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THE INDEPENDENT, ELIZABETH CITY, N. C FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1919 PAGE TEN . uuv'i " Being the Authentic Narrative of a Treasure Discovered in the Bahama Islands in the Year 1903 Now First Given to the Public by ; - EiCBAKD LEGALLETK2 Oopyrign by Doublodaj, Page Comply - TEere was just room to crawl along It on all fours, so I started cautiously, making sure I had my precious matches and my jackknlfe all safe. I progressed, I should say, for some twenty or thirty yards, when; to my inexpressible relief, I came out, sun on all fours, onto a spreading floor; then, standing up, I perceived that I was In a cave of considerable lofti- n nd some forty feet or so across. It was good to breathe again such .nmnaratlvely free air; yet, as I looked about and made the circuit of the walls. I saw that I had but ex changed one prison for another. There was this difference, however: whereas tliere had only been one passageway from the cave I had just left, there were several similar outlets from that in iwhiph I now stood. Two or three of them proved to be nothing but al coves that ran a few yards and then stopped. But there were two close by each other which seemed to continue on, There was not much choice between them, but as both made in the same direction, so far as I could judge the direction In which I had so far pro gressed, I decided to take the larger one. It proved to be a passage much like the tunnel I had already trav ersed, only a little roomier, and there fore it was easier going, and it, too, brought me out, as had the other, on another cavern but one considerably larger in extent. - , I had stumbled on something like a Monte Cristo suite of underground apartments. And here for a moment I released my Imagination from her blinders, and allowed her to play around these strange halls. And in one of her suggestions there was some comfort. It was hardly likely that caverns of such extent had waited for me to discover them. They must sure ly have been known to Teach, or what ever buccaneer It was who had occu pied the ruined mansion not so very far above ground. I set about the more carefully to examine every nook and corner. Two iron staples imbedded In one of the walls, with rusting chains and man acles attached, were melancholy proof of one of the uses to which the place had once been put. Melancholy for certain unhappy souls long since free of all mortal chains, but for me need I say it? exceedingly joyous. For if there had been a way to bring pris oners here it was none the less evl dent that there had been a way to take them out. But how and where? Again I searched every nook and cran ny. There was no sign of entrance anywhere. Then a thought occurred to me. What !f the entrance were after the manner of a medieval oubliette through the ceiling! There. was a thought indeed to send one's hopes soaring. I ran " in my eagerness through one cavern after another, holding my lantern aloft. That must be the solution. There could.be no other way. I sought and sought, but alas! It was a false hope, and I threw myself down in a corner in despair, deciding that the prisoners must have been forced to crawl in as I had though it was hardly like jailers to put themselves to such inconvenience. I leaned back against the wall and gazed listlessly upward. Next mo ment I had bounded to my feet again. Surely I had seen some short, regular lines running up the face of the rock, like a ladder. I raised my lantern. Sure enough, they were iron rounds set in the face of the rock, and they mounted up till I lost them in the ob-, scurity, for the cave here must have been forty feet high. Blessed heaven ! I was saved! But alas! they did not begin till some six feet above my head, and the way was sheer. How was I to reach the lowest rung? The rock was too sheer for me to cut steps in, as I had done farther back. I looked about me. Again the luck was with me. In one ' of the oaves I had noticed some broken pieces of fallen rock. They were ter ribly heavy, but despair lent me . strength, and after an hour or two's work, I had managed to roll several of them to the foot of the ladder, and with an effort of which I would not have believed myself capable had been able to build them one on top of another against the wall. So, I found myself able to grasp the lowest rung with my hands. Then, fastening the lantern round my neck with my neck tie, I prepared to mount. . The climb was not difficult, once I had managed to get my feet on the first rung of the ladder, but there was always the chance that one of the , , rungs might have rusted loose with Hme, in which case, of course, it would have given way' In my, grasp, and I should have been precipitated back ward to certain death below. However, the man who had mortised them had done an honest piece of work, and . they proved as firm as on the day they were placed there. Up and up I went, till I must have been forty feet above the floor, and, then, as I neared the foot, instead of com ing to a trap door, as I had ; conjec tured, I found that the ladder came to an end at the edge of a narrow, ledge, running along the ceiling much as; a . clerestory runs near, the roof of. some iold,.churches.: - On to this I managed to sltuatlonr -ana" IT 'seemed-- saJR crawl along on all fours, noiaius u.c lantern In front of me. Presently it brought me up sharp in a narruw recess. It had come to an end. Yes! but imagine my joyi n come to an end at a