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 THE IIlSPAi^IOLA PLATE
 
 liY THE SAME AUTHOR. 
 
 The Desert Ship. 
 
 The Adventuiies of Viscount Aneuly. 
 
 A Gentleman Advexttuer. 
 
 His Own Enbmy. 
 
 The Silent Shore. 
 
 ETC. etc.
 
 The Hispaniola Plate 
 
 (1683-1893) 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN BLOUNDELLE-BURTON 
 
 We passed the tropics, as near as we could guess, just luhere the Juinous Sir 
 William Fhips fislied vp the silver from the Spanish Plate ivreck."— 
 
 Defoe ("Colonel Jack"). 
 
 CASSELL AND COMPANY, Limited 
 
 LONDON, PARIS &- MELBOURNE 
 189s 
 
 ALL RIGHTS KESERVED
 
 ©71 H^T 
 
 "(>
 
 OFFICEKS OF THE EOYAL NAVY 
 
 AVITU AVIIOM I HAVE, FOR SOMf: YEAKS, 
 
 SPENT MANY PEEASAXT AVEEKS ANNUALLY BVRING THE 
 
 XAVAL MAN(EUYRES, 
 
 V.IIILE ACTING AS SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT OP 
 
 THE STAXDAUD, 
 
 I VENTURE TO INSCRIBE, 
 
 YTITU GREAT CORDIALITY, THIS STORY 
 
 PARTLY TRUE AND PARTLY FICTITIOUS — OF 
 
 Captain, Sir William Phips, R.N., 
 
 AND OF 
 
 Lieutenants Nicholas and Reginald Ci!Afkr, H.X.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Most of the maps of the West Indies published 
 during the first half of the present century and anterior 
 to that date mark distinctly the spot where the 
 following story prmcipally takes place. Thirty miles 
 due nortli of Cape Fran^ais, on the north coast of San 
 Domingo, is a reef entitled " Bajo de la Plata, or 
 Phips's Plate," while more modern maps simply 
 describe it as " Silver Bank." 
 
 This is, of course, the spot where Sir William 
 Phips^a now forgotten figure in history — obtained 
 the plate mentioned by Defoe; and, so far as I am 
 aware, there is but one detailed account in existence 
 of how he found and secured that plate. This 
 account is contained m a duodecimo volume entitled 
 " Fietas in Fatriam : the Life of Sir WilHam Phips," 
 pubhshed in London iii 1697 anonymousl}-, but 
 guaranteed as accurate by several people who knew 
 him. A production entitled "The Library of American 
 Biography," edited by one Jared Sparks, also pro- 
 fesses to give an accurate biography of Phips, but it is 
 simply a garbled and mangled copy of the London 
 publication. I should also mention that the "Bio- 
 graphia Britannica" refers to the expedition in the 
 article on " Christopher Monk, second Duke of Albe- 
 marle." So does a work of the last century entitled 
 "The Lives of the Admirals," by Lawrence Echard,
 
 Till THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 and so ulso do some encyclopedias ; but all of them 
 undoubtedly derive their information from " Pietas 
 in Patriam." 
 
 This Avork I have myself carefully followed, because 
 in it alone are to be found the descriptions of the 
 " Frj^gate Algier Rose," her eighteen guns and ninety- 
 five men, of the various mutinies, of Alderly's arrival 
 on the scene, of the second voyage with the tender, 
 and so forth. Indeed, beyond the requirements of 
 fii^tion the account is absolutely an account of what 
 happened until the chase after Alderly by Nicholas 
 C'rafer, Avhen fiction itself becomes predominant. 
 Alderly, I should add, was as real a character as 
 rhips himself. So was the carpenter who discovered 
 the second mutiny. The rest, with the exception of 
 the Duke of Albemarle, are imaginary. 
 
 I may add, in conclusion, that " The Hispaniola 
 Plato " appeared originally in The St. James's Budget
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 -•<>♦- 
 
 CHAPTER I. x-ACE 
 
 Nicholas Ceafee's Strange Will 1 
 
 CHAPTER ir. 
 An Old Bit of History 7 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 The Vanished Me. Wargrave 11 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Cazalet's Bank ....... .20 
 
 CHAPTER \. 
 Captain William Pitips . .31 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 The Beginning of a Mltiny 3S 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 Tm; Ending of It . . 4G 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 The Second jIuiiny oi 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 And the PRErAKATioNS Ag.vinst It. . . .62
 
 X THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 CHAPTER X. PAGE 
 
 And How It was Ended . 69 
 
 CHAPTER XT. 
 They Hate to Desist 76 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 The Bark "Furie" 8t 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 The Old Max's Story 92 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 The Wreck is Found 100 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 What the First Search Revealed 109 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 Ax HoxEST Max Arrives ,119 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 An Alarm irom the "Furie" 127 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 Treachery axd Flight 134 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 The "Honest Man" ix His True Colours .... 143 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 A Fight 152 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 The Villain's Den 1G2
 
 CONTENT-:. XI 
 
 CHAPTER XXII PAGE 
 
 Mad ! .172 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 TuK TiiEAsmiE House 1S2 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Wjiat was in the Tueasuue House ... . 1S9 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 The Middle Key 200 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 Nicholas Leaves the Island 210 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 The Narrath-e Ends . . 218 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIIT. 
 Off to the Virgin Isles 227 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 DiiA-wiNG Xear ... 236 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 Out of the Depths of a Ear Distant Past . . . 244 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 Some Light ttpox the Past 253 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 The Solitude is Interrupted 203 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 The Island's Owner 272 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 Joseph Alderly 281
 
 Xll THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 CnAPTER XXXV. TAGi: 
 
 DANOiiu Impexdixo 290 
 
 CHAPTEU XXXVI. 
 
 liliWAKE : 300 
 
 CHAPTER XXX VI r. 
 "A.NJj Death tjie End of All" SOD 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIIT. 
 The Oavxfh of the Tkeasiue ....... 318 
 
 CHAPTER. XXXIX. 
 The Ai'j'uoACHixG Se.uicii 328 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 The Seauch 337 
 
 CHAPTER XLL 
 The End 34K
 
 The Hispaniola Plate. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 NICHOLAS CRAFER'S STRANGE WILL. 
 
 " Gray's Inn Square, Oct. 20tli, 1892. 
 
 " My DEAR Sir, — In answer to your request, I beg 
 to inform yon that the terms by wliicli you inherit 
 ' Phips House,' at Strand-on-the-Green, from your late 
 uncle, are as follows — the statement beino- taken from 
 the last will and testament of your ancestor Nicholas 
 Crater, made in the year 1095 : — 
 
 And I do hereby will and bequeathe that ye house called 
 Pliips by me, after iny late captain aud commander, Sir William 
 Pliips, when I purchased yt from Mr. Ciitlierow of Branford, do 
 forever remaine in the possession of some descendant of mine, 
 male or female, the former for clioyce and preference, yet not 
 also debarring, in fault of any bearing the name of Crafer 
 existinge, those descending from the female side to succeed. 
 That is to saye, it is to so remaine forever unless througli it 
 whoever doth succeede shall thereinto find the means wliereby 
 to obtain unto themselves a fortune of and equivaliut unto the 
 summe of Fif tie thousand guineas, the which I do hereby testify 
 the meanes are forthcoming. After whych the house may be 
 disposed of as best beseemeth those who have so found ye fortune. 
 This, therefore, I say, " Seeke and ye sliall find, kuocke aud yt 
 shall be opened unto you." 
 
 B
 
 2 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 " This will, ill spite of its quaintness, has ever, 
 and Avill probably alvva3^s, hold good, although not 
 law, until one thing occurs of two : either that the 
 house falls down of old age (which it seemed very 
 likely to do when I inspected it after your late 
 uncle's decease) or that some descendant of Com- 
 mander Nicholas Crafer shall find the means of 
 making the fortune of 50,000 guineas in or through 
 it — a most unlikely thing to happen. For, as you 
 know, many generations of Crafers have searched 
 through the house from basement to garret, imagining 
 that the original testator meant to hint that some- 
 where about it, was hidden away such a sum of 
 money as he mentions ; and always without result. 
 Nor has the ingenuity of one generation after another 
 ever been able to liit upon any hidden meaning which 
 mis'ht be contained in the words of the will, or to find 
 anything excepting the scrap of paper once discovered, 
 of which you know; while certainly the land on 
 which it stands— something under three acres — can 
 hardly ever become of such value, or one-twentieth 
 part of it. 
 
 " But as you know as nmch about your ancestor 
 as I can possibly tell you, I need not write further, 
 and I have only to state that, during your absence 
 abroad , everything has been done to facilitate handing 
 over the house to you on your return, and I now 
 propose to prove 3'our uncle's will, and, after the 
 usual formalities, to put you in possession of Phips 
 House and other property left by him. — Yours 
 faithfully, 
 
 " A. Bentham."
 
 NICHOLAS chafer's stran(je will. 3 
 
 This was the letter which Reginald Crafer read at 
 his breakfast, one tine autumn morning, as he sat in 
 that good old hostelry, " The George," at Portsmouth 
 — a letter which he had found at the Naval Club after 
 his early morning walk on the Battery — a walk taken 
 with the view of aiding an already exceedingly good 
 appetite, and of having a look at the waves dancing 
 out at the Nab and sparkling m the bright October 
 sunshine, 
 
 A better specimen of the young lieutenant of 
 to-day than Reginald Crafer (with " N " after his 
 name to show that he had taken up navigation as 
 his branch) you might not see in any of her Majesty's 
 ships. Tall, but not too tall for a sailor ; close- 
 shaven, as becometh the young naval officer of to-day, 
 yet with excellent features that required nothing in 
 the shape of Avhiskers or moustache to set them off ; 
 with clear grey eyes and a wholesome sunburnt skin 
 — what more could a young man desire in the shape 
 of personal gifts ? Nay, Avhat more pleasing a sight 
 to gaze upon than this smart, good-looking young 
 officer could the heart of a maiden desire ? 
 
 Now Reginald Crafer — whom at this present 
 moment you see eating buttered toast and a fried 
 sole, as he reads his lawyer's letter — had just come 
 home from the China Station in the lanthe (twin- 
 screw cruiser, first-class, armoured, 8,400 tons) ; and 
 she having been paid oft", the young man was on leave 
 for the time being. He had slept at " The George " 
 overnight for two reasons (ordinarily the naval officer 
 rushes to London by the first train that will bear 
 hhn, when once he has set foot on shore), one being 
 b2
 
 4 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 that he wanted to qo to a ball at the Commander-in- 
 Chief's to which the otficers of the returned cruiser 
 Avere mostly invited ; the other, that he expected to 
 find a letter from the solicitor, Mr. Bentham — which, 
 as you have seen, he did find. 
 
 This letter was in reply to one that Ecginald had 
 sent to the lawyer from Hong Kong, which in its 
 own turn had also been a repl3\ For to the young 
 lieutenant there had come at the Station a letter from 
 Mr. Bentham, stating that his uncle — also a Reginald 
 Crafer — was dead, that he had left the younger 
 Reginald a foAV thousand pounds (the principal part 
 of his income having been derived from an annuity 
 and a government pension) and " Phips House." 
 Then Reginald had written back for further details, 
 had received the above-quoted answer at the Naval 
 Club this morning, and — voilci toid! 
 
 Of course, he knew as much about the mysterious 
 entailment of Phips House as the laAvyer did ; it 
 would have been strange had he not done so. Eleven 
 different Crafers had held possession of it since 
 Nicholas departed this life in King William HP's 
 reiii'n : eleven different Crafers, all of whom had 
 sought high and low for the fortune it was supposed 
 to contain, or for some clue as to how the fortune of 
 "Fiftie thousand guineas" was to be obtained ; and of 
 those Crafers many had torn their hair in vexation, 
 and others had stamped their feet and cursed and 
 sworn — or, perhaps I had better say, grumbled and 
 growled — at finding nothing. Of such irate de- 
 scendants the last, the late lamented Reginald, had, 
 however, not been one. Perhaps because he thought
 
 NICHOLAS chafer's STRANGE WILL. 5 
 
 that if his ten predecessors could find no fortune in 
 the house, he was not likely to do so ; or perhaps 
 because he was himself very comfortably off with his 
 annuity and his pension from a Government office, 
 and his few thousands of invested money — which 
 Lieutenant Crafer now came into — he bothered his 
 head not at all about the chimera of the house at 
 Strand-on-the-Green. Certainly he cursed not over 
 it, neither did he swear — unless it was at the damp 
 from the river ! — and, being bald, he had no hair to 
 tear ; and he never tapped panels nor prodded walls 
 nor looked for secret doors in the house, contenting 
 himself with letting young " Reg " do all this Avlien 
 he came to stay with him. For the rest, and being a 
 bachelor, he spent much time at his club ; he took a 
 faint interest in the curiosity which the legend of 
 Phips House excited in the minds of his friends, as 
 well as of the waterside loafers of Brentford, Kew, 
 Mortlake, and all the immediate neighbourhood ; he 
 would even go so far as to invite people to stay with 
 him and hunt about the house for themselves, when 
 they were not enjoying the prospect from the windows 
 of the market-gardens across the river. But of 
 excitement in the legendary fortune, this bald-headed 
 and comfortably situated ex-Civil Servant could get 
 up not one jot ; and when a burglar broke into the 
 house, determined on finding, as he informed the 
 barrister Avho defended him, " the blooming fortune if 
 it was to be found," he went to see him at Pentonville 
 after his trial and told him he sincerely wished he 
 had found it. Thus, to him, the fortune of Phips 
 House was but an allegory or a myth, which ho
 
 6 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 resfarded but as a grown-up child regards a fair3^-tale ; 
 and so, unbelieving in all that pertained to it, he 
 passed away to Kensal Green and Reginald the Second 
 ruled in his stead. 
 
 But he, when he was a child — being of a romantic 
 nature — did believe in the fortune of Nicholas Crafer; 
 and when he was a man — being a sailor — had not 
 lost all faith in the romance. 
 
 Whether that faith was justified, you who read on 
 shall see.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 AN OLD BIT OF HISTORY. 
 
 Who is he, especially of the London brood, who 
 knows not Strand-on-the-Green ? Who knows not 
 that it Hes beloAV the choice and savoury town of 
 Brentford and below Kew Bridge also, on the Middle- 
 sex shore ; that it is composed of a long, straggling 
 row of houses, many of them old and most of them 
 quaint, which are of all shapes, sizes, and uses ? One 
 there is in which once dwelt Zoffany, the painter ; 
 hard by is a waterman's cottage, where the succulent 
 winkle or shrimp may be purchased and eaten — the 
 former with a pin supplied by the vendor ; then 
 comes a row of comfortable houses panelled and 
 wainscotted within, then more tiny shops (with, inter- 
 spersed all along the row, the genial public-house); 
 then more private houses ; and so on to Phips House 
 — old, quaint, gabled, and mullioned, panelled also, 
 and wainscotted. In it are fireplaces in the corners of 
 the rooms — sure proofs of the early Charles II. period ; 
 it has also carved wooden doors and carved balus- 
 trades and banisters ; there are balconies to the front 
 windows having bulging rails to fit the hoops of 
 women belonging to long-forgotten days; and all 
 about it is that genuine look of latter Stuart times 
 which may still be found in very many houses in this 
 locality.
 
 8 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 "What (lid it appear like Avhen Nicholas first 
 boiio-lit it ? " mused Re"inald Crafer to himself a few 
 evenino^s later than the dav lie breakfasted at " The 
 George." " Even if it hasn't altered, its surroundings 
 have." Then he turned his eyes aroiuid and went on, 
 oazinij doAvn the river meanwhile. " The ' White Hart ' 
 at ]\[ortlake was there, I think — I have read of Jacobites 
 taking boat from its steps ; and so was the Duke of 
 Devonshire's and old Chiswick beyond, with wicked 
 ]3arbara Villicrs standinsr at the window of her house 
 and shriekiuLj for the return of her lost vouth and 
 beauty. But not much else ! No main drainage then, 
 no horrible gasworks, no District Railwa}^ bridges ! 
 It must have changed a good deal since Nicholas hid 
 his fabulous fortune, or the story of it, in the house — 
 if it is fabulous." 
 
 He put the key into the door and entered, musing 
 still. 
 
 " I wonder what Nicholas did to pass his time ? 
 There Avas no ' Packet Hotel,' no ' Indian Queen,' no 
 'Star and Garter' then." These places are, it should 
 be told, hostelries of more modern date. " There was 
 not nmch for him to do to amuse himself," he went 
 on. " He was too late to know Kinde Kit of 
 Kingston, who lived here ; too early for the Georgian 
 revels at Kew. Yet he mig-ht have often seen 
 A\'illiam of Orange (it was hard by here they at- 
 tempted to assassinate him) ; he might have smoked 
 and drunk at the 'Three Pidgeon.s,' at Brentford, and 
 known till' daughter of Shakespeare's brother-actor 
 Lowin, wh(j kept the place. A\'ho knows ? " 
 
 This young man, you see, was well a('(]uainl(>d witli
 
 AN OLD r.IT OF HISTORY. 9 
 
 the history of the neighbourhood in which stood the 
 house he had now inherited. It was not remarkable 
 tiiat he should be so. From his earliest childhood 
 his fancy had been strongly taken by all the gossip 
 connected with the propert}'^ that must some day be 
 his if his uncle remained unmarried, and never did he 
 by haphazard see the names of Brentford, Kew, or 
 Strand-on-the-Green printed but he studied every 
 word in connection with them. Thus, he was neither 
 erudite nor pedantic, but only very interested in all 
 that concerned the spot, and, therefore, very well 
 informed about it. 
 
 What he did not know Avas — in common with his 
 forerunners — much about the mysterious Nicholas 
 Crafer, who had contrived, by arousing the curiosity 
 of his descendants through the medium of his strange 
 will, to keep his memory ver}^ green. And not only 
 the curiosity of his descendants, but also of most 
 people brought into the slightest connection with the 
 spot. The waterside hands, the barge-loaders and the 
 lookers after private skifis and gigs, the keepers of 
 local refreshment-houses, Avhether " publics " or those 
 chaste bowers which have upon their fronts the 
 mystic legends, " Tea and hot water 9d." (how can 
 there be tea-drinking without hot water ?) ; even the 
 hands of the steamers passing up and down— of the 
 Cardinal Wolsey for Hampton Court (which place 
 it reacheth not without arduous struggles and 
 terrible delay), and the captains of the Bridegroom 
 and the Wedding Ring (graceful names well suited 
 to riparian jaunts !) — all knew the legend of Phips 
 House as Avell as its new owner. So, too, did the
 
 10 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 dwellers on Kew Green, the respectable City men 
 who resided on the Kew Gardens estate and were on 
 familiar terms Avith the parson, and the City clerks 
 who abode in great nnmbers in modern Gunnersbnry 
 and modern Chiswick. All knew, I say, the legend of 
 Phips House ; all had heard of Nicholas Crafer, who 
 was considered to have been a jDirate and buccaneer : 
 all — watermen, City men, and City clerks — were 
 proud of their local histor}^ of Nicholas and their — in 
 a way — connection with him. 
 
 ^Vhat was, however, really known of him by the 
 family — reduced now to Reginald alone — what had 
 filtered through the eleven generations with regard to 
 him, was no more than this : He had been an officer 
 in the navy of the Commonwealth, being but a lad at 
 that time, and serving under Blake during its last two 
 years of existence; then under Charles H. in the royal 
 navy; and then under James n.,in whose first year of 
 misrule he retired. IMany a tight did he engage in in 
 those days, as was well knoAm to his descendants : he 
 was in the destruction of the Spanish ships at Santa 
 Cruz in 1657, and at the defeat of Van Wassenaer by 
 James, Duke of York, in 1065, in the "four days' 
 fight" in 1666, and he assisted in the capture of the 
 (johlen Horse corsair in 16<S1, and many other valiant 
 deeds besides. 
 
 Yet were none of these martial feats so roiiiantic 
 as one other thing he did, or, rather two other things. 
 He accompanied Sir William Phips, then ])lain 
 Captain Phips, in both his expeditions for the fishing 
 up of the Hispaniola Plate — the second attempt 
 proving successful. Now, as not all the world knows,
 
 AN OLD BIT OF HISTORY. 11 
 
 but as his descendants of course knew, 'twas in the 
 Algier Rose that Phips made his first attempt to get 
 this plate in the reign of that most high and puissant 
 prince, King Charles II., of ever-gracious memory. 
 'Twas that great monarch who put at his dis230sal the 
 Algier Rose, after listening to Phips's tale in the 
 embrasure of a window at Whitehall — what time he 
 was playing with the silky ears of a spaniel on his 
 knee and leering at a young country lady fresh come 
 to Court — a tale narrating how the Spanish plate 
 ship, or carrack, was sunk off Hispaniola — or, as we 
 now call it, San Domingo and Hayti ; and how he, 
 Phips, felt sure he could fish it up. But Phips came 
 back without the plate, and the august Charles, being 
 dead, could help him no more, nor would the saintly 
 James, his successor, do so. 
 
 Phips was therefore now on what he w^ould, per- 
 haps, have called his " beam-ends," and so were some 
 of his officers, including Nicholas Crafer ; and on them 
 he would doubtless have remained had not his good 
 fortune thrown in his way at this moment a friendly 
 patron. This was none other than Christopher Monk, 
 second Duke of Albemarle, a nobleman who loved 
 much the bottle — which fondness led to his death 
 shortly afterwards, when Governor of Jamaica — and 
 Avho also took great interest in stories of buried 
 treasure, and listened to tales of such things with 
 eagerness. To him, therefore, Phips opened up the 
 subject of the Spanish plate. He swore that though 
 he had failed once in finding it he would never fail 
 again ; and he so much impressed his drunken Grace 
 with his energy and sincerity that, at last, he sailed
 
 12 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 oncG more for the West Indies as captain of a private 
 ship commissioned to hunt for the plate, and with 
 him Nicholas sailed too as second officer. Much 
 money had been advanced for the quest ; Albemarle 
 taking six shares, while three were allotted to Phips, 
 one to Nicholas, and one between the other officers, 
 and the remainder amongst those adventurer-mer- 
 chants who had assisted in finding the necessary 
 capital. 
 
 All this is matter of history, which may bo 
 grubbed up by the student with little pains ; so, too, 
 is the fact that Phips did come back with the plate, 
 having gone through some considerable dangers and 
 hardships to secure it. Then the saintly King, James 
 — who took a tenth as his royalty for granting the 
 patent — was advised to seize all the j)!''^^ on the 
 ground that " one half of what had been in the 
 Spanish carrack was missing," and that, consequently, 
 Phips had secreted that half somewhere for his future 
 use. But the King, contrary to wliat might have 
 been expected of him, refused to believe such to be 
 the case — perhaps because he had been a sailor 
 himself once, and a good one, too ! — and, instead, 
 ordered the money to be divided and apportioned as 
 had been at first arranged, and also, at the recpiest ot 
 the graceless but goodhearted Duke, knighted the 
 captain, making him thereby Sir William IMiips. 
 
 So Albemarle got his six shares, Phi])s got his 
 three, and Nicholas his one : but as to how mudi 
 each got considerable doubt has ever existed, since 
 some historians say the plate realised only £00,000, 
 and some say £300,000 ; though it Ava,s thought that
 
 AN OLD BIT OF HISTORY. 13 
 
 riiips got £10,000. Bnt Avhatevor it was it was 
 sufficient to assist the Duke in ruling royally over 
 his colony (for a year, when the bottle finished him !), 
 to support Phips until the time came when he was 
 made Governor of New England, and to enable 
 Nicholas to buy his house at Strand-on-the-Green. 
 
 But than this no more was known, except that 
 Nicholas lived some years after the making of his 
 will, since he did not die until 1701, when the small- 
 pox carried him off. And of what he did in those 
 years neither was anything more known, nor of how 
 he and Phips really got the treasure, what adventures 
 they went through, or what hardships they then 
 endured. 
 
 Yet, as will now be seen, the time Avas at last at 
 hand Avhen Reginald Crafer the second, twelfth in 
 descent from Nicholas, the so-called pirate and 
 buccaneer, was to find out all that there was to be 
 discovered about him. He was soon to learn the 
 reason of Nicholas's strange will and testament.
 
 14 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE VANISHED MR. WARGRAVE. 
 
 Now, in the letter of Mr. Bentliam, the lawyer, to the 
 present Reginald, mention was made of "a scrap of 
 paper once found," of which the young man knew. 
 And that he did so know of it was most certain, as 
 all who came after the fourth Crafer in descent from 
 Nicholas had known, for it Avas in the time of that 
 fourth Crafer and in the first year of the reign of 
 George III. that it had been discovered. Only, when 
 it was discovered it told nothing, since on it were 
 simply the words, "My friend Mr. Wargrave has the 
 papers that will tell all. — Nicholas Crafer." 
 
 Nothing could very well have been more dis- 
 heartening than this ; and I fear that the fourth 
 Crafer in descent, wdiose Christian name was David, 
 must, when he discovered that paper, have been one 
 of the family who indulged in hair (or wig) tearings 
 and in strong language. He was himself a doctor — 
 for the eleven descendants of Nicholas had among 
 them embraced all the professions and callings fit for 
 gentlemen — haviug a fair practice in the neighbour- 
 hood of Brentford and Chiswick, and was consecpiently 
 a stay-at-home man. And during his home-keeping 
 life, while having a few alterations made to what was 
 in those da3^s called the saloon, or withdrawing room, 
 he found the useless piece of paper. It was in the
 
 THE VANISHED MR. WARGRAYE. 15 
 
 leaves of a Wagener, always called b}' sailors a 
 " Waggoner " (a book of charts, or routier, much used 
 by old navigators), that the scrap Avas discovered 
 pasted — between the cover and the title-page. The 
 book itself was in a little wooden cupboard, not a foot 
 square, that had always been evidently regarded as a 
 secret receptacle and hiding-place, since over and in 
 front of the cupboard-doors, which had an antique 
 lock to them, the Avainscotting was capable of removal. 
 Yet, when last the wainscotting had been put over that 
 cupboard, it was easy enough to perceive that the 
 person who had so closed it up had intended it 
 should not be opened again for some time, since the 
 wood of the wainscot had been glued in some manner 
 to the cupboard-door. Then, in the passage of time 
 between Nicholas having closed up the cupboard and 
 the epoch of David Crafer arriving, Avhen the builder's 
 man lighted on it — Avhich was a period of over lifty- 
 five years— some stamped hangings of floss and velvet 
 had been placed over the Avainscot by another oAvner ; 
 so that at last the little cupboard Avith its contents 
 was entirely hidden aAvay. That Nicholas could have 
 ever intended his scrap of paj^er — if the information 
 Avas really of any use in his OAvn day, or in days near 
 to his time — to be so lost, it Avas of course impossible 
 to decide. Doubtless he never dreamt that the panels 
 Avould be covered up by the hangings, and perhaps 
 thought that, therefore, sooner or later, some curious 
 eye Avould observe that there Avas a difference in their 
 size Avhere they enclosed the cupboard. HoAvcA^er, 
 Avhatever he thought or did not think, the builder in 
 making his alterations had unearthed the paper.
 
 16 THE HISPANIOLA TLA IE. 
 
 Only, as David Crafcr remarked, it was of no use 
 to him now it was Ibiind and never would be ; which 
 Avas the truth, for when he in his turn went the way 
 of those before him he had never so much as reallv 
 and positively found out who Mr. Wargrave Avas. 
 
 Yet he had tried hard to do so in the time that 
 was left him. Knowing his ancestor to have been a 
 sailor, every record bearing on the sailors of the past 
 fifty years was searched by him or those employed by 
 him, but there Avas no Wargrave Avho had ever been 
 heard of The Admiralty officials of those days sAvore 
 no Wargrave had ever served in the navy ; Avhoever 
 he Avas, they said, one thing Avas certain — he Avas not 
 a King's officer. Then David Crafer got the idea 
 that the man was, after all, a laAvycr Avhom Nicholas 
 confided in; but again he found himself at bay. The 
 records of dead-and-gone laAvyers, even Avhen they 
 had been famous, Avere scanty enough in the early 
 days of last century : Avhen they had not been fiimous 
 — above all, Avhen they Avcre only attorneys— those 
 records scarcely existed at all. So, at last, David 
 Crafcr gave up the law in despair. If there had ever 
 been a Wargrave in that profession, he, at least, could 
 find out nothing about him. Next, he tried the City, 
 Avhich Avas not a very large place in his OAvn day, and 
 had been smaller in the days of Nicholas. Yet it 
 Avas difficult to glean any information of the City 
 even in those times— especially since the information 
 desired Avas nearer sixty than fifty years old. It is 
 true there was, as fiir back as the period of Nicholas 
 Crafer and the mysterious Wargrave, a London 
 ])irectory (such useful volume having been first
 
 THE VANISHED ]\IR, WARGRAVE. 17 
 
 published in 1G77), yet in the copies which he could 
 obtain a sight of — which was done with difiiculty, 
 since reference books were not preserved with much 
 care in those times, and those which he did see were 
 neither consecutive nor in a perfect condition — he 
 found no mention of the name of AVargrave. 
 
 So time went on, David Crafer grew old and 
 feeble, and had almost entirely desisted from the 
 search for the name of Wargrave — the man himself 
 nuist, of course, have been dead for some decades — 
 and had lono- since come to the conclusion that he 
 would never tind out anything about him. Then, 
 all at once, when visiting a friend in the Cit}^, and 
 Avhile turning over a volume in that friend's parlcnu', 
 he lighted on the name and possibly the person. 
 The book was entitled " A Compleat Guide to all 
 Persons who have any Trade of Concern within the 
 City of London and parts adjacent;" and peering 
 into it in a half-interested, half-hopeless, and half- 
 hearted manner, old David saw the name of " Samuel 
 Wargrave, silversmith and dealer, Cornhill." More- 
 over, he saw that the book containing the name was 
 published in 1701, the year when Nicholas died. 
 
 Therefore he thought he had found his man, or, 
 at least, had found the chance of gleaning some 
 information about him. But, alas ! the year 1701 
 was a long way off the year 17 GO, when the paper Avas 
 discovered in the little cupboard, and still longer off' 
 the year 17 OS, at which period David had now arrived. 
 Moreover, David was, as has been said, grown old and 
 feeble ; " he did not know," he told himself that night 
 as the coach took him back to Strand-on-thc-Grcen, 
 c
 
 IS THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 "if he cared overmuch now to go a-liiintiiig for a 
 dead man, or even for the knowledge that dead man 
 might have possessed of Nicholas Crafer's treasure." 
 
 Yet, old as he was, being now turned seventy, he 
 took the trouble to make some inquiries. He had a 
 son, an officer, away serving in the Ame-ican colonies, 
 himself no longer a very young man ; if he could find 
 something more to leave him than the money for 
 ■which he had sold his practice and his little savings 
 and the old house to live in, Avhy it would be well to 
 do so. So, once more, armed with the knowledge 
 that Mr. Wargrave had been a silversmith in Cornhill, 
 he began further inquiries — which resulted in nothing ! 
 At least in nothing very tangible, though they proved 
 that the man who was in the " Compleat Guide " had 
 once lived where he was stated to have done. The 
 parish books to which David obtained access showed 
 this ; and they showed also that he must have been 
 the tenant of the whole house — even thoucrh he let 
 off part of it, as was likely enough — since he Avas 
 rented at £133 per annum, a good sum in those days 
 even for a City house ; but they told nothing further. 
 No one could be unearthed who remembered War- 
 grave the silversmith, no one who had ever heard of 
 him. Nor did his business appear to have survived 
 him, since, in the half-year following his last payment 
 of rates and taxes, the next occupant of the house 
 was a mercer, who in his turn was followed by a 
 coffee-house keeper, who, in J )avi(rs own day — as he 
 saw with his own eyes^was succeeded by a furniture 
 tlraler. 
 
 And then, as the old iDan reflected, this IMr.
 
 THE VANISHED MR. WARGRAVE. 19 
 
 Wargrave iniglit not be, probably Avas not, tlie man 
 who was Nicholas's friend. 
 
 At this period David «(Jrafer died ; and ere his son, 
 the officer in the American colonies, could be apprised 
 of his death he too was dead, being shot through the 
 heart in a skirmish with some Indians near Boston. 
 Confirmation being received of his death, the pro- 
 perty passed to another Crafer belonging to the elder 
 branch, which was still existent in Hampshire ; and 
 by the time he in his turn had passed awa}^ the 
 finding of the scrap of paper in the Wagener, and the 
 hunt for Mr. Wargrave, were almost forgotten, if not 
 entirely so. In fact, as generation continued to 
 succeed generation, not only did these incidents 
 become forgotten but the whole thing became almost 
 a legend or a fairy-tale. One inheritor even went so 
 far as to scoff at the will of Nicholas, saying that he 
 was a romantic old sea-dog who had taken this 
 manner of keeping his memory before his descend- 
 ants ; while, as you have seen, the late Reginald 
 regarded the whole story with a pleasing indifference. 
 But the present Reginald, who was himself of a ro- 
 mantic tendency, could by no means regard the story 
 in anything but the light of truth, and, if he ever 
 indulged in any hopes at all, they were more that the 
 mystery might be cleared up in his time than that 
 the fortune of £50,000 should come to him. 
 
 And it is because in his time the mystery was 
 cleared up, that the whole story of Avhat Nicholas 
 Crafer did leave behind him " equivalint unto the 
 summe of fiftie thousand guineas " can now be told. 
 
 c 2
 
 20 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 cazalet's bank. 
 
 Now this is the manner in Avhich the mystery Avas 
 at hist cleared up in the time of Reginald Crafer, 
 Lieutenant, R.N. 
 
 There was, and still is, in the neighbourhood that 
 lies between Chancery Lane and Cheapside, an ancient 
 bankinof establishment that is as old as the Bank of 
 England itself — if not some years older — and that has, 
 from its creation, been known as " Cazalet's." Yet 
 there has been no Cazalct in the firm for nigh upon a 
 hundred years, but, instead, the partners — of whom 
 there are noAV two — boast the ancient patronymic of 
 Jones. These Joneses are descendants, on the female 
 side, from the last Cazalct, and in this way have be- 
 come possessed of the old business ; and it was when 
 their father — for they are brothers— died, at almost 
 the same time that Reginald's uncle passed out of 
 existence, that a change took place, which led in a 
 roundabout way to the writing of this narrative of 
 " The Hispanioia Plate." 
 
 Old Mr. Jones had, I say, been gathered to all the 
 other Joneses who had gone before him, and the two 
 young lyiessrs. Jones — one aged forty-five and the 
 (itlui- thirty-nine — decided that his decease marked a 
 period in the existence of Cazalet's Avhen a change 
 ought to be made. Tiiat change was to take a shape,
 
 cazalet's bank. 21 
 
 however, in the first instance, which caused a vast 
 number of the people who banked with them, as well 
 as all their senior clerks — many of them nearly as old 
 as the late Jones himself — to shake their heads and 
 to wonder why that late Jones did not burst forth 
 corporeally from his grave, or, at the very least, 
 appear in the spirit, to forbid the desecration that was 
 about to take place. For the old house was to be 
 pulled down — ruthlessly sacrificed to the spirit of 
 the times, and a bran-new one was to be built up in 
 its place ! 
 
 "Well," said the ancient chief cashier — who had 
 been there boy and man since 1843, and had grown 
 old, and also tobacco-and-spirit-stained, during the 
 evenings of a life spent in the service of Cazalet's — 
 when he received the first intimation of this terrible 
 news, " if that's going to happen it's time I was off". 
 Lor' bless me ! a new house ! Well, then, they'll 
 require some new clerks. They don't Avant a wreck 
 like me in such a fine new modern building as they're 
 going to shove up." 
 
 " Why, Mr. Creech," said a much younger emiiloye 
 of Cazalet's, a youth who came in airily every morning 
 from Brixton, and was supposed to be the best lawn- 
 tennis player in that suburb, " that's just why you 
 ought to remain ; you'll give the new show a fine old 
 crusted air of respectability ; you're a relic, you are, 
 of the good old days. They'll never be able to do 
 without you." 
 
 But Mr. Creech only grunted, and, it being one 
 o'clock in the day when this conversation took place, 
 he lifted up the lid of his desk, took some sandwiches
 
 22 TPIE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 out of a paper packet, and, applying his lips to a 
 small flask, dift'used a genial aroma of sherry-and- 
 water around him. Yet, as he thus partook of his 
 lunch, he wagged his head in a melancholy manner 
 and thought how comfortable he had been for the 
 best part of his life in the old, dingy, dirty- windowed 
 house; it having been a standing rule of Cazalet's 
 that the windows were never to be cleaned, and 
 rumour had it that they had not been touched since 
 the house was built. 
 
 That the firm " would never be able to do without 
 him," as his cock-a-hoop junior had remarked, seemed, 
 indeed, to be the case, and received exemplification 
 there and then. For at that moment a bell rane in 
 the inner sanctum where the brothers sat, and a 
 moment afterwards the office-boy who had answered 
 it told Mr. Creech that the " pardners wanted to see 
 'im;" whereon he gulped down a last drop of the 
 sherry-and-water, wiped his mouth with the back of 
 his hand, and went in to them, wondering " what was 
 up now ? " 
 
 " Sit doAvn, Creech, sit down," said the " pardners " 
 together, " we want to have a talk with you about the 
 new house." Here Creech grunted. " Or rather," the 
 elder one went on, " the old house ; " whereon the 
 cashier smiled, as much as to say that that was a for 
 more congenial subject to liim. Then Alfred, the 
 elder brother, continued : 
 
 " You know more about this house, Creech, than 
 anybody else." Creech gave a grunt again here, 
 which tailed off into a sigh. "Why, Moss my soul! 
 you've been here five years longer than I've been in
 
 cazalet's bank. 23 
 
 existence — there's no one else knows as much about 
 us as you do." 
 
 " I came here a boy of sixteen," said Creech, look- 
 ing at the clock on the wall as though it was a kind 
 of calendar of his career, "and I'm sixty-five now. 
 That makes forty-nine years. Come Easter, I've been 
 here fifty years. It's a long while !" 
 
 " It is a long while," said the younger partner, 
 Henry, " But you're all right, you know, Creech. 
 Cazalet's look after those who have served them long 
 and well. When you feel like retirement and a pen- 
 sion, you say so. Only, I don't know how we shall 
 get on without you. However, the retirement is a long 
 way off yet, I hope. Let us talk about the present." 
 
 " What we want to know is this," said Alfred, 
 "and you're the person to tell us. What is there 
 stored away down in the vaults below the strong 
 room ? We haven't been down there for years ; not 
 since we Avere boys and our father used to let us go 
 down sometimes. There seemed to be only an awful 
 lot of mouldering rubbish, and it'll all have to be 
 gone over and either destroyed or fetched up before 
 the builders go to work on the foundations." 
 
 " So there is a lot of rubbish," replied Creech, 
 " though I haven't been down there myself for over 
 twenty years. The last time I was down was Avhen 
 the Prince o' Wales went to return thanks at St. 
 Paul's. I remember it because I found a bottle of 
 port wine on a ledge, and we drank his health as ho 
 went by. I told your father about it afterwards, and 
 he said it must have been some of the AVaterloo port 
 his father had had given him."
 
 2i THE HISPANIOLA TLATE. 
 
 " What else is there ? " 
 
 " A lot of rubbish," repeated Creech. " There's 
 several old boxes, most of them burst open, with 
 leases, I should say, belonging to dead and gone 
 customers of the bank, and a heap of broken okl 
 furniture that belonged upstairs Avhcn the family 
 hved over the bank. I found a fine copper warming- 
 pan, that Mr. Jones made me a present of; and I 
 think there's an old spinet down there, and broken 
 chairs and tables, and otlice stuff, and a basket full of 
 broken glass and crockery, and that sort of thing." 
 
 " Humph ! " said the elder brother. " Leases, eh ? 
 We ought to look into those. If they're ours we 
 ought to preserA^e them, and if they belonged to 
 customers Avho have left descendants, they should be 
 returned. They may still be of the greatest value. 
 Who can tell ? " 
 
 " My wife," said the younger, " has been filling the 
 new house at Egerton Gardens full of the most awful- 
 looking gimcracks I ever saw. She'll want that spinet 
 directly she hears of it, and if she could only find 
 another warming-pan she'd hang it uj) in the bedroom 
 passages as an ornament." 
 
 "My wife," said Creech, "warms the beds with 
 ours in the winter. It's a very good one, but Til 
 send it back if Mrs. Jones wants to decorate her 
 landing." 
 
 " No," said Jones Junior, " we'll say nothing about 
 it. There's far too nnuh rubbish in the house 
 already. Suppose," to his brother. " we go down 
 into the vaults and have a look i-ound." 
 
 This was agreed to, so down they went, after
 
 cazalet's bank. 25 
 
 Creech had armed himself v;ith a large paraffin 
 caudle and had rnmmaged out a bag full of keys of 
 all sizes and shapes, while the elder Jones carried 
 with him the more modern and bright keys that 
 opened the safes and strong room. This latter they 
 were, of course, in the habit of visiting every day, but 
 the trap door leading to the vaults below — which was 
 in the floor of the strong room — testified to the truth 
 of Creech's assertion that it possibly had not been 
 opened for twent}^ years. First of all, Avhen the key 
 was found, the lock Avas so rusty that it could not be 
 turned until some oil had been brought, and then the 
 door had stuck so that the two brothers — for Creech 
 was no good at this work — could hardly pull it ujx 
 However, at last they got it open, and then they 
 descended the stone steps one by one. 
 
 The place — as seen by the light of the candle — 
 was, as the old cashier had described it, an olla- 
 lioclrida of all kinds of lumber. The hauiper of 
 broken glass and crockery was there, so was the 
 spinet, looking very antique and somewhat mouldy — 
 a thing not to bo wondered at, seeing that the Jones 
 family had not lived over the bank during the present 
 century. The broken chairs, stools, and tables Avere 
 all piled in a corner — in another stood the boxes, 
 some of them burst open, of which Creech had 
 spoken. And around and about the vaults there 
 pervaded the damp atmosphere Avhich such places 
 always have. The cashier had brought a second 
 candle in his pocket, Avhich he now lit, and by this 
 additional light they saw all that there was to be 
 seen.
 
 26 TUE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 " A lease of a farm in Yorkshire," said Alfred, 
 taking up the first one that lay loose on the top of 
 the first box, whose rusted padlock came olT it, nails 
 and all, as they touched the lid, " called Shrievalls, 
 from the Earl of Uespare to Antony Jones. Lor' 
 bless me ! Why, Shrievalls has been in our family 
 for any amount of time, and I never heard of the 
 Earl. I suppose we bought it afterwards. That's no 
 use to anyone. What's this ? A covenant of the 
 Earl of Uespare to pay an annuity to Ambrose 
 Hawkins for the remainder of his life, made in the 
 year 1743 ; that covenant has expired ! That's no 
 use to any one, either. A bundle of acceptances by 
 Sir Marmaduke Flitch to Peter Jones — our ofreat- 
 grandfather. Flitch ! Flitch ! No knowledge of him 
 either. An authority from Annabolla Proctor to pay to 
 her brother, so long as he holds his peace — humph ! 
 — ha ! — well, that's an old family scandal — we needn't 
 read that just now. Transfer of a lease from Mr. 
 Stringer, son of Sir Thomas Stringer, a judge of the 
 Kino's Bench, to Mr. Samuel Warofrave, late silver- 
 smith and jeweller, of Cornhill, now of Entield, dated 
 1G88. I suppose one or the other of them was a 
 customer of the bank." 
 
 " Then it Avas Waryrave ! " exclaimed Creech. 
 "I've seen that name in some of our old books. At 
 least, I think I have. Let me see — Wargrave. 
 Wlicre have I seen it ? I know it somehow." 
 
 "It can't matter," said the younger Jones. " There 
 has been no Wart^ravc on oiu* books for a long while." 
 
 " A bun<lle of letters," went on the elder, taking 
 them up, "from the Lady Henrietta Belville to
 
 cazalet's bank. 27 
 
 Bartliolonicw Skelton, Esquire, at the University of 
 Leyden, with one beginning, ' My dear and only 
 love, — Since my 'usband is away to York ' — Oh, dear ! 
 dear ! we needn't read that now." 
 
 "I should think not," said the younger brother. 
 " The Skelton family still banks with us. We had 
 better send the letter back intact. Bankers should 
 keep secrets as well as lawyers." 
 
 " Wargrave," mumbled Creech to himself, as he 
 leaned against an antique office-stool minus a leg. 
 " Waro-rave ! Where have I heard the name ?" 
 
 " An account book with no name in it but a date. 
 And written therein, " On behalf of the Earl of Mar, 
 his expedition. Humph ! ha ! well, Ave had a good 
 many Jacobites among our old customers. What's 
 this ? A glove with a lot of tarnished silver fringe 
 about it, a woman's — these are romantic finds ! — a 
 bunch of withered flowers, almost dust, and a little 
 box " 
 
 " That's it," exclaimed Creech, " a box with the 
 name of Wargrave on it. " That's it ! " 
 
 " On the contrary, Creech, there is nothing on it ; 
 but, inside, a paper with Avritten on that, and badly 
 spelt, too — ' His hair. Cut from his head by a true 
 friend after his death at the Battle of Clifton 
 Moor.' " 
 
 " No, no," said Creech, " I don't mean that box. I 
 mean there is a box somewhere in this vault — a 
 small one, with the name of Wargrave on it." 
 
 " There are a good many boxes with names on 
 them," said one of the brothers, glancing round ; 
 " and I doubt if any speak more pathetically of the
 
 2S THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 past than this one with its wisp of withered hair and 
 its label." 
 
 But Creech was hunting about in the rubbish by 
 now, and at last, exclaiming, " That's the one I mean," 
 seized on a small iron box a foot square and brought 
 it to where the partners and candles were. 
 
 " That," he said, as he plumped it down on the 
 spinet, which emitted a rusty groan from its long- 
 disused keys as he did so, "is the box I mean. I 
 remember seeing it years and years ago. Look at 
 what's written on it." 
 
 In faded ink, brownish red now instead of black, 
 on paper a dirty slate colour instead of white, were 
 the Avords : — 
 
 Tliis })ox is to be given to any descoii<laut or representative 
 of Lieutenant Nicholas Crafer wlio is alive at uiy death. To 
 be given at once after, })ut not before. — Samuel Wargrave. 
 
 Nota Bene. — I do believe it is very inii>ortant. 
 
 January, 1709. 
 
 " And," exclaimed the younger brother, " being so 
 very important it has lain here for over 180 years. 
 We have been assiduous for our customers. ' 
 
 " But why," said the elder brother, " Avhen you 
 saAv it years ago, Creech, was nothing done ? Why 
 did not you, or my father, tind out some Wargrave or 
 some Crafer ? There must be some left." 
 
 "Your father said he would make some inquiries; 
 but I don't know whether he ever did or not. At 
 any rate, it went clean out of my head. I was just 
 olf on my holidays, I remember, when I hap[)ened to 
 see it; and, to tell you the truth, I never thought any 
 more about it from tliat day to this. And I shouldn't
 
 cazalet's bank. 29 
 
 have done so now if it hadn't been for that transfer 
 you read out a minute ago." 
 
 * * ■* -K- * ■* 
 
 A fortnight later the box was in Reginald Crafer's 
 possession, Avith an apology from Messrs. Cazalet and 
 Co. for the long period in which it had lain unattended 
 to in their hands. They had discovered him by a 
 reference to the suburban directory, after a search 
 through the London and also several county directories, 
 and Mr. Bentham's name had been quite enough 
 to assure Messrs. Cazalet and Co. that he was the 
 rightful person to whom to entrust the box. 
 
 The lock — a most excellent one, considering when 
 it was made — had to be burst open, for no key could 
 be found to tit it, and then Eeginald saw what were 
 its contents. First, there was a piece of paper on 
 which was written : — 
 
 I do feel so sui-e that Mr. Wargrave -will carry out my 
 instrnctions after my death that I leave this jn-etious legacy to 
 him in all good faitli, and to you my descendant to whom it 
 may after come, with all my love and good wishes; and so I say, 
 May what you find herein prosper you. N. C. 
 
 Then, in a neat roll, tied up with black ribbon, was 
 a vast number of sheets of paper covered with writing, 
 some of it being very neat, some of it very ungainl}^, 
 Avith many words scored out and others inserted, and 
 also many misspelt, and some not spelt twice alike. 
 
 And Reginald Crafer, after an early meal, sat him- 
 self down to a perusal of those closely written sheets 
 which had been at last unearthed after lying in the 
 vaults of Cazalet's bank so long. 
 
 This is what they told him.
 
 30 THE HlSPxVNlOLA PLATE. 
 
 Tlie History of 
 NICHOLAS CRAFER, Lieutenant, 
 
 and the Search for 
 
 The Hispaniola Plate, 
 
 ivitJt all that occurred duriiuj (hat search 
 
 and followed after it. 
 
 As told hy him.
 
 31 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 CAPTAIN WILLIAM PHIPS. 
 
 There will be but little need that I ask pardon of 
 him or her who receives this paper from Mr. War- 
 grave, since if he who docs so shall have courage, or she 
 who receives it have an honest friend to depend 
 upon, they will have no reason to reproach me for 
 Avhat I have done. The finding of it will tell him 
 or her how they shall become possessed of a fortune ; 
 and those who have gone before them and after me 
 can never know how they have missed it. That it 
 is not well for any Crafer to tind this paper near unto 
 my time is the reason why, with great care and pains, 
 I have so bestowed it in juy friend's hand, and, better 
 is it that I shall have laid in grave a hundred years 
 or more before it is discovered, than that any coming 
 close to me should light upon it. 
 
 Now, you who so receive my writing shall under- 
 stand the reason Avhereof I say this. Because it 
 partly relateth to a large amount of plate, of jewels, 
 of gold and coins, all of which did indeed belong 
 to the Spanish Carrack which my commander, Phips, 
 digged or rather fished up, from the bottom of the 
 sea where it had lain forty-four years, or, as some did 
 aver, tifty, and because it was the rightful proj^erty of 
 him, of the Duke of Albemarle who had a share 
 therein, of King James who had a tenth, and of
 
 32 THE HISPAXLOLA PLATE 
 
 many others. For some of this money and vahiables 
 was all stolen by a thief who Avas ever a rogne in grain, 
 and what is true enough is, that there was a many 
 suspicions when the finders came back to London 
 that one half of this treasure was missing. As indeed 
 some was, tho' not stolen by him whom the accusers 
 pointed at. For Phips, who was an honest-born 
 New England boy — one of twenty-six children — who 
 had been bred a shepherd and had then become a 
 sailor, was indeed no thief, but ever an honest man, 
 as James declared, who was himself none too honest. 
 Yet, as I say, when the ship with the treasure came 
 back to England, there was a cry that one half was 
 missing, that Phips had left me and others behind to 
 hide away that half, and that, indeed, we were all 
 thieves — tho' Ave Avere none, or only one of us, and 
 that Avas neither Phips nor I. 
 
 Now, if so be that the house Avhich I called after 
 my dear and honoured friend, and superior in rank 
 tho' not in birth — for the Crafers haA^e ever been 
 gentlemen of repute and of good descent from an 
 ancient family in Ham])shire — be not burned down 
 or fallcth not down from age, and our line dieth not 
 out, and the paper telling where these Avritings are 
 be not doomed to be found by a stranger, then nuist 
 a Crafer be the one to read them. And he Avill tind 
 strange matter in it Avho doth so read. For in the 
 lono- Avinter evenings Avhich are before me — since I 
 have begim to Avrite this narrative in the month of 
 November, 1700, and trust to finish it Avith the in- 
 coming of the New Century — I do propose to tell 
 you Avho may opL'u the packet all that befcl our
 
 CAPTAIN WILLIAM PHIPS. 33 
 
 vo}'ages to find tlie contents of the Hispaniola Plate 
 Ship, which was sunken off "The Boylers," a reef 
 of shoals a few leagues off of the island of Aiitti, 
 as the natives call it; but known generally by its 
 Spanish name of San Domingo. 
 
 And being but a pour penman I mean to divide 
 my story into heads, thusl}^ 
 
 First, I mean to tell you of my acquaintance with 
 Phips at the time he approached The King, I mean 
 Charles ; then of how ho sailed in the Ahjler Ro-^e 
 for Hispaniola, and of two mutinies. Then, how 
 after four years, we again sailed in the Duke's ship, 
 or Fibvie, and what happened to us in the fishing up 
 of the plate. But more than all this is to tell you of 
 shameful villainies and thievings that took place, 
 and of how the chief villain was frustrated so that 
 not he but another Avas to be benetited. And who, 
 think 3'ou, my descendant whom I know not, is that 
 other ? You may think Phips, you might imagine 
 myself or the Duke, you might suppose some of the 
 other adventurers. Yet 'tis not so. 'Tis no less an 
 one than you — you, yourself. That is if you have a 
 manly heart, or, being a woman, a man to help you. 
 For as I have writ — and if I repeat myself you must 
 forgive me, for we sailors who fought battles almost 
 weekly had but little enough time to study the art 
 of writing ; and you will hnd your reward by reading 
 this— it is you who are to benefit. You are to have 
 the fortune which the thief was possessed of, tho' not 
 what he stole. 
 
 Therefore, having made this introduction, I pro- 
 ceed to tell m}^ tale. And as I have, although a 
 
 . D
 
 34 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 sailor, been ever a Godfearing man, I pray tliat 
 it shall be a Crafer wlio receives tbis from where I 
 have disposed of it. For it was 1 who gained it all 
 from him, and tlio' I shall never see you who 
 come after me, you may well suppose that I would 
 sooner, far sooner, that the fortune came to one 
 of my own flesh and blood than to one no way 
 allied to me. 
 
 So I begin. 
 
 'Twas in the year of our Lord 1G82, and during the 
 visit of Prince George,"^ son of the Elector of Hanover, 
 that I made the friendship of Pliips, then Captain of 
 a private ship hailing from Boston. I was ashore from 
 the royal 3'^acht that had brought the Prince over, 
 and, insomuch as I now sought another ship, had 
 gone into lodgings in Spring Gardens, both because of 
 the freshness of the air over that of the city and its 
 nearness to the Admiralty office. And it was at this 
 latter, where there had creeped up again a good 
 habit of the Admirals of meeting their officers fre- 
 quently, that I encountered William Phips. A brave, 
 topping gentleman he was, too, — for all he was a 
 Puritan, tho', I think, ever in his mind a sailor first 
 — then thirty-two years of age, fine and big and well 
 dressed. Now, as a colonist and but a private sailor 
 man, Phips Avas inferior to all of us who sailed for the 
 King, yet he won soon upon us. lie was brought in 
 by Matthew Aylmer, then holding the rank of 
 coHunander, though destined for much higher things, 
 as I have lived to see ; and soon we were told what 
 his business was. This was no less than to get the 
 
 * Afterwards King George I. of Ena;land. -Ed.
 
 CAPTAIN WILLIAM PHIPS, 35 
 
 King to give him a ship in which ho had a mind to 
 o-o treasure-huntino'. Yet this was not a vision 
 
 O O 
 
 neither, for says he to us, 
 
 " Gentlemen, I know what I speak of and 'tis not 
 foohshness. In Hispaniola — where I have been many 
 a time — there is a place called Porto de la Plata. 
 Surely some of you King's officers have heard tell 
 of it !"" 
 
 Two or three amonofst us nodded of our heads 
 with assent at this, and he continued : — 
 
 " Well gentlemen, do you kno^v why 'tis so 
 termed ? No ? Then Avill I tell you. Forty-four, or 
 as some say fifty years agone, there came ashore at 
 that spot — which then had no name at all — a ship- 
 wrecked crew in an open boat, in which there was 
 no room for them to lie down, so stuffed full was it of 
 plate." 
 
 Here one or two of us laughed, and some seemed 
 nmch aroused, while Phips continued : — 
 
 " They were saved from the great Spanish plate 
 ship which had sunk some leagues out when striking 
 on a reef, and what the}^ brought with them was all 
 that they could save. This Avas well known all over 
 the island shortly afterwards, and is spoken of now, 
 even unto this day." 
 
 He had told this tale before to Aylnier, as after- 
 wards I learned from hhn, and a few moments later 
 he told it to the King, being taken over to him by 
 his friend and introduced. Now, it is not for me to 
 Avrite down the gTievous faults and failino-s of Charles 
 — he is gone before his Judge ! — but I will say tliis, 
 that, Avith all his errors, he had a mind beyond the 
 D 2
 
 36 THE HISPANTOLA PLATE. 
 
 cornnion. Therefore he harkened unto Phips, and 
 later on lie called his brother James, whose faults 
 were greater than his, but a good sailor, and asked 
 him Avhat he thought on't ? 
 
 James was at once all for it and hot upon the idea, 
 for it seemed that it was not the first time he had 
 heard of the sunken plate ship, and he was taken 
 with Phips — as, indeed, were all who met with him. 
 So, to make what would be a tedious story short, 
 Phips received a commission from the King to go 
 out in command of the Ahjier Bo.se, with orders to 
 find the wreck and bring all away in her if he could. 
 And it fell out to my great good fortune that I went 
 too. To my good fortune as it came later, tho' not 
 then, for it was not on this journey that we found the 
 treasure, as you shall soon know. 
 
 Yet Ave hoped to find it, and so I was glad to go. 
 It was in the " Dog " tavern at Westminster, where 
 many naval men did, and still do, resort, that I got 
 my appointment to the Algier Rose, Phips, who had 
 taken a fancy to me, swearing that he would not sail 
 without me. So there I made interest with several 
 from the Admiralty, who would come to the " Dog " 
 for half a pint of mulled sack, or a dram of brandy, 
 and at last received my conunission as first lieutenant 
 to the frigate. A better ship never swam than she, 
 carrying eighteen guns and ninety-five men, and when 
 we took her out early in '83 I can tell you that the 
 brave hearts on board of her were joyful. 
 
 Tn 1()<S3 it was when we dro})pcd down on the 
 tide, with a lusty cheer ov two from the King's 
 ships lying in the river off Biigsby's Hole — for they
 
 CAPTAIN WILLIAM PHIPS. 37 
 
 knew our intent — and another from the old man- 
 of-war, the Jerzy, in which I had served as a youni;' 
 heutenant; and so away out to sea with light 
 canvas all in aloft, and just a single reef in our 
 tops'ls, and off we went to find the great Hispuniola 
 wreck. 
 
 And so I put down my pen awhile.
 
 3S 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE BEGINNING OF A MUTINY. 
 
 Now it happened that at the " Dog " tavern one da}/ 
 there came in, when we were sitting there, an astrolo- 
 ger, or geomancer, as 'tis called — namely, a caster 
 of figures — Avho marking out Phips (perhaps because 
 of his uncommon and striking appearance) seized 
 upon him to tell his fortune, which he, having 
 ever a mind turned towards fun, Avas well disposed 
 enough to. 
 
 So the cheat, as I thought him to be — thou'di 
 found afterwards he spake true — catching holt upon 
 Phips's hand, looked long and fixedly at it, after 
 which he said that much money should be found 
 by him. 
 
 " In very truth," called out Phips, Avhile all around 
 did laugh, " 'tis that I go to seek, friend ; nor, since 
 every drawer in this tavern and ragauniffin 'twixt 
 here and Charing Cross knows as much, art thou so 
 wondrous a necromancer? Go to! yonv divinations 
 are not worth a piece." 
 
 " Yet, stay," said the caster, speaking up boldly 
 to him — " stay. What you go to seek you shall not 
 find." 
 
 "Ha!" exclaimed Phips, looking at him. "Not 
 find it?"
 
 THE BEGINNING OF A MUTINY. 89 
 
 "Nay, not yet. At present yon are tliirty-two 
 years of age ; it wants five ere yon shall get that yon 
 seek. Then shall yon obtam yonr deshes." 
 
 " 'Tis well," exclahned Phips, " and therefore ninst 
 I stay the live years where I go, for find it I will. 
 Yet, harkee, friend, pnt not snch reports abont in 
 this neighbourhood, or I will slit thy nose for thee. 
 I am a captain of a King's ship now " — as indeed he 
 was, for his commission was made out — " and a good 
 ship too. I Avant not to lose it through the chatter 
 of any knave." 
 
 " Moreover," went on the geomancer, taking no 
 more heed of what he said than tho' he had never 
 spoken — "moreover, this is not all." And as he 
 spake he pricked with a pin a number of little dots 
 on the table, where the drink stood. "This is not 
 all. You shall do more." 
 
 " Ay," exclaimed Phips, " I shall ! Maybe I shall 
 have thee whipped. Yet continue. ' 
 
 " You shall rule over a large country, though 
 never a King, and you shall die " 
 
 " Stop there," called out Phips, " and say no more. 
 What thou hast promised is enough. As for my 
 death, when it comes, it comes ; that also is enough. 
 Now go." And as he spake he picked out from a 
 handful of elephant and other guineas, as well as some 
 silver-pieces, a crown, and tossed it to the fellow, 
 who, pouching it, went off. 
 
 Yet, afterwards, when we were well on the road to 
 Hispaniola, Phips would talk with me on this astro- 
 loger, and would discuss much his promises. " For,"' 
 said he, " there have been many such who have
 
 40 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 told truths. My mother had a ])a})er written doAvn 
 by one which Avorked out so truly year by year, that 
 at last she flung it in the tire, saying she would no 
 more of it. And a mighty marvellous thing it was ! 
 Year by year she bore my father a child for twenty- 
 six years, and the astrologer's paper had so stated, as 
 well as Avliat the sex of the child should be, yearly. 
 And also did it state that I — her ninth — should some 
 day command a King's ship, which led to my always 
 aspiring to do so; and as I now do the Algier Rose" 
 — and he stamped on the poop-house where we 
 stood, as thouo-h to confirm his words. 
 
 By this time it had arrived that Ave had passed 
 thro' the Gulph Stream and were Avell on our Avay 
 for Hispaniola, so that 'tAvas very hot. Sharks passed 
 near us often, but gave us good heart, smce never did 
 they follow us. Portugee Admirals sailed by on the 
 Avater, their pretty forms dotting the tranquil Avavcs 
 — 'tis ever tranquil in these regions — like floAvers, 
 and the vo3^age Avas a good one. Of our crcAv also 
 there Avas nought to complain, the ninet3--five men 
 Avho composed it being all sailors Avho Avell kncAv 
 their Avork. 'TAVould have been strange had thc}^ not 
 known it ! Many of them had been fighting the 
 French and the Dutch for the leno-th of their life- 
 times; but 'specially had they fought the French, 
 Avhich seems to be Avhat an Englishman is ordained 
 for ; and they had lived all those lifetimes on the sea. 
 Yet, as you shall learn ere long, they Avere soon to 
 give us nuich trouble, and, later, to give us more. 
 
 Now, as I haA'c writ, and as, indeed, the (ieomancer 
 rightly forecast, it was not to be that the treasure
 
 THE BEGINNING OF A MUTINY. 41 
 
 should bo found by those who sailed in the Ahjier 
 Roue. Therefore should I not have written down 
 here this our first cruise in search of that treasure, 
 had it not been that what happened on that voyage 
 has much to do Avith what happened on the second 
 one, when we did indeed find all. To do, that is to 
 say, Avith the stealing of a great portion of the treasure 
 by a thief, and hoAV it came about that he could so 
 steal it. But I wander from what should be a plain 
 record, and will now proceed. 
 
 When once Ave Avere safe anchored in Balsamo 
 Bay, Avhich is near unto St. Jago, and not far from 
 the reef called by us the " Boylers," but by the 
 Spaniards and Portygees the " Bajo "— Avanderers on 
 the seas Avho have late been there tell me it is 
 noAv called the Bajo de la Plata, — Ave set to Avork at 
 once ; but our efforts met Avitli no success. Of divers 
 Ave had procured two, one a Portygee mulatto, the 
 other an African negro — the largest and most 
 hideous brute in the form of man that I had ever set 
 my eyes upon. Day by day Ave sent them doAvn, and 
 day by day they returned, SAvearing that they could 
 find nothing of the Plate ship — no, not so much as a 
 spar or a block. At first Ave thought they lied, as, 
 indeed, Ave ever did, until at last the Avreck was 
 found, and then Ave kncAV they had spoken truth ; for, 
 having floated off, as we once thought, she Avas three 
 cables — but you shall see. 
 
