Show PIECES OF EIGHT BEINO BEING THE AUTHENTIC NARRATIVE OF A TREASURE discovered IN THE BAHAMA ISLANDS IN THE YEAR 1905 1903 NOW FIRST GIVEN TO THE PUBLIC by RICHARD LE GALLIENNE by afe A comphor CHAPTER VII continued 14 4 but bat anal alis I 1 the they did not begin some borne six it fet at shot aboe a my head and way any was sheer how was A I 1 to reath much fit tho in lowest rung the mk was me sh sheer or far or me to cot cat steps step 1 la As I 1 done dane fari farther be back it I 1 looked about me cuir again th the luck u ck was uns with we me 1 in one of at the C caves I 1 had noticed tie sit some same broker broken pieces piece of at fallen rock they s were re ter cully heavy but despair depater lent me a strength ull and after an hour or of twos work I 1 be had d managed to roll several of china to the ie foot of the ladder and with an street effort of at which I 1 would not at have believed myself capable ind be been ali able is to build them the a one on top of rather another agal list the tea ho he 1 found myself able to grasp the lowest rung rune witt with my hands hand thu then fastening bouncing the ian landern era ran roand it my neck w with th my neck tie I 1 P prepared to mount I 1 T the A climb was not difficult ones once I 1 b and M managed to fiet cot my feet on an the first rung of the ladder but there always the chance that one eta of the lungs might have asted loose lease wilh time are 1 in wind ca case a of course it would I 1 leavo III given a way to lu my gras grasp P and I 1 it hire fieve braa been precipitated ed buck vard card to contain death below however th the man who tied morti wortis sed ed zm however them had IMM done an honest piece of and th they A Y pr proved it as firm as on tile hie do day they were placed there up and up I 1 went till I 1 must most title haie bec been forty fatty feet aboe the floor and then as I 1 neared it the foot at instead of 0 not corn ing to a in trap p door as I 1 I 1 had canjoe lured I 1 I 1 found foun it that the ladder came to an end ad at the edge of a na narrow ledge running along the ma ceiling ing much ciuco A as fl cle clerestory restore runs near at tile root oat of some me old churches on to t this tu A I 1 managed to climb it was barely a yard arned wide old and the Im impending g roof not did not permit of one as blinding erect it was I a it aa and it seemed ani safest fiall to he crawl along A on all 11 too fours holding the ammeen I 1 in front of me presently it brought me up sharp in a ca n arrow recess mems it had come to an end it you yes but imagine my joy it had bad forma come to M an end ad at a low law archway rudely cut in the rock deep set in the or archway hw m Y was a stout start wooden bouls door my first thought was that I 1 was q my was tha I 1 trapped again but to my infinite so sur pi prise and ad gra it proved to be slightly ajar rod and a vl vigorous gOu push sent at zat tt it grinding back on its ideas hinges what next I 1 wondered dred d red at all events event I 1 W was no to longer n ger lost in the bowels of the AS earth fth it step C P by at step I 1 was coming b jonir P an relin nearer to the frontiers 0 of han humanity t but I 1 was certainty certainly not at prepared for what next met my eves s as I 1 p pushed phed hed through the low doob doorway Y with b my lantern aud and looked around Y yes a I 1 indeed ad maa had certainly been here man loo a very pulp purposeful astol rod and best I 1 wila was in a sort in of I 1 low nar or tow saw 9 gallery 11 ty some rome forty feet long eg to 6 3 I 1 W waa a in a sort son of low narrow gal ZY lery some soma forty feet fact long which the arching rock made a crypt like ceiling at mv first glance I 1 an saw tv t that hat there them was another th R door at the Y far end similar to tile the one I 1 had entered by and on oa I 1 he left side ade of the gallery im built it of rough caugh stones arm from th the low citing to in the floor in was a series rise of compart compartments ants each with locked wooden door th they were strong and grim looking an and dlight might have been taken for or prison cells cela or family vaults vault or M possibly bl y wine blu bins s the massive lock wine were r red ad with hit m rust st and there was wag plainly no possibility instability of opening them on the other aid bide of the gallery there wag a litter of old it chains and ome a boards board probably left c ft 0 over from the doom yes and it I 1 there h e e w were A re ton two a old Roal tack guns goes an and it several cut 1 lasses nil eaten caten dway away with rust also seea diall 1 ran rough seaman aim s chest upon open and tall fall hi tag to PI pieces sees at the ingot of that a wild thought flashed flamed fla med th J my b brain M what I 1 1 good OR goell I 1 what if this B J ati 1 touch A hi treasury Mantry behind VIA grim doors dean I 1 throw threw in if willi all m my force fame against one me and then the other for the moment I 1 forgot that my paramount business wa was to es A cape but I 1 might as well lave hurled myself against the wild rock and at th that t moment I 1 noticed that the place piece was darker than it had bad been ban my I 1 lan monton tern w waa a going ing out in a mo moment or two I 1 should be in the pitch dark and I 1 had dule discovered that the door at tile the