iuw rudely cut in the rocK. ojeep s the archway was a stout wooden door. My first thought was that I was trapped again, DUt, to my imm. t nnid eratitude, it .proved to be slightly ajar, and a vigorous push sent rnnw hooir. An its hlnsres. - What next? I wondered. At all events, I was. no longer lost in the Doweis oi u earth; step by step, i was w nearer to the frontiers of humanity. But I was certainly not prepareu for what next met my eyes, as l pushed through the low doorway with my lantern, and looked around. Yes! indeed, man had certainly Deen uerc man, too, very purposeful and busi nesslike. I was in a sort of low nar row gallery, some 'forty; feet long, to z: myEnee& shooF" beneath me. xi Tg-ggg-gilyer , to tEereTwhose gxeam the sound of the sea . had made me momentarily distraught, Yes, it was no illusion. It was tne bufc g( mucn , dust and ashes, sound that the sea makes singing and Arflpntl ftS T had BOUght it, what was echoing througn .- noiiow cvCr Jt cojnpaPed to glance pr ner eyes r sound J heard that night as I stood at . . sflme hour, I had lost the moonlit door of Calypso's cavern, e treaSTire ana found the false? and saw tnat vision wmtu j At the thought, that guttering- nwy nMriv hroke to remember. Calypso 1 4 , and. without Oh Calypso! where was she at tms looking Dack 1 soUght for some way moment? Pray Qod that she was In- T ronld descend. ' deed safe, as her father had said, uut CTeW accustomed to the I had to will her from my mma, wi iieht. I saw that there were some keep from going mad. . shallow steps- cut diagonally in the And mypoor torch naa goneuu rock and down tnese I had soon made having, however, given uiv my way, to find myself in a' roomy cor- pnnnfrh to see that the door which J . , inr.nyk 1SV that, in which I had had just burnt through let out onto a seeu Calypso standing in the moonUght, narrow platform on me siue ui. for a moment, I dreamed it was that went slanting down into a chasm of blackness through which, as in a great shell, boomed that murmuring oi the sea. It had a perilous ugly look, and it was plain that it would be fool hardy to attempt it at the momem ii.nt a n&ht? and mv fire: was H, Hume, and started to run down it. inrioof . that my troubles were over that in another moment I would emerge through that enchanted Annr and face the sea. But alas! instead of a broad snimng j ,ni AnAn nrms of freedom dying down. Besides, I was beginning -.-ja f or me to leap into, I came to feel Ught-headed and worn put, part ly from lack of food, no doubt. As there was no food to be had, I recalled the old French proverb, "H eats who.sIeeps"-r-or something tc that effect nd I determined to hus at last to a mere long narrow slit- through which I could gaze as a man gazes through a prison winaow at mv entrance had once been wide onri hnt a mass of rock had fallen band my strength once more witii a from aboye and Di0cked it up, leaving brief rest. However, as i tunieu i. only a long through, wmcn tne throw some more wood on my fire tides passei to and fro. preparing to Indulge myself with a. was stlll my trap; it seemed little campfire cheerfulness as I dozec terrible than ever, now that I off my eyes fell once more on tnai could Bee. freedom so close, her very grim line of locked doors; and my voicg calling t0 mCj singing the morn curiosity, and an idea, made me wake- . g of the gea But in the caverns fnl aeain. I had burned down ont doorwhy not another? Why not, in deed? So I raked over my fire to the fam ily vault nearest to me, and presently had it roaring and licking against the stout door. It was, apparently, not so solid as the eallery door had been. At all events, It kindled more easily, and it was not long before I had the satis faction of battering- that down too, As I did so, I caught sight of some thing in the interior that made me behind me, I heard another mocking song, and I felt a cold breath on my cheek, for death stood by my side "The treasure!" he whisperea, x need you to guard that. The treasure you have risked all to win tne treas- ure lor wmcn you nave j treasure ! . You cannot escape. Go back and count your gold. 'It is all good ... 3 money 1' Ha! ha! it is au goou money V The Illusion seemed so real to me 1 I laugh aloud and behave generally like j crieJ aloud ..j wU1 not a madman. Of course, I didn't believe my .eyes but they persisted in de- Mt ecrfed. It so loud, that I Was in a Sort of Low, Narrow Gal . lery, Some Forty Feet Long. which the arching rock made a crypt like ceiling. At my first glance, I saw that there was another door at the far end similar to the one I had entered by ; and on the left side of the gallery, built of rough stones from the low ceiling to the floor, was a series of compartments, each with locked wood en door. They were strong and grim looking, and might have been taken for prison cells, or family vaults, or possibly wine bins. The massive locks were red with rust, and there was plainly no possibility of opening them. On the other side of the gallery there was a litter of old chains, and some boards, probably left over from the door3. Yes, and there were two old flintlock guns, and several cut lasses, all eaten awayith rust, also a rou&h seauan's chest open and fal Ing to pieces. At the siyht of that, a wild thought flashed through my brain. What if Good God ! What if this was John Teach's treasury behind those grim doors. I threw myself with all my force against one and then the other. For the moment I forgot that my paramount business was to es