting with Captain Mag my grandfather's diary of the exist you realize how I have longed for you Benjy I" cackled Mr * ' had come home w ith an empty bag. nus in the forest. Lookout ridge was ence of the treasure, I have been d riv —how It sornellmea seems that my soul home named all la remorseless logic. Tubbs shrilly, and for once I blessed At this moment I happened to be barred to m?. Crusoe Hnd I must do en hy an Impnlae more overmaster "In order to w ithdraw myself from must tear Itse lf loose from my body him. looking at Cookie, who was setting our rambling this atmosphere of Negation, fur these in other directions. Ing than anything I have ever experi and speed to you acroas h alf a world? Aunt Jane turned upon him her h'wn a dish before M r. Tubbs. The This being so, I bethought me again enced In my life. several days past I have sought ee- "February 1. Since my last record It was, I lielleve. round Innocent Fye«. cluslon. There In silence I have as npgro started visibly, and rolled his Of the wrecked sloop lying under the what old-fashioned pious folk would my time haa been well filled. In the “Oh, no, M r Tuhha." she nssured serted the power o f Positive over 1 s at Captain Magnus with astou- cliffs on the north shore of the cove. call a leading All my life I had been Island Queen I have hewn surveying him, " I don't think a single one of h' nient depicted in every dusky fra Negative Thought, gazing meanwhile the roasts of my domain, sailing as I remembered that there had seemed Irresolute, the sport of ctrcamstances them was named Benjy I” Into the profound depths of the All. •bre. He said nothing, although wont to be a way down the cliffs. 1 re- trlflng with this and that, unable to close In as I dared, and taking note The laughter which followed this M y friends, an answer has been I ” take part in our conversation as It solved to visit the sloop again. The j set my face steadfaatly toward au> o f every crevice that might lie the gave me time to get myself l„ hM,„| suited him, but I saw him shake h!s lerrlble practicability of the beautiful goal. Yet never, since I have trodden month o f a cave. Then, either In the vouchsafed us; I have hnd a vision again. of that for whleh we seek. Now at great grizzled head In a disturbed Slid youth made It difficult to indulge I d ro this path, have I looked to right or rowhoat or by acrambllng down the "Crusoe It la and will be,” I asaert last, la s spirit of glad confidence, wo cliffs, I visit the Indicated point. It la puzzled fashion as he turned away. mantic musings in his prerance. And left. 1 have defied both human opln • d. “ It hapiiens that a girl I know at A fter thlg a cblll settled on the ta may advance. For, my friends, the to me a derelict brings a keener tang Ion and the obstacles which an un bitterly bard labor, but It has Its com home has a dog named Benjy.” Which , (e You fe lt a disturbance In the air. chest Is buried— In sand.” pensations. I am growing hale and romance than any other relic of friendly fate has thrown la my way happened fortunately to b e trite, for W ith thia trium phant announce as though wireless currents were man's multitudinous and futile striv All alone, I. a sailor hitherto of pleas strong, brown and muscular. Otherwise I should have'been obliged ment Miss Hlgglesby Browne sat “Mo fa r I have discovered h alf a ure-craft among the hays and la'ands r " ” lng and recrossing In general con ings. to Invent It. But tlie girl Is a cat, fusion. down. A heavy silence succeeded. It The descent o f the gully proved an of the New England coast, put forth dozen caves, most o f them quite small. snd the dog a miserable little high was broken by a m urm ur from Mr. As I passed Cookie at his dlshpan, easy matter, and soon I was on the In my little stoop for a voyage of Any one o f them seemed such a likely bred something, all shivers and do Tubbs. ■ ft’-r dinner, a sudden thought struck sand beside the derelict Sand hnd three hundred miles no the loneliest place that at first I was quite hopeful. hair I should never have thought of tne. "W onderful— that's what I call Usually heaped up around her hull, and filled wastes of the Pacific. All alone, did Rut 1 have found nothing. him In the same breath w ith Crusoe wonderful I T a lk about the eloquence the floor of the cave beneath a few ' "Okie," 1 rem arked, “you had a her cockpit level with the rail, and I say? No, there was Benjy the ftlth That evening M r. Rhaw addressed frightfully queer look Just now when drifted down the companion. stuffing fn>. His head la at my knee a t I Inchea o f sand la rock. Gnly In the of the ancient»— I believe, by gum, the gathering at the camp-fire— which thia ta on a p ar w ith congressional • "Plain Magnus told about having the little cahln nearly to the roof. w r'te He knowa. I think, that hl« great cave under the , point have I we made smell and bright, and then oratory I” master's mood la sad tonight. Oh, found sand to any depth. I go always from the en tbe wrong cartridges. What Only the bow rose free «st well away from because of the “A vision, Mlsa Brown,” raid M r. v — L1* tuatterF Helen. If you aver see these lines will on the principle that Uaptaln Sampson heat— end In a few words gave It as Rhaw gravely, “must be an Interest- and bis tw o aaalstanu had not tlnw his o ^ I q I od d iet any fa rther sea reft In Ing thing. I have never seen one mjr- P ictures * AVON