CHAPTER XVIII.—(Continued.)

Auckland Star, Volume XXVII, Issue 166, 16 July 1896, Page 6

CHAPTER XVlll.—(Continued.)

Onb evening he came over to the shanty of Claude and Tom, to smoke and spin yarn*, which was one mode of amusement among the miners. ■ «Hain't heered nubbin' o' yer losb dusb, hey ye, Tom?' ho asked. •No. Missouri; I don'b sup;>T<e I ever Will,' Tom replied. . « Well, yell hey »' do like me,' said Jack, filling his pipo and lighting it. 'I gob robbed ence of a pile. I'd made my stake and wuz on my way back t' Missouri to marry my gal, Nancy Bragg, as fine a piece o' pop-eyed calliker as ye ever seed, when all at once bh' underpinnin' was jiab knocked from under me, an' I was porer a Job's turkey.' . Tom, who enjoyed bhe miner s sbones, eaid : . _ ♦Tell us the sbory, Missouri. I never know before bhab you had been robbed.' •Wall, I don't balk aboub ib much, fur it's a mighby onpleasanb aubjecb c' discuss.' . 'Of course, if you have any scruple* in the matter you need nob tell us. «I don'b know ez bhar air enny screwples aboub eb,' Jack answered, as be removed his beaver cap and scratched Mb head. 'I don't tell eb t' everybody, bub I don'b mind t'ellin' you'ns. Ye see, when I lefb old Missouri I promised my sal, Nancy, bhab I'd come back jisfc as soon ez I had made a speck, an' marry her. Now, Nancy a a good gal; she ain'b overly han'some, I know, fur her eyes bung oub, an' her frunb beebh air big ez a horse's, bub I buk a noshun b her, an' she'd do me'f I could make a stake. I got aboub four bhoußand dollars wuth of dusb, an war bhinkin' mighby serious aboub goin' back th' overland route, when a feller we called Capen George, who'd dug a big fortune an' wuz goin' back b New York, wanted me b' go with him. I had lamb thab bhree more miners wuz goin' back ab bh' same time, an' ez we'd never been b New York, we bhoughb we'd go with Capen George. Capen George was an eddycated man frum bhet ciby, an' ez fine a man ez one ever seed. Th' obher three miners wuz Tennessee Bill, Council Bluffs Fred an' Arkinsaw Dave. Thar wuz anobher feller firom New York, whoße namo wuz Morton—' • Whab ?' cried Cloude, leaping bo his left* as if he had received an elecbric shock. ■ Hello, whab's bh' matter wibh Sigbin Ike >' Looks ez if he' 86ed a ghosb.' «I'om, Tom—bho number—six. You rev member Don Martin's story.' ' Hu,sh I' whispered Tom; * leb him proceed.' Ib was the narrator's turn to become astonishe-d, His pipe slipped from his mouth imto his band, and sbaring ab his companion, he asked : « Tell me\. whab in bh' name o' Gineral Taylor yer t& Ikin' aboub ?' • Nobbing,' said Claude. 'Go on wibh your sbory.' • Wall, Sighux' Ike, 'f ye hey them sorb o fibß of ben, I wanfc ye pub in a sbraighb-jackeb afore I proceed.' Claude assured bim there was no danger of a return, and begged-him bo go on. « What did you. say the New York merchant's name waa Vbe asked. . .. 'lb wuz Morton/ \

1 Do you remember b/s given name ?' * Believe ib wuz Robert. He wuz a sorb uv a close-lipped, starch y, stiff old feller thab I didn'b like very much. He warn't one bib like Capen Goori?e.' « What was the full name of Captain George f Missouri Jack, after botving bis bead for a moment in deep bhoughb, answerod : 'Seems b' me 'b wa6 Tyler.' Claude arid Tom bobh foumd ib difficult bo restrain their eagerness, bub bb*ey succeeded. Missouri Jack was compelled to fill bis pipe again before he proceeded. \ • Now, lemme see, whar wnz 1,? Yes, we all made up our minda v' go home by New York. I had my dusb in ale atber belt erboub my waisb, an' bh' other pi we fellers had theirs bh' sama. I was told fchi»6 Capen George hed a big pile, bub I never .kraowed how much. We tuk a steamer ab Sai"> Francisco for St\n Juan Dal Sur, an' shopped ab Acapulco for coal, an' then paddled .vi^hb on b' Nicaragua. From San Juan Del frnr we went to Granada on bh' lake, fur this New York feller had a friend thar named Don Martin Fredrico he wanbed b' see; This Don Martin wuz a gentleman'f he waz a Spaniard, an' he tuk us all t' his home an' treated us white. We didn'b stay there more'n 'bout a week, an' then, in one ©' them long boats called bongos, started fur bb' San Juan River, intondin' t' go b' Greytown.'

Ab this point Clauds interrupted the Barrator wibh :

'Tell me more aboub bbis Captain George. Whab kind of a man was he ?'

•He wuz a man all over. He wuz one ye conld trust in, brave ez a lion, an' a heart in him bigger'n a Santa Fs tnnle. He use ter balk days together 'boub h\B leeble darter he'd lefb b' home wibh no mother, an' I've seen tears bigger'n a hazzel-nab a droppin' down hi 9 cheeks.