 Thus Ave worked, fishing ever and catching nothing, 
 for tW'O years, in Avhich time Ave endured many hard- 
 ships. To begin with, the Spaniards harrassed us 
 much, in spite of our not having been at Avar with
 
 42 THE HISPANIOIA PLATE. 
 
 tliem since 'GO, and endeavoured to drive us away 
 from tlie nci^dibourhood of tlio Reef. Hut them wo 
 defied, and, on their sending out at last a bomb-ketch 
 to attack us, we first of all spoke it fair, and, on that 
 being no good, blew it out of the water ; whereon wo 
 heard no more of them, perhaps because just now 
 they were busy with the French, who had for the last 
 six or seven years gotten holt of the part called Aiitti, 
 and wanted the rest. 
 
 But now trouble bred amongst us, as, alas ! it will 
 do in any number or body of men who, after long 
 seeking for a thing and finding it not, grow moody 
 and heartsore. 
 
 For the men began to mutter between themselves 
 and to say that we should never find the sunken ship, 
 and that, since Ave had a fine frigate of our own, well 
 armed and manned, why not put it to some piu-pose, 
 and go pirating and buccaneering in the Southern 
 Seas ? The first to hear of this was the carpenter, a 
 straightforward honest man of good grit ; the last, of 
 course, was the captain. But being myself forewarned 
 by this man, whose name was Hanway, I soon went 
 and spake to the captain, telling him w^iat was going 
 forward and below; and marvellous calm he was 
 when he did hear it. 
 
 Being evening, he was sitting in his cabin imder 
 the poop, and, for coolness, had divested himself of 
 his coat and waistcoat, and was refreshing of himself 
 with a drink of rum sangaree. Then, Avhen he had 
 passed me over a glass and I had told my tale of 
 Avhat the carpenter had repeated to me, says he, 
 mighty easy : —
 
 THE BEGINNING OF A MUTINY. 43 
 
 " They wish me to go a-pirating in the Southern 
 Seas, do they ? And how do they mean to sound me, 
 Crafer ? " 
 
 " They are going to put it to you first," says I ; 
 "then, if you deny them, they mean to seize the 
 ship." 
 
 " So, so," replied he, " that is their intention ! Well, 
 we will see. What are they at now ? " 
 
 " Standing about the forepart and in the waist," 
 said I, " talking to each other and doubtless concoct- 
 ing their precious schemes. What is best to be 
 done ? " 
 
 " Action," says he, " action, Crafer ; " and he made 
 for the cabin door that opened on to the quarter- 
 deck. 
 
 But here I exclaimed, " What will you do ? You 
 have neither coat nor waistcoat, pistol nor hanger ; 
 Avill you go forth and beard mutineers in such a garb 
 as this ? " 
 
 " Ay ! will I," he says, looking for all the world 
 like a great lion — "Ay! will I. And you shall see. 
 In half an hour there will be no mutineers in the 
 Algier .Rose." 
 
 And then, as I regarded his face — on Avhich there 
 was a dreadful look — and observed his great muscular 
 form. I thouo'ht what a grand man he was and of 
 what a good breed these New Englanders were. And 
 a i'ow minutes later I had reason for my opinion. 
 
 Now Phips had ever treated his men like brothers, 
 never setting them to work he would not put his own 
 hand to, never cursing or SAvearing at them as so 
 many of the dandy captains and soldier captains —
 
 44 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 who, good Lord ! in tliose days were sent to command 
 ships at sea — used to do ; but ever kind and gentle to 
 them, besides helping them with a turn at their 
 labour. Therefore, as you may think, I was rightly 
 astonished when, on our going on deck, his manner 
 was all changed, so that the William Phips I knew 
 was no longer to be perceived. 
 
 " Ho ! there, you men," says he, in a voice that 
 neither I nor they had ever heard before ; " ho, there, 
 you skulking dogs, Avliat are you doing forward ? 
 Come here, all on you, to the quarter-deck. Come 
 here, I say." And with that he stood in his shirt- 
 sleeves, looking for them to come forward. Ver}' 
 startled, they did so ; coming slow, however, so that 
 Phips hurried them by bawling, " Faster, faster, damn 
 j^ou, or the bos'un shall hase you." Which words from 
 him made them all to look out of the tail of their 
 eyes, but yet to come faster. So that, ere long, he 
 had got half a dozen of 'em ranged up in front of him 
 and a dozen more behind, looking on, moody and 
 dark, as though afraid that whatever project they had 
 formed was nipt in the bud. 
 
 " Now," says he Avith another oath — Avhich never 
 did I expect to hear from him, a New England 
 Puritan and ever a Godfearing man — " now, who's 
 captain of this King's ship, the Algier Hose, eh ? 
 Speak out." 
 
 " You are," they muttered, surlily enough. 
 
 " Louder," says he, " louder. You hain't lost 
 your voices, have you? You can make the devil's 
 own noise when you're singing and bellowing your 
 profane ballads in the fo'castle. Speak up ! " with
 
 THE BEGINNING OF A MUilNY. 45 
 
 still aiiotlier oath. " Who's captain of this ship, I 
 say?" 
 
 "You are," they answered louder, yet looking 
 black enouq-h. 
 
 " Very well," says he. " Now listen to mo, you 
 lubbers, and listen Avell."
 
 46 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE ENDING OF IT. 
 
 " Now," lie went on, " you're talking about mutiny, I 
 liear, and pirating in the Southern Seas. Well, who's 
 going to begin the mutiny, eh ? Which of you ? 
 Let him come forward so that I can catch holt of 
 him, and string him up to the fore-top-sail 3'ard 
 with my own hand. Come, which of you is it, to 
 commence with ? " 
 
 And again he glared terrible fierce at them. 
 
 Then says one of them — poor fool ! — " We shall 
 never find no plate here ; what's the good, captain, of 
 our stopping here ? " 
 
 In a moment that man was upon his back Avith 
 the blood pouring from his face, the captain having 
 felled him like a butcher fells an ox, and " Fling him 
 overboard to the sharks," says he. " Quick, or some 
 more of you go, too. I'll have no nmtineers here and 
 no talk of the Southern Seas. Over with him, I say ! " 
 
 But not one of them all moved. 
 
 " What," he roared, " it is a nuitiny, then ! There- 
 fore, let's sec the means to quell it Crafer, call up 
 all the officers. And now, you hounds, you who don't 
 want to go to the Southern Seas, stand on the lar- 
 board side. Jump, skij), damn you ! All who are on 
 the starboard side when I have counted ten shall bo 
 treated as mutineers. Now."
 
 THE ENDING OF IT. 47 
 
 Some did jump and skip in verity, hopping over 
 to the larboard as quick as ever they coukl ; for his 
 wrath was awful to see ; while for those who moved 
 slower — though they, too, meant to go — the punish- 
 ment was terrible. He sprung amongst them like a 
 lion, as I have said ; he struck and beat them with 
 his lists, bruising and blackening of their faces ; he 
 kicked them like dogs, until every man who had 
 come up to the quarter deck was over on to the 
 larboard side — some of them bellowing with pain, 
 some trying to staunch their bleeding wounds, some 
 leaning over the bow muttering curses in their agony. 
 
 Meanwhile the officers had all come up. 
 
 " Over with them to the sharks," he cried. " Over ! 
 Over ! Send other men forward to help bind them 
 and tling them forth. And this brute first," said he, 
 pointing to the man he had first knocked down. 
 
 " Mercy ! Mercy ! " they screamed now, Avhile the 
 other men forward, who were not disaffected, or, at 
 least, had not shown their disaffection, came hurrying 
 aft at the double whistles of the bo'sun and the 
 bo'sun's mate. " Mercy ! Mercy ! Kill us, but give 
 us not to the sharks. Mercy ! " 
 
 I whispered to him, " Surely you will not do this 
 thing, sir ? " and was eased by a glance from him and 
 a word to the effect that he meant not to do so, yet 
 to scare them, especially the first one, or leader, so 
 that they should have had their bellies full of mutiny ; 
 and, meanwhile, the poor piteous wretches were howl- 
 ing and weeping, some calling on their God and some 
 on their mothers, while all the while their comrades 
 bound them tight.
 
 48 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 " Now," says he, and at his words there went up a 
 shriek more dreadful than before, " Now, fiino- over 
 some jerked pork whereby the sharks may be attracted. 
 Twill be a fitting prelude to a better meal." 
 
 Thereby they roared and roared again until, in 
 very truth, I wonder the Spanish did not hear them 
 on land — and " Over with the lines ready to lower 
 those dogs," says he, " and, meantime, I will go and 
 wash their filthy blood off my hands ; " and away he 
 went into his cabin. Then we who remained on deck 
 saw to the pork being thrown over, what time I found 
 opportunity of tolling my officers that he might not 
 yet carry out his dread sentence — and, presently, we 
 saw the most horrid sight that any sailor is ever 
 doomed to see. We perceived in the dim grey of the 
 coming night that terrible heave of the water that 
 the shark maketh, we saw the ripple caused by many 
 fins, we even saw plain enough the evil, squinting, and 
 upturned eyes looking for more prey. They had 
 come for their suppers and wanted it — they Avantcd 
 their victims ; and the victims, gasping and sweating 
 with fear, saw them as well as we did and know their 
 wants. 
 
 One fell down on deck and died with very fright 
 all in his cords as he was bound, the otliers shuddered 
 and shrieked again as Thips's voice was heard from 
 the poop, and then he came forth once more. 
 
 " Are the sharks here ? " he roared, " arc they 
 come ? " 
 
 And as he spoke his eye liglilcd on him who had 
 fallen dead, and he turned him over wiUi liis foot to 
 see if he were truly so.
 
 THE ENDING OF IT. 40 
 
 "A pretty iiiutineer," then says he, "a pretty 
 mutineer! AVell, he is dead, so over with him— ho 
 assoils his Majesty's deck ; over with him." 
 
 In a minute that dead body was cast over the 
 bows and went splashing into the sea. Then we saw 
 the waves all tumbled and tossed as though a sea- 
 quake had taken place, or a whale had disturbed 
 them in its passage ; we saw the ripples made by the 
 fins of the brute down there, and the silver glisten of 
 those fins — we saw the water tinge from green to pale 
 pink and then to red, until, at last, the dead man's 
 blood had overmastered the sea's natural colour. 
 
 Meanwhile still the rebellious ones shouted and 
 bawled ; while some who were older cursed and 
 blasphemed, another Avept, and still another — the first 
 one whom Phips had beat down — tried, all bound as 
 he was, to rush at him and strike him v/ith his 
 manacled hands, or bite at him. 
 
 But now the captain paused, though ever with his 
 eye on this fellow, and spake and said : 
 
 " Well, my hearts, how like you mutineering 
 against the King's Grace, eh ? and against me who 
 stand here for the King ? 'Tis profitable, is it not — 
 far more so than hunting for the plate-ship, Avith 
 three good meals of jerked pork and drink into you 
 every clay ? What say you ? " 
 
 All but that mad and furious one shouted still for 
 mercy — he standing apart glowering — and clasped 
 their hands and said that, if he would but spare 
 them, never more would they think of aught but 
 their duty to the King and him — " onl}^, only," they 
 wailed, " not the sharks, not the sharlvs ! " 
 
 £
 
 50 THE HISPANIOJ.A TLATE. 
 
 " Well," says ho, at last, " since yon aro bnt beaten 
 honnds and know it, it shall not be the sharks this 
 time — only, henceforth, beware ! For if ever again 
 one of you so nnich as mutter a word of disaffection, 
 so surely shall your blood tinge the waters round as 
 the blood of that nuitineer tinges it now. You hoar ? " 
 
 They said they heard, and that there was no fear 
 that ever would they offend more, no, not if the Algier 
 Rose stayed there a century, so then Phips spake 
 again, while 'twas noticed by us officers that never 
 did he include the iirst man — whose name was Brooks 
 — in his address, nor did he cast his eyes once towards 
 him now. 
 
 " So bo it," he said, " and so it must be. For 
 remember ever, 'tis not against me you offend and 
 rebel, who- am but a servant like j'^ourselves, and was, 
 a few short years ago, but a poor sailor also like^ 
 yourselves ; but against the King and the coimtry, 
 who, sending us here, believe and confide in us. 
 Therefore, to mutiny is to commit treason, and for 
 both of these the punishment is Death. But, since 
 this is your first offending, I spare you death — 3-et 
 must you be punished. Therefore, now listen. Until 
 the frigate touches Eufdish waters once ai>ain, or 
 until we strike soundings in the Channel, all of you 
 rebels must take a double night-Avatch, at sea or 
 anchor, and no drink must you have whatsoever, nor 
 ever any leave. Are you content, or have you a 
 better mind for the sharks ? " 
 
 Poor, wretched fools! What could they sa}^ but 
 that they were content — and so they were unbound 
 and set i'ree.
 
 THE ENDING OF IT. 51 
 
 Then, turning to Brooks, and with those fierce and 
 terrible eyes upon hini, he continued — 
 
 " For you, you are but as a savage beast, and 
 unrepentant. Therefore, I still mean to fling you to 
 the sharks, or to, perhaps, maroon you. Yet will I 
 decide nothing in haste; the sharks," he said, very 
 grim, " are always there, so, too, are many islands on 
 which to cast you alone. I will take time to think 
 how to punish you." 
 
 Can it be conceived that this idiot and wretch, 
 even at such a moment of peril as this, should be 
 still so hardened as to defy Phips ! Yet so he did. 
 First he gnashed his teeth at the Captain, and then 
 he swore a great oath that, were he free, he would 
 kill him. And, though ho nuittered this under his 
 lips, yet Phips heard him. 
 
 For a moment he paused, looking fixedly at him, 
 then he called up some of the men who had retreated 
 forward, and said : 
 
 " Lower him over to the sharks." And all of us, 
 officers and men, did shudder as we heard the order. 
 "Only," he went on, "since still am I merciful, 
 remembering that I am naught but the servant of 
 the King, lower him by degrees two feet at a time. 
 Then, if by the period he has reached the Avater's 
 edge he sues not for pardon, let the sharks have 
 him ; " saying Avhich he turned on his heel and entered 
 again his cabin. 
 
 It was done, amidst the curses of Brooks and his 
 
 fightings to be free. Longwise, he was lowered, face 
 
 downwards, and, although twice the lines were 
 
 lengthened so that, from being twelve feet above 
 
 E 2
 
 52 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 the waters he was at last but eight, still only would 
 he revile the King, the captain, and all. 
 
 " Thou fool, " I called down to him, as, indeed did 
 his shipmates, "recant, and sue for pardon." ]>ut 
 still he would not, raving ever. 
 
 " Lower," I commanded to the men — " two feet 
 more ; " and by two feet so much nearer was he to the 
 beasts below, who now began to disturb the water 
 once a^ain and cause it to heave, and to show their 
 fins and hideous eyes. Still he would not and so, 
 with another order, down he went to four feet from 
 the surface. And now the water was all ruffled and 
 bubbling as thouo^h boilinq- or as 'tis when a child 
 throws a cake to the trouts in a fishpond, and the 
 eyes of the man looking down into the sea Avere 
 looking into the eyes of the horrid things gazing up. 
 Yet still, though he was now silent, he would not call 
 for mercy. 
 
 The sweat was standing at this time on all our 
 brows and, in very truth, our hearts were softened 
 towards him — for if a villain he was a brave one — 
 and almost did my tongue cleave to the roof of my 
 mouth, for the time had come for a fresh order that 
 would bring him to two feet. So I paused, hoping 
 he would plead, yet he did not. 
 
 " Brooks," I called now, very low, for I wished to 
 spare the man, and wanted not Phips to hear me. 
 " Jjrooks, this is, indeed, your very last occasion. 
 Will you yield ? " 
 
 He ansivered not. 
 
 Then, as I was about, perforce, to do my duty, the 
 water heaved and surged more than before, and,
 
 THE ENDING OF IT. 53 
 
 leaping up from the sea as leaps the graj^ling from 
 the pool to take the fly, there came two great mon- 
 strous sharks, their loathsome jaws extended so that 
 the 3-ellow teeth were quite visible, they evidently 
 driven beyond endurance by the sight of the tempting 
 bait so near. In that instant all shuddered and drew 
 back, daring not to look below, the sweat poured out 
 all over us now, and from the side there came a fearful, 
 piercing scream of agony and the voice of Brooks 
 calling, " In (lod's mercy draw me up, oh ! draw me 
 up. I am penitent. Pity! Pity! 
 
 The sharks in their frenzied leap had struck 
 against each other and, instead of seizing their 
 victim, had but hurled each other back into the 
 sea, and thus he was spared. So we drew him uj), 
 and Avith this ended the first nuitiny of the Algier 
 Rose.
 
 54 
 
 CHAPTER VJII. 
 
 THE SECOND MUTINY. 
 
 And now I commence again. 
 
 Two years more had passed, and still we had not 
 found the plate. 
 
 Very disheartened were we all by now, yon may 
 be sure, perhaps tlic one who kept himself best 
 being the captain, Avho still hearkened after the 
 astrologer's prophecy. Yet this, while still he did 
 so, he chided himself for, saying that it became not 
 a Puritan of New Enii^land to believe in any such 
 thinQ^s. 
 
 " For," says he, " in my colony they are now biu-n- 
 intif witches and wizards, fjeomancers, astroloireis, 
 and those which pretend to be Cabala with the stars, 
 to say nought of quack-salvers and saltim-bancoes, so 
 that I am but a degenerate son. Yet not of my 
 mother neither ; for she, as I have told you, Nick " — 
 as now he called me — " bought an astrologer's pricked 
 paper and found it come true. Still, wrong as I do, I 
 cannot but think the caster was right Then, if so, 
 nuist we wait another year; for by that time I shall 
 have arrived at my thirty-seventh." 
 
 That he would have waited had not the King — 
 but you shall hear. 
 
 We had now arrived, as I liavc said, at our iburth 
 j'ear out, and at this time Phips. who had one
 
 THE SECOND MUTINY. 55 
 
 moment, as I have also writ, the idea of staying until 
 his thirty-seventh year, and at another the mind to 
 take the frigate home and confess to the King that 
 he had failed, decided to have the ship's bottom 
 cleaned, or, as 'tis called, breamed. Therefore, for this 
 purpose we moved her somewhat away from the 
 " Boylers " to a httle island, of which there is a multi- 
 tude hereabout — for we Avould not go to the mainland 
 for fear of a broil with the Spaniards— and there 
 careened her. 
 
 Now, a sweet little isle this was as any one might 
 wish to see — though very small, and on the charts 
 tho' not the maps, — all covered over with a small 
 forest in which grew the palm, the juniper, the cara- 
 mite and acajou, as well as good fruits, such as limes, 
 toronias, citrons, and lemons. Also, too, there were 
 here good streams of fair fresh water all running 
 about, at which one might stoop to lave themselves 
 or to drink their fill. Ofttimes we had been over 
 there before, especially to fetch in our boats the fresh 
 water and the limes, for since our tubs of beer * had 
 long since run dry this was our only beverage. 
 Moreover, here we came in boats when we took our 
 spells of leave, and, lying down in the little forest, 
 would try to forget the tropic heat of where we had 
 now been stationed so long, and would send our 
 minds shooting back to memories of cool English 
 lanes all shotted with the sweet May and the 
 Eglantine, of our dear grey skies and our pleasant 
 wealds. 
 
 * Thij drink of the Navy prior to the introduction of nun l.y 
 Admiral Vernon.
 
 56 THE ULSPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 But now we v,-cyc come in the sbijj to work and 
 not to take oiir ease, for breaming is, as sailors know, 
 no liglitsome task. Yet, too, there was a pleasant 
 relaxation even in this, for, since the frigate was not 
 liveable when careened over, all of us were bestowed 
 ashore. So, too, were the remaining stores, of which 
 in most things we still had a plenty, and so, too, Avere 
 the great guns, they being placed around our encamp- 
 ment as though a fort. The ship herself was hove 
 down by the side of a rock Avhich stretched out from 
 the land a little way ; and, so that Ave could come at 
 her and go to and fro Avith greater ease, a\'c had con- 
 structed a bridge made of a plank leading from the 
 summit of the rock to the shore, just above high 
 Avater. 'TAvas not Ion;? to the bei'inninff of the rock 
 from the land, being some thirty feet, but once on 
 the rock itself one had to Avalk some hundred feet to 
 reach Avhere the frigate Avas. 
 
 NoAv Phi])s, as ever, setting a good example, had 
 Avith his own great strong hands helped at hauling 
 the ship over, and ashore he had assisted in cutting 
 doAvn trees to make our encampment palisadoes, our 
 cabin roofs and Avooden Avails, and so forth. Never 
 did he spare himself, and thus endeavoured to kee}) 
 harmony and good Avill among all, officers and men 
 alike. 
 
 As to the mutiny, 'twas now forgot, or at least avc 
 thought so. Brooks, avIio had been the ringlead(M' in 
 it, seeiiiod quite l)roken since tlie ejiisode Avitli tin' 
 sharks, iuid, yierhaps, also a little with the treatment 
 since accorded him. Never had the Captain relaxed 
 on him — and but little on the others, tlio' somewhat
 
 THE SECOND MUTINY. 57 
 
 — and never had he been permitted so much as an 
 hour's leave or a sup of the beer while the casks 
 lasted, or to take more than one watch and one dog 
 watch below in the twenty-four hours. I say it broke 
 him, yet I liked not the look to be seen sometimes 
 on his face ; and 'twas more than once that I bid the 
 Captain observe him well, as also I did the subaltern 
 officers. 13ut Phips only laughed, saying : 
 
 " Tush, Nick ! We have scotched the villain ; have 
 no fear ; what can he do ? Moreover, is not old 
 Hanway a watch dog that never looses his eye from 
 him ? And, as he knows, his friends the sharks are 
 ever near." 
 
 So the memor}^ of the mutiny slumbered or 
 awakened but little, and time went on and the 
 breaming of the ship was a'most finished. We got 
 her clean at last, by a plentiful kindling of furze and 
 oil and faggots, so as to melt the old pitch about 
 her, and Avere rapidly getting her re-pitched and 
 caulked, coated and stuffed, so that when Ave Avent 
 back to fish for another year she Avould be so clean 
 and neat that, Avhen Ave upped anchor, Ave should be 
 ready for home at once. Also we had righted the 
 ship again so that some few could live in her, and 
 soon Ave meant to bring back the stores, great guns 
 and other things. 
 
 But noAv Ave Avere to learn over Avhat a masked 
 mine Ave had been slumbering, and Ave Avere to see 
 once more how the hand of Providence Avas always 
 guarding us, as, I thank God, it has ever done Avhere 
 1 have been concerned. 
 
 There Avere seven of us in the frigate one most
 
 58 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 glorious Sunday afternoon — namely, the Captain and 
 myself and live men, when, sitting on the poop under 
 an awning, he and I saw Hanway being supported 
 between two others from the little wood to the plank 
 that reached the shore. The man seemed sick enough 
 by the way he dragged himself along between those 
 two, and we, wondering what ailed him, went up on 
 to the rock and so on to the hither side of the plank, 
 and the Captain hailed to know what was the mischief 
 with him ? 
 
 " Sir," calls back a sailor, one of those leading him, 
 " he is took very ill with a colic and wishes to go 
 aboard to get a dram and rest. Will you permit 
 his coming ? " 
 
 " And welcome," says Phips. " But how Avill it be 
 for him to pass over the plank ? " 
 
 " We will come fore and aft of him, sir," says the 
 man, "so he shall not fall." 
 
 Receiving permission to do this, they started to 
 reach the rock ; and by the foremost man walking 
 backwards — which a sailor can do as easily as a cat 
 — and the other propping him up behind, they gotten 
 him along the plank. 
 
 " What ails you, man ? " says the Captain kindly 
 to him then, when he was there, but Hanway only 
 groaned and placed his hand on his stomach, so 
 that, sendiu"- the sailors back to the isle, we took 
 him between us, and so got him into the captain's 
 saloon. 
 
 "A dram of brandy," says l^lu'ps, "is the thing 
 for you, my man," and with that ho makes to call 
 for his servant ; when, to our extreme astonishment.
 
 Tilt: SECOiND MUTINY. 59 
 
 Hanway puts up his hand lo stop hiin, and st.ands up, 
 as straight and well as ever he was. 
 
 " wliat foolishness is this ? " asks Phips, with his 
 brow all clouded ; " what mean you, Hanway, by this 
 conduct ? " 
 
 " Hush," says he, glancing round the cabin. " Hush ! 
 It means — there is no one by, 1 trust! — it means 
 mutiny again. Captain. That's what it means ! " 
 
 "Does it so?" says he, all calm in a monicnt, 
 though his eye wandered to his sword and pistols 
 hamyino- over the table—" does it so ? And when 
 
 o O 
 
 and how, Hanway ? " 
 
 " To-night," says the carpenter ; " and from the 
 isle. I have heard it all, though they know not I 
 have heard one word. See, Captain, it was thus. I 
 was lying in the grass under a bush but an hour ago, 
 when there comes that most dreadful wretch. Brooks, 
 with half a score more, and sits himself down on the 
 other syd, behind a clump of cabbage-palms that 
 grew next the bush. And so I heard all. Says ho, 
 ' Now, lads, to-night is our occasion, or never. To- 
 night I must have my account with Phips and Crafcr, 
 so that there shall be a new captain and a new 
 commander to the Algier Rose.' " 
 
 " And who," asks Phips, " are to succeed us, 
 Hanway ? " 
 
 " Brooks, it seems, is to be captain in your place, 
 sir," goes on the carpenter, " and the master-at-arms, 
 Taylor, is to be commander. For the rest I know 
 not ; but, sir, let me tell you that, excepting yourself 
 and the officers, myself and the bos'un, all are 
 mutineers, and they mean to get the frigate if they
 
 GO THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 can and go a-buccaneering to the South Seas, as has 
 been ever their intent since we could not fish up 
 the plate." 
 
 " 'Tis well, very well," says Pliips, " but how will 
 they do it ? Can you tell us that ? " 
 
 " Brooks gives them this scheme, sir," continues 
 Han way. " ' To-night, my hearts,' said he to them, 
 ' there is no moon. Therefore, what easier than to 
 take the ship ? We can outnumber them quite easy 
 — the bis: Sfuns are all ashore, there is not so nnich 
 as a carronade in her. So, too, are the small arms, 
 the powder and ball ; yet, since we must not injure 
 the Algier Hose, we must not fire into her, nor need 
 we do so. For,' says he, ' at about dawn, or a little 
 before, Ave can all pass the plank and reach the rock, 
 when we can descend on the ship and put every one 
 to death that is not for us. And I,' says he, ' will 
 particularly kill Phips, whom I do hate most 
 deadly.' " 
 
 Phips smiled and nodded his head pleasantly at 
 this, for all the Avorld as though he had heard the 
 dearest news, and then he says, " And, how much 
 more, Hanway ? " 
 
 " Only this, sir," goes on the carpenter, " that 
 ]]rooks knows not what will be the distribution 
 aboard and ashore of the men, and fears therefore 
 that he may get brought into the ship for the night 
 — while the officers may be ashore with the other 
 mutineers." 
 
 " lie need have no lear," says the captain, very 
 sinister ; " when the imister is called it shall be 
 airanged to suit him to his exact pleasure. Now,
 
 THE SECOND MUTINY. 01 
 
 HanAvay, go you back ashore, iiiingie ireel}' with 
 them, and trust to me and Mr. Crafer." 
 
 Then, when the carpenter had returned ashore, 
 saying- he had had a dram and his pains were eased, 
 Phips and I held a long consultation together, and 
 our plan was formed. How it worked you shall soon 
 read. 
 
 But ere I go on I must rest my hand.
 
 62 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 AND THE PREPARATfOiSrS AGAINST TT. 
 
 It was an hour before sunset that the order was usually 
 given to the bos'un to pipe all hands to muster, and on 
 this fair Sabbath evening you may be sure it failed not. 
 Now, since so much of the ship's company was ashore 
 it was the habit for the few in her to ^o also ashore, 
 so that the whole roll mioht be called. Therefore, 
 on this occasion we in the frigate went by the rock 
 and plank to land, leaving the vessel alone save 
 but for two men on watch, and at once began the 
 muster. 
 
 The officers were partly divided, some to remain 
 on the isle, some to be in the frigate, I being of the 
 former, the captain of the latter. Now this plan had 
 been communicated to all officers previous to the 
 muster ; since Phips had asked two or three of them 
 to supper with him — of whom I was not one, but 
 had, instead, gone on shore — and there he had di- 
 vulged the whole wicked story. There was not any 
 more danger to those who were ashore than to those 
 in the ship, since Hanway had gathered from some 
 source that the otficers on land were not to be de- 
 spatched until the ship herself was taken, and it was 
 thought she could be easier taken and with less noise 
 than they could be murdered. So that Avas to be 
 done. Moreover, likewise had Hanway learned that
 
 AND THE PREPARATIONS AGAINST IT. 03 
 
 Brooks hoped some of the nnitiuoei-s would be told 
 off into the ship, whereby they might lie in wait to 
 spring out and assist their brother-scoundrels when 
 they boarded her, and this, on hearing, Phips again 
 said should be done. 
 
 "For," says he, " since they would have some of 
 their comrades in the frigate, they shall be obliged. 
 Only, they will not know that when the rounds 
 are gone those choice companions will be prisoners 
 all, with bilboes on their feet and gags in their 
 mouths." 
 
 And now, all arrangements being made, ashore we 
 went to call this muster. First I called the officers, 
 naming for the shore myself, a lieutenant, and the 
 master's mate ; for the ship, the Captain, the second 
 lieutenant, another mate, and the two gentlemen- 
 midshipmen we carried (we had three, but one 
 was drowned coming out); these being, when they 
 joined the ship, little lads of eight and nine years, 
 scarce better than babes, but now grown big boys. 
 Then, this done, I passed to the others, bringing the 
 carpenter and his mate into the frigate, and likewise 
 the bos'un and his. Next Brooks was called for the 
 shore with most of the known mutineers, excepting 
 only some others of their gang and companions in 
 guilt into the ship. And when this was done there 
 was to be observed, by those who looked sharply, a 
 glance pass between them. 
 
 So 'twas arranged, and all was well for the foil- 
 ing of these villains. And thus, having well con- 
 certed our plans, we all went to our various stations, 
 the Captain walking back to the frigate with his
 
 04- THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 complement, and I in command of the sliore party. 
 And now nnist I relate all that happened both with 
 them — which I gathered afterwards — and with us on 
 land, which I saw. Bnt first for the ship. 
 
 At sunset, which comes fast in these parts, the 
 Captain, after the rounds, stationed in his cabin on 
 each side of the door the bo'sun — who was enormous 
 in size — and the carpenter, Hanway ; then, sending 
 for each of the known mutineers one by one into the 
 cabin, he had the in knocked on the head as they 
 came in, bilboes put on their feet, and they carried 
 down amongst the ballast. With them he put a 
 good guard, who had orders that should they cry out 
 — tho' if they did none could have heard them on the 
 isle — they should instantly be despatched ; so they 
 were safe and secure, and henceforth he had but 
 to deal with those ashore. Next he sent for the 
 midshipmen, who, coming into his cabin, he de- 
 manded of them which was the lightest in weight : 
 for, said he, " I have work for one of you young 
 lads to-night that shall make a mate of you if 
 3'ou do well." 
 
 Now, of these boys — one named Fanshawc, the 
 other Caldwell (who as I now write connnands the 
 Lizard, of twenty-four guns, he having been promoted 
 out of the Richmond) — the latter was by far the 
 lighter, he being very lean and spare. Therefore, to 
 liim says Phips : 
 
 " My boy, you must do a good service to-night, 
 so I hope you have a strong heart;" to which 
 the lad said he lio[)ed indeed he had ; tho', later 
 on, he told me that at that moment his thouo-hts
 
 AND THE PREPARATIONS AGAINST IT. 65 
 
 went flying off to home and to his mother, who 
 had cryed so bitterly when she brought him down 
 to go to sea. 
 
 "Well," says Phips, "now this you have to do. 
 We will get from Hanway a bolt — such as those of 
 the big guns — and what you must perform is this. 
 To-night at the darkest you shall creep from the rock 
 to the plank, and so to the middle of it, and, when 
 there, you will first fix a staple under the board, 
 then through that you will run the bolt. Next, 
 where its head will enter you must make a mortise — 
 another staple will do very well — and then when all 
 is fixed you shall, with a bradawl and a gimlet, 
 so bore the board that t'will yield to any weight 
 when the bolt is unshotted. You understand, my 
 lad ? " 
 
 The boy's eyes sparkled, for he was stout of 
 heart, and he answered readily that he compre- 
 hended ; and so Phips goes on : 
 
 " Then, when all this is done, to the eye of the 
 bolt you shall attach a line and so bring it back 
 under the plank to the further end of the rock, where 
 some one or other shall take it from you. Now, my 
 boy, there is little of danger to you if you are careful. 
 And, remember, first fix your staple, then your bolt, 
 and, last of all, pierce and bore the plank and do it 
 well, and so shall you earn your higher rank. Now 
 go, sleep until we wake you." 
 
 The lad told us afterwards he slept not in his 
 hammock at all, but rather repeated to himself his 
 instructions again and again, so as to be perfect ; and 
 thus the time wore on, and, at last, there was that
 
 GG THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 thick inky darkness that comes in tropic nights. 
 Then Phi^^s summoned him, repeated to him once 
 more his orders, and the boy prepared to speed on 
 his worlc. 
 
 "I cannot, my httlc Lid," said Phips, "go with 
 you, nor send the men ; the plank would not bear 
 our big forms when bored, and they might see us. 
 Otherwise, and if I could do it, I would not send one 
 of. such tender years as thou art. So bo brave, and 
 so fare-ye-well and a speedy return." 
 
 He laid his great hand on the boy's shoulder as 
 he spake, and bid him again " God speed ; " and 
 then the child went forth, his little heart quite bravo 
 •and cheerful. Only, when he was gone, they found 
 he had left upon his .sea-chest, writ large, the place 
 Avhere his mother lived and to where she might be 
 addressed if he came back no more ; and also he 
 had writ a little prayer to Phips that he would 
 speak well of him to her, and say that lie died in 
 his duty. 
 
 That he might so die all knew; and from his 
 writing they learned he knew it, too. Fur there were 
 many ways to it. The mutineers would doubtless 
 shoot him if they saw him on the plank, and so begin 
 their wicked Avork at once, or the plank might fall 
 under him, or he fall olf it in the dark, when it was 
 Avell possible — the Avater being deep enough — that the 
 sharks should have him. 
 
 So he Avent forth, and, of those Avho saAv him go, 
 one or two crept along the rock after him to Avatch 
 and see it" all Avas well, and they obserA'cd, and told 
 al'terwards, how he never faltered in his task.
 
 AND THE PREPARATIONS AGAINST IT. G7 
 
 Through the darkness of that black night he creeped 
 upon the plank, making no noise, and, laying himself 
 flat out upon it, went to Avork. Once those behind 
 said they heard the muffled sound of the screws 
 as he fixed tight the staples — though those who 
 kncAV not what was a-doing^ mioht have thought 'twas 
 but the creaking of the board ! And once they heard 
 him let fall a screAv into the water that plumped in 
 with a little splash. But that was all, and presently 
 by his breathing they heard him coming back. He 
 had done his work — the springe was set ! He had 
 done that work well, too, only, so wrought upon was 
 his mind, that, when he once more stood upon the 
 deck of the frigate, he fainted, and fell into the 
 Captain's arms as the latter spake approvingly to 
 him. 
 
 Now, therefore, there Avas nought for them on the 
 ship to do but to wait the coming of the dawn — tho' 
 all in her hoped the mutineers might make their 
 attack ere then. For, if they came when the day- 
 spring was about, it was possible they might perceive 
 the piercings of the plank : while, if they came earlier, 
 they could see nought. 
 
 And so, I say, the night went on and the stars 
 above began to pale — the great Southern Cross turned 
 from her deep crimson to a white, and the dews from 
 tho little island sent forth innumerable scents and 
 perfumes. Meanwhile, nought could be heard from 
 the shore by those in the ship, for all was still as 
 death ; while on the water round the rock a gentle 
 splash alone was heard, telling that those Avatchers of 
 it, the sharks, were looking ever for some prey. And, 
 F 2
 
 08 THE HLSPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 by now, several of the ship's company, headed by 
 Phips, had creeped along the rock towards where 
 the plank was, and, heavily armed, and hidden as 
 much as possible, were waiting to see Avhat move- 
 ment was forthcoming and when the attack was 
 to be made.
 
 69 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 AND now IT WAS ENDED. 
 
 And now must I return to tlie party on shore, with 
 Avliich I was. 
 
 The watch being set — which throughout the 
 night I took very good care should be con:iposed of 
 those whom I had reason to consider the worst of the 
 mutineers — we, the officers, turned into the hut that 
 had been constructed and set apart for all of that rank. 
 Of course we knew what the intention of the Captain 
 was as to the sawing of the plank, and, indeed, were 
 quite cognizant of Avhen young CaldAvell was at work 
 on it, though none of the rebels were so. Moreover, 
 when I had reason to suppose he was at his business, 
 I, affecting a merciful disposition towards them which 
 I did not in any way feel, went out to where they lay 
 and told the men on watch to turn in awhile, as I and 
 one of the lieutenants woidd take the look out for a 
 spell. 
 
 Now this I had not planned with the captain 
 previously, it being an after-thought, yet I took credit 
 to myself for its being an excellent one. For see what 
 good came of it ! Firstly, it removed the mutinous 
 watch from the open where they might have seen or 
 heard the lad, since the encampment lay but a hundred 
 yards or so inland from the beach ; and, secondly, it 
 played the game, as they say, into their hands. For 
 they minded not for us, the officers, to be on the alert
 
 70 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 at this early part of the night, but would, as I knew, 
 rather have it so, for they wanted lis asleep in the 
 latter part when they meant to set about their dirty 
 work. And it lulled them, as after-events showed, 
 into false security ; for, seeing that we treated them 
 so kindly, they never dreamed we had one idea of all 
 their treachery. 
 
 And to further this idea in their minds, after eight 
 bells had struck from the frigate, and a fresh watch 
 set, I went in to the men in their huts, and seeing 
 Brooks sitting up and looking very wideawake, 1 said 
 to him — though in my mind I would sooner have 
 thrust my sword through his heart : 
 
 " Brooks," I said, " Ave are all sleepy now ; there- 
 fore we will turn in. And since there is scarce any 
 necessity for caution here — none being able to attack 
 this little isle of ours — relieve your watch somewhat." 
 
 " Ay, ay, sir," says Brooks, while yet by the oil 
 flame I could see the devil's lischt shininsf in his 
 wicked eye. " Ay, ay, sir. What shall I do ? " 
 
 " Let most of the watch rest themselves. AVhat 
 need that all should labour ? We fear nought here. 
 Leave but two men on watch — the frio"ate is herself a 
 guardship — and let us take some repose. Only, as I 
 and the other officers are very sleepy, call us not until 
 the day watch ; let us not be disturbed." 
 
 " I'll warrant you, sir," said Brooks, and positively 
 the fiend hid his head in the shadow so that I might 
 not see the grin on his face, though I saw it well 
 enough, be sure. " I'll warrant you, sir, you shall not 
 be troubled." Whereon I bade liim good night, and 
 so back to our hut.
 
 AND HOW IT WAS ENDED. 71 
 
 " Now," says I to my comrades wlien I entered, 
 " all is indeed well. Wc have but to keep qnict, and 
 tliese wretches will go to destruction their own way. 
 For, see now, they must be caught between two fires ! 
 Once they are on the plank, or some of them, they 
 Avill be in the water the next moment if Caldwell has 
 but done his work well. And even though he has 
 not, what matters ? From the rock they will be 
 shot down, and from the shore by us, while we 
 have this hut for a fort if needed. So now, while we 
 pretend sleep, let us be watchful and await the good 
 time." 
 
 Then, very quietly, we saw to our arms, the bite ot 
 our swords and the priming of our pistols. Also had 
 we in the hut some musketoons, very good ones, 
 each loaded with five ounces of iron, which had been 
 brought in from the ship when careened and placed 
 here to guard against rust, as well as some peteraroes 
 loaded with old broken iron and rusty nails, which 
 could well be tired through the doorwa}'-. 
 
 And now we three put out our light, wishing each 
 other " Good night " somewhat loudly, so that if any 
 were creeping or crawling about thc}^ could not but 
 hear, and at intervals of our long vigil we would 
 snore, sometimes in concert, sometimes singly, so as 
 more to deceive them. 
 
 And in this manner jiassed the night, we hearing 
 and counting all the bells as they struck in the ship. 
 
 At last there was a stir. Soft as was the grass 
 around, we could hear stealthy footfalls ; presently in 
 the open window-frame — purposely left open by us 
 the better to deceive these villains — we saw a face
 
 72 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 look ill on US and again withdrawn, we heard a Avhia- 
 pered talk outside, and then they went away. We 
 knew the attack was about to begin. So, when the 
 footsteps had retreated and Ave imagined that b}' now 
 they must have gotten down to the beach (and, indeed, 
 silently as they went, we could hear the pebbles crack 
 and rustle beneath their bare feet), slowly I rose and 
 glanced out from the side of the window. But only 
 to draw back my head on the instant, for there, they 
 not being such fools as might have been supposed, 
 were two of the mutineers on guard, one on each side 
 of the window. At present, 'twas evident they thought 
 not that we Avere awake, since each was leaning Avith 
 his back to the AA'alls of the hut g'azinQ' after his 
 companions, and 1 had time to ponder on Avhat I 
 must do. 
 
 First, I had the intelligence to say nought to 
 either of my comrades, Avhile for sign I could give 
 none, seeing that, as yet, the day Avas not come — 
 though afar off' a saffron tinge in the sky heralded 
 its near approach — and then I took time to reflect. 
 NoAv, had there been but one man he had been soon 
 despatched, for I could from the windoAV have run him 
 through, or cut his throat ere he could make any 
 noise. But Avith tAvo it Avas different. So, I say, I 
 pondered deep. Yet, soon, this Avas Avhat I resolved 
 to do. I Avould go again to the AvindoA\- and then 
 Avould remain there, a pistctl in each hand, and, the 
 moment I heard any scuffle or noise from the neigh- 
 bourhood of the rock, Avould fire into their heads, 
 ^leanwhile, should they discover that avc were awalvc, 
 yet Avould I do the same thing — and the noise Avould
 
 AND HOW IT WAS ENDED. 73 
 
 but serve to warn our friends over there. So now 
 I crept to the heutenant and the master's mate, 
 and, touching them gently in the dark, put my fingers 
 on each of their Hps, and then away again to the 
 window. 
 
 So I was there, ready for them, for though they 
 had each in their hands a musketoon there Avas 
 nought to fear. Ere they coukl hft them the brains 
 woukl be out, they woukl be gone — but at this 
 moment up came the sun as it had been promising, 
 and in a moment all was flooded with light. And at 
 the same moment they saw me and gave a shout at 
 seeing my face close to them, and the two pistols to 
 their ears. Poor wretches ! all rebels and mutineers 
 as they were, Avhat gain had they in their evil ? Ere 
 the shout had finished they were dead outside the 
 hut ; even dead before the report had ceased to ring. 
 Yet I had spoilt nothing by my haste, for as now the 
 daylight poured over all I saw that the attack on the 
 rock had begun, and, a moment afterwards, we had 
 rushed pell mell from the hut to assist in taking 
 the mutineers in the Hank. And, now, I will write 
 down exactly how our position was. On the rock 
 there stood Phips with all his men by his side, on 
 the plank Avere two or three of the mutineers Avith 
 Brooks at their head, and smiling cpiite gay Avas 
 Phips, as he called out. 
 
 "And 'good morning' to 3'ou, Captain Brooks, a? 
 I hear you are to be to-day. My compliments to 
 you. Captain Brooks, for a better frigate than the 
 Algier " 
 
 " To hell Avith your compliments," howled back
 
 74 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 Brooks, " and your scoft's. Yet we iiican to liavo the 
 ship, anyway : so come on. We are eighty to ten so 
 you must yield." 
 
 " Must I, indeed," says Phips, " well, we will see 
 for that." 
 
 Meanwhile I had perceived what was my office, 
 and so, going back with the lieutenant and the 
 master's mate — all unperceived by the mutineers, 
 who had been quite engrossed wyth those on the 
 rock, so that they sav/ not our sally forth — wo 
 dragged out the peteraroes and a little old Lombard 
 we had, very good for throwing a big shot, and 
 lighting our fuse we gave them a rousing broadside 
 and did good execution. The Lombard crashed do^vn 
 lour of them, while the peteraroes did great 
 slaughter, and we gave them a volley from the 
 uuisketoons, and so in amongst them with our cut- 
 lashes and very busy. 
 
 Meantime Phips and his party were firing into 
 them from the rock — though not at Brooks and those 
 on the plank, which was shaking under their weight 
 as they advanced ; and now the captain shouted to 
 him, " Come on. Captain Brooks, come on and take 
 command of your ship. Come on, I say." 
 
 And on Brooks went, hurling oaths like a tempest 
 howling across the sea, and followed by the others ; 
 while, now and again, he yelled out, " We are 
 betrayed ; we are betrayed," and so got fair into the 
 middle of the plank. 
 
 And then he saw, but too late, the snare in which 
 ho had been taken. For it bent so under their weiqiit 
 and also gave so that, looking down, ho saw it was
 
 AND HOW IT V\'A.S ENDED. (O 
 
 all bored and pierced so as to be by now almost 
 apart, and kept up only by the great gun-bolt. 
 
 " Back ! back ! " he screamed then to the others. 
 " Back ! See, oh God ! see, the plank gives, it yields, 
 we are undone ! " And then from him there came a 
 worse cry, a thrilling blood-curdling shout, for he 
 saw what was below him. The sharks Avhich do 
 infest all parts of these Avaters had come again — 
 attracted, doubtless, by the blood of the killed and 
 wounded and the dead bodies in the water, which 
 already they were busy at ; and with them and fight- 
 ing them for the prey, were fierce crocodiles — or, as 
 they are called by the Spanish, the allagartos. " For 
 God's sake, back ! " he howled, " back, I say ! " But 
 those behind could not turn back because we Averc 
 there, and so they met their doom. With one more 
 scoff and jeer Phips and a sailor pulled at the line, 
 the great gun-bolt came forth from the mortise, or 
 staple — the boy had done Avell his Avork overnight ! — 
 the plank broke Avith a crash, and down they Avent. 
 
 And as they Avent Ave saAv the great snouts of 
 the crocodiles come at them, and tear them below 
 Avith a snapping dreadful to hear, Ave saw the sharks 
 heave OA^er on their sides to take their prey, Ave heard 
 one Avild and awful yell from each of these villains, 
 and all Avas over Avdth them. As for the others Avho 
 Avere not killed, the}^ thrcAV down their arms and 
 implored mercy, and so were bound and carried 
 aAvay for the time. 
 
 And in this Avay ended the second and last 
 mutiny in the Algier Rose, Avherefore I Avill again 
 rest awhile.
 
 76 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THEY HAVE TO DESIST. 
 
 Now, by this time Phips was within a month of his 
 thirty-sixth 3^ear, and Ave had been out on our fishing 
 expedition four years almost, it being the end now 
 of 1686 of our Lord. 
 
 " So," says Phips, " another month will see me into 
 my thirty-seventh, and then, Nick, we must have the 
 plate." 
 
 " Whereby you mean to say," I observed, " that 
 you do, indeed, believe in that Jack Pudding's pro- 
 phecy that at that time 3'ou shall find it. Yet I 
 should scarce have thought, sir, that so stalwart a 
 sailor as you would have hearkened much to such 
 as he." 
 
 " I hearkened to him," replied he, " because I 
 am a sailor, and therefore, like unto you, Nick, and 
 all of us, given unto believing in augiuies. Yet, 
 reflect also on what other reasons I have. First, 
 there was my dear mother, whose doings were most 
 rightly foretold ; and next Avas there the voav I always 
 made that, some day, I would command a King's 
 ship. Well, that have I done, thougli Avithout finding 
 the plate-carrack, and therefore I am positiA'O that 
 Avhen my thirty-sixth year is past I shall do so." 
 
 "I trust you may," says I, "yet in four 3'ears it 
 has not liccn done; hoAV, therefore, shall it now be 
 dune in one ? "
 
 THEY HAVE TO DESIST. 77 
 
 " We will fish in otlier waters," says he ; " we 
 will try another side of the reef. We will have it, 
 Isick — have it somehow." 
 
 Yet, as you who read this paper shall see, it was 
 not until his thirty-seventh yeare came — proving 
 thereby, alas ! that Avizards and astrologers, who are 
 the children of the devil, can speak truth sometimes 
 — that it was to be taken from where it had lain for 
 its forty-four or fifty years. Meanwhile I must per- 
 force write down all that happened before that time. 
 
 To begin, therefore, the mutiny was, as you have 
 seen, over, and so rooted up and crushed down also 
 were the men that it was impossible there could be 
 another. Of killed there were thirty-one, including 
 JBrooks and the man who was to have had my place, 
 and there was something like twenty-five prisoners ; 
 the remainder of the crew, though but few, beincr 
 tried men and loyal to us. Some of the dead we 
 took mto the middle of the beach and buried, while 
 the sharks and crocodiles provided the graves for 
 the others without any trouble to us ; and then, all 
 being done that was necessary, we left this sweet little 
 harbour of ours, which, had it not been stained by the 
 horrid mutiny and its outcome, we should have 
 turned away from with regret. But, considering 
 what had happened there, we went back to the 
 blazmg sea quite joyfully to begin once more our 
 search. 
 
 For those mutineering ruffians who were not 
 killed, it would have been easier to them if they 
 had been. They worked now under the boiling 
 tropic sun in chains, theh hands alone being free
 
 78 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 wherewith to assist the divers; they were given no more 
 food than would actually keep them alive and enable 
 them to work ; they had but one Avatch off during the 
 twenty-four hours, and over them ever was an officer 
 with a loaded pistol to his hand, ready to shoot them 
 down. And, worse than this, whenever we should 
 return to Sj^ithead there they would be hanged to the 
 yard-arm, as they would have been ere this to the 
 yard-arm of the Algier Rose, had they not been 
 wanted to work the ship home when her time came 
 to go. Verily, they had gained little by their 
 Avicked foolishness ! 
 
 So in this way the weeks slipped by and still we 
 found no plate, yet was Phips firm. His conmiission 
 was for five years, which Avoidd carry him well into 
 that thirty-seventh year for Avhich he longed so, and 
 that commission he fully meant to serve, when, lo ! 
 there happened a thing that for a time changed all 
 his plans, though not for long, owing to Providence, 
 as you shall read. 
 
 One morning when the day broke, the look-out 
 descried, some two leagues from us and our reef, a 
 great frigate sailing very free and bearing down 
 towards us, while to our joy we saw that she carried 
 our OAvn dear English colours. Now, in all the three 
 years and a half that had passer', or nearly four, no 
 ship of our own countr}^ had (;omc anywhere near us, 
 although often enough had we thought we saw them 
 pass afar, as, indeed, the}'^ must have done on their 
 way to some of the West Indie Islands. Yet, as I 
 say, none had come to us, and so wo had no news 
 from the world without. But that this frigate was
 
 THEY HAVE TO DESIST. 79 
 
 making for us there could be now no doubt ; already, 
 she was so near that she was shortenino- her sail, and, 
 not long afterwards, she fired a salute, which we re- 
 turned Avith joyous hearts. Then she hove-to, and 
 signalled to us that the Captain was to go aboard. 
 
 You may be sure that he went very willingly, the 
 ship proving to be the Guinea, and an old Common- 
 wealth frigate I knew very well, and a good sailer; 
 and brave enough did Phips look as he took his seat 
 in his boat, all adorned in his best scarlet coat and 
 his great wig ; " for," says he, '•' hot as the morning 
 is, and will be hotter, I will not go to greet a brother- 
 captain foully dressed." 
 
 That we in the Algier Hose waited impatiently 
 enough for the news you may be sure, and, since 
 'twas long a-coming, that impatience became very 
 great. Indeed, 'twas not till night was near at hand 
 that we saw the boat coming back to us, while at the 
 same time we saw the great frigate's topsayl fill, and 
 observed her slowly gather way and steer towards the 
 west. Then, a while later, the Captain came aboard, 
 and, sending for me into his cabin, he said, while 1 
 noticed that his face was grave and sad : 
 
 •"Nick, we have to give up the search; we shall 
 not get the plate now. The frigate was, as doubtless 
 you made out, the Guinea, on her way to Jamaica to 
 relieve the Constant Wainuick, and brought me my 
 orders to go home." 
 
 " But," said I, " the commission was for five years ; 
 they are not yet expired." 
 
 " Nay," says he, " that matters not. The King is 
 dead, and has been so for a year, and the Duke of
 
 80 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 York has succeeded him. And he believes not in 
 putting the ships of his navy to treasure hunts, deem- 
 ing such things better for private adventiu'ers. More- 
 over, he says the Algier Rose can do better service at 
 liome against his enemies — of which the Captain of 
 the Guinea says he has a many — than in fishing for 
 phite. So, to-morrow, Nick, we will take in water 
 from the island, and away to England." 
 
 " 'Tis pity," says I, " a many pities. Yet the 
 King's orders nuist be obey'd. And the plate — I 
 wonder who will get that ? " 
 
 " I shall," said Phips sharply, " and you, Nick, if 
 you will follow me. For the very moment I give up 
 my command of this ship, I shall seek out those 
 private adventurers of whom the new King speaks. 
 I would pawn my life the thing is there, and I will 
 have it. Am I a man to be thwarted ? " 
 
 Indeed, he was no such a man — only, as I 
 whispered to him, he must, if still he believed in his 
 Geomancer, be very sharp. He would be in his 
 thirty- seventh year by the time he set foot on 
 English ground again. 
 
 " Ay, ay," says he, while he took a great drink 
 from his cup and passed it to me, " and so I shall. But 
 before the tliirty-se\'entli year is gone, I shall be back 
 again — and you shall be Avith me, Nick, an' you will." 
 
 For myself 'twas very easy to say I would come. 
 If James was king now, then he would have for 
 officers of his sliips all those who had served him 
 when he Avas a sailor, and never bad I been one of 
 those. Moreover, I had no interest Avith either 
 Edward Russell — who is now as I write Earl of
 
 THEY HAVE TO DESIST. 81 
 
 Orford— or with Kooke, both of whom were hke to 
 be the Kinof's ijreat seamen ; so that there was Httle 
 enough hkehhood that I shonld get another ship. 
 There Avere just now hunch'ods of worthy sailors 
 waiting for appointments, and I had no better chance 
 than, if as good as, they. Also was I gone my time, 
 havino: been now at sea since 165G, when I went a 
 boy of eight, so that I w^as nigh forty years of age, 
 and was never like now to be a captain, being but a 
 plain sailor and no gentleman courtier or page of 
 honour. Had I been that and not known the main- 
 truck from the keel, then, perhaps, might I have 
 gotten a ship at twenty. But enough of this, only I 
 had a mind to come out with Phips if he came again 
 as an adventurer ; and that we should see wdien we 
 got home. 
 
 A week later we had wooded and watered from our 
 isle, and the wind being fair away we went, while the 
 last piece of counsel w^e received came from the beastly 
 great negro of whom I have writ before. This crea- 
 ture's name was Juan, he having been born at San 
 Domingo city, a Spanish slave, which he no longer 
 was, and as we had always thought, though we were 
 never convinced thereof, had egged on Brooks and 
 the others to mutiny by telling of them that we were 
 a-fishing in the wrong pool — as anglers at home say 
 — but that if they could take the frigate from Phips, 
 whom he hated, he could show them wdiere the plate 
 really was. 
 
 So now he shouted to us from his periaga, as 'tis 
 called there, 
 
 "Adio.s, Don Phipo, adios. Berry sorie, Massa, 
 
 G
 
 82 THE HISPANiOLA PI.ATE. 
 
 you no find platy, but you look not in proper place. 
 You ever come back again, whicli not berry like, you 
 send for Juan and pay him better, he show you many 
 tings if he not show it someone else firsty. Adios, 
 Don Pltipo, adios cada uno, I hope you berry nice 
 cruise to Englishy waters. Adios," and with that he 
 hoisted his little sail and was gone. 
 
 Phips scowled at him first and then burst out 
 a-laucjliino- while one of the sailors fluno; a inusket 
 ball at him, and so we sailed away disappointed 
 men. 
 
 " A very nice cruise " it was not our good fortune 
 to have, for we were teased and pestered with con- 
 trary Avinds and storms all the way. Then Ave got 
 into the Horse latitudes — where the Spanish used 
 to throw their horses overboard on their way to the 
 Indie Islands, to lighten their ships so that they 
 could move in the calm — or called by some the Dol- 
 drums — and here we lay for some Aveeks. There 
 we suffered much in every Avay. The sea is here like 
 o-lass, there is not a Avind to stir a sail nor to refresh 
 the panting men, and the air is like a furnace. More- 
 over, here the seams of a ship Avill yawn, the meat 
 become rotten, and the hoops shrink away off the 
 casks so that they burst and leak, letting out the 
 Avater — of beer Ave had naturally none left. The sea, 
 too, looks lyke oil and not Avater, Avhile the setting of 
 the sun gives one the idea that the whole world is 
 a-fire. Great crimson fleaks of flames blaze all across 
 the heavens, then tinges of saffron, green, and pink 
 shoot up, and then comes the grey darkness, as 
 though 'tAvas the smoke after the fire.
 
 THEY HAVE TO DESIST. 83 
 
 And while we who were free all this time suffered 
 so, 'twas far Avorse and more terrible Avith the con- 
 demned mutineers, for, being down in the ballast, 
 since there was nought for them to do on deck while 
 we lay still, their agonies from the heat were insuf- 
 ferable. Five of them did die — even though at the 
 last they were fetched above — and so 'twas better for 
 them, since had they lived there was nought but the 
 hanging at Spithead before them. 
 
 Thus, when at last we got a wind which took us 
 home — and a roaring, tearing wind indeed it was, 
 that sent us often under bare poles Avith fear every 
 moment that our crazy frigate Avith her open seams 
 must go to the bottom — Ave Avorked very short-handed. 
 Yet home at last we did get, looking like scarecroAvs 
 in a field, and so yelloAv that those Avho knew us said 
 that, if Ave had found no silver, at least Ave had brought 
 a plenty of gold on our faces. Yet right glad Avere Ave 
 to see old England again after so long, and to sleep 
 once more in a good English bed. 
 
 o 2
 
 84 
 
 CHAPTER XTI. 
 
 THE BARK "FURIE.' 
 
 Now I will not write down much as to how we found 
 the state of things on our return, yet somewhat must 
 I say. 
 
 To begin Avith — all of which was very bad for our 
 hopes of getting another ship — we found the King a 
 dreadful declared Papist and with most of the nation 
 against him. Moreover, he was passing daily laws 
 and regulations for the oppression of the Protestants, 
 so that he was much hated, and all the world wagged 
 its head and said that so extreme a tyrant must 
 ruin England unless a change came. And some 
 there were who even went so far as to say he had 
 poisoned King Charles — though this Avas never 
 proved, and concerns not my history, to Avhicli I 
 now return. 
 
 When the Ahjier Rose Avas paid off (Avhich Avas 
 done in a Avay shameful to our navy — namely, by 
 giving us but half of Avhat Avas due and the other half 
 in promises, Avhich Avere not fultilled until the next 
 King's reign, and then only Avith difficulty to us) 
 Phips and I, Avho Avent to live together near the 
 Strand, saAV very soon that Ave should get no other 
 King's ship to go back to Hispaniola. His Ministers 
 laughed at us Avhen Ave sounded them ; one old noble- 
 man asking us if Ave thought his Majesty bad not
 
 THE BARK " FURIE." 85 
 
 enough to do Avitli his vessels, without sending them 
 on any such fool's errand as this ? And, indeed, he 
 was right, for things Avere thickening round James, 
 we being come to the year 1687. People had not 
 forgot the Monmouth rebellion and its brutalities, of 
 which we heard now for the first time ; they hated 
 the King's doings and his mass in the chapel, and 
 although he had a great big army at Hounslow this 
 year — which Phips and I rode down to see — all the 
 soldiers had an aversion to his religion, excepting the 
 few Papists among them. On the sea he was not 
 very busy just now, and no fighting done since we 
 went away; yet it Avas ever thought that trouble 
 would come— as indeed it did, though not in the Avay 
 expected. 
 
 So, therefore, as now 3-ou Avill see Avho read, we 
 had to turn our thoughts to other ways, and at once 
 we began to look about for some proprietors who 
 would send us forth to look again for the Hispaniola 
 plate. 
 
 At first Ave had no success. Indeed, in the City, 
 to Avhich Ave resorted, the project Avas treated by the 
 merchants and goldsmiths Avith extreme contempt, 
 they jeering at us ; Avhile one of the Latter told us he 
 had gotten together more plate than he desired, and 
 Avould cheerfully sell us some. But this Avas not our 
 business, so Ave looked again. And now, at last, Ave 
 heard of one Avho Ave thought Avould do for us — our 
 knoAvledge of him being produced and brought to us 
 by a friend Avho knew Avhat Ave Avere seeking for. And 
 the person to Avhom he pointed Avas Christopher Monk, 
 the second Duke of Albemarle.
 
 86 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 This nobleman had in no ways ever done aught to 
 carry on the g'reat rejDutation of his father; but, 
 instead, he had, on coming into a most enormous 
 fortune at that father's death, tw^cnty years ago, given 
 himself up to loose and vicious courses, as well as 
 having a ravenous liking for drink. Yet one fancy he 
 had which improved on this, and was very good for 
 us and our desires — viz., he loved to hear of treasure- 
 finds, of the sacking of cities for plunder : such as 
 those of Drake in the Indies in the Great Queen's 
 reign, or of Sir Henry Morgan, the buccaneer who 
 sacked Panama and Porto Bello, wherefore the late 
 King gave him the government of Jamaica, which 
 Albemarle was afterwards himself to have; and, above 
 all, of the digging up of hidden Avealth. So to him, 
 having obtained a letter introducing us, away went 
 Phips and I to see what might be done. 
 
 He listened very attentively to us and, Avhen Phi})S 
 said he did in truth believe there was three hundred 
 thousand pounds under the water, he sighed and said 
 he would he could have some of it, for he Avanted 
 money badly. This we could well believe ; for though 
 his father left him so vast a for time, he was a heavy 
 gambler, and his Duchess — a half-witted creature, 
 trranddautj^hter of the Duke of Newcastle, to whom 
 he was married before his dying father, as he lay 
 on his bed — had ravaged him with her extrava<7ance 
 and debts. 
 
 So says Phips to him : 
 
 "Then, your (Jrace, if you will have it you shall. 
 Find me but a ship avcU fitted and this very year — no 
 other — it shall be yours. It is there, I know ; I have
 
 THE BARK '' FURIE." 87 
 
 imich evidence it is ; and though I h.ave (i'^hcd in the 
 wrong place hitherto, yet now Avill I find it. And, as 
 I say, it is my year." 
 
 " Why, sir," said the Duke, " ^vhy this year more 
 than any other ? " 
 
 Yet this Phips would not tell him — confiding in me 
 afterwards that, though he believed in the astrologer, 
 he was ashamed of his belief. So, then, next says 
 the Duke : 
 
 " But why seek not the Spanish, or the French, 
 Avho have now gotten possession of the North of 
 Hispaniola, if not all of the island, for this plate ? 
 'Tis worth their while, if 'tis worth mine." 
 
 "Your Grace," says Phips, " it is not possible they 
 should seek for it. Ever and always are they fighting 
 together for possession, Avhen not massacring of the 
 natives — of Avhom three millions have been slain since 
 Columbus's day — and truly they have neither time 
 nor inclination, even if they believe, which all do not. 
 Then, for private adventurers, there are none among 
 them who can or will risk the money ; so that if any 
 find it it must be an Englishman." 
 
 In this way, and with many other arguments and 
 proofs, did Phips press it on the Duke — particularly 
 leaning on the boat that came ashore, after the wreck 
 of the carrack, full of plate ; so that, at last, he said 
 he would think well upon it, and bade us come again 
 in a week's time. 
 
 "For," says he, "of myself I cannot now do it, 
 though I could very well once " — and here he sighed 
 — " when I had my father's fortune. But now I am 
 no longer rich and am even petitioning the King for
 
 88 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 emploj-ment, and liave the promise of Jamaica. Still 
 I will see among my friends, and I will ask the King's 
 permission. He, yon know, must have a tenth and 
 adventure nothing " 
 
 " Let his Majesty have it," says Phips, " and then 
 I'll warrant your Grace there shall be enough to 
 satisfy all." 
 
 " Sir, you are very sanguine," says the Duke. " But, 
 there, come in a week and you shall hear." 
 
