Jack North's Treasure Hunt

nely P

in many places. He was also a fugitive from justice.--I should judge, nearly all his life. He speaks of the diamond mines of Brazil and the hoarded treasures of the children of the

the mountains, when I saw some way from the shore a small island. I noticed it particularly

ock I swam out to the island. I did find plenty of room to hide in and my pursuers di

t, but it was not until I had decided to leave the pla

rly honey-combed with tunnels and underground passages,

gold everywhere! I knew from certain inscriptions that I could partly decipher

that I could do nothing, but finally I took as

of my hoard. I say I did this carefully, but a year and a half later when I came to get the rest of my treasure I coul

ot even fin

g the trunk, one of which ran up several feet higher than the others, a dead branch pointing to the northward li

d in my mind and I can see that the lonely pimento with it

the illiterate scrawl in tolerable English as far as it remains. Looks as if th

, but Jack could see that he was

ot to let Fret Offut into the secre

plays at hide and seek if I were to try it," said Mr

have suited him better, and from that time they discussed the lost island

erious drawback

ticed that the soil had every promise of great fertility, but that even his friend had so far taken on the laziness of the Chilians that he cultivated as little as possible. This island had become a sort

re a vessel should touch there, and Jack had been on Robinson Crusoe's is

inted at the last moment to find that Mr. Pe

reasure it would be of no earthly good to me as I am alone in the world. I hope you wi

is friend's hand warmly, for he had gr

other, as he entered the boat whi

neventful, but there Jack me

d left for its

f his being hunted by the Chilians, though Jack suspected that it was in some way the result of his attack upon him. Fret had told enough in his sleep for our hero to know that he had

y to earn a living. Unable to find anything to do in Valparaiso, he walked to Tocopilla, though Fret declined to accompany him. In this town he found w

a month. During the time he heard

holding its vast, hidden treasure, but he had not felt li

eeking his fortune elsewhere, when his whole future life was changed into a dif

ineer on a railroad running through the southern

friends, when the latt

at you should leave to come here, where yo

ing was better. I care more for my life

you. I was not aware that shootin

case of the St.

it, Francis. I

f it but what is being hotly contested. But it isn't the regulars that make the trouble, for at present the territory belongs

the bush-

dy and anything that crosses their path. They pretend to favor Chili, but they are merely using that for a cloak,

heard

It is necessary to keep the road open if Peru hopes to hold the country, and the company are doing

s, and the one before the first of them fell off and was k

e road is a

trate regions. Bless me if I don't think there

sh-raiders like to get hold of. The company is offering as high as twenty pistoles a month for a man to run that engine. More for one day than you get here in a week.

engineer on the St. Resa," said Jack, after a

d be fool enough to go up to get killed on that old engine, you had better take

ck's hands were not as busy as his brains, until fin

less in the meantime I get some sort of word

e, but not a letter reached him, for the reason that his folks were very poor and had many troubles of their

end. Jack had another talk with the Peruvian about th

y at it, come what may,