end of the gallery was as aa solid as the a others I 1 was to be trapped after all and I 1 pictured myself slowly dying there of h hunger ree the pangs pang of which I 1 was already beginning to feel und and some one as yea years A hence been finding me there them a moldering mold cring skeleton some one who it cold break open those doors doom uncover thus those gleaming hoards heard rod and moralize on the irony of my end condemned to do die there of starvation with the treas ure ore I 1 had so long sought on the other side of those unyielding doors doom old tow toms words suddenly hashed flashed over me and I 1 could feel my hair literally beginning to rise there never nees was a buried treasure ture yet that net did dian didn I 1 claim its victim let i at great god I 1 and nd I 1 was nas to he be the ghost and ad keep ard guard 1 in this terrible tomb till the next ot dead man an came cam long along to relieve have roe A of my sentry duty I 1 frantically y I 1 turned up the wick of my ol 01 lantern 1 n tot at the thought but it was A no use it was plainly going out I 1 examined told my match box I 1 had bad still till a dozen or so matein matches left and then the my eye fell on tint thit shattered eced chest there were the those a boards to too at 1 all I events I 1 co could old build a fire and make tor torches cheis of slivers of wood so long us as tile the wood we it tested lasted and flue then I 1 bad an idea why not at M make As t the he fire against the door at the nd of the gallery and so burn my way through bno B no in 1 my 1 spirits spirit rose rt at the be thought rod and I 1 set to at me once ce splitting un 9 some small email kindling with my in a few rel minutes lutle I 1 had quite a sprightly little fire going at the hot bot to torn of the door but I 1 saw that I 1 should have to be extravagant with ny my we wood A it it if the fire was to be effective however it was neck or nothing so I 1 piled on beams and be boards rite till my I 1 alre a found like a f furnace C and ad present ly I 1 had bad the joy JAY of seeing it begin to tal let a hold held of the da door which balb after a short hurt time bria began to C crackle ile and ad plot ter in a very chebi cheering f fashion b to beg whatever phat ever lay beyond ad it we was 1 evl I dent that I 1 should soon be able to b break 1 my way through I 1 the he obstacle and ad indeed so it proved tor for present lv iv I 1 used one me of the bear boards as a lint bat teeing rout nim and ad to my inexpressible ble joy it went crashing crabbing thra through io with a shower of sparks and it was but the 1 I k of ft a few more minutes before the whole door fell flaming flown down and and I 1 I 1 a was able to leap haq through the doorway into bilo th the e darkness on the other side aide A As u I 1 stood there peering ahead and holding aloft a burning stick which p proved re A it however a poor substitute for my lanterna a wonderful sound smote arx my ears I 1 could old sot net believe it t and my knees itice shook beneath me it w was us the sound or of the sen yes yea it was no illusion it was Is the A sound amid that the me sea makes singing nud and echoing th through laugh hollow caves the sound ad I 1 heard that night mc as I 1 stood food at G the in moonlit lit door of calypso s cover cavern old and saw that alleo vision iliad en my ht nearly broke to to remember gyps calypso oh calypso ya y A A I 1 whole sea she at this moment cut pray god that she was all in 11 deed safe f im as her hid said old but I 1 had to will her fill aiom my mind led to kee keep P from going mad imad and my poor torch ald go gone out at having however wever given me light elou enough g s to see that tile the door which I 1 had bad due just burst buret go gh let it out oata narrow platform on the side elde of a rock that at went at slanting ranting down into a chasm of blackness u winch its as in 11 a great grant shell boomed that murmuring ol of the he an aca it had a perilous ugly look ind id it was plain th that A t it would be foot hardy fatuity to attempt it at the moment with without ingoe a light and ad my fire was sea dy dying down own BIl besides deles I 1 was beginning AS t feel light headed handed and worn wor outs out partly from lack ot of food DO a doubt As AA there them was no DO food filed to be had I 1 CA recalled called the old french proverb he eata cam who sleeps sleep or something to that effect and I 1 determined to line bus b band oil my strength once me more cut with a bri brief ef rest met however as I 1 turned to throw braw some SAM more anne wood oa AD my fire prep preparing mg to led indulge myself with a little campure ce plan cheerfulness AS 03 I 1 dorod ded oil say my a ecea tell fell once more mom on that grim ile line of locked doors doom and my curiosity casity and ad an fita idea made me wakeful to again get I 1 JIMI had am burned add donn A wa one do door o wb why y not at another the why not a iii da deed it 8 so 1 I raked called a over my fire to the fam ily vault vach nearest it to me and ad presently press antly had it roaring rod and licking against till the stout door it was A not of As ho solid a as the gallery door tied had been at oil nil eve events ate it kindled more easily and it I 1 was not long before I 1 had it the satis AMR befog faction of battering