 So we made our bow and left him. 
 
 Now, I have so much yet to Avrite of the finding of 
 the plate and then all that followed, as well as to tell 
 you, who may read, how you shall also find a fortune 
 if you will seek, that I must waste no space, but crowd 
 on with my story. 
 
 So I will briefly write down that, when the week 
 was past, we went to the Duke's again, and he coming 
 up to us — a little flustered with his morning tankard, 
 as I thought, though iio ways drunk — takes Phips by 
 the hand and then me, and says he : 
 
 " Gentlemen, I think it is done, and we must send 
 3'ou out. So now listen to what T have attempted." 
 
 And with that he bade his serving-men begone 
 and see he Avas not interrupted till he called. Then 
 he went on : 
 
 " I have gotten," he said, " a ship for you, not so 
 good as a King's ship, yet Avell found, of a good 
 burthen. The crew you shall pick up 3"ourselves — 
 God knows there arc many sailors now in London 
 wanting bread ! Then, as for repayment, you and 
 Captain Crafer " — for so he called me, though I was 
 no captain — '■ nuist be willing to be paid by return,
 
 THE BARK " FURIE." 89 
 
 or wliat tlie merchants call a ' per centinii.' Now, are 
 you willing to do this ? " 
 
 We said we were very v/illing provided we were 
 put to no expense for provisions or furnishing of the 
 ship, which we could not do, and he said that matter 
 should be arranged, as well as the payment of the 
 sailors, which must be part now and part hereafter, 
 when we returned, out of the proceeds. So after 
 man}' more particulars we agreed to all, and we left 
 the Duke to go into the city and see the merchants, 
 and then to attend to fitting of the ship. 
 
 She was, we found, Avhen we got to her in Lirae- 
 houso Pool, after we had spoken with the merchants 
 very satisfactory, a good bluff-bowed bark named the 
 Furie, who had been employed in the slave trade, 
 about which we did not inquire too curiously, knowing 
 very well what uses the Guinea merchants put such 
 ships to. Suffice it, therefore, if I say she was large 
 and roomy for her size, with many good cabins, espe- 
 cially on the deck, a good main cabin, and a clear 
 fo'castle. And so we set to work to pick up a crew. 
 
 Now, as the Duke had truly said, there was no 
 want of sailors just now ; for, firstly, we were not at 
 war with any power ; and, secondly, the men went in 
 but slowly to the King's ships of war because their 
 pay was so uncertain ; and, thirdly, because all were 
 against him, hating the Papists he had gotten both 
 into the navy and army, and hating him too, as well 
 as his Papist Queen, who had passed off" a false heir 
 on the nation, as they said ; and also his beastly 
 mistress, Sedley, now made Lady Dorchester. So 
 when we went about the taverns of Blackwall and
 
 90 THE UISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 Wapping, we soon picked up a likely crew enough, 
 and when we told what oiu* cruise was for — namely, 
 to get up a treasure-ship — they were all eager to 
 corne. Therefore, at last we did get more offers 
 than we could Avell accept, seeing that we wan.ted but 
 twenty, and so made a good pick. Of them some 
 were old King's men who had seen much service like 
 luyself, two had taken part in Sir Robert Holme's 
 " bonefire," when lie burnt up the Dutch ships, some 
 more had fought under Prince Rupert — as I did — 
 Avhen he beat i)e Ruyter, others had fought against 
 Selvagees' Armada, and all were of much experience. 
 
 Now, therefore, Ave had but to victual the Ijark 
 and to put in our beer and water, and all was ready ; 
 so to it we went, the merchants behaving very 
 generously. Yet, since Fliips felt sure — owing to his 
 belief in his precious geomancer, who was doubtless 
 handed for a knave ere now — that we shoidd not be 
 gone a year, wo by no means overloaded her. Still, 
 all was ver}^ well ; we went out with a plenty of beef 
 and pork, a gallon of beer a man ever}' day for some 
 months, with, after that, some spirituous liquors, and 
 with good pease and oatmeal as well as bread. Also, 
 which was of equal need, we had good arms, taking 
 Avith us new cutlashes and muskets, several cannon, 
 including two thirty-two-pound ones and a twenty- 
 four, some pierriers, or swivel-guns, very useful, and 
 several others. And, since this time Ave hoped not to 
 fnil, Ave took all a-pplications for diving, such as a 
 bell, pumps, bladders for the head, and so forth, such 
 as Avas used at Mull for fishing up part of the Spanish 
 Armada in the be^inninir of the late Kiuff's reiii^n.
 
 Tin: BARK " FUIUE." 91 
 
 And so we went away again to find, as you sliall 
 read, the Hispaniola Plate. But to set it down baldly 
 and to say only that we did so find it, would be to 
 give no help to those who shall come after me, when- 
 soever that shall be. Therefore, when next I take up 
 my pen I must tell of all our doings, of the way in 
 which the treasure was cjotten, and of that uncommon 
 villain who was soon now to appear amongst us, and 
 who did, in very truth, by his extreme villainies, lead 
 to my crowding the paper as I do for the benefit of 
 those who follow me.
 
 92 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE OLD man's STORV. 
 
 Now, therefore, Ave are again at Hispaniola and have 
 got near unto the Bajo de la Phata, or Boylers, once 
 more, having made an extreme good cruise from 
 England. The Fiirie was indeed, we found, a good 
 little barky, she sailing well on the wind, which Avas 
 ever most favourable for us, and so brinsrinsf us across 
 the ocean in tAventj^-four days. 
 
 But ere we Avcnt out to the reef there Avere some 
 things that passed Avhicli I nuist Avritc doAvn. First, 
 we anchored off Porto de la Plata, Avhich, as I have 
 writ, Avas so named from the boat that Avent ashore 
 full of plate from the Avreck fifty years — or now more 
 — before, and Avhich is noAV the port of St. Jago de los 
 Cavalleros ; and here Ave purchased a tender Avhich it 
 Avas our intention to use, so that there niio-ht be tAvo 
 searchings made for the lost ship. Also Ave meant to 
 have some canoes, or periagas, so that they could go 
 Avherc neither the ship nor the tender could go tliem- 
 sclves, and thereby avc did intend to scour all the 
 Avater round about the reef. 
 
 But, Lord ! Avho Avould not have been discouraacd 
 by all the merriment that our retiu-n caused — avIio, I 
 say, but Phips ? For those Avho lived at Porto did 
 openly make mock of us, jeering at us for our coming 
 back, and calling of us the mad Eu'^-lishmcn ; Avhilc,
 
 THE OLD man's STORY. 93 
 
 if it may be believed, people did even come over from 
 St. Jago, which is inland, to see us and our silly ship, 
 as they called it. Now, the people here were of 
 all kinds — there were Spaniards and Portugees, and 
 also some French who had by now gotten all that 
 part of the isle to the west of Monte Christo on the 
 N. and Cape Mongon on the S., though no legal 
 settlement until later, as well as Creoles and mulattoes, 
 and many more. And with one accord all laughed 
 at us, saying, " There is no plate, be sure, or we would 
 have had it long ago." 
 
 Yet still Phips, and with him all of us, believed it 
 was there. 
 
 But now there came and sought us out the great 
 monstrous negro diver, Juan, who, after tinding 
 through me that Phips bore him no ill-will for his 
 last fieerhig farewell of us, said that he had some- 
 what to tell us if we would hearken to him. So I 
 gave him an appointment to see the Captain the next 
 day, and a promise that he should be safe from any 
 harm ; and so he came out in his periaga to where we 
 lay a league off shore. And he brought along with 
 him the queerest of old men that ever I did set eyes 
 on — an old shrivelled-up Portugee who looked as 
 though he was an hundred, half-blind, and with a 
 kind of shaking palsy all over him. 
 
 Then, when I took them into the cabin whore 
 Phips was, he, being ever of a jocund vein, called out: 
 
 "And good morning to you, Signer Juan, and how 
 do you do ? You see you were no true prophet, since 
 here we are come back again." 
 
 The hideous negro made a shambling bow, and
 
 04 THE IILSPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 hoped his honour was well, and then in a jargon of 
 Spanish and English, ver}^ hard for nre to understand, 
 and not to be faithfully written down, he said : 
 
 " Masser Phips, I bery sorry I larf at you when 
 yon went away. But I never tink, no never, that you 
 come back again. But since you conic, I tell you 
 many tings I have founder outer. Sir, this old 
 Signer, he know much, he berry old" — and here the 
 brute opened and shut his great hands nine times, 
 very quick — " he have see ninety summers." 
 
 " Has he, indeed ?" says the Captain, " that seems 
 a long while to me who have seen but thirty-six as 
 yet. And what has the Signer seen in all that 
 time ? " 
 
 " He see many tings. Ho see the boaty come 
 ashore with the silver plate— beautiful plate, many 
 candlestickies, bagges of pieces, salivers and lumpes. 
 All gone now ! " 
 
 Then here the old Portuguese screamed out, also 
 in a sort of English, 
 
 " Yees, yees. All gone now, Spanish sailors drink 
 all up, then die. Die very soon afterwards. Drink 
 all da}^ and danze with the girls, then die." 
 
 " Well," says Phips, " what good's that to me ? If 
 the drink and the girls got all, 1 can prolit nothing." 
 
 " He, he," laughed the old man, till he m'gh 
 choked, "got all that came in the boat, not all under 
 the water. No, no ! " 
 
 " Plenty more under water," grunted Juan, " so he 
 say. Plenty more. Only no one able to get it and 
 no one believe. He poor old Portygee, me poor 
 negro, so no one believe."
 
 THE OLD man's STORY. 95 
 
 " Wliat docs lie know ? " says Phips, " and, if you 
 knew, why had you no nihid to speak when first we 
 came here and 1 employed you ? " 
 
 " Signor Phips," said the blacli, " then I knew of 
 nothing ; I only suspect you fished in wrong place. 
 Then when you go away to English land there make 
 much talk about you, and all ask me if English 
 captain find nnich ? And I say, no, and don't tink 
 anyone find any ting. Then old man here — he ninety 
 summers old ! — then old man, Geronimo, he come m 
 from mines of Hayna in middle of country, where 
 he lived forty year, and hear of talk about you and 
 the silver, and of me the Buzo " (which means a 
 diver), " and he say he Avish he come back sooner 
 much, because he know where carrack lie, Avhere 
 shift off reefy." 
 
 " Shift off the reef ! " exclaimed the Captain and 
 myself together, with a glance at each other. " Is 
 that so indeed ? " 
 
 Then the old Portygee burst out laughing and 
 then choking, and then when he found his voice 
 again, he said, 
 
 " Yees, yees ; that so. I see sailors come ashore 
 with plate. I drink with them, I danze with girls, 
 too, only I not die. That very long ago now; girls 
 all dead, too. He ! he ! Oh ! "' and again he had 
 his spasms. 
 
 Then once more he went on : 
 
 " And so, Signor, because I was a fisherman, I go 
 out to the Bajo and I look about, only I fear Tiburons 
 (sharks), and once when water very low I see down 
 deep a cannon, then I know the ship had shifted. So
 
 96 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 another day I go look again, and there floated up a 
 piece of the ship, a rail, so I know for certain she 
 move. Then I speak to many and I say I know 
 where carrack is, but they believed not and would do 
 nothing. And now they all dead, too, like the sailors 
 and the girls. He ! he ! Ha ! ha ! Oli ! oh ! " 
 
 We talked long with this miserable relic of the 
 past — who so angered Pliips with his recollections of 
 the dead and the gone, especially the girls, that he 
 almost ordered him out of the ship — and, indeed, it 
 did seem as if at last wo had lio-hted on some ijood 
 news. He said, when he could persuade no one to 
 believe or lend a hand to search further, he went away 
 to the mines of Hayna, in the interior, Avhere a fresh 
 find of gold was made, and there he stayed for all 
 the years, making a little livelihood and forgetting all 
 about the plate ship. Then, having at last struck 
 ninety — on which he laid great stress, as though an 
 action of credit done by himself — he came back to 
 Porto where he belonged, and fell in Avith Juan. And 
 this black told us that when he did, indeed, come 
 back and heard that we had been and gone, he fell 
 into such a paroxysm of rage and grief that he nearly 
 died, " for now," said he, "my chance is gone." 
 
 So the old figger thought all was lost to him, and 
 bemoaned his fate and nigh went mad, until one day 
 the Buzo went off to find him and tell him that the 
 Captain Phips was come once more back, but in 
 another ship. Whereupon he did once more go 
 nearly mad, this time with joy, and then made Juan 
 bring him out in his periaga to us. 
 
 So, after hearing all this, Phips says to him :
 
 THE OLD man's STORY. 97 
 
 " Supposing- you put us in the way to find this 
 plate, what terms are we to make ? What do you 
 want ? " 
 
 " Half," says the old man. " I am now ninety 
 years of age. I want to be rich for the rest of my 
 life." 
 
 " Tush ! " says the Captain, " this is foolishness. 
 Why should I give you half? I know now the 
 carrack has shifted; I can find it for myself. You 
 shall have nothinof." 
 
 " No, no ! " screamed the old Portygee, while the 
 big black negro began to mutter ; and then Geronimo, 
 as he was called, threw himself down on his knees 
 with most marvellous dexterity for his great age. 
 " No, no ! " says he, " not that. I will tell you, and 
 you shall offer me what you will. Me and Juan. 
 Give us what you will." 
 
 " Indeed I shall," says Phips, " seeing that you 
 came to me, and not I sought you. Therefore, let us 
 see. How much think you there is below the water ? " 
 
 " The Saints only know," said Geronimo, " but since 
 she was taking home to Spain the fortunes of many 
 from Cuba, as the sailors told me, she must have been 
 full. Oh ! Signor Capitano, promise me somethin'^-, 
 give me something ! " and he clasped the Captain's 
 legs about and wept. 
 
 " Well, now," says Phips, " see what I will do for 
 you. You and this negro diver shall tell me exactly 
 where she lies, or as near as may be, and if I find her 
 you shall have this." 
 
 "The Saints bless you, capitano; I am nearly 
 ninety years." 
 II
 
 98 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 " Bo still. You sliall have this between yon, the 
 negro to dive for me with my own English diver. 
 You shall have for every five pounds of silver or of 
 gold, one ounce, no matter whether we find nuich or 
 little. Are you content ? " 
 
 At first both of them began to grumble, saying it 
 was not enough. But soon Phips persuaded them to 
 reason in a way that was all his own. 
 
 " Then," saj^s he, doing so all in an appearance ot 
 sudden violence, " begone out of my ship. Away 
 with you ! What ! shall I come from England twice 
 to find what I knew of a surety five years ago was 
 here, only to traffic with such as you, and you ? " 
 pointing liis finger at each. "Nay, never! We will 
 find it by ourselves. Begone, I say ! " 
 
 But to begone was not their purpose, since very 
 well they knew that without us they could do nought. 
 Strange as it may seem — and ver}' strange it was — 
 none in Hispaniola Avould hearken to the story of the 
 plate ship lying so near — for the Boylers are not a 
 dozen leagues out from the island — and so woidd do 
 nothing, and therefore they could do nouglit them- 
 selves. For to do anything a small vessel at least 
 was wanted, and the means Avherewith to dive — and 
 certainly the T^ort3''gee had no money for this, while 
 the black was little than a beqgar. Therefore, at once 
 they sang another song, becoming directly verj' lowly, 
 and saying, " Well, then, they would take the Captain's 
 offer," only I liked not the look on the face of Juan, 
 the l^nzo, and from that moment determined to watch 
 him well. 
 
 Kow, therefore, I have to say that all terms were
 
 THE OLD man's STORY. 99 
 
 made, and we were ready to go out to the reef. We 
 bought a tender, and we meant wlien we got to our 
 little isle of old, where the second nuitiny was, to make 
 some canoes of some excellent cotton trees that were 
 there, with which we could go about, and see better 
 when near the reef down into the water. 
 
 The negro Juan was to come, first as diver, next 
 as on behalf of himself and Geronimo to see we played 
 fair, and he it was also to Avhom tlie Portygee coniided 
 the exact spot where he had seen the rail float up 
 years ago, since he would not tell us, saying Juan 
 would take us to the place. 
 
 So we went away, being dela3^ed, however, two 
 days by the accursed Blackamoor, A\dio we thought at 
 first had played us false — perhaps, indeed, found new 
 employers who would pay him better. However, at 
 last we saw him coming out in his periaga — and none 
 too soon neither, since we meant to go without him 
 next morning if he came not, and try our luck alone 
 — and when he and his craft were gotten aboard, he 
 excused himself b}^ ^^^yii^g h^ had been having a 
 festa on shore and getting drunk with some of his 
 friends. 
 
 " Good," says Phips when he heard this, " onl)', my 
 black treasure, remember there is no drunkenness for 
 3'ou here. Because, you see," he went on, "I'm Captain 
 aboard this craft, and if anj'one displeases me I let 
 them understand it. So, if you Avant to keep your 
 brains m your head and your ebony skin Avhole, 
 remember that. And noAv, bos'un," says he, " pipe all 
 hands on deck and loose sail for the reef." 
 
 n 2
 
 100 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE WRECK IS FOUND. 
 
 And now I liave to write down wli;it we found, only, 
 as such long Avriting is even now difficult to nie, I 
 must do it in my own fashion. And that fashion is, 
 that I can do nothing except by proceeding leisurely 
 and describino- each incident as it came about. AVhich 
 I now again attempt. 
 
 The soft wind carried us out past the Boylers the 
 next day at noontide, and then, as we went by, we 
 parted with our tender, the ship going on to our little 
 isle of old. For 'twas here we meant to construct the 
 cotton-wood canoes, to take in some of the island 
 Avater — the sweetest I ever tasted, which caused us to 
 take it from there — and to leave some stores. The 
 tender which we left behind — though not very far, 
 since the isle was but three leagues beyond the Bajo 
 — was in charge of our master mate, as he was rated, 
 an old King's man like myself, and, like myself, sick 
 of the King's service. He was a good sailor and 
 named Ayscough. His orders Avere to proceed to 
 whatever point near that the African should suggest 
 as the reputed place where the carrack was shifted to, 
 to anchor if possible, or, if not, to put out the floating 
 anchors, and there to remain until avc returned. But 
 no matter Avhat was perceived, even should it be the 
 carrack herself at the bottom, neither our own diver
 
 THE WRECK IS FOUND. 101 
 
 nor the Black was to be allowed to descend, especially 
 not the last. 
 
 Then, having given these orders, we did remain 
 on our isle two days, what time Phips worked as hard 
 as any man in the ship with his own hands, shaping 
 and arranging of the cotton-wood canoes, inspiring 
 every one with his ardours and cheering them on. 
 What, however, did not cheer any of us, was a-finding 
 that some of the bodies of the mutineers of the isle 
 had the sand bloAvn all off them where they were 
 buried on the beach, and that their skeletons were 
 lying white and bleached before us. Verily, a dreadful 
 memorial of their wickedness ! 
 
 Moreover, another thing we saw which we liked 
 not any too well ; namely, we found drawn up in a 
 little cove a ship's boat, with on it the name, " The 
 Etoyle, Prov3Tlence," and in it many ropes, hooks, and 
 head-bladders, all carefully wrapped up and evidently 
 for use in divines. 
 
 " Now," says Phips, " this is not well. There is 
 nought to dive for here but one thing — the Plate 
 Ship — therefore it seems to me that someone else 
 has been about our office. Yet it is certain they have 
 not been successful. Had they been we must have 
 heard of it at Porto. What think you, Nick ? " 
 
 " That depends," says I, " on which Provydence 
 those who own the boat hail from. If 'tis that of the 
 Bahamas, then 'tis very well, since they are ours again 
 since "66, and as King James takes his tenth of our 
 find, we have the precedence of all. So 'tis, if it's 
 that by Connecticut, which is but a hamlet. But if 
 'tis that off Honduras, then 'tis bad, since 'tis inhabited
 
 102 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 by buccaneers only, if inhabited at all ; and, if them, 
 we may have some trouble." 
 
 " Well, well," says he, " we must see. Meanwhile 
 I incline to it hailing from the Bahamas. For look 
 you, Nick, ' Provydence ' is good English and not 
 Sjianish, as most of the buccaneers are. And by the 
 same token it may be the Provydence in our own 
 American colonies. Moreover, the buccaneers as a 
 rule put no markes in their crafts." 
 
 " Etoyle," says I, " is not English, though ! " 
 
 " Neither," replies he, " is it Spanish. And," with 
 his fierce lion look upon his face, he went on, " belong 
 it either to English, French, or Spanish colonist or 
 to pirate, they shall not have our treasure Avhile we 
 are above water." 
 
 So, all being done, we went back to rejoin the 
 tender. 
 
 Now, when we got to her we heard that the 
 Blackamoor had directed that she should proceed to 
 a spot immediately on the other, or eastern side, of 
 the reef, from which we had previously fished, since 
 there it was that the old man, Geronimo, had laid 
 down that we should find the wreck. So A3'scough 
 had taken her to this spot, namely, half a league away 
 from the Boylers, and we found all preparations made 
 for a descent, Juan, the Buzo, being particularly keen 
 to Gfo down at once. But now we summoned our own 
 diver — a straightforward, honest Englishman, whose 
 name was Woods — to come and confer with us, and 
 asked him what he thought. Then he told us that 
 the soundings were good enough for a descent, since 
 the bottom was not more than twenty fathoms
 
 THE WRECK IS FOUND. lOo 
 
 below where we were anchored, and that the tallow 
 bronght up soft sand and limestone, Avhich showed 
 a good bed. 
 
 " Therefore," sa3S Phips, " you can reach the 
 bottom, can you not ? " 
 
 " If not, sir," says he, " I can at least descend so 
 far as to see the bottom, and if then I tind the wreck 
 it shall go hard but that I will get down to her. My 
 diving chest can sink easily to forty feet, and with 
 Mister Halley's'^ new dress I am confident I can 
 touch the bottom hero." 
 
 " So be it," says Phips, " and now about the Black. 
 Here you, sir," then he calls out to Juan, who was 
 even now leaning over the guuAvale, peering down into 
 the hot sea, " come here and tell us how you propose 
 to reach the bottom." 
 
 " That very easy, sir," answered he ; " I have new 
 dress Massa Woods lend me, which I am sure I 
 manage very nicely. I go down if the Signor Capitan 
 wish me." 
 
 " No," says Phips, " Woods shall go down first 
 And since 'tis a calm morning, get you ready now, 
 Woods." 
 
 At once the man did this, going forward to where 
 he berthed in the ship, and returning presently a 
 stransfe fiofure to behold, since now he was all en- 
 veloped in Mr, Halley's new improved dress, all 
 over cords for lowering and pipes for a- taking in 
 the air. 
 
 * He was Astronomer Royal from 1719 to 1742, but in Phips' time 
 had made many improvements and suggestions in the necessary- 
 apparatus for divers. — J. B.-B.
 
 104 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 " For," says he, " I will try this, sir, now, and see 
 how far I can go down." 
 
 You may be sure all watched him with eagerness. 
 For besides that we hoped he should find below Avhat 
 we sought, but a few of us had ever seen this dress 
 before, and were almost afraid of what might come to 
 him. Yet, he assured us, we need to have no fear ; he 
 had made many experiments and descents as trials 
 at home in the sea and river Thames, and Avas con- 
 fident of what he could do. So, as calmly as if he 
 were going down the stairs of a house, he bade the 
 sailors lower him over from the gangway, and de- 
 scended by the lines he had arranged and was gone 
 beneath the sea, and in a few moments there was 
 nought but a few bubbles to mark the spot where he 
 had been. 
 
 Presently we knew by a signal agreed upon Avith 
 those who held the ropes, that he had reached the 
 bed, and then by the paying out of his pipes that he 
 Avas moving about. And so he stayed thus for some 
 twelve minutes, when Ave also knew he Avas returning 
 to below the ship, and then there came the next signal 
 to haul him up again, Avhich, being done, his great 
 helmet Avith its fierce goggle eyes appeared above the 
 Avatcr once more, he following. 
 
 Tied on to him he bore tAvo things, one a great 
 beam of Avood in which Avas stuck pieces of jagged 
 rock, Avhicli looked for all the Avorld like the great 
 teeth of some beast that had been fastened in't 
 and then broken off — they AA'cre indeed bits of the 
 reef — the other a great piece of limestone as big 
 as my head, all crusted and stuck over Avith little
 
 THE WRECK IS FOUND. 105 
 
 disks or plates, which were, we found, rusty pieces 
 of eight. 
 
 " A sign ! A sign ! " says Phips, taking them from 
 him ; " now get 3-our breath, Woods, and tell us what 
 yoii have found," and this the man did, puffing and 
 blowing freely for a time ere he could speak. 
 
 Then he said, " Of the wreck, sir, I have seen 
 nought, but surely I have found the track. All the 
 bottom of the sea is scored as thousfli some great 
 thing had passed over it, and everywhere there lie 
 great lumps of limestone such as this, and great 
 beams such as that." 
 
 " Ha ! " says Phips, and with that he takes the 
 diver's axe and splits open the lump, and there, 
 wedged in all over it, were many more rust}^ old 
 pieces. " Ha ! she has left a silver track as she passed 
 along. Go on." 
 
 " So I do think, sir," says the diver, " and she 
 cannot be afar off where I descended, unless she is 
 all gone to pieces. And even then the bed of the 
 sea must be full of all she had gotten inside her. 
 But, sir, I think this is not so ; I think she has 
 been brought up short, for, close by, as I gather, is 
 another reef." 
 
 " How far off? How far off? " suddenly called out 
 the captain, full of strange excitement. 
 
 " Not two cables off, I think, sir," replies Woods, 
 " since the bottom where I was begins to rise towards 
 it, and therefore — " 
 
 " And therefore," exclaims Phips, " it is the reef it- 
 self! Marvellous strange it seemed to me that a great 
 Spanish galleon should have shifted at the bottom of
 
 106 THE HISPANIOLA PIATE. 
 
 the sea — whoever heard of a ship tliat moved below 
 the water ! — j^et all Avould have it so ; even you, 
 Woods, thought so yourself! But iio>v I know all. 
 She struck u23on a spur of the reef and not the 
 reef itself, and she has never moved. In which 
 direction does the rise of bottom of which you speak 
 begin ? " 
 
 The diver look't round, tracing his course beneath, 
 and then, pointing to the Boylers, or Bajo, said, 
 " There, sir." 
 
 " Wh}^ so 'tis, of course," says Phips. " And, as I 
 say, her keel took the first, or outside spur of the 
 reef as she passed along, and she never got nearer 
 to the main one. She is there ! She is there ! 
 Hearts up, my lads, we liave found the treasure 
 
 ship 1 
 
 I gave the word and up went a roaring cheer froui 
 all, one for Phips, one for the galleon, and one for 
 what she had got in her, or about her, if she had 
 broken up. Then Phips, all alive now, gives an order 
 to shift the tender to the spot where Woods did 
 consider the ridge of the spur should be, and bade the 
 diver come along with us in it to go down again. 
 1'hough, a moment afterwards, he paused, saying in 
 his kindly way, 
 
 "Yet no. Woods. You liave done enough work 
 for to-day. You shall rest easy. Now, where is tliat 
 Blackamoor ? He shall go." 
 
 The negro came forward, his e3'es glistening — 
 perhaps with the hope of what lie should tiud — and 
 to him says Phips, 
 
 " Get you into the dress, or, since you are now to
 
 THE WRECK IS FOUND. 107 
 
 that, into the diver's chest ; that shall do very well 
 for finding of the reef, and, perhaps, the carrack — she 
 cannot be afar. Come, away with you." 
 
 So, into the tender got the captain and I and 
 the negro, and the sailors told off" to her, and in a 
 few moments we were apeak of the spot where 
 Woods said the reef must be. And then to our 
 astonishment — for we had never been this side 
 of the Boylers before, and, consequentl}^, had never 
 seen any shoal Avater — of Avhich, indeed, there was 
 little, ever — on looking down Ave saAv, not three feet 
 below the surface, the long sharks-toothed back of 
 the spur. 
 
 " Great PoAvers ! " says Phips, " 'tAvas here all those 
 years A\^e Avasted on the other side, and aag ncA'er 
 thought to even come round to this. Fools ! fools ! 
 that Ave Avere. We might have had the treasure back 
 into London long ago. Noav," says he, turning from 
 his meditations to actions, " now," to the black, " into 
 your tub and down Avith you." 
 
 Nothing loth, for the great beast Avas as eager for 
 gain as any of us, into the chest did he get and Avas 
 loAvered aAvay, but scarce had the top of it sunk 
 beneath the Avater Avhen the rope quivered, then the 
 signal Avas given to haul up, and back he came, 
 and, jumping out of the chest, or bell, exclaimed 
 excitedly, 
 
 " Oh ! Signer Phips. Oh, Signer Capitan Com- 
 mandante. The shippy all doAvn there. Fust ting 
 the chest knock on cannon sticking up in Avater, then 
 against her sidy, then I bery much frighted, for I see 
 dead man's head looking at me out of hole. Oh 1
 
 108 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 Capitan Commandante, the shippy there, and she full 
 of dead men. Oh ! capitan, send Massa Woods down 
 to see if I speak truf." 
 
 So you see we had found the ship 
 
 "And," says Phips, that night, as we drank to- 
 gether, " it is my thirty-seventh year ! "
 
 109 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 WHAT THE FIRST SEARCH REVEALED. 
 
 Now, therefore, have I to write down of all that, 
 having found the ship, we found in her. Yet how 
 shall I begin ? 
 
 Firstl}^ let me describe how it was with the 
 carrack herself 
 
 She lay canted right over on to her larboard side, 
 the whole of her larboard forepart broke away and stove 
 in, and crushed as would be an egg beaten in with a 
 hannner. And in the fifty years — if it were so long — 
 in which she had been there she seemed to have 
 grown so much to the reef, or the reef to her, that 
 they seemed part and parcel of one another. She 
 must, we could see at once, ha.ve struck full head on, 
 and the wicked teeth of the rock had torn her fore- 
 part to pieces. Whether at once she heeled over and 
 sank was never to be known now, or Avhether she 
 filled and sank after a Avhile. Perhaps 'twas the 
 latter, since, otherwise, it Avas not to be understood 
 how those sailors whom Geronimo had known and 
 danced with, and sang with, could, had she turned 
 over in a sudden shock, have ever collected together 
 the plate they had, and have gotten away in the 
 open boat. 
 
 Aft, from the beginning of her waist above, she 
 was not broken into at all, being quite sound on her
 
 110 THE IIISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 starboard side as she lay, though, as we found, her 
 larboard side aft, which lay on the bottom, had rotted 
 somewhat and bulged away, so that what was in her 
 on that side was, indeed, lying on the sea's bed. Her 
 masts and yards were all broke off short, and the 
 broken pieces, into which the limestone had not 
 Avedoed itself and so held them down, had doubtless 
 risen and floated. And this must have been the case 
 with the stern-rail which the old Portuguese had 
 seen, though why that went adrift we never rightly 
 understood, since no other part of the stern was gone. 
 We found all this out later on, as you shall see, when 
 we determined what we must do ; but now Phips and 
 I went apart to hold a conference, the first thing he 
 said being, 
 
 " Nick, we have found the plate ship, therefore is 
 one, nay, the greatest, of our difficulties over. But 
 with this begins the necessity for great caution. For, 
 see you, Nick, we cannot trust the overhauling of 
 this ship to the two divers alone. We must know 
 all that is in her, and we must see that all comes 
 safe up and into our hands. What, therefore, shall 
 be done ? " 
 
 " Easy enough," says T, " to answer that. It's for 
 you or me, sir, who are the responsible officers, to be 
 divers too." This I said, for I had quickly caught his 
 meaning. Then I went on, " As for myself, I will 
 cheerfully go down." 
 
 " Have you ever dived ? " asked he. 
 
 " No," I replied, " but I can soon learn mj-selt" to 
 do so. Woods had never used this dress until a little 
 while ore he came aboard the Fitrie ; yet, now, see
 
 WHAT THE FIRST SEARCH REVEALED. Ill 
 
 Avhat he can do ; and what he can, so can I. There- 
 fore, unless yon go I will." 
 
 He thought a little while — perhaps communing 
 with himself as to whether 'twas not his duty to go — 
 but at last he said, 
 
 " Well, that way is p'raps best. You shall go, but 
 to-day — since it grows on apace— there shall be no 
 new descent. To-night we Avill rest, and then begin 
 the Avork to-morrow. That shall suffice." 
 
 So Ave did no more that day, only Ave signalled for 
 the bark to come nearer to us and so anchored her a 
 little closer to the Bajo, and then all Avho Avere in the 
 tender Avent oft' and into her for the night, the spot 
 by the reef being buoyed, though there Avas little 
 enough need for that, since, now Ave kncAv Avhere to 
 look, Ave could easily see the shoal Avater. 
 
 One thing Ave desired to knoAV, so sent for the 
 black to tell us — namely, Avhat he meant by saying 
 that he saAV a dead man lookinsf at him from a hole. 
 
 " Oh ! signor," he said, Avhen he had come in to us, 
 " oh, signor, I see him berry plain. He leanie right 
 out of big port-hole, his body half Avay out, his bony 
 hands holding to the sides, his bony skull turned up 
 to me." 
 
 " Nonsense," says Phips, " his hands and head 
 would haA'e fallen oft" long ago. You dreamed it, 
 man ! " 
 
 But the black asseA^crated that he had not dreamed 
 it, and so Ave left it until to-morroAV to see. 
 
 NoAv, Avhen the morning came, at once Ave made 
 out preparations for the descent. Woods and I Avere 
 to go doAvn first, he telling me that it Avas nought to
 
 112 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 do ; that to begin with I should feel a siiftbcation 
 which would soon pass away, and that, excepting I 
 would seem to be surrounded by green glass full of 
 bubbles, 'twould not be so very strange. Moreover, 
 he told me to fear nothing, no, not even a shark if he 
 came near me, for he would be more affrighted than 
 I, since he knew not what I might be. 
 
 So down to the carrack we descended. 
 
 First went Woods, saying he Avould wait for me at 
 the bottom to set me on my feet, and so, as easy as 
 ever, over he went and disappeared from all sight, and 
 then my turn came, and the sailors lowered me from 
 the gunwale. 
 
 In a moment I was sinking through the waters, 
 all blue and green and bubbling, passing as I went 
 the cannon sticking up from its port — it had been 
 left run out when the ship sank, and was a long 
 Spanish one, its muzzle formed like a snake's mouth, 
 and looking three times the size it really was, since 
 the water much magnified it — and so down, seeing 
 fishes dart all around me, looking with frighted eyes 
 at my strange figure. Then I felt my feet clasped by 
 "Woods and placed firm upon the bottom, and I was 
 there. 
 
 And what a strange sight did meet my eyes! 
 Firstly I perceived I was not on the bottom at all, 
 but standing on the upturned starboard side of the 
 ship, quite near by the great cannon, and also to an 
 open port. Yet, as she was not entirely canted over 
 but lay at an angle, 'twas very hard woik to support 
 onc'self steady, and I was very glad to cling to a 
 stanchion for the time. But, now. Woods taking me
 
 WHAT THE FIRST SEARCH REVEALED. 113 
 
 by the hand did lead me up the chain wales and so 
 over the bow, until I stood with him upon the deck, 
 which was here not difficult ; and then I look'd 
 around. 
 
 The lirst thing to be perceived was that the whole 
 of the deck Avas swept clean of most that had been 
 on't, except such things as the hatch-hoods which 
 were fixed, the after bittacle, the stumps of the broken 
 masts, and so forth. The cannons, too, had slid down 
 owino- to the incline of the wreck, and did all lie 
 huddled on the lower, or larboard side, and the 
 hatches were mostly open. Wedged in among the 
 cannon were some bones and a skull, so that now I 
 knew that the negro had seen this in his descent, and 
 had thouo'ht the black muzzle of the cannon was a 
 porthole. 
 
 And now. Woods making to me a sign to follow 
 him and pointing to my air-pipe — which, he had told me 
 before he came down, I must by no means get twisted, 
 or the air would cease — he set his foot upon the after 
 hatch-ladder, and, so, slowly descended, I following. 
 So did we go down to the middle deck, around which 
 were placed the cabins or berths. And now I was to 
 see a sight enough to freeze anyone's blood, even 
 though so old a sailor as myself. For first we went 
 into the main or living cabin, and there we observed 
 what Death had done in its most grisly way. We 
 saw huddled into a corner of it the clothes of a 
 man and woman, within them still their bones, and 
 they were, or had been, locked in each other's arms 
 — the long hair of the woman lying close by the 
 fleshless head. Then did we see in another corner
 
 114 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 another woman — her mass of hair pale and golden, 
 hke to an Enghshwoman's, and in her bony arms she 
 hold also some little bones and a sknll, Avhich told a 
 sad tale — it was a mother and her poor babe, A\dio had 
 perished together. And, around and about all, there 
 swam and darted away as we drew near hordes of 
 fishes, though 'twas long since they liad made a meal 
 of these poor dead things. 
 
 But now I could stay no longer, being as yet 
 not used to my strange head-dress of copper, so I 
 made to Woods a sign that I must go above, and 
 so we went forth, and, o-ivino- of the si^'nal, Avere 
 di-awn up to the surface again. And once more I 
 breathed the air of Heaven and was very grateful 
 therefore. 
 
 Then Phips took both me and Woods aside, asking 
 us what we had found, and we tokl him — he sio'hin'^- 
 at the sad news from below — and also did we tell 
 him how, as yet, Ave had done no more ; so says he, 
 
 " Well, courage, Nick ; Avhen next you go down 
 ycni shall find better than these poor dead ones — 
 Avhat think you, Woods ? " 
 
 " I hope so, sir," says he, " since all around the 
 main cabin are many sleeping ones in Avhicli there 
 should be some sort of things of value, and then must 
 Ave break aAvay the middle-deck to get to the lower, 
 Avhere the plate, if any, should be." 
 
 "If any!" exclaims Phips. "Why, noAV, I do 
 believe from all reports I got from Cuba 3'ears ago, 
 that she is full of it I She Avas, besides being: a 
 galleon, taking home the Adelantado, or Governor, 
 and his family, and also .some others. If Ave find not
 
 WHAT THE FIRST SEARCH REVEALED. 115 
 
 a hundred thoiisand's-wortli at least 'twill be little 
 enouo-h orood for me." 
 
 Woods opened his eyes at this, for tho' all knew we 
 sousi'lit for treasure, none knew that she misfht have 
 so much within her ; indeed, none had been told what 
 she might contain. And, now that both ship and 
 tender were apeak over the wreck and nothing could 
 be brought up witliout being seen by all in them, 
 there Avas no longer any secret to be made. 
 
 Soon again, after we had refreshed ourselves, we 
 were ready once more to go down, and Juan the 
 Black was to go with us, only both I and Woods were 
 ordered by Phips to keep an eye on him. This brute 
 was, as we knew, a Coromantee, and, from all accounts, 
 they are not only the biggest thieves of all the Blacks 
 but very ferocious as well. Moreover, neither the 
 Captain nor I fully believed in his keeping us waiting 
 off Porto only so that he might get drunk, and we 
 knew not if he and the old Portyguese, or he and some 
 other villains, might not have been concocting some 
 precious scheme to defeat us. 
 
 But we had no dress for him, only a copper 
 bladder-head, Avhich, however, would do very well, 
 since the creature Avas ever naked and certainly 
 wanted no garments in Avhich to enter the Avater, and 
 Avas so strong that, he said the Avater could not press 
 on him to hurt ; and so, taking the longest air-pipes 
 Ave had for all of us, again doAvn Ave Avent, all arriving 
 on the middle deck one following the other — Woods 
 first, I next, and the negro last. As Ave passed into 
 the main cabin Ave saAv the Black's great copper head 
 bent over to the dead Avhere they lay huddled, and 
 I 2
 
 116 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE, 
 
 then suddenly darted back, so we knew — or, at least, 
 I did know — that to his other qualities he added that 
 of fear and timoroiisness. 
 
 And now, seeing that on the bulkheads, or on the 
 cabin doors, could be still read the painted names, 
 such as " Capitan," " Teniente Po,"''^ " Pasagero,"t and 
 others, I motioned to Woods to burst open with 
 his axe the captain's door and let us see what was 
 within. This was soon done, since in nature the 
 woodwork was somewhat rotten, and, moreover, 'twas 
 not fast, and so we entered, or clambered, into it. The 
 bed, or bunk, which was very large and room}', we 
 could observe, even after the hfty years that had 
 passed, had not been slept in since it was made ; 
 therefore we did conclude the captain was above when 
 the ship struck, and so was lost. For the rest there 
 were, all shifted into the corner of the cabin, two 
 great heavy chests clamped with iron, and on them 
 great padlocks, and these we decided must at once go 
 up to the tender. So we lifted them up Avith much 
 ado and affixed them to the slings, and then they Avere 
 gotten up. 
 
 And now I was becoming so used to iny strange 
 habit that, beyond a singing in my ears that went 
 and came, I felt no inconvenience, and was, though 
 not rash, very busy about the main cabin. And in 
 this way I entered into a berth which Ave made no 
 doubt Avas that set ajiart for the Adelantado of Cuba, 
 since all showed it to be so. The SAvords about the 
 cabin, the rich clothes, though soaked Avith Avater, of 
 both a man and a Avoman proved this to be the case, 
 
 * 1st litutuiuint. -j- Passenger.
 
 WHAT THE FIRST SEARCH REVEALED. 117 
 
 as did the great chests that had shpped about the 
 place and the bed. And herein was another terrible 
 and ghastly sight. In that bed lay two human forms, 
 or what had been human forms once, thou^di now 
 but skeletons, the two skulls being side by side, the 
 wo]nan's hair being a great black mass upon the 
 coverlit like a pall. So they had died together, he 
 who had ruled Spain's greatest colony and she who 
 had acted for Spain's Queen. And this was all left of 
 their greatness ! Poor things ! 
 
 But we had to see to the chests and what Avas therein 
 contained, since doubtless the Governor had much. 
 And since they were bursted open, perhaps by the 
 shock of the ship striking on the reef, we peered 
 therein and saw things enough to make one gasp, 
 even more than I did in my strange head-dress. For, 
 lying in the water of the chests, or leastwa3's of one 
 chest, were golden plates and ewers and candlesticks 
 and sockets, all of them set in with pearls and rubies, 
 and there, too, were caskets, not open, but so lirmly 
 fixed and locked that very well might one guess what 
 should be Avithin. Also on this chest — for the others 
 contained, as Ave could see, but Avearing apparel for 
 both of them — Avere many other choice things, such 
 as comfit boxes, necklaces, the jewel'd orders of the 
 Adelantado, the gems and brilliants of his lady, some 
 jewel'd swords and daggers, and several great bags or 
 sacks full of gold coins. 
 
 Verily it Avas a great sight for us to see— as for 
 the Coromantee, he thrust his helmeted head so far 
 into the chest that we had to draAv him back by main 
 force — and I could not but feel joyful that, at last, Ave
 
 lis THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 were in a fair way of discovering of all. For it was 
 not to be doubted that on the deck below Ave should 
 find the silver itself 
 
 But now we were signalled to from above to rejoin 
 the tender, so, sending^ the black first, since it would 
 never have done to leave him here a minute by 
 himself, and I going up last, we returned back above 
 the sea.
 
 119 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 AN HONEST MAN ARRIVES. 
 
 Now when wo got up to the surface agaui, I taking 
 with me one of the bao-s of gold coins to show the 
 Captain, we were very much astonished to see that, 
 moored alongside of our ship was another— a small 
 craft such as is known in England as a " snow," which 
 is generally very fast in sailing, having a main and a 
 foresail, as well as a trj^sail mast. And as I looked 
 round after getting my head free again, I did see on 
 her stern a great gilt star and the words " Etoyle, 
 Provydence," so now I knew what she was, and, 
 perhaps, whence she came, or at least that she was 
 from one of the Provydences. Leaning over her bows 
 and watchino- us as Ave arose — with a twinkle in his 
 eye, which squinted somewhat, when he saw the 
 Coromantee — was a man whom I guessed to be the 
 skipper, a great yellow person with a shock of black 
 curly hair, so that I thought ho must be a Mustee, 
 and with a big slash, or scar, all along his face. And 
 leaning over, too, were several others, sailors, all 
 regarding us fixedly. Their eyes were set upon the 
 bag of coins at once with, as I thought, an eager 
 gleam in them, and then their Captain hails me and 
 says : 
 
 " What luck below, shipmate ? " to which I did 
 but grunt a word, not knowing how things stood as
 
 120 THE HISPAXIOLA PLATE. 
 
 yet. But now conies forward Phips, avIio says to 
 liim : 
 
 " Captain Alderly, this is our first lieutenant, who 
 is in charge of the diving at present ; " and then he 
 turns to me and says, " Crafer, our friend has been 
 here before —that is his ship's boat drawn up on the 
 isle — and he thinks he should have a share of the 
 spoil, since he found the wreck before us — so he says." 
 
 " Does he, indeed ? " I replied ; " 'tis strange, then, 
 that he took not away the spoil when he found it ; " 
 and I fixed my eye on him to see what he would reply, 
 for since, as I say, we were moored close alongside, 
 every word spoken on one deck could be heard on 
 the other. 
 
 " Ay, ay," says that skipper, " and so I should 
 indeed, and came here hoping to get all. But of 
 what avail is hope ? My little snow cannot fight 
 your great vessel of two hundred tons, and we both 
 sail under the English flag. And therefore, since I 
 am an honest man and peaceable, I must, perforce, 
 lose my chance. But your Captain says, sir," he went 
 on, addressing me, " tliat I may have a percentum on 
 what I help to bring up, and that must suffice. Yet, 
 'tis hard on an honest man ! " 
 
 "Ay," says Phips, nodding his head, though 1 did 
 observe him closely and saw that his eyes were ever 
 on the other. " Ay, 'tis hard on an honest man ! 
 Yet, Captain Alderly, I think your percentum will 
 pay you very well for your trip from the Bahamas." 
 
 " Not so Avell as the gross," replies the other, " but, 
 as I say, it nmst suffice. Yet 'tis hard. I have 
 brought with mc — indeed, went back for liim— a
 
 AN HONEST MAN AlllllVES. 121 
 
 most expert diver, who I thought should have gotten 
 ine all, and now he nnist work for another. 'Tis hard! 
 'tis hard ! Yet an honest man must not repine so 
 Ions: as he can earn his living in these times." 
 
 Now, that night when we sat as was our custom 
 taking some drink together, while, since the arrival of 
 our new friend, the watch was doubled, Phips says to 
 me: 
 
 " Nick, I do believe that honest man is as big a 
 scoundrel as ever hung at the yard-arm. For, firstly, 
 if he does not come from Provydence in the Gulph 
 of Mexico — Avhich is infested with buccaneers and 
 pirates — instead of Provydence in the Bahamas, I am 
 much mistook, and, secondly, I am certain that he 
 and that infernal blackamoor are known to one 
 another. I have seen already glances between them, 
 and it is my belief that when the negro was drinking, 
 as he said, at Porto, he was devising some scheme 
 with this fellow." 
 
 " But," replied I, " even so, what can they do ? 
 Naught can come up from the wreck unperceived by 
 us, nor could his diver get down by night without our 
 knowing it. Therefore we are safe." 
 
 " Yes," says he, " we are safe so long as we are 
 never caught asleep. Now, as for the diving, what we 
 Avill do is this. His man shall go always Avith Woods, 
 and, since you like the office, the Coromantee with 
 you. What say you, Nick ? " 
 
 " I like it very well," rejjlied I ; " or all can go 
 down together. If you are above to see to the hauling 
 up, there can be no picking nor stealing." 
 
 So this we agreed upon, and then Phips went on
 
 122 THE HiSPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 to tell nic of tlic arrival of tlie Etoyle while T was 
 below. She came, it seemed, round by our little isle, 
 and, on being challenged by Phips as she drew near, 
 hoisted a friendly signal, so was allowed to approach, 
 especially as she flew the English flag. Then the 
 skipper told the Captain that he was extremely dis- 
 tressed to find so large a ship there forestalling him, 
 since, havincf discovered the reef some n:ionths ago, 
 he liad tjone back to the Bahamas to fetch a diver 
 and to refit, and so on. 
 
 " However," says Phips, " I soon gave him to see 
 that, even if he had been here before — which I could 
 not dispute because of the boat at the isle — he had 
 indeed been forestalled and missed his chance. And 
 also I told him that we had been for four years 
 searching for this very wreck, that we held the 
 King's patent for fishing for it, and that we meant in 
 no way to be thwarted or interfered with. For, says 
 I to him, even though we had no papers, but were 
 only pirates or buccaneers, still we Avould go on with 
 our task and trust to our shotted guns — as they 
 always are now — to help us. So then," continued 
 Phips, " he sees that he has no chance, and asks if he 
 cannot help in the fishing, to which I answered, ' Very 
 willing, if you (;hosc to do so at a fair rate.' And 
 bcin<jr anxious to sjet the work done and to get bade 
 home, I have given to him the same terms as to 
 Geronimo and his sweet JMackamoor." 
 
 " 'Tis well, sir," says I, " and now we need fear 
 nought. AVhile, if that negro in any way plays us false, 
 we will :dioot him like a dog. Shall we not, Captain ? " 
 
 " Ay," replies he, " we will, or, since they say the
 
 AN HONEST MAN ARRIVES. 123 
 
 sharks Avill not eat black meat, we will make an 
 experiment of him, and see for ourselves." 
 
 So now, therefore, Avhen the morning was come 
 all was arranged, and, to connnence, down Avent the 
 three divers, and I along with them. Onr plan now 
 was to clear the whole of the middle deck of all in it, 
 and then to break up the top part of the ship sufficient 
 to get down to the lower or orlop deck, where the 
 bullion room of the Spanish ships was ever placed. 
 So we got to work, sending U]) at once everything 
 found, and a mighty great find it w^as. All cabins 
 not in use for the officers of the ship were full of 
 passengers away home to their country, and all these 
 were, it was plain to be seen, rich persons. Their 
 bodies were found frequently — all skeletons, like unto 
 the others — and in some cases 'twas strange to see 
 how they strived to preserve what they most esteemed 
 of value. Thus, round one, a female, as again the hair 
 close by denoted, which was red, slightly fleck't with 
 grisel, there was on the bony neck a great rope of 
 diamonds, each as big as a nut, that all sparkled and 
 glistened in the water, and round each wristbone 
 there was the same in bracelets. Poor thing ! per- 
 haps she feared to be robbed and so slept thus. Then 
 again, there was a bed, or berth, in another cabin, out 
 of which the body had been cast by the shock and 
 lay in a disjointed mass of bones in the corner, but in 
 the bed itself, under a pillow, Ave found a great j^ouch 
 of goat's skin all fidl of unset diamonds, rubies, and 
 blue stones called sapphires, and also a belt full 
 of great Spanish pieces of gold, Aveighing five of our 
 elephant guineas each.
 
 124 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 / 
 
 And thus we went along, ransacking of every cabin, 
 finding chests here and cofters there, full of precious 
 stones and jewels, with bags of money and skins too, 
 as well as, in several cases, parchment drafts drawn 
 upon the old bank of Barcelona and the Treasury of 
 Castile. Poor creatures ! They had taken all thought 
 to sret themselves and their monies and valuables 
 home to their land in safety. Yet had they not gotten 
 many score leagues upon their way ere all Avas lost, 
 life and everything. Nay, had they made straight 
 for Spain, instead of coming on to Hisjianiola, as they 
 must have done to be here, they had not been lost 
 at all. 
 
 And now we had done with the middle deck, there 
 was nought more to take away; for though there 
 were many rich silks and satins, and so forth, all was 
 spoilt by the water, as was their spirituous liquors and 
 their wines, of which there was a good suppl}'. So, 
 after going above for to refresh ourselves, we were 
 now ready to cut away this deck that we might 
 descend to the place where the plate was. 
 
 " 'Tis a good find already," said Phips to me, as I 
 sat at meat with him, " a fair good find, Nick ; and by 
 the time we have got up the silver we shall well have 
 justified ourselves to our ])romoters. Of jewels and 
 coin already sent up by you, there are many thousands 
 of pounds' wortli — and for the plate it shall bring us 
 Avell up to the mark." 
 
 Then he went on to ask me, " How I found the 
 divers working, and if T saw any sign of anything like 
 treachery upon the part either of the Black or the 
 l^rovydence diver ? And, since I could not say that I
 
 AN HONEST MAN ARRIVES. 125 
 
 had witnessed aiight that appeared to me suspicious, 
 he said he was very glad ; and so we fell to it again for 
 the afternoon. 
 
 All that time we spent in getting the middle deck 
 cleared away as much as might be, and in removing a 
 great part of her starboard side, especiall}^ by her orlop 
 beam. Also we did cut away all her timbers between 
 her lower ports, so as to make a sufficient big opening 
 through which to enter, and removed all between her 
 fourth and second futtock. So that now her stern 
 part, or at least all that below her poop and quarter 
 deck, was open to us and gave great space. And from 
 here we could progress right below her gun deck and 
 waist and get up almost to her main wale, or to 
 where her fore part began to be bruised and smashed 
 on to the reef 
 
 Now, therefore, we had got her bullion room clear 
 of all encumbrances, so that there was nouoht to do 
 but to burst it open — it being most securely locked 
 with great Spanish locks that looked as though they 
 would defy all attempts except powder to open them. 
 Yet one thing else did we see : namely, that down on 
 the larboard side — which, as I have writ, lay on the 
 bottom — the ship had somewhat bulged forth and 
 some of its treasures come out. 
 
 For we could observe great bars of silver lying on 
 the bed of the sea, mostly encrusted with the lime- 
 stone, yet with some part sticking forth and glistening 
 brightly. One piece alone, a great sow of silver 
 which had fallen from the bursted bullion room, was 
 so heavy that all of our united strengths could not 
 lift it, nor could aught be done until, with their axes.
 
 120 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 the divers had broken away its crust accumulated in 
 fifty years. 
 
 However, at last Ave got it fastened to the hauling 
 up lines and it was towed up — not without great fears 
 to us below that it might break away and fall upon 
 us, smashing in our heads — and when it was weighed 
 that night we found it to be of about fifty-six pounds. 
 
 And this Avas the beginning of the fishing up of 
 the plato.
 
 127 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 AN ALARM FROM THE " FURTE." 
 
 Now, it would be useless, as avoII as tedious to my 
 hand, for me to write down all the 'little incidents 
 that took place on board our ship day by day, and 
 likewise to keep accounts of every ounce of silver 
 brought up from the rich mine we had discovered. 
 Moreover, I have weighty matters to write about — 
 which shall be the very things to advantage those 
 Avho come after me when they read this — so at once I 
 begin aqain. 
 
 And, therefore, I now proceed to say that ere we 
 had been many days at our dredging and fishing, it 
 Avas come to bringing of the silver up by tons, so 
 that, at last, our Fiirie began to sink low in the 
 water until she almost touched the reef herself, and 
 we became obliged to discai-d all ballast and use the 
 silver in its place ! I do not say that tons came up 
 daily — since, indeed, twenty sows of about fifty to fifty- 
 five pounds each was our usual haul, but we reckon'd 
 now by tons. And so well had I made my calcula- 
 tions that I considered there to be in all thirty-two 
 tons of silver, and this was Avliat it eventually 
 turned out to be. Now, since silver Avas worth 
 in the London market at this time sixty pence 
 an ounce, it was therefore very easy for us to 
 reckon what our find would be Avorth Avhen we
 
 128 THE HLSPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 had got all, exclusive of the jewels, wrought plate, 
 and other thinys. 
 
 So that, as Pliips said, Ave must one way or 
 another take back with us soniethinof between one 
 hundred thousand and two hundred thousand pounds' 
 worth. 
 
 " Which," says he, " will be very good for all of us, 
 especially for you and me, Nick. Perhaps, indeed, we 
 need never go to sea again, though I think we both 
 love it dearly." 
 
 Though that Phips should ever cease from wreck 
 fishinof or treasure hunting I could not well believe 
 seeing that such things were ever in his mind. Even 
 now, when we were doing so wondrous well, and were 
 like to be, perhaps, the most notorious of finders ever 
 known from any sunken ship — as, in truth, we did 
 become — he Avas always a-pondering over other 
 searches. Thus, he would ever be telling me that, 
 not very far away from here, there had sunk the ship 
 Avliich was taking home Bobadilla, another Adelantado 
 (but of Hispaniola), and that 'twas full of treasure 
 gotten by him. Amongst other things which he said 
 he knew there were, Avas a solid gold table of three 
 thousand three hundred and ten pounds Aveight,* and 
 much coin and jcAvels. And he talked of coming forth 
 from England after he had once gotten this treasure 
 of ours home, and seeking for that. ]3ut I told him 
 — for Ave Avere noAv as intimate as brothers — that 
 first let us finish this joli, and then time enough to 
 think of others. 
 
 ♦ PL'tfr M;iityr cjills it ;i solid picL'c of i^old, ;ind says more than a 
 thousand persons had seen and handled it. — J. 13.-13.
 
 AN ALARM FROM THE " FURIE. 129 
 
 Now, our next task was to get into the bullion 
 room, and this we did after very considerable diffi- 
 culties, seeing that those locks of which I spake were 
 so extremely strong ; but even they yielded to us at 
 last, and we got to it. And, Lord ! what a sight was 
 there ! The silver was packed in bars and sows 
 and bags, tons and tons of it, so that verily I did 
 come to think that our ship of two hundred tons 
 would never move again, unless 'twere to sink, and 
 that Ave should never get all up. Yet, as it did 
 happen, what we found was less than our ballast, 
 which for a two hundred ton ship is usually twenty- 
 live tons of iron and thirty tons of shingle ; so in that 
 respect all went very well. 
 
 During all this time Alderly had been behaving 
 in such a manner that there was no earthly fault to 
 be found with him, and so, it is but just to say, had 
 our Coromantee. They, the men of Provydence, 
 helped at the hauling with a good will, working hard 
 all day long, and singing cheerfully and pleasantly art; 
 night, and Alderly even went so far as to express 
 himself satisfied enough with what was to be his 
 portion, or percentum. For, he said — 
 
 "Never did I think there was aught like this in 
 the ship, and, though I do see very well what I have 
 lost, yet also do I see my gain, and shall go back to 
 Nassau a very well satisfied honest man." 
 
 And his diver, who was a Berunidan, descended 
 of the early English settlers in that island — Avliich 
 rich Mr. Waller, Avhom I had often seen about the 
 late King's court, a gentleman and a poet, wrote so 
 much about in its praise — certainly did do his very 
 J
 
 180 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 best, and so did the negro, both working under Woods, 
 And in this way, though a careful watch Avas always 
 kej3t on all that was found below the surface and all 
 that came above, they did so manage to delude us 
 and throw dust into our eyes, that — but this you 
 shall lind later. They Avere villains all, and they 
 deceived us, yet at last a rigliteous vengeance was 
 had of them. So I go on. 
 
 Now it came about at this time that we ran short 
 of fresh water — which in such a tropic place is above 
 all things the first necessity of man — and so it was 
 arranged that I should take the tender and go to our 
 isle in charge of her, leaving Phips to do as he had 
 ever been doing, namely, superintending the brmging 
 up of the plate to the surface. In my place as chief 
 diver, or officer in charge of the divers, there was to 
 go down our bos'un, a Avorthy, honest man, Avho could 
 be trusted in all. The tender Avas— as Heaven Avould 
 have it, and as 'tAvas afterwards most providentially 
 proved — a very fast, SAvift sailer, and Avas a Dutch 
 galliot that had come to Porto, and had been seized 
 for debt by the man from Avhom Ave bought her. 
 Also she Avas armed, or rather fit to be armed, having 
 cannon-ports in her sides cajjable of taking small 
 cannon, and, as Ave never trusted in this region to 
 chance, I took witli me four of our little guns, a 
 swivel gun, and, of course, our nuiskets. As you 
 shall see, 'tAvas Avell I did. Tliey Averc soon to be 
 Avantcd. 
 
 So A\-e jJiii'ted from our companions, to be gone 
 from them for two or three days at most, yet there 
 were some of us never more to meet in this world.
 
 AISI ALARM FROM THE " FURIE." 131 
 
 So I parted from my tried friend and comrade, Phips, 
 tliinkinsf that Ave should sail home too'ether as we had 
 sailed out — yet, alas ! but little more was I to set eyes 
 upon him in this world neither. Both of us Avere to 
 succeed and prosper — though he to die young — yet 
 were we only to come together once again for a short 
 time. Yet, why digress from my story ? Better 
 to go straightforward and plain, and so make an 
 ending. 
 
 We reached our little isle, and rounding the 
 point to get to our old landing place, lost sight of 
 the F'lvrie, and, taldnof the boat after we had anchored 
 her in " Safety Cove," as Ave called it, all Avent ashore 
 but tAvo, being right glad to once more step on land for 
 a stretch. We meant that day, by Phips' leaA^e, to take 
 our ease, to lie about, and to gather some of the sAveet 
 fruits that therein do groAv, and to catch some fish to 
 take back to our comrades. Then, the next day, Ave 
 did intend to fill up our casks, cut some Avood for the 
 cook's galley, and so back. And this Ave did do, 
 getting yams and shaddocks, and so forth — and catch- 
 ing of many pounds of Avhat in these parts are called 
 imiUcts, though, indeed, they are full-sized trouts, 
 and many crayfish and some soft-shell'd crabs. So 
 the day went and we lay doAvn to sleep. 
 
 And on the next Ave tished again and gathered more 
 fruits; Ave filled all our casks and carried them in the 
 boat to the galliot ; Ave cut and corded of the Avood, 
 and made all ready for rejoining the Furle at day- 
 break, since on that burning sea the first two hours of 
 day are best and coolest. Then the muskettoes are, I 
 think, not aAvake, the sun is not so fierce as later, 
 J 2
 
 132 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 the air is cool and fresh, with generally a soft pleasant 
 wind. So that second night, ere we lay down, we pnt 
 in all our fruits, our ananas, bananas, toronias, limes, 
 and wild apricots, as well as some wild parrots we had 
 shot, which are sweet and good eating, and then all 
 was done and we distributed ourselves for taking of 
 our rest. Only we set a watch, there being six of us in 
 all, and so broke the night into three, I and a young 
 lad taking the first Avatch. 
 
 'Twas eleven of the clock, as we made it by the 
 nearly full moon, when we were relieved, and all was 
 most calm and peaceful. The birds of the isle were 
 all long since hushed to rest, and even the insects 
 that do here abound disturbed us not. So I and the 
 boy lay ourselves down, and soon we were asleep. 
 
 How long I so slept I knew not, yet 'twas not day 
 when I awoke, springing up as did the others, all 
 as though shot, while the Avatch came running to us. 
 For through the calm night air — or, rather, that of the 
 morning, for the chill told us the dayspring was nigh 
 — there had come the loud booming of a cannon — 
 Once, twice ! " What did it mean ? " we asked each 
 other, with Avonder starting from our fresh opened 
 eyes. " What did it mean ? " and then all Avith one 
 voice Ave exclaimed, " 'Tis from the Ftu-ie ! h-o]]\ the 
 Furie ! " 
 
 So, swift as Ave could run, down we got to the boat, 
 and so by threes to the galliot — for although Ave 
 heard no more cannon, we knew that our place was in 
 the ship at such a time — and getting to her and all in 
 at last, Ave dragged up her anchor, pulled in the boat, 
 and, to the fresh breeze arising with the coming day,
 
 AN ALARM FROM THE " FUllIE." 133 
 
 shook out her main, her mizen, and her gaff-main 
 sail. And so out of the cove and away. 
 
 And as we did so, up over the trees of the httle 
 isle there went from the neighbourhood of where the 
 Farie lay two bright blue rockets, which, as Phips 
 and I had agreed upon, should be the signal for our 
 immediate return, as well as to warn us to be ready 
 for danger.
 
 13 i 
 
 CHAPTER XVIIL 
 
 TREACHERY AND FLIGHT. 
 
 " What can it mean ? " the sailors asked of one 
 another as we got into the open, while, for myself, I 
 was as lost in wonderment as it was possible to bo. 
 Naturally, my first thought was that the Furie had 
 been attacked by either the Spanish or the French, 
 the first from St. Dominic, or the latter from Aittii. 
 Yet I knew not either how this could be, since the 
 sound we had heard was that of our own cannon, 
 which I knew well enough, we having practised all of 
 them considerably on our voyage out. Moreover, 
 two cannon shots, and that from one side only, do 
 not make a battle, so I was sorely puzzled as I stood 
 at the tiller of the galliot. 
 