cape. But I might as well have hurled myself against the solid rock. And, at that moment, I noticed that the place was darker than it had been. My lan tern was going out. In a moment or two I should be in the pitch dark, and I had discovered that the door at the end of the gallery was as solid as the others. I was to be trapped, after all; and I pictured mysejf slowly dying there of hunger the pangs of which I was already beginning to feel and some one, years hence, finding me there, moldering skeleton some "one who wouid break open those doors, uncover those gleaming hoards, and moralize on the irony of my end ; condemned to die there of starvation, with the treas ure I had so long sought on the other side of those unyielding doors. Old Tom's words suddenly flashed over me, and I could feel my hair literally beginning to rise. "There never was a buried treasure yet that didn't claim Its victim." Great God ! and I was to be the ghost, and keep guard in this terrible tomb till the next dead man came along to relieve me of my sentry duty! Frantically I turned up the wick of my lantern at the thought but it was no use; it was plainly going out. I examined my match box; I had still a dozen or so matches left. And then my eye fell on that shattered chest. There were those boards, too. At all events I could build a fire and make torches of slivers of wood, so long as the wood lasted. And then I had an Idea. Why nol make the fire against the door at the end of the gallery, and so burn my way through. Bravo! My spirits rose at the thought, and I set to at once split ting some small kindling with my knife. In a few minutes I had quite a sprightly little fire going at the bot tom of the door; but T saw that I should have, to; be extravagant with my wood if the fire was to be effective. However, It was neck or nothing; so I piled on beams and boards till my fire roared like a furnace, and present ly I had the joy of seeing it begin to take hokf of the door which, after a short time, began to crackle and splut ter In a very cheering fashion. Whatever lay beyond, it was evi dent that I should soon be able to break my way through the obstacle, and, indeed, so it proved ; for, present ly, I used one of the hoards as a bat tering ram, and, to my Inexpressible joy, it went crashing through, with a shower of sparks, and It was but the work of a few more minutes before the whole door fell flaming down, and I was able to leap: through the doorway Into the darkness on the other side. . :' 1-As I stood there,' peering ahead, and holding ; aloft abufnihg" ; stick which daring, nevertheless, tnat mere in front of me was a great lron-Douna oaken chest, to begin with. It might not, of course, contain anything but bones but it might! The thing was too absurd. I must have fallen asleep must be already dreaming ! But no I I was laboring with all my strength to open it with one of those rusty cut lasses. It was a tough job, but my strength was as the strength of ten, for the old treasure-hunting lust was upon me, and I had forgotten evenT" thing else In the world l'or thftr time. At last, with a great wooden groan, as though Its heart were breaking at having to give up Its secret at ast, it crashed open. I fell on my knees as though I had been struck by lightning, for it was literally brimming over with silver and gold pieces doubloons and pieces of eight; English and French coins, too guineas and louis d'or "all" as. Tobias manuscript had said "all good money. For a while I knelt over it, dazed and blinded, lost; then I slowly plunged my hands into it; and let the pieces pour and pour through them, literally bathing them in gold and sil ver, as I had read of misers doing. Then suddenly I broke out into an Irish jig never having had any no tion of doing such a thing before. In fact I behaved as I have read ol men doing, whom a sudden fortune "All Good Money." has bereft of reason. For the time, at all events, I was a gibbering madman Certainly, there Was to be no sleep for me that night ! "But, In the full tide of my frenzy, I suddenly noticed some thing that brought me up sharp. Out beyond the doorway it was growing light. It was only a dim tremulous suffusion of it, indeed, but it was real daylight oozing in from somewhere or other the blessed, blessed, day light! "God be praised! anyone in a passing boat might have heard me, and-shuddered, wondering what poor ghost It was walling among the rocks. - But the fright had done me good, and I nerved myself for another effort If only I could wriggle past that con traction In the middle, I should b safe. And if I stuck fast midway! Bui the more I measured the , width witt my eye, the less the narrowing seemed to be. To be so , slightly perceptible, M could hardly be enough to make much difference. Caution whispered that It might be enough" to make the differ ence between life and death. But al ready my choice of those two august alternatives was so limited as hardly to be called a choice. On the one hand, I could .worm my way back through the caves and tunnels through which I had passed, and try my luck again at the other end "With half a dozen matches!" sneered a voice that sounded like To bias' "Precisely" . . . and the hor ror of It was more than I dared face again anyway. So there was nothing for It but this aperture, hardly wider than one of those deep stone slits that stood for windows in a Norman castle. It was my last chance, and I meant to take it like a man. I stood for a moment nerving myself and taking deep breaths, as though I expected to take but few more. Then, my left arm extended, I entered side wise, and began to edge myself along. It was easy enough for a yardr two, after which it was plain that it was beginning to narrow. Very slightly in deed, but still a little. However, I could still go on, and I could still go back. I went on more slowly it is true, yet still I progressed. But the rock was perceptibly closer' to me. I had to struggle harder. It was beginning to hug me very gently but It was be ginning. . 