Happy Days: Tom Taylor, The Boy Who Worried Blanco — page 14: what you’re looking at

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14 ceived instructions to look out for a yacht called the Avenger.” “The Avenger! Ah! I know nothing of that.” ct ‘* What is the name of your vessel, sir?” Sie ““The Lady Claire. You will see that for yourself.” Sinbad had foreseen this visit, and he er had taken precautions. The name Aven- ee ger had been painted out, and that of Lady ar - Claire substituted, hy ‘** But what is this yacht, Avenger, want- Jag ed for?” . “The owner has committed some great crime against the British laws,” " “Ha! Ha! don’t flatter me, but do I look like the perpetrator of a dreadful crime?” ‘** No, no, but still——” “ What ?” “Your yacht answers the description | sent me.” es **A beautiful stone this,” said Sinbad, e: changing the conversation with startling aa abruptness, indicating an immense bril- liant which glittered on his finger as he = | spoke, ‘It is superb,” oo ‘Take it, put it on your own finger. You will be able to judge it better so.” a The official looked at it covetousl y, and as he was about to hand it back, Sinbad prevented him from doing so, ‘‘Oblige me by keeping it, sir,” said Sinbad, better on your hand than on mine, don’t : you agree with me?” a The official, overwhelmed with the mag- nifieence of the gift, stammered out his thanks, ‘* How foolish of me,” he said. ‘‘I was about to arrest your ship. What could have possessed me to make such a terrible | mistake ?” ' * ‘* The best of men make them,” | They were at the gangway now, and the visitor bade Sinbad a cordial good-by. Then he went off in his boat, Steve Miggs was looking on, and was surprised at the termination of the visit, the object of which he had surmised, ‘* You are disappointed,” said Sinbad. “I do not understand it.” * The explanation is simple, Every man Se | has his price.” ee. That same night with loaded bunkers the Avenger was once more on its way. CHAPTER XVIII. THE SEARCH FOR THE MANDARIN, HUNG LU—A REMARKABLE DISCOVERY, THE Avenger sailed on its long voyage, rounding Cape Horn, and then on through ‘ the Pacific in a northwesterly direction ¥ without any incident of an exciting nature to disturb the monotony of the journey. ‘It’s Eldorado we'll be seeing soon, : masther,” said Con, a 5: ‘* We shall stop before we get there,” | ‘Shure, an’ ye’re not goin’ huntin’ for any more spalpeens,” ** No, but l’m going into the fate of our Chinese friend, Hung Lu. You recollect | we left him on an island inhabited by sav- ag ages.” P is Parbleu ! if we find his bones it’s all we can expect.” : s; ‘*T don’t agree with you, Jacques,” * You think we may find his clothes, too, because they’re not eatable ?” ** More than his bones and his clothes. Hung Lu himselfis there alive and well in my opinion, probably king of the island _ by this time.” “That cannot be. Why should they They spare him?’ ‘* Because he escaped from us. saw that. We are their enemies in their opinion, therefore Hung Lu is their friend.” **Masther, it’s a great brain ye have, anyway.” **Oh, I don’t maintain I'm right, but my views are probable enough to make it worth our while to search the island. This . , mandarin is Saul Dexter beyond a doubt. a What! th think I’m going to allow the Bee captain of the Swiftstre to escape me?” ¢ “It’s a dangerous job ye're settin’ us,” “If you're afraid, say so and stay be- hind,” “Is if Con Cregan’s afraid? Shure, there’s only one thing in the world makes -. me shake.’ be ‘* What’s that, Con?” “It's a glass of cowld wather, masther, I'm like a horse, ye can take me to the | wather, but ye can’t make me drink.” | a Sinbad and Jacques laughed loudly at . Con, and the latter hurried away to at- tend to his duties on deck. in. ‘“* We shall be off the island +s Jacques,” hex **So soon?” > “Yes. We'll land at once.” ae z pre yond we mite good luck.” ee et’s hope so, to-morrow, J 1 good-ni ht. rege, -night, masther.” ‘ Sinbad slept very little. His sleep was _ disturbed by dreanis in which Dick Quince, «Saul Dexter and Claire figured. He never ceased to wonder what had become of the inn he was very anxious as to her to-morrow, SS bBEeae kee DATS