 Yet when we had rounded the point, 'twas pretty 
 easy to perceive what had happened. 
 
 For in the raj's of the waning moon we did see 
 that the Provydence ship had got away from the 
 Furie, and that, Avith all her sails filled, she was 
 shaping her course to the south-east. And in 
 aiiothor moment also did we see that the Snow's 
 trysail mast was shotted away— broken off clean 
 down, leaving but a short stump, and Avith the sail 
 itself all a-dragging in the water. And now from us, 
 as we headed for the Farie, arose a babble of talk and 
 questionings as to what this must mean, while all of
 
 TUEACHERY AND FLIGHT. 135 
 
 lis decided that, at least in some way, these scoun- 
 drels had managed to steal some of the sows of silver, 
 or the bars or bags, and to get away from our bark in 
 the night. 
 
 But ere lonof we knew how much far worse than 
 these things were ; we knew that we had been robbed 
 of a terrible deal of what was ours. And soon, 
 too, we knew it. 
 
 For when our course Avas still set dead for tlie 
 Furie, Ave did see coming towards us Avith great 
 swiftness one of the cotton-Avood canoes Ave had made 
 — under Phips' direction and partly Avith his own^ 
 hands — and in it three of our men, Avho instantly 
 signalled to us that Ave should come about and pick 
 them up, for, calls out one to me — 
 
 " You must aAvay, sir, at once after those villains, 
 and Ave are to go with you to help. For they have 
 robbed us, the thieves, oh ! treacherousl}^ ! They are, 
 after all, but buccaneers from the ProA^ydence in the 
 Gulf." 
 
 So, much startled, avo did bring ourselves to, 
 putting our foremast aback, and throAving off a line to 
 the canoe, and so had them all soon aboard, and then, 
 losing no time, away after the Snow Ave Avent, Avhile 
 from the Furie Ave saAV Phips standing on the poop 
 a-Avaving of his hands as though in encouragement or 
 farcAvoll, and from her there did come a ringing 
 English cheer. 
 
 And now we Avere to hear a story indeed of 
 treachery unequalled, of villainy extreme. For it ap- 
 peared, as I did gather from our bos'un, Avho had come 
 to join us Avith the other two, that these scoundrels
 
 186 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 had all along been a-planning ot their scheme ; and 
 thus it happened. 
 
 After we had sailed for the isle, it seems that the 
 bullion room was rapidly emptied of the plate, so 
 that, at last, there was gotten up thirty-two tons in 
 all, and then 'twas perceived that below the sows 
 and bars there was still much else, so that the place 
 was a very treasure-hold of wealth. For there were 
 more bags of gold pieces and more of silver, which 
 were at once took up into the Furie — and then 
 underneath them there were two chests marlced with 
 the names of the Adelantado and of his wife. And 
 feeling sure, as they did, that herein must be great 
 wealth, the curiosity of the bos'un — as, wringing his 
 hands, he did tell me — was too great for him, and so, 
 not being a discreet man, which neither was Woods, 
 they opened of the chests and saw in them a start- 
 ling sight. For there, free now from the layers in 
 which once the}' had without doubt been enveloped, 
 the}'' did perceive jewels of all kinds, pearls, diamonds, 
 the blue sapphires, and much else. Then alarmed at 
 having so looked, the}' decided that they must not 
 tell the Captain of their curiosity, for fear of punish- 
 ment. And neither did they tell him (which, if done, 
 might have saved all that followed) that both the 
 JJlack and the Frovydcnce diver had seen anything. 
 So, saying only to Pliips that such chests were 
 down there, they said no more, and arrangements 
 were made that on the morrow all should be In-ought 
 up. And this, 'twas thought, should tinish ott' the 
 fishing, and soon we should be ready for home. But 
 alas : how far off from that were we now.
 
 TREACHERY AND FLIGHT. 137 
 
 Therefore, since the plate was being got up on the 
 first day we Avere away in the tender, which was the 
 galliot, and also on the second, it came to be that 
 tho chests of which I speak were but discovered too 
 late that second day to be brought up. Now, on that 
 night the watch forward was kept by the negro, Juan, 
 and the after-watch by a sailor, who was a dull-pated, 
 heavy fellow, of little use in a ship at any time and 
 one who ought never to have been with us. And, as 
 it was discovered later, Juan had been plying this man 
 with drink which he had concealed, so that on his 
 watch — as though his stupidity was not enough — the 
 fellow was flustered and sleep}''. 
 
 At midnight Phips went to his cabin all being 
 well, and the master's mate came forth to take his 
 place — and, terrible to relate, from that time never 
 was he heard of nor seen again. The bos'un who 
 told me all this said he thought either that the 
 Coromantee murdered him, or that one of the crew 
 from the Etoyle got aboard and did do that otBce ; but, 
 any way, he disappeared. Perhaps he was first 
 stunned and then given to the sharks. Who knows ? 
 — leastways, there Avas no sign of blood. 
 
 Then, next, it would seem that from the far side 
 of the Etoyle the diver of that ship must have been 
 most quietly lowered into the water, must have passed 
 under our forefoot — I mean of the Furie — and thence 
 to the bullion room of the wreck, and so fastened the 
 lines to the chests that, with his own help below, they 
 could easily get them up to the Etoyle. 
 
 And then, when this was done, there Avas but to 
 get up sail as quick as possible, and aAvay. And that
 
 138 THE HISPANIOLA I'LATE. 
 
 was not so hard of accomplishing as a sailor might 
 think. For, firstly, the Etoyle was not anchored, but 
 moored and made fast to the Fuvie, so that, while all 
 were asleep below, and while the master mate was 
 murdered and gone, the after- watch drunk and stupid, 
 and the fore-watch a traitor and conspirator, that 
 Snow might very easily be unmoored. Therefore, it 
 was but to get up the sails and catch the fast rising- 
 morning breeze, and so oiT and away. Moreover, so 
 deeply was the plot laid, that, as 'twas found shortly, 
 the door of the captain's cabin was made fast from 
 the outside, the ladder was set loose of the main 
 hatch, so that, when the men came tumbling up, 
 it shifted, and they came tumbling down instead, 
 fuid two of the cannon's touch-holes were spiked. 
 Yet, whoever was the wretch who did all this, still 
 was he a fool likewise, since in his haste he had not 
 spiked the cannon that gave on the bow from Avhich 
 the Etoyle must move, but on the other. 
 
 But now, as they brailed up their sails they could 
 not disguise the noise they made, and in a moment 
 Phips heard them, being ever on the alert, and was 
 at his door, sword in one hand and pistol in the other, 
 to e:et out. And, said the bos'un to me, his cries 
 were terrifying to hear when he did discover how he 
 Avas trapped. First he smashed with his fists a panel, 
 all the while he was roaring for his men to come and 
 set him free, and also for his poor dead master's mate, 
 and then he flung himself against the door with such 
 fury that it gave way, and out he came. 
 
 " He look't, sir," said the bos'un to me, as he told 
 all this while wc were tearing through the water after
 
 TREACHERY AND FLIGHT. 139 
 
 the buccaneers, who I did see sorrowfully were 
 gaining on us, " he look't like a demoniac. And when 
 he saw that the Etoyle Avas already under weigh, 
 his rage Avas such as mortal man might indeed fear 
 to see." 
 
 It appeared from this man's account that Phips in 
 his madness discharged his pistol at Alderly, who Avas 
 on the poop, and miss't him, Avhereupon Alderly 
 returned his fire, missing also ; that next the captain 
 called for the gunner, Avho could not get his linstock 
 ready all at once, and by this time the sails of the 
 Etoyle had caught the breeze and she was under 
 weio^h. 
 
 " Haste ! haste ! man," cries Phips to the gunner, 
 now running Avith his light, and snatching it from his 
 hand applies it to the breech himself, doing no harm 
 Avith his shot ; and then the gunner, having trained 
 the next gun better on to the fugitiA'es, they did hit 
 their trysail. This impeded them somcAvhat, though 
 not sufficient to prevent them getting aAvay. 
 
 And then, the bos'un Avent on to tell me, Phips 
 roared for the Avatch, calling them, as Avas his Avont in 
 an emergency, dogs and traitors, and soon learnt that 
 the poor master's mate AA'as slaughtered, or, at least, 
 had disappeared. 
 
 '• And," Av^ent on our informant, " then Ave all 
 trembled. For Avhile the tears sprang to his eyes, 
 Avhich in an instant he dashed aAvay, he said also, 
 in now a very Ioav voice Avhich seem'd mighty ominous, 
 ' And the other Avatch ? The fore and aft watch. 
 Where are they ? Bring them to me.' " 
 
 Then, Avith a hoAvl, the Coromantee sprang forward
 
 140 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 — wringing his hands, iin[)loring pardon, saying he 
 too had been deceived by Alderly, who had drugged 
 him. 
 
 " Ay ! " says Phips, between his teeth, while as 
 he spake he shook the powder into the pan of 
 his pistol — " Ay ! no doubt. Deceived by Aklerly, 
 because he got away and loft you behind for me to 
 slay you." 
 
 " No, no ! " yelled the brute. " No, no ! Signer 
 Capitan. No, Signor Phips, no slay me ! " and ho 
 clutched, said the bos'un, at Phips' legs and tried to 
 seize his pistol hand. 
 
 " Ay, but I will, though," said Phips. " No man 
 betrays me twice;" whereupon he drew back from 
 the howHng wretch, and seizing his wool by one hand 
 blew out his brains with the other, so that the deck 
 Avas all bespattered with them. 
 
 " Fling him over," said Phips, " and swab up tlie 
 mess, and now bring forth the other. Meanwhile, 
 where is Crafer with the tender ? She should be 
 round the point by now." 
 
 Then they brought forth that other poor crazed 
 traitor — weeping and sobbing with despair, and 
 shrieking as he saw the great negro's dead bod}- — 
 and to him strides Phips, his sword in hand. 
 
 "You dog," says ho, "you have betra3od us too. 
 So nuist you die also. The}' sa}' you drank with the 
 Coromantee and slept on your watch. Therefore, to 
 the yard-arm with him." 
 
 'Midst his shrieks and howls they dragged him 
 away, calling on his mother's name, which softened 
 Phips so nuich that, the bos'un said, he seemed at
 
 TREACHERY AND FLIGHT. 141 
 
 one time like to spare liim, only lie remembered all 
 he had been robbed of. And then, ere the man was 
 executed, the boat was lowered that was to bring 
 them to us in the galliot, and so they came away. 
 
 " And," said Phips to the bos'un, " tell Mr. Crater 
 that so long as. his galliot will swim, so long as there 
 is a man left alive in it, so long as he can sail, light, 
 or move, he is to follow those buccaneers — even 
 though it be into their stronghold. And while 
 there is one of you left alive, that one is to attempt 
 it, and is to get back the stolen treasure. And then, 
 when that is done, the rendezvous shall be Ports- 
 mouth town, to which those of you who live 
 must find your way back somehow. Now go ; do 
 your duty, commend me to Nicholas Crater and 
 tell him to do his. And more, say that at the sign of 
 the ' Navy Tavern ' I will leave word for him or he 
 for me — whoever by God's grace reaches there first. 
 And reach it I pray we all may do." 
 
 Such was the message brought to me, this the 
 duty I had to perform, this the errand on which now 
 we sped. Ahead of us, and still gaining on us, went 
 the Snow, Etoyle, with the buccaneering thieves on 
 board, and with them a fourth of our treasure ; behind 
 us slowly faded into dimness the reef and the Ftirie 
 moored fast to it. That Phips himself would have 
 given chase had he been able, was certain — only, 
 before he could have yot under weijjrh the buccaneers 
 would have been out of sight. For nought was ready, 
 the plate was not bestowed away, the sails were unbent 
 and all in disorder. 
 
 So, instead, 'twas I got the commission to chase
 
 142 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE, 
 
 those thieves, to follow them to their hiir, and to 
 wrench back from them the stolen goods. And as 
 the galliot danced along, following the course they 
 had betaken — which was now set due east, so that I 
 could not but think they did mean to 'bout ship 
 shortly and run for Porto Rico, or, perhaps, one of the 
 Virgin Isles — I took a solenni and a fervent oath that 
 never would I fail in my endeavour while life lasted 
 to me. If I could catch and defeat those thieves, I 
 swore to do it, and so upon that I set myself to see to 
 the arrangements necessary in our small craft, and to 
 make all ready for what might be before us.
 
 14.3 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE "HOXEST man" IN HIS TRUE COLOURS. 
 
 Now, as I have said, we were — with the coming of 
 the bos'iin and the other two — nine hands in all, 
 there having been six of us who did go to the little 
 isle in the galliot for wood and water. 
 
 Therefore my first disposition was to arrange 
 ourselves into regular watches, which was easy enough 
 to do, since three men at any time awake Avere suffi- 
 cient to keep the look-out, to attend to the craft, 
 and so forth. Then next there was the provisioning 
 to be done. Now for this there was little to disturb 
 ourselves about, since we had all our island provisions 
 of the fruits, the fish, and the parrots. 
 
 That they should continue their course due east, 
 as it Avas now set, Avas not to be considered, since that 
 Avay they could encounter no refuge until they came 
 to the Guinea Coast or, at best, the Cape de Verd 
 Islands. Such, it is true, Avas no great run for the 
 Snow, proAdded she Avas Avell enough provisioned and 
 Avatered — as might or not be, for all Ave knew — but 
 still ^tAvas not very like to be the case. The Virgin 
 Islands in the Antilles, most of them little better than 
 Keys, Avliich are small sandy spots appearing above 
 the surf of the Avater, Avith only a few Aveeds and 
 bushes a-growing on them, and abounding with 
 turtle, appeared to my mind to be far more their 
 mark. Most of them are uninhabited, and one or
 
 144 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 two there are which are large and even rocky and 
 craggy, but, in general, as I have said. 
 
 Now, there is no Key, at the present time wherein 
 I set down this recital, v/hich is not the haunt and 
 hiding place of innumerable pirates and thieves, and 
 also used as a burying place for their stolen riches, 
 and here it was most like that Alderly would retreat 
 with what he had gotten. The ships of war of any 
 countries can scarce chase them here, the lagoons, har- 
 bours, and inlets all about offering to the smaller craft 
 a natural security, and, if the villains are encountered, 
 their one excuse always is that they are a-turtling : 
 viz., catching of the turtle for sale in the larger islands. 
 
 So, pondering thus, I did begin to take my de- 
 cision, and counsel also with those under me. For 
 says I to the bos'un — 
 
 " That they should make for Africa is not to be 
 thought on. Why should they do so, when all 
 around are innumerable refuges ? Therefore, Cromby " 
 — which was the bos'un's name — " do you know what 
 I will do?" 
 
 Cromby replied — " No, he could not tell, but of one 
 thmg I might be sure : namely, that there wasn't an 
 honest heart in the galliot that wasn't with me body 
 and bones" ; whereon I unfolded my idea. 
 
 "My lads," says I, "we're alone, nine of us, and 
 we've fjot to do one of two things. Either catch the 
 EtDjilc and make her surrender, or meet her and tight 
 her until one of us is sunk. Now, listen. Catch her 
 we never shall ; she sails three feet to our two ; she's 
 hull down now — where do you think she'll be at 
 daybreak to morrow i "
 
 THE "HONEST MAN" IN HIS TRUE COLOURS. 145 
 
 " On the road to Cape Blanco," replied one, " across 
 the water," 
 
 " Take a turn north in the night," said C'romby, 
 " sHp past Abreojo and Turk's Island, and so ibr East 
 Florida, or, p'raps, Cuba. I doubt their touching an 
 English island." 
 
 " So do I," I answered ; " yet I think you're 
 wrono-. The wind sets fair south, therefore 'tisn't 
 likely they'll try for the north ; and as for a cruise 
 for Cape Blanco, I scarce believe they've either 
 food or water enough. They borrowed three barrels 
 the day before we Avent to our isle — like enough to 
 provide for this jaunt ! No, my lads, south is their 
 course, and the Virgin Isles or Porto Rico their aim. 
 Now, we shall lose 'em when dark comes on — there'll 
 be no lights on that piratical bark ! — but by the 
 blessing of God we'll find 'em again, and it will be 
 somewhere between Tortola and Porto Rico's north- 
 east coast that we shall pick 'em up again, or I'm a 
 Dutchman." 
 
 And now, since the sooner they were out of sight 
 of us, and we of them, the better — Avhich Avas nigh on 
 being the case already, so much had they got the foot 
 of us — we slackened our gaff main sail so as to fall 
 off still more, and gradually we lost sight of them 
 altogether. 
 
 " So," says I, mighty glad to think such was the 
 case, and knowing well that though Phips said I was to 
 follow the buccaneers, he would approve of my plans 
 if he knew that following was an impossibility, " put 
 her head due south, and let's see what comes of it." 
 
 And thus, that night, just as the sun set, we were 
 
 K
 
 146 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 off the northernmost of the islands; we could see 
 Aney-ada riijht ahead of us, and St. Thomas too. We 
 had arrived at the spot Avhere I hoped, ere many 
 hours were past, we should meet with the villains 
 again. It beo-an to blow boisterous, however, now, so 
 that we Avere bound to keep well out to sea, not 
 knowing what dangers we might encounter if we 
 proceeded farther. And if there was wanted aught 
 else to make this a dangerous chase on which we 
 were engaged, it was that— even to help us in line 
 Aveather — we had no instruments Avhatever in our 
 possession. No, not so much as a quadrant, a chart, 
 nor even a Waggoner, though we had a meridian 
 compass. We had no thought of nautical instruments 
 when we left the Furie for the island ; above all, Ave 
 had no thought of setting out upon such a cruise as 
 this, to end the Lord knows Avhere. Indeed, Avhen it 
 came to our getting back to England at some future 
 
 time if ever !— Ave should have to do it by running 
 
 down, or rather up, the parallels, and then make 
 direct casting for home. That would be our only 
 likelihood, so far as Ave could noAV see, of striking 
 soundings again in our old channel. 
 
 '"Tis indeed getting dirty above us, sir," said 
 Israel Cromby to mc, pointing upwards ; " I misdoubt 
 me nmch of what is coming. And the current sets 
 in tOAvards the islands. What must Ave do ? " 
 
 " Best run out a bit, so as, at least, not to be 
 dashed on shore. There is a good moon, Avliich Avill 
 give some light." 
 
 'Tis true there Avas a moon, yet so obscured by 
 the storm that now set upon ns tliat it was but little
 
 THE " HONEST MAN " IN HIS TRUE COLOURS. 147 
 
 good except when seen through a rift in the clouds for 
 ii moment, but soon lost again. Then down from the 
 north there came howling a most fearful tropic 
 gale, beginning first of all in fitful gusts, so that we 
 were obliged to haul in all our sails and scud under 
 bare poles — knowing not Avhere we were going, but 
 dreading every moment to be dashed on to either a 
 rocky bound island or a sandy Key. In God's mercy, 
 however, it seemed that at this moment the wind did 
 shift, so that very soon we could perceive we were 
 not being driven toAvards the land, but providentially 
 away from it, whereby if our little galliot would but 
 live we might still weather the storm. 
 
 Over her bows the sea Avas noAV comino' in in sreat 
 quantities, so that Ave Avere baling Avith the canvas 
 buckets Ave possessed, Avhile another precaution most 
 necessary Avas that our poAvder should be kept dry. 
 If that Avas spoiled, then indeed Ave should be at the 
 mere}' of the pirates if Ave encountered them. 
 
 At this moment there did come a lull, the clouds 
 broke, and through them the moon shot doAvn a clear 
 bright ray on the Avaters so troubled beneath it, and 
 as Ave tossed up and doAvn, Israel Cromby Avhispered 
 to me — 
 
 " Look, look ! sir, on our larboard boAV " — Avhicli 
 Avas the direction I Avas not gazing in then — " look, 
 not tAvo cables' length off. There are the villains ! " 
 
 Look I did, and there Avas the SnoAv, as he had 
 said, riding up and down on the crest of the Avaves, 
 one time up above us and toAvering over, another time 
 AvalloAA'ing doAvn in the trough of the sea, Avith us 
 above. 
 
 K 2
 
 14S THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 They had seen us as soon as we them ; and Alderly, 
 standing forward, was regarding of us fixedly. 
 
 He shouted forth something which 'twas impos- 
 sible to hear in the turmoil of the lapping, swirling 
 waters, while as the Snow sunk and we rose in those 
 troubled waves it seemed as if he shook his fists 
 at us. 
 
 " He is, I think, a devil," said Cromb}^ to me. 
 " Look, sir, what he is a-doing now ! " 
 
 I did look, and as still we rose and fell u}:)on the 
 troubled waves, I saw that he was holding up with 
 both hands a casket that looked very heavy, and 
 shaking it before our eyes, as though to tantalize us 
 with the sight of the stolen goods. And, meanwhiles, 
 laughing and gibbering on the deck like so many 
 fiends, as I have heard such creatures called, the 
 other villains in the Snow were a-stamping and 
 dancing round him as the vessel rolled and lolloped 
 about in the tumbling waves. 
 
 " Heavens and earth ! " I exclaimed, " why, they 
 are all mad Avith the drink ! See to those fellows 
 holdino- the bottles to their mouths. What a time to 
 be fuddling themselves, when their ship wants all 
 the knowledge a seaman possesses ! " 
 
 Even as I spoke we saw a great wave come along 
 aft of them, break over the stern of the Snow and 
 then wash right over the decks, knockinsf the men 
 down like ten-pins and driving the craft onwards 
 v/ith a boust, and, as it did so, a new fear sprang to 
 my breast. In their drunken state 'twas great odds 
 that ere long they would go to the bottom, and their 
 master whom they served so well, the Devil, would
 
 rilE "HONEST man" IN HIS TllUE COLOUIIS. 149 
 
 have them, Avhich was no great matter to us; but 
 what Avas worse was, the stolen treasure would go 
 too. 
 
 " We must catch holt of them somehoAv," said I. 
 " Oh that the Avaves would bring us together, that we 
 might grapple and board. Yet, what chance is there ? 
 The Avave that rolls us toAvards them rolls them aAvay 
 from us. What shall Ave do ? " 
 
 " To board them, sir," said one of the men, " Avould 
 be fatal to the treasure. As 'tis, they would throAv 
 it OA^erboard. See, sir, Avhat the madman is doing 
 again." 
 
 The sea AA-as calming as he spoke, so that ^ve noAV 
 got uninterrupted vieAvs of each other, and then to 
 our aftright Ave did scg Alderly fastening of a cord to 
 the rough- tree-rail at one end, and at the other round 
 the casket, and then loAvering it over the side till it 
 SAsimg three feet from the top of the Avaves, Avhich 
 sometimes, as they burst against the Suoav, hurled 
 the box baclvAvards and forAvards like unto a shuttle- 
 cock. Then, next, he drew his knife, and making 
 signs to us of what he would do by laying of the 
 blade on the cord, he stood by defiantly regarding us. 
 Also the drunken scoundrel and fool had made up his 
 mind to defy us to the utmost and to be plain Avith 
 us, as it Avas very evident to see. He had run up his 
 colours, so that there should be no doubt left in our 
 • minds about him ; on his mizen peak there Hcav a 
 black silk flag, Avith on it a skeleton, or " death," Avith 
 cross bones in one hand, and in the other a heart 
 Avith drops of blood dripping from it, and also a jack 
 of the same, Avith a man having a SAvord thrust throuwh
 
 150 THE HISPANIOLA TLATE. 
 
 his body, as later I saw plainly. So he stood pro- 
 claimed a pirate. 
 
 But Avhat was, perhaps, more truly a sign of Avhat 
 this reckless creature was in reality, was the fact that — 
 doubtless before the storm came on— he had abandoned 
 the work-a-day dress of the " honest man" Avhich he 
 wore when first he came alongside of the Furie, and 
 was now bedizened in a lot of finery, none the better 
 for the assaults of the winds and waves. He was 
 dressed in a rich blue damask waistcoat and breeches, 
 in his hat a feather dyed red ; around his neck was 
 coiled half a dozen times a gold chain with a great 
 diamond cross on to it — perhaps he had stolen it from 
 the wreck ! — hanging over his shoulders was a silk 
 sling, Avith, thrust into it, three pistols on each side. 
 All this Ave saw afterwards more plainly than now. 
 
 " I cannot endure this defiance," said I to Cromby ; 
 " let him sink his casket and be danmed to him ! I 
 have been a King's officer, and will never submit to 
 the insults of a blackguard scoundrelly pirate. Up 
 with the mainsail, my lads, haul away, and at him;" 
 and as I spoke I whipped out my pistol, and, sighting 
 him, fired. 
 
 That I miss't him was none too strange, seeing 
 how both of us Averc tumbling about and rolhng in 
 the Avater, no more than that he n'liss't me, as, pulling 
 tAVO pistols out of his sash, he fired, one in each hand. 
 
 Then, Avhen he saw our mainsail go up, lie made 
 as though he Avould cut the cord to which hung the 
 casket— only a moment afterwards he altered his 
 mind, and bellowing of an order, Avhich Ave could very 
 AvcU hear, since now the Avaves and Avinds had
 
 THE "HONEST IMAN " IN HIS TRUE COLOURS. 151 
 
 abated, soon had his own sail up ; and in a mouicnt 
 his ship had caught the wind and was away. 
 
 That we should ever have catched them sufficient 
 to come alongside and board, I cannot think, even 
 under the best of circumstances, but this chance was 
 not to be ours, for our ropes had fouled, so that they 
 could not be run, and ere we could get them disen- 
 tangled, the Etoyle was well off from us. But since 
 again, with the coming of fairer weather, the wind had 
 northed, we could very well see they were running 
 for the south. They luere bound for the islands ! 
 
 But at last we got our ropes free, and away we 
 went too. The morn was breaking now aud the 
 waves abating, so that, though still we tossed up and 
 down, we could see their horrid black silk flag a-flying 
 on the mizen peak whenever we rose to the crest ; 
 and, with the Avhite spume of the water dashed in our 
 faces, and reckless now of what might happen so that 
 Ave did but keep them in sight, we set all our galliot's 
 sails — main, mizen, and gaff main sail — and tore after 
 them. 
 
 " We will follow them, my lads," I said now, with 
 my blood up to boiling heat ; " we will follow them to 
 the death ! There shall be but one crew left alive to 
 tell this story." 
 
 And as I spake my men gave three hearty cheers. 
 
 So, having got thus far in my account, I will now 
 rest again for a while.
 
 152 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 A FIGHT. 
 
 Now I go on to narrate the tracking of those thieves 
 and pirates, and of what thereby followed. 
 
 hy mid- day we were off the islands, with the chase 
 well ahead of us — j-et not so far neither as she had 
 been, since we had sailed faster than she this time, in 
 consequence, as we soon learnt, of their having snapped 
 their foremast — and with Ncgada, or the Drowned 
 Island, so called because 'tis frequently submerged by 
 the tide, lying not a league away. 
 
 " I have been here before," saj-s Cromby, " and I 
 doubt their gettmg ashore. All around lie sand-banks 
 and shoals that require careful navigation. If they 
 run in here we shall fight 'em when Ave are both 
 ay-round." 
 
 " Then I do pray they will," says I. " It will be 
 best to land, and no chance of escape for either. 'Twill 
 suit us, my lads." 
 
 ■^ The men answered cheerfully. " So 'twould, and 
 very well ! " yet as they so spake we saw that Alderly 
 meant not to enter there. 
 
 Then said I, " If it be not here, p'raj^s 'tis Yirgin- 
 Gorda they are for, or Anguilla " — for I, too, had been 
 here before — "yet, 'tis not vcr}^ like. There are 
 cok)nists here, and have been since Charles's day." 
 
 But another hour showed us that neither were
 
 A FIGHT. 153 
 
 these islands tlieir aim, but, instead, a little long tract 
 of land that, among all the others, is not marked 
 on the chart, but is known among mariners by the 
 name of " Coffin Island," because of its shape. Now, 
 Coffin Island hath on it a mountain, not so very high, 
 yet near to the beach, being inland about a quarter of 
 a mile, and from the mountam's base there runneth 
 down a wood to the sea, with, in it, a channel or 
 river. 
 
 This we learnt shortly, though 'tis fittmg enough 
 I set it down here. 
 
 And now 'twas ver}'- plain that 'twas for this 
 channel the desperadoes were making. With our 
 perspective glasses we could see — as Ave passed the 
 before-mentioned isles — that they were heading 
 straight for that inlet ; we could indeed perceive 
 them get to its mouth, haul down all but their 
 trysail, and so into the river, which was broad 
 enough to let in a bigger ship than theirs. 
 
 " After them Ave go," I exclaimed, " though they 
 have all the best of it. Yet " — Avith a moment's 
 reflection — " it may not be so, neither. If they get 
 ashore, maybe they cannot take their cannon ; if they 
 stay on board, Ave are as good as they. Hoav is our 
 poAvder ? " 
 
 The men ansAvcred the poAvder Avas very Avell. 
 They had carefully kept it all dry, so that Ave should 
 not lack that. Therefore I gave them orders to 
 carefully prime and load our pieces : namely, the foiu* 
 little guns and the swivel, and also the muskets. 
 And so Ave, too, stood for the channel. 
 
 As Ave neared it Ave could very avoII see up it
 
 154 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 somewhat, and did notice that the Etoyle had conio 
 to a halt. She was not anchored, but had drifted a 
 httle down again towards the mouth of the inlet, 
 and thus she was as we passed in, the woods growing 
 thick on either side. And now was the time when we 
 saw the finery in which Alderly had arrayed himself. 
 He, as we ran in, was standing by the bows of his 
 ship, and had in his hand a glass of liquor, and, as we 
 drew close, he shouted— 
 
 " Trapped ! Trapped, by God ! You will never 
 get out of this ! You cannot escape ! " 
 
 " You beastly pirate ! " I called back ; " there is no 
 thought of getting out. We are only most thankful 
 to have got in. Now, will you haul down those vile 
 rags at your peak, and give up the stolen goods and 
 surrender, or " 
 
 " Surrender ! " shouts he. " Yes, I will surrender ! 
 Like this ! " and stooping down behind his bows for a 
 moment, he picks up what was a new-fangled sort of 
 grenadoe — being a case bottle filled with powder and 
 pieces of lead, iron slugs and shot, with a quick match 
 in the mouth of it — and flings it aboard us. But in 
 a minute one of my men, a lusty youth from North 
 Berwick, named Fernon, stoops down, seizes on it, and 
 flings it back into Alderly 's ship, where it exploded 
 amidst their yells and curses. 
 
 " Now," said T, as at this moment our crafts 
 touched, so that the whole channel was blocked, 
 " over their bows, under the smoke, and among 
 'em. Pistols and cutlashes, my lads, will do the 
 business." 
 
 So over we did go, and soon found that we had a
 
 A FIGHT. 155 
 
 tough job Lefore us. For though the men of the 
 Etoyle did only outnumber us b}^ five — namely, four 
 men and Aldorl}^ — we discovered ere long on what a 
 dreadful mine we were standing 
 
 As I cut down one man, giving him a wound in 
 the neck that nearly sever'd his throat as clean as if 
 he had cut it with a razor, Cromby whispered in my 
 ear — 
 
 " Sir, what shall we do ? Down below stands a 
 great negro over two barrels of powder, with a lighted 
 slow match in his hand. 'Tis evident the instant we 
 are victorious he will blow up the Snow." 
 
 The sweat sprang out all over me as he said this, 
 and, fighting hand to hand all as I was with now 
 another pirate, I had to pause and deliberate. Then 
 I said — 
 
 " If you cannot shoot hiui we must get back to 
 our own vessel. Try if you can get a ball into him." 
 
 And now I came against Alderly and rushed at 
 him, when I saw him settle himself against the tackle 
 of a gun, his hand over his heart. 
 
 " So," I thought to myself, " he has got his death 
 wound. He will fall dead in a moment. Let us see 
 for ourselves." 
 
 Amidst the smoke, therefore, and firing some 
 shots below into the hold in the hopes of slaying the 
 negro, we leapt back into our galliot, and then, before 
 the crew of the Etoyle knew what we were at, we had 
 pushed ourselves oft" of them, and, catching a little of 
 the current of the canal or river, got drifted down 
 some fifty yards. And here, being safe from any 
 explosion should it take place among the others, we
 
 15G THE HISPANIULA PLATE. 
 
 gave tlicin a broadside from our guns almost before 
 they coidd know we had left them. 
 
 But they answered not. We heard our balls 
 crash into the sides of the Snow, we heard her timbers 
 splitting and bursting, Ave even heard the shivering of 
 a mast or yard, and its fall on the deck — but no 
 reply was made. No ball came back crashing into us, 
 no report echoed ours. All Avas still. 
 
 " Let the smoke clear off," I said, " ere Ave fire 
 again. IMeauAvhile, keep your guns loaded. Can it be 
 that all are slain ? " 
 
 The smoke did evaporate shortly, and then Ave 
 learnt that 'tAvas as Ave thought. Either the pirates 
 were all slain or — fled. We had Avon our day. From 
 our rattlins, by running up a dozen, I could see on 
 to the deck of the Etoyle, and perceive men lying 
 about dead. Also, too, could obserA^e the deck stained 
 Avith blood, the fallen mast bearing the vile silken 
 flag a-lying across one man — it having smashed his 
 head in as it fell. But though I gazed at the gun 
 tackle Avhere I had seen Alderly, he Avas not there 
 noAv, neither near it nor by it. Had he therefore 
 escaped ? 
 
 " We must board the Etoyle again," says 1 ; " yet 
 since the negro Avith his lighted match may still be by 
 the ])OAvder, I Avill go alone first, as is my dut}^ LoAvcr 
 the boat." 
 
 Since 1 had regained our tender I had been stand- 
 ing enrapt, gazing Avith all my might at the smoke 
 first, and then up into the shrouds again at the enemy, 
 taking no heed of my OAvn craft. Ikit noAv, as no one 
 stirred, to my hearing, to obey my orders, I turned
 
 A FIGHT. 157 
 
 round sharply to chide them, but as I did so I started 
 and felt myself go pale. 
 
 " Good' God ! " I exclahned, " good God ! What 
 is this ? " 
 
 There were but three men, I recollected in an 
 instant, that had leaped back into the galliot from 
 the Snow, and those three men were here in the ship 
 behind me. But, alas ! two were now dead ; the 
 third, Israel Cromby, was a-lying on his back, gasping 
 out his last few breaths. 
 
 " Oh ! " says I, " oh ! my poor men — this is a sorry 
 sight for any commander to see. Cromby, man, it 
 is ill with you, I fear ? " 
 
 He opened his eyes, all covered with a film like a 
 poor partridge a gunner has knocked over, and then 
 he Avhispered — 
 
 " Sir, sir. There is a poor old woman down 
 Rotherhithe Avay — she is — my mother. She — drawed 
 — my money — tell her — she has no other means 
 
 whereby to live — if you — get back, see to . Sir, 
 
 I've done my duty." 
 
 So he died and joined the others, and went his 
 way to meet his God. 
 
 And I was left alone. 
 
 From the Etoyle there came no sound, nor from 
 the woods neither did any come. So I told myself 
 this would not do. I must be stirring. Thinking 
 which, I lowered dovm the boat, having to shift the 
 bodies of my poor dead men to get at the tackle, and 
 then got down into it, and so to the Etoyle. It was no 
 use wasting time when I got to it, I reflected ; if any 
 were alive of the enemy they must be encountered
 
 158 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 soon or late — as well now as then. And the neero 
 I did feci sure was dead. Otherwise, he would have 
 blowed up the Snow or else come forth. 
 
 Making fast the boat, I clambered up over the 
 side of the buccaneer's craft, and then I saw pretty 
 quick all that had happened, looking first to see for 
 the negro. He was done for, as I had imagined, 
 and was lying Hat on his back at the foot of the 
 hatcliAvay, his match burnt out in his dead black 
 hand, which, I saw later, had been singed and scorched 
 by the flames ; yet that hand had been perilously near 
 to the powder-barrels while the slow macch lasted, 
 as it lay all stretched out. 
 
 On the deck they laid about, my men and Alderly's, 
 as they had fallen, and I did perceive that our broad- 
 side had finished up one or two at least of the 
 latter, who were still breathing when I got aboard, 
 though not long after. Of my six men who had 
 fallen there, I made instantly a burial, tying shots to 
 them and heaving them over the side — for I would 
 not have the birds of prey — many of whom were 
 hovering about the banks of the river — tear and 
 devour them. This I did do when I felt sure they 
 were indeed dead, but of the pirates I took no heed — 
 the birds might have their bodies (as I doubted not 
 the Devil had got their souls by now), for all T cared. 
 One thing — or rather two — I did not find which I 
 would very willingly have done. There was no sign 
 anywhere of cither Alderly or the casket he had 
 fluiirished in our faces. Now, if Aldcrl}^ had died 
 before his men, or some of them, this would not be 
 strange, since I knew — having hunted pirates before
 
 A FIGHT. 159 
 
 to-day — that the captains had ever the desire to be 
 filing overboard the moment they were dead, and ■ 
 always in their finery and adornments. 
 
 And this doubtless had happened to him ; that is, 
 if he had not escaped, which was, of course, possible 
 for him to have done if he had not his death wound 
 when I encountered him. And the casket might 
 have gone too — though this I doubted ; at least, it 
 would not go while one man remained alive, and he 
 Avould not sink it until his last gasp, at which time he 
 mio'ht be then too feeble so to do. 
 
 Yet I resolved to search the Snow, to see if any 
 were lurking about, or if the casket was hid any- 
 where. 'Twould not take long to do, and even 
 though it did, what matter ? There was no call on 
 my time. 
 
 Down below, to which I Avent after carefully 
 scrutinizing the deck, all was in great disorder; 
 weapons were lying on the cabin table alongside of 
 food and victuals, and there was a broached barrel of 
 rumbullion — or kill-devil — a-standing in the middle 
 of the cabin, with a scooper, or long-handled ladle, 
 hard by, which doubtless they had drunk from 
 by turns ; and since they were drunk when Ave met 
 'em in the night, I supposed they had been drinking 
 ever since they had deserted us. Leastways, the 
 barrel was half empty, yet none was spilled. 
 
 Here was the body of a man shot into the head, 
 and very ghastly — I doubted not he had fallen down 
 the hatch Avhen struck, or, may be, run down for 
 drink to ease him. And now, seeing this corpse set 
 me off a-calculating hoAv many there had been in the
 
 160 THE HISPANIOLA TLATE. 
 
 Etoyle, and how \\\imy there were now — whereby I 
 should get the ditterence of those in the ship, and 
 those who had been flung, or fallen over, or — if it 
 might be so — escaped. And, at last, I did arrive at 
 the solution that but two were missing; namely, the 
 villain Alderly and his diver. Therefore, even allow- 
 ing them to be alive, all but three of both crafts had 
 been killed in the fioht. 
 
 And if those two had escaped it must be by 
 having leaped overboard in the smoke and confusion 
 — 'twas certain they had not taken their boat, for it 
 still lay along their deck, upside down, where they 
 always kept it, as I had seen often when they were 
 moored alongside the Fiirie. Now it had a shot in 
 it from one of our guns, I did perceive, which was 
 perhaps the reason it was not used — though their 
 haste to get away was more like to be the cause. 
 Yet, I pondered, if they had hastened away, where was 
 then the treasure ? The casket alone would almost, 
 I should judge, sink a man who endeavoiu'ed to get 
 ashore with it, though it was but a few yards to swim 
 — how could it be, therefore, that they and their stolen 
 prize had got away ? The truth, I did conceive now, 
 was that all, Alderly, diver, and treasure, were at the 
 bottom of the river. 
 
 But by this time the night Avas approaching, 
 vastly different from the former one, it being calm 
 and cloudless ; and I was Avorn out with want of 
 rest, and with the fighting and excitement. So I 
 resolved I would take a night's repose, and then in the 
 morning I Avould explore the island carefully — 'twould 
 not take long, being not a league in Irngth nor half
 
 A FIGHT. IGl 
 
 as broiid, as I knew ; above all, I would see if 1 could 
 find tlie goods you wot of. As for the two pirates, 
 I feared them not one atom ; face to face, I deemed 
 myself — a king's late officer — the match for any two 
 dirty pirates that ever breathed. 
 
 So I let go the Etoyles anchor and made her fast 
 for the night, and then rowed me back to my galliot 
 and prepared for my rest.
 
 162 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 THE villain's DEN. 
 
 'TwAS as I have writ, a night vastly ditterent from the 
 precedent one, beautifully calm in this little channel, 
 or river, with the moon arising behind the wood 
 that bordered its eastern bank, and with a cool 
 breeze coming from the sea and rustlinef throuo^h 
 the leaves. And as the moon rose above the tree- 
 tops she flooded all the river with light, making a 
 great shadow of the Etoyle on the water, and also 
 of the galliot. 
 
 I lay me down upon the deck of my craft wrapped 
 in a boat-cloak, as soon as I had gotten things a 
 little ship-shape for the night (I had anchored 
 the galliot before I Avent off to the Snow), but sleep 
 came not easily. There Avere,- indeed, many things 
 a-running through my brain. Firstly, there Avere my 
 poor dead sailors sleeping below in the water^ 
 probably already food for the great variegated crabs 
 that do here abound — whom I could not but lament, 
 and especially Israel Cromby, with his dying thoughts 
 of the poor old dependent mother at Rotherhithe. 
 Then there was the position to be thought of in 
 Avhich I now stood. I had the galliot to get me 
 aAvay in, 'twas true, to the adjacent islands, some of 
 which wore inhabited by 1113^ own countrymen, and 
 not far off neither — but, supposing I got back the
 
 THE villain's DEN. lt)3 
 
 treasure from the pirates, should I ever get it safe 
 home to England ? I knew not, as yet, how much it 
 was ; whether the casket was all or only a portion ; 
 whether also that portion was a huge mass of gold or 
 silver, or a small one of jewels. Above all, should I 
 get it in any form or shape whatever ? Was it 
 buried in the river ere the last of the pirates died, or 
 Avere those two men alive, and had they got ashore 
 and buried it there ? Still my fatigues Avere such 
 that, in spite of all my conflicting and unhappy 
 thoughts, I slumbered at last. Long and peacefully I 
 slept aboard the little craft, Avhich had none other 
 now but myself for its inhabitant, with the cool 
 night wind blowing all over me, and freshening me 
 as I lay. 
 
 Yet I awoke ere daylight had come — startled by 
 something, I knew not Avhat ! 
 
 The moon Avas at her full height noAV, the channel 
 was as light as day, 'twas that, I thought to myself, 
 had Avaked me ; and I turned over on my side to 
 sleep again. Yet, as I dozed, and should soon have 
 been gone again, once more I Avas disturbed. " Per- 
 haps 'tis a beast," thought I, " in the Avood, crashing 
 through the undergrowth," — for such I fancied to 
 be the sound — " perhaps 'tis — " but here I ended my 
 speculations, for I saw what had aroused me. 
 
 'Twas the tAvo villains, Alderly and his diver, a- 
 standing on the bank of the river gazing into it. 
 'Twas their steps I had heard crunching on the 
 underbrush. 
 
 Now it did so happen that our galliot had a cabin 
 aft, Avith, cut into it on either side of the sternpost, 
 l2
 
 IG-i THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 two port-holes, so that, lying here, I could ver^^ well 
 see through those scuttles what they were a-doing 
 without their seeing me. Whether they thought I 
 was not in my vessel I could not guess ; or whether 
 they knew I was, having watched me all the latter 
 part of the day from the wood, but deemed me now 
 asleep, 'twas impossible for me to tell — yet doubtless 
 'twas the latter, since they seemed wary in their 
 movements. 
 
 Yet was it obvious to me, watching them as I did, 
 that both were still under the influence of the drink ; 
 as they stood gazing into the water, first one would 
 give a lurch, then the other, or one would hiccough, 
 and the other would curse him under his breath for 
 making of a noise ; and once the diver — whose name 
 I knew not — nearly fell forward into the river, and 
 would have done so, had not Alderly clutched him 
 and hauled him back. And all the time the moon 
 enabled me to see the latter's tawdry finery, all 
 smirched with dirt, with powder and tilth, and his 
 broken feather in his hat, and the stains and grime 
 about him, while, as for the other, he had nought but 
 the coarsest of apparel upon him. 
 
 Now, seeing they were still drunk, I did begin to 
 think they had a resort of some sort in this isle, 
 perhaps comrades upon it from Avhom they could 
 get drink, since 'twas hours since they had had 
 any in the Snow. Which led me to reflect that, if 
 there were more of these wretches here, my case was 
 a bad one. However, watching of their actions 
 drove these retiections from out my liead, for a 
 time at least.
 
 THE villain's dex. 165 
 
 Presently, one, Aldevly, stoops him down, going- on 
 to his hands and knees and, baring his arm up to the 
 shoulder, thrusts it into the water, and begins moving 
 it backwards and forwards as though feeling for 
 something in it. And shortly he found what he 
 wanted, for he lifted up a stone as big as my head, 
 W'itli round it a rope that ran on, into, and under the 
 Avater as he lifted of it up. This w^as easy to perceive, 
 for the drops of w^ater sparkled on it like diamonds as 
 he held it at his end. 
 
 " Ha ! " thinks I to mj^^self. " I do guess what's at 
 t'other end now. Well, well, we will see." Yet, as I 
 so thought, I looked to my priming. I thought it 
 W'Ould not be very long ere I should have to shoot 
 these two ruffians, and take my chance of there being- 
 more of the same sort on tlie isle. But the time had 
 not come 3"et, I did perceive, and meanwhile I lay 
 perfectl}' snug watching their doings. 
 
 A moment after Alderly had gotten the stone and 
 rope up, he threw away the former, and began, with 
 his conn\ade's assistance, hauling and tugging at it, 
 and presently they got ashore from under the 
 water a long box of about four feet — though 'twas not 
 what I expected to see, namely, the casket. This, I 
 made sure, would have been fished up, but 'twas not. 
 I nev'er did see it again. 
 
 'Twas plain to observe there was no more to come, 
 for no sooner was this box up than they made as 
 though they would depart, Alderly letting the rope 
 drop back gently into the water ; and then, as I could 
 see by his gestures, making signs to the diver to pick 
 t,he box up and carry it. But this led to an argument
 
 106 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 between tliern ; I could observe them shrufjorinof of 
 their shoulders with a drunken gravity, lurching 
 about now and again as they did so, and stumbling 
 against the box more than once ; and then, suddenly, 
 I perceived Alderly strike the other in the mouth and 
 knock him down. 
 
 " Now," thinks I, " this leads to more things. If 
 they go on like this, there will be only one pirate soon 
 for me to contend with, so far as I know." 
 
 Even as I pondered, my words came true. The 
 diver got up, whips out a long knife, and made a rush 
 at the other — the weapon sparkling as though it was 
 dipped in phosphorus in the rays of the moon — and 
 in another moment they had closed together. 
 
 But Alderly was the best man of the two — which 
 was perhaps why he was chief of the Etoyle — and ere 
 lono: he had hold of the other's wrist with one hand and 
 had got him round the body with the other. Then, by 
 degrees, he did bring the body down until it lay across 
 his own knee, face upwards, and having, as I did see, the 
 strength of a bullock, or a vice, he forced the other's 
 arm up and down, directing so his clenched hand 
 that he compelled him to plunge his own dagger into 
 his own breast. Once, twice, thrice, he did it ! — the 
 diver screaming with the first plunge of the knife into 
 his bosom, groaning with the second, and with the 
 third making no noise. Then Alderly lets go the 
 diver's fist from out of his own, and frees his own 
 body from his grasp, and down the diver fell to the 
 brink of the river. 
 
 " You slew yourself," sa3-s he, looking down at 
 him ; "'twas your own knife that did it, your own hand
 
 THE villain's DEN. 167 
 
 that pliiii^-C(l it in." And hero he Liiiq-hed, an awful, 
 blood-curdhng Liugh. The laugh of a maniac or 
 a fiend ! Then he put his foot to the dead man's 
 body and tumbled it over into the river, so that I 
 saw it no more. Next, seizing on to the long box — 
 and nearly falling over it as he did so in his half- 
 drunkenness — he lifted it on to his shoulder and went 
 into the wood. Only, as he departed I saw him also 
 lift up his foot and touch his shoe with his finger, 
 and hold that finger np in the moon to look at ; and 
 then he gave again that awful laugh. He Avas a- 
 lauofhinof at the dead man's blood in which he had 
 trampled ! 
 
 " Now," says I, " is my time ; I will find ont if he 
 can also slay me. At any rate he shall not escape 
 without doing so," and with these words I lowered 
 the boat again, got into it and went ashore — the 
 distance from the galliot being not twenty yards. 
 And then, securing of the boat to the trunk of a 
 small tree by the river's brink, I phmged in after him 
 to the wood. Only, you may be sure, I had my 
 pistols with me and my sword. 
 
 At first the little wood was so dark that I could 
 not see, or scarce see, the moon a-shining dimly 
 through the thickness — a thickness all made of wild 
 orange, citron, and pomegranate trees, as well as 
 of campeachy trees, and mountain cabbage palms. 
 Yet soon this wood opened out somewhat ; there 
 rose before my eyes a little glade, on which the 
 moon did here shine as thouoh on a sweet English 
 field at home, and, reaching this, I perceived by 
 stopping and looking carefully that my man had
 
 168 THE HTSPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 passed this way. The long grass was all trodden 
 down — na}', so much so, that the two must have also 
 come this way when they set out as conu'ades — 
 and, since the imprints of the foot-steps were most 
 uneven and without regularity, I felt sure my 
 drunken pirate had struggled and staggered along 
 this track. 
 
 So across the little glade I Avent, folloAving ever 
 the irregular crushings down of the grass, until I 
 came to where it w\as bordered by more thick under- 
 brush and shrub, and then, even had I doubted I 
 was on the steps of Alderly, I could do so no longer. 
 For now through that thick brushwood and tangled 
 growth of briar, and lacery of trailing things, there 
 Avas crushed aside a most distinct opening through 
 which a man, or men, must have passed, Avhile, had I 
 desired further proofs of where the man had gone 
 Avhom I sought, it was before me. Lying on the 
 brushwood, catched ofi' and torn by a thorn, wa ; 
 the broken end of Alderly 's red feather, the piece 
 that had hung- down over his savaoe face as he 
 forced the diver to slay himself, and that gave, 
 even in that awful moment, an appearance to him 
 of almost comicality. A comicality, though, to cause 
 a shudder ! 
 
 Now did I, therefore, loosen my blade in its sheath 
 and set my pistols in my belt carefully, for, since by 
 this time I had gone a mile at least, 'twas not very 
 like 1 should go nuich farther before coming on to the 
 desperado, unless he should have turned off at an 
 angle — a thing I could not judge he should have 
 any reason to do. And so I went on very carefully,
 
 THE villain's den. IGO 
 
 keeping ever a watch about and aronnd me, so that I 
 should fall into no trap. 
 
 Soon, however, I did perceive that the path turned, 
 as I guessed it might perhaps do, and I thought the 
 time was not yet come for me to get up with my 
 chase, when, to my astonishment — in spite of my 
 former ideas that there might be other buccaneers 
 upon this isle — there came to nie the sounds of 
 singing and revelling, of shouting and whooping and 
 drinking of healths, and clapping of canikins or 
 •^'lasses on a table. 
 
 " The health," I hoard a voice shout, " of Win- 
 stanley, the diver of Liverpool, the man who strove 
 to contend with Alderly. His health in the place 
 where he is gone, and another to his taker off!" And 
 then there followed the banging and smashinsf of 
 drinking vessels on the table again, and huzzas and 
 shriekings. 
 
 Next uprose a voice a-trolling of a song. 
 
 " When money's plenty, boys, we drink 
 To drown onv troubles, oli-oh ! 
 Caronse, revel, and never tliink, 
 Ui^on the morrow, oh-oh ! " 
 
 " When money's plenty, " I heard Alderly repeat. 
 " When money's plenty ! Why, and so it is, my 
 blithe lads. Look here in this box, my hearties. 
 Here's enough and to spare for all. Diamonds, 
 sapphires, pearls, gold and silver. Ha ! ha ! Drink, 
 my lads. Give me the bowl. Peter Hynde, my lad, 
 drink up, and j^ou, Robert Birtson, and Will Magnus, 
 you, and you, Petty, and Crow, and Moody, and fat 
 John Coleman. Drink, you dogs, I say, drink."
 
 170 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 " I have landed on a nest of tbcni ! " thinks I to 
 myseh' "A dozen at least, I believe. Well, I uill 
 lie hid awhile, and if they o'ermaster me, why — " 
 
 " When money's plenty, boys, wo drink! 
 And bring the girls along, oh ! 
 Of blood we've shed we never think, 
 Midst dance and jocund song, oh ! " 
 
 burst out the ruffian again. Then he yelled out. 
 " A toast ! a toast ! The health of Phips and that 
 accursed Crafer, whose blood I've drunk," at which I 
 started. " So," thinks I, " he deems me dead. 'Tis 
 perhaps best. Yet shall he learn," I nuittered twixt 
 my set lips, " that in spite of him and his horde I am 
 alive — he shall — " 
 
 " And Bess, my Coromandel girl, bring in the 
 meats!" the villain now shouted. "Ha! ha! here 
 she comes with the steaming turtle ! Fall to, 
 my boys, fall to ; and here comes our Queen of 
 Port Royal, our golden-haired Barbara who loves 
 us well. My lads ! a health to the girl of Port 
 Royal ! " 
 
 And aoain there came the banoing on the table 
 of fists, then cans, and the voice of Alderly whooping 
 and shouting. 
 
 " I must see this crew," 1 whispered to myself, 
 "e'en though I die for it. I must see these ruffians 
 in their den with their loathsome womankind. I 
 have four shots in my belt, and a good sword. All 
 nuist be drunk and / am sober! I will do some 
 execution amongst them.'' " 
 
 So through the brushwood T Avent a pace or so, 
 parting the leaves as gentl}' as might be — though that
 
 THE villain's DEN. 171 
 
 I should be heard there was no fear amidst the 
 internal clamour and din and shouting of Alderly. 
 
 Then, next, I saw before nie a hut, or big cabin, 
 built of logs, with a wide, open door and thatched 
 with palm leaves ; from out the door there gleamed 
 the light of a lamp, and as I parted some boughs and 
 bushes to get me a view, I could see very well into 
 the hut. 
 
 And this is what I witnessed.
 
 172 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 MAD ! 
 
 Inside the hut ran a long table on trestles; upon 
 that table were platters and drinking vessels ; on it 
 also were some dried fruits, some pieces of dirty, 
 coarse bread, and also some scraps of jerked beef, or, 
 as 'tis called here in the Caribbee-Indian, Boucan; 
 and that, with the exception of some drink in a tub, 
 was all ! 
 
 There was no steaming turtle or other savoury 
 viands, neither were there any Avomen, golden-haired 
 or others, nor a nest of pirates. Besides Alderly 
 himself, there was in the hut no hving soul that I 
 could see. He was alone I 
 
 Yet, in front of the table, there lay something on 
 which my eyes could not but fasten, the long box, in 
 Avhich I did believe the stolen treasure was. And 
 also by its side were three bags, or sacks, bulging out 
 full of coin — I could see the impress made upon the 
 canvas by the pieces within — and these I did guess 
 had never come out of the wreck we had been fishing 
 on. They were, I thought— and found afterwards 
 tliat my thoughts were right— spoils from some 
 others than us. The plunder of another foray! 
 
 liut at the time I could do nought but watch the 
 great villain, the creature whom I could not deem 
 aught but mad, or, at least, mad from the drink.
 
 mad! 173 
 
 His eyes glistening and rolling like a maniac's, 
 lie sat in the middle of the table, gibbering and 
 grimacing to either side of him, as if the companions 
 he had named were there ; now shouting out a toast, 
 then banoiny on the table with both his fists, then 
 seizing a can or mug in each of them; next 
 calling out in a deep voice " huzza, huzza," and then 
 altering it to the shrill one of a woman doing 
 the same thing. 
 
 Next, he would seize the scooper of the liquor tub, 
 and, with clumsy bows to the empty chairs or stools, 
 for such indeed they Avere, would fill the glasses 
 standing on the table in front of those chairs, though 
 they being already full he did but pour liquor upon 
 liquor until the whole table streamed with it. Then, 
 for variety, he would tear with his fingers a piece of 
 Boucan off, and with solemn gravity lay it on some 
 tin plates near him, saying to the vacant space behind 
 the plate : 
 
 " Barbara, my sweet, 'tis the choicest piece of the 
 haunch ; I beseech of you to taste a little more " , or 
 " Coleman, my fat buck, take a bit more of your own 
 kind," and so forth. Or he would crumble off a bit 
 of his dirty, frowsy bread, and, with his filthy hands 
 putting of it in his mouth, would say, " The turtles' 
 eggs are at their best now. 'Tis the season. Ha i 
 They are succulent ! " Then he would drink a deep 
 draught of the spirits by him, call a toast, and begin 
 his bawlings and clappings again. 
 
 To see the ruffian sitting there in the half-dim 
 light — for his lamp was none of the best — grimacing 
 and gibbering to vacancy, and addressing people Avho
 
 174 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 existed not, was to me a truly awful, nay, a blood- 
 creepinf( sight ! For now I knew Avhat I had before 
 me. I knew that this pirate, this man, whose hands 
 still reeked with the blood of his comrade — one of 
 those whom he had but recently called on them 
 to drink a toast to — was mad with lonir-continued 
 drinking and p'raps scarce any food since they left 
 the reef; that, indeed, he had the horrors, called by 
 the learned, the " Delirium." 
 
 Still, all was not yet at its worst, as I found out 
 and you shall see. 
 
 Meanwhile, amidst his bcllowings and bowlings, 
 which I need not again write down, since they varied 
 not, I pondered on what I nnist do. I had the fellow 
 caged now ; if he attempted to come out of the hut 
 I was resolved to shoot him down or run him through 
 as I would a mad dog ; indeed, any way, I was deter- 
 mined now to be his executioner. He was a pirate, a 
 thief Avho had caused us of the Fur'ie much trouble 
 and loss of good life — and here I thought of Israel 
 Cromby and my other poor men, all dead ! — also he 
 was a secret murderer. He must die by my hand — 
 but it must not be now when he was mad. I Avas 
 ordained to be his executioner, I felt, but I would not 
 be a secret nuu'derer myself also. No ! not unless I 
 was forced to it. 
 
 But, still, I decided now to advance in upon him 
 — the position I was in was cramped and })ainrul ; the 
 hut would be better than this, with now many night 
 dews arising from the soil and enveloping of me, and 
 — if the worst came to l,he worst — I would knock him 
 on the head and secure him. Also, I remembered, I
 
 MAD ! 175 
 
 liad the treasure to secure. So I moved into the 
 path, rounded it, and, pistol in hand, advanced towards 
 the door of the hut, and, standing in it, regarded him 
 fixedly. 
 
 At first he saw me not. The hght was growing 
 dimmer, so that to me he looked more hke the dull, 
 cloudy spectre of a man than a man itself as he sat 
 there — perhaps, too, I, with nought behind me but 
 the dark night, may have looked the same to him. 
 Then, as he still sat talking to an imaginary figure 
 behind him, his conversation running on the drinkino- 
 and carousing he and his supposed conn'ade had once 
 evidently had on the coast of Guinea, I said, clearly 
 thousrh low — 
 
 " Alderly, you seem gay to-night, and entertain 
 good company." 
 
 In truth, there was no intention in my heart to 
 banter the man or jest with such a brute, onl}^ I had 
 to let him know of my presence there, and one way 
 seemed to me as good as another. 
 
 Instead of starting up, as I had thought he might 
 do, and, perhaps, discharging a pistol at me, he turned 
 his head towards the door, put that head between his 
 two hands, and peered between them towards where 
 I stood. 
 
 " Who is't ? " he asked. " I cannot see you. Is it 
 Martin come back from the isles with the sloop ? " 
 
 This gave me an idea that there were some com- 
 rades expected — perhaps from some other villainies ! 
 but I had just now no time for pondering on such 
 things, so I replied : 
 
 " No, 'tis not Martin But, ' Captain ' Alderly, you
 
 17G THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 should know me; yon drank a health to me not long 
 ago. I am Lieutenant Crafer of the Furie." 
 
 " I do not know yon," he repHed ; " I never heard 
 of you. Yet you must be dry in the throat. Come 
 in and drink." 
 
 In other circumstances I miyht have thonirht this 
 to be a ruse — now I could not deem it such. Beyond 
 all doubt he was mad — my only wonder was that such 
 a desperado should not be more ferocious. Perhaps, 
 however, this might be to come. 
 
 I sat me down opposite to him and regarded him 
 fixedly in that gloomy light, and it seemed as though 
 I brought by my presence some glimmer of reason to 
 the wandering brain. 
 
 " Crafer ! " he exclaimed. " Ah yes, Crafer ! Drink, 
 Crafer, drink. So thou hast join'd us. 'Tis well, and 
 better than serving Phij^s. We have more wealth 
 here than ever Phips dreamed of — if we could but get 
 it away. Away ! Yes ! away ! What might Ave not 
 do if we could but get it to England ! We might all 
 be gallant, topping gentlemen with coaches and 
 horses, and a good house, and see ridottos and— but 
 stay, Crafer, you nuist know my friends." And here 
 the creature stood upon his feet — I standing, too, not 
 knowing but Avhat he was going to spring at me, 
 though he had no such intention — and began naming 
 his phantom friends to me and presenting them, so 
 to speak. 
 
 " This," says he, " is Peter Hynde, a gay boy and a 
 good sailor. Also he is ouiinusicianer of nights — he 
 singeth too a sweet song. Stand u[), Hynde, and 
 make your service. And this is Will Magnus, with a
 
 mad! 177 
 
 good heart, but ever lacking money till he joined us. 
 A brave lad ! 'Tis he who has cut many a throat ! 
 Barbara, my dear, throw thy golden mane back and 
 kiss the brave gentleman — she was but a child, sir, 
 when we found her, yet now, now, she — Ha ! again 
 that wound ! How the thrust of the steel bites ! " 
 
 He sank back into his chair, and tore at his 
 damask waistcoat and then at his ruffled shirt — 
 yellow with dirt and spilt drink, and dabbled with 
 thick blood-stains — and so, opening of his bosom, there 
 I did see a great gash just over the heart, in his 
 left pap. 
 
 And I Avondered not now that he Avas mad with 
 the drink and the fever of his wound ; the wonder 
 was more that he was not quite dead. 
 
 He sat a-gazing at this, with his eyes turned down 
 upon it, and muttered, 
 
 " One gave it me as from that accursed galliot, as 
 they boarded. It seemed I had gotten my death. 
 Ah ! how it burns, how it throbs ! Barbara ! Black 
 Bess I hast thou no styptic for stopping of this flux, 
 no balm for this pain ? Ha ! No ? Then give me 
 drink, drink; 'tis the best consoler of all, the best 
 slayer of pain." And here he seized his ladle, filled a 
 glass from the tub, and drained it at a gulp. Then 
 he wandered on again : " Barbara, get you up to the 
 chirugeon at Kingston ; tell him I am sore wounded." 
 
 " Jamaica is far away from here," I said to him. 
 " Barbara will scarce bring you aught from the phar- 
 macie there to-night." Then, bending forward to 
 him across the table, I said, " Alderly, you are 
 wounded to the death ; that stab and your drin kings
 
 17s TlIK HISPANIOLA I'l.ATE. 
 
 liavo brought you to tlie end, or nearly so. Tell uie 
 truly, did this," and I kicked the box at my feet, 
 " and these bags of coin come from the plate-ship ? 
 Tell me!" 
 
 He peered at me through the deepening gloom 
 made by the expiring lamp, as though his senses were 
 returning and he knew me, and muttered : 
 
 " More — more — than the plate-ship — this is a 
 treasure house — " and then, su<ldenly, he stopped and, 
 pointing a shaking linger over my head, stared as one 
 who saw a sight to blast him, and whispered in a 
 voice of horror : 
 
 " Look ! look ! behind you. God ! I stabbed him 
 thrice. Yet now he is come back. See him, look to 
 him at the ojjen door. 'Tis Winstanley, the diver ot 
 Liverpool. Ah ! take th(xse eyes away from me — awa}' 
 — away ! 'Twas your hand did it, not mine," and with 
 a shriek the wretch buried his head in his own hands. 
 
 That the nuirdered diver was not there I did 
 know very well, yet the ravings of the man, the 
 melancholy of the hut in the wood, the dimness of 
 the lamp, all made my very flesh to creep, and in- 
 stinctively I did cast my eye over iny shoulder, 
 seeing, as was certain, nought but the moon's flood 
 pouring in at the door. Yet I shivered as with a 
 palsy, for though no ghost was there all around me 
 was ghostly, horrible ! 
 