* We'd been warned agin Ah' infernal robbers, who air thicker'n mosquitoes in Central America, bub fchar war six white men an' ten o' them nigger sailors, so we thought we'd be able b' whip th' htill bilin' o' 'em.

• One nighb we camped on th' banks o' th' San Juan, nob fur from a place called Old Casslo. Th' sailors war on shore a-cookin' their supper, an' Arkinaaw Dava an' I wur watchin' them critters called iguanas. All th' other people war on shore a-Iyin' on th' ground ur saunterin' aboub. All ab onct them nigger sailors sob up a yell an' started b'th'boao; but jist then bwo boats loaded with robbers came down alongside o' th' bongo, an' leb fly with guns an' pisbols, fciliin' an' cripplin' half a dozen. '"Robbers!" cried Capon. Goorge, grabbin' hia rifle. We war attacked by land an' by water, an' all fib like devils, bub 't war no use. I needn't tell ye bow all bhab sight long we blazed away ab thorn boats an?l inter bh' woods, fur we war surrounded. Arkiiaaaw Dave war bhrowed cold in bis tracks^ an* Council Bluffs Fred war shot through, an' died in my arms. Jist ab daylight wo hed t' retreab through th' wood*; an' saw them a rippin' their belts o' gold open afore we wuz oub o' »ighb. Thar wam't bub bwo nigger sailors an' us four white men lefb. We retreated aa' fib nearly all nexb day, bub bh' varmints seemed b' increase in numbers all tber time. Th' gold which we carried erboat us weighted us down, so we couldn'b run, an' ab last we decided ter make a cache on bher San Juan an' bury it. Capen George an Mr Morton made a map an' a descripshnn other place on some paper they hed wibh 'em, so 'b we could .find th' place when we coma back, whilo th' rest o' as tuk places among bh' treos, an' loaded an' shot ez fast ez we could see er black head.'

4 Who gob bhe plat or map of the cacheV asked Claude.

' Either Capen George ur Mr Morton; We could travel much faster arter we got rid o' th' gold, which wuz pasky heavy ; but et warn'b any use. We hodn'b gone a mile, however, afore a cusb jump up, an' levelin' his internal scopab, shoots poro Tennessee Bill dead in his tracks. I shot th 8 robber down. The two negro sailors run off an' lefb us, an' then we three had b" fighta fifty. X

wuz ibruck six times by bheir bullets, but fit until I fainted frum loss o' blood. When! I come V myself, I riz up a leetle and looked orboub, Tier place looked like er babble-field. I counted five dead robbers layin' in «ight. Capen George wuz only a few feeb frum me, so I crawled b' him an spoke b* him, bub be didn'b open his eyes.' • Was be dead V asked Claude. • No. He war still breathin', bub I knowed be couldn' lasb long. I crawled down b' bh' river an' gob a drink o' water. Then I thorb I migbb relievo th' last hours o' my dyin' friend, so I made a cup o' some plantain leaves an' brnng some water an' give .bim some. I bed b' open his mouth with my fingers an' pour eb down. He drunk ib, an' then I crawled erway. • I habed t' leave him, bub I knowed he couldn't live long, so I crawled on. I crawled all night an' nexb day, an' wore oub my breeches ab bheir knees, and then fastened my boots on 'em. I was sorry I hadn't tuk th" shoes o' some o' bhe dead men b' pub on my hands, fur I wur terribly i bruised an' sore, lemme tell yer. Ab lasb I , gave oub, i •.' lay down b' die. Wall, I war mighty nigh buckerod oub, an' I'd a passed in my checks shore «f an old Injun woman hadn'b er found me an' tuk me t' her hub. I didn'b know nuthin' for weeks. When I como b' myself I was weaker'n a cat. I coaxed bh' old woman's boy b' take me t' San Juan Del Sur, an' borrowed money enough t' take me back b' San Francisco. I writ b' Nancy she'd hey t' wuib awhile longer, cz we couldn'b marry yib, fur I wuz bu»bed. So I wenb b' work b' raise another stake V •Do you know whab became of bhe others ?' asked Claude.

• All killed.'

• And tho gold ?' • Wall, I suppose tbem as killed Mr Morton gob th' chart. 1 could never find his body, an' never iound the chnrb or descripshon o' th* place whar th' gold war buried; an' I went an' hunted aboub a week fur th* spot, bub could never find it. I reckin th' robbers gob eb all.' 'Was Captain George dead when you lefb him?'

* Nob quite. He war mighby nigh gone, bhougb, fur he bled like a stuck pig, an' I koowed theb he couldn'b live bub a few minifas or hours ab mosb when I left.'

' Do you bhink ib possible thab he could have recovered ?'

' No. A feller with a bullet through bis body don't gib well when he hez bhe best o' keer, an' be hed none.' When Missouri Jack had gone, Claude turned to Tom and *aid :

•I am going to Nicaragua.- This whole affair must be sifted to the bottom if I lose my life in doing ib.'

[To be Continued.)