1 I tpaused to take breath. I could not turn my head to look back, but I Judged that I had come over a third of the way. I was coming up to the waist that I had feared, but I could still go on very slowly, scarce, more than an Inch at every effort ; yet every Inch counted, and -I had lots of time. My feet and head were free which "was the main thing. Another good push or two, and I should be at the waist should know my fate. I gave the good push or two, and suddenly the arms of the rock were around me. Tight and close, this time, they hugged me. They held me, fast, like a rude lover, and would not let me go. My knees and feet were fast, and the walls on each side pressed my cheeks. My head teo was fast. I could not move an inch forward and It was too late to go back ! Panic swerjtoverme. I felt Jthat "It Must Have Been Dead at Least 6 Months Bat Didn't Smell." "Saw a big rat in our cellar last Fall." Writes Mrs. Johnny, "and bought a 25c cake of RAT-SNAP, broke it up into small pieces. Last week while moving we came across the dead rat. Must have been dead six months, didn't smell. RAT SNAP is wonderful." Three sizes 25c, 50c $1.00 Sold and guaranteed by CITY B-RUG STORE, CULPEPPER HDW. CO., and G. W. TWBDDY A.22-4t my "hair must Toe turning wnite. rrw ently I ceased to struggle. But the rocks held me In their giant embrace. There Was no need for me to do any thing. I could go on resting there it was very comfortable till And then I felt something touching my feet, running away and then touch ing them again. O God! It was the incoming tide ! It would And then I prepared myself to die. ,1 suppose I was Ught-headed, with the strain and the lack of food, for, after the first panic. I f ound myself dreamily, almost luxuriously,- making picture of h0 brave men had died In the past-brave women too:' I fancied myself in one and another situation:' But the picture that persisted was that of the Con clergerie during the French revolu tion. : Then the picture vanished, as I felt the swish of the tide round my ankles. It would soon be up to my knees ; It was up to my knees It was creep ing past them and It was i making that hollow eong in the caves behind me that had seemed so kind to me that very morning, the song it had mud to Calypso . . . that far-off nieht under the moon. I i turned my . eyes ' over the sea 1 could move them, at all events; how gloriously it was shining but there! And here was I, helpless, with arms extended, as oha crucified. I closed mv eves In anguish, and let my body ' relax : perhaps' I dozed, or perhaps I fainted but, suddenly, what was that that aroused me, summoned me back to life? It seemed a short, sharp sound of firing! I opened my eyes and looked out to sea, and then I gave a great cry: . "Calypso! Calypso!" I cried. "Calyp so !" and It seemed as though a giant's strength were In me that I could rend the rocks apart. I made a mighty effort, and, whether or not my relax ing had made a readjustment of my position, I found that for some reason I could mpve forward again, ana, with one desperate wriggle, I had my head through the narrow space. To wrench my shoulders and legs after it was comparatively easy, and, in a mo ment. I was safe on the outer side, where, as I had surmised, the aperture did widen out again. Within few moments, I was on the edge of the sea, had dived, and was swimming madly toward But let me tell what I had seen, as I hung there, so helpless, in that crev ice in the rocks. fTO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK) Optimistic Thought. He is the noblest who has raised himself by his own merit to a highei station. LORRAINE HOTEL Norfolk, Virginia Thoroly Renovated Since February NfW Operated By Dodson Hotel Corp. CHAPTER VIII. In Which I Understand the Feeling of a Ghost. So, I- surmised, I had been under ground a whole day and two nights, and this was the morning of,- the sec ond day after Calypso's disappearance. What had been happening , to her all this time ! . My , flesh crept at the thought, and, with that daylight steal ing in like a living presence, and the sound and breath , of the sea, my an guish returned a hundredfold. - As I stood on the little rocky plat form outside the door through which I had burned my way,; and looked down Into the glimmering chasm beneath, and heard the fresh voice of the sea huskily : rumbling- and :: reverberating about ; hidden ; grottoes .: and channels, aJl .that Calypso was to me -came back wit! t' eeT?Tep'? :of 'a' 'Bwdfd -through T 1 THE PROGRESSIVE FARMER one year and THE INDEPENDENT one year, both for $2,25. Send your order direct to THE INDEPENDENT, Eliz abeth City, N. C. ) THE INDEPENDENT is equipped to do the best line of Job Printing in this section. IlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllliillllllllllllHI AIR SLACKED for Sanitary-Purposes A Quiet, Refined Place TO EAT Scott & Twiddy's Cafe HINTON BUILDING Main Street Elizabeth City, N. C. 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