 "With a yell Alderly sprang to his feet a moment 
 after he had sunk his head in his hands ; his looks 
 Avere worse now than before, his madness stronger 
 upon hini ; great flecks of foam upon his li])s, and 
 from his wound the blood trickling anew.
 
 mad! 179 
 
 " Away ! away ! " he shouted. Then moaned. 
 " Those eyes ! those eyes ! They scorch my very 
 soul. Away ! " And he cowered and shrank, but 
 a minute later seemed to have recovered his old 
 ferocity. " Begone ! " he now commanded the spectre 
 of his distorted vision. " Begone ! " and with that he 
 rushed forward, forgetting in his madness the table 
 was betwixt him and his fears, and knocking it over 
 in the rush. 
 
 And with it the lamp went too. Only fortunately 
 it w^as at its end, there was no longer any oil in it — 
 otherwise the hut would have been burnt to the 
 ground. 
 
 But all was now darkness save for the moonlio-ht 
 on the floor within and on the brushwood without, and, 
 as Alderly recovered himself from his entanglement 
 with the fallen table and trestles, I could see it 
 shining upon his glaring, savage eyes. And he took 
 me — I having been knocked to the door by the 
 crash — for the ghost of the diver, the spirit he feai'ed 
 so much. 
 
 " Peace, you fool ! " I exclaimed, " there is no 
 spirit here, nought worse than yourself And stand 
 back, or, by the God above, I will blow your frenzied 
 brains out," and as I spoke, I drew a pistol, cocked it 
 and covered him. 
 
 With a howl he came at me, missing my fire in 
 his onward rush, dashing the pistol from my hand 
 with a madman's force, and, seizing me round the 
 waist, endeavoured to throw me to the earth. Yet, 
 though I had no frenzy, I too was strong, and I 
 wrestled with him, so that about the hut we went, 
 M 2
 
 180 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 knocking over first the tub of liquor Avith wliich the 
 place became drenched, and falling at last together 
 on the ground. And all this time, Alderly was 
 cursing and howling, sometimes even biting at me, 
 and tearing my flesh with his -teeth, especially about 
 the hands, and gripping my throat with his own 
 strong hands — made doubly strong because of his 
 frenzy. I smelt his hot, stinking, spirit-sodden 
 breath all over me ; I could even smell the filth of his 
 body as he hissed out : 
 
 " I ever hated you, Winstanley ; I hated you when 
 I made your own hands slay you. I hated you in 
 life, I hate you now in death. And as I slew you in 
 life, again vv^ill I slay you in death." 
 
 Then at this moment he gave a yell of triumph. 
 His hand had encountered the hilt of my sword, and 
 drawinsr it forth from its broken sheath, he shortened 
 it to plunge it into my breast. 
 
 But as he did so I got one of my hands released. 
 I felt for my other pistol, I cocked it with my thumb, 
 when, ere I could fire, the cutlash dropped from 
 Alderly's hand and he sprang to his feet, his hands 
 upon his wound. 
 
 " See," he whispered now, " there be two AVin- 
 stanleys : one here — one coming through the wood. 
 Are there any more — ? " 
 
 Staufuerinof, he stood glaring forth into the wood 
 through the open door, seeing another spectre, as he 
 thought, there ; then slowly he sank to the ground, 
 letting his hands fall awa}' from the gash in his 
 breast, from which the tide now ran swiftly. 
 
 " Oh, agony ! agony ! " he moaned. " Can one live
 
 wad! ISl 
 
 and feel siicli pain as this. Nay ! this is death. 
 Barbara, draw near me. Listen. This hut is full of 
 spoil —beneath — none know but I — all mine — now all 
 yours. The other is buried — elsewhere — Oh ! God — 
 the agony ! Barbara — rich — rich — for life — lady — 
 fortune — give me drink — drink — " Then once more 
 singing in a broken voice, 
 
 " Wheu money's — pleutj — boj^s —we driuk 
 To drown—" 
 
 he fell back moaning again. 
 And so he died.
 
 182 
 
 CHAPTER XXIIl. 
 
 THE TREASURE HOUSE. 
 
 So now I Avas the last of all left who had come away 
 from the Fwrie. Neither of my crew nor of this dead 
 ruffian's was there any one to tell the tale but I. A 
 strange ending indeed to such a flight and such a 
 chase. 
 
 The dead pii-ate lay upon his back, the blood from 
 his wound trickling down to mix with the spirit from 
 the overturned cask. The box of treasure lay at my 
 feet, and, if his dying words were true and not spoken 
 in his madness, beneath my feet was a vast treasure. 
 
 But ere I thought of that, there were many other 
 things to do. Firstly, and before all, there was rest 
 to be obtained, I had scarcely had any for three 
 days — namely, none in the galliot since we Avcre 
 awaked in our little isle near the reef by the firing of 
 the Furies guns ; and but an hour or so only before 
 the murder of Winstanley, the diver. That Avas all, 
 and now I could scarcely move for fatigue. I must 
 sleep e'en though I died for it. Only where should I 
 obtain it ? Accustomed as I was to rough surround- 
 ings, to fightings and slaughter after many years of a 
 sailor's life, this hut with its loathsome dead inhabi- 
 tant and owner was too horrible and disgusting lor 
 me to find rest in it. I could not sleep there ! Yet 
 again, neither would I go far away. "The hut," the
 
 THE TREASURE HOUSE. 183 
 
 dying villain had said, " was a treasure house"; he 
 had told the imaginary Barbara — who was she, I 
 Avondered, who seemed to have been the centre of 
 such tragedies ? — that she Avas the heiress to great 
 wealth contained within it, or beneath it ; I must 
 guard that hut with my life. Especially, I reflected, 
 must I do so since he had thought me to be " Martin 
 come back from the isles with the sloop." If, there- 
 fore, this Avas not also part of his ravings, he was 
 expecting some such person, doubtless a brother pirate 
 — at any moment I might have to defend the place 
 against another ship's crew of scoundrels. 
 
 Yet I must sleep. I could do nought until I had 
 rested, but I knew that when such a rest had been 
 obtained, I should feel strong enough to, or at least 
 endeavour to, hold my own. I must slee^j ! 
 
 At last I made up my mind what I would do. 
 The door of the hut, I had learned by my mode of 
 progression, faced to the west, therefore I would close 
 the door, lay myself along outside it, so that the 
 morning sun, now near at hand as I guessed, should 
 not disturb me, and thereby get rest as well as being 
 a guard over the "■ treasure house." So, loading and 
 ])riming my pistols carefully — as well as two of 
 Alderly's which I took off his body, and which, in his 
 madness, he had without doubt forgotten he possessed 
 — and placing my cutlash by my side, I once more 
 lay down to sleep. 
 
 Undisturbed, I nmst have enjoyed some hours' 
 repose, for when I awoke the daylight Avas all arovmd 
 me ; the Avood outside Avas bathed in the rich sunshine, 
 though I Avas sheltered from the rays by the hut ; the
 
 184 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 tiny hum-birds were darting in and out of the many 
 flowers about, thrusting their long bills in them to 
 lick up the honey and the insects ; 'twas a sweet spot. 
 Yet, when I arose to enter the hut, all the beauty of 
 the morning and of Nature did seem to me blackened 
 and fouled by that abode. 
 
 " Now," I said to myself, " what shall I do ?" And 
 instantly I resolved that I would, to begin, make an 
 end of Alderly's carcass. So, having perceived a 
 mattock and spade a-lying in the corner of the place 
 — " perhaps," thinks I, " 'twas Avith them he did bury 
 his treasures " — I stooped down to drag him forth into 
 the copse where I could dig a grave for him. Then, 
 as I bent over him, I saw sparkling in his breast the 
 diamond cross attached to the chain which he wore in 
 many folds round his neck. 
 
 I took it off him, and rubbing it and the gold 
 chain clean from his blood, did go to the door to 
 look at it — flashing it about to observe the sparkles 
 of the great gems, holding it out into a dark place 
 the better for to see it by contrast, and so on, as 
 I had seen those do who call themselves judges of 
 such things — which I, a poor sailor officer, could not 
 be. And then I observed there was engraved on 
 the back of the gold-setting some words, Avhich I 
 deciphered to be : 
 
 " Mary Roase, Baroness of White fields, from her 
 husband, Bevill. Anno Dou). 159.S." 
 
 " Well," thinks I, " this at least can scarce be fiom 
 uur Spanish wreck. Mary Rose is English enough, 
 we have had ships so named. I dare say the villain 
 pillaged that from some descendant of the lady. If
 
 THE TREASURE HOUSE. 185 
 
 ever I get home I will see if there is any Lord or Lady 
 of Whitefields now." 
 
 Then I went forth to dig the grave, which I did 
 three feet deep, not far off the hut, and higging out 
 the body — after I had still more carefully searched 
 the clothes, and finding a few gold pieces consisting ot 
 some Elephant guineas, two or three French and 
 Spanish pieces, and also some ducatoons, all in a bag 
 — soon buried him. This done I went back to the 
 hut, though b}^ now I was hunger-stung and could 
 very well have ate some food. Though this was not 
 to be yet, since I must go to the galliot to find any, 
 his being filthy. But of drink there was a plenty — a 
 sweet rill of cool water running hard by. There was, 
 indeed, another tub unbroached in the corner of the 
 place, but I cared not to drink of the ruffian's pro- 
 vision ; why, I know not, since I did not disdain to 
 take his jewels and money. Yet so it was, and I left 
 it alone, drinking onl}' of the water and laving myself 
 in it. " And now for the long box," I said ; " let us see 
 what they have robbed us of" For that the box con- 
 tained Avhat they had gotten up from our wreck I did 
 never doubt. Yet, as you shall see, I was mistaken. 
 I do not now believe, nor did I shortly then, that 
 what that box contained had ever been an}^ portion of 
 our stolen treasure. 
 
 I burst it open very easy with the mattock and there 
 I found a rich harvest ; so that, indeed, the hut was a 
 treasure house when only it had that box within. 
 Now, this is what I did find, and the list which I here 
 give you (with the valuations against the items by 
 him) is a just and fair copy of that which I did show
 
 1^6 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 to Mr. Wargrave, the jeweller and goldsmith of Corn- 
 hill (now retired very rich), when I had gotten liouie 
 again : — 
 
 List with Mr. Wargrave, his vahiation. Gs. 
 
 Two small bags of pearls, weighing with other 
 
 pearls thereiu under fifteen grains, as I 
 
 judged from others shown me by Mr. W 1,2-jO 
 
 One grejit pearl wrajiped in a piece of damask 
 
 brocade, six-eighths of au inch in its dia- 
 meter, as I did measure. . . 2,000 
 
 Another, the size of a pigeon's egg, full of 
 
 most lustrous sheen, wi'apped in a piece 
 
 of deerskin o.ono 
 
 A little bag of sapphires, nine in all olo 
 
 Some Turkish pii-ces of gold about t he si/,(^ and 
 
 weight of our shillings, twenty-one in all. 
 
 These I put in my pocket and did sell 
 
 afterwards in Portsmouth for It 
 
 Some silver pieces, too cumbersome to carry 
 
 and left with other things, perhaps 5 
 
 A little bar of gold 80 
 
 Two pistols beautifully inlaid and chased with 
 
 silver, having engraved thei'eon the name 
 
 " Marquis do Pouf visnies,'" and date 1580 .... 30 
 
 A portrait of a girl done as a medallion, with 
 
 blue eyes, red gold hair, and a sweet 
 
 mouth ; ])erhaps this was Barbara ! No 
 
 value for selling. 
 A child's coral; also a child's shoes; also a 
 
 lock of long hair, wlieat coloured, wra[iped 
 
 in silk. No value for selling. 
 And a dagger set with little diamonds and 
 
 rubies, the blade rusted very much ...... 50 
 
 6,744 
 I pondered nuich over these things, ft)r, as I have
 
 THE TREASURE HOUSE. ISY 
 
 writ, I am very sure they never caiue out of the 
 sunken galleon. There was no sign of wet having got 
 near unto the box or its contents, which must have 
 been the case had it been fished up from that wreck, 
 and therefore I thought to myself, this has perhaps 
 been stolen on some cruise they were upon between 
 the time they left their boat at our little isle and then 
 came back to the i"eef, thinking not to find us, or any, 
 there. Yet this would not do, neither, for their Snow 
 was no fighting ship — not, I mean, a ship fit to attack 
 another carrying treasure, which would be extremely 
 Avell armed — and she had not fought till we got at her 
 in the river. That I knew from the wounds and 
 damage, when I boarded and searched her, being 
 quite fresh and made by us. 
 
 Nor, again, could I deem this box to have been the 
 proceeds of a recent thieving expedition or attack on 
 some sea-coast town or place, for there were not enough 
 men in the Etoyle to have adventured such a thing. 
 They might have attacked a lonely house, or, as the 
 Spaniards call it, a villa, in one of the many islands of 
 this Caribbean sea, or on the main land of Terra Firma, 
 yet this I also doubted, for the contents of the box 
 pointed a different Avay. The girl in the medallion 
 looked English by her hair, e}es, and colour : the 
 pistols were a Frenchman's. ^Moreover, the box, the 
 lid of which was all covered with beads pasted on to 
 its lid and worked in many forms of flowers, was like- 
 wise English (my mother had just such an one), and 
 to prove for certain 'twas so, inside the lid was tlie 
 name of the workman who made it, " Bird, Falmouth." 
 So at last my conclusion was this, viz., that Alderly
 
 188 THE HLSPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 valued the box for some reason of his own, perhaps 
 desired always to have some goods with him that at 
 any crisis he could transform into money, and there- 
 fore carried it about with him wherever he went. I 
 never learned that this was so, no more than that it 
 was not so, and now I quitted thinking how it came 
 to be with him. Perhaps I judged right, perhaps 
 wrong. But of one thing I am very sure, he had none 
 of our treasure with him. The casket which did 
 doubtless contain that treasure, which must have been 
 of precious stones alone judging by its size, was of a 
 certainty dropped overboard either before Ave beat 
 them, or at the last moment of defeat. At least, I 
 never did see any of the treasure, though in going to 
 find it I found a greater. But thio you will read ere 
 I conclude, as I hope soon to do. I am coming anigh 
 the end. 
 
 Thinking that " j\rartin with the sloo})," or some 
 other wretches, might be returning, I next proceeded 
 to bury for a time the box, which I did by taking 
 it out into the copse and dropping it into a great 
 hollow cotton-wood tree growing near, which I 
 inarked well in my mind's eye. Then, next, I set off 
 down to the galliot, for now I wanted food so badly 
 that I could no longer go without it. I had but 
 little fear of any getting up to the hut unbeknown to 
 me, since, with a seaman's ideas to help me, I con- 
 cluded that the canal, or channel, or river, as, indeed, 
 it was, oftcred the only safe inlet to Coffin Island. So 
 il they came they nmst come the way I was a-going, 
 when I could know it and cither avoid or encounter 
 them as seemed best.
 
 THE TREASURE HOUSE. 180 
 
 However, I met none on my way down, and tbnnd 
 both the Etoyle and my ship just as I had left them, 
 and the boat tied to the tree, also as I had left it. 
 Then I went aboard the galliot, and finding some food 
 and drink, set to work to stay my cravings. There 
 was none too much, I found, to last long, though as 
 the men had cooked the fish and birds they were still 
 fresh enouofh. Also there was Hour, and bread already 
 made, and some peas, while, for the water, it was 
 nearly all there. The fruit was quite rotten and not 
 to be eaten, but this mattered not at all, since, on 
 CofKn Island, I had perceived several kinds growmg 
 with profusion, amongst others many prickly pears. 
 
 And now, as I made my meal, I marked out in my 
 mind what I should do to draw matters to a con- 
 clusion. And this I decided on. 
 
 " It is a treasure house," Alderly had said of his 
 hut, therefore, firstly, I had got to explore that house, 
 hoping to find therein as much if not more than we 
 had been robbed of. Then when Phips and I met 
 again, as I hoped we might, he should decide about 
 that treasiu'e, and what was to be done with it. But 
 first to find it. Yet, even as I thought this there 
 came to me another reflection — viz., that I could not 
 carry it away Avith me. The galliot would take me 
 to a neighbouring island inhabited by my own people, 
 but an officer alone in such a vessel, with no hands to 
 work it but himself, must necessarily lead to nuich 
 talk and the asking of many questions — how many 
 more would be asked if that officer were accompanied 
 by boxes and chests of great weight ? Therefore, that 
 would never do ! I must get away alone, leaving the
 
 100 THE HTSPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 treasure — if I found any more than I had ah'eady 
 gotten — somewhere secure, and then I must come 
 back again for it, properly fitted out. Or, if I could 
 reach Phips ere he quitted the reef, we could come 
 back together in the Furie, take off the goods and so 
 home with no need for further voy agings out and in. 
 
 And, on still reflecting, this was what I had a 
 mind to do. The reef was not a long way off; a day 
 and night would take me there, with a favourable 
 wintL Only I nmst provision the galliot somehow ; I 
 must not go to sea thus ; but then I remembered, this 
 was easily to be done if I swallowed my squeamish- 
 ness. The Etoyle was full of food and drink — the 
 former coarse but life-sustaining — if I took that as I 
 took its owner's hordes, then I could get away. 
 
 Only, first I had to find the treasure, then dispose 
 oi it safely. After that I might go at once. Indeed, 
 if fortune still kept with me, as she had over done 
 of late, I might be away from this island within 
 another thirty hours. 
 
 And so thinking, I finished my repast and set 
 about what I h:id to do.
 
 191 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 WHAT WAS IN THE TREASURE HOUSE. 
 
 Now, the first thing was for me to get into the Etoyle, 
 and bring a fair provision of food and drmk, and then, 
 I thought, I would sink her, or, at least, would get 
 her ready for sinking, so that she, at any rate, should 
 never go on anymore evil cruises. This Avas, however, 
 to be done later. 
 
 I went aboard her, therefore, directly I had made 
 m}'^ meal, and brought off from her some Boucan, 
 about ten pounds; some dried neats', or deer, tongues, 
 a good amount of powdered chocolate, and some 
 boxes of sweetmeats — the villains seeminof to have a 
 dainty taste ! — and also I brought away some bottles 
 of Calcavella, a Portygee sweet Avine, and a small 
 barrel of rum. And also did I take away some cakes 
 of bread, now ver}'' hard and stale, but which, by 
 damping with fresh water and then placing in the sun, 
 became once more eatable. Likewise I provided 
 myself with some of their powder and bullets, not 
 knowing what use I might yet have for such things 
 on the island, or when I was away to sea again. 
 
 This Etoyle was indeed a strangel}^ laden bark, 
 full of the most varied things the minds of men coidd 
 well conceive, and had it been possible — which 'twas 
 not, being without assistance — I would have had her 
 taken to one of the West Tndy Isles, and her contents
 
 192 THE HTSPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 there sold. She had in her, to wit, elephants' teeth 
 and tusks, and some gold dust — though not much 
 of any, neither — which spoke to me clearly of some 
 robbings on the Guinea Coast, also some fine English 
 cloths, silk druggets and hoUands, many packs of 
 whole suits of clothes for wearing ; some mantuas, a 
 box of lace, another of ribands (again I thought of the 
 mysterious Barbara !), pieces of line silk diu^oys and 
 some Norwich stuffs, as well as vast masses of tobacco. 
 Indeed, I thought, this Snow might have visited half 
 the ^vorld for her cargo — had I not very well known, 
 or miessed, that 'twas all stolen out of various other 
 ships. 
 
 It took me some time shifting all that was neces- 
 sary for my forthcoming voyage — leaving, you may 
 be sure, much behind in the Etoyle — and then laden- 
 ing myself with some provisions for the hut, I pre- 
 pared to depart back to it. 
 
 Yet now more counsel came to me. Supposing, 
 thinks I, that while I am away at the hut, Martin 
 with his sloop, or some similar villains, should come 
 into the river ! Why ! they would at once see all ! The 
 Etoyle they would perceive a battered craft — and 
 doubtless they knew her very well — and they would 
 see the strange galliot. Tliis would not do, therefore 
 I must devise some means if I could, not only to 
 remove all marks of our fray, but, if it might be so, to 
 prevent anyone entering the river at all. Then, at 
 last, I decided what I would do. 
 
 First of all I took the galliot down out of the river 
 to the sea, and, with a light sail up, I got her to a 
 little cove a third of a league away from the mouth,
 
 WHAT WAS IN THE TREASURE HOUSE. 193 
 
 in which I moored her ; and this cove had such 
 projecting spurs that none passing outside would be 
 very hke to see her. Indeed, one would have to pass 
 close by the opening of it to do so at all. Then, 
 getting to the boat again, I rowed me back to the 
 river. Next I brought down the Snow to the month, 
 moored her fast across it, it being not more than forty 
 to tifty yards at the opening and about fifteen fathoms 
 deep, as I did plumb, and going l)elow I bored a many 
 holes in her sides and bottom so that she began to fill 
 at once, and in half an hour I, who was a-watching 
 from my boat, saw her settling down so that, at last, 
 there was no more of her above water, her masts, as I 
 have writ, being shot away. 
 
 " Now," says I, " if Martin and his sloop come 
 m and draw much water, 'tis almost a certainty that 
 they shall go foul of some part of the fabric, which 
 may do me a very good turn — if not, then must I 
 take my chance against them," with which I again 
 prepared for the hut. 
 
 That day I did very little work, though so great 
 was my desire to dig into and find the contents of the 
 " treasure house " that I could scarce take my neces- 
 sary rest. Yet I mastered myself so nuich that I 
 forced m3^self to sleep, determining to work at night 
 when it was cool. So I lay me down on the east side 
 of the place this time, the sim having by now gotten 
 to the west, and slept well, awaking not until night 
 was at hand. 
 
 Now, amidst all my precautions, 'twas strange to 
 think I had forgotten one thing. I had made no 
 provision for any light at night. The lamp knocked 
 
 N 
 
 m
 
 194 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 over by tlie dying pirate was still there where it had 
 fallen, 'tis true, but the oil was all sisilled and 1 could 
 iind no other, search as I might. Yet I felt con- 
 vinced there must be oil somewhere, if I coidd but 
 discover it. 'Twas not to be conceived that Alderly 
 and the diver had this lamp with them when they 
 plunged into the river to escape from the Etoyle ; 
 therefore, if I sought, surely I should tind. 
 
 Yet how to seek ! The tropic darkness came on 
 with swiftness, in a few minutes the hut was as black 
 as a pocket ; and the moon would not rise for some 
 hours yet ! Well ! there was no hope for it, I reflected ; 
 this night at least must bo wasted, and so I made up 
 my mind to pass it as best I might. Though my 
 reflections and memories of the previous night's 
 scene, of Alderly's drunken hoAvls, singings, and 
 toasts, of the spectre his luaddened brain had con- 
 jured up, and of his horrid death, helped me not at 
 all. 1 saw him over and over again sitting at the 
 table, filling the cans with liquor for his imaginary 
 guests, talking to Barbara, shivering at the supposed 
 ghost of Winstanley, fighting with me— dying. And 
 at last I got the creeps, I started at any twig that 
 snapped outside or the cry of a night bird, and, 
 springing up, I Avent forth and plunged into the 
 tliickness, Avherc I walked about till daybivak. And 
 in that walk 1 e.\})lorcd the whole of Collin Island 
 
 verv ni'jh. and saw under the moon, when she had 
 
 1 1 
 
 risen, that beyond the x'ww there Avas no other 
 
 entrance to it. Nearly all around elsewhere were 
 
 craggy clilVs to make landing almost impossible, 
 
 saving only one strip of beach.
 
 WHAT WAS IN THE TREASURE HOUSE. 195 
 
 Away on Tortola and Negada I saw once or twice 
 lights burning, and wondered what the inhabitants of 
 those isles thought of their precious neighbours in 
 this one — I wondered, too, if they knew or dreamed of 
 what CotHn Island contained ! And thus the nioht 
 
 O 
 
 passed away, the day-spring came, and I went back to 
 the " treasure house." 
 
 " Was it to prove such to me ? " I asked myself as 
 I made a meal off some of the provisions I had 
 brought along with me. " Was it to prove such ? " 
 
 The question was soon answered, as you, my 
 unknown heir, shall now see. 
 
 The floor of the hut was a mass of hlth that had 
 not been disturbed for some time, and to this had 
 been added now the spilled liquor from the tub that 
 Alderly had flung over in his mad convulsions, as 
 Avell as some of his blood where he had fallen last. 
 This, therefore, with the previous dirt, I set to clear 
 away with the spade, after I had removed the over- 
 turned table, the stool, and other things. And the 
 task Avas not long. Ere I had been cleaning the 
 Hoor ten minutes, I came upon an iron ring — set into 
 a trap-door, immediately under where Alderly 's chair 
 had been placed. It Avas not — I mean the trap-door 
 — very far below the surface, not indeed more than 
 three inches, and, even as I tugged and tugged at it, I 
 could not but ponder over the little pains taken to 
 conceal such a hiding place. And I did wonder if, 
 Avhen the villain was away on some of his cruises, he 
 had not many a fear as to whether his store was not 
 being rifled. 
 
 Howevei-, this was no time for such wonderments 
 N 2
 
 196 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 and speculations, actions were now all, and so again I 
 heaved at the door. It would not lift, however, for all 
 my pullings, so I cleared aAvay still more earth, doing 
 so especially round where it fitted into a frame, and at 
 last prised it right up with the mattock. And you may 
 be sure with what eagerness I gazed into the opening. 
 
 First of all I saw that as yet I had not reached 
 the treasure, for although the trap was no larger 
 than to admit a man's body, there were still below it 
 some rude steps down into the earth, which opened 
 up at the bottom of them into what seemed to be a 
 passage. And when I got down to the bottom of 
 those steps, I saw very well that there Avas a passage, 
 or, indeed, a room cut into the earth; a place about 
 six feet long and five feet deep, being more like a little 
 cabin than aught else. 
 
 And now I knew that T had got to what I sou"ht : 
 the treasure was here. 
 
 There stood on the floor, and piled up one above 
 the other, four (;hests, or coffers, the very workman- 
 ship of which told me they must be old. Certainly, 
 they had not been made m these days or anywheres 
 near them. They seemed to be of oak full of little 
 wonuholes, much carved and designed, and Avith 
 inscriptions on them in, I think, Latin, of wliich T 
 understood not one worth Moreover, they had great 
 solid locks to them as well as padlocks, but these 
 had long since been burst open, the reason whereof 
 'twas not very hard to seek out. I guessed that 
 those Avho took them from their rightful owners could 
 not perhaps tiiid the keys, and so blew (Ikiu or forced 
 them thus open.
 
 WHAT WAS IN THE TREASURE HOUSE. 107 
 
 I lifted the lid of the nearest and peered in, and 
 there the first object to meet my eyes was a grinning 
 sknll, the bone severed right across the head as though 
 with a hist}^ sword cut. 
 
 " ^7ell ! " thinks I to myself, as I looked on this 
 poor remnant of mortality, " well ! 3^on are indeed a 
 strange Avarden of what may be herein. Yet, p'raps 
 not so strange either if all accounts of piratical doings 
 be true." For when I was but a lad in Oliver's 
 service, and a-chasing the rovers not so very far 
 fi'om this spot where I now was, 'twas alwa3^s said 
 that they Avould slay a man and bury him over their 
 hidden treasure, so that he or his ohost should frio-hten 
 away others who would meddle with it. And so it 
 might have been here, for, thinks I, " perhaps as I go 
 on I shall Mnd other parts of a dead man in the other 
 chests." 
 
 Now, although 'twas dajdight above, 'twas almost 
 dark in this vault or passage, small as it was, so that 
 I shifted the first coffer nearer to the bottom of the 
 steps, so as to get a full light upon it from above, and 
 then I Avent on Avith my hunt, putting the death's 
 head aAvay for a Avhile. Beneath him, as he had lain 
 a-top, Avas Avhat I took to be a piece of 3^ellow canvas, 
 as so it Avas, though on looking closer I saAV that 
 either dyed into it, or cunningly interwoven, Avere 
 some flowers like our irises, and some Avords all over 
 it faint Avith age, of Avhich I could distinguish but the 
 letters " ance " and " smes." Then, Avhen I lifted this 
 up, I found that the coffer had little enough else in it 
 but a handful or so of gold coins lying about amongst 
 some old things, such as a pair of gloA^es Avith great
 
 198 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 steel beads on the backs and tops of the fingers, some 
 silk cloths, a great parchment in Latin — which I laid 
 aside— and such like. The gold coins were, however, 
 such as I did never see before, having on them a 
 head of an old man with a great brimmed hat, and 
 stamped on them, Charles X., Roi de France,-^ 1580. 
 And this set me a-thinking. These coins bore the 
 same date as the pistols, inscribed " Marquis dc Pont- 
 vismes," and the indistinct words on the canvas 
 cloth of " ance " and " smes " were the endings of the 
 words France and Pontvismes. What had I lighted 
 on here ? I turned it over and over in my head all 
 that day, and many a one after that, but it was very 
 long ere I arrived at any decision. 
 
 There Avere twenty-seven of these coins and 
 nothing more of any worth within that strong box, so 
 I hoisted it aAvay and began upon a second. And in 
 this I found I had indeed come upon a horde. It was 
 fidl of sacks or bags of coin of all sorts. Sacks with 
 their mouths gaping open wide, bags tied up, and also 
 many loose coins all a})out. And they were of all 
 covAifries and dates, there beiui; amona'st them 
 Spanish pieces of eight, Portyguese crusadoes, English 
 crowns, and many more French coins, as well as 
 hundreds of gold pieces of our kings and queens, 
 aAvay back to Queen Elizabeth. Later that day I 
 counted of these pieces up, and made them come to 
 over two thousand pounds. 
 
 * This would appear at fir.st sight to be an error on thi: part of 
 Nicholas Crafer. It was not so, however ; Cardinal Bourbon was 
 elected King of Franco by the league in 1589 (against Henri IV.), 
 under the name of Charles X., and some coins were struck by him. — 
 J. Ii.-I3.
 
 WFIAT WAS IN THE TREASURE HOUSE. 109 
 
 Then next, in the others, I did find as follows, on 
 the list I enclose ; all of which I do reckon, one way 
 with another, bringcth the gross up to what I have 
 said, namely, fifty thousand guineas. Here is that 
 list. 
 
 Xote. — Uufortuiiately it was not here. Reginald tnnied all 
 the sheets ovef and over again, but could not find it. Perhaps 
 by one of th^se pieces of carelessness which seemed to have per- 
 vaded both Nicholas's and Mr. Wargrave's system, it had been 
 originally mislaid. But, however that might be, it was not at 
 this period tliat the former's descendant was to learn all tiie 
 items which went to make up the fifty thousand guineas. — 
 J. B.-B.
 
 200 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 TPIE MIDDLE KEY. 
 
 So with this 111}^ huntings and findings were all over. 
 I had found a fortune, while the Lord only knew who 
 would ever enjoy the spending of it, though, for one 
 thing, I felt very sure it would not be I myself. There 
 was no likelihood of that. I could never get it back 
 to England, and, if I did, then 'twould at once be 
 said that I had stolen it — either with or without 
 Phips' connivance, and that he and I were a brace 
 of thieves. 
 
 But what use to ponder on such things as these ! 
 For aught I knew I might never get back to England 
 after all; though, somehow, there was a something 
 in my mind which did ever tell mo I should do 
 so. Meanwhile, the present was enough to occupy 
 my attention. Firstly, the night was coming on 
 once more and still I had foimd no oil, so that 
 I must now cease all labours until the next day. 
 In truth I was ready to do so, for I was Avear}' again 
 by now, and another thing was also very certain, 
 to wit, that in this hut I must take m}^ abode. I 
 could not go a step away with all the treasure there 
 Avas here. 
 
 So I placed the oblong box down into the vault 
 along with the other goods, and then, after I had made 
 an evening meal of some neat's-tongue and bread cake.
 
 THE MIDDLE KEY, 201 
 
 washed down with the water from the rill, in which 
 also I laved my face and hands, I looked to the 
 primings of all the pistols, got out my cutlash, and, 
 stretching myself across the top of the trap-door, I 
 addressed myself to sleep. At first it would not come 
 in that horrid spot ; again and again I saw the form 
 of the dying pirate and heard his 5^ells and singing; 
 and toasts. But at last I slept peacefully until the 
 day broke. 
 
 And now I had to set about removing all the 
 treasure from the hole where it had lain for doubtless 
 so long — for I did not believe that Alderly was the 
 man who had obtained all this wealth, but rather 
 that some earlier corsair than he had done so and 
 buried it, and that Alderly in some strange way had 
 lighted on it. It was necessary that I should find 
 a new hiding-place for it. " Martin with the sloop " 
 might — if he were indeed an actual being and not 
 the vision of some long dead and gone comrade, 
 perhaps of another part of the world, as I now had 
 a mind to believe — come back at any moment, and 
 also he might know of the buried wealth in spite 
 of the pirate's words having been, " None know but 
 I." For 'twas useless to give credence to any of 
 the utterances issuing from the bemused brain of 
 Alderly — there might be no Martin, or if there 
 were he might know nothing, or, on the contrary, 
 he might know all. At any rate, my part was to 
 make ever}- thing safe. 
 
 But how to do it ? I must remove it to a hiding- 
 place that would bo always found, that should bo 
 marked in a way and manner which time could not
 
 202 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 destroy. For who could tell when it iiiight be sought 
 for again ? I had then, or, I should rather say, I was 
 then maturing in my mind the idea of writing down 
 all this which I have now done — with great pain and 
 labour to myself ! — and that writing might not see the 
 light again for twenty years, perhaps even longer. 
 Therefore, 'twas necessary the spot should be such as 
 would never be changing, a spot which must be the 
 same fifty years hence as it was then. Consequently 
 a tree, for instance, could not be made a landmark or 
 indicator, for tempests might blow it to earth, or 
 years rot it away. Then I thought of a spot on which 
 the sun should fall at a given day, hour, and minute — 
 which, as I have heard, is the commonest way of all 
 for persons burying treasure to marlv the precise spot 
 — only, supposing ere the time to come when the 
 hoard should bo sou^'ht for, somethincr was buildcd 
 over the spot, as might very well be if C'otlfin Island 
 became settled, as Tortola or Ncgada and some others 
 are ? This risk, therefore, small as it might be, I 
 ■would not run. 
 
 Still, what should I do ? I must decide quickl}^ 
 for if Martin and the sloop Averc real things and not 
 shadows they might be here at any moment, and if 
 once my task \vere finished I should not mind their 
 coming very greatly. I could, perhaps, avoid them 
 somehow and get away, leaving the goods safe. Quickly 
 I must decide. Then, as an aid to my doing so, I 
 determined mc to walk round the isle, thinking that 
 in such a way a spot might be found suitable for my 
 purpose. 
 
 So I set forth, going aruied, you may be sure.
 
 THE MIDDLE KEY. 203 
 
 Now, this daylight walk of mine about the island 
 showed to me very many things that I had not 
 seen on my midnight rounds, when the terrors and 
 the ffhastliness of the hut had driven me forth. I 
 learned among other things that, not very far from 
 the hut itself, was the little upland from which 
 one could look down upon the whole of the isle 
 and all the coast around it, and also I could see 
 down into my cove where I had anchored the 
 galliot, and did observe her lying there safe as I 
 had left her. 
 
 Also I found that from this spot I could see for 
 many miles out to sea, and observe that, at least for 
 the present, there were no signs of my haunting fear, 
 Martin and his sloop. To the south lay Tortola, 
 Anguilla, and St. Martin; to the east lay Negada, 
 but away to the Avest nought met the eye, Porto 
 Rico being out of vision. And as for those poor 
 miserables who inhabited the two first above mentioned, 
 if they were still alive and had not died of melancholy, 
 they gave no signs of being so ; there was no boat 
 upon all the waters, no smoke rising from hut or cabin ; 
 nouo-ht crave evidence of the islands being inhabited 
 but the faint lights I had seen at night. But what 
 concerned me and my present desires most was that 
 to the north of this, Coffin Island, I did see some Httle 
 Keys or sandy spots, covered with their weeds and 
 bushes, lying out about a hundred yards from my 
 island. 
 
 "Why not there?" thinks I, upon this. "Why 
 not one of those ? 'Tis now the high tide," as I took 
 occasion to observe, " and they are above water, there-
 
 204 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 fore 'tis not like they Avill ever be siibnicrg-ecl, or, if 
 even so, the}^ will come forth again. And there are 
 three close too-ether ; it shall be the middle one if on 
 inspection all seems well." 
 
 So, upon this, I got me down to my boat and 
 rowed round from the side of Coffin Island, where 
 the river was, to the north where the Keys were, and 
 went on to the middle one. It Avas, as I have said, 
 covered with bushes and Aveeds, none very tall, and 
 it being now the season there were a-many turtles 
 on it laying of their eggs, as they Avill do in any 
 unfrequented and quiet spot. 
 
 " Yes," says I, " this must be the place and none 
 other," and with that I pulled away at a great bush 
 in the middle of the Key I was standing on, and 
 on getting it up did see that the soil was nearly 
 all sand. And again I said, " This must be the 
 place." 
 
 So I went off once more, resolving to get to 
 work this very day, and, making a journey to the 
 hut, I brought off the spade and mattock and the 
 least heavy of the coftcrs — I mean that one that 
 had the Death in it, and when I was back on the 
 Key I began my digging at once, and the sand 
 being extremely light I soon had got down some 
 ten feet, so that at last I liad a task to scramble 
 out of the treasure's future grave. Then I made 
 more journeys, and, in the end, by sunset had gotten 
 all the coffers as well as the long box on to the 
 Key. And this night I decided to sleep there, as I 
 wdidd not leave the goods alone until they were 
 buried— though I do believe that, had I left them
 
 THE MIDDLE KEY. 205 
 
 there exposed on the isle until noAv when I write, 
 they would very like have remained untouched ; for 
 Martin I concluded now to be entirely a myth, and 
 as for other pirates, they would never come to such 
 Keys as this when the w^hole place swarmed Avith 
 real islands. 
 
 At sunrise I w\as at it again, having ate some 
 turtle eggs for my meal — a pleasing change for me — 
 and by midday all was done. The four coffers and 
 the box Avent in one atop of each other, the upper- 
 most one being, at its lid, three feet from the surface, 
 and with on top of each a turtle shell, of which there 
 were several lying about the Key. These I put in also 
 because the shells are almost imperishable, and, should 
 the coffers decay, if they have to he — as they may, 
 Avho knoAvs ? — tAventy or thirty years in the ground 
 before this ray history is found, the great shells Avill 
 protect the contents somewhat, though no harm that 
 I knoAv of can come to coins, jcAvels, and so forth from 
 a-lying in the earth. Then, Avhen all Avas tilled up, I 
 did most carefully arrange the place so that, if by any 
 strange chance anyone should here land, no signs 
 should be giA^en of a disturbance being made. I 
 replanted the bush over the spot ; Avith some brush- 
 AA'ood and scrub I remoA^ed some spare grains of sand 
 that had been throAvn up, and arranged everything as 
 best I might, going so far as to take some turtles' eggs 
 and place them about, so that they should give the 
 idea — if anyone did land here — that the turtles them- 
 selves had disturbed the spot in their craAvlings and 
 creepings. 
 
 And now, for your guidance, I Avill Avrite doAvn
 
 20G THE HTSPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 how you shall tiud this spot, and also will 1 draw as 
 well as may be a little map. 
 
 First you arc to know that — as the hydrographer 
 of his Majesty's Admiralty hath since informed 
 me— Negada is situated 18° 46' K, 64° 20' W.; 
 Tortola is 18° 27' K, 64° 40' W. ; and Coffin Island 
 is consequently, since it doth lie a little to the 
 north of Negada, as near as possible 18° 48' N., 
 64° 20' W. Wherefore, if 3'ou make these degrees, 
 there you shall j^erceive that isle, shaped as it is 
 named, long like a coffin, thin at the foot, broad 
 higher up, then somewhat narrow again, the foot 
 pointing due west, the head due east. Also the little 
 upland I have spoken of riseth from the centre, 
 ])erhaps one hundred and fifty to one hundred and 
 eighty feet. Then, due north of that and exactly in 
 a line Avith the shoulder of the coffin-shape, there 
 are the Keys, and the middle contains the treasure. 
 Now, read again. From the north side of the 
 middle key to the spot where I buried all the 
 coffers and the box is fifty-one good strides of 
 three feet each, from the south side to the same 
 spot is fifty-three strides, from the east is forty- 
 nine strides, from the west is fifty strides and a 
 half. Therefore, you shall not miss it if so be 
 that, when you have taken your tirst measurement 
 from the spot Avherc you land, you stick in the 
 ground your sword and there make, or persevere 
 until you make, all your other strides correspond 
 witli wliat I liavo wrote down. And I have made 
 110 luishikc. fur three tinn's did I go over tlie 
 ground and all (iiiics did the measurements tally.
 
 THE MIDDLE KEY. 
 
 207 
 
 Do you likewise aiid you sliall lind what I did 
 bury. 
 
 Now here is a httle map, rough, as befits a draw- 
 ing made by me, yet just and true. 
 
 
 (r ^ 
 
 2o 
 
 '^r'^^C.g^^'^-i 
 
 Z6 
 
 (7^£u,^ 
 
 
 
 /s 
 
 
 /r 
 
 6^ 
 
 60 
 
 I shall be dead before you who find this can read 
 it, so that, perhaps, it boots not very much that I 
 should write down any more. Yet some things I 
 desire to tell, and some things I think it right for me 
 to leave on record. 
 
 But first let me say what was the end of niy 
 sojourn here. 
 
 When I had buried all of the treasure —excepting 
 those pieces of gold which I took away with me, not 
 knowing where I might find myself ere I reached 
 liome — if ever — I made for the galliot. For now I 
 had done with the hut — I never desired to see it 
 
 asram. 
 
 However, so that no signs of disturbance or 
 diggings should be apparent, should any come after 
 me, I first of all covered up, on my last visit to it, the 
 spot from Avhence I had taken the treasure, and, 
 moreover, I filled in the hiding place with earth 
 fetched from outside, and also the descent bv the
 
 208 THE UISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 steps. Indeed, I would have Ijurned the plat-e down to 
 the ground, only that I feared to set the whole island 
 on tire and so attract attention to my presence from 
 the other isles. And that there should be no more 
 digging, if I could help it, without great pains, I 
 dropped the spade and mattock into the sea. 
 
 I say that I wished to attract no attention from 
 the isles, the reason whereof was this, Avhich I had 
 arrived at after many ponderings. If I were known 
 to be there, or if I went to those isles and showed 
 myself, I must be subject to many questionings, must 
 explain all and my chasing of the pirate, and — Avho 
 knows ? — in the course of talk more might leak out 
 than I should care for. And, therefore, I had taken 
 a determination ; I Avould not go near the other isles, 
 but, boldly and without fear, directly the wind was 
 favourable — which it was not now — I would steer for 
 the reef once more. 'Twas, I did calculate, not more 
 than ninety miles away; the galliot could sail that very 
 easily in two days, and, for finding the spot, why that 
 also was very easy to be done. I could w^ell steer a 
 course by keeping Porto Rico on my larboard beam, 
 and then, when the great hump of Hispaniola's 
 Northern Promontory did come into view, could find 
 the road to the reef 
 
 From there, if Phips Avas gone, I must to the 
 Bahamas — for I should not dare to go ashore in 
 Hispaniola now, since the news of the Black's death, 
 and Geroninio's rage at being defeated of wliat 
 he thought due, might lead me to trouble — and I 
 could, perhaps, get to the Tnaguas. These, for there 
 are two of that name, the Great and the Little, are in
 
 THE MIDDLE KEY. 200 
 
 the Windward Passages, well known to navigators, 
 veiy useful for putting into for refitting and watering, 
 and bclonsiino- to our Crown. 
 
 O O 
 
 Yet — -for so things will sometimes happen — nought 
 went as I had forecast. And this you shall hear, after 
 wdiich my history is concluded — for which I devoutly 
 thank the Lord, and shall, on the Sabbath after it is 
 finished, offer up a special prayer of thanksgiving in 
 Branford Church that I have been allowed to bring it 
 to an end — and I shall then have no more to tell. 
 
 o
 
 210 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 NICHOLAS LEAVES THE ISLAND. 
 
 Now, when all was prepared for my setting forth and 
 Avhen I had gotten the galliot ready for her next cruise 
 and had also taken in some fresh water, a small live 
 turtle, some fruit, and all my bread and peas — now 
 running very low — chance was against me for a while. 
 Even for three Aveeks the wind did blow strong from 
 the north-west, while all the time I desired a wind 
 from the south-east, and I began to ponder if at this 
 season of the year it did not perhaps stay in the same 
 quarter altogether. There Avas, however, nought to do 
 but to possess my soul in patience, to keep ever a 
 cheerful heart, and to trust in God, as all my life I 
 have done. Meanwhile, in some ways the delay was 
 not altogether to be repined at, for I made, during it, 
 several visits to the Key in my boat and observed that 
 now there was no sign at all of the burying 1 had 
 made. The bush above the spot had taken root again 
 at once, and was growing and flourishing, some rain 
 storms that had come had smoothed and made solid 
 the disturbed earth, and tlic turtles were laying of 
 their eggs all around as if no human foot had ever 
 stood upon the Key. 
 
 One thing alone troubled me, and that was food — 
 or rather bread, for this was now running very short. 
 If I did not get away soon, T siiould have to do without
 
 NICHOLAS LEAVES THE ISLAND. 211 
 
 it altogether, or go seek for some in Negada and 
 Tortola. Yet neither, I was resolved, would I do this, 
 but rather exist without bread at all. I was a sailor, 
 I ever told nij'self, and a sailor should be able to 
 endure all hardships. 
 
 But on the twenty-second day since I buried my 
 spoils a change came. I was sleeping in the cabin of 
 my galliot, when with the dawn I perceived it. The 
 north-west Avind from which I had been sheltered in 
 ray cove had never disturbed the vessel ; now from 
 her starboard side, which was to the south as she lay, 
 there blew in a hot southern wmd, waves and riplets 
 came into the cove from that direction and lapped 
 against her bows, and she began gently to rise and 
 fall and heel over a little from them, as though she 
 were a living thing, impatient to be off. 
 
 " 'Tis come," I exclaimed, springing up. " The 
 hour has come to bid farewell to this spot. If this 
 wind hold forty-eight hours I shall be at the Inaguas 
 if I find not Phips at the reef." 
 
 The morn was not 3^et however, but was anigh as 
 I stepped to the deck; the breeze sweepmg up from the 
 lonof line of islands to the south was a-fresheninsf ; the 
 stars began to pale, the new moon to wane. No time 
 could have been better for me than this quiet period 
 before the dawn to steal away. 
 
 In half an hour I was well outside the cove, the 
 masts stepped, the sails set — and I at the helm had 
 set forth upon my road home. 'Twas a strange voyage 
 for one alone to undertake — had there been another, 
 or even a boy, to relieve mo 'twould have been nought ; 
 but now 'twas a voyage without a compass or aught to 
 o2
 
 212 THE HISrAXIOLA PLATE. 
 
 guide me, nothing indeed to help nie but the mercy of 
 heaven, my knowledge of the sea, and my strong frame 
 and good health. However, we slipped round Coffin 
 Island a little later, and I saw for the last time the 
 spot that held the buried treasure. The little Key was 
 visible beneath the now rising sun, the sea-birds were 
 Avheeling round and about it, and the blue water 
 rippled on its shores. And so I took farewell of it, 
 knowing that I should never see it any more. May 
 you, whomsoever you may be for whom I write this 
 narrative, find it as I left it, unharmed and untouched. 
 May your eyes gaze upon it and find therein what I 
 left behind when mine have long been closed in death. 
 
 And now I had nought to do but steer my bark 
 for that easterly point of Hispaniola called of late Cape 
 Franroy, and so I should come near to the reef, and 
 this, since the wind was very good and not boisterous, 
 'twas easy enough to do. When I was weary I would 
 lower down the sails, lash the rudder, and so take 
 some rest — doing this, of course, by day only, since 
 when the night came I must keep good watch — and 
 then set sail again when refreshed, finding m}' course 
 easy enough by the sun and breeze. 
 
 And so the first day passed, and I did calculate 
 that — allowing for my rest — I had left Cotlin Island 
 some twenty to fifteen leagues behind me, and, so that 
 I should not pass the Bajo and thereby run on to 
 Moufihoire Carre, or Turk's Islands, I shortened sail. 
 Yet this I need not have done neither, for in some 
 way I had not got my calculations aright. At dawn 
 tlicrc was no land in sight as I thought to see, so that 
 the galliot had not sailed as I guessed, or T had missed
 
 NICHOLAS LEAVES THE LSLAND. 213 
 
 my course. The wind, however, and the sun forbade 
 me to think this, so I made all sail again and went on. 
 
 At midday I did discover I was on the right tack ; 
 Cape Fran^oy and Saniana rose on my beam end, 
 therefore I knew that by altering my course a point 
 to the north I must strike the spot Avhere the reef 
 was. And this I did, judging by the sun that it was 
 four of the afternoon when first I saw the little shoal 
 waters over it. 
 
 I know not even now if I was glad or sorry to per- 
 ceive — as I did very soon — that the Farie was no 
 lonsfer there. Yet I think it was the latter, for I had 
 hoped to hear the cheery shout of Phips, to see my 
 brother othcers come round me, to hear the welcomes 
 of the men, and to be able to tell my tale. But 'twas 
 not to be. All around the reef was as lonely as if no 
 plate ship had ever sunk there, no attempts ever been 
 made to get up its contents, no horrid tragedy hap- 
 pened such as that Avhen Phips slew the Black and 
 executed of his companion. Birds flew about all 
 over it, seeking perhaps for scraps of food where 
 not a month ago they had found a plenty, the little 
 waves foamed over the sunken reef Avhere the now 
 emptied treasure ship lay — but that was all. 
 
 No ! I forQ-et. 'Twas not all. As I drew near I 
 saw sticking up from the water — as I had not been able 
 to see before because of the flittings of the many gulls 
 — that which looked like a jagged piece of mast, or 
 yard of a ship, with something crosswise a-top of it, 
 and my curiosity being great I got the galliot near to 
 it. I knew I could do this, since she had gone over 
 the reef often enoucdi Avhen acting as a tender, and
 
 214 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 "vvlien 'twas done I saw that it was indeed a mast 
 standing up endwise in the water, the lower part 
 doubtless fixed into some crevice or hole by the diver 
 ere the Furie left. And the cross-piece nailed on to 
 the top of the mast was in the form of a big arrow 
 rudely carved, placed so that it pointed towards 
 Avhere Europe was, and with on it the words, " To 
 Nicholas Crafer. ]\Iake your way home." That was 
 all, yet it told enough. The Furie had gone home 
 with the treasure ; if I was still alive I was to go too. 
 
 * * * ^ ^ * 
 
 Let me be brief That remaining day and night I 
 anchored off our original little isle, took in some fresher 
 water than I had, and caught some fishes. Also I 
 once more did cover again the bleached bones of those 
 mutineers who had endeavoured to surjDrise and seize 
 upon the Ahjier Rose — 'twas the last time, I reflected, 
 it would ever be done by me or an^^ There was no 
 danger of losing the favourable wind by resting here 
 for these few hours ; if anything it was blowing stronger 
 and fresher from the south-east than before. Nay, 
 when I jDut off in the morning for the furtherance of 
 my course, it was blowing so nuich in a manner I cared 
 not for, namely in fitful gusts followed by moments of 
 stillness, that I doubted me if I was overwisein putting 
 to sea again yet. Moreover, the Avind Avas almost due 
 south by now, so that to make the Inaguas I should 
 have much more trouble and Avork than when sailinu' 
 larL^e and free before a favourable breeze. 
 
 However, I nnist go, I Avould not be detained. 
 Indeed, I had come to hate all this region so nuich
 
 NICHOLAS LEAVES THE ISLAND, 215 
 
 that, even should a chance arise in the future for nie 
 to come out and bring off all my treasure, I felt as 
 though I should have no mind to it. Phips might 
 come an he would, and get it, but, for m3'self, I 
 wanted not to come again. If the Hispaniola plate 
 had been gotten back safely, then there would be a 
 share for me that would keep me from the wolf for the 
 remainder of my days. It would not be wealth, but 
 would doubtless suttice — and I had finished with 
 the sea ! 
 
 Though not yet. 
 
 When I was two hours out from our little isle, and, 
 as I believed, near unto Moushoire Carre, I did dis- 
 cover that I had been foolish to put out against so fast 
 risins^ a wind. For it had now freshened into a Q^ale 
 due from the south, so that I had to sail close-hauled 
 if I Avanted to pass that place in safety, and also 
 Turk's Islands. Nor even a little later was this 
 possible, as it blew more and more. I could no longer 
 manacle both sails and helm. So now I had to take 
 down most all my sail excepting the foresail to steady 
 the galliot, and to put her head before the Avind, 
 abandoning of my course altogether. And not long 
 afterwards the storm had become a furious one, the 
 whole heavens were obscured, the sea rose horribly — 
 I saw at this moment a picaroon in distress a little way 
 off me, and shortly go down — and my galliot did seem 
 to be doomed. 
 
 And now I never thought but that I had reached 
 my journey's end, that all was over with me. Huge 
 seas swept over the bows, the vessel soon began to fill 
 with water, she rolled and tossed from side to side so
 
 21 G THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 that I could not keep uiy feet, and then I heard a 
 crash, I saw the mainmast falhng swiftly towards me, 
 I felt a blow that shot a thousand stars from my eyes, 
 and I knew no more. 
 
 ^ ^ * * * ^ 
 
 When I again recovered of my senses I understood 
 not at first where I was, excepting that I was lying in a 
 berth in a dark cabin, that all my head was swathed 
 m cloths, and that standing near me was an elderly 
 man, regarding me attentively. 
 
 " Where," I asked, " am I ? This is not the 
 ofalliot." 
 
 " So," he replied in my own tongue, " 3'ou are an 
 Englishman ! We thought by the build of your 
 galliot that you were a Dutchman. Who and what 
 are you ? " 
 
 " Lieutenant Crafer, late of his Majesty's navy, and 
 late first Lieutenant of the Furie, Captain Phips. 
 AVhat ship is this ? " 
 
 "His Majesty's Virgin Prize, a 32-gun frigate, 
 Captain John Balchen. Homeward bound. "Win 
 should know this officer. Lieutenant Crafer." 
 
 " Very well," I answered. " Wq have served 
 tocfether. Yet 'tis not stranije if he knows not me, 
 no razor has touched my face for many weeks." 
 
 And so it was that I found myself bound to 
 ]']ngland in a King's ship, having for her captain a 
 man whom I had been at sea with ere now, when he 
 was n)y subaltern. Tliat I told him ;ill as regards the 
 treasure you are not to su})pose ; that secret was locked 
 in my own breast, to bo divulged to one onl}', Phips.
 
 NICHOLAS LEAVES THE ISLAND. 217 
 
 But 1 did give him a very fair and considerable history 
 of much that Ave had gone through, and, Hving with 
 him in his cabin and at his table, you may be sure 
 that we had many talks on the subject of the sunken 
 plate-ship. 
 
 " Yet," said he often, " I misdoubt me if King 
 James will be there to take his tenths when Phips 
 gets the Fnrie home. The peoj^le will endure him 
 but little longer — he is now an avowed Papisli — and 
 already there are whisperings of putting one of his 
 daughters in his place. If 'twere Mary all Avould be 
 well, since she is married to a staunch Protestant, 
 though the country would scarce accept him, too, I 
 think. 
 
 Yet, as you will see by later day history, James 
 was still there when I got back. And this I did on 
 Lady Day in the j^ear of our Lord 16S7, the Virgin 
 Prize making Portsmouth a month after she picked 
 me up, a corpse as they first thought, from the deck, 
 of the galliot, which was cast off after I was rescued. 
 It seemed from their calculations and mine that I 
 must have been met w^ith some hours only after I was 
 struck down, and at first they thought I had been 
 attacked by the picaroon — which ships are generally 
 full of thieves— which they had been a-chasing. 
 
 So, in this way, I came back from rn}^ second 
 voj'age to the wrecked Spanish Plate Ship, and put 
 my foot once more on my native land at Portsmouth 
 Hard. 
 
 And now but a few Avords more and I have done.
 
 218 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 THE XARKATIYE ENDS. 
 
 'TwAS at the Navy Tavern at rortsmoiith that I 
 learned that Phips had preceded me home but a 
 fortnight, that he had sailed to the Downs with the 
 Fiirie and all her contents, and that, most faithful to 
 his word, he had sent a letter for me. In it he said 
 that he prayed to God I might some time or other 
 get back safe to England — and that, if he should be 
 gone RAvay again, he would charge himself to leave my 
 share of the sale of the treasure in safe keeping, of 
 which I should be advised both by a letter to the 
 Admiralty directed for me, and also b}^ another to 
 this tavern. Likewise, he said, he trusted that I had 
 been able to come up Avith that most imconmion 
 rogue and villain, Alderly, that I had taken vengeance 
 of him for his treachery, and that I had recovered 
 whatever I might find he had stolen from tlic Plate 
 Ship. And if, he said, I had been enabled to liriug 
 that stolen wealth back with me, then 1 was to com- 
 municate with his Grace of Albemarle — supposing 
 him, Phips, gone — who should see that it was properly 
 directed to the right quarters. 
 
 So there was now nought for me to do but to 
 make for London myself, after I had slept one night 
 in the old town, changed a few of the gold pieces I 
 had taken off Aldcrlv ere I buried him, and bouuht
 
 THE NARRATIVE ENDS, 219 
 
 me a fair decent cliano'c of clothes in which to travel 
 and appear in London. And in fifteen hours I was 
 there from the time of my setting out, and once 
 more ensconced in an inn I had heretofore patronised, 
 namely, " The Blossoms," in Lawrence Lane, Cheap- 
 side. 
 
 The finding of Phips after this was by no means 
 difficult ; even at the inn they had heard of his 
 arrival : they told me, indeed, that there was much 
 connnotion both on Change as well as in Court and 
 Naval circles at the amount of treasure he had 
 brought home with him ; while — says my hostess to 
 me — 
 
 " Might you, sir, be the gentleman they say he left 
 behind to chase those cruel, wicked pirates Avho had 
 stolen part of the treasure he did find ? " 
 
 I answered that I was indeed that officer, whereon 
 she told me that the town talked nmch about me, 
 that even some of the journals had written discourses 
 upon my having gone off to chase pirates in nought 
 but a ship's boat — as they termed it — and that it 
 would be a fine thing for the gentry who produced 
 those sheets when they should hear that I was safe 
 back so very little a while after Phips himself 
 
 HoAvever, I Avanted to see Phips himself, and this 
 I very soon did, finding of him by presenting myself 
 at the Duke's house, where I noticed a most extra- 
 ordinary bustle going on, and discovered that his 
 Grace was just about to proceed to Jamaica to take 
 up the governorship thereof Poor man ! he did but 
 enjoy it a year, all of Avhich time he was thinking of 
 nought but finding new treasure round about that
 
 220 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 island, and then at the end of that his bottle took 
 him off. However, 'tis the present I have to tell of, 
 and will, therefore, but say that, ten minutes after my 
 announcement, the Duke came to me. 
 
 " Now," said he, greeting me, " this is the joyful 
 day. Lieutenant Crafer ; I do indeed rejoice to sec }'ou 
 back safe and sound, and so will PhiiDs. He is hard 
 by — he shah be sent for." 
 
 Whereon he ordered a man to go to the lodgings 
 and to tell Su- William Phips that Lieutenant Crafer 
 was gotten home safe and sound. 
 
 " Sir AVilliam Phips ! " I exclaimed. " Sir William ! 
 So ! has he come to such honour as that ? " 
 
 " He hath, indeed," laughed the Duke, Avho seemed 
 more jolly now than when we went out with the 
 Farie — perhaps his new appointment making him so 
 — "he hath, indeed. The King seemed so well pleased 
 with his tenth that he insisted on kniohtinir our 
 friend, and hath even silenced those wretches of the 
 city who say that — that Phips, and — well, no matter." 
 " What do they say, my Lord Duke ? " I asked, 
 though I could very well guess. 
 
 " Oh ! 'tis nothing, a tritlo ! and, since neither the 
 King nor I believe it, not to be considered." 
 
 " I can imagine Avhat they say, your drace," I 
 exclaimed. " It is that we have feathered a nest 
 somewhere — that all has not been brought home that 
 
 was found. Yet, 'tis not true " 
 
 " Tush, man, tush ! " interrupted the Duke. " Who 
 shall Ihiiik it is?" 
 
 "It is not true," I went on. "Every farthing's 
 worth Phips got he brought home, I will swear —
 
 THE NAllRATIVE EXDS. 221 
 
 while as for what xVlderl}^ stole from the plate ship, 
 Avhj, they sunk it when Ave boarded them." 
 
 " Man alive ! " exclaimed the Duke, " who doubts 
 it ? I do not, Avho am the chief concerned, nor will 
 the King hear a Avord. See, here is a testimon}^ I 
 mean to gi\'e to Phips. A gold cup I have had made 
 out of a thousand pounds' Avorth of the treasure. 'Tis 
 for his Avife in Boston, now Lady Phips, to Avhom he 
 hath sent out instructions to buy a fine brick house 
 to live in. For, you must knoAV, the King hath 
 promised him the Governorship of Massachusetts as 
 soon as it falls vacant, Avhen he Avill be settled for 
 life." 
 
 I regarded the cup, A^ery costly and beautiful, 
 engraved, " From Christopher, Duke of Albemarle, to 
 his trusty friend. Sir William Phips," Avhile the Duke 
 bade his servant bring us a tankard, and at that 
 moment in came Sir William himself hot haste to 
 see me. 
 
 ^ -H^ * * * -x- 
 
 " No," he said to me that night, as Ave sat at Avine 
 in his lodgings hard by the Strand, "no, Nick, that 
 hidden treasure is yours, and yours alone. It belongs 
 not to our providers here, nor does any share pertain 
 to me. You it Avas A\^ho found it, you it Avas vn^io 
 bad all the risk in going to lind it. It shall l)e 
 yours and yours only, since none other of the 
 galliot's creAV are noAV in existence. Only," he Avent 
 on, " as now you are provided for, I Avould leave it 
 there awhile. Say, for another generation. For if 
 you go and dig it up now, then Avill the merchants
 
 222 THE ITISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 say that tliey spoke tnily when they accused us of 
 robbino- them." 
 
 " I shall never go to dig it uj)," I said, " I will go 
 to sea no more. The Duke tells me there is four 
 thousand pounds for me at Sir Josiah Child's — 'tis 
 enough to do very well for my life. I will buy me a 
 little house somewhere, and an annuit}^ from some 
 nobleman with the rest." 
 
 " And," went on Sir William, " in that little house 
 find out a hiding place, and leave therein a full 
 description of Avhere your treasure is, so that those 
 who come after you shall, if the}' care to be at the 
 trouble thereof, discover a fortune. You will be 
 marrj'ing now, Nick, perhaps ? " 
 
 " Nay," said I, " I think not. Never now ! Once 
 when my heart was young and fresh I did love a 
 sweet 3'oung girl — she was the daughter of a retired 
 officer of Oliver's, and they dwelt at Kew — but the 
 small-pox ravaged the land and took her from me. I 
 find myself thinking of her often now ; perhaps 'tis 
 becau.se the time is drawing near when I shall sec 
 her a""ain, as young and fair as she was in those 
 bygone, happy days ; but I shall never have a "wife." 
 
 "Poor Nick, poor Nick," said Phips, laying his 
 great hand very gently on my .shoulder. " Poor Nick. 
 So you have had your romance too. Ah, well! so have 
 most men." Then a little later he said, "You know I 
 go out again with Sir John Narborough — I cannot 
 rest quietly at home in Boston till my rule begins in 
 ^[assachusetts — we shall be near your little Key — 
 shall I go and dig your spoil ujj ? I would do it 
 most faithfully fur you, Nick, as you know."
 
 THE NARRATIVE ENDS. 228 
 
 " No," I answered, after pondering a- while. " Xo, 
 not unless you will do so and take it, or some of it, 
 for yourself." 
 
 " That," said he, " I will never do. Not a stiver, 
 not one coin. 'Tis all yours." 
 
 " Then let it lie there," said I, " for those who shall 
 come after me. There is one other Crafer left in 
 Hampshire, a country gentleman, who has perhaps 
 some children now. It shall be theirs when I am 
 gone if the}^ choose to search for it." 
 