CT” As soonas day broke the appearance of the island two miles away contirmed Sin- bad’s assertion. Sinbad was. on deck giving his orders and getting everything ready for the land- ing. **You must run the Avenger as close in as you can go, Con,” he said. “Faith, it's mighty deep wather here- abouts,” **So much the better. All the men who stay on the yacht must- keep a close watch on the island, so as to be ready to fire and drive the natives back, if they come too near. ‘**'Who’s to see to the ship. Shure, it’s Con Cregan’s who’s not going to stay be- hind an’ lose all the illigant fun,” **That’s all fixed. Jacques will remain in command, and keep his eye on the pris- oner as well. Lower the boats. We will start at once.” In less than ten minutes two boats, con- ** Mon ami, it is hard to say. If I knew what had caused him to lose it, Sinbad, I might be able to restore it.” ** Well, take good care of him. At least he shall have every comfort.” Already Eldorado was in sight. The Avenger was steaming along under the high cliffs towards the landing place, the men seeping their eyes on the shore, watch- ing for the people. Suddenly, turning the point, the harbor came into view. Everyone on the Avenger gave acry of surprise, for there, at anchor, lay a large ship. [ro BE CONTINUED, } rr © ep ALL COUPONS OF THE PRESENT BICY- CLE CONTEST MUST REACH US NOT LATER THAN NOON OF AUGUST 13th. > +— 4 —_____.. taining eight men in one and ten in the other, were on their way to the island, They ran on to the sand, and instantly their occupants sprang out and pulled them up high and dry, Then the search parties proceeded on their way, one under Con, the other com- manded by Sinbad himself. Each party sent forward a couple of scouts as a pre- [This story commenced in No, 197.) TALKING TOM: **It seems to me it even looks cautionary measure, came and not a living soul had been seen, Sinbad was uneasy, **It means an ambush,” he muttered. them afresh to move forward warily. of the savages, ing. Be careful.’ Soon after a halt was made, traces of the savages, Large black patches on the ground marked the spots where great fires had been lighted, and many bones were found, ** Horrible !” gasped Sinbad, as a sicken- ing feeling came over him, His knowledge of anatomy was sufficient to tell him that the bones were those of human beings, and it was evident that the cannibals had held a feast recently, On the shore, near where the feast had taken place; were several old canoes ina dilapidated state, and close at hand was a quantity of wreckage which had the ap- pearance of not having lain there long. Whilst Sinbad and his party were pursu- ing their investigations they were startled to ‘hear a wild cry proceeding from the Wooded portion of the island. ** The cannibals |” shouted one man, turn- ing pale at the thought, ‘*Get behind these canoes, men,” shout- ed Sinbad. ‘“* Here we can makea stand for our lives, Besides, we can be seen from the yacht, which is a very good thing for us.” More shouting reached their ears, and at length the cries were quite sustained, and even seemed to constitute a tune. Then a few minutes later a number of men emerged from the wood, ‘* Why, it’s Con,” gia,” ” ‘*Ha—ha! What’s the meaning of it, For hours they plodded on, and noon He recalled the scouts, and cautioned ** We have traversed two-thirds of the island,” said Sinbad, ‘‘and have seen none My lads, they are in hid- Here were “* He’s singing, * Marching through Geor- THE,LUCK OF A POOR BOY. By R. T. EMMET, lLlowe, the Boy Reporter,” “ The School at Burr Knob,” * The Klondike Boys,” ete., etc., ete. CHAPTER IX, DIGGING FOR BURIED TREASURE, TALKING Tom was nobody ; fool—that is something we want definitely under- stood, ‘ The boy had started in to work out a definite problem, and being a Western boy, anda smart boy, and a level-headed boy, with nothing of the crazy enthusiasm of a treasure hunter about him, his chances of success were good, His idea of building the shed was, of course, to keep curiosity seekers away, Could he hope to do it? Hardly ! Half the boys in Jericho were down around the shed the first day, poking and prying and trying to peer between the cracks, for there were no