The Island Treasure Part 18

"I beliefs zere vas no harms vor to tell?" observed the Dane reflectively, as if cogitating the matter over in his own mind and anxious to have another opinion to say whether or no his narration of the circ.u.mstances would be any breach of the trust reposed in him.

"Cap'en Shackzon was det, and ze crew vas det, and zere vas n.o.bozy dat vas aboart ze schgooners dat vas alifes but meinselfs."

"Nary a bit o' harm at all, mister, ez I ken see," said Captain Snaggs decisively; "not where ther' ain't no folk alive to complain o' ye tellin' on it. Nary a bit o' harm, I reckon!"

"Yase, I do not zee no harms," continued Jan Steenbock, as if he had now made up his mind on the point; "and zo I vas tell yous. Ze zeegret dat Cap'en Shackzon tell to me vas dat he hat discovert von dreazure in a cave in ze islant von day dat he vas plown into ze bay in a squall; and ven he vas go back to Guayaquil, he vas charter ze schgooners to zail back to ze islant again. He vas tell ze beeples dere dat he vas go vor ze orchilla veeds and ze toordle; but, he vas mean to dig oop ze dreazure and take hims back zogreetly in ze schgooners to ze mainland, as if he vas only hab ze orchilla veeds and ze toordle on boart. He zays to me, zays Cap'en Shackzon, 'ze Sbaniards in Equador is von bat lot, and vill murter a mans like one mosquito vor a tollar,' and he vas know dat zey vas kill hims if zey vas zink he vas hab ze dreazure on boart; and, dat vas ze reason dat he vas vant von man dat he coot droost, joost like meinselfs, mit hims!"

"A treasure hyar, mister," said the skipper, with his eyes aglow and his goatee beard bristling up, all agog at such news--"a treasure o' gold, hey?"

"Yase, yase," replied the other affirmatively; "oh, yase!"

"How come it hyar?"

"It vas burit by ze boocaneer in ze olt time--one, doo, dree huntert year ago," explained Jan. "Cap'en Shackzon vas zee it writ in von book dat he vas zee at Guayaquil; and den, ven he vas zail here, he vas come to de zame blace dat ze boocaneer spoke of in ze book and hat burit ze golt. It vas ze ploonder of ze churches of ze coast, dat ze boocaneers hat collect in von big heep and zegreet in ze cave till zey coot take hims avay mit dem, and dere it vas remain till Cap'en Shackzon vound it."

"He found it, hey?"

"Yase, he vind it von day, as I zays. His voot vas sdoomble in ze hole, and dat give vays; and den, he doombles into ze cave, and zee all ze dreasure of golt and silber and ozer tings."

"An' did ye see it, too, mister?" inquired Captain Snaggs anxiously.

"Pyaps thet air c.o.o.n wer only bamboozlin' ye, an' made up the yarn!"

"No, he vas not make it oop," replied Jan. "I vas zee dat Madonna of golt dere and ozer tings dat he vas bring back vrom ze cave ven we vas coom here in ze schgooners, and anchor't in ze bay dere as ze sheep vas now lay. But, Cap'en Shackzon vas von sdrange mans!"

"Thunder!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed the skipper, on the other pausing at this point, as if waiting for the question to be put. "How wer he streenge, mister, hey?"

"He vas like to keep zings to himselfs," said Jan Steenbock meaningly.

"He vas not let me go to ze cave at all, and ze schgooner vas anchor't here in ze bay more dan a veek!"

"I s'pose he didn't want the crew--them rascally Spaniards ye spoke on-- smellin' a rat an' spilin' his game, I reckon," suggested the skipper; "but how did he manage, hey?"

"He vas keep ze mans all day hunting for ze orchilla veeds up ze montane dere," replied Jan; "and den, ven ze night vas coom, he vas tell me to shtop on ze vatch, and den he vas go ash.o.r.e to look for ze cave mit himselfs."

"He didn't spot it at once agen then?"

"Nein. He vas look in vain vor dree nights, and vas near give oop ze hoont in despair; but on ze ozer night he vas come back to ze schgooners in goot sbirrits, and zays to me, zays he, 'I vas vind ze cave at last.'

He vas zo glat he vas laf mit joy and I vas laf, too!"

"I guess ye hed sunthin' to sn.i.g.g.e.r over, hey?"

"Yase, joost zo! I vas laf mit him; and den, he vas bring oot dat Madonna dere, dat he vas hab stow avay in his shirt, and vas show it to me, and ze vigure vas shin in ze moonlight. Ah, dat vas bat; vor, von of ze Sbaniards of ze crew vas zee it shin in ze light and show ze golt, and he vas tell ze ozers--a pack of raskels--and ze whole game was oop vor us and ze dreazure!"

"How's thet, mister?" inquired the skipper, as Jan paused again here, his voice dropping. "Did the varmint spile ye?"

"Humph!" growled the other. "Dey vas spile zemselves! In ze mittle of ze night ze raskels go down into ze cabin vere Cap'en Shackzon vas ashleep and shtab him mit dere knifes. Den, zey shtole ze golt Madonna and brings it oop on ze deck; and den, zey get vighting vor ze vigure, and shtab von ze ozers, and dey vas vake me oop mit ze row, vor I vas tiret and vas ashleep in ze boate over ze taffrail."

