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I BIX ! 1 The Million D By HAROLD Illustrated from Scenes Same Name by the The II Womli-lm?i i 111 iimii i ? in i v v.v - rv -jam Vnw (Copyright, 1?<M, t This, the twelvth episode of the interesting serial story, will he shown . in motion pictures at the Casino I Theatre tonight.) CHAPTER XII. A dipsy-chanty, if you please; 01 sailormen in jerseys and tarry caps, of rolliug gaits, strong tobacco and diverse profanity ; of cutters, and bluntnose schooners, and tramps, canvas and steam, some of them honest, some of them shady, and some of them pirates of tho first water who did not find it necessary to hoist aloft the skull and bones. The seas are dotted with them. They remind you of the once prosperous merchant, run down ^ at tho heel, who slinks along the side onoci-o, acmaiiieu to meet mose ne knew in the past. You never hear them mentioned in the maritime news, which is the society column of the ships; you know of their existence only by the bleached bones of them, strewn along the coast. You who crave adventures on high seas, you purchase a ticket, a steamer chair, and a couple of popular novels, go on hoard to the blare of a very indifferent brass band, and believe you are adventuring; when, as a matter of fact, you are about to spend a dull week or fortnight on a water hotel, where the most exciting thing is the bugle's call to meals or the discovery of a card sharp in the smoking room. Take a real ship, go as supercargo, to the South seas; take the side streets of the ocean, and learn what it can do with hurricanes,typhoons, blistering calms, and men's souls. There will bo adventure enouch thpn Tf vnn a weakling, either you are made strong, or you (lie. An honest ship, but run down at the heel, rode at anchor in the sound, a fourth-rater of the hooker breed; that is, her principal line of business was hauling barges up and down the coast. When she could not pick up enough barges to make it pay, why, she'd go gallivanting down to Cuba for bales of tobacco or even to the Bermudas for the heaven smelling onion. mm mmfa:. t .</; ' Ik# P::l WkMz&iX : v fe&Sft J& The Master Villa f ' ' V * ^ ' Today she wan an onion ship; which precludes any idea of adventure. She was about four thousand tons, and her engines were sternward and not ainidship. She carried two masts and i. half dozen hoist booms, and the only visible sign of anything now on hoi wan her bowsprit. This was new doubt leE.*; because she had poked her nose too far into her last slip. Her crew was orderly and tractable There were shore drunks, to be sure because they were sailors; but the) were at work. They moved aboui briskly, for they were on the point o tailing for the Bahamas?perhaps foi more onions. Presently the windlass creaked and shrilled, and the blobbj links, much in need of tar paint, ret as fish gills, clattered down into tin v bow. Sometimes they painted tb< chain as it came over; but paint wai costly, and this was dono only whci 'the anchor threatened to stay on th< bottom. There was a sailor among this crew and be went by the name of Stev< Blossom; and he was one of his hind, A grimy dime novel protruded raklshl; 'from his hip pocket, and hit rlgh tOfceek was swollen as with the tooth lisM,wffi ' (Mystery : i \M A r?D A TU ' mxivj vjrrvxx jl n | i in the Photo Drama of thm mhouser Film Company ' -v <mi i vmaiima??I?J?n3 <y Harold MacGrath) I acne, duo, probably, to a generous "chaw" of Seaman's Delight. He was a real tobacco chower, for he rarely I spat. He was as peaceful as a backwater bay in summer; non-argumenta-j tive and passive, he stood his watcli In fair weather and foul. No one gave the anchor any more attention after it came to rest. The great city over the way was fairy-lilce in its haziness and softened lines. It ; was the poetry of angles, ot shafts and spars of stone; and Steve lllos- I som, haviug a moment to himself, ! leaned against the rail and stared regretfully. He had been generously i drunk the night before, and it was a pleasant recollection. Chance led his elanco tn trail linwn tV?f? cutwn*nr T~Ha w ??W * vu vuvlTUlVt, 111U j \ neck stretched from his collar like a ( turtle's from Its shell. < "Well, I'll be hornswoggled!" he murmured, shifting his cud from star-' 3 board to port. 1 Caught on the fluke of the anchor < was the strangest looking box he had t ever laid eyes on. There were leather > and steel bands and diamond-shaped c ivory and mother of pearl, and it hung Jauntily on the point of the rusty fluke. Anybody would be hornswoggled to 1 glimpse such a droll jest of fate. On 1 the fluke of the old mudhook, by a 1 I hair, you might say. In all the wild T j sea yarns he had ever read or heard < there was nothing to match this. j Treasure! 