 So we parted for the last time, not without tears 
 in our eyes, we having been so much to each other 
 for so long that we could not easily say farewell. 
 
 As for him, he went on his cruise with Sir John 
 Narborough, but, as he after wrote me, he found 
 nothing. 
 
 And then the time came for him to take up his 
 rule in his own land, which he did wisely and well, 
 and perhaps because of his old belief in sooth-sayers, 
 and wizards, and geomancers — and, indeed, the knave 
 I have writ of did tell his fortune most wondrously, 
 even to his becoming a ruler thouo^h not a Kino- — 
 he spared many in New England who would have 
 been barbarously entreated otherwise. And he took 
 with him a fine gold medal, which the noAV fast 
 falling King had had struck in honour of his finding 
 the galleon's wreck, having on it the words Semper 
 tibi pendent Hainus, which the curate of Mortlake did 
 afterwards translate for me as meaning, ' JMay thy 
 fishing always be as good to thee." 
 
 It bore on it a supposed drawing of the Fitrie, but 
 none too accurate, thouoii near enoufdi.
 
 224 THE HISi'AXTOT.A PLATE. 
 
 Of tho treasure tlio Duke took £90,000, His 
 Majesty's tenth was sonietliing under £20,000, but 
 not much, and the merchants got many of them 
 £8,000 to £10,000, for every £100 they had adven- 
 tured. This is speaking roundly, as I have heard 
 sums of more and less mentioned in connection Avith 
 all concerned. Phips's share, as he told me, was 
 £10,000, and would have been more had he not out 
 of his own purse paid to a-many of the seamen some 
 sums which the merchants withheld from them. 
 Cromby's old mother was dead, I found on inquiring, 
 so that I could do nothing there. 
 
 Now, 'twas some six years afterwards, and when 
 James had been gone nigh that time to France, that 
 Phips wrote to me he was a-coming to England and 
 hoped among others to see me. Yet, alas ! we never 
 met again. I was at this time sore troubled with 
 gout and rheumatism — though, I thank God, uuuAi 
 of both have passed away — and I could not, 
 therefore, go to see him. Nor, neither was he ever 
 able to come to me. He had not been in London 
 many days when he catchcd a cold, and this 
 turning to a fever he died. And he was buried 
 in the Church of St. Mary Woolnoth, Avhere, when 
 I was recovered, I went and said a prayer above 
 his tomb. 
 
 Why should I write a funeral sermon on him for 
 tho.sc who never knew him ? Suffice, therefore, if I 
 say that he was honest, manly, and Godfearing, and a 
 better man did never live. To me, his subaltern, ho 
 was ever kindly, gentle, and friendly, very courteous, 
 yet also, when we came to know each other, very
 
 THE NARRATIVE ENDS. 225 
 
 brotherly ; and to conclude, I loved him. No need 
 to say more. 
 
 Now I have done. Almost all the evenings of 
 four months it hath taken me to write this story 
 down — I beginning of it in the bleak cruel nights of 
 winter, and ending of it when the leaves are pushing 
 forth. And I have written as truly as I know how, 
 telling no lies, and trying also very hard to make my 
 story understandable to whomso'er shall come across it. 
 
 My house — which I bought here, because 'twas 
 across the river in years agbne I used to wander with 
 the girl I loved so dear, and because I can see the 
 paths where we walked when I arise from my bed 
 every morning — I shall leave to a Crafer for ever, so 
 that some day, if the line dieth not out, one of that 
 name must find the clue. That it shall be a Crafer I 
 do earnestly hope, but if not it cannot be helped. 
 And in conclusion all I will now say is, that I do 
 pray that whosoever readeth this narrative, and 
 whosoever afterwards shall tind the buried treasure 
 on the little Key, he will use it Avell and nobly, de- 
 voting some part of it, if not all, to God's service. 
 Amen. 
 
 Nicholas Crafer.
 
 Tli.G ISearch by Reginald Crafer,
 
 227 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 OFF TO THE VIRGIN ISLES, 
 
 The passengers by the Royal Mail steamer, especially 
 the younger and fairer members thereof, felt an emo- 
 tion of oenuine reOTet when Reo'inald Crater left the 
 ship at Antigua, there to make the connection Avith 
 the company's vessel, the Tyne, which runs to Anguilla 
 and Tortola fortnightly. 
 
 For like so many, nay, almost all naval officers 
 with but few exceptions, Reginald possessed those 
 manly and pleasant graces which soon endear a 
 stranger to any number of persons among whom he 
 may happen to be thrown ; and ere the steamer — 
 crowded with tourists of the better class who were 
 avoiding the rigour of our winter by a tour in the 
 West Indian Islands — had been a week out of South- 
 ampton, he had made himself a general favourite. Of 
 course he could dance — when did a sailor ever exist 
 Avho could not? — also he could sing ; he had seen much 
 of the Avorld and he Avas good-looking. Let anyone 
 Avho has been on an ocean trip say if these accomplish- 
 ments and charms are not sufficient to at once make 
 a man popular m the conmumity assembled on such 
 an occasion. 
 
 And also there Avas about him some slight tinge of 
 mystery, some little reticence on his part, as to Avliat 
 he Avanted or desired to do at Anguilla or Tortola, 
 
 f2
 
 22cS THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 whicli added a flavour to the manner in Avhicli this 
 handsome yonng otiicer was regarded. For at either of 
 these islands there is nothing for a man to do at all, 
 unless he should desire to pass his life in breeding 
 herds of goats, cows, or sheep, or in fishing, or rearing 
 poultr}' , or cultivating a little cotton or sugar. And 
 certainly Keginald Crafer did not seem to be a man of 
 that sort. 
 
 " It can't be to see the bloomin' islands," said a 
 bagman on board who was not a favourite, though 
 possessing vast information about the locality, derived 
 from visiting the whole of the Gulf of Mexico and the 
 Caribbean Sea on business, "because there's nothino' 
 to see, and as a naval officer I'll bet he's seen enough 
 islands. And it can't hardly be a gal." 
 
 "Scarcely, I should imagine," said a stately young 
 lad}', by whom, as by others, this person's remarks 
 were not much apjn'eciated, " since 1 believe there are 
 few gentlemen or ladies there except the Consuls and 
 their families. Nor do I see that Lieutenant Crafer's 
 business is your affair or mine," whereon she turned 
 on her heel and left him. 
 
 Meanwhile Reginald, who, perhaps, was not un- 
 conscious of the curiosity he had raised, though taking 
 no notice of it, had plenty to thiidc of as well as havmg 
 always to keep a guard upon his tongue. 
 
 Indeed, it would not be saying too uuich if the 
 announcement was made that the discovery of Nicholas 
 Crafer's statement had produced a total change, not 
 only in this young man's method of life, but also in 
 his mind. 
 
 When he had finished the perusal of that
 
 OFF TO THE VIRGIN ISLES. 229 
 
 statement (which, yoii may remember, he began one 
 November afternoon) another day had come ; a foul, 
 nuu'ky, fog-laden atmosphere was doing duty for the 
 dawn. The river reeked with it, and so did the fields 
 across the Thames. Also the fire had gone out now, 
 though he had made it up several times during the 
 night, the lamp had consumed nearly the last drop of 
 oil in its glass bowl, and he could hear his old house- 
 keeper and general servant shuffling about upstairs as 
 though preparmg to begin the day. And his eyes 
 were wet with tears — tears which the last page or two 
 of that finely- written, often misspelt, and sometimes 
 nearly illegible manuscript had caused to spring to 
 them. For to him, young and impressive — though 
 as yet his heart had never been fairly touched by 
 Love's rose-tipped wings — there seemed a sadness in- 
 expressible in the story of his ancestor's love for the 
 dauQfhter of one of Oliver's officers who had died so 
 young, and of the manner in which he had bought 
 the house, so that daily, when he arose, the first 
 place to meet his eyes should be the spot where 
 they had walked together in those long-forgotten 
 years. 
 
 " Poor old Nicholas ! " he thought, as he went to 
 the French Avindows and drew the heav}^ curtains that 
 protected the room from the river's damp, and peered 
 across that river to the other side ; " poor old Nicholas ! 
 It was there you used to walk with her when you 
 were both young. It was there, when you had grown 
 old and she had long since gone and left you, that you 
 used to gaze and dream of her. And," he went on, 
 as he turned back into the room, " it Avas here, in this
 
 280 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 very spot, tAVO hundred 3'ears ago, that you sat night 
 b}^ night writing that story alone, as I this night 
 have sat alone and read it. I almost wonder that 
 your ghost did not come forth and stand at my elbow, 
 and peer over my shoulder at your crabbed, crooked 
 handwriting as I did so." 
 
 He dropped the manuscript in his pocket as he 
 finished his meditations and, going upstairs, met the 
 old housekeeper coming down. 
 
 " Lawks, Mr. Reginald ! " she said Avith a start, 
 " what a turn you give me ! Whatever have you got 
 up so early for ? " 
 
 " I have not been to bed yet, jMaria," he said, " but 
 1 am going now." Then, observing her look of as- 
 tonishment and the shaking of her head — perhaps she 
 thouo-ht he had been wassailing in London and had 
 only just come down by the early train — he said, " I 
 have been engagetl all night over some family ]iapers. 
 Call me at twelve and get some breakfast ready by 
 then. I shall go to town directly afterwards. And, 
 Maria, I shall be going abroad again soon; you will 
 have the house all to yourself once more." 
 
 " Ha ! " she said, with a grunt ; " well, who's afraid ? 
 I ain't, neither of ghostes nor burgulars, tho' we had 
 
 one " 
 
 But Reginald was on his way to bed before she 
 had finished her oration. 
 
 "The first thing to be done," he thought to him- 
 self, as he splashed about in liis bath after that five 
 hours' sleep — which was enough for him, since it was 
 more than a watch below — "is to get a promise from 
 the first Sea Lord, on the ground of ' urgent private
 
 OFF TO THE VIRGIN ISLES. 231 
 
 affairs,' that I shall not be called upon to serve for 
 another year. If I can manage that, then oft' I go to 
 Coffin Island and dear old Nick's treasure. Lord bless 
 me ! how I would like to have known Nick — as Phips 
 called him." 
 
 There had come into the young man's heart as he 
 read that paper a feeling which, I suppose, often comes 
 into the hearts of most of us who have ever had an- 
 cestors — the feeling that we would like to have known 
 them, to have seen them and to have shaken hands 
 with them, observed the quaint garb they wore, and 
 listened to their quaint speech. So it was now with 
 Keginald. He would have liked to have heard 
 Nicholas tell the story instead of having read it, would 
 like to have stood by his side when he fought the 
 Etoyle, to have been by him when the drunken and 
 delirious pirate died singing his song, to have accom- 
 panied him on that solitary vo3^age when he kept — 
 good honest man ! — a cheerful heart and trusted to 
 his God alone to watch over him. 
 
 " I wonder whose treasure it was that he found ? " 
 the young man meditated — "not Alderly's, at any 
 rate. The pirates never buried their treasure, thoui-h 
 the story-books say they did, but rather took it with 
 them to their favourite haunts to spend in a debauch. 
 Even Alderly was doing that at the time Nicholas 
 captured him ; ho had his box with him, full of ready 
 money for spending purposes. And those others, those 
 antique coins, those jewels and precious things, what 
 were they ? Buried, perhaps, by some French refugee 
 who had been cast away on Coffin Island and found by 
 Alderly, or stolen from some French treasure ship by
 
 282 THE HISPANtOLA PLATE. 
 
 an earlier pirate than Alderly, yet still found l>y him. 
 Shall I ever know ? " 
 
 But, whether he would ever know or not was a 
 matter of very small importance to Reginald C-rafer, 
 in comparison Avith the fact that he was going to find 
 them again himself, if he possibly could. For that 
 they should not lie any longer in the middle Key 
 above Coffin Island than it^ would take him to go and 
 fetch them, he was very firmly resolved. 
 
 " The Key isn't likely to have shifted," he reflected, 
 " nor to have become entirely covered by the sea for 
 good and all. And if it has, why, science has ad- 
 vanced a bit since the days of Nicholas, and we will 
 have it out. The treasure has been found twice as it 
 has been buried twice — once by its original owner, as 1 
 believe, and once by Nicholas ; I'll make the third 
 finder. There's luck in odd numbers!" and remem- 
 berino- his Latin, of which he had a better knowledge 
 than his sailor relative had had, he nnumured, 
 " Nnmero deus impare gam Jet .'" 
 
 The Fh'st Sea Lord proved kind, perhaps because 
 Reginald was a young officer Avho had done well and 
 was favourably known alread}^ besides having once 
 served in his own flag-ship and come under his 
 notice ; and though he hummed and hawed a little at 
 first, and talked a good deal about the shortness of 
 lieutenants, and so many being required to bo 
 calk'd out for the Naval IManceuvres, and so on, 
 at last said that he thought he might promise that 
 Lieutenant Crafer's services should not be asked for 
 for another year. Then, next, the young man bought 
 a chart of the Caribbean Sea, and, as the charts of
 
 OFF TO THE VIRGIN ISLES. 283 
 
 to-day are rather better tlian they were in the elder 
 Crater's time, he found Cotiin Island marked very 
 plainly, thoTigh still not named, thereon ; and he also 
 saw the three Keys dotted on it. " So that's all right 
 and comfortable," Reginald said to himself, whereon 
 he at once made all his plans for going on his search, 
 and, as has been told, had by now arrived at Antigua, 
 Avhence the Tywe goes fortnightly to Tortola and 
 Anguilla. 
 
 Yet, when he had settled down here to Avait for 
 that vessel's sailino- — which would not be for another 
 forty-eight hours — he scarcely knew how he should 
 set about his work. Coflui Island might be inhabited 
 by now, for all he knew, though judging by the little 
 knowledge possessed of it by any of the personnel of 
 the ship in which he liad come out, it did not appear 
 very probable that it was. Nobody on board that 
 ship could say whether it was occupied or not, most 
 of the officers, indeed, being a little haz}' as to where 
 Coffin Island was. 
 
 However, by the next day he had gained one 
 piece of information which might or might not be 
 true, but that, if the former, was likely to throw 
 some difficulties in his way. He had learnt that 
 there were inhabitants — as his informant believed, 
 though he wouldn't be certain — on the island ; for 
 that there was such a place as C(iffin Island \vas 
 very well known in Antigua, if not in the Royal 
 Mail steamers. 
 
 He had encountered as he lounged about the 
 hotel in St. John's — which is the capital of Antigua — 
 one of those busy gentlemen who are to be found
 
 284. THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 in almost every part of the world to Avliich strangers 
 come and go : an American. This worthy person, 
 who was young, tall, and dandified, having in his 
 " bosom " a beautiful diamond pin, addressed Reginald 
 the first moment he saw him with such a flood of 
 offers and questions as almost stunned him ; yet so 
 long was the flow of oratory that it gave him time to 
 collect his thoughts and be wary. 
 
 " If," said Mr. Hiram Juby, as he handed out a big 
 card with that name on it, " you are thinking of settling 
 here, I can be of assistance to you. Though, if you're 
 buying land, I should scarcely recommend Antigua. 
 It is not very renumerative and not cheap. Now, in 
 Dominica, which has no export duties, sir. Crown land 
 can be obtained for two dollars and a half an acre. 
 Trinidad is five dollars, St. Lucia five ; Tobaofo, also 
 without export duties, is two and a half I am also 
 an agent for the United States Governmental In- 
 surance Company, patronised and insured in 1)}^ the 
 first families of the " 
 
 "I am not thinking of buying any land, ^Fr. -luby," 
 Reginald said, (piietl}'. 
 
 " Then you must be a tourist. Therefore, \'ou A\ill 
 want to know the best hotels. Now there is " 
 
 " I shall stay at no hotels," Reginald again replied. 
 
 " Stay at no hotels ! Then you are perhaps going 
 to camp out. If so, I have the agency for some of 
 the best United States tents, utensils, rifles and guns, 
 hickory fishing-rods, and so forth. Sir, will you take 
 a cocktail, or shall avc try a dish of mangrove oysters ? 
 Or, if you are a conchologist, mineralogist, or botanist, 
 I should like to show you some collections I have
 
 OFF TO THE VIRGIN ISLES. 235 
 
 for salo Avhicli would save you much labour and 
 classitication " 
 
 " Sir," said Reoinald, " I aui none of those things ! 
 I {im a sailor amusing myself with a visit to this lovely 
 spot. I want nothing," and he turned on his heel. 
 
 " Stay, sir, stay, I beg," Mr. Juby said, going after 
 him as he left the verandah. " You are a sailor 
 visiting this lovely spot, and you want nothing I can 
 supply you with ! Why, sir, I have the very thing 
 for you — a thing that would have suited nobody but 
 a sailor. I have a little thirteen-ton cutter 3"acht — it 
 belonged to Sir Barnaby Briggs — your countryman, 
 sir, who died of drink, so they said, not I, in Guada- 
 loupe — but then these French will say anything but 
 their prayers. And I will let it you, sell it to you, 
 furnish it for you, find you a sailor man or so " 
 
 " What," said Reginald, interested now, for he 
 thought perhaps here was the best way of all in 
 which to visit Coffin Island — " what do you want for 
 the hire of it ? " 
 
 But before even these terms coidd be arranged, 
 Mr. Juby insisted — and he would take no denial — 
 that they should be discussed over the most popular 
 drink in all the West Indian Islands, a cocktail ; so 
 on to the verandah they went to partake of one. 
 And it was among the various acquaintances to 
 whom Mr. Jub}' — in thorough American fashion — 
 insisted on " presenting " Reginald, that he learnt that 
 Coffin Island was inhabited.
 
 230 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 DRAWING NEAR. 
 
 " The Virgin Isles," exclaimed one of these acquaint- 
 ances as lie spat on the ground after swallowing his 
 cocktail at a gulp, " the Virgin Isles ! Why, darn the 
 Virgin Isles ! What can you do there, young fellow, 
 'cept go fishing ? That is, luiless you are a Dane or 
 else a Dutchman "■ — by which he meant a German — 
 " then you might trade a bit. ' 
 
 But here Mr. Juby, who didn't quite approve of his 
 new client being called "young fellow," explained tbat 
 he Avas a gentleman who had neither come to settle nor 
 travel, but only to see the place generally. Also, he 
 informed him, as if the whole thing was settled — 
 which it wasn't — that Mr. C'rafer had hired the late 
 Sir Barnaby Briggs's yacht from him and was going 
 to make some tours in it. 
 
 " Oh ! " said the other, scraping the frozen sugar 
 off the rim of his empty glass as he spoke, and 
 sucking it off his linger — " ( )h ! if that's all, he's 
 welcome enough to yo to the A^iry-in Isles if he wants 
 to. I thought he wanted to shove some dollars into 
 coco-growing or Lilici'ian cortce. A tourist, eh ? " 
 
 " That's all," said licginald, " only a tourist." 
 
 "Well! there's good enough sailing round the 
 Virgin Isles or any others in these parts, if you want 
 to sail; but 1 thought Mi', -luby said you were a
 
 DllAWING NEAR. 237 
 
 sailor. Now, if you are, -what do you want to go 
 sailiii' about for ? Isn't dry land good enough for a 
 sailor off duty ? " 
 
 "Do you know the Virgin Islands?" asked Reginald, 
 not carino- to notice the man's cantankerous dis- 
 position. 
 
 " Know 'em ! I ufuess I do know 'em ! all tlic lot. 
 And not one worth a red. Which do you jiarticular 
 want to see ? " 
 
 " All of them," replied Reginald. " Perhaps 
 Tortola in particular." 
 
 " Tortola ! the rottenest of the lot, except, perhaps, 
 Anegada. Or, p'raps I'd best say Coffin Island. 
 That is about the — there ! well ! I'll be " 
 
 " Coffin Island ! " exclaimed Reginald, now very 
 wary. " That's a sweet name ! What sort of a ])lace 
 is that ? " 
 
 " Kinder place ,tit to go and die in, to just roll 
 yourself up in and kick. Kind of a dog's hole, 
 covered with palm trees, gros-gros, moriches and all, 
 Spanish baggonets and sich like. A place as is all 
 yellow and voylet and pink and crimson with flowers, 
 and smells like a gal's boodwar," (this was an awful 
 mouthful for him, but he got it out safely), " though I 
 don't know nnicli about gals' boodwars neither. My 
 dauu'hters ain't got none." 
 
 " It must be lovely," Reginald said quietly. 
 
 " Love— ly !" the man echoed. " liove — ly ! Bah! 
 there ain't five pounds' trade in it a year. The 
 oranges and guavas ain't worth fetching when you 
 can get 'em in the other places without half the 
 trouble, nor more ain't the nutmegs. Likewise, it's
 
 238 THE lllSPANIOLA I'LATE. 
 
 chock-a-bluck full of tarantula spiders and centi- 
 pides." 
 
 "In such a case I suppose it is uninhabited," 
 Reginald hazarded. 
 
 " Well, no it ain't, not altogether," the other 
 replied. " Leastwajs, that's to say partly. There's a 
 fisher fellow lives there when he ain't nowheres else, 
 and he's got a son and a darter. Tliey've been a 
 living there for over a cent'ry, I've heard tell." 
 
 " What ! " exclaimed Reginald and Juby together 
 while others round who had been listenino- to the 
 discourse burst out lauijliing. 
 
 " For over a cent'ry and more," the man went on, 
 ''this fellow Bridges' family have been living there " 
 
 "Only," chimed in another man, "that ain't the 
 name. It ain't Bridges at all It's Aldrido-e." 
 
 " No," said still a third, " it isn't Aldridgc neithci', 
 though something like it." 
 
 " Are you telling the story or am I ? " exclaimed 
 the first. " And darn the name ! What do names 
 matter ? " Here he was appeased by the thought ful- 
 ness of Reginald, who suggested some more cocktails 
 round, after which he went on — 
 
 " More than a cent'ry, I've heard they've l)ccn 
 there. You see, this family is a bit wrong in their 
 heads, and they've got mto those heads the idea that 
 somewhere in that darned Coffin Island there's a mort 
 of treasure buried " 
 
 Reginald was sipping his cocktail as the man 
 arrived at this point, and his teeth clicked involun- 
 tarily against the glass as the latter uttered the last 
 words ; but, beyond this, he did not betray himself.
 
 DRAWING NEAR. 239 
 
 Yet it seemed to liiiu that bis heart beat quicker 
 tiian before. " And, therefore, if it's to be found," 
 the man continued. " they mean to hnd it. Yet no 
 one as I ever heard of, or knew, beheves it's there. 
 If it Avas to be got, they'd have got it before. They 
 do say they've dug up half the ishmd looking for it. 
 But there, I don't know, I've never been ashore in 
 Coffin Island mj^self " 
 
 " But," said Reginald, " 30U said just now that the 
 man only lived there when he did not live somewhere 
 else. Does he leave his island sometimes, then ? " 
 
 " He does and so does the son. You see, mister, 
 up that way the jjeople are sailors — like yourself! — 
 just because they can't be much else. And good sailors 
 they are, too, as well as tishermen, so when they've 
 got no turtle nor lish to take, as hapj)ens in some 
 times of the year, they go off as sailors in any ship 
 in these parts as wants hands. Now, some of 'em 
 goes down Asjoinwall and Colon way — that there 
 once-supposed-to-be-going-to-le-made Panama Canal 
 took a lot of men down there — and some goes to the 
 other Islands, even up to Jamaiky and so on. Well, 
 the old man and his son can't always just live on 
 then- stock-rearing and fishing and turtle-catching, 
 and so off they goes too, to get a few more dollars to 
 buy a cask of rum or something they Avant." 
 
 " But the daughter ; she cannot go as a sailor 
 too ! " 
 
 " Oil, no ! But she can stop at home and look 
 after the shop. And they do say that she's quite 
 able to do it. She's a caution, I've heard." 
 
 This Avas all the man kncAv, and, under the
 
 240 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 intluence of the coijktails, lie would have been very 
 willing to go on telling more, had he had any further 
 information. And, indeed, considering the distance 
 of Antigua from Coffin Island, it was extraordinary 
 that he should have been able to tell so much. Or, 
 rather, it would have been extraordinar}-, were it not 
 for the amount of intercourse and comnumication 
 that takes place between all the numerous islands in 
 the Antilles, and the gossip that is carried backwards 
 and forwards, and is for ever floating about among 
 the sparse population of these, now, much-neglected 
 places. 
 
 By night Reginald had changed his plans; instead 
 of going on to Tortola in the Tyne, he had decided to 
 hire Sir Barnaby Briggs's 3'acht, the Fompeia, from 
 Mr. Juby, and to finish his journey in her. To him 
 it seemed the wisest thing he could do. He would 
 attract less attention at Tortola as a man cruising 
 about for a holiday in the region : and, by living on 
 board, ho would be exposed to little questioning. 
 Moreover, so good a sailor as he wanted no assistance 
 in managing such a craft as this ; in calm w^eather he 
 could go about where he liked, and in bad weather 
 shelter could be run for and reached in almost half 
 an hour among the continuous chain of islands 
 hereabouts. And, finall}', he could work his way up 
 to Coffin Island, take some observations of the strange 
 family dwelling thereon, and see if the Keys looked 
 as if they too had been submitted to the searching 
 process. 
 
 It was a tough job, however, to bring the astute 
 Juby to terms, even over so trifling a thing as hiring
 
 DRAWING NEAR. 241 
 
 the Pornpeia. At first he wmild hardly name the 
 sum he wanted, and then, when that was arranged at 
 £20 a month — which, after all, was not out of the 
 way — he made various other stipulations, more, as it 
 seemed to Reginald, for the pleasure of so making 
 them and fussing about, than for any wonderful 
 advantage to himself 
 
 " I must have a deposit," he said, adding cheer- 
 fully, " yachts do get sunk even here, and there's no 
 telling what might happen, though I'm sure of one 
 thing, sir, you wouldn't run away with her. Then she 
 must be insured m the United States Governmental 
 Insurance Company for the other half, and " 
 
 But, to cut Mr. Juby short, Reginald, who had 
 brought a very comfortable little sheaf of Bank of 
 England notes wherewith to prosecute his search, 
 consented to his terms, and became the tenant of the 
 lamented Sir Barnaby's yacht. She proved, Avhen he 
 Avent down to see her before finally concluding 
 negotiations, a very serviceable-looking little cutter, 
 strongly built, having a good inventory, her ballast 
 all lead, copper all new, a full outfit, and a double- 
 purchase capstan. And she bore on her the name of 
 a well-known Barbadoes builder, of whom, probably, 
 the late baronet had purchased her new. 
 
 " I don't mind taking that nigger as far as 
 Tortola," said Reginald, pointing out a man loafing 
 about St. John's harbour, " if he wants a job as he 
 says he does, but he'll have to go ashore there. I'm 
 fond of sailing by myself and shan't employ him 
 regularly, at any rate." 
 
 And in this way he set off' upon his journey once 
 Q
 
 242 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 more, sailing the rompeia himself, and letting the 
 negro potter about, cook a meal or two, and gossip a 
 little on subjects of interest in the islands, but of none 
 at all to him. And at Tortola — to which the man 
 belonged — he sent him iishore, telling him that 
 whenever the cutter came in and out he could come 
 and see if he was wanted, and perhaps earn a shilling 
 or two. The weather was everything that could be 
 desired, and, had Reginald been the most Cockney 
 yachtsman that ever kept a yacht in the Thames, 
 instead of a skilful sailor, he would have found it all 
 he Avished, while the cruise past the intermediate 
 islands was charming even to him, who had seen so 
 much of the world. 
 
 The great peak of Nevis interested him by recall- 
 insf the fact that it was in this island that Nelson 
 found his wife, when, as caj^tain of the Borras, he 
 brought his ship here after chasing the French fleet ; 
 while St. Kitt's, with its " Mount Misery," and its 
 claims to be the Gibraltar of the West Indies, ap- 
 pealed also to his naval mind. And, when the scarlet- 
 roofed houses of St. Thomas, surrounded by the 
 glorious foliatje of that fair island, hove into sio^ht as 
 the Pompeia left Santa Cruz on her port beam, he 
 felt a ihrill of satisfaction, mixed, perhaps, with 
 excitement at the knowledge that Coffin Island was 
 at hand. Another day or so would bring him to the 
 place of wliich his relative had, in his quaint style, 
 left so graphic a description ; he would probably 
 come into contact with the strange family that 
 dwelt in Coffin Island ; he would be near his in- 
 heritance.
 
 DRAWING NEAR. 243 
 
 " Yet," he said to liiinselt', as he set the yacht's 
 head a point further north, to run np Avhat still retains 
 its old name of " Sir Francis Drake's Passage " — " yet 
 is it my inheritance ? Or does it not by right belong 
 to this poor family, who, it seems, have for over a 
 hundred years been searching hopelessly for it ? Is it 
 theirs or mine ? Theirs — who, by some strange fate, 
 have come to the knowledge that treasure is buried 
 here, perhaps was buried by their OAvn ancestors, who 
 loft the story of it — or mine, who am only the 
 kinsman of the man who lighted on that treasure, 
 but could not take it away with him ? Well ! I 
 shall see. Perhaps, when T have met these people 
 who live in so primitive a state, I shall knoAv better 
 what to do — know whether it is best to get the 
 treasure and go off with it, or do my duty, and, if it 
 is rightly theirs, restore it to them." 
 
 So, you will perceive, not only was Reginald a 
 romantic and adventurous young man, but also a 
 very straightforward one !
 
 2-H 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 OUT OF THE DEPTHS OF A FAR DISTANT PAST. 
 
 Two days after these reflections the Pomj^eia was 
 making her entrance under very Hght sail mto that 
 river — spoken of variously by Nicholas as a canal, an 
 inlet, and an outlet — in Avhich the fight with the 
 Etoyle had taken place. And it almost seemed to 
 Reginald as if he must himself have been a partaker 
 of that fight, so visibly did his predecessor's story 
 rise before his mind now that ho was in the very 
 spot. 
 
 " It was here," he thought, as he lowered the last 
 remaining yard of sail, " that the Etoyle was across 
 the stream, there that the galliot lay before they went 
 at them. Heavens and earth ! why does not Nicholas 
 rise up before my sight with his round face and light 
 bob wig, as he appears in the little picture at home, 
 and in his scarlet coat ? — but — no, he would not have 
 them on here. Those braveries were not for cruises 
 such as he was upon." 
 
 Then he looked around again. 
 
 " Which, I wonder, was the spot where Alderly 
 drew up the box from under the water, and where he 
 murdered the diver ? Which the spot where the path 
 led up to the hut ? Why does not some spirit rise to 
 point these things out to me ?" 
 
 All was very calm here now as the romantic young
 
 OUT OF THE DEPTHS OF A FAll DISTANT PAST. 245 
 
 man indulq-ed in these meditations. There was no 
 sign of hfe about the island — of human hfe ; it was as 
 still as though it were uninhabited. Yet all the tropic 
 life was there, all the gorgeous colouring of which the 
 Yankee settler — if he were a Yankee — Avho told him 
 the story of the place had spoken. The fan-palms, 
 the moriches, and the gros-gros grew side by side; 
 red poinsettias mingled with wild begonias, purple 
 dracasna and yellow crotons ; the rattans and orchids 
 were tangled together in an indescribable confusion of 
 beauty. 
 
 " It is the isle of Nicholas's description. No doubt 
 about that ! " said Reginald. " And," he continued, 
 drawing his pipe from his pocket and lighting it, " I 
 am here as once Nick was here. AVhat a pity there 
 is no one to represent the nuu-dered diver and his 
 assassin, the drunken, maddened pirate." 
 
 As he reflected thus he heard the bark of a dog a 
 little distance otf; a few moments later he heard 
 another sound as though branches were being parted ; 
 presently a voice spoke to the dog, and then the 
 foliage growing down to the river's bank was pushed 
 aside, and a woman came out from that foliage and 
 stood gazing at hhn. 
 
 " A\'ho are you ? " she asked. " And what do you 
 want ? " 
 
 From his cutter to the shore, thirty to forty feet 
 oti", he m return gazed upon her, though his surprise 
 did not prevent his remembering he Avas a gentleman, 
 and, from the distance, taking off his hat to her Avhile 
 he put away his pipe. She stood before him, sur- 
 rounded by all tljat luxuriance of colour and tropical
 
 246 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 vegetation, a girl " soiiietliing more than connnon tall," 
 and of, perhaps, nearly twenty years of age. A girl 
 dressed in a light cotton gown — a very West Indian 
 robe, both in its plain quality and pattern— that hung 
 loosely upon her, yet did not conceal the shapely form 
 beneath. On her head she wore a large flapping straw 
 hat, but it was not at her hat, but at what was beneath 
 it, that Reginald looked. Her features were beautiful 
 — there is no other word but this simple one to de- 
 scribe them — her colouring that which is often found 
 in these regions, but scarcely anywhere else ; the eyes 
 a dark, lustrous hazel, the eyebrows black, the hair, 
 which hung down like a mane upon her back, golden, 
 with a tinge of copper red in it. 
 
 " Who are you?" she asked again, though he noticed 
 that her voice was not a harsh one, nor, in spite of the 
 question, an angry one. " What do you require ? " 
 
 " Pardon me," replied Reginald, still spellbound at 
 her appearance. "Pardon me. I hope this is no in- 
 trusion. I am yachting in a small way about the 
 islands here. And among other places that attracted 
 my attention was this river. I trust my presence is 
 not objectionable." 
 
 " No," the girl replied quietly. Then she said, 
 " ]Jo you belong to the islands, or arc you English or 
 American ? " 
 
 " I am English," he answered. " A sailor in Her 
 ^Majesty's service." 
 
 She paused a moment, as though, it seemed to him, 
 scarce knowing Avhat to say, then she spoke again. 
 
 " Are you going to land ? " 
 
 " If I may do so. If it is permissible."
 
 OUT OF TliE DEPTHS OF A FAR DISTANT PAST. 247 
 
 " Oh, yes," she said. " You may do so. Sometimes 
 people land here." 
 
 He took her permission at once, and, dropping 
 the cutter's anchor, drew up the dinghy that was aft 
 of her, and, getting into it, stepped on shore close by 
 her side. And, as he did so, he wondered, " Was it 
 here that Nicholas landed ? " 
 
 lilwn once more taking off his hat as he came near 
 to her, he said : 
 
 " Why do people sometimes land here ? Have you 
 any particidar object of interest in your island ? " He 
 woidd like to have added in a 'j^allant fashion, and 
 sailor-like, " besides yourself," but, on consideration, 
 refrained from doing so. 
 
 The girl smiled, as he could see, while she bent 
 down to quiet the dog that was jumping about 
 Reginald as though welcoming a new acquaintance. 
 Then she replied — 
 
 " No, not any particular object. Yet people come 
 here because there is a history attached to my family, 
 or, perhaps I should say, my family really has a history 
 connected with this island — though I for one do not 
 believe it." 
 
 " And that history is ? " Reginald asked eagerly. 
 
 " An ancestor of mine was supposed to have biu'ied 
 a treasure, or to have found one, and never been able 
 to remove it. Yet, since ho lived a wild life — for I 
 fear he was a ])irate — he left with his wife, a mere 
 girl, a full description of where it could be found 
 should he at any time fail to return to her. He did 
 fail at last to return, and the place which he had named 
 was this island, the exact spot being a cellar under a
 
 248 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 iiiit." She paused a moment, then she added, "The 
 hut was found and the cellar, but— the treasure was 
 
 gone. 
 
 Whether the faintness which came over Reginald 
 at this moment — a thing he had never experienced 
 before — was caused by the change from the cool sea 
 breezes to the warmth exhaled by the thick vegetation 
 of the island and the rich odour sent forth by the 
 flowers, he has never yet been able to tell. All he 
 knows is that, at her words, the place where they 
 were standing swam round him, the palms seemed to 
 be dancing a stately measure with each other and 
 the island spinning, too, while he heard the girl's 
 voice exclaiming : 
 
 " You are not well. What has overcome you ? " 
 
 " I do not know," he replied. " It must be the 
 heat ashore ; yet I am used to all kinds of heat. A 
 little water would revive me. I will go back to the 
 cutter." 
 
 " There is a rill close by," she said ; " come and 
 drink from that." 
 
 He went towards it, following (he direction she 
 indicated, his mind still confused, his brain whirling. 
 " Where had he heard of a rill before in connection 
 with the island ? " he asked himself ; yet as he did so 
 he knew very well it was somewhere in Nicholas's 
 narrative. And the hut and the collar beneath ! 
 Above all, a girl whose red mane was thrown behind 
 her ! Where had he heard of one such as that ? 
 
 He drank from the Avell and cooled his hands and 
 face — still reuiembering that Nicholas had in some 
 portion of his story described how he had done this
 
 OUT OF THE DEPTHS OF A FAR DISTANT PAST. 249 
 
 same tiling — and all the time the girl stood watching 
 him. 
 
 " You will pardon me this exhibition of weakness, 
 I hope," he said. "But I am all right now. And your 
 story is so interesting, so much like a romance, that — 
 if I may stay a little longer — I should like to hear 
 some more of it. That is, if my curiosity is not 
 oftensive." 
 
 " No," the girl said simply, and her very ease before 
 him and her lack of ceremony showed how nuich a 
 stranger she was to any worldly conventionality. " I 
 am very glad to have anyone to talk to. One gets 
 tired of hving always, or nearly always, alone." 
 
 " Alone ! But surely you don't live alone in Coffin 
 Island ? I had heard there were at least two — two 
 men here." 
 
 " There are sometimes— my father and brother ; 
 but they go away to sea for weeks together, especially 
 since they have almost abandoned the thought of our 
 finding the fabulous treasure. They are away now, 
 though I expect them back soon." 
 
 " And you are not afraid to live here all by 
 yourself ? " 
 
 " Afraid ! Why should I be ? We cannot find the 
 buried treasure, therefore it is not likel}^ anyone else 
 could do so. And there is nothuig else here to tempt 
 anyone." 
 
 " Was there not ? " Reginald reflected. " Was 
 there not ? " Yet she seemed so innocent and simple 
 that he could not tell her his thoughts. He could 
 not tell her, as he might have told a more worldly 
 girl, that to many men there was a greater temptation
 
 250 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 ill that graceful form and tliose hazel eyes and tawny- 
 golden hair than in all the dross beneath the surface 
 of the earth. So he only said — 
 
 " But if you found the treasure ? What would 
 you do then ? " 
 
 " We should go away, I suppose — though I should 
 be sorry to leave this island. We should go into 
 the world then — perhaps to Antigua or Trinidad." 
 Reginald here politely concealed a smile, and she 
 Avent on, " But I hope we shall never find it. My 
 father and brother are used to the life they lead here ; 
 I do not think the outer world >vould suit them." 
 
 " But they are sailors and have seen it, you say ? " 
 
 " They are sailors, but not such as you. They are 
 simple, rough men, scarcely able to read or to write. 
 That was, I think, why they — why my father — sent 
 me to school at Antigua." 
 
 " But how do you live while they are away ? " lie 
 asked her now. 
 
 " Yery well. I have the hut, and there is always 
 })leiity of dried meat and fresh fruit. And sometimes 
 1 tish, or shoot a bird. There are plenty here of both 
 kinds." Then she stopped and, looking at him, said, 
 " ^\^)uld you like to see our home ? It is not far." 
 
 The girl's naivete won on him so that there was 
 but one reply possible— an immediate and fervent 
 assent to this invitation : and a few moments later 
 they Avcre treading a path through the wood. 
 
 "The path," Reginald said to himself, "lliat 
 doubtless he walked, leading to tlie hut Avhere he saw 
 Alderly die. The same, yet all so difibrent !" 
 
 " A little glade on which the moon did shine as
 
 OUT OF THE DEPTHS OF A FAR DISTANT PAST. 251 
 
 tliougli on a sweet English field at home," he remem- 
 bered Nicholas had written — and, lo ! they were in it 
 now. A little glade bordered on all sides by golden 
 shaddocks, grape-fruits, citrons and lime-trees, with, 
 at their feet and trailing round them, the many-hued 
 convolvuli of the tropics, passion-flowers and gran- 
 dillos. Only, instead of seeking for a blood-stained 
 sea-robber, Reginald was following in the footsteps of 
 this woodland nymph — this girl whose beauty a]id 
 innocence acted like a charm upon him. 
 
 Then, next, they entered the tangled forest that 
 Nicholas had passed through, and here again all was 
 as he had described it. The gleaming leaves of the 
 star-apple shone side by side Avitli the palms and 
 cotton-trees ; the fresh cool plantains and the cashews 
 stopped their way sometimes ; the avocados and yams 
 and custard-apples were all around thein. And turn- 
 ing a bend of the path they came upon the hut, even 
 as, two centuries ago, Nicholas had come upon the hut 
 where Alderly had played host to the spectres of his 
 drunken imagination. 
 
 Of course it could not be the same ; the old one 
 must long ago have rotted away, even if not pulled 
 down. This to which the girl led him was a large, 
 substantial wooden building, painted Avhite and green, 
 with all around it — which made it appear even larger 
 — a balcony, or piazza, and with jalousies thrown over 
 the rails of the piazza from above the windowless 
 frames. On the balcony were rude though comfort- 
 able chairs covered with striped Osnaburgli cloths; 
 ao'ainst the railinfj there stood a gun — it was hers ! — 
 and there were large calabashes standing about, some
 
 2/32 THE HISPANIOLA PLA'l-E. 
 
 full of water and some empty, witli smaller ones for 
 drinking" from. 
 
 " This is my home," the girl said. " And it is here 
 that we have lived for nearly two hundred years, the 
 house being rebuilt as it fell into disrepair from time 
 to time. I pray you to be seated. Later, when you 
 have rested, you shall see where the diggings have 
 been made in the searches for the supposed treasure." 
 
 " And where," said Reginald, speaking as one in a 
 stupor, " is the spot you told me of, the cellar Avhere 
 the treasure once had been ? " 
 
 " It is below the floor of this verandah we are 
 standing on. Wh}^ do yon ask ? " 
 
 " Your story interests me so," he replied. " It 
 seems so like a dream. But," he continued, "later 
 on, another da}^, perhaps you will teU me all of it. For 
 instance, I should so much like to know how your 
 ancestor, who at last never returned, came to possess 
 the treasure and to leave it buried here." 
 
 " He found it here," she said, " by chance, and ever 
 afterwards he made this island a resort of his. I have 
 told you he was a bad man — I am afraid, a pirate." 
 
 Aijfain there came a feelin^ into Recnnald's mind 
 that he was losing his senses, that he was going mad. 
 And the next question he asked, with the answer he 
 received, might, indeed, have justified him in so 
 thinking. 
 
 " Will you Loll me," ho said, "to Avhom I owe this 
 hospitable reception on Collin Island? Will you tell 
 me your name ? " 
 
 " My name," she rc[)licd, " is Barbara Aldcrly."
 
 253 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 SOME LIGHT UPON THE PAST. 
 
 Her name Avas Barbara Alderly ! This girl whose 
 beauty was as fresh and pure as her mind was inno- 
 cent, the girl who — in spite of being able to shoot 
 birds for her food and cook them too, or to sail a boat 
 as well as Reginald himself could do — looked as 
 delicate as any girl brought up in an English country 
 house, was Barbara Alderly, his, the pirate's, de- 
 scendant ! It seemed impossible — impossible that she 
 could claim relationship with such as he had been ; 
 yet it was so ! 
 
 A week passed from the time she had divulged 
 her name, a week in Avhich they were always together 
 during the daytime — he going to his boat at night, 
 and joining her agam in the early morning — and 
 in that week each had told the other their story, 
 Barbara being the first to relate hers. But in justice 
 to Reginald it must be said that, never from the 
 moment he had heard who she was, had he had one 
 thought of keeping back from her the secret of where 
 the treasure was hidden, or of depriving her and her 
 relations of one farthing of it. 
 
 " It must all be theirs," he said to himself, " all, 
 all. I could not go away from this island with one 
 penny of it in my pocket and continue to think 
 myself an honest man."
 
 254 THE HTSI'ANTOLA PLATE. 
 
 But first he had to hear her family story — in itself 
 a romance, if ever there was one— she telling it to 
 him a few days after their acquaintance, as they 
 sat on the verandah, while he drank some water 
 from one of the calaljashes, flavoured with a dash 
 of whisky brought up by him from the Pompeia, 
 and she played with her inseparable companion, the 
 dog, Carazo. 
 
 "You nmst know," she began, " that it was not 
 until some years after Simon Alderly — who was the 
 man I think to have been a pirate — failed to return 
 to Port Royal, where he lived, that his still 3'Oung 
 wife, Barbara — her name being the same as mine — 
 found the paper telling her of the treasure in this 
 island." 
 
 '• Barbara ! " Reginald interrupted, memory re- 
 calling Nicholas's words once more. "Barbara! A 
 portrait of a girl with blue eyes, red gold hair, and a 
 sweet mouth ! " 
 
 "What do you mean, sir ? " exclaimed his young 
 hostess, looking at him for the first time with some- 
 thing like surprise, if not alarm. " How do you know 
 she was like that ? She has been dead for," and she 
 counted rapidlj^ on her fingers — " for one hundred and 
 seventy years ! " 
 
 "Miss Alderly," Reginald replied, " will you believe 
 me if I tell you that I think T shall be able to throw 
 some light upon your fauiily history when I have 
 heard it ? I have something to tell you as well as to 
 listen to." 
 
 " Then,'' said the girl, "your presence here is not 
 due to accident. You have come purposely to this
 
 S<1ME LIGHT UPON THE PAST. 255 
 
 island in connection with the hidden wealth it is 
 sujjposed to contain." 
 
 " Yes ! " he said, " yes, I could not tell you an 
 untruth. I have come purposely here to find out 
 about that wealth. Believe me, my presence bodes no 
 harm to 3^ou or yours, no deprivation of what belongs 
 rightly to you." 
 
 " Oh I " she said, " how happy that will ma^.Le 
 father. But will you not tell me " 
 
 " With your permission," he replied, " I will not 
 tell you anything imtil you have told me your story. 
 Then I will keep nothing back from 3'ou — I will, 
 indeed, help you to recover that which has been 
 souo'ht for so lono- " 
 
 " You know Avhere it is ? " 
 
 " I think so. I discovered the secret in Eno-land, 
 and I came out here to dig " 
 
 " But," she again interrupted, " if you discovered 
 the secret, then this treasure is yours, not ours." 
 
 " No," he said hastily, " no ; it Avould have been 
 mine had I not found that there were people in 
 existence Avho are more righteously entitled to it. 
 Now I shall find it, if I can, for you. Pray continue 
 your tale. When that is concluded I will begin 
 
 mine." 
 
 For some time he could not brinar her to do so, 
 his words having caused her much excitement ; but at 
 last she took up the thread of her narrative — the 
 narrative interrupted so early in its commencement. 
 
 " This Barbara," she said at last — while all the 
 time her clear e3^es had a searching, almost troubled, 
 look, as she kept them fixed on him — " this Barbara
 
 256 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 of whom you seem to know, or to have guessed the 
 appearance, though I cannot say if it is a correct one, 
 had herself a strange history. Simon Alderly had 
 found her, a child of about four years old, alone and 
 deserted on one of the Lucayos group, and, since there 
 was a boat washing about on the coast of the island, 
 he thought that possibly she had drifted ashore in it, 
 while her parents, or those who had saved her, had 
 fallen into the sea from the boat after escaping from 
 some sinking ship. He took her off, however, carried 
 her to Port Royal, and, after bringing her up, married 
 her when she was fifteen. Then he left her in charge 
 of his house there, while he, following the calling of a 
 sea-captain, was frequently away from home, some- 
 times for weeks at a time, sometimes for months, 
 sometimes for more than a year. But whenever he 
 returned he always brought a great deal of money — 
 generally composed of the coins of several different 
 nations — half of which he always gave to her foi 
 future household expenses, spending the remainder in 
 great rejoicing while he stayed on shore." 
 
 " This is, of course, family history," Reginald 
 hazarded, " handed down from generation to genera- 
 tion ? Is it not ? " 
 
 "You shall hear, though you have guessed 
 right. Our family records since that time have been 
 carefully kept." 
 
 " I beg your pardon for interrupting you," Regi- 
 nald said. " Pray go on." 
 
 "However," the girl continued, stroking Carazo's 
 ears all the wliile as she did so, " the time came when 
 he retuiiicd no more; he disappeared finally hi 1G87."
 
 SOME LIGHT UPON THE PAST. 257 
 
 " Ah ! " exclaimed Reginald involuntarily. 
 
 Again her soft hazel eyes stared full at him as 
 she exclaimed, " You are aAvare of that ; you know it 
 as well as I do ! " 
 
 " Yes," he answered, " I know it. Once more 
 forgive me." 
 
 " Perhaps," she said, " you know as much, or more 
 than I do ! " 
 
 " No," he replied, " after that I know no more. 
 After the year 1687 down to this period I know 
 nothing further of Simon Alderly — indeed I did not 
 even know that his name was Simon ; what you 
 tell me of incidents after that period will he new 
 to me." 
 
 " And you will tell me all you know when I have 
 finished?" she asked, looking at him with such 
 trusting eyes that no man, unless he Avere a scoundrel, 
 could have had one thought of obtaining her confi- 
 dence and yet holding his own. 
 
 " On my honour I wilJ," he answered, " even to 
 telling you where I believe your wealth is hidden." 
 
 She made a gesture as though deprecating the 
 word "your," and then, seeing he was waiting eagerly 
 for her to continue, she did so. 
 
 " He disappeared finally in 1687— Barbara never 
 heard of him aofain. Then as time went on she fjrew 
 very poor. There had been a son born to them whom 
 she had brought up to be a sailor, too, hoping thereby 
 that, when he also became a roamer, he might some- 
 how gather news of his father ; and by turning the 
 house into an inn, she managed to exist. In that 
 way years passed and she began to grow okl, while 
 u
 
 258 Tin: iTisrANioLA plate. 
 
 her son still followed the sea, though never rising to 
 be anything more than a humble seaman. But more 
 years after, when she was getting to be quite an old 
 woman, her house was blown down in a hurricane — 
 though it had survived the terrible one of 1722, when 
 all the wharves at Port Royal were destroyed — and 
 then — she found something." 
 
 " What ? " asked Reginald. " What was it ? " He 
 remembered what David Crafer had found under 
 circumstances not dissimilar, and, perhaps, because he 
 was a sailor — and thereby given even in these modern 
 days to belief in strange and inysterious things — he 
 wondered if the hand of Fate had pointed out to that 
 old Barbara some marvellous clue to where the 
 treasure was. Yet he knjw that it could scarce have 
 told her of the removal of the chests of treasure from 
 the island to the Key. 
 
 " She found," went on the Barbara of to-day, " a 
 little walled-up wooden cupboard " 
 
 " Great Heaven ! " he muttered beneath his breath, 
 so that, this time, she did not hear him. 
 
 " Close to the place where he used to sit and drink 
 when at home, but of the existence of which she 
 was ignorant. Yet, she remembered, he had often 
 told her that there were secret hiding-places in the 
 house, and that, if he died suddenly or never came 
 back, she was to search diligently and she would lind 
 them. Especially he bade her search in (hat room ; 
 but, what with waiting and watching for his return, 
 she had forgotten his instructions. And now that it 
 Avas burst open, the wall that secured it being only a 
 plank of wood which lull out at the first violence of
 
 SOME LIGHT UPON THE PAST. 259 
 
 the hurricane, she found this cupboard full of various 
 pieces of money, gold and silver, and a paper in his 
 writinsf tellino- her of his treasure in this island." 
 
 " Then it was his ! " exclaimed Reginald. 
 
 " By discovery. He wrote that he had put into 
 Coffin Island — as it was called even so long ago as 
 his time — in a storm, and that, while roaming 
 about the place, he and his comrades had come 
 upon a hut, old and long since built, but quite 
 deserted now. Then he went on to write — my father 
 has the paper now, and I have often seen it — that 
 the sloop he had was sent to Tortola to fetch 
 provisions " 
 
 " Was it in charge of a man named Martui, by any 
 chance ? " asked Reginald. 
 
 But now he saw how imprudent he was. As he 
 mentioned that name the girl started from her seat 
 and retreated from him to the other end of the 
 verandah. 
 
 " You frisfhten me," she said. " I do not under- 
 stand. How do you know this ? " 
 
 " Do not be alarmed, I beg," he answered in return. 
 " When you have told your story I will put into your 
 hands a paper that has been found, written by a 
 forerunner of mine who knew Simon Alderly. Then 
 you will see how I know Avhat I do. Pray feel no 
 alarm. I mean you nothing but good-will, nothing. 
 The treasure shall be yours and no one else's. Will 
 you trust in me ? " 
 
 " Yes," she said, once more calmed. " Yes, 1 will." 
 Then she seated herself again and at his persuasion 
 continued the narrative, while Reginald could not but 
 R 2
 
 260 THE HISPAXIOLA PLATE. 
 
 reflect how little fear Nicholas need have had of 
 " Martin coming back with the sloop." 
 
 The bewildered mind of the drink-inflamed pirate 
 had mixed up two separate sojourns in Cofiin Island ! 
 
 " The sloop went to Tortola to purchase provisions, 
 and, since they were shorthanded, there being but 
 three men exceptmg my ancestor, all went in her but 
 him. And then it was he found the treasure, it beinof 
 in a vault or cavern beneath the floor of the hut. It 
 Avas the simplest way in which he unearthed it, he 
 wrote, and had he not been alone it must have been 
 discovered by the others as well as he. There was a 
 trap-door in the flooring, with a great ring to it, quite 
 visible to anyone, and opening easily. And when he 
 went down some steps into the cavern ho found it all 
 — all ! Only he had no chance to take it away then, 
 he wrote to his wife ; so, putting a vast number 
 of gold pieces in his pocket, he carefull}^ closed the 
 traj)-door up again and covered it over with earth, 
 which he stamped down with his feet so that his 
 companions should observe nothing. And in the 
 paper which he left, giving such instructions as were 
 necessary, which were not many — the place was so 
 easily to be found — he wrote down that he had smce, 
 whenever opportunity oflered, paid visits to Coflin 
 Island, but, being always accompanied by conn-ades, 
 he never yet had had a chance of removing it. And, 
 he said, if ho never brought it home and she found 
 the paper, then she must go to Collin Island after his 
 death and get it for herself It was a large treasure, 
 a great fortune, he wrote, it must not be lost." 
 
 " So," said ricginald, " she camo hero ? "
 
 SOME LIGHT UPON THE PAST. 261 
 
 " She came here," the girl continued, " and with 
 her came her son and a woman he had married, a 
 Barbadian. But through all the generations from the 
 day she came— which was in the year 1723 — and I 
 am the eighth in descent from her, they have never 
 found the treasure. The vault was there, but there 
 was nothing in it." 
 
 " Yet your family have continued to seek for it," 
 exclaimed Reginald. " I should almost have thought 
 they would have desisted." 
 
 " No," Barbara replied, " they never desisted. For^ 
 first, they thought that Simon might have changed 
 the hiding-place after he had left the paper in 
 Jamaica — the life he led would probably necessitate 
 his doing so, since his companions might otherwise 
 have also fomid the vault — and, next, the island had 
 become their home. Simon's son bouo-ht it for 
 half-a-crown an acre, his wife having some little 
 money, and we have lived here ever since, while 
 every man who has succeeded to it has made further 
 search," 
 
 So the tale v/as told, and now the time had come 
 for Reginald to tell his. 
 
 And as that night he took farewell of Barbara, he 
 said — 
 
 " To-morrow I shall toll you why the treasure has 
 never been found by your family. To-morroAV I shall 
 bring you a narrative left by that connection of mine, 
 saying where the treasure is hidden. He knew 
 Simon Alderly, and he found out the hiding-place." 
 
 " And was Simon indeed a pirate ? " Barbara asked. 
 
 " Would it grieve you to hear he was ? "
 
 2C2 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 She thought a moment before replying, and then 
 she said — 
 
 " No, for we have always thought him to be one. 
 No, not if it will not make you think worse of me for 
 having descended from him." 
 
 "I knew that was so," Reginald replied, "when you 
 told me your name. And I do not think I showed 
 by my manner that I thought any the worse of you."
 
 263 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 THE SOLITUDE IS INTERRUPTED. 
 
 The weather had changed, and, as is always the case 
 m the tropics, the change was extreme. 
 
 The wind blow now from the north-east, dashing 
 the sea up in mountains on to the strip of beach 
 around that quarter of Coffin Island, hurling it with a 
 roar like great claps of thunder over the beach on to 
 the vegetation beyond it, crasliing down trees and 
 saplings, and entirely obliterating for a time the 
 three little Keys, in the middle one of which was 
 Simon Alderly's treasure. This Key Reginald had 
 gazed upon more than once since he had been in the 
 island ; he had even pointed it out to Barbara on 
 the morning after she had told her tale, and had 
 added the few missing links to the knowledo-e she 
 already possessed ; and he had also informed her that 
 therein lay her fortune. 
 
 " So," the girl said on that morning, as she gazed 
 do^vn from the cliff on which they stood to where 
 the already fast-rising waves were washing over the 
 spot in question, " it is there they ought to have 
 searched. It has laid there all the time ! Yet no 
 one ever thought of those little islets. Well ! I 
 am glad i " 
 
 " Why ? " asked Reginald, as he looked round at 
 her. He had given her his arm to steady her against
 
 2G4 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 the iicrce wind blowing now under the purple, sun- 
 coloured clouds rolling up from the north-east, and 
 she had taken it. Yet, as she did so, she scarcely 
 knew why she should accept that proffered arm. She 
 Avas used to all changes of weather in this, her island ; 
 she could stand as easily upon the tallest crags that it 
 possessed as any of her goats, or even the sea-birds 
 that dwelt upon them, could do. Yet, still, she had 
 taken it ! 
 
 " Oh ! I don't know," she replied in answer to his 
 question; "yet— yet, I think I am. Because—" she 
 paused again, and then went on. " Because, you see, 
 if any of my people had found it before now— before 
 you came here— wh}^ you would have found nothing 
 yourself Avhen you arrived, after you had made 
 so long a journey. And, we should have been gone 
 — you and I would never have met." 
 
 Something in the sailor's nature tingled as she 
 said those Avords in her simphcity — something, he 
 ivnew not what. Still, in response, he turned his 
 eyes on her, and gazed into those other clear eyes 
 beside him, shaded with their long, jet-black lashes. 
 Then he said — 
 
 " For us never to have met would have been tlie 
 worst thing of all, Barbara." 
 
 It seemed absurd to call her j\Iiss Alderly, here in 
 this wild tropical garden inhabited only by them- 
 selves ; to give her the stilted prefix that would have 
 been required in the midst of civilisation. So, not for 
 the first time, he had addressed her by her Christian 
 name. And to her — who i3crhaps in her schooldays 
 only, in Antigua, had ever known what it was to be
 
 THE SOLITUDE IS IXTERRUPTED. 205 
 
 spoken of as Miss Alderly — it appeared not at all 
 stranofe that he should so address her. 
 
 " But," he went on, " as for the treasure, as for the 
 finding- of it— that might as Avell have happened fifty 
 or a hundred years ago as now. It is yours and your 
 family's ; not a farthing of it belonged to my relative, 
 nor belongs to me." 
 
 " That shall never bo," she replied. " My father, 
 although a rough, simple sailor, is an honest, straight- 
 forward man ; he, at least, would never hear of such 
 a thing as your not having your share. And for my 
 brother " but here she paused. 
 
 " Why,^' asked Reginald, after a moment had 
 elapsed — " wh}^ do you hesitate at the name of your 
 brother ? " 
 
 " Because," she replied, " he is different. He is," 
 and she buried her face in her hands for a moment 
 and then uncovered it again — " he is a cruel, grasping 
 man, selfish and greedy. He rules us more as if he 
 were father than father himself, and he tyrannises 
 even over him. He takes all the money they both 
 earn while they are away together, and, generally, he 
 spends it. When they went to Aspinwall, at the time 
 they were so busy about the Canal, he took all they 
 had both earned and spent it at the Faro and Monte 
 tables, as they call them dovvTi there. And once he 
 struck father before me, when they were both at 
 home, because he wanted to go over to Porto Rico, 
 where the Spaniards gamble day and night, and 
 father would not give him the money for some goats 
 he had sold to a Tortola dealer. Oh ! " she continued, 
 "he is terrible! and when he takes his share of what
 
 2G6 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 is ill tlic Key, I dread to think of what he will do 
 with it." 
 
 As she finished, the storm increased with such 
 violence that it was necessary for thera to leave the 
 crag on which they stood — otherwise they would 
 possibly be blown off it ere many moments had 
 elapsed. Moreover, the hot rain was beginning now — 
 and in these regions only a few moments elapse 
 between the fall of the first drop and the drenching 
 downpour of a tropical storm ; it was time for them 
 to seek the refus^e of Barbara's home. The thunder, 
 too, was very near now, so at once they hurried 
 onwards, gaining the desired shelter before the worst 
 of the storm had set in. 
 
 It was to-day — the day following Barbara's account 
 of Simon Alderly — that Reginald had promised to 
 read to her Nicholas's narrative. He had it in his 
 pocket now ; indeed he regarded it as too precious a 
 thing to leave carelessly about, and consequently it 
 was always wath him, and to-day he proposed ere 
 leaving her to get through some portion of it. He 
 meant to read it all through, partly as a story that he 
 thought would interest the girl, partly as a justifica- 
 tion of Nicholas. For, he considered, if, since she 
 already believed her ancestor to be a pirate, he proved 
 to her that he was indeed such, then Nicholas must 
 be acquitted in her mind for having himself removed 
 and hidden away that which did not belong to him. 
 So they, having reached the house, sat themselves 
 down to the narrative, he to read and she to listen. 
 They were no longer able to sit upon the verandah 
 since the rain now beat down pitilessly and as though
 
 THE SOLITTTDE IS INTERTIUPTED. 2G7 
 
 it never meant to cease, and the wind, even in the 
 middle of the httle island, was very boisterous. And 
 so, when the jalousies had been fastened tightly to 
 prevent the flapping they had previously made, 
 Reginald began Nicholas's story, prefacing it with 
 the account of how it had been found. 
 
 It was about ten o'clock in the day when this 
 young couple, who had so strangely been brought 
 together in this island, began that story — for they 
 met and parted early ; it was nearly nightfall when 
 Reginald arrived at the descrij)tion of how Alderly 
 died singing his drunken song. And amidst the 
 swift-coming darkness — a darkness made more in- 
 tense b}' the heavy pall of clouds that himg above 
 the island — there seemed to come over them both 
 that feeling of creepiness, of melancholy horror, which 
 Nicholas had described himself as becoming over- 
 whelmed with. 
 
 The girl seemed far more overcome by this feeling 
 than Reginald was. She started again and again at 
 every fresh gust that shook the frail fabric in which 
 she dwelt, her eyes stared fixedly before her as though 
 she saw the spectre of her pirate ancestor rising up, 
 and once she begged him to desist for a moment from 
 his readingf. 
 
 " It was below here," she whispered, " below the 
 ver}^ spot where we sit, that that wretch, that mur- 
 derous villain, died in his sin. Oh ! it is horrible ! 
 horrible to think that we have all lived here so long, 
 that I was born here. Horril)le ! " 
 
 " Barbara," said Reginald, " do not regard it so 
 seriously. I was wrong to read you all I have — yet.
 
 2G8 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 til ink. Think! It is two hundred years since it all 
 liappened — we have nothing to do with that long- 
 bnried past." 
 
 " Yes, yes," she said. " I know that -we have not. 
 Yet — yet — this is the very spot— the very place. 
 That makes it all so much more horrible, so much, 
 more ghostly. And to-night, I know not why, I 
 feel as I have never felt before, nervous, frightened, 
 alarmed, as though at some danger near at hand. 
 Let me light the lamp ere yon continue." 
 
 " It is the storm has made you nervous," he 
 replied, trying to soothe her while he assisted her 
 to arrange the lamp. " Tlie air, too, is charged with 
 electricity — that alone will unstring your nerves, to 
 say nothing of the darkness and the noise of the 
 tempest. I have done wrong, Barbara ; I have selected 
 the worst time for reading this horrible story to 
 you. I should have chosen one of the bright days 
 when we could sit on the crags and have nothing 
 but the brilliant sun about and over us." 
 