"An' how did ye come off with a hull skin?" asked Captain Snaggs. "I guess ye wer in a durned tight corner."

"Zee goot Gott vatch overs me!" replied Jan Steenbock gravely, raising his eyes reverently upward as he uttered the word, "vor, in ze mittle of ze row, ven ze raskels vas all of zem murtering each ozers and ze deck vas rolling in bloot, a sudden gale vas spring oop; and ze schgooner vas dash on ze rocks dere to port, and she vas go down in ze deep vater, mit ze crew still vighting on ze deck to ze last. One--doo--dree--vore-- mens vas already kil't, besides Cap'en Schackzon--ze lifing and ze det going down zogeder into de zee, mit ze golt Madonna dat you vas now vind!"

"An' how did ye sc.r.a.pe through, hey?"

"I vas schvim ash.o.r.e," answered Jan Steenbock, in reply to this question from the skipper, who followed his recital carefully, with his inquisitive long nose twitching every now and then, and his billy-goat beard wagging as he nodded his head, watching apparently to catch the other tripping in his story. "I vas schvim ash.o.r.e and go to landt all raite."

"What became o' ye then?"

"I vas shtop heres till I vas pick oop by a pa.s.sing sheep."

"Her name, mister?" again interrogated Captain Snaggs, with keen pertinacity. "Thet is if ye reck'lects."

"Oh, yase, I vas remembers very well," rejoined the other, equal to the occasion. "She vas ze whaling barque _Jemima Greens_, of Bostone, I zinks."

"Thet's right; I knows her," interrupted the skipper, quite satisfied.

"Joe Davis master, hey?"

"Yase, joost zo," replied the other, "dat vas ze name of ze cap'en, I remembers."

"An' how long did ye remain aboard her?"

"Vor more dan vore months. She vas veeshing vor ze whale ven she pick me oop vrom here; and I vas hab to vait till she vas load up mit ze oils, ven she vas go zouth, and landt me at Valparaizo. Vrom dat port I vas vork mein pa.s.sage back to England ze next zommer--and dat vas dree year ago."

"Waal, thet's a tall yarn, anyhow," said the skipper, when Jan Steenbock had thus concluded his strange history; "but, dew ye mean ter say ez how ye hev never ben nigh this place hyar agen sin' thet time?"

"Nein," replied the other frankly, "nevaire!"

"What! d'ye mean ter say ez how ye hed no kinder sort o' curiosity like to find thet thaar cave, with the rest o' thet gold an' treasure what them old buccaneers stowed away so snug, 'specially arter seein' it wer'

reel?"

"No, cap'en," said Jan Steenbock firmly, as if he had previously well considered all the bearings of the case and arrived at his final decision. "I vas nevaire likes vor to zee dat blace nor ze golt again-- no, nevaire!"

"But, why, mister?" asked the skipper, with insatiable curiosity, winking to the hands round, to call their attention to the fact that he was about to take a rise out of the simple-hearted Dane, and 'trot him out,' as it were, for their mutual amus.e.m.e.nt. "Why shouldn't ye hanker arter seein' the gold agen, mister? I guess ye didn't hev too much on it afore; an', I'm durned if ye hev got much of a pile now, ez fur ez I ken see!"

Jan Steenbock's answer, however, completely staggered him, banishing all his merriment and facetiousness in an instant.

"It vas curst," said the Dane solemnly. "Ze golt and ze islandt and everyting vas shtink mit ze black man's bloot!"

CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

WE DISCOVER THE CAVE.

"What d'ye mean?" Captain Snaggs managed to stammer out after a bit, his long face perceptibly longer and his rubicund complexion turned to an ashy grey. He was conscience-stricken and thoroughly frightened at the second-mate thus bringing up again, as he thought, his cruel murder of the negro cook; for, Jan Steenbock spoke in the same tone of voice, and pointed his finger at him like an accusing judge, in almost the same precise way he had done on that eventful day when we were off Scilly, three months before. "What in thunder d'ye mean, man?--what d'ye mean?"

"I vas mean vat I zays," answered the other calmly: "ze dreazure of ze boocaneer vas shtain mit ze bloot of von schlave."

"Oh," exclaimed the skipper, somewhat relieved by his not mentioning again Sam Jedfoot's name, as he and all of us believed the second-mate intended doing, imagining his remark to refer to none other than the poor darkey. "I don't kinder foller ye, mister, nohow, an it strikes me, it dew, ez if ye air gettin' sorter mixed up, same ez jest now!

What d'ye mean a-talkin' o' durned n.i.g.g.e.r slaves an' sichlike? Thaar ain't none now, I reckon, under the Stars and Stripes this side, nor yit fur thet matter in the hull o' the land, from Maine to Californy, sin'

the war busted up the great southern 'inst.i.tooshun,' ez they call'd it in Virginny. Thaar ain't no slaves, sirree, now, I guess, on this hyar free an' almighty continent! What d'yer mean, hey?"