1 And Steve was destined never to be I passive again. His first impulse was ] to call his companions; his second im- 1 pulse was to say nothine at nil nnrl i wait for an opportunity to get the box to his bunk without being detected. ; Treasure! Diamonds and rubies and pearls and old Spanish gold; all hang; ing to the fluke of the anchor. i 'Tlornswoggled!" in a kind of awesome whisper this time. "An' we* ! aheadin' for th' Bahamas!" For under ; i his feet he could hear the rhythm of ! engines. "What'll I do? If I leave it, ; some one else'll see it." He scratched his chin perplexedly; and the cud went back to starboard. "I got it!" [ He took off his coat and carefully dropped it down over the mysterious box. It was growing darker aiul darker all the time, and shortly neither coat nor anchor would be visible with"PI . rat HJLJ ! ' 3 / ^ - u;k ' *>'&&* >-;K ?}}&'4 0X|^lsp-' s.^>,:< ?1 ' | i ii;'iiwfT7i i * " ? * in and His Adviser. out close scrutiny. Treasure: greed, , cupidity, crime. Steve saw only the . treasure and not its camp followers. What did they call them??doubloons | \ and pieces of-elght? lie ate his supper with his mess. mates, and lie ate heartily as usual. ! . it would have taken something more , , vital than mere treasure to disturb I Steve Blossom's appetite. lie was ; one of those enviable individuals whoso imagination and gastric juices work i r at he same time. ?And while he ate | I ho planned. In the first place, ho ; f would buy that home at Bedford; then r he would take over the Gilson house j j and live like a lord. If he wanted a j drink, all he would have to do would ; 1 be to turn the spigot or tip a bottle; j 3 and more than that, he'd have a bar3 ender to do It. Onions! He swore 3 tie would not havo an onion within a ^ mile of the Gllsen house. "Onions!" 9 Quite unconsciously he spoke this word aloud. ? "Huh? Well, If ye don't like onions, 9 find a hooker that packs violets in ^ her hold/' was the cheerful advice r of the man at Steve'a elbow. 1 "Who's tnlkln' t' jquT* grunted K Steve. "Wha* dg tU&*~ THE HORRY HERAI "Onions, ye lubber! Don't we know 1 whut onions Is? Ain't we smelt '?in *' so long that yo could stick yer nose 1 In tli' starboard light an' never smell * tio kerosene? Onions! Fass tli' * sawffy." t Steve helped himself first. The man who spoke bunked over him, and they were not on the best of terms. There 1 was no real dbason for this frank 1 illf ntrnnJotv* r. 1 -- * t- * 11 ...vUbvu>oiii, Buiipiy, niey aia not splice 4 iny more effectually than cotton ropo 1 md hemp splice. Sailors are moody md superstitious; at least they generilly aro on hookers of the "Captain! Manners" breed. Steve was superstlious and Jim Dunkers was inoody and lad no thumb on his left hand. Steve lated tho sight of that red nubbin, de was quite certain that it had been i whole thumb once, on the way to ;ouge out somebody's eye, and had nadvertently connected with somejody's teeth. Spanish doubloons and pearls and liamonds and rubies! It was mighty lard not to ray these words out loud, oo; blare them into the sullen faces grouped around the table. He was off vatch till midnight; and he was wonlering if he could get the box without ittracting the attention of the lookout, ,vho had a devilish keen eyo for everyhing that stirred on deck or on water. kVell, he would have to risk it; but ho vould wait till full darkness had fallen >ver the sea and the lookout would be compelled to keep his eyes off the leek. The boys wanted him to play rards. "Not for me. Busted. How long d' /' tMncr Ml l?r.f I- KT I ? ? "? %>*v it mot in rntjw iorK, any low?" And he stalked out of the fore- ? ;astle and went down Into the waist ! ? :o enjoy his evening pipe, all the ( vhile keeping a weather eye forward, 1 it the ratty old pilot house. ( It was ten o'clock, land time, when 1 le rammed his cutty Into a pocket < tnd resolutely walked forward. If I iny one watched him they would think ( le was only looking down the cut- i ivater. Tjie thought of money and :he pleasures it will buy makes cun- i lLng the stupidest of dolts; and Steve Aas ordinarily a dolt. Hut tonight his brain was keen enough for all pur- 1 [loses. It was a hazardous job to get :he box off the fluke without letting it slip back into the sea. Steve, howaver, accomplished the feat, climbed back on the rail and sat down, wait- j ng. A quarter of an hour passed No Due had seen him. With his coat securely