The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, May 10, 1903, Page 7

THE SUNDAY CALL. 7 gless oked around s face of the deep b 56 - € 1 see an w . a e g men aboa seid e me selvage,” muttered the * sald 1. and penetrate and see face might we have been abso the position of t d never have seen the person who in d showed Mr. AllaYd ned vessel said 1 been murder r be aboard struck sve by a sharp rd to Armstrong, I he » who was he and w he side, slipped down dic him was a common seaman, sir.” . € ring a bundle - Hullo, look at this!” said he. was @ large, open knife, with a stiff which he had picked up The steel was shining ard we ¢ associate et t 1 man t in his hand when s side was for it still lay withia k f he krew he s se his knife hand er, we can’t help I can't make out ed to the wall ar d weapons and “The we are likely to Haii the bark and ther quarter-boa: ff aboard 1 examined this cu- had come into our curiosities were =o 1 could -only form a r nature, but the od light, where examine it. On the and cornered with metal work graved a com- lex coa f arms d ben h it was a ne of Spanish, which 1 able to de- pher 2= meaning The treasure chest of Don Ramirez di Leyra, knight of the Order of St. James, Governor and Captain General of Terra Firma and of the Province of Veraguas.'” o In one corner was the date 1606 and on mmedi- the front a large white label, upon which ably she was wriiten in English, “*You are earnest- about ly requested upon no ®ccount to open s this box The same warning was re- 1s to peated underneath in Spanish. As to. the t was & complex and heavy one of ngraved steel, with a Latin motto which bove a seaman’s comprehension the time 1 had finished this examina- on of the peculiar box, the other quar- -boat with Mr. Armstrong; the first officer, had come alongside, and we began to carry out and place in her'the various b e desk sufficed curiosities which appeared to be the only Brazilfan brig objects worth moving from the derelict, da Vittoria had cles When she was full T sent her back to from Bah before. The name the bark, ax‘ then Allardyce and [, with of the caj was Texelra. She was the carpente? and one seaman, shifted the glance at the striped box, which was the only thing ent to show me left, to our boat and lowered it over, bal- to profit much ancing it upon the two middle thwarts, Her cargo con- for it was so heavy that it would -have Kking are t I i thoro id, which was ng and some notes and siste Y nger and logs of valuable given the boat a dangerous tiit had we troy growths. As 1 turned over the placed it at either end. As to the dead 1 came upon & short note in En- man, we left him where he had found which arrested my attention, him. s requested,” sald the note, “that The heavy.bdx was slung up by ropes the variobs old Spanish and Indian curi- onto the deck of ‘the Mary Sinclair and osities. whnich came out of the Santarem was carried by four seamen inte the cab- ollection, d which are consigned to in; where between the table and the after ntfoot and Neuman of Oxford street, lcckers there was just space -for it to don, should be put in some place stand. There it remained during supper [P and after that meal the mates remained with me and discussed over a glass of 0g the event of the day. Mr. Armstrong s a long, thin, vulture-like man, an excellent seaman, but famous for his rearness and cupidity had excited him greatly. the paper sald The mention of & stron, made me think of the dead man upon Armstrong down upon the table end #hru, “Just as you like, the evening, “I wonder if he could have been on the job when some one came to inter- fere with him?” sail L “I don't know about that, sir, but I am perfectly certaln that I could open There's & screwdriver here In Just hold the lamp, Allar- ave it doné In a brace of Our treasure trove but for the though we spoke upon many I noticed that his eyes were continually coming round, with the same expression of curiosity and greed, to the old striped they were then they may be like to name. believe the sums that rich collectors give. “I don’t think that, warth anything dyce, and I'll b The main cabin had the rooms of the but mine was Lhe far- thest away from it, at the end of the lit- tle passage which led to the companion. No regular watch was kept by me, except in cases of emergency, mates divided the watches among them. Armstrong had the middle watch, which ends at 4 o'clock In the morning, and he was relieved by Allardyce. 1 have always been one of the.soundest of sleepers .and it is rare for anything less than a hand upo: arouse me. ” And yet, I was rather in the earl “As far as very different from any- other South American curios traded there for four- teen voyages and I have never seen any- aid I, for already, with eyes which gleamed with guriosity and with avarice, he was stooping over the “I don't see that there is any hurry You've read the “Walt a bit,” officers round “well, sir, over this matter. which warns us not to open jt. mean ‘anything or It may mean nothin inclined to obey. worth a pile of money, . just PBut 1t's so heavy that surely there must valuable inside it. you think we ought to open it and see?’ “If you break it open you will spoll it, said the second mate. Armstrong squatted - down in. front of i1, with his head on ene side and his long, thin nose within & few inches of the and somehow After all, whatever Is in it will keep. The first officer seemed bitterly disap- pointed at my decision. are not superstitious ‘about it? “with & slight sneer ugon his thin lips. it gets out of our hands and we don't see for ourselves what is inside it may be done out of our rights; besides—" “That's -enough, Mr. Armstrong,” sald “You may have every con- fidence that you will get your rights, be something For my part, likely as not, g my “shoulder to used that night, or gray of the morning. It was just 4:30 by my chronometer when something caused me to sit up in my berth, wide awake and with every nerve tingling. It was a sound of some sort, a “If T had a chisel,” wsald he, strong-bladed knife I could force the loek T, abruptly. back without doing any damage at all.” crash with a human cry at the end of it, which still jarred upon my ears. I sat listening, but all was now silent. And yet it could fnot have bsen imagination, that hideous cry, for the echo of it stlil rang. in,my head, and it seemed to have come from some place quite close to me. 1 sprang from my bunk and pulling on some clothes I made my way.into the cabin. 