Ella Bell Wallis

“ It seemed more fitting for a single woman of artistic temperament to avow a distaste for the society of the coarser sex, but in reality she got along rather better with men than women. As a rule, men are better listeners than women, and Miss Katherine found them more disposed to listen to her latest ideas and freshest aspirations than were women. ”

“ But Miss Katherine—as she was commonly called in her native town—was of a cheerful disposition and said that she felt she was indeed blessed among women, as she had graciously been endowed with sense enough to choose a free and unfettered life, and the vexations and limitations contingent upon the proximity of one of the male sex, had been mitigated as much as possible for her as her brother was a quiet, fairly pliant man who rarely interfered with her plans for broadening and enriching her mind. ”

“ Murphy’s sight.
That night found the brother and sister plying their spades in the garden. Their lantern was burning dimly, but it gave sufficient light to show the boys all they wished to see.
“What did I tell yuh?” whispered Willie to his comrades of the Faithful Band. “Don’t that beat everything? And here it was all the time and we didn’t know it.”
“I’ll bet the old Captain was a pirate,” whispered Ned Larkins.
“I’ll bet so, too,” whispered another.
There is always somebody to throw cold water on our most cherished theories, as Willie Brown was soon to learn. ”

“ To Miss Katherine’s extreme delight Joseph was ready to move to Ocean View without delay. [Pg 8] She had drawn from him all the information concerning Captain Shannon that he had obtained from Mr. Skinner. She had immediately jumped to the conclusion that the Captain had been lost at sea. To tell the truth, although she had as tender a heart as woman ever possessed, the owner’s tragic end rather increased her delight in her surroundings. It wasn’t every day one had the opportunity of handling things that had belonged to one for whom fate had destined such a tragic end. ”

“ Horton was not a man to hesitate when his duty lay plain before him, so he informed the brother and sister that he had come to inquire after the welfare of their souls and to save them if they felt themselves lost and guilty sinners condemned to a fearful punishment.
Under this attack Joseph was more nettled than his sister. Miss Katherine told herself that he must be a religious fanatic and as they hadn’t yet attended church in Ocean View, he believed them to be godless people. ”

“ Though other matters might temporarily thrust aside her central subject of interest, Miss Katherine invariably returned to it. The morning after [Pg 31] Mr. Murphy’s second visit she set to work in earnest to obtain a clew to the hiding place of Captain Shannon’s treasure. Where was she to begin? She was well informed on the subject of secret drawers and closets and she knew that one was apt to stumble upon them unawares. An inadvertent touch upon a panel, the slightest pressure on some bit of carving might expose the most cleverly concealed hiding place. ”

“ She had thought that some straw that lay in a corner of the cellar would be a soft, safe bed for her babies, and as a broken window provided ingress and egress for herself, she had taken possession of the corner. ”

“ When Joseph returned his sister related all that had occurred during his absence.
His evident uneasiness concerning Mr. Murphy’s motives was quite comforting. It is so gloomy to be the only anxious one in the house.
“He can’t set foot on the property if we forbid him,” said Joseph with a determined countenance.
“But we can’t do that, at least it wouldn’t be wise,” remonstrated his sister gently. It was soothing to her bruises to note Joseph’s anxiety. “He is a perfect gentleman, a man we couldn’t treat rudely. ”

“ She found excuses to follow her about constantly, until that honest woman, being of ordinary penetration, concluded that she was not thought strictly trustworthy. As she was a very sensible being she decided that it was not unreasonable for Miss Boulby, an entire stranger, to keep an eye on her. She had heard of such substantials as butter, meat and flour disappearing through the back door, through the agency of the domestic, so she offered to get a testimonial from the minister. Miss Katherine saw her mistake at once and lied glibly but not well. ”

“ We will have to be careful about admitting strangers to the house or garden. It is very probable that some sailors, friends of Captain Shannon’s, might have suspected this, for I never read a treasure story yet where someone didn’t make trouble.”
Twice that night, after Miss Katherine had retired to rest, she almost rose from her bed at the thought that the house was in a most unfortified state. Whether she expected to see John Silver, wooden leg, urbanity and all, climbing in at the window, I can not say, but she felt so insecure that it was long after midnight when she fell asleep. ”

“ At the too sudden surrender of the pickets four heavy females were precipitated against their [Pg 48] companions and the whole posse fell in an inextricable mass upon the ground.
Miss Katherine let the burst paper bag flutter to the ground as she hung upon the window curtain, helpless with laughter.
Mr. Murphy scudded away from behind the fence ejaculating,
“Bully for her! She doesn’t need a protector. It’s no wonder she’s set her heart on a romantic man.”
When morning came and they could speak more calmly concerning their bruises the same females were again met in conclave. ”

“ But Joseph was not a fresh air enthusiast, and the very idea of sleeping in the garden gave him rheumatic twinges. However, Miss Katherine was not to be balked. She took the faithful old dog Bruno by the collar and led him to the garden where she pointed out the box and explained his duty to him. Bruno understood and consented.
“A woman has always one she can depend on, if she has a dog,” Miss Katherine cuttingly remarked as she re-entered the house.
Just a word about Mr. Murphy before we proceed with the night attack. ”

“ There’s not much chance of a corpse coming to life these days.”
Joseph’s delight in his garden was actually making him facetious.
However strongly Miss Katherine became convinced that, had he lived, there would have been a strong affinity and perhaps something more between Captain Shannon and herself, she did not become depressed. But without doubt there entered into Miss Katherine’s heart a sentiment that she had never experienced before.
In a closet full of rubbish she found a portrait of a seamanly looking, heavily whiskered man. ”