windows in the ibe but just a skylight in the sloping roof, Tom let them peer and pry as’much as they would. He kept out of the way, and waited until dark, when the last curiosity seeker had taken his departure, It was lonely down on the flats at night, and certainly not a pleasant spot, Besides, there were the ruins of Jericho left behind by the cyclone on every,ody’s mind, which gave all a lot to talk about, and after dark the boys forgot Talking Tom’s new shed, and left the half-acre lot alone, | This @vas Tom’s time, and he made the most of it. He met Billy Bunce at the crossroad just Hello! they’re bringing something along | after dark, and they went down to the with them. Why, it’s a man!” “Tfaith, an’ it's Santa Claus I’m _ jist afther finding. Ah! it’s the beautiful whiskers he’s wearing.” Sinbad and his men refrained from laughing at the poor creature who was with Con Cregan’s party, (pie roewe a strange and even ludicrous sight. His beard was down to his waist, and his hair hung down his back. Both beard and hair were quite white, and in contrast the swarthy face seemed even darker than it actually was. He was clothed to the waist in garments made of skins, and wore a hat made of leaves with a very wide brim, **But he’s not a savage!” cried Sinbad in amazement, after-a close scrutiny, ‘** How came you on this island, my friend ? Speak! you have nothing to fear from 8. ‘** All gone—all gone!” muttered the old man, “Gone! Who?’ ** All gone !” ‘*Shure, it’s the only words he knows, masther. It’s himself's been telling me that all the time.” “His brain’s weak, poor creature,” said Sinbad, sympathetically, ‘‘I daresay he’s gone through terrible hardships, Still, there’s sense in what he says, ‘ All gone,’ are his words. Con, he means that the Neat have deserted the island.” **'Troth, an’ it’s likely !” ‘It’s sure, Carry him along. We'll get on board and make for Eldorado,” Jacques was greatly interested in the old man, and devoted much attention to him, trying his best to make him talk, His efforts were all failures, though under treatment the poor creature’s bodily health improved, and each day he grew stronger. ** Will his memory ever return, Jacques?” shed together, It was the first time Billy had been there, although he had seen it from a distance as he drove his butcher cart around, , Tom opened the door with his key and fastened it again on the inside, lighting a ‘* It’s a great start this,” said Billy. “I don’t know, I’m sure, whether anything is going to come out of it or not.” ‘*What about the slugs?’ replied Tom, ** Did we find those, or didn’t we? Did I sell them to old man Gay, or didn’t I? Did I get seven fifty-six in the ‘hundreds for them, or didn’t I? Say, Billy, your name ought to have been ‘Thomas instead of mine—doubting Thomas! We have proved that there's gold down here. I ain’t work- ing on any wild govuse business, you bet. The Sultan went down here. We know that, for Ihave seen her. Well, we know there’s gold on her, too; now, then, ain’t it just as plainas the nose on your face that all we’ve got todoto get the whole business, is to pitch right in and work like blazes? The only trouble I see about it is that we may not be able to reach the gold before Thursday, in which case old Grinder may bid in the property and hunt me off the land, and I’m blest if though. he | lantern before he did so, I know what we shall do then. What's that? Go to Colonel Crockett and tell him all about it? No, I'll be hanged if I do! [ll work it out myself or not at all. 41 We'll dig till Wednesday night, and then if there’s no success, I'l] fill up the hole and burn the shed, Grinder suspects what I’m at, of course, but he’ll think I didn’t find anything and go to work somewhere else, and then you'll see that——~” **Oh, come, come !” brokein Billy, ‘‘ Get a piece of string and tie up one side of|p your mouth, Tom, We'll never find the golc unless you stop your everlasting ta Pa Arthor of *** Remember the Maine,” ‘Hal Tom laughed, and said they had better get at work at once, which they did. : The shed was built right over the gul- ley, and Tom’s first move was to dig out the earth which had caved in over the smoke stacks, something was