 She glanced up at him with a smile in her clear 
 eyes — the smile that never failed to make him think 
 that he had lit on some woman belonging to another 
 world than his, it was so full of innocence as well as 
 a simple trust that would have well befitted a little 
 child — and laid her hand upon his arm as though 
 to assure him that he had done nothing to affright 
 her. But, as she did so, there came a terrific flash 
 of lightning whi(;h ilhuninatcd all the tropical wood 
 outside — as they could see through the slats of the 
 jalousie — and then a roar of thunder that made the 
 girl scream and let fall the lamp just lighted.
 
 THE SOLITUDE IS INTERRUPTED. 269 
 
 But Regiiicald caught it deftly, and placing it on 
 the table said with a smile — • 
 
 "It would never do for another lamp to be 
 overturned here as one was so long ago. Come, 
 Barbara, cheer uj^, take heart ! We will read no 
 more to-night." 
 
 " Yes, yes," she exclaimed. " Read. Go on read- 
 ing and finish, your story. Besides, we must do 
 somethino: to pass the ni^ht — you cannot go to 
 your yacht, and I — I — ; for the first time in my life 
 I fear to be alone. I dread, though I know not what. 
 I have been alone nioht after nicfht here for even 
 weeks and months together, and never feared any- 
 thing. Yet, now, I am afraid. Pray, do not leave 
 me to-nioht." 
 
 He looked at her, admiring, almost worshipping 
 her for the innocence she showed in every word 
 she spoke, and then he said — 
 
 " Have no fear, I will not leave you if you wish 
 it. But, Barbara, Ave must do something else to 
 pass the hours away than read old Nicholas's story. 
 AVhat shall we do ? Let us have a game of cards." 
 
 There were some packs in her house that they 
 had played with before now — cards brought from 
 other islands by her dissolute brother, with which, 
 to pass the long nights in, as she frankly owned, 
 trying to get the better of his father ; but she would 
 not play now. 
 
 " No," she said. " Let us come to the end of 
 the tale. I cannot rest until I have heard it all. 
 Do, do finish it." 
 
 " A^ery well, if you will," he answered. " And,
 
 270 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE 
 
 at any rate, the worst is told. There is nothing 
 more to shock or affright you. Nothing but the 
 burying of the treasure in the spot where it now 
 hes, and Avhere we will dig it up." 
 
 The jalousies rattled as he spoke — yet at this 
 moment the wind had ceased, and nought was heard 
 but the steady downpour of the rain. 
 
 But, perhaps because of the incessant noise the 
 storm had made for some hours, neither of them 
 noticed this peculiar incident, though Reginald 
 glanced up as the blind stirred. 
 
 Then he began again, reading on through 
 Nicholas's strange story, and doing so Avith particular 
 emphasis, so that she might grasp every word of 
 his description as he told how the measurements 
 were to be taken in the middle Key. And Barbara 
 sat there listening silently. Yet, as he turned a 
 leaf — ^having now got to that part of the account 
 where Nicholas was picked ujj by the Virgin Prize 
 — he paused in astonishment at the appearance of 
 her face. 
 
 For she was gazmg straight before her at the 
 jalousie, her eyes opened to their widest, her features 
 drawn as though in fright, her face almost distorted. 
 
 " Look ! Look ! " she gasped. " Look at the blind." 
 
 And he, following her glance, Avas for the moment 
 appalled too. 
 
 A large hand was grasping half-a-dozen of the 
 slats in its clutch ; between those slats a pair of 
 human eyes were twinkling as they peered into the 
 room. 
 
 As Reginald rose to rush at the intruder, whoever
 
 THE SOLITUDE IS INTERRUPTED. 271 
 
 he was, Barbara gave another gasp and fell back 
 fiimting mto her chair; and then, before her com- 
 panion could ask the owner of those eyes what he 
 meant by his intrusion, the blinds were roughly 
 thrust aside, and, following this, there came a man 
 of gi-eat size, from whom the water dripped as from 
 a dog who had just quitted a river — a man whose 
 face was all bruised and discoloured as though he 
 had been badly beaten.
 
 272 
 
 CPIAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 THE island's owner. 
 
 " Who are yon, and what, do you want ? " asked 
 Reginald, confronting the intruder ; while, as he 
 spoke, he observed that the coarse and scanty clothes 
 in which he was clad were drenched with more water 
 than even the heavens could have poured on him. 
 
 He was a man of great bulk, young as himself, 
 and with a mass of reddish-yellow hair that hung 
 about his face, matted and dishevelled from the wet 
 in which it was soaked; and as he advanced into 
 the room the water dripped off him on to the floor. 
 
 " Want ! " he replied, " want ! What should a 
 man want in his ovai house but rest and comfort 
 after a storm ? Master, this is my house ! I had 
 best ask Avhat you want here ? And at night — alone 
 Avith my sister." 
 
 Yet he did not pause for an ansAver, but going up 
 to Avhere that sister lay back in the SAvoon that had 
 overcome her, he shook her roughly by the shoulder 
 and called out — 
 
 "Come, get over your fit. I have bad neAVS for 
 you." 
 
 " Be a little more gentle Avith her ! " Koginald 
 exclaimed. " We can bring her to in a better manner 
 than that;" and as he spoke he Avent to the spirit 
 flask ho had brought up from the yacht, and moistened
 
 THE island's owner. 273 
 
 her lips with some of the whisky, and bathed her 
 forehead with water from one of the cahibashes. 
 
 " What the devil is the matter with the t;irl ? " 
 asked her brother. "She has never been used to 
 indulging- in such weaknesses — what does it mean ? " 
 
 "it means," the other replied, " that the storm 
 has frightened her." 
 
 " Bah ! she has seen plenty of them since she was 
 born. We are used to storms here." 
 
 " And also," Reginald went on, " she saw a man — 
 you — outside, listening to us. She saw your hand on 
 the blind and your face through the slats, but did 
 not recognise you. It is not strange that she should 
 be frightened." 
 
 But by this time Barbara was coming round — she 
 opened her eyes as her brother spoke, then closed 
 them again, as though the sight of him was horrible 
 to her, and shivered a little. But, after a moment, 
 she opened them once more, and, fixing them on him, 
 said — 
 
 " You have come back. Where is father ? " 
 
 " He is dead," he said, using no tone of regret as 
 he spoke, and, indeed, speaking as he might have 
 done of the death of some stranger. " He is dead 
 not an hour ago. The storm drove us here, brought 
 us home. But as we reached the shore, for we could 
 not oet round to the creek, the breakers flung our 
 boat over, and us out of it. I was fortunate enough 
 to scramble on land, but the old man had no such 
 luck. He was carried out to sea again, and I saAv no 
 more of him." 
 
 Barbara had burst into tears at the first intimation 
 s
 
 274 THE HISrAXlOLA PLATE. 
 
 of lier fatlier's death, and now slie wept silently, her 
 brother sitting regarding her calmly while he si}>pcd 
 at Reginald's flask as though it were his own ! — and 
 the latter felt his whole heart go out to her in 
 sympathy. Yet^how could he comfort her ? The 
 one whose place it was to do that was now by her 
 side, but being a rough, uncouth brute, as it was 
 easy to see he was, he neither offered to do so, nor, it 
 seemed probable, would he hnve done aught but 
 mock at any kind words Reginald might speak. 
 
 " Father ! Father ! " the girl sobbed. " Oh, father ! 
 And I have been looking forward so much to your 
 return — hoping so much from it. Thinking how 
 happy we might be." 
 
 Her brother — who seemed to consider that, after 
 having told her of old Alderly's death, no further 
 remark on the subject Avas necessary, and Avho, if he 
 knew what sympathymeant, certainly did not consider 
 it needful to exhibit any — had by now turned his 
 back to them and, going to a cupboard, was busily 
 cno-ao-ed in forauinor in it. Reginald had seen Barbara 
 take food out of this cupboard ere this, both for him 
 and for herself — food consisting of dried goat's flesh, 
 cheese and other simple things — and therefore he was 
 not surprised at the man doing so now. But he was 
 somewhat surprised at hearing Barbara, Avhilc her 
 brother's back was turned, whisper to him — 
 
 " Say nothing at present about the Key." 
 
 He nodded, willing to take his line of action from 
 her in anything she might suggest in the circumstances 
 which had noAV arisen; yet he felt that his silence 
 would make his presence there still more inexplicable.
 
 THE TRLAXP'S OWNER. 275 
 
 But, also, his trust was so firm in the girl that without 
 hesitation he determined to do as he was bidden. 
 
 Presently her brother turned away from the cup- 
 board, coming toAvards them again and bearing in one 
 hand a piece of coarse bread and, in the other, a scrap 
 of meat he had found. 
 
 " Been here long keeping Barbara company ? " he 
 asked, while his twinkling eyes — how unlike hers! 
 Keginald thought — glistened maliciously. " We don't 
 often get visitors here." 
 
 " Indeed," Reginald replied ; " I have heard dift'er- 
 ently. I was told in Tortola that curiosit}^ about the 
 strange history of your island brought many people 
 hero. And, having a little yacht which I have hired 
 and being a sailor myself, I ventured to pay a visit." 
 
 "Sailor, eh? What line? American and — but, 
 there, it's easy enough to see you're a Britisher. What 
 is it ? Royal Mail, eh ? " 
 
 " I am in the Royal Navy. A lieutenant. And 
 my name's Crafer." 
 
 " Crafer, eh ? and in the Royal Navy ? I don't 
 think much of the Royal Navy myself. A damned 
 sight too condescending in their Avays, as a rule, are 
 the gentlemen in your line — that is, when they take 
 any notice of you at all. Well, if you're going to stay 
 I hope you're not like that. And my name's Alderly 
 — Joseph Alderly. That's good enough for me." 
 
 " I certainly did hope to stay a little longer. I am 
 on leave and like cruising about." 
 
 " Your boat's in the river, you say ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Why don't you live in it instead of in this house.
 
 27G THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 then ? Or at Tortola, where there is a hotel ? Tn 
 some of the islands hereabouts my sister would get a 
 bad name if it was known she was entertainino' younfj- 
 English officers all alone." 
 
 At his words Reginald sprang to his feet, Barbara 
 also rising, her hazel eyes, that were usuall_y so soft 
 and innocent, flashing indignant glances at her brutal 
 brother. 
 
 " You don't know, you don't understand," she began; 
 " if you did you would behave differently. Mr. Crater 
 has come " But Reginald was speaking also. 
 
 " Mr. Joseph Alderly," he said, " this is the first 
 night I have ever stayed in your house as late as this. 
 I should not be here now Avere it not for the storm. 
 However, I will trespass upon your hospitality no 
 longer. Miss Alderly, I wish you ' Good-night.' " He 
 touched her hand as he spoke — not knowing what her 
 glance meant to convey, yet feeling sure that there 
 must be much she would have said to him if she had 
 had but the opportunity — and then he turned on his 
 heel, passed through the jalousie, and so out on to 
 the verandah. 
 
 The storm was ceasing as he went forth, the 
 clouds Avere rolling awa}'^ to the south ; around him 
 there were the odours of all the tropical flowers, their 
 perfume increased threefold by the rain. He knew 
 the path so well now from having traversed it many 
 times backwards and forwards from the Ponnpeia, 
 that it took him ver}^ little time even in tlie dark to 
 reach the bank of the river, to unmoor the dinghy, 
 and to get on board the craft. Then, lighting his 
 pipe, he sat himself down in his little cabin to meditate
 
 THE island's owner. 277 
 
 on what this fresh incident— the arrival of Joseph 
 Alderly — might mean. 
 
 " I should know better what to think," he mused, 
 " if I only knew how long he had been behind the 
 bhnd. The brute may have been there for sufficient 
 time to have heard all the last instructions of old 
 Nicholas about finding the treasure which I read out. 
 Or he may have heard only enough to give him an 
 inklino- that I know where the treasure is. Let me 
 see," and he put his hand in his pocket and drew forth 
 his forerunner's narrative. 
 
 " Yes," he muttered, as ho turned over the leaves, 
 " yes, I had got far enough — having reached the rescue 
 of Nicholas by the Virgin Prize — for him to have 
 heard all if he was there. If he was there ; that's it. 
 Only — was he ? or did he come later when there was 
 nothing more to be overheard than the description 
 of Nicholas leaving the island ? " 
 
 Again he pondered, turning the arrival of Alderly 
 over in his mind, and then he remembered how the 
 jalousies had rattled at a time when the wind had 
 lulled, though he had taken little heed of the fact 
 beyond glancing up from the papers. Yet, as he 
 racked his mind to recall what they had been saying, 
 or he reading, at the moment, he remembered the 
 words he had uttered — 
 
 " There is nothing to tell you now but the burying 
 of the treasure in the spot where it lies and where we 
 will dig it up." 
 
 These had been liis words, or very similar ones. 
 If Alderly had been there then — if he had arrived on 
 the verandah by the time they were uttered — he knew
 
 278 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 all. He bad heard the middle Key mentioned, he 
 had heard how the measurements Avere to be taken, 
 he knew as much as PiCfdnaid and Barbara knew. 
 But — had he been there ? was it his hand that shook 
 the blind, or was it some light gust of air, a last breath 
 of the stonn ? That was the question. 
 
 Still, independent of this — indeed, far beyond the 
 thought of the treasure, which he had definitely 
 decided he would take no portion of, since it was not, 
 could not be, his by any right — his mind was troubled. 
 Troubled about Barbara and her being alone with the 
 savaije creature who was her brother — " Heavens ! " he 
 thought, " that they should be the same flesh and 
 blood!" — troubled to think of what form his brutality 
 might take towards her if he suspected that she knew 
 where all the long-sought v/ealth was hidden away. 
 
 " But," he said to himself, as he still sat on smoking, 
 " no harm shall come to her if I can prevent it — if I 
 can ! nay, as I will. He may order me out of these moor- 
 ings since the whole island is his — ^Avell, let him. If he 
 does, I will tind out Nicholas's cove and anchor myself 
 there — or, better still, I will go and lie off the middle 
 Key. And, by the powers ! if he does know that the 
 treasure is there and begins to dig for it, not a penny, 
 not a brass farthing shall he take away Avithout my 
 l)eing by to see that he shares fair and fair alike Avith 
 his sister. He seems capable, from Avhat I have seen 
 of him and she has told me, of taking the Avhole lot 
 olf to AspiuAvall or Porto Rico and losing it in one 
 of his loathsome gambling dens, Avhile he leaves her 
 here alone ! " 
 
 He went on deck of his little craft as he made these
 
 THE ISLANDS oavxe:x. 279 
 
 reflections, and, more from sailor-like habit than aught 
 else — since no one ever came into the river — he 
 trimmed his li«dits and arrani>'ed them for the niofht, 
 and then went to his cabin and turned in. But before 
 ho did so, he cast a glance up to where Barbara's 
 home Avas, and saw that on the slight eminence there 
 twinkled the rays of the lamp through the now opened 
 windows. All was well, therefore, for this night. 
 
 Yet he could not sleep. He could not rest for 
 thinking of the girl up there Avith no one hut that 
 brutal kinsman for a companion ; with no one to help 
 her if he in his violence should attempt to injure her 
 — a thing he would be very likely to do if he ques- 
 tioned her about aught he might have overheard, and 
 she refused to satisfy him. 
 
 At last this feeling got too strong for him — so 
 strong that he determined to go and see if all was well 
 with her. Therefore, ashore he went again, and, 
 maldng his way up quietly through the glade and the 
 little wood, he came within sight and earshot of the 
 hut. And there he soon found that, no matter how 
 fierce and cruel a nature Alderly's was, he at least 
 meant no harm to the girl herself 
 
 She, he could see from the close proximity to the 
 hut which he had attained, was lying asleep upon a 
 low couch on which ho had often sat, a couch 
 covered with Osnaburgli cloth and some sl^ins. 
 Alderly was sitting at the table, drinking and smoking 
 and occasionally singing. He had evidently found 
 some liquor of his own — probably stowed away by him 
 ere setting out on his various cruises — and was pouring 
 it out pretty rapidly into the nmg he drank from.
 
 280 THE HISI'ANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 " Heavens ! " exclaimed lieginald. " How the past 
 repeats itself! Here stand I, a Crafer, Avatching an 
 Alderly in his cups, even as, two hundred years ago, 
 my relative stood here watching this man's. And he 
 sings there as he drinks, even as his rascally forerunner 
 sang, too — the one when his father has not been dead 
 many hours, the other when he had murdered a man! 
 And Barbara — well, there is Barbara in place of the 
 fancied Barbara the other conjured up. It is the past 
 all over again, in the very same place, almost the very 
 same hour at night. Let us hope that, as all came 
 well with Nicholas afterwards, so it may with me. 
 And with Barbara, too. Yes, with Barbara, too." 
 
 Whereon, seeing that all was well for the present 
 at any rate, he moved silently away and so regained 
 his boat.
 
 281 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 JOSEPH ALDEllLY. 
 
 In the morning, when he woke and went on to the 
 deck of his Httle craft, he saw Barbara standing on 
 the river's brink — evidently waiting for him to be 
 stirring. Therefore, he at once got into his dinghy 
 and went ashore to her. 
 
 " What is he doinsf now ? " he asked, as he took 
 her hand and noticed for the first time the absence of 
 the splendid flush of health upon her face that was 
 generally there. This morning she had dark purple 
 rings under her eyes — as though she had not slept or 
 had been weeping. 
 
 " He is asleep now," she said, " after sitting up 
 drinking, singing, and muttering to himself till nearly 
 daybreak. Oh, Mr. Crafor ! " she broke off, " what is 
 to be done ? " 
 
 " What does he know ? " asked Reginald in return. 
 "Did he hear any of the story I read to you? How 
 long had he been at the window before you noticed 
 him ? " 
 
 " I cannot tell. Yet I think he susj^ects. Before 
 I Avent to sleep he asked me what brought you here, 
 and whether you Avere hunting for the treasure, and 
 also what that paper was 3^ou were reading to me ?" 
 
 " And what did you tell him ? " 
 
 •' 1 would not tell a lie, therefore i s^iid it was an
 
 282 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 account of the isLand, written by a connection of yours 
 who had been here long ago." 
 
 " And then ? " 
 
 " And then he said he Avould Hke to see it. He 
 said he was sure you would show it to him." 
 
 " Was he ! I am sure I shall do nothingf of the 
 kind. Yet I do not know," and Reginald broke oft' to 
 meditate. Following which he went on again. " But 
 he must see it after all. Barbara, the treasure is his 
 and yours. He must be told." 
 
 " No, no," she said. " It is not his — it is yours — 
 yours— yours. Oh ! it would be wicked, shocking, to 
 think that you, the only person in the world to whom 
 the chance came of finding out where it is hidden, 
 should not be entitled to it, or at least to half of it. 
 And think, too, of the journey you have made, the 
 expense you have been put to, the trouble you have 
 taken. And all for nothing ; to ofet nothinir in 
 return." 
 
 " I have got something in return," he said. " Your 
 friendship ! Have I not, Barbara ? " 
 
 "Yes," the girl whispered, or ahnost whispered, 
 while to her checks there came back the rose-blush 
 ho loved so much to see. " Yes. But what is that in 
 comparison to what you ought to have ? " 
 
 " Everything," ho replied earnestly. "Everything. 
 Far more, perhaps, to me than you thinlv. But now 
 is scarcely the time to tell you how dear that friend- 
 ship is. Instead, let us tliinlc of what is best to be 
 done." 
 
 " At present," she replied, " I am sm-e tlic best 
 thing is to keep the secret. If he knew it was there
 
 JOSEPH ALDERLY. 283 
 
 he would get it up somehow — and, I think, he would 
 go away with it. Then you would get nothing." 
 
 " But I want nothing." 
 
 " I don't care," she replied. " I am determined you 
 shall have half. Oh ! promise me, promise me you 
 will tell him nothing unless he agrees to give 3'OU 
 half." 
 
 At tirst he again refused, and still again, but at last 
 he agreed to her request, or at least so far consented 
 that he said he would make a proposal to her brother. 
 He would suggest that, on his being willing to divide 
 whatever they should find into three parts — one for 
 Alderly, one for Barbara, and one for him — he would 
 inform him where he thought the treasure was buried. 
 But that he would take no more than a third he was 
 quite resolved, he told her. 
 
 " It will be useless," she said, " useless to do that ! 
 He will never consent to my having a third ; if he did 
 he would take it away from me directly afterwards." 
 
 " Would he ! " exclaimed Keginald. " Would he ! 
 I would see about that." 
 
 " At any rate, he would try to do so. Therefore, 
 it would be far better for you to insist on one half 
 By taking one third you would only get a lesser share, 
 while he would get more." 
 
 At last, therefore, Reginald determined he would 
 go and see her brother and, as he said, sound him. 
 Only he was resolved on one thing. Alderly should 
 neither see Nicholas's manuscrij^t nor be told the 
 exact spot where the buried treasure was until they 
 had come to some terms. 
 
 " And, remember," he said to her, '•' if I get one
 
 284 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 half from him, you take from me what represents one 
 third." To which again the girl protested she would 
 never consent. 
 
 After this they parted, she going back to the 
 hut, and he saying he would follow later, since they 
 resolved it would be best to keep the knowledge of 
 their having^ met that morninQ- from her brother. 
 
 When, hoAvever, Reginald himself arrived at 
 Alderly's house he found that person gone from it 
 and Barbara alone — standing on the verandah and 
 evidently watching for his coming. 
 
 " He has gone down to the shore," she said, " to 
 see if he can find anything of poor father's body. At 
 least that is what ho says he has gone for, as well as 
 to see if his boat is capable of being repaired. Alas 1 
 I fear he thinks more of the boat than of father's 
 death." 
 
 " If he thinks so much of the boat," Reginald 
 remarked, " it scarcely looks as if he has much idea of 
 there beinof a larsfe treasure to his hand. However, I 
 will go and see him. Where did he come ashore last 
 night ? " 
 
 " Very near to the Keys," she answered. " Indeed, 
 close by." 
 
 So Reginald made his way across the island to that 
 spot, and, when he had descended the crags and 
 reached the small piece of beach there, he saw Alderly 
 engaged in inspecting the wrecked craft which had 
 brought him safely back to his island over-night. 
 It had been at its best but a poor crazy thing — 
 a rouij^h- built cutter of about the same size as the 
 Poiiiprda, but very different as regards its fittings
 
 JOSEPH ALDERLY. 285 
 
 and accoininodation. It was open-decked, with a 
 "svi'etclied cabin aft into which those in her might 
 creep for rest and shelter, and with another one for- 
 ward — but these were all there Avas to protect them. 
 
 " She is badly injured," Reginald said, after having 
 wished Alderly good-morning and received a surly 
 kind of grunt in reply. " I am afraid there is not 
 much to be done to her." 
 
 " Mister," said Alderly, suddenly desisting from his 
 inspection, and turning round on the other man with- 
 out taking any notice of his remark, " I am glad you 
 came here this morning. You and I have got to have 
 some talk together, and we can't do it better than 
 here." 
 
 " Certainly," replied Reginald. " What would you 
 like us to talk about ? " 
 
 " It ain't what I'd like to talk about, but what I am 
 a-going to talk about as you've got to hear. Now, 
 look you here. I ain't no scholar like Barb over there 
 — she was sent to school because the old man was a 
 fool — ^and I'm a plain man. I've had to earn my living 
 rough— very rough — and p'raps I'm a bit rough my- 
 self. But I'm straight — there ain't no man in the 
 islands straighter nor what I am." 
 
 " Being so straight, perhaps you will go on with 
 what you have to say. Meanwhile, Mr. Alderly, let 
 me be equally straight with you. Your manner is 
 offensive, and, as you say, ' very rough.' Therefore, I 
 may as well tell j'ou that it doesn't intimidate me. 
 We are both sailors, only I happen to have been in a 
 position of command, while your rank, I gather, has 
 been always more or less of a subordinate one. So, if
 
 286 TITE HTSPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 you'll kindly remember that I expect civility, we shall 
 get along very well together." 
 
 Alderly glanced at him, perhaps calculating the 
 strength of the thews and sinews of so finely built a 
 young man ; then he said — 
 
 "This is 7712/ island, you know, mister, and all 
 that's in it." 
 
 " Precisely. And you mean that I am in it. 
 Well, so I am. Only, you understand, I can very 
 soon get out of it. The sea isn't yours as well." 
 
 " Suppose I wasn't to let you go ! Suppose I 
 stopped up the mouth of the river where your craft is 
 a-lying ! Then you'd be in it still." 
 
 " Yes," said Reginald, " so I should. Only, all the 
 same, I should go when I pleased. I am not a baby — 
 but, there, this is absurd. Say what you want to say." 
 
 " Well, I will. What was that paper you was 
 a-reading to my sister in my house last night ? " 
 
 " A little history of this island, which a forerunner 
 of mine happened to visit some two centuries ago." 
 
 " Two cent'ries ago ! Oh ! It didn't happen to 
 say anything about the treasure old Simon Alderly 
 had stowed away here, did it ? " 
 
 " Since you ask me so directly, and as it is your 
 business, I will reply at once. It did." 
 
 For a moment Aldcrly's face was a sight to see. 
 First the brown of his face turned to a deeper hue, 
 then the colour receded, leaving him almost livid, 
 then slowly the natural colour returned again, and he 
 said, huskily — 
 
 " It did, eh ? So I thought, though I don't Imow 
 why the wench. Barb, told me a lie."
 
 JOSEPH ALDEllLY. 287 
 
 " A re you sure she did tell you a lie ? I don't, 
 tliiiik your sister seems a person of that sort." 
 
 " Never mind my sister. Tell me about the 
 treasure — my treasure. I am the heir, you know ; I 
 am the only Alderly left after two cent'ries hunting 
 for it — 3^ou Avas right about them cent'ries, mister. 
 Two it was. Where is that treasure ? Go on, tell me." 
 
 " I have not quite made up my mind about doing 
 that," said Reo-inald. " It remains for me to decide 
 whether I shall do so just yet." 
 
 " It remains for you to decide whether you will 
 tell me where my propert}^ is ! It does, does it ? 
 And what else ? — what do it remain for me to do ? " 
 and he advanced so close to Reginald and looked so 
 threatening, both from his angry glances and his 
 great height and build, that many a man might have 
 Ibeen coAved. But not such a man as Resfinald Crafor ! 
 
 " What do it remain for me to do — eh ? " he asked 
 again. " To kill you, p'raps." 
 
 Reg^inald's laiio-h rang out so loud at this that it 
 might have been heard on the Keys outside — the 
 Kej^s Avhereon the treasure Avas. And it made 
 Alderly's fury even greater than before. 
 
 " I coidd kill you, mister, easy, if I Avanted to. 
 And no one Avould never knoAV of it except Barb. 
 And if she knoAved of it, Avh}'^, I'd kill her too. Any- 
 hoAV, I mean to have my fortune." 
 
 " As to killing," said Reginald, " I don't quite 
 agree Avith you. You seem to me a poAverfiil kind 
 of a person, Avithout much knoAvledge, hoAvever, of 
 using that poAver." Here Alderly stamped with fiiry. 
 " Therefore, you are not so very terrible. HoAvever,
 
 288 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 about your fortune. To begin with, are you quite 
 sure it is yours ? " 
 
 ' Why ! whose else is it if it ain't mine ? " the 
 bully asked, stupidly now. " Ain't this island mine 
 now father's dead ? " 
 
 "You say it is, though I am sure I don't know 
 whether you are telling the truth or not. It might 
 be as nmch your sister's as yours." Alderly burst out 
 laughing, scornfully this time ; but Reginald went on. 
 '' Your father might have left a will, you know, 
 leaving her a portion of it, or, indeed, the whole, if he 
 didn't approve of 3'our general behaviour." 
 
 Alderly laughed again — though now he looked 
 rather white, the other thought ; and then he said 
 emphatically : — 
 
 " Father didn't leave no papers. So I'm the heir. 
 Girls don't count, I'm told." All of which — both 
 laughter, pallor, and remarks — led Reginald to form 
 a suspicion that whatever papers the elder Alderly 
 might have left had been destroyed. 
 
 " I think they do," said Reginald, " and certainly 
 Miss Alderly counts in my opinion. For, if eventually 
 I decide to tell you where your treasure is, she will 
 have to have her portion." 
 
 " She will have her portion," said Alderly decidedly, 
 " which will be that I shall look after her. And I 
 suppose you'll want a portion, too." 
 
 " Yes, rather," the other replied, remembering that 
 he had promised to make no stipulations about 
 Barbara. So he corrected himself now, and said, "Of 
 course I suppose you will look after her. A\'ell, 
 remembering that, I shall want one half"
 
 JOSEPH ALDERLY. 289 
 
 " One half ! " exclaimed Alderly, almost shouting 
 out the words in his excitement. " One half ! My 
 God ! One half of all that treasure ! Just for coming 
 here to tell me where it is ! Why ! you nuist be 
 mad, Mr. Crater, or whatever you call yourself. Mad ! 
 Mad ! Why ! sooner than do that I'd fetch a hundred 
 o' my pals and mates from all around, from the 
 islands and up from Aspinwall and Colon, and dig 
 the whole place up till we found it. One half ! " 
 
 " And dig the whole place up ! " repeated Reginald. 
 " Just so. Only, you know that when your ancestress, 
 the first Barbara, and her son came here they found 
 the treasure had been removed from the place where 
 Simon left it, and none have ever been able to find it 
 since. Isn't that so ? " 
 
 " Yes," muttered Alderly, " it is, damn you ! " 
 
 " Very well. You don't own all the islands round, 
 of Avliich there are some scores, inhabited and un- 
 inhabited. And, presuming that the treasure in 
 question has been moved to one of these — and there 
 is no one knows whether it has or not but myself" 
 (he determined not to bring Barbara in further than 
 was necessary) — " what good would all the digging of 
 you and your ' pals and mates ' do in this place, Mr. 
 Alderly ? " 
 
 To which the other could only answer by a 
 muttered curse.
 
 200 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 DANGER IMPENDING. 
 
 Alderly was now at bay ! 
 
 For a couple of claj^s he raved, stormed, an6 
 alternately endeavoured to extract from Reginald and 
 from his sister a hint as to which of the islands the 
 treasure had been removed to. But it was all of no 
 avail. Barbara, whose gentle nature had conceived 
 almost a hatred against her unnatural brother for the 
 utter indifference ho had shown to their father's fate, 
 avoided him as much as she could, and, when not 
 able to do so, refused to acknowledge that she knew 
 anything more than that Mr. Crafer possessed the 
 secret of the hidden store. 
 
 While, as for Reginald, he simply said, whenever 
 Alderly sought him out — which the latter did fre- 
 quently, since the other would go no more to his hut, 
 — " One half is what I want if we dig it up together." 
 
 But to Alderl}', who among all his other bad 
 qualities possessed that of inordinate greed, this 
 pro[)osal appeared so enormous that he could not 
 briny' himself to consent to it. 
 
 " And if we don't dig it up together," said Reginald, 
 who had not the slightest compunction in playing on 
 the fears and covetousness of the man, " why, I shall 
 have to dig it up by myself — which you cannot prevent 
 my doing if it is not on your property, you know.
 
 I)AN(JE11 IMl'ENDK.d. 291 
 
 Then I sliall take it all, except what I hand uveu to 
 some lawyer, or English representative, m one of the 
 islands for your sister's use." 
 
 " But it is mine, mine alone ! " the infuriated wretch 
 Avould excLiim. " Mine, even if it is outside Coffin 
 Island. Simon was my relative, and he found it." 
 
 "And Nicholas Crafer was mine," replied the 
 other, " and he found it, too. It belonged to him as 
 much as to Simon, and, what's more, the secret 
 belongs to me and not to you. And as you are a 
 card player and a 'sportsman,' Mr. Alderly, you'll 
 understand what a strong card that is in my favour." 
 
 It was so strong a card that Alderly acknowledged 
 to himself in his own phraseology that " he was beat." 
 That is, he was "beat" by fair means, and, being a 
 brute and a savage in whose nature there seemed to 
 run all the worst strains of his ancestor, Simon, he 
 soon took to turning over in his mind how he could 
 win by means that were foul. 
 
 And on how these means could be brought about 
 he pondered deeply, roaming round the island as he 
 did so, Barbara's gun under his arm with which to 
 shoot, now and again, a gull or some other ccpially 
 harndess or useless bird ; or sitting on the crags, or 
 the beach when the tide was out, thinking ever. And 
 what he thought about more than anything else was, 
 " How could he obtain possession of that paper which 
 he had seen in Crafer's hand ? " For in that paper 
 lay the secret, he felt sure, of the spot to which the 
 treasure, his treasure, had been removed. 
 
 It may be told here that, although he had been 
 outside the jalousie on the night of the storm Avhich 
 t2
 
 292 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 drove him lioiuo, and liis fatlier to his doom, for 
 longer than either Barbara or Reginald knew, he had 
 gleaned bnt a very imperfect knowledge of what the 
 latter had read out. Some words he had caught, 
 such as " when you have taken your first measure- 
 ment from the spot where you land, you stick in the 
 ground your sword, and then make, or persevere until 
 you make, all your other strides correspond with what 
 I have wrote down." Yet this told nothing. He 
 had not heard nor caught the mention of the Keys, 
 therefore the measurement might apply to any of the 
 scores of little islands in the Virgin Archipelago. 
 Also he had heard Reginald read out from his papers, 
 " now here is a little map, rough as befits a drawing 
 made by me, yet just and true." But of what use was 
 this map — unless he could set eyes on it ! Ah ! that 
 was it. If he could set eyes on it ! 
 
 He had heard other sentences, too; a portion of the 
 conclusion of Nicholas Crafer's narrative, but they 
 would not piece together into one explicit whole. 
 He was, indeed, at bay. He knew the treasure had 
 been moved somewhere, and he knew that, in the 
 possession of this fellow who was now in that gimcrack 
 yacht in the river, was a description of where the 
 treasure was, as well as a map showing the spot ; but 
 he knew no more. 
 
 And as ho thought it all over, sitting upon a crag, 
 he (j-round his large white teeth and beat the rock 
 beneath him with the butt of Barbara's gun in his 
 rao'e. But, at last, it seemed that he had made up 
 his mind, had resolved upon his plan; for with a 
 smothered oath — the use of which expletives he was
 
 DANGER IMPENDING, 293 
 
 very frequent in — lie sprang to his feet, while he 
 muttered to himself — 
 
 " One half! One half! Ho ! Ho ! No ! Not one 
 half, not one shilling, not one red cent." 
 
 As he rose, there came across the little grassy 
 plateau behind the crag his sister, Barbara. For a 
 moment she paused and glanced at him, and, perhaps 
 because she knew him so well and had studied all his 
 evil moods from infancy, she observed something in 
 his face inore evil, more threatening than usual. 
 Then she said — ■ 
 
 " I want my gun." 
 
 " What for ? " 
 
 " There are some large parrots come across from 
 Anegada. You said you wanted some for your sujDper 
 Avhen next a Hock came. See, there are two in the 
 gros-gros down, there. Give me the gun," and taking 
 it from his hand, she cocked it and aimed at the two 
 birds in the palm-tree half-way down the cliff. 
 
 " What is the use ? " he said roughly. " They will 
 fall into the sea below and we can never get them, it 
 is too deep." 
 
 But ere he could say more she fired, missing her 
 mark, if, indeed, she had aimed at it. Then she 
 uttered an exclamation and dropped the gun, letting 
 it fall a hundred and fifty feet below into the 
 deep sea. 
 
 " You fool ! " he said, " you infernal fool ! " And he 
 looked as though he were going to strike her for her 
 carelessness. " You fool ! it was the only firearm we 
 had in the island, and now you have let it go where 
 we can never get it back. Barbara, a beating would
 
 294 TJIK JIISI'ANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 do you good. I have a niind to give yi»ii one or fling 
 you over the cUff after it." 
 
 "It kicked," she said, "and hurt me. And, after 
 all, it doesn't matter nmch. It was old and scarcely 
 ever shot straight. I could do nothing" with it." 
 
 *' I could, though," he replied, still scowling at 
 her, "It would shoot what I wanted. That was good 
 enough for me." 
 
 And Barbara, as she looked him straight in the 
 eyes, said inwardly to herself — 
 
 " I know it would shoot what you wanted. That 
 is why it will never shoot again." 
 
 He changed the subject after grumbliuQ- at and 
 abusing her for some time longer, and said — 
 
 " Where's that follow now, that admirer of yours ? 
 I haven't seen him to-day." 
 
 " I saw his yacht go out two or three hours 
 ago," she said, treating the remark about Reginald's 
 admiration with intinite contempt — as of late she had 
 treated most of his speeches. " I suppose he has gone 
 for a sail. Or, perhaps, over to Tortola or Anegada to 
 buy himself some food. Since you will not show him 
 much civility, I suppose he does not want to be 
 beholden to you for even so much as a mango or a 
 shaddock." 
 
 " I've a mind to put a chain across the river's 
 jnoutli and stop him ever coming into the river again." 
 But while he spoke he started at a thought that came 
 into his mind, and said — 
 
 " My God ! Suppose he is gone to the island 
 Avhere he knows the treasure was removed to ! 
 Suppose that ! And to dig it up and be ofi' with it.
 
 DANOEi; IMPENDIXO. 295 
 
 Barbara!" he almost shrieked, " which is that island 
 — where is it ? " 
 
 " Ort'er him the fair half he requires," she said, 
 " and find out. That's the best thing you can do." 
 
 People who live in civilised places do not often see 
 a man with the temper of a wild beast exhibit that 
 temper. There are many men Avith such tempers, 
 it is true, in the most enlightened and refined sj^ots ; 
 but their surroundinsfs force them into some sort of 
 decency, however much they may be raging in weirdly. 
 Here, in Coffin Island, civilisation was, if not non- 
 existent, at least at a discount, and Joseph Alderly, 
 who had the disposition of a tiger without the tiger's 
 redeeming quality — love for its own kind — gave way 
 at Barbara's last remark to such a tempest of fury as 
 would have disgraced that animal. He rushed at 
 his sister, howling, cursing and blaspheming, with the 
 evident intention of hurling her over the cliff, which 
 she — agile as a deer — avoided, so that had he not 
 thrown himself down violently, he nuist have gone 
 over instead ; and then he gave his vile infirmity full 
 swing. Curses on her, on Crafer, even on himself, 
 poured from his mouth ; he dug his heels into the 
 earth and kicked stones and pebbles away from him 
 as though they were living creatures Avhich could 
 feel his fury; and all the time he interlarded his 
 blasphemy Avith such remarks as, " It is mine, uiine, 
 mine. I will have it, even though I cut his throat. 
 ]\Iine ! mine ! mine ! One half — my God ! One 
 half!" 
 
 Thus the savage exhibited his temper without 
 restraint ; it was his only manner of doing so. Had
 
 29G THE UISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 he been an Engiisli gentleman, he would probably 
 have had just the same temper, only it would have 
 taken a different shape. He would have browbeaten 
 his wife or female kin, have bullied his servants, and 
 probably kicked his dog. And then, as Alderly 
 soon did, he would have calmed down, feeling much 
 relieved ! 
 
 Barbara waited until at last he seemed quieter — • 
 regarding him with scorn, though not surprise, since 
 she knew his disposition — when she said : 
 
 " I don't think you understand Mr. Crafcr. Like 
 all his countrymen he can be very firm, I imaofine, 
 and like all English sailors " — and there was a per- 
 ceptible accentuation of the Avord " Enghsh " — " he 
 seems very brave. You won't frighten him." 
 
 He still muttered and mumbled to himself— 
 though it seemed to her he was meditating something 
 all through the end of his paroxysm — and at last he 
 said : 
 
 " When is he coming back ? I suppose you 
 know." 
 
 " How should I know, and why should he come 
 back ? Your welcome has not been very warm, and, 
 as you say, he may have gone to the other island 
 where the treasure has been removed to." 
 
 Again at this, to him, awful suggestion, it seemed 
 as if his brutal fury was going to break out once 
 more, but this time, by an effort that was no doubt 
 terrific, he calmed himself and was contented to 
 exclaim : 
 
 " I don't believe that ! If he came to fetch it 
 away, why didn't he do so before now ? There was
 
 DANGER IMPENDING. 297 
 
 no one to interfere with him. Vou may depend it's 
 ah a he — the treasure's here in my island, and he 
 hasn't dug it up because he couldn't. He was afraid 
 of you before I came back." 
 
 " My admirer — and afraid of me ! Well ! " ex- 
 claimed Barbara, with a different note of scorn in her 
 voice now. 
 
 " Or he was pla^dng at being your admirer to 
 throw dust in your eyes and get away with it all 
 somehow." 
 
 Here Barbara shrugged her shoulders ; but even 
 that significant gesture was allowed to pass also with- 
 out an explosion. He was calming himself, taming 
 himself, she saw ])lainly, and she guessed at once that 
 he had a reason for what he did. What was that 
 reason ? She resolved to know. 
 
 " I suppose I must yield," he said, with a strange 
 look in his eyes. " Barbara, Ave must give in. You 
 go and see him and tell him I'll go halves. Though 
 it's a cruel shame, a wicked shame." 
 
 " Is it ? I don't think so. He came all the Avay 
 from England to get it all for himself, and it was 
 only when he found that there were descendants of 
 Simon on the island that he resolved to give it— to 
 share it ! " she corrected herself 
 
 " Well, we must do it. liJut to think of his taking 
 half away ! When will he come back ? " 
 
 " I tell you I don't know." 
 
 Her brother again plunged into meditation. Then 
 he said : 
 
 " You go down to the mouth of the river and watch 
 till he comes in. You can talk to him better than I
 
 298 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 can — you're what they call a lady, I suppose. At any 
 rate, you're edycated. Then tell him wh;it I sa}^ — 
 that I'll give in and go shares — that is, if yoii can't 
 wheedle him into takinsj less. You're a fine-looldng 
 girl, Barbara, as good a looking girl as ever I've seen 
 in Jamaica or Darien, or even up to New York ; if 
 you played your cards right we could get the lot 
 out of him." 
 
 The girl shrank away from him with such a look 
 of disgust — for the odious leer upon his face told her 
 quite as plainly as his words did, if not more so, what 
 he meant — that he refrained from continuing. AVhat- 
 ever plot he was maturing — and he was maturing a 
 deep-laid one — he saw that this was not the way to 
 work it. Therefore he continued his instructions. 
 
 " Go down and meet him when he comes in. It 
 Avill be to-night when the tide sets here from Tortola. 
 Then come home and tell me. And to-morrow — " he 
 said the word " to-morrow " slowly, and with a sound 
 in his voice that roused her — " to-morrow, if he's 
 willing, we'll get to work. Now g'O." 
 
 She turned on her heel without a word beyond 
 saying " Very well," and in a moment she was gone, 
 her lithe form disappearing instantly amongst the 
 bamboos and Spanish bayonets, the poinsettias and 
 begonias, that grew up close to the plateau. And 
 beyond the chattering of the aroused vert-verf.s and 
 QiCest-ce (jiril dit's, there was nothing to show that 
 she had set out upon her errand. 
 
 He, the savage owner of that beautiful island, sat 
 exactly where he had been sitting so long, still 
 muttering to himself, laughing once or twice, and
 
 DANGER IMPENDING. 299 
 
 repeating over and over again the words, " To-morrow, 
 to-morrow." And as he did so, a pleasing vision 
 came before his eyes, and only once it was marred — 
 by what seemed to be a great wave of blood passing 
 before them. Otherwise, it showed him all that could 
 gladden such a heart as his. A southern gambling- 
 hell Avith the tables piled with gold, all of Avhich he 
 Avas winning for himself by the aid of the vast capital 
 he possessed. A gambling-hell with the lights turned 
 down low for coolness, and with iced drinks being 
 passed about to all therein ; a place through which 
 the sound of soft nuisic was borne, in which fair- 
 haired women caressed him, and made much of him. 
 Then, next, he saw a verdant hill above a summer 
 sea, a villa with marble steps and corridors ; outside, 
 the splashing of fountains amidst the palms around 
 them. And still the c-'olden-haired women were ever 
 present, contending with each other for his favours — 
 his, the wealthiest man in those tropic regions ! 
 
 That was the vision he sfvw, before rising and 
 going slowly down the path that led to the beach 
 where his patched-up cutter was moored.
 
 300 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 BEWARE ! 
 
 The girl Avent on her mission willingly enougli — 
 indeed, had her brother not ordered her to go and 
 watch for the retnrn of Reginald, she had quite 
 determined in her own mind some time before to 
 seek him out, and to wait for his coming back. 
 
 For she, who had observed Joseph carefully all her 
 lifetime, could read his nature as easily as a book ; 
 she knew what those tempests of fury, followed by an 
 enforced self-subduing, meant. Above all, she knew 
 what the sudden determination on his part to share 
 the treasure — or the appearance of sudden determin- 
 ation — meant also. It meant either trickery, or 
 violence, or murder. Most probably the latter ! 
 
 His greed for money to squander on himself had 
 always been great, even from boyhood. In those days, 
 and before he could earn anything for himself, he 
 would rob his father of small sums, pilfering them 
 from his pocket when he slept, or from places whero 
 he kept his earnings ; later on, if a goat or a sheep 
 were tnken by him to Tortola and sold, there would be 
 always some dispute about the price obtained, always 
 something missing. And when he was a man the 
 scenes between him and his father, the tights and the 
 ill-treatment to which old Aldcrly was subjected, 
 Avere sufficient to make him stand forth in very 
 distinct characters.
 
 BEWARE ! 301 
 
 Therefore, she knew that he intended something 
 now against Reginald Crafer — she felt perfectly sure 
 that never Avould her brother allow the latter to 
 become possessed of one-half of whatever buried 
 treasure there niisfht be. What his exact intentions 
 were she could not, of course, make sure. It might 
 be that he meant to watch him, until, in some way, 
 the spot where the treasure was should be revealed, 
 Avhen, by some trickery, Joseph Avould manage to 
 secure it all ; it might be that he had resolved to do 
 the worst and slay him. For, if he could do that, then 
 he would become possessed of the papers which told 
 where the treasure was, and, since he was able to read 
 enough, she thought, to decipher even the crabbed, 
 indistinct characters in the writing, as she had seen 
 them to be, to thus possess himself of all. And she 
 knew, too, that whatever Joseph did Avould be done 
 by stealth and craft — the only way in which he ever 
 worked when not consumed by his passion — and, 
 therefore, he was doubly to be suspected and guarded 
 against. 
 
 All through the Avarm tropical afternoon she 
 sat on by the bank of the river ; it was the very 
 spot, as she knew, or thought she knew, where two 
 centuries ago Simon Alderly had slain the diver — 
 thinking always, and taking no heed of all the multitu- 
 dinous animal life around her. The hummino--birds 
 hovered in front of her, bright specks of gorgeous 
 colour ; the butterflies, representing in their brilliant 
 bodies ever}^ known hue, flitted backwards and 
 forwards ; sometimes a monkey peered at her with 
 wide-open eyes from moriche and bamboo, and insects
 
 802 THE IIISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 of numerous vtiiieties crept about tlio bush-ropes and 
 the fan-pahus, while all around her was the waruith 
 and perfume of the tropics. 
 
 Yet she heeded none of these things. They were 
 the accompaniments of the whole of her young exist- 
 ence, and— even had they not been — she woidd not 
 now have noticed them. Her thoughts were intent 
 on the saving of a human life — a life she had come 
 to love, the life of the handsome Englishman who 
 had journeyed from far-off England to her lonely, 
 desolate home. 
 
 Presently she knew that night was at hand, that it 
 Avas coming swiftly. The atmosphere was all suffused 
 by a rich saffron hue, into which the crimson tints of 
 the sun and the blue of the heavens were being 
 absorbed ; the sun itself was sinking over the mount 
 behind her ; even the air was cooling and becoming 
 fresher. 
 
 " If he would only come," she whispered to herself ; 
 " if he would only come before night falls." 
 
 And then she resolved to go to the mouth of tlic 
 river and look for him. To do so meant that she 
 must force her way through a hundred yards of under- 
 growth of cacti and all kinds of clinging creepers ; yet 
 she was so anxious to see him and to warn him of the 
 danger in which, she felt sure, he would stand on his 
 return, that she did not hesitate a moment. There- 
 fore she plunged bodily in amongst the luxuriant 
 vegetation, and, after a considerable amount of 
 struggling and a numerous quantity of scratches 
 received, stood at last upon the beach, gazing almost 
 south towards Tortola.
 
 BEWARE I 303 
 
 And soon she stnv that he was corning- back^ — as 
 she had never donbted he would come : he had not 
 parted from her iu a manner that meant a last fare- 
 well ! — he was very near the island now, not a quarter 
 of a mile away. 
 
 Presently he, too, saw her standing there regard- 
 ing him, and, as he did so, took his handkerchief from 
 his pocket and waved it to her. And live minutes 
 later the Fompeia passed in between the river banks, 
 so that they could speak to each other. 
 
 '• Why ! how did you get through the undergrowth, 
 Barbara ? " he asked, astonished to see her on the 
 beach, which, from the landing path, was almost in- 
 accessible. 
 
 " I wanted to see if you were coming back," she 
 answered, " and so forced my way." 
 
 " Wait till I have anchored opposite the path," he 
 said, " and I will come back with the dinghy and 
 bring you oft'." And so he passed on to the usual 
 place where he moored the yacht — simply because the 
 path from the hut to the river came down opposite — 
 and then, anchoring, he got into the dinghy and went 
 to fetch her. 
 
 " Shall I put you ashore," he asked, " or will you 
 come on board ? " 
 
 " On board," she said ; " we can talk bettor there. 
 Ashore there may be ears hidden behind any palm or 
 under any bush. Take me on board." 
 
 He looked at her with one swift glance, wonderino- 
 what could have happened now, but he said nothing; 
 and after a few strokes the}' stood on the deck of his 
 little craft. Then he brought her a tiny deck-chair
 
 304 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 and bade her be seated, while he leaned against the 
 gunwale by her side. 
 
 " What is it, Barbara ? " he asked, looking down 
 at her. " What is it now ? " 
 
 " I do not know," she said, speaking very low and 
 casting glances over to the bank of the river, as 
 thouofh doubting;' whether that other one niisfht not be 
 hidden somewhere beneath the thick foliage of the 
 shore. " Yet, Mr. Crafer, I fear." 
 
 " For what ? " 
 
 "For you. He is meditating something. I am 
 sure of it. He has bidden me come to you and say 
 that, to-morrow, he will agree to share the treasure 
 with you if you will show him where it is. No," she 
 went on, seeing a smile appear upon Reginald's face, 
 " no, it is not so simple an ending as you think, 
 I am certain — I feel positively sure from what I 
 know of him — that he means to do nothing of 
 the kind." 
 
 " Then why the suggestion ? " he asked. " What 
 is the use of it ? " 
 
 " To gain time, to have the night in which to think 
 over and work out some scheme. Perhaps," she said, 
 leaning a little forward to him in her earnestness, so 
 that, even in the now swift-coming darkness, he could 
 see her large starry eyes quite clearly, " to have the 
 night in which to attempt some injury to you. Oh ! 
 Mr. Crafer, for God's sake be on your guard. You do 
 not know him as I do." 
 
 " Have no fear," he said, touching her hand gently, 
 as though in thanks for her warning, " have no fear. 
 Yet I will be careful. But what can he do to-night,
 
 BEWARE ! 305 
 
 even if he wished to do hariu ? I am as safe here in 
 this httle 3'acht as in a castle." 
 
 " You do not know. With him one can never 
 tell what he is- thinking of doing — what his designs 
 are. His life has been terribly rough, and he has 
 lived among lawless people and in lawless places. 
 And his desire for wealth is such that, knowing your 
 life is the only thing that stands between him and a 
 great sum of money, as he believes, he would liesitate 
 at nothing. No ! Not even at taking that life." 
 
 Then she told him of the incident of the oun, 
 and how she had let it fall into the sea so as to put 
 it — the only firearm in the place — out of harm's way. 
 He thanked her again for this precaution for his 
 safety, and then she said that she must go. It was 
 dark now, and doubtless her brother would be waitincf 
 for Reginald's answer, since she thought it very 
 j)robable that he was quite as well aware that the 
 Pompeia was once again anchored in the river as 
 she was herself". 
 
 "Heaven bless you, Barbara, for your kindly, 
 generous nature, and, above all, for your thought for 
 me," Reginald exclaimed. " That I shall remember 
 it always you cannot doubt. And be sure I will be 
 very careful, even here, aboard. Though I do not 
 see what he can do. Our old friend, Simon, would 
 have attacked Nicholas openly if the circumstances 
 had been similar, and they would have fought it out 
 to the grim death. Your brother can't do that, and 
 — short of an open fight in the river — -he can do 
 nothing. Therefore, Barbara, have no fear for me. 
 And I am armed, too. See ! " and with a smile he 
 u
 
 306 THE HLSPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 showed her a neat little revolver — one of Webley's New 
 Express — a powerful weapon, though light and handy. 
 
 " God grant it may not come to that ! " she 
 answered, with a shudder. " Bad as he is, it would 
 break my heart if he should die at your hands." 
 
 " It shall not come to that," Reginald replied. " I 
 only showed it to you to ease your mind. And you 
 may be sure that since he has no firearms I would 
 not use one on him." 
 
 Then, as he put her ashore in the dinghy he said 
 that, of course, she would tell her brother that he 
 was willing to come to terms. " That is," he explained, 
 " to go halves. Which halves mean that I am 
 looking after your interests, you know, and " 
 
 " Fray, pray," she interposed, " do not let us even 
 think of such things now. If I have misjudged him, 
 as I hope most earnestly I have, then there will be 
 time to talk about shares and so forth. If I have 
 
 read him aright " but here she broke oft' with a 
 
 little shiver, and, holding out her hand to him as 
 they stood on the river's brink, wished him " Good- 
 night." 
 
 " Good-night ! " he exclaimed. " Good-night ! 
 Why, surely, I may accompany you part of the way 
 at least ? I always do so when we are any distance 
 from your home." 
 
 " No," she answered, " no. Go back at once to 
 your yacht. At once, I say, and get on board her. 
 Uh ! if you did but know the terror I am in for 
 your safety." 
 
 " Barbara ! " he exclaimed. " Barbara ! Why ! it 
 is a dream, a fantasy "
 
 Ceware! o07 
 
 "No," she said, "no. It is no dream, no fantasy. 
 For my sake, for my sake, 1 beseech 3-011 — p^o back 
 and make yourself secure. Believe me, I know 
 him ! " and she turned as though to run up the 
 slio-ht ascent. 
 
 " For your sake, then, I will," he said. " For your 
 sake. We Avill meet to-morrow. Good-night, Bar- 
 bara." Then he suddenly asked, anxiously — " But 
 you — there is no danger to you ? " 
 
 " No ! no ! Good-night," she said, " God keep 
 you. Oh ! this dread is terrible," and then, giving 
 him a sign to go without further loss of time, she- 
 sped up the path. 
 
 He did not share at all in Barbara's dread of her 
 brother, perhaps because he was a man, and, perhaps, 
 also, because he had not been used to witnessing 
 years of violence on that brother's part ; indeed, he 
 believed her terrors to be purely feminine — the terrors 
 that many Avomen feel in all parts of the world ibr 
 that Avorst of despots, the domestic tyrant. But being 
 neither vain nor conceited, he did not for one moment 
 associate those terrors Avith any regard she had 
 allowed herself to conceive for him, nor, thereby, mp.ke 
 allowances for them in that Avay. Indeed, he had 
 very little idea that she regarded him as anything 
 more than a stranger, Avho, by the peculiar knowledge 
 he possessed of the buried Avcalth, Avas far more inter- 
 esting than the fcAV tourists Avere Avho sometimes 
 visited Coffin Island. Yet he forgot she alloAved him 
 to call her Barbara, Avhile ahvaj's herself addressing 
 him Avith formality. 
 
 He was not, however, so foolhardy as to neglect a 
 u 2
 
 308 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 caution given him by one who was not only inter- 
 ested in him but, also, thoroughly well acquainted 
 with the scheming and violently dangerous nature of 
 Joseph Alderly. He therefore, on regaining the 
 deck of the Ponvpeia, took such precautions as were 
 possible. He drew up the little dinghy from the 
 water and placed it on the deck parallel with the 
 port side, and, when he entered his cabin, he Avas 
 careful to leave the door open so that any outside 
 sounds from either the river or the banks would be 
 plainly heard. 
 
 Then — since there was no more to be done — he 
 went into the cabin and, mixing himself some whisky 
 and water, prepared to watch as long as he could 
 keep his eyes open, making one sacrifice to the 
 supposed necessity for a caution in so far that he 
 decided not to lie down during the night. 
 
 " There is nothing else to do," he reflected; "hardly 
 any danger to ward off. He can't make such an 
 attack on me as I suggested his ancestor, Simon, 
 Avould very likely have done, and there is no other 
 way possible, for he cannot get on board without 
 my knowing it, and, if he could, I am as good a 
 man as he ! " 
 
 Yet still he determined to watch carefully until 
 at least the dawn had come ; for then would be 
 sufficient time to begin considering how he should 
 meet Alderly and arrange for digging up the buried 
 treasure.
 
 309 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 "AND DEATH THE END OF ALL." 
 
 It was a particularly dark night and all was very- 
 calm. The moon did not top the eastern bank of the 
 river until long past midnight, and the stars gave but 
 little light. Also, the silence was extreme. Some- 
 times, it is true, he could hear the rustling of birds 
 and small animals in the luxuriant vegetation on either 
 bank, or catch the whisper of the soft night breezes 
 among the gros-gros, the moriches, and the great 
 leaves of the green bananas : but that was all. And 
 sparkling all around him, as they whirled in their 
 evolutions, Avere the myriads of fireflies that make 
 every tropical acre of ground look like an illuminated 
 garden ; but, beyond these and the dim stars above the 
 opening between the two banks, there was nothing 
 else to be seen. Even the great trunks of the trees 
 were shrouded in gloom, and seemed nothing but 
 dense patches on the sombre background. 
 
 Reginald sat on in his cabin, his pipe in his mouth, 
 his tumbler by his side, the portholes and the door 
 open for coolness and also for precaution's sake. And 
 on the table upon which he leant his elbows there lay 
 the revolver. He had promised, voluntarily promised 
 Barbara, he would not use the weapon upon her 
 brother, who had none ; yet he did not know but that, 
 should a crisis come, he might have occasion to
 
 310 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 do SO. If Alderly were the scheming scoundrel the 
 unhappy g'irl beheved him to be, then it Avas by no 
 means iinUkely that he, too, might possess, secretly, 
 A similar pistol which he had carefully kept her in 
 ignorance of. Or, since he was so big and powerful, if 
 by any chance he could board the Pompeia — as he 
 might do b}^ swimming from one of the banks — it 
 might come to a hand-to-hand fight, in Avhich Alderl}^ 
 would possibly be armed with other weapons, and 
 thereby force Reginald to use his own. But he was 
 resolved there should be no use of it unless absolutely 
 necessary. 
 
 "How quiet it all is," he meditated, as he sat there, 
 " how undisturbed. Surely Barbara had no need foi 
 fear on my account ! Why, Nicholas could hardly 
 have been more secure when he had the island all to 
 himself after Simon Alclerly's death, than I am now." 
 
 And this thought set his mind off into another 
 train, a reflection of the similarity there was between 
 him and his kinsman, and between their actions in 
 this spot — in spite of two hundred years having rolled 
 away. 
 
 " Nicholas had his galliot anchored here," he 
 thought ; " perhaps in the very spot where I am now. 
 He, too, used the path up to the hut — not far away 
 
 from here the Snow was sunk — and — and — and " 
 
 He gave a start and shook himself He had nearly 
 fallen asleep ! He was very tired, for the da}^ had 
 been a long one, wliat Avith sailing back from Tortola 
 —to which he had gone, as Barbara surmised, to pur- 
 chase provisions — and his having been now awake 
 and on the stretch for more than eighteen hours.
 
 "AND DEATH THE END OF ALL." 311 
 
 Therefore, to try and arouse himself, he went on to 
 the deck of the Fompeia, and inhaled the fresh night 
 air as he peered all around. But there was nothing to 
 be seen, nothing. Nor, had there been anything out of 
 the ordinary, could he have seen it. The darkness 
 was intense. 
 
 He sat down asfain on the locker which ran 
 round the cabin and formed a seat, sitting bolt upright 
 this time to prevent sleep coming upon him, though 
 all the while he kept telling himself that such pre- 
 caution was unnecessary. Alderly was safe asleep in 
 his own house, he felt sure, or was sitting up drinking 
 and carousing by himself, as, so Barbara told him, 
 Avas always his habit. He would sit and drink, she 
 had said, and smoke, and as often as not play a game 
 of cards by himself with an imaginary opponent, and 
 efo on doino- so far into the nio-ht. Then, when at last 
 he was exhausted and could drink no more, he would 
 roll off his chair on to the floor, and so lie there and 
 sleep off' his nightly debauch. He was doubtless 
 doing that now. 
 
 As Reginald pondered thus, he again let his elbows 
 rest on the table and put his head in his hands. 
 
 " The air is so hot ! " he murmured, unloosing his 
 flannel shirt-collar as he did so, " so hot ! And — there 
 — is — no — danger. Yet I promised her," again rousing 
 himself, " yet — yet — Alderly stabbed the diver — if he 
 had had a revolver — in the casket — Barbara " 
 
 He was asleep. Asleep peacefully, though wearily, 
 worn out with his long day ; and presently there was 
 no noise in all the tranquil night but the sound of his 
 regular breathing, and the ripple of the little river
 
 312 THE HISPANIOLA J'LATE. 
 
 against the bows of the Pomimia, as it fiowcd down to 
 the sea. 
 
 Yet once he stalled from his shnnbers, heavino; in 
 thoiri, as he thought, a distant shriek, and hastily 
 went on deck, wondering if aught could have befallen 
 the girl up at the hut, but only to find that it was 
 some nioht bird that had alarmed hiui. For in the 
 woods, away up towards where the Alderlys dwelt, he 
 could hear the macaws chatterini? — the birds which 
 occasionally passed from one island to another — and 
 an owl hooting. 
 
 " It is nothing," he said Avearily, " nothing. My 
 nerves are overstrung — I have heard such sounds 
 often at nisrht since I have been here. It is nothino-. 
 They are fast asleep enough up there. And — and — 
 I need watch no longer," 
 
 So, utterly overcome now by the desire for slum- 
 ber that had seized upon him. and not more than half 
 awakened even by the visit to the deck, he stretched 
 liimself out at full length on the locker to q-qI an hour 
 or so of rest. Yet he was careful to place the revolver 
 near to his hand. 
 
 It wanted still an hour to the time when the moon 
 would be above the fronds of the tallest palms on the 
 eastern bank — a time at which even all the insect life 
 of the island seemed at last to be hushed to rest — 
 Avhen, to the ripple of the river and its soft lap against 
 the yacht's forefoot, was added another sound — the 
 sound, subdued, it is true, yet still one that would 
 have been perceptible to anyone who was awake in 
 that )\acht — of something disturbing, something pass- 
 ing through the waters ; but, had the sleeper awakened
 
 "AND DEATH THE END OF ALL." -SIB 
 
 to hear it, lie could have seen nothing-. All was still 
 too dark, too profound. 
 
 But he himself was seen— seen by a pair of gleam- 
 ing eyes staring at him through the cabin window, 
 the blinds of which had not been drawn, nor the 
 latchwork closed ; a pair of eyes that glistened from 
 out a face over which the hair, all dank and matted 
 with water, curled in masses. The face of Joseph 
 Alderly ! 
 
 Presently an arm came through the cabin window, 
 an arm long, bare, and muscular, the hand stretched 
 to its fullest length, the lingers sinuous as all powerful 
 fingers are, and striving to reach the pistol on the table, 
 across the body of the sleeping man. Yet soon they 
 desisted ; they were half a foot off where the Aveapon 
 lay ; any eiibrt to project more of that arm into the 
 cabin would almost certainly aAvake the sleeper. So 
 arm and hand were withdrawn, and again the evil 
 face of Alderly gazed down upon Reginald Crafer. 
 Once, too, the hand that had failed in its endeavour 
 sought its owner's breast pocket, and drew forth a 
 long glittering knife; once through the open window it 
 raised that knife over the other's throat — all open and 
 bare as it Avas ! — and then the hand Avas drawn back, 
 the face and arm were AvithdraAvn ; the villain had 
 disappeared. 
 
 And still Reginald slept on, unknoAving hoAA' near to 
 death he had been, how near to having the shining 
 Aveapon driven through his throat. Slept on and 
 heard nothing. Slept on Avhile the lamp hanging in 
 the cabin burnt itself out— he had not fed and trinnned 
 it over-night — and until, above, through the fan-like
 
 314 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 leaves of palm, bamboo, and cyclanthiis, there stole a 
 ray of moonlight that shone down directly on tlio 
 sleeping man's features. 
 