wrapped about his precious * ind he made for the forecastle. His I mates. save thnso whr* woro Snint* :heir watch, were all in their bunks. \n oil lamp dimly illuminated the for- j svard partition. Steve's bunk was alnost in darkness. Very deftly he rolled Dnck the bedding and secreted the box under his pillows, and then stretched himself out with the pre- ? :ense of snoozing till the bell called aim to duty. i 1 lie was rich; and the moment a j man has money he has troubles; ^ ihere is always seme one who wants j o take it away from you. Ills bunk kvas on the port ride, and there was , T > plenty of hiding space between tho ^ ro:i plates and the wooden partition. ^ lie intentcd to loosen three or four da; ks, and then when the time came, dip the box behind them. Some time i luring the morning the forecastle tvould be empty, and then would bo ^ lis time. Out he suffered the agonies of dam- j lation during the lour hours' watch, j Supposing some fool should go rum- , naging about his bunk and discover x he box? Suppose . . . But he dared < lot suppose. There was nothing to do j put wait. If lie created any curiosity ] >n the part of his mates he was lost.; t 'Ie would have to divide with them ill, from the captain down to tho cook's , t Doy. It was a heart-rending thought, j Prom being the most open and frank ! . nan aboard, he became the most cun- ( tiing. From beiug a man without . t memles, he saw an enemy even in hta \ shadow. | At four o'clock ho turned in and dept like a log. < In tho morning he found his oppor- \ :unity. For half an hour the forecastle l was empty of all save himself. Fever- < shlv ho nrlfld hnok fhn hna rd a ? v ? MVUAU0, & V>V4iiU [ ho brace beam, and gently laid tho pox there. It was a mighty curious ooking box. Once he had stoked op the Chinese coast from the Philippines, and ho Judged it to be Chinese in origin. He tried to pry open the cover and feast his eyes upon the treasure; but under tho leather and ivory and mother of pearl was impervious steel. It would take an ax oj" a crowbar to stir that lid. He sighed. He replaced the boards, and became to all appearances his stolid self ? again. j Hut all the way down to tho Haha- -t mas he was moody, and when he an- ; swered any questions it was with ; j words spoken testily and jerkily. ] "I know \\ hut's th' matter," said : ] Dunkcrs. "lie's in love." ] "Shut your mouth!" # "Didn't I tell yuh?" laughed tho tan- i ' talizer, dancing toward the compan-\ ionway. "Steve's in love, 'r ho didn't i ( git drunk enough on shore t' satisfy his whale's belly!" A boot thudded spitefully against the door Jamb. "You fellahs let mo alone, 'r I'll bash in a couple o* heads!" "O, yuh will, will yuh?" cried Dunkers from the deck. "If yuh want a littlo exercise, yuh can begin on me, yuh moonsick swab! Whut's th' matter with yuh, anyhow? Where* d yuh git this grouch? Whut've we done t' yuh? Huh?" "You keep out o' my way, that's all. I'm mIndia' my watches, an' don't ask no odds of yoa duflsrf. WLD****' jD, CONWAY, S. C. i (,ioucti ? is it any o' your business? Ml right. When we step ashore at h' Hahams, Mister Jim Dunkers, 11 tear the ropes out o' your pulley blocks. Hut till we git there, you t' h' upper bunk an* me t* mine." "Leave th' ol* grouch alone. Jim. rh* mate won't stand for no scrappin' iboard. We'll have th' thing done Ight in th' custom sheds. We'll have i finish fight, Queensberry rules, an' r.ay th' best man win." "I'm wlllin'," said Jim. "So'm I," agreed Steve. But his inrntions were not honorable. He proposed to desert before any fight took place. Not that ho was physically uTakl; no; he wanted to dig his lands deep into those doubloons and deces-of-eight. So the four days down passed othervise uneventfully, amid paint pots and ron rust and three meals a day of )ork, onion soup, potatoes, and strong, litter coffee. Tho winds became light ind balmy and tho sea blue and genlo. The men went about in the ir lndershirts and dungarees, barefooted. )f course tho coming fight was tho nain topic of conversation. It promised to be a rattling good scrap, for :oth men were evenly matched, and 10th had a "kick" in either hand. Even he captain took a mild interest in the iffair. He was an old sailor. lie knew hat there was no such word as arbiration In a sailor's vocabulary; his lisputes could be settled only in one nanner, by his calloused flats. When the old mudhook (and some lay Steve was going to buy it and n\ng it over the entrance of the Gilson house) slithered down into the smiling waters of the bay, Steve concluded that discretion was the better iart of valor. He