soon accom- plished, the earth being banked up along the wall of the shed. Before commencing, Tom rigged up a block and fall. He did the digging, load- ing the dirt into a bucket, which Billy — 5 hoisted up and dumped. Billy was all en- thusiasm after he saw the smoke pipes. Then it became slow work, for the tough |red clay was banked in about the pipes, and did not come out easy, you may be sure, The boys worked until about two in the morning, and the next night it was the same, and thenext Sunday they laid off, and Monday they began again and worked that night and Tuesday night, but without reaching the deck. Nobody knew that Billy was in the deal, and Tom took good care to keep out of the way. More than once they thougbt they heard prowlers about the shed while they work- ed, but they never saw anyone. On Wednesday night it rained, and Tom was feeling nervous and blue, for the auc- tion sale was down for the next day, and there was still no sign of the deck. ‘** By gracious, Billy, if we don’t come to the end of these infernal smoke stacks to- . night I don’t know what I shall do,”’Tom remarked, as they started in to work. ** It can’t be far,” replied Billy. ‘‘ I wish we'd gone down between the pipes instead of on the side of one of them the way we did, then we'd have struck the walking beam and know where we were at.” “That’s'so. Well, here goes for another try,” replied Tom, and seizing the rope he let himself down into the hole without waiting for Billy to catch hold of the other rope, and the result was he went flying down faster than he intended and struck the bottom with a thud. Then Tom was treated to a surprise, for the bottom suddenly caved in and down: he went some five feet further, striking something decidedly hard. ‘The deck at last!" he shouted, spring- ing to his feet. “Show a light, Billy! Show a light !” Billy seized the lantern, and bending over the hole, lowered it as far as he could, ‘**Ts if really the deck, Tom 2?” he shouted. But Tom did not answer. His attention was riveted to a gruesome sight, There at his feet lay a human skele- ton, It made the boy’s blood run cold, and then, all in an instant, he saw something else which thrilled his heart with joy. Close to the bony hand of the skeleton was the remains of an old bag, It had burst open, and mixed in with the rags was a pile of yellow dust, ‘*Gold! Gold!” shouted Tom. ‘ By gra- cious, we've got it, Billy! Ive struck it at last !” Ne CHAPTER X, IN THE SULTAN’S TREASURE ROOM, * BILLY, Billy ! -We’ve struck it at last! There’s gold here! Lots of it ! Come right down! Don’t wait amoment! Hooray! We're rich! Weare rich !” Up at the top of the hole around the smoke stacks, Billy Bunce could hear Tom dancing a jig on the deck, so he thought, and we are bound to admit that his thoughts did not deceive him, for that is exactly what the boy was doing. Tor the yellow stuff which bulged out of the broken bag clutched by the bony hand of the skeleton was gold, the real Cali- fornia article brand of ’49, The tradition of the yi aes family seemed likely to be fulfilled to the letter, and Talk- ing Tom was away up in the seventh Heaven of excitement. Talk was not sufficient to afford a full outlet to the boy's feelings, The only way he could get relief was by dancing that jig upon the deck, ‘* Hey, Tom, Tom! What in thunder! Have you really found the gold?’ bawled Billy from above. ; ‘*'You bet your sweet life I have,” laugh- ed Tom, ‘* Whoop! Let her go! Weare as rich as Jews, and old_ Grinder isn’t in it. Come down, Billy. Come down!” ‘Quit your fooling and wake up!” yelled Billy. “How amI to get down without your help 2” ; | This very sensible question recalled Tom to himself, and he began to wonder how he was to get up to where the fall ended, but this was soon arranged, for Billy pull- ed up the fall and lengthened it out, act- ing under Tom’s directions, and came down in the bucket. He almost went wild at the sight of the gold, ~ ‘* But of course this ain’t all, Billy,” Tom began, after the first excitement had assea. ‘“‘ This poor wretch got on deck with his little pile in the hope of escaping, W here’s the rest of the gold? That’s what we want to know,” 4 IOOK per te pee