that at down too As I 1 did so I 1 caught sight feight of amo something in the interior that made nie me laugh aloud ahead old and aha generally like a madman of course I 1 didn dian I 1 t believe my lay ayea but they persist it in do de daring mae nevertheless that there them in front of me a great iron bound I 1 oak bakin n host chest to begin with it might not of course contain nal thing but bones bone but tt it might I 1 th the thing was to too absurd I 1 must at be have fallen sleep asleep a must A be already dreaming batni but I 1 was 8 laboring fill nil all my strength to open PC it with one ot of those rusty cut lasses sam it ans a tough lob job but in mi I 1 are strength mth was s as the strength of ten tan for far the old treasure hunting hoting lust was wai upon meon me and I 1 had forgotten every thing else in ID the world tor for the time tho A at last with a great wood wooden groan green as af though its heart were ners breaking at MIN hailing ing to give up its secret at last it crashed open I 1 fell on rov me knees as though thong h I 1 had been struck by dighto lightning for it t was literally brimming over with silver and gold pieces alecea doubloons doub loons and it pieces of eight english and french coins A too guineas am a A and dinuis louts dor all as tobias manuscript had said it all 11 go good it money for ft a white while I 1 knelt over it dazed and ad blinded lost then I 1 slowly plunged my hands into it and let the elects ieca pour pace and pour them literally bathing them in gold and sit ell ver me as I 1 had read of misers doing th then suddenly I 1 broke brok out lot into an irish jisc jig never CC haying having had bad any no such tion of doing dohig such a thing before I 1 in fact I 1 b behaved caved haved as I 1 have read mad of nen doing W whom a sudden fortune M III ins b bereft ot of reason I 1 or the time at ill all events I 1 was a gibbering madman certainly ina there was to be no sleep for me that night light I 1 1 but in the full tide of my ane freny I 1 suddenly noticed wine some thing that brought me A up sharp out biond the doorway it was growing light it I 1 was only mily a dim I 1 tremulous of it indeed but it was real da light oozing man g I 1 in it from in somewhere or other the b blessed Is sued blessed daa da light I 1 god b be A praised I 1 CHAPTER vill VIII 1 n which I 1 understand the feelings of a ghost so I 1 surmised I 1 had been under ground a whole day and two nights night and this was mi the morning of the see sec odil and day after calipso s disappearance hot hat had been happening to her all this time my flesh wept crept at the thought and with that daylight steal ing 1 in like alfving a living presence and the sound and breath of the sea my an galib returned a hundredfold As I 1 stood on the little rocky plat form outside the door through which I 1 had burned boned my way and looked down into the glimmering chasm beneath rod and heard the fresh voice of the sea am husk haskill I 1 ay rumbling and ad reverberating rever berating bout hidden grotto grottoes and ad ch channels eta all that was to me came back with the keenness of a sword through my heart ali ah I 1 chete we was my treasure is S I 1 had bad known when my eyes first beheld her h colip ired with which that sold gold and silver in there them whose gleam led had made me hame momentarily teril their light was but so a much dust and ashes all 8 Z ardently on as I 1 had sought might it what VPS it compared to one glauce glance of her eyes IV V hat if in the same A hour ban I 1 had lost my true ti it ensure and found the false I 1 at the thought that glittering heap became ib to we me and without lo looking oling back I 1 sought tor far some am way bv be which I 1 could descend A As my eyes eye grew accustomed to the dim light I 1 AS saw that there wele some sam shallow steps cut dilim diagonally mally 1 in the rock 4 and down these I 1 had bad sao soon made ads my lay way to find itself ff in a rossae cot cor rider so much like that in which I 1 hid bid seen ced call aso A standing in the he moonlight tint ht fur for a moment I 1 theames di earned it IS was the same a and ad started to run down it thinking indeed that my troubles were over 1 that SM I 1 in another moment I 1 would mould emerge through that enchanted due door and ad f face the sea but 1 alas I I 1 instead of a b broad d shining doorway bud and open arms of freedom widespread for far me to loop leap into I 1 came at I last it to a mere men long narrow slit clift through which I 1 could ga gize as a maji 9 benzes sn th through h a prison window at the k ky the Artra entrance had once been wide and fee tree but a mas in of rock had bad fallen floA above old and blocked it up leaving only ft a long crack through which the tides tide passed to and fro I 1 we was still till I 1 in my trap it seem seemed is d more aun terrible than ever now that I 1 could see bee freedom so close to I 1 her er very voice ile calling ailing to me singing g the me morn ing song of the sea but 1 in the caverns behind bad me an I 1 I 1 heard card another in mocking eking song and ad I 1 felt a c cold old b breath tb on my cheek check for death at nod and by my aid a grin gin the treasure P he whisp whispered red 1 I ne ac need led you to guard red t that hot the treasure AS so |