would steal ashore >n the quarantine tug which lay alongside. He was willing to fight under ordinary circumstances, but he must ?et his treasure in safety first. They could call him a welcher if they wanted to; devil a bit did he care. So le pried back the boards of his bunk .vail, took out the box, eyed it fondly, ind noted for the first time the let;ering on it: STANLEY HARGREAVE. He wrinkled his brow in the effort o recall a pirate by this name, but .vas unsuccessful. No matter. He lugged the box under his coat and nade for the gangway, and inadverently ran into his enemy. Dunkers caught a bit of the box leeping from under the coat. "What 'a' yuh got there?" he denanded truculentlj. "None o' your damn business! You em me by; hear me?" "Ain't none o' my business, huh? iVhere'd yuh git a box like that? Steal t? I3y crlpes, I'm goin* t' have a ook at that box, my hearty. It don't >mell like honest onions." "You lemine by!" breathed Steve, ,vith murder in his heart. Suddenly the two men closed, surged [>ack and forth, one determined to ake and the other to hold this mys.erious box. Dunkers struggled to uplold his word: not that he really wanted tho box but. to prove that ho .vas strong enough to take it if he .vanted to. The name on the box lashed and disappeared. It was a kind >f shock to him. He and Blossom went mttering against the rail. Dunkers' /rip slipped and so did Blossom's. The csult was that the box was catapulted nto the sea. With an agonizing cry, 'dossom leaned far over. He saw the jox oscillate for a moment, then sink gracefully in a zigzag course, down 'hrough the blue waters. Fainter and 'ainter it grew, and at last vanished. "I'm sorry, Steve; but yuli wouldn't et me look at it," said Dunkers, codritcly. "Damn you; I'm goin' t' kill y' for .hat!" It became a real fight this time, fist \nd foot, tooth and nail; one mad with he lust to kill and the other desperltely intent on living. It was one of ;hoso contests in which honor and 'air play have no part. But for tho .imely arrival of the captain and soma >f the crew Dunkers would have been )adly injured, perhaps fatally. They lauled back Blossom, roaring out his mths at the top of his lungs. It took lalf an hour's arguing to calm him lown. Then the captain demanded to mow what it was all about. And blubbering, Steve told bim. "Six hundred feet of water, if I've 5ot ray reckoning right The anchor ties in 60 feet, but the starboard side irops sheer 600. You swab! Why ildn't you bring the box to me? A Tinn has a Heht frw who* fir.no vn - -0?? V vw T( uuv I*\> IlilUOl 1 u :iave taken care of it for you till we 50t back to port. I know; you were greedy; you thought I might want to stick my fist into your treasure. And you'll never find it in (500 feet of water ind tangled, porous coral. That's what rou get for being a blamed hog. As for you," and the captain turned to Dunkers, "get. your dunnage and your pay and hunt for another boat back. [ won't have no murder on board 'Captain Manners.' And the sooner you go, I he bettor." "I'll go, sir," said Thinkers, readily enough. Had tho misfortune happened lo him and had Blossom been tho aggressor, he would want his life, lie understood. Like tho valet in "Olivette," it was tho time for disappearing. "An' keep out o' my way. I'll git y' yot," growled Blossom. "Keop your mouth shut," said tho mate, "or I'll have you put In irons, you pig!" "All right sir. I've said all I'm goln' t' say t'day;" and Blossom strode off. "What was the box like?" asked the captain of Dunkers. "Chinese contraption, sir; leastwise it looked that way to me. Didn't look And That 16 Why Jones Was Able, Some Weeks Later, to Hide Once : More the Original Box. as if it'd been in th* water long, sir Soinethin' lost overboard by some pri vato yacht, t' my thinkin'. I'll keep oat o' Steve's way. I'll lay low on shore, sir." And though Stove made a perfect range of the spot, be never came back to find the mysterious box, never saw the Gilson house hack home, nor did ho ever see Duukers again. On the voyage homo he brooded continually, and was frequently found blubbering; ami one night lie skipped Ills watch and went to Davy Jones' locker. Dunkers had not told about the name he had seen on the box; and Dlossom had not thought to. The name Hargreave had instantly brought back to Dur.kers' mind the newspaper stories he had recently read. There was no doubt In the world that this box belonged to the missing millionaire, who had drawn a million from his banks and vanished; and, moreover. there was no doubt in Dunkere' mind that this million lay in the I3aharnan