3 At ‘first 1 saw nothing unusual there. In the cold, gray light I made out the red-clothed tabie. the six rotating chair the walnut lockers, the swinging barom:- eter, and there, at theend, the big striped chest. I was turnmg away with the in- tention of going upon deck and asking the second mate if he had heard anything when my eyes fell suddenly upon somy thing which ' projected from table. It was the leg of a man—a | with a long seaboot upom it.. I stooped and there was a figure sprawling upon his face, his.arms thrown forward and his bod¥ twisted. One glance told me that it was Armstrong, the first officer and a second that he was a dead man. For a few moments I stodod gasping. Thea I rushed on to the deck, cailed Ailardyce to my assistance, and came back with him ints the cabin Together we pulled the unfortunate fell- low from under the table, and as we Icoked at his dripping head we exchanged glances, and I do not know which was the paler of the two. “The same as the Spanish saflor,” 1d T “The very same. God preserve us! It's that infernal chest! Look at Armstrong’s hand!” He held up the mate’s right hand, ind there was. the screwdriver which he had wished to use the night befare “He's been at the chest, sir. He knew that I was on deck and you asleep. He knelt down in front of it and he pushed the lock back with that topl. Then some- thing happened to him and he cried out g0 that you heard “Allardyce whisp ve happened to him? The second mate put red, “what could k. his hand upen my i drew me into his cabin. “We can talk here, sir, and" we don't know who may be listening to us in there What do you suppose Is in thdt box tain Barclay? “I pive you my wo liardyce, that I bave no idea.” Well, I can only find one theory which will fit all the fa Look at, the size of the box. Look at the carving and metal work, which may conceal any number of hcles. Took at the weight of it; It took four men to On the to emember- that two have yme to t open it and both what can it m “It's a roomy chest, sir, and he may have some prov wed away As s drink amorg the crew upon t b saw that he had what he n any other way of exy ts had to confess that I had not st tied the box up ting any water well. Or the a coat of varnish he blowholes e, sald I angrily mean to say ta re golng to be ter man in ® box. If he's 1 b him out” I ame back th my hand. “Now A a 1 open lock and 1 hink w you are e mate. “Twe men h ver it, and the s yet dry upon the ca )re reason why we should re- at least let me call the car- ree are better than two, and ©Of him, and 1 was w e striped chest In t 1 think that I'm a ner s b p able between me a 1 he SBpanish Main. P he carpenter and the mate came back together, the former with a_hammer s a bad business, this, sir,” sald he, shaking his head as he loc at the body of the ma some one s no yee, plcking ng his jaw brace his ¢ back If 1 ' let him have it on head with your hammer, carper T Shoot at once, sir, if he raises his har Now!™ He had knclt down in front eof the striped chest, anc «d the blade of the tool under the h a sharp snick the lack flew back “Stand by*" yelied the mate. and with a heave be threw 1 the massive top of the box. As it p we all three sprang back, I 1 leveled, he car head. Th ch took a st e box was e hammer above ng happened. we and peeped in. N Quite empty either, for In one ceor- ner was ing @ oid yellow candlestick, elabcrately ergrav vhich appeared to bep as old as th 10X self Its rich, yel- low tone and a c shape suggested \nat was an object f 1e Well, I'm blessed!” eried Allardyee, staring blankly in t. “Where does the weight come . ‘Look a he thickness of the sides and+ look Why s five Inches through see great metal spring “That's g the 1id up.” said the mate “You s won't jean back What's that Germa printing on the in- side It means that it was made by Johana Pathstein of Augs 1608 And a solid bit ¢ too. But it doesn’t thr h what has ed; does it. Captain Barclay? Tha ndlestick ik ld. We shall have some rouble after all.” He rward to grasp it, and from tha I have ne oubted as the rea stant I caug p s been some s which ‘had ¢ may have be ed which wa pper part he me it will alwa prompt and s “Fhere's d me the crookec it w a hooked top over the candle- stick and ga t ap rith a flash a row of polishe shot out from below the upper 1 1 the great stripped chest snapped us Ifke a wild animal. - Clang came the huge lid into its place, and the glasses on the swinging rack sang.and tinkled with the shock. The mate sat down on the edge of the tatle and shivered like a frightened hor: ou've saved my life, Captain Bar- clay!” said he S0 this was the seeret of the striped treasure chest of old Don Rami Leyra, and this was how he pr his ill-gotten gains from Terra Firm the Province of Verasguez. Be the ever so cunning he cculd not tell golden candiestick from the other cles of value, and the insta that he lald hand upon it the terrible spring was loosed and the murderous steel spike: were driven Into his brain, while the shock of the blow sent the victim back- ward and ‘enabled the chest automati- cally Yo close itself. How many, I won- dered, had fallen victims to the Ingenuity of the mechanic of Augsburg. And as I thought of the possible history. of that grim striped chest my resolution was very quickly taken, “Carpenter bring three men and carry this on deek.”” “Going to throw it ovesboard, s “Yes, Mr. Allardy Fm not super- stitious as a rule are soma things which are mc an a saflor can be called vpon to stand So we did not even wait for the th sailors, but we carricd yut, the mat the carpenter and I, and we pushed it with our bands over the bulwarks. Thers was a white spout of water, and it was gone. There it lies, the strived chest. a thou sand fathoms de and if, as they sa the sea will some day be dry land. I grieve for the man w ds *hat old bos and tries to irate ints iis secret.