“ I do think that a man who can, as it were, live these adventures with Stevenson’s characters is as delightful and interesting a person as,—as even old John Silver himself,” said Miss Katherine with enthusiasm.
“A-hem,” Mr. Murphy cleared his throat and rubbed his chin. “Do you like John Silver?”
“I think he’s just fascinating, don’t you?” returned Miss Katherine.
“Exactly, Miss Boulby. Fascinating’s the word [Pg 55] I was hunting for just before you came up. But it’s the subject of the book itself that fetches me. I was always after hidden treasure, Captain Kidd’s and so on. ”

“ They all followed, even Tom Parker. They advanced cautiously. Willie’s temerity was moderating and he waited for the rest to come up with him. They advanced in a semicircle. As the wavering line was within ten yards of the box that object seemed to lift itself from the ground and a deep groan arose as from the bowels of the earth. Oh what a fright was that—my Faithful Banders! In a moment the fence seemed alive with terrified [Pg 44] and struggling boys. Mr. Murphy crawled out of his cramped quarters and went home. ”

“ However, Willie felt he had no cause for complaint, as Joseph gave him a whole day’s pay and Miss Katherine filled his pockets with cookies.
Brother and sister now held a consultation and decided that they must be up and doing. Miss Katherine believed that they were in imminent danger of having their treasure looted.
“I know boys,” she said, “they’re all eyes and ears. He saw what you found before you did and he’ll tell all the rest of the boys and they’ll come in the night and carry the whole thing away. ”

“ One day she came upon the following advertisement:
“For Rent—Furnished house, property of Captain Peter Shannon; delightful situation, attractive and comfortable house; garden contains very choice plants and shrubs. Apply, W. J. Skinner, Ocean View.”
“There!” exclaimed Miss Katherine to her brother, “isn’t it delightful to find just what we want with so little trouble?”
“How do you know it’s just what we want?” asked Joseph, who had partially consented to his sister’s suggestion that they rent a house near the sea during the spring and summer. ”

“ Had she pursued her studies methodically and scientifically she might not have been the same delightful woman that she was, but she flitted from romantic prose to didactic poetry and from poetry to astrology, and thence to architecture, history or biology. In Miss Katherine you found a person who possessed a rare instinct concerning hobbies. She never became so abstruse as to be unintelligible to her friends who were not hobbyists. ”

“ Anyone could come in there at night and carry it off. The second floor was little better for the windows were all open and anyone could enter them by means of a ladder. The attic! Yes, that was the only place and Miss Katherine flew up the steep stairs to the attic.
There was a very little light admitted through a small window, and when her eyes became accustomed to the dim light, she saw a trap door in the ceiling. Of all places in the world this was the most desirable. As luck would have it she found an old ladder among the rubbish. ”

“ Horton fairly shone with triumph. Here was a repentant sinner.
“There is joy among—” he began but that was too much for Miss Katherine.
About this time Mr. Murphy was giving the pebbles on the shore the benefit of one of his frequent monologues: “I’ve seen them taken with it before,” he informed himself, “but [Pg 53] never so bad as she’s got it. Treasure hunting is like yellow fever. You’ve got to let it burn itself up. I should think her treasure hunting fever would be about cured, but you never can tell with a woman. Perhaps she’s onto a new place by this time. ”

“ I think a piny is as pretty a flower as grows.”
[Pg 27] “Why, now, I’d think this was about the right time to separate the roots, but you want to do it right. Now, if you’d just give me the spade I’ll show you how to handle it and not cut the roots and I’ll separate them, too,” replied Joseph’s neighbor, throwing off his coat and seizing the spade.
Joseph stood by and watched for a few moments and then trotted off to get himself a spade. The two men spaded and puffed until all the peony roots lay on the fresh earth. Then the work of separation began. ”

“ This is what I found in the encyclopedia:
“‘Cocos Island, volcanic island in the Pacific Ocean, S. W. of Costa Rica, with steep rugged coasts and quite level interior; comprises about nine square miles, is uninhabited and is reported to have been the place of concealment of treasure, jewelry and plate sent there by wealthy inhabitants of Spanish colonies on the neighboring mainland early in the nineteenth century, during the wars in which they achieved their independence from Spain. ”

“ Murphy scratched his [Pg 30] head as if he would make an inlet for these new ideas.—“Paul Jones, Long Tom and even Captain Kidd were such captivating characters.”—Mr. Murphy changed off to the other hand.—“On this account I was disposed to admire Captain Shannon, and when I noticed the books he had read and loved I admired him much more. I have always told my brother that a man is charming in proportion to his love of tales of daring and chivalry and romance.”
Here the tide of Miss Katherine’s eloquence was interrupted by an eager gesture from her listener. ”

“ But Jehosaphat! What about that chart? Well, I’ll just have to get some paper and a pencil and go back to the shore and draw it, that’s all. I can’t lie worth a darn. I’ve got to get myself in a worse mess every time instead of lying out.”
So saying, Mr. Murphy procured the paper and pencil and retraced his steps to the shore where he labored long and arduously, for he was neither an artist nor a cartographer.
In a couple of days Mr. Murphy informed Miss Katherine that he thought he had located the right spot and that afternoon, they would begin their search. ”

“ Horton was breathless, so Miss Katherine had him at her mercy. She politely asked him to excuse her brother as he was not feeling well, at which Joseph gratefully withdrew.
“A guilty soul is a terrible thing, Miss Boulby,” said Mr. Horton mopping his forehead.
“Yes, I suppose it must be,” she returned calmly, “but what is even worse is to have a mind that is constantly imagining evil in others. Now, Mr. Horton, the ladies of your church have quite ignored us since we came, but I should be very much pleased if Mrs. ”