waters. It had been drawn up from the bottom of the sound, under the path of the balloon. He proceeded, A V. x _ x _ % 111t;n, to irko a most minute range. It would require money and partners; but half a loaf would be far better than no loaf at all; and he was determined to return to New York to find backing Finding Is keeping, on land or sea. Now It happened that his favorite grog shop was a cheap saloon across the way from the headquarters of the Black Hundred; and Vroon occasionally drop-ped *n? f?r he often picked up a valuable bit of maritime news. Dunkers was an old friend of the barkeeper, and be proceeded to pour and guzzle down his throat a very poor substitute for whisky. He became communicative. He bragged. He knew where there was a million, and all he needed was a first-class diving bell. A year from now he would not be drinking cheap whisky; he'd be steering a course up and down Broadway and buying wine when he was thirsty, lie was no miser. But he had to have a diving bell; and where the blue devil could he get one with $12 and an Ingersoll watch in his pocket? From liis table Vroon made a sign v hich the bartender understood. Then ho rose and approached Dunkers. "1 own a pretty good diving appar atus," ho said. "If you've got the goods, I'll take a chance 011 a fiftyfifty basis." Vjooii did not believe there was anything back of his talk; but it always paid to dig deep enough to find out. "Have a drink; and, Bill, give us a real whisky and none of j your soap-lye. Now, let's hear your ya rn." "I don't know yuh," said Dunkers, with drunken caution. "How is it, Bill?" turning to the bartender. "He's the goods, Jiin. You've heard of Wyant & Co.?" "Sure I've heard o' them. Best divin' app'ratus they is.' "Well, this gent here is Mr. Brooks, general manager for Wyant & Co. I I can O. K. him." Vroon threw an appreciative glance at the bartender. He was not affiliated with the Black Hundred, but he had often aided Vroon in minor affairs. "All right, if yuh say so, Bill. Well, nere'e th' yarn." | And when he had done, Vroon smoked quietly without speaking. Don't yuh believe it?" demanded Dunkers, truculently. "But COO feet of water, in a coral bottom, and no way of telling just where it fell overboard. That's a tough proposition." "O, it is, is it? I'm a sailor. I can lay my hand right over th' spot. Do yuh think I'd be fool enough t' hunt for it wLthout a perfect range?" Dunkers tapped his coat pocket suggestively. And Vroon knew that the one thing he wanted was there, a plan or a draw?rw? / ?<> CI- * ' " in(5 wi mu iiuiKo. oo uiurti was anomor man shanghaied that night, and his destination was Capo Town, 22 days' voyage by the calendar. Vroon carried his information to tho organization that same night. They would start tho expedition at once, and till this was accomplished, Hargreavo'a daughter was to bo immune from attacks. Besides, it would g'vo Hargrcave (wherever ho was,) and tho others the idea that the Black Hundred had concluded to give up tho chase. Above, with his ear to a small hole, I skillfully bored through the ceiling without permitting the plaster to fall, knelt a man with a bandaged arm. He could never see any faces; no ono ever took off a mask in this sinister chamber. But there were voices, and he was going to forget some of them. After the meeting came to an end, he waited an hour after, and then stole down into the street by the aid of the fire escape. Later, be entered a telephone booth and (ailed up lone#* ? i i i. **- ....a. r ? > i >i? . A Then, 0110 leathern and steel box, j dotted with bits of ivory and mother- \ of-pearl, became two; and the second : one was soaked in mud and salt water j ^ for two weeks till you could not have told it from the original. And that is why Jones was able, some weeks later, to hide once more the original box. As for the substitute, just as Braine was about to use a mallet and chisel upon it, the lights went out. There was a wild scramble, a chair or two was overturned. "The door, the door!" shouted Braine, furious. It It slammed the moment the words left his lips. And as suddenly as they had gone out the lights sprang up. The box was gone. There were evidently traitors among the Dluck Hundred TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK DR. J. D. THOMAS Physician and Surgeon i , ' LORIS, S. C. H. H. WOODWARD, Attorney and Counsellor at Law, CONWAY, a ~ ' - 11^*1 y HAL L. BUCK, , "I * Fire Insurance Office Conway National Bamk \ Conway, S. C. ? ? ' K. B. SCARBOROUGH , Attorney at Law, CONWAY. S. C. 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