 Half an hour later he began to turn restlessly, to 
 mutter to himself — perhaps it was the flooding of the 
 rays of the now fully uprisen mor)n upon his. face that 
 was awaking him — and, gradually, to return to the 
 knowledge of where he was. Yet still he could not 
 for a moment understand matters — the lamp v.'as 
 burning brightly when he went to sleep, and all was 
 dark as pitch outside ; now the cabin was illuminated 
 by the moon, and all outside was light. Then he 
 recognised he had been asleep, and also that he was 
 in his yacht. 
 
 He turned round to get up and go on deck to 
 see if day was breaking, and, as he did so and put his 
 feet to the cabin floor, he started. It was covered 
 with water — ivater a foot deep — half up to his knees. 
 Looking down, he perceived it shining in the rays of 
 the moon as a large body of water always shines 
 beneath those ravs. 
 
 " Heavens ! " he exclaimed, " she is fillino- sinking- ! 
 She will not float another ten minutes ; the Avatcr is 
 almost flush with her deck already." And he rushed 
 to the cabin door. 
 
 He had left that door open ere he slept, he felt 
 positive. Now it was shut. 
 
 " She has listed a bit, perhaps," was the first 
 thought that came to his mind. Yet in another 
 moment that idea was dispelled. The Fompeia was 
 sinking on as even a keel as did ever any water-logged 
 boat ; there was no list in her. Then, almost feelinsr
 
 "AND DEATH THE END OF ALL." 315 
 
 sure o what he would discover a niouicnt later, ho 
 tried to open the door. . 
 
 It was fast. 
 
 " I knew it," he muttered through his teeth, as he 
 shook and banned at the door — there was no time to 
 be wasted ; even now the water was on a level with 
 the top of the locker on which he had lately slept ; a 
 few more minutes and the yacht must sink — " I knew 
 it. It is the whole history over again. Phips was 
 locked in his cabin — danni the door and he who closed 
 it ! — and I am locked in here to sink with the boat 
 and be drowned like a rat. There's no chance — a 
 child could scarcely escape through those windows ! 
 Oh ! Joseph Alderly, if I ever " 
 
 He stopped. Across the stream, from down by the 
 mouth of it, there came the most awful, blood-curdling- 
 cry he had ever heard, the death cry of one who knew 
 he was uttering his last shriek, knew that his doom 
 was fixed. A horrid shriek, followed by the words, 
 " Help ! help ■ " — and then silence — dense as before. 
 
 " Ay ! call for help," muttered Keginalcl. " Who- 
 ever you are, you do not want it more than I. Another 
 five minutes and the end will have come." 
 
 He looked round the cabin in hope of some means 
 of escape presenting themselves, and his eyes lighted 
 on the revolver. Then he knew that, if he Avere but 
 accorded time, only a few moments, he might get free. 
 But more than two or three such moments would not 
 be his ; the water was nearly to his waist now. Once, 
 twice, thrice, the report of the pistol rang out from 
 that doomed yacht, each shot shattering the lock and 
 panels ; and then one sturdy push was sufficient to
 
 316 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 force the door open against the water, and for him to 
 be standino- half in the river, half out ; and at that 
 instant he felt a heaving beneath his feet, he felt he 
 was sinking to his shoulders, that he was swimming 
 with nothing beneath him any longer. The yacht 
 was gone ; he had not been a minute too soon ! 
 
 The current was strong — the river being swollen 
 with the recent rains — and it bore him downwards to 
 the mouth, he not struofo-Unsr aci^ainst it, as he knew 
 very well that he could easily Land on the sea-beach 
 outside. So he went with the tide until gradually he 
 reached the outlet, and there he saw a sight that 
 might well affright him, even after what he had gone 
 through. He saw the face of Alderly on the waters, 
 an awful look of fear in the wide-open eyes, and the 
 jaws tightly clenched, but with the lips drawn back 
 from the white teeth on which the moon's rays 
 glistened. And he saw that he was dead. 
 
 " My God ! " he exclaimed. " How has he died ? " 
 And as he so pondered he swam towards the villain, 
 whose head bobbed about on the water as thouirh 
 there were no limbs, nor even trunk, beneath. But 
 all the time as it turned round and round the ej^es 
 gleamed Avitli a horrible light under the moon, and 
 the great strong teeth glistened behind the drawn lips. 
 
 Another moment, and he knew how Alderly had 
 died. The water in which he swam towards him 
 tasted Salter than sea- water as it touched his lips, and 
 its clearness was discoloured — crimson! And even 
 as Rcijinald seized the head of the now limbless trunk 
 and towed it to the bank, striking out with all his 
 power for fear of a similar dreadful fate befalling him
 
 "AND DEATH THE END OF ALL." 317 
 
 — which was probable enough, since the shark is, hke 
 the tiofer, eaoer for more when once its taste is whetted 
 — he thouoht to himself : 
 
 " Out of the depths, out of the depths the past 
 rises ao'ain and again." 
 
 Then, sweating with fear, he gave one last master- 
 ful side-stroke and landed safely on the shingle, 
 dragging his gory burden after hiiv\
 
 31S 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 THE OWNER OF THE TREASURE. 
 
 The white shark — for such it is which is the most 
 terrible in these regions — that had taken both 
 Alderly's legs off above the knee, so that he must 
 have soon bled to death, had doubtless done so Avhile 
 his intended victim was escaping from the trap he 
 had set for Reginald. 
 
 Each bite — for the brute nuist have given two — 
 was as clean as though the limbs had been snipped 
 off by a pair of blunt scissors, and, as Reginald re- 
 garded the mangled trunk in the moonlight, he could 
 not but thank his Maker that he had not been the 
 next victim, for he recognised how narrow his own 
 escape was. His experience as a sailor told him that 
 where the sharks have found one prey they will, 
 sometimes for weeks, hover about in expectation of 
 another, and he could only wonder— while his wonder 
 was tinged with devout gratitude — why he should 
 not also by now be torn in half 
 
 As he dragged the body up the slope of the 
 shinde, meaninti: to cover it over witli palm leaves 
 until Barbara had seen the face— the lower part she 
 must not be allowed to see — and then to bury it, a 
 bundle of papers fell out of the pocket of the dead 
 man's rough shirt, Avhich he picked up and put in his 
 own. It nnist be handed to ]]arbara, he refiectod,
 
 THE OAVNEU OF THE TREASURE. 81 U 
 
 who was now the last of the Alderlys, and con- 
 sequently the heiress to all the wealth of the Key ! 
 
 " Which is," reflected Reginald, " the very best 
 thing that could possibly have happened. She will 
 now be able to lead the life so beautiful a woman 
 ought to lead, a life which she by her education and 
 womanly ideas is fitted to lead. For her, nothing 
 could be better than Alderly's death." 
 
 Yet, when he thought of her inexperience — had 
 she not believed that Trinidad was the world ! — and 
 of how she was all alone now without kith or kin, he 
 could not but wonder what would become of her. 
 
 " At least," he pondered, " I pray she may fall into 
 the hands of no such an adventurer as this," and he 
 glanced at Alderly's mangled body. " That would be 
 too awful. Better anything than that, even to finding 
 her fortune gone when we dig up the Key. Though 
 that would be a strange climax, too, to all that has 
 taken place. Gone ! great heavens, what an idea ! To 
 think of it ! To think that when we go to unearth it 
 we may discover there is nothing to be got. The very 
 thought makes my blood run cold. But — bah ! it is 
 nonsense. It must be there ! " 
 
 His blood was running cold, though not from this 
 idea which had come into his mind, but from the 
 wetting he had received. 
 
 Therefore, as soon as the sun burst upon the 
 island once more, he stripped himself of his clothes, 
 and, laying them out to dry, proceeded to dry himself 
 also by the old-fashioned method of running up and 
 down the beach. Then, when but a short exposure of 
 his garments to the sun had sufiiced to render them
 
 320 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 once more wearable, lie put them on again and set 
 out for Barbara's home. 
 
 " Though," he said to himself, " it is no easy task 
 to break such news to her. Alderly was not kind to 
 her, and she knew his failings and despised him — yet 
 he was her brother, and his death was awful. But it 
 must be told." 
 
 He made his way with the usual difficulty through 
 all the entanuiement of the luxuriant vegetation that 
 STew down to the beach, and at last reached the 
 path leading to the hut. Indeed, he was eager to get 
 there in spite of the fact that he had such dismal 
 news to break to Barbara, since he was somewhat sur- 
 prised that he had neither seen nor heard anything of 
 her now. He had almost feared to denude himself of 
 his clothes at daybreak, thinking that at any moment 
 the girl might come down to him — it being her 
 custom to rise at that time — and when an hour had 
 passed, as it had now done, he was still more aston- 
 ished at not seeing her. She must know by now 
 that her brother was not in his house ; she must have 
 known long ago that he had not sat up carousing far 
 into the night as was his habit. Where was she? 
 What could have happened ? 
 
 His fears became intensified as her house came 
 into sight. For he soon perceived that the jalousies 
 were not opened, and that the door on the verandah 
 was closed — a thing he had never known before to be 
 the case, from daybreak until late night — nay, worse, 
 more appalling than all to him, was to see that behind 
 the slats of the jalousie of the front room there 
 was a light burning — the light of the lamp that
 
 THE OWNEIl OF THE TREASURE. 321 
 
 stood always on the table in the middle of the living- 
 room. 
 
 Springing up the wooden steps leading to the 
 verandah, he rattled the slats in great agitation, and 
 called loudly, " Barbara ! Barbara, are you there ? " a 
 summons which, he thanked Heaven, instantly pro- 
 duced a reply. He heard the bark of her dog, who 
 knew him well now ; but no answer came from her. 
 
 Unable to bear any further suspense, fearing the 
 worst, namel}', that her brother had murdered her 
 before he set forth on his attempt to do as much for 
 him, and remembering — fool that he was, as he called 
 himself ! — the shriek he had heard in the night and 
 attributed to some of the disturbed denizens of the 
 island, he tore the jalousie aside and entered the 
 general room. 
 
 And then he knew why Barbara had nut come to 
 seek him at daybreak as was her wont. 
 
 She was lying on the lounge, or rude sofa, her 
 hands bound in front of her, her feet tied together, 
 and in her mouth a rude gag made of a coarse pocket- 
 handkerchief By her side was the dog, moaning and 
 whimpering, but making, when he entered, an 
 attempt to jump up and fondle him. It also Avas tied, 
 to the foot of the couch. 
 
 " Oh ! Barbara ! " he exclaimed, rushing for^ward 
 to her, while he saw with intinite thanks that 
 her eyes Avere o]jen, and that she seemed to have 
 suffered no further brutality than being made a 
 prisoner of " Oh ! Barbara ! that he should have 
 treated you so ! " 
 
 Then in a moment lie bad taken the gag from her 
 v
 
 822 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 nioutli and had set her free, while all the time he was 
 speaking kindly and considerately to her, and pitying 
 her for having been so treated. And her first words 
 were : 
 
 " Thank God, you are alive ! I have been picturing 
 you to myself for hours as dead. Did he not try to 
 kill you ? " 
 
 "Yes, Barbara," he said, after a mouicnt's pause, 
 almost dreading to tell her the tale, yet recognising 
 that ho nuist do so. "Yes, he tried to kill me." 
 
 "How?" 
 
 " By drowning. He must have bored some holes 
 in the yacht unknown to me, when I slei'jt. Oh ! 
 ]Jarbara ! I know I promised to keep careful watch, 
 yet I Avas so tired, and at last I fell asleep. When I 
 awoke the yacht was full of water — was sinking. 
 
 Then " he hesitated to tell her of how he had 
 
 been locked in the cabin — " I — I escaped — I swam for 
 my life." 
 
 " And he ? " she asked faintly, almost in a whisper. 
 "What of him?" 
 
 " He is dead." 
 
 " Ah ! yes," she replied, with a shiver. " I know. 
 I heard the report of your revolver. Then I knew all. 
 Oh ! how I wish he had not died at yoin- hands ! " 
 
 " He did not die at my hands, Barbara. He was 
 dr ; he died in the water." 
 
 " Tell me all," she said, still faintly. " Tell me all." 
 
 Therefore he told her the whole of the dreadful 
 story, omitting only the most blackening act, the 
 double treacher}' and attempt of Alderly to take his 
 life without giving him one chance of escape.
 
 THE OWNER OF THE TREASURE. 323 
 
 " I never tlioiiglit to see you again," she whispered, 
 when his recital was finished. " Nevci', never. For," 
 she went on, telling now her experiences, " I knew by 
 midnight tliat what I had dreaded he would attempt 
 was about to take place. At that hour he left oft' 
 drinkinsf, havini? taken much less than was usual all 
 the evening, and rising he went to the cupboard, from 
 Avhich, though he thought I could not do so, I saw 
 him take out his long knife. It was one he brought 
 back from Uruguay, from Paysandu, where they 
 slauo-hter the oxen wholesale. I have heard him say 
 more than once that it was too good to slay beasts 
 with, and more fit to use on men — and once he drew 
 it upon father. So that I kncAV he meant ill to you. 
 Then 1 tried to escape to give you warning, only ho 
 would not let me. He seized me, tied me as you saw, 
 and gagged me, though I shrieked once, hoping to 
 alarm you — indeed, he threatened to kill me. And, at 
 last, after he had also tied the dog — he would have 
 slain that too, I feel sure, had it uttered one cry — he 
 left me to the horrors of the night. Without one 
 word he went away, not even saying when he Avould 
 return. And," the girl concluded, " when I heard 
 your pistol shots I fainted from fear — fear of Avhat was 
 ffoinsr on. Oh ! thank God, thank God, that he did 
 not murder you — that you were not obliged to take 
 his life in self-defence." 
 
 "I am thankful, too," he said; "above all things, 
 thankful for }our sake." After which he added, 
 " Now, Barbara, would it not be best for you to come 
 with me and see his body ? I nmst bury it, you 
 know, and then I ought to go over to Tortola and tell 
 v 2
 
 324 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 the Commissioner. I suppose he should be informed 
 of his death." 
 
 " I suppose so," she said. " Only — how are you to 
 go ? The yacht is lost." 
 
 " There is his own boat. Where is that ? " 
 
 But Barbara could not tell him, and soon after he 
 found out. But now he prepared to go back to the 
 beach to bury her brother's body, and ho was not 
 altogether surprised when she refused to accompany 
 him. 
 
 " You have told me he is dead and how he died," 
 she said. " That is enough — what more can I need ? 
 And for himself — oh ! why should I see him ? He 
 never cared for me as a brother should, his last act 
 was one of cruelty to me, and he went forth to nuu'der 
 you. Moreover, he was callous about father's death, 
 did indeed rejoice in it, I beheve, because by it he 
 became master of the place. No, I will not go and 
 see him ; I could not bear to look upon him again. 
 And," she concluded, " my only regret is that you 
 should have the task of burying him. It would have 
 been better almost had he sunk to the bottom of the 
 river." 
 
 Therefore Keginald Avent off upon this duty, but 
 before he did so he gave to Barbara the water-soaked 
 packet of papers ^vhich he had taken from Alderly's 
 shirt-pocket. 
 
 " They fell out," he said, " after I had brought him 
 ashore. There was nothing else. The knife you 
 speak of must have sunk to the bottom ; perhaps he 
 even tried to defend liimsclf against the shark with it 
 in his last moments. We shall nevci know ! "
 
 THE OWNER OF THE TREASURE. 825 
 
 Nor did he ever know how that long Uruguay 
 knife had once been nearly thrust into his breast as 
 he lay sleeping ; nor that with the knife, which had, 
 indeed, sunk to the bottom of the river, had also sunk 
 the auoer with which he had bored half-a-dozen holes 
 (each of the circumference of an ordinary cork) in the 
 bottom of the Pompeia. One thing did, however, 
 strike him as strange as he meditated over it all, 
 namely, that from the time when Alderly nmst have 
 bored those holes in the yacht to the time when she 
 sank a considerable period had undoubtedly elapsed. 
 And he wondered if it was during that period that he 
 had managed to get on board and close the cabin door. 
 Then, as he was burying him, he knew ; he found out 
 that his would-be murderer had indeed visited the 
 Poinpcici. 
 
 For he was mistaken when he told Barbara earlier 
 that there was nothing else on her brother's body. As 
 he prepared to put the trunk into the hole he had 
 dug for it — while still the fixed open eyes stared up 
 at him, this time in the morning's simlight, and still 
 the beautifully white teeth gleamed in that light — he 
 observed that, besides the papers wliich had dropped 
 from his shirt, there wore still some others that had 
 remained within the pocket. 
 
 And drawing them out he saw that, all soaked as 
 they were like the others, they were the narrative of 
 Nicholas Crafer. 
 
 " So," he thouo'ht, Avhilo he felt faint and sick 
 as he mused — " so he was in the cabin, after all ! 
 Heavens ! he must have crept in Avhile I slept, have 
 rifled my pockets in the dark when the lamp had
 
 .320 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE 
 
 gone out, have — faugh ! — had his foul hands all about 
 mo ! Thank God ! he must have come Avhon the lio-ht 
 had burnt out, otherwise he would have seen the 
 pistol." 
 
 He never knew that the ruffian had, in truth, 
 known the pistol was there, but had forgotten, or 
 feared to use, it when in the cabin later on. 
 
 He tossed the remains into the hole he had dusf, 
 touching them v/ith the greatest disgust and loathinof, 
 and then covered the spot up hurriedly and stamped 
 the earth down over it, and took his way back to 
 Barbara. And, as he went, he determined that 
 he would not toll her of this further instance ot 
 villainy on her brother's part. Henceforth she should 
 learn no more of the woi'kino's of that wicked heart 
 and brain. 
 
 When he i-eached the hut he saw her on the 
 verandah, seated in the usual chair and with tears in 
 her eyes. The papers he had given her were stretched 
 out on a table before her, and, as he mounted the steps, 
 she held out one to him and bade him read it. A 
 glance showed that it was a will made by her father, 
 a will properly drawn up and attested at soTue lawyer's 
 office in Tortola ; a will by which everything was loft 
 to her, including the island and the treasure if e\er 
 found — indeed, all that he possessed. 
 
 " Because," he read, in the cramped legal hand of 
 the person who had drawn it out, " of the cruelty, the 
 greed and the evil temper of my son to me, as well as 
 his ill-treatment of me and my dear daughter, Bar- 
 bara, I give and bequeath to her all and everything of 
 which 1 may die possessed, including CoflGin Island,
 
 THE OWNER OF THE TREASURE. 327 
 
 any buried treasure tliat may cliance to be found," etc., 
 etc., etc. 
 
 " Great heavens ! " Reginald thouo-ht to liimsclf, as 
 lie handed her back the will, "there was no end to the 
 scoundrel's wickedness. How could this villain be 
 Barbara's brother ! "
 
 328 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 THE APPROACHING SEARCH 
 
 Reginald found Joseph Alderly's lioat on the same 
 evening, when he was out on a tour about the coast 
 of the island on the look-out for it. As he suspected, 
 Alderly had brought it round to the neighbourhood 
 of the river's mouth, preferring to get at him that 
 way instead of by the path down from his house. His 
 reasons for doing so might have been manifold, 
 the young man knew very well — reasons that would, 
 doubtless, at once occur to such a scheming brain as 
 that of the dead ruffian. For, independcntl}^ of the 
 fact that he would have strongly wished to avoid any 
 cncovmter with him on shore — and, for aught he knew, 
 Reginald might be ashore at any period of the night — 
 he miu'ht have brouaht his cutter to that neighbour- 
 hood so as to be able to get away from tlie island at 
 once, after the sinking of the Pompehi had been 
 accomplished. 
 
 For instance, had his plan succeeded he could have 
 sailed to Anegada or Tortola Avithin two or three hours 
 from the time of the crime being conunitted, and, arriv- 
 ing at cither place in the night, could have very easily 
 induced the belief that he had anchored much earlier 
 than he had actually done. In those spots very little, if 
 any, notice is taken after darlc of what boats are about — 
 especially such boats as Alderly's, which are common
 
 THE APPROACHING SEARCH. 320 
 
 all over the islands — and bis aUhi wonld consequently 
 have held good when Reginald was reported missing. 
 And even the report of his being missing would not 
 have spread abroad for probably some time after the 
 event. None but tourists came to Coffin Island, and 
 Barbara would have been unable to get away from it ; 
 while, since the Pompeia would have disappeared for 
 ever from human eyes, no one could have absolutely 
 said that her temporary owner was dead. He might 
 just as Avell have gone off with her to some other 
 island as she have sunk to the bottom of the river, 
 and Alderly could, therefore, have returned without 
 his sister being able to advance one proof that 
 Reginald Crafer had been made away with. 
 
 " Though," said Reginald to himself, as he mused 
 over the amtter while he inspected Alderly 's own 
 boat, " if I had been drowned after she heard the 
 pistol shots, she would certainly have thought I had 
 died trying to defend m3^self. And, had her scoun- 
 drelly brother managed to survive me, Barbara woidd, 
 if I mistake not, have taxed him very plainly with my 
 death." 
 
 He found the cutter anchored in about three 
 fathoms of water, and had to get out to her in such a 
 crazy, water-logged punt — in which Alderly must him- 
 self have come ashore — that he feared every moment 
 the thing w^iuld sink under his weight, and expose him 
 to the chance of a similar fate to that which had 
 overtaken its owner. However, it was sounder tliau 
 it looked, and, on inspecting the larger craft, he came 
 to the conclusion that she would be navigable across 
 to Tortola if she escaped bad weather — of which there
 
 330 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 Avere no sioj-ns now. The dead man had managed to 
 patch her up in a manner very creditable to his 
 knowledge of seacraft, and to set right tlic injuries 
 slie had received Vvdien cast ashore ; so that, as far as 
 the journey over to the Conunissioner was concerned, 
 ho mio'ht start at once. 
 
 " Though," he pondered, as he inspected the 
 cutter and found nothing inside her beyond her 
 ordinary gear but a bottle of rum, some meat and 
 coarse bread, and a pipe — " though there is no 
 reason why I should hurry myself. We had better 
 begin to dig up the treasure now, I think, and, mean- 
 while, this dog's hole of a boat will serve for my 
 habitation as well as the poor Fompeia, though it's 
 not quite so sweet and wholesome." 
 
 Whereon he hauled up her anchor, got her round 
 to the river, and moored her as near as possible over 
 the spot Avhere the sunken yacht lay. 
 
 " I may have to pay Juby a good deal, for her," he 
 mused, as he went up the path to Barbara's house. 
 " However, we ought to find the wherewithal on the 
 Key to do so. I suppose she will give me enough to 
 do that." And he laughed to himself as the tliought 
 passed through his mind. 
 
 Barbara was eating her evening meal when he 
 reached the hut, and he sat down to share it with her, 
 telHng her that henceforth she would have to keep 
 him in food as long as they were together. 
 
 "Iliad loaded the Pompeia up with all sorts of 
 good things such as are to be procured in the islands 
 and at their stores," he said, trying to be gay and also 
 to brighten her up, " but I might have saved myself
 
 THE APPROACHING SEARCH, S-ll 
 
 tliG trouble. They are at tlie bottom of the river, and 
 there they Avill stay until they arc rotten. So, 
 Barbara, I must live on you." 
 
 She gave him one swift glance from the sweet 
 hazel eyes under the straight black eyebrows — eyes 
 whose lids were red now from long weeping — and he 
 understood it well enough. He knew that she would 
 give him everything she possessed in the world, 
 including her very life, as well as the fortune that was 
 now to be hers — if old Nicholas had made no mistake, 
 and if no one had ever lighted on the Key and its 
 contents between the time of his departiu-e and the 
 coming of the otner Barbara. 
 
 " By-the-bye," he said, as they ate their supper 
 side by side, and Barbara tried to put such choice 
 morsels of her poor ])lain food as there were on his 
 plate, which attention he managed sometimes to 
 avoid — " by-the-bye, Ave don't know after all Avhat we 
 are really going to discover. Nicholas managed to lose 
 one of the most important parts of his manuscript, 
 the list, as he calls it, of part of what he found. It 
 is a good thing he didn't mislay the description of 
 the Key and the measurements as well. If he had 
 done that we should have been in a fix." 
 
 " But," said Barbara, " he has said what is in the 
 long box. We know that, at any rate. Surely that's 
 a fortune in itself ? " 
 
 " What ! six thousand pounds ! Why, Barbara, 
 when you go out into the world, the real world, 
 London, the Continent, swagger German and Swiss 
 places in the summer, and Rome and the Riviera in 
 the winter, you'll find what a little bit of money six
 
 832 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 thousand pounds make. No ! Nick's fifty thousand 
 ' guineas ' must be found for 3^ou before you become 
 anything- Hke a swell heiress with a romantic history, 
 run after i)y all the men for your beauty and your 
 wealth." 
 
 " Don't— don't talk like that ! " the girl said. •' It 
 pains me to hear you joking like that. I know 
 nothing of the places you mention, and as to men 
 running after me — oh, don't, don't ! And besides, you 
 have forofotten — it is not mine." 
 
 " Every penny of it ! " exclaimed Reginald, " except 
 what Mr. Jidjy wants for the yacht if uninsured." 
 
 "No! no! no!" she said. "Remember, it is not 
 in the island — my island, I suppose, now. The Keys 
 are as much 3'0iu"s, or anyone else's, as mine. And if 
 it had been on the island, and we had dug it up, I 
 would not have taken it. If 3^ou would not have 
 shared it with me — I — I — well, I would have thrown 
 it into the sea." 
 
 " What a nice ending to poor old Nick's troubles 
 and labours here in finding it, and at home in writino" 
 his long account in tliat queer fist of his ! And also 
 to all that your peoj^le have gone thi'ough, from your 
 nauiesake dowuAvards. No, no, Barbara ! We won't 
 throw it back into the sea, at any rate. And to- 
 morrow we'll dig it u}). Shall we ? " 
 
 This was agreed upon, and then Reginald prepared 
 to leave her. He offered to stay in the house if she 
 I'elt nervous — as she had once Iioforo implored him to 
 do ; but now she said, " No, she was not nervous. 
 She feared nothing: now. There was no one else who 
 could come to harm him or her ; the island was theirs
 
 THE APPllOACHING SEARCH. 833 
 
 and theirs alone." He noticed that she called it 
 " theirs " and not " hers," but made no remark on the 
 subject, since an idea had arisen in his mind : he knew 
 now what the future of the treasure, of Barbara, and 
 of himself must be ! — and he proceeded to arrange for 
 their movements on the morrow. 
 
 " It will be low water two hours after daybreak," 
 he said, " and by that time I will have brought the 
 cutter and the boat round to the strip of beach 
 nearest to the Ke3"s. You might meet me there, 
 Barbara, and bring some food and fresh Avater, and 
 then we will begin. Meanwhile, let me have what- 
 ever tools and implements you possess for digging. 
 I will take them with me and bring them in the 
 cutter in the morning." 
 
 In the shed behind the hut they found what 
 Avas required, an old spade and a nearly new one, a 
 pickaxe and some ropes — for the Alderlj^s, father 
 and son, had had to attend to their garden in this 
 tropical island almost as much as though they had 
 lived in Europe — and these would be enough, he 
 thought. 
 
 So, shouldering them, he bade her " Good-night " 
 — it seemed to each as though their hands were 
 clasped together longer and more tightly now than 
 they had ever been before ! — and went his way down 
 to the river once more. 
 
 It would have been strange if, to-nit,dit — the nio-ht 
 before the story, that his ancestor had written in those 
 long past and forgotten years, was to be realised — he 
 should not have had a host of thoughts whirling 
 through his brain; if past and present had not been
 
 B34 THE HISPANIOLA PLATK 
 
 strangely confused and jumbled up togetlier in that 
 brain. 
 
 There lay the cutter, a dark indistinct mass, in the 
 midst of the stars reflected from above ; in the very 
 self-same spot Avhere so many other small vessels, 
 all connected with him, Avitli Barbara, and Avith the 
 treasure, had lain before. Itself the property of a 
 villain whose villainy was inherited through centuries, 
 it occupied the spot in that little river where once the 
 Etoyle had been moored, where she had been sunk, 
 and where Simon Alderly and his nnnxlered victim, 
 the diver, had got ashore. Also there, or close by, had 
 been the galliot of honest Nicholas v/ith its dying 
 and dead crew, and with Nicholas sleeping, or trying 
 to sleep, in that place of death, or watching Alderly 
 in his nnu'derous madness as he slew his companion. 
 And he pictured to himself the sloop with the un- 
 known Martin having probably been anchored there 
 before those days — doubtless as full of reckless, blood- 
 stained scoundrels as was the Etoyle herself; ho 
 remenibered how, not twenty-four hours before, the 
 gi'aceful and pretty Pompeia had ridden at anchor 
 on the river's bosom — and now she, too, had gone to 
 join the other wrecks beloAV the Avater. 
 
 He shuddered as these thoughts passed through 
 his mind ; shuddered at all that the treasure had led 
 to in the way of murder and death. 
 
 " It Avas here, here Avhere I stand," he Avhispered 
 to himself, "that the diA'er Avas slain: there, in 
 the river, that the bones of the pirates lie, and 
 also those of the crew of the galliot ; above — Avhcre 
 she, the pure outcome of so much evil, dwells —
 
 THE APPROACHING SEAnCH. B35 
 
 that Simon Alderly died mad and without time 
 to repent." 
 
 A slant of the rising moon gleamed through the 
 wood on to the bank and played on the waters of the 
 river lower down ; the ray was thrown upon the very 
 spot where, last night, he had seen the staring eyes 
 and the glistening teeth of Joseph Alderly, as the 
 limbless body swirled round with the stream — and he 
 started and shivered. 
 
 " Heavens ! " he exclaimed, " it is a charnel-house, 
 a place of horror! I — I cannot sleep in that boat 
 to-night." 
 
 He turned from the accursed spot — all beau- 
 tiful as it was now beneath the rising moon, and 
 illuminated with myriads of fireflies, while over and 
 above all was the luscious perfume of tropical plants 
 and flo^vers — and went his way through the thick 
 underbrush to a part of the shore beyond the spot 
 where the body of Joseph Alderly had been buried, 
 avoiding that place as he proceeded. Then, when he 
 had gone some distance, he chose a bit of the beach, 
 high and dry above the line of the already receding 
 sea, and, laying himself down upon it, gazed far oA-er 
 the waters to where a few lights sparkled at intervals 
 from the little island of Tortola. 
 
 But ere he slept, and when a deejD sense of fatigue 
 was stealing over him, he ]'ose once more, and, kneeling 
 down by the spot he had selected, he prayed long that, 
 whatever the morrow might bring forth, at least one 
 thing might be granted. He praj^ed that all the 
 bloodshed, and the cruelty that that treasure had been 
 the cause of for more than two centuries, had ended
 
 336 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 tit last, never more to be renewed — he prayed that, 
 henceforth, it might bring only happiness and peace 
 in its train. 
 
 " For her, for her," he whispered. " For her and 
 for me." 
 
 And, feeling sure that his prayer was heard and 
 would be granted, he laid himself down again and 
 soon was sleeping peacefully.
 
 837 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 THE SEARCH. 
 
 As the dawn came, and a cool wind blew over the 
 watd'r and brushed his cheek, he arose from a night of 
 refreshing slumber — the first for tAvo days — and took 
 his way back to the cutter. Then, reaching her, he 
 soon unmoored, made the boat fast astern, and, get- 
 ting down the river, sailed round the island to the 
 spot where the Keys were. 
 
 It took him an hour to fetch the beach in two 
 tacks, and then he saw that, early as he was, Barbara 
 was there before him, and that she Avas seated on the 
 shore, the dog at her feet and a basket by her side. 
 
 This morning her eyes were no longer red — she 
 had done with weeping for her vile brother, he thought 
 — and her colour, always beautiful, excej)t since the 
 events of the last iew days had (hiven it all awa}^ 
 had now come back to her. She, too, he knew, had 
 slept peacefully at last, and in that peaceful rest all 
 her loveliness had returned. 
 
 " Now, Barbara," he said, after they had exchanged 
 their morning greetings, he from the boat, and she 
 from the shore, " Ave'U call the boat away, and off we 
 go to your inheritance. In a fcAV hours you Avill, I 
 trust, be put in possession of it." Saying Avhich, he 
 anchored the cutter, got into the boat and cast her off, 
 and so rowed ashore for Barbara. He had found out 
 w
 
 ooo 
 
 33S THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 that tliG capabilities of this boat — crazy as it seemed 
 ■ — were quite equal to carrying them, and the imple- 
 ments for digging, out to the Key a hundred yards off, 
 and he also knew that, by leaving Barbara on the 
 middle Key when they had found the treasure, he 
 could convey each of the boxes, or coffers, back to the 
 island one by one. Then, as to the final ren:ioval of 
 them and thoir owner from Coffin Island — well, that 
 Avould all be arranged for later. 
 
 A few minutes only and they stepped out upon 
 the soft Avet sand of the middle Key — they stood upon 
 the place that, perhaps, no other foot had trodden 
 since Nicholas left it more than two hundred years 
 ago. There was nothing to bring anyone to that 
 particular atom of an island among all the thousands 
 upon thousands of islands with which the marine 
 surface of the world is dotted, not even a search for the 
 turtles and the eggs they laid. For, in these regions, 
 those creatures are so common that nobody desiring 
 to procure one would have even troubled to visit 
 the middle Key while the outer ones were easier 
 of access. 
 
 " I begin to feel very nervous now we have reached 
 here, and the search is about to begin," Barbara said. 
 " Oh ! what shall we find — or shall we find any- 
 thing ? " 
 
 " Make your mind easy," Reginald replied, although 
 he himself felt unaccountably excited, too, at what 
 was before them. " The story left by Nicholas bears 
 the stamp of truth on every line of it ; I would stake 
 my existence on his having buried the boxes as he 
 wrote. And as to their having been disinterred,
 
 THE SEARCH. 339 
 
 why ! there is no possibility of that. Come, let 
 us beg'in." 
 
 He looked round at the sea as he spoke, and scanned 
 the little crisping waves as they rolled on to the Key's 
 shore, and, involuntarily and sailor-like, searched the 
 horizon to see if there was any sail in sight, any likeli- 
 hood of their being observed. Yet, as he knew and 
 told the girl by his side, there was no chance of that. 
 
 " On this, the east side of the Key," he said, " there 
 is nothing nearer than the Cape de Verd Islands and 
 the African coast, and nothing passes east or west 
 within twenty miles of this place. We Avill make a 
 beginning." 
 
 Then they sat down on the brushwood of the 
 island, disturbing as they did so a great two-hundred- 
 pound turtle that crawled gasping away, and Reginald, 
 taking out the noAv water-stained and blurred pages 
 of Nicholas, began to read over carefully his measure- 
 ments and instructions for finding the exact spot 
 where the buried treasure lay. 
 
 " ' From the north side of the middle Key is fifty- 
 one good strides, of three feet each,'" he repeated from 
 the paper ; '"from the south side is fifty- three, from the 
 east is forty-nine, from the west is fifty strides and a 
 half.' Barbara, let us measure. I will begin froui 
 this, the south side." 
 
 Very carefully he paced out the strides, "good 
 ones," as his predecessor had directed, only, instead 
 of sticking in the ground a sword — which, of course, 
 he did not possess here — he put a large white stone. 
 Then, as Nicholas had himself done, three times 
 did he go over the ground, making all the strides 
 w 2
 
 340 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 correspond Avitli the ancient niannscript ; and at last 
 he said to Barbara, " Now we will dig." 
 
 "It is only three feet from the surface to the top- 
 most turtle shell," he remarked, as he took off his 
 light jacket and rolled up his sleeves. " Ten minutes 
 will show if we have hit it right." 
 
 At the end of those ten minutes he found that, 
 thouQfh he had made a mismeasurement of a foot and 
 a half from the east to west, he had otherwise judged 
 his distance with sufficient accuracy. The treasure, 
 certainly the topmost turtle shell, was there. The 
 spade struck against the edge of that shell instead of 
 the exact middle of it ; in a few minutes more, by 
 digging the sand up further to the west, the whole of 
 it was exposed, its convex side rising towards them. 
 
 " We have found it," he exclaimed. " We have 
 found it, Barbara ! The treasure is — yours ! " 
 
 ****** 
 
 What was in the oblong box has been told by 
 Nicholas himself, therefore it is not necessary to write 
 down an account of its contents again. Roughly, too, 
 he has told what he found in the first two " coffers" 
 or chests, including the " grinning skull," which they, 
 of course, found also. But Nicholas's hst had been 
 lost, therefore one somewhat more full shall now be 
 given, leaving his account of the first strong box to 
 speak for itself. And also in the second, " the Spanish 
 pieces of eight, the Portyguese crusadoes, English 
 crowns, and many more French coins as Avell as 
 hundreds of gold pieces of our kings and queens away 
 back to Elizabeth," were all there as he has described,
 
 THE SEARCH. 341 
 
 SO neither need, they be again set down. It was when 
 they came to the third cotf'er that their curiosity was 
 the most aroused, for with it began their search for 
 something he had left no account of, something that 
 was described in that " hst " which was missing. 
 Therefore, they opened it with ahnost trembhng hands 
 — when it had been brought up to the surface — 
 Avondering what they should find. 
 
 On the top lay a deerskin, dressed and trimmed, 
 showing that wlienever it might originally have been 
 put in, it had at least belonged to people who had 
 some of the accessories of civilisation about them, 
 since, had it belonged to wild and savage persons, ic 
 would have been hardly dressed at all, nor would it 
 have possessed any trimming at the edges. This they 
 lifted off, only to come to a variety of smaller skins, 
 such as those of fox, goat, and sheep, which it was easy 
 to perceive Avere simply used as wrappers to large 
 substances within them. 
 
 " These coverings," said Reginald, as he unwrapped 
 one, " seem to point to England, or at least Europe, as 
 the spot whence they came ; well, let us — ah ! " 
 
 There rolled from out the one he was at that 
 moment unwinding a beaker a foot high, of a dull 
 copper colour, much embossed with leaves and flowers. 
 Yet, dull as it was, even their slight knowledge was 
 enough to tell them it was gold. Also its shape Avas 
 antique enough to show that it Wiis no new piece of 
 workmanship, even when Simon Alderly had found it 
 — if he did find it, as seemed most likely ; its long, 
 thin lip, thin neck, and big body proclaimed it of the 
 middle ao'es at least.
 
 342 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 " So," said Reginald, giving it a rub Avith some of 
 the sand by his side, under which the dim coppery 
 hue turned to a more golden yellow, " this is Number 
 Three. If the other box is fidl of such gold ornaments 
 the find will be worth having." 
 
 In this box itself there were no more Gfold beakers, 
 only, instead, it was full of silver plate of all kinds, 
 and all enveloped in skins. There were also two more 
 beakers, but in silver, many cups and chalices, some 
 with covers to them and some without, several silver 
 ewer.s, a long vase all neck and spout, some extremely 
 ancient candelabras, and a Avoman's silver daQfirer, 
 known in old days as a wedding knife. 
 
 " Oh ! " said Barbara, appalled at the sight of 
 objects so unfamiliar to her, Avho had never drunk out 
 of aught but calabashes, gourds, and cheap eartlien- 
 ware — " Oh ! it seems a sin to dig all these beautiful 
 things up." 
 
 " A greater one to let them lie in the earth," said 
 Reginald with a laugh. " Come, let's go on to Number 
 Four and see what he has cfot inside him." 
 
 " Now, Barbara," Reginald said next, as they began 
 on Number Four. " Shut your eyes until I tell you to 
 open them." 
 
 The girl obeyed — indeed, all through this treasure 
 hunt, or, as it had now become, treasure inspection, 
 they were more like a boy and girl playing with new 
 toys than a grown man and a young woman just about 
 to leave her teens behind her — and, when he told her 
 to open them, she saw that he had come upon a 
 nuuibcr of little plump bags tied at the neck. These 
 bags Averc made of a coaise kind o( linen cloth, or
 
 THE SEARCH. 84-0 
 
 Russia cluck, and were much discoloured ; yet, rough 
 as they Avere, they did not prevent the impression of 
 coins being seen inside. 
 
 " Here we come to the money — let's hope it's not 
 copper ! " exclaimed Reginald. 
 
 Again, when they opened the first bag and poured 
 out the contents into Barbara's lap, it looked as though 
 they had found copper ; but again, as before, what 
 seemed cojjper was in reality gold. But the pieces 
 Avhich they siiw were such as they had never seen the 
 like of before, such as they never were able to guess 
 the name of until some time afterwards, Avhen more 
 experienced numisiiiatists than this young sailor and 
 the girl by his side had the handling of them. What 
 they absolutely found was : First, a bag full of Eliza- 
 beth " soveraines," valued in her time at 30s, each, 
 it containing two hundred and six of these pieces. 
 Then there was a bag full of angels of the same reign, 
 valued at 12s. each, of angelets at 6s., and of quarter 
 angels at 3s., there being of these smaller coins three 
 hundred and eleven in the little sack. The third bag 
 they opened — a larger one — contained fifty gold 
 crowns of Henry YIII.'s reign, fifty gold half-crowns 
 of Elizabeth's — the former having the figure of the 
 king on horseback — and in it, also, were one hundred 
 and thirty rose nobles, eighty -five double-rose nobles, 
 eighty-three double-rose rials, or reals, each of the value 
 of 30s., and two double gold crowns, these two being 
 the largest and most valuable of any of the coins they 
 found. 
 
 " We are getting on, Barbara ; we shall have a nice 
 stock to take back to the hut," Reginald said, as he
 
 344 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 tied the bags up again exactly as before. '•' However, 
 let's continue. This box is a monster and contains 
 the most of" all." 
 
 Whoever had put together all this treasure of 
 money — as well as what was to come — was, it is certain, 
 a methodical person ; for, with the exception of the. 
 above coins of Henry VIH. being mixed with those of 
 his daughter (there was not one of her sister, Mary's 
 reign), the different monarchs had been kept separate 
 and distinct from one another. This was shown by 
 the next three bao-s, two of which contained sfold coins 
 of James I.'s reisfn, but of no other Enoiish kinac. Ot 
 these, the first had in it two hundred and one spur- 
 rials of the value of 15s. each — these coins beiuLT so 
 called from the rays, issuing out of the sun upon them, 
 resembling the rowels of spurs — one hundred and 
 three of the single rose rials, and four single crowns. 
 The second bag had exactly one hundred single 
 crowns by themselves ; the third had two hundred and 
 two small gold pieces, French ones, they being crowns 
 of the sun as originally coined by Louis XL, and 
 valued in England in Elizabeth's time at 7s. each. 
 
 " Well, Barbara," Reginald said, as they finished 
 these bags, " what do you think of your fortune as 
 far as it has gone ? After we have had some food we 
 will go on and see what more there is." 
 
 " I think," the girl replied, as she opened her 
 basket and took from it some bread, eggs, a piece of 
 cold roasted goat's flesh, and some of the fruit which 
 grew in such profusion on Coffin IsLuid — " I think as I 
 have always thought, nauiel}', that it is nut uiy fortune 
 but yours, and that "
 
 THE SEARCH. 345 
 
 " All ! " interrupted Eegiiuild. " Well ! we won't 
 quarrel OA'er that now. So I'll put my question in a 
 different way. What do you think of the fortune as 
 far as it has gone ? " 
 
 " I think it is a shame to dig it up. It seems like 
 digging up the poor dead creatures who put it first in 
 the vault — who wrapped it all up so carefully, and 
 tied the money up in bags as if they felt sure the day 
 Avonld come when the}^, or those dear to them, would 
 inherit it all. And think of what strauQ-ers it has 
 come to, not only now but before ! Simon Alderly had 
 no real right to it, neither had Nicholas Crafer, nor 
 have you nor I." 
 
 "You or I — you, of course— mean to keep it, 
 though, Barbara. It has been ours for two hundred 
 years : yours by the first discovery^— namely, by the 
 respected Simon.: mine by the second — namely, the 
 worthy Nicholas ; and, in spite of any silly old laws 
 about treasure trove, why, finding's keepings. Besides, 
 the treasure trove was two hundred years ago. Our 
 ancestors are responsible for that part of it. We, on 
 the contrary, can show a two centuries' title — t'lat's 
 good enough for all the lawyers in the world, I fancy.' 
 
 With jokes and badinage such as this the 3^oung 
 man passed the luncheon, dinner, or meal-hour — 
 whichever it should be called — away. Indeed, at this 
 time, when the long-buried wealth of the past was 
 being at last revealed to. its ultimate heirs and 
 possessors, he was anxious above all things to keep 
 off the discussion of whoso it was, and who was to 
 have it and who was not. As has been suofgested a 
 little earlier, he saw, he knew — or felt almost positive
 
 34G THE HI8PANI0LA PLATE. 
 
 that lie saw and knew — Avliat was the final disposition 
 of all that the Key Avas now disgorging, only — -the 
 present was not the time to speak abont that dis- 
 position to Barbara. So, as ninch as possible, he kept 
 to other matters in connection with the task they 
 were noAv engaged npon. 
 
 " Whoever they Avere," he Avent on meditatively, 
 as the simple re])ast drcAV to an .end, " Avho originally 
 OAvned it all, they must almost certainly have been 
 our country people. Although we don't either of us 
 know what those coins are, Ave can at least see that 
 they are mostly English, and all about one period, 
 namely, Elizabeth's and her successor's, James. Now, 
 let's see. Charles I. succeeded James, eh, Barbara ? " 
 
 " Yes," said the girl. " Yes. At school Ave 
 thought Charles I. the most interesting of all the 
 English kings." 
 
 " Ah ! " said Reginald ; " Avell, I've heard other 
 people say differently. Our chaplain in tlie lanthe, 
 for instance, used to Avrangle Avith the paymaster for 
 hours about him, and call him all kinds of names. 
 However, let's put tAvo and tAVO together. Charles's 
 Avas an uncomfortable sort of rei^n, for others besides 
 himself, and all sorts of rurapusses Avero going on — 
 people flying from England to America, et cetera. I 
 Avondcr if the gentleman Avho oAvned all these things 
 Avas one of those ? He might be, you knoAV, and have 
 got drifted doAvn here after making bad Aveather of it 
 iu thejVtlantic; or the pirates — hem ! — of his own day, 
 Barbara — no alhisions meant to respected ancestors ! — 
 might have scixcd on him~or — or — half a dozen 
 things. I don't suppose avc ever shall find out."
 
 THE SEARCH. 347 
 
 " No," she said, " I don't suppose ^\c shall. Per- 
 haps it's better that we never should. It might 
 interfere with your enjoyment of it all." 
 
 Whereon Reginald laughed once more, while a 
 beautiful but tell-tale blush came to the girl's face — 
 possibly it had dawned on her, too, by now, how the 
 ultimate possession of the treasure might be arranged! 
 — and then they proceeded to inspect what remained.
 
 348 
 
 CIIAI'TKR XLI. 
 
 'Jiii; i:.\j). 
 
 A\'iiAT (lid rciiiuiii in tliis big chest was now to bo 
 examined, and tliey observed that the same pre- 
 cautions had been taken in the way of coverings and 
 wrappings as witli all the previous finds. 
 
 " A\'hich," said lleginald, descanting thereon as he 
 unwound the wrappers, " shows one thing, if no more. 
 It testifies that all the spoil belonged to the same 
 individual, or individuals. But Avho was he, Barbara, 
 who was she, or Avho were they? That's what I 
 want to know." 
 
 It was, however, what neither lie nor Marbiira nor 
 anyone else were ever to know — the treasure hidden 
 centuries ago was, indeed, found, but all knowledge of 
 Avho or Avhat they were Avho had so hidden it away 
 Avas lost for ever. The treasure of those forgotten 
 ones remained to come to these y<»ung people at last, 
 but all history, record, and memory of the owners had 
 vanished entirely from the Avorld. 
 
 " What's this ? " exclaimed Beginald, unwinding 
 a roll as they continued their inspection — "what's 
 this?" while, as he spoke, there was revealed to him 
 a band of inetal that looked as though it was a 
 ])oi'ti()ii of some circular object. It was, in truth, the 
 front part of an ancient coronet, or crown, having set 
 into it five mbics and a diamond, the ffold beintr in
 
 THE END. 349 
 
 this case far more yellow and less coppery lookin.i^ 
 than that of the coins had Ijeen. And as Reginald 
 tnmed the thing about in the glowing light of the 
 Caribbean Sea, the gems sparkled and winked and 
 flashed their many-coloured rays in their eyes, as 
 though they themselves were pleased once more to be 
 free from the darkness in which they had lain so long. 
 
 "Swells in their day, no doubt," said the young 
 man, referring to those who had once oAvned all these 
 valuables, " to have worn such things." And again he 
 exclaimed : " AVho on earth could they have been ? " 
 
 The next things they unrolled were five bars of 
 gold, or rather lumps of gold, since instead of being of 
 the shape and form bars are now, they were in cubes, 
 though one was triangular. " A quarter of a pound 
 weight each, Barbara," the young man said, balancing 
 them on his hand. " A quarter of a pound each, if 
 an ounce. I wonder the Respected One could refrain 
 from carrying all this wealth off to his own particular 
 Barbara, or that old Nichokas didn't tiy to get it away 
 in the Galliot." 
 
 Barbara only smiled — indeed, at this moment, 
 woman as she was, she was trying the effect of the 
 front part of the coronet as a bracelet on her arm, and 
 was turning her wrist about to observe the flashing of 
 the stones — and then Reginald proceeded with his 
 inspection. 
 
 " Hullo ! what have we got now ? " he exclaimed, 
 as he unfolded the next object that came to hand. 
 
 "What he had got now proved to be a sword- 
 handle, cross-shaped and broken off sharp about an 
 inch below the silver guard-plate. In this handle,
 
 Qr> 
 
 150 THE lIlSl'ANi()I,A PLATE. 
 
 ■\vliicli itself was massive silver, rouglily fretted so 
 that a tirm grasp might be obtained, were more 
 precious stones, mostly diamonds, but with one or two 
 missing from their sockets or settings. 
 
 " Undoubtedly swells," murmured Reginald again, 
 " or else freebooters. Fancy, Bavl >ara, if, after all, the 
 original depositor of these things was a sea-robber or 
 pirate himself! One would imagine he could hardly 
 have got such a collection of things otherwise. 
 Unless, on the other hand, he had been a pawnbroker, 
 called, I believe, in those days a Lombard merchant. 
 What do you think ? " 
 
 " I am gettiu"- tired of finding- these thinsfs," 
 the girl said, listlessly. " I hope there are not 
 many more." 
 
 " We'll soon see." 
 
 They had, however, nearly finished their worlv by 
 now ; the remainder of the chest's contents were soon 
 examined. They found, to conclude, a little bag of 
 unset gems — a handful of rubies and diamonds ; they 
 found also a gold musk ball, and a little silver casket 
 full of musk, the aroma of which had Ion"- since 
 departed, and they also discovered a small iron-bound 
 box full of gold dust. Some drinking cups, very 
 small ones, they likewise found, and some pieces of 
 ivory sawn into slabs, several extremely curious and 
 very unwieldy rings with precious stones in them, 
 a pouncet box in gold, and various pieces of antique 
 lace, black with ag(\ 
 
 And this concluded their find. 
 
 " Altogether," said Reginald, " I'll bet that Nicholas 
 was not far wrong in his couiputation of the value of
 
 THE END. 351 
 
 the things in his own da}', and, I expect, even in these 
 times, the contents of the oblong box and the chests 
 won't fall far short of his ' tiftie thousand f(uineas.' 
 But one thing we ought to keep for hick, Barbara, and 
 never part with — and that's the skull, or ' Death,' as 
 Nick called it. It kept its watch and ward well 
 through all the years." 
 
 ***** * 
 
 That evening, as the sun dipped below Porto 
 Rico, they sat once more together, as they had so often 
 sat in the last month, upon the verandah of Barbara's 
 house. Within, in the living-room, Avere piled the 
 chests and the oblonij^ box, all having been brouo-ht 
 from the Key to the shore, and from the shore to the 
 building, by their united efforts. And on Barbara's 
 face there was a look of sadness j)itiful to see, and in 
 her eyes the signs that the tears were not far away. 
 
 " It seems," she said, speaking very low, "as though 
 with the finding of this treasure my life is finished, 
 even as the quest of my family is finished, too. There 
 is nothing more to be done." 
 
 " Is there not, Barbara ? " asked Reginald, also 
 speaking low, and with more seriousness in his tone 
 than had been aj)parent since they had grown such 
 friends and intimates. " Is there not ? Is there not 
 a long lifetime before 3'-ou in which to enjoy your 
 new-found wealth — the wealth that has come to you 
 after two centuries of search for it ?" 
 
 " Oh ! " she exclaimed, springing to her feet and 
 standing before him, " wh}^ speak in that way ? Why 
 say such things ? The wealth is yours, yours onl}^
 
 352 THE HISPANIOLA PLATE. 
 
 and you know it. It was yon who bronght it to light. 
 It was your ancestor's, who might have taken it away 
 with him for ever had he chosen. And when it was 
 at Last found, where was it ? Not even on our land, 
 on the property that is mine. What part, what share 
 have I in it ? " 
 
 " I will tell you, Barbara," he said, rising himself, 
 also, and standing by her, while, if possible, his voice 
 became now more deep and earnest. " 1 will tell you 
 what part and share is yours. The share not only ot 
 all that we have to-day unearthed, but of my life. 
 The share of everything I have in this world, even this 
 treasure, if it is rightly mine. My sweet, I loved you 
 almost from the very first, I loved you beyond all 
 doubt from the time that lie came back, and I knew 
 that, together, we must protect ourselves from him. 
 Barbara, I love you now, and shall love you all my 
 life until I die. Will you not share that life with me, 
 share all with me for ever ? " 
 
 His arm stole round her as he spoke and ho drew 
 her softly towards him, while, as he did so, her golden 
 head drooped to his shoulder, the soft eyes looked up 
 at him from beneath the dark lashes, and, for the lirst 
 time, their hps met. 
 
 THE END, 
 
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 Ones. Containing interesting Stories, 
 oth gilt, IS. 5d. 
 
 Up and Down the Garden. 
 
 AU Sorts of Adventures. 
 
 Our Sunday Stories. 
 
 Our Holiday Hours. 
 
 Indoors and Out. 
 
 Some Farm Friends. 
 
 Wandering Ways. 
 
 Dumb Friends. 
 
 Those Golden Sands. 
 
 Little Mothers & their Children, 
 
 Our Pretty Pets. 
 
 Our Schoolday Hours. 
 
 Ci-eatures Tame. 
 
 Creatures Wild.
 
 Selections from Cassell # Company's Publications. 
 
 Cassell's Shilling Story Books. All Illustrated, and containing Interest- 
 
 ing Stories. 
 Bunty and the Boys. 
 The Heir of Elmdale. 
 The Mystery at ShonelifF School. 
 Claimed at Last, & Roy's Reward. 
 Thorns and Tangles. 
 The Cuekoo in the Robin's Nest. 
 John's Mistake. [Pitchers. 
 
 The History of Five Little 
 Diamonds in the Sand. 
 Surly Bob. 
 
 The Giant's Cradle. 
 Shag and Doll. 
 Aunt Lucia's Locket. 
 The Magic Mirror. 
 The Cost of Revenge. 
 Clever Frank. 
 Among the Redskins.. 
 The Ferryman of Brill. 
 Harry Maxwell. 
 A Banished Monarch. 
 Seventeen Cats. 
 
 "Wanted— a King" Series. Cheap Edition. Illustrated. 2S. 6d. each. 
 Great Gnndmarama. By Georgina M. Synge. 
 Robin's Ride. By Ellinor Davenport Adams. 
 Wanted— a Kme ; or. How Merle set the Nursery Rhymes to Rights. 
 
 By Maggie Browne. With Origijial Designs by Harry Furniss, 
 Fairy Tales in Other Lands. By Julia Goddard. 
 The World's Workers. A Series of New and Original Volumes. 
 With Portraits printed on a tint as Frontispiece, is. each. 
 
 John Cassell. By G. Hjlden Pike. 
 Charles Haddon Spurgeon. By 
 
 G. Holden I'ike. 
 Dr. Arnold of Rugby. By Rose 
 
 E. Selfe. 
 
 The Earl of Shaftesbury. By 
 Henry Pritll. 
 
 Sai-ah Robinson, Agues Wes- 
 ton, and Mrs. Meredith. By 
 H. M. Tonikinson. 
 
 Thomas A. Edison and Samuel 
 
 F. B. Morse. By Dr. Denslow 
 and J. Marsli Parker. 
 
 Mrs. SomervUle and Mary Car- 
 penter. By Phyllis Browne. 
 
 General Gordon. By the Rev. 
 S. A. Swaine. 
 
 Charles Dickens. By his Eldest 
 Daughter. 
 
 Sir Titus Salt and George 
 Moore. By J. Burnley. 
 
 Florence Nightingale, Catherine 
 Marsh, Frances Ridle.y Haver- 
 gal, Mrs. Ranyard t"L. N. R."). 
 By Lizzie AUdridge. 
 
 Dr. Guthrie, Father Mathew, 
 Elihu Burritt, George Livesey. 
 By John W. Kirton, LL.D. 
 
 Sir Henry Havelock and Colin 
 Campbell Lord Clyde. By E. C. 
 Phillips. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln. By Ernest Foster. 
 
 George Miiller and Andrew Reed. 
 By E. R. Pitman. 
 
 Richard Cobden. By R. Gowing. 
 
 Benjamin Franklin. By E. M. 
 Tomkinson. 
 
 Handel. By Eliza Clarke. [Swaine. 
 
 Turner the Artist. By the Rev. S. A. 
 
 George and Robert Stephenson. 
 By C. L. Mateaux. 
 
 David Livingstone. By Robert Smiles. 
 
 •,' The above Works cau also be had Three in One Vol., cloth, gilt edges, y 
 Library of Wonders. Illustrated Gift-books for Boys. Paper, is.; 
 cloth. IS. 6d. 
 
 Wonderful Balloon Ascents. I Wonders of Animal Instinct. 
 
 Wonderful Adventures. | Wonders of Bodily Strength 
 
 Wonderful Escapes. I and Skill. 
 
 Cassell's Eighteenpenny Story Books. Illustrated. 
 
 Wee Willie Winkie. 
 
 tTps and Downs of a Donkey's 
 
 Life. 
 Three Wee Ulster Lassies. 
 Up the Ladder. 
 
 Dick's Hero; and other Stories. 
 The Chip Boy. 
 Ragglea, Baggies, and the 
 
 Emperor. 
 Roses Irom Thorns. 
 Gift Books for Young People. 
 
 Original Illustrations in each. 
 The Boy Hunters of Kentucky. 
 
 By Edward S.Ellis. 
 Red Feather: a Tale of the 
 
 American Frontier. By 
 
 Edward S. EUis. 
 
 Seeking a City. 
 
 Rhoda's Reward; or, "If 
 Wishes w^ere Horses." 
 
 Jack Marston's Anehor. 
 
 Frank's Life-Eattie; or. The 
 Three Friends. 
 
 Fritters. By Sarah Pitt. 
 
 The Two Hardcastles. By Made- 
 line Bonavia Hunt. 
 
 Faith's Father. 
 
 Bv Land and Sea. 
 
 The Young Berringtons. 
 
 Jeff and Lefif. 
 
 Tom Morris's Error. 
 
 Worth more than Gold. 
 
 " Through Flood— Through Fire;" 
 
 and other Stories. 
 The Girl w^ith the Golden Locks. 
 Stories of the Olden Time. 
 By Popular Authors. With Four 
 Cloth gilt, IS. 6d. each. 
 
 Major Monk's Motto. By the Rev. 
 
 F. Langbridge. 
 Trixy. By Maggie Symington. 
 Rags and Rainbows: A Story of 
 
 Thanksgiving. 
 Uncle William's Charges; or. The 
 
 Broken Trust. 
 Pretty Pink's Purpose; or. The 
 
 Little Street Merchants. 
 Tijn Thomson's Trial. By George 
 
 Weath.-rly. 
 Ursula's Stumbling-Block. By Julia 
 
 Goddard. 
 Ruth's Life-Work. By the Rev, 
 
 Joseph Johnson.
 
 Selections from Cassell Sf Company's Publications. 
 
 Cassell's Two-Shilling Story Books. Illustrated. 
 
 Margaret's Enemy. 
 Stories of the Tower. 
 Mr. Burke's Nieces. 
 May Cmmmgliani's Trial. 
 The Top of the Ladder : How to 
 
 Reach it. 
 Little Flotsam. 
 Madge and Her Friends. 
 The Children of the Court. 
 Maid MariOiT. 
 Cheap Editions of Popular Volumes for Young People 
 cloth, gilt edges, 2S. 6d. each. 
 
 Peggy, and other Tales. 
 
 The Four Cats of the Tippertona. 
 
 Marion's Two Homes. 
 
 Little Folks' Sunday Book. 
 
 Two Fourpenny Bits. 
 
 Poor Nelly. 
 
 Tom Heriot. 
 
 Through Peril to Fortune. 
 
 Aunt Tabitha's Waifs. 
 
 In Mischief Again. 
 
 Bound in 
 
 In Quest of Gold; or. Under 
 the Whanga Falls. 
 
 Board the Esmeralda ; 
 Martin Leigh's Log. 
 
 On 
 
 or. 
 
 For Queen and King. 
 Esther West. 
 Tlrree Homes. 
 Working to Win. » 
 
 Perils Afloat and Brigands 
 Ashore. 
 
 The "Deerfoot" Series. By Edward S. Ellis. With Four full-page 
 Illustrations in each Book. Cloth, bevelled boards, 2s. 6d. each. 
 The Hunters of the Ozark. | The Camp in the Mountains. 
 The Last War TraU. 
 
 The "Log Cabin" Series. By Edward S.Ellis. With Four Full- 
 page Illustrations in each. Crown 8vo, cloth, 2s. 6d. each. 
 
 Tlie Lost Trail. | Camp-Fire and W^igwam. 
 
 Footprints in the Forest. 
 
 The "Great River" Series. By Edward S. Ellis. Illustrated. 
 Crown 8vo, cloth, bevelled boards, 2S. 6d. each. 
 
 Down the Mississippi. | Lost in the WUds. 
 
 Up the Tapajoa ; or. Adventures in Brazil. 
 The " Boy Pioneer" Series. By Edward S. Ellis. With Four Full- 
 page Illustrations in each Book. Crown 8vo, cloth, 2s. 6d. each. 
 Ned in the Woods. A Tale of I Ned on the Hiver. A Tale of Indian 
 Early Days in the West. | River Warlare. 
 
 Ned in the Bloek House. A Story of Pioneer Life in Kentucky. 
 
 The "World in Pictures." Illustrated throughout. Chea/> Edition. 
 IS. 6d. each. 
 
 A Kamble Bound France. 
 All the Russias. 
 Chats about Germany. 
 The Eastern Wonderland 
 (Japan). 
 
 The Land of PyramidJs (Egypt). 
 
 Half-Crown Story Books. 
 Pen's Perple-xities. 
 Pictures of School Life and Boy- 
 hood. 
 Books for the Little Ones. 
 Rhymes for the Young Folk. 
 By William Allingham. Bcaulifully 
 lUustrated. 38. 6d. 
 
 Glimpses of South America. 
 Round Alrica. 
 
 The Land of Temples (India). 
 The Isles of the Paciflc. 
 Peeps into China 
 
 Notable Shipwrecks. 
 At the South Pole. 
 
 My Diary. With 12 Coloured PLites 
 
 and 366 Woodcuts. Is. 
 The Sunday Scrap Book. 
 
 Several Hundred Illustrations. 
 
 boards, 3s. 6d. ; cloth, gilt edges, 5s. 
 The Old Fairy Tales. With Ori>:inal 
 
 Illustrations. Boards, Is.: cloth, 
 
 I8.6d. 
 
 With 
 raj)er 
 
 The History Scrap Book; With 
 nearly 1,000 Engravings. Cloth, 
 7s. 6d. 
 
 Albums for Children. 3s. 6d. each. 
 
 The Album for Home, School, Picture Album of All Sorts, 
 and Play. Containing Stories by 
 Popular Authors. lUustrated. 
 My Own Album of Animals. 
 With Tull-page Illustrations. 
 
 With 
 
 Full-page Illustrations. 
 The Chit-Chat Album. Illustrated 
 throui^hout. 
 
 CasBcll & Company's Complete Catalogue wilt be sent poU 
 Jtee on application to 
 
 CASSELL & COMPANY, Limited, Lud^ate Hill, Loiuion.
 
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