Julian Hawthorne

“ In the spring of 1898, Standish was in the Mexican province of Chihuahua, prospecting for gold. He was not successful, but got on the trail of a legend about a large mass of treasure concealed on the coast of the Gulf of California, a little north of latitude 26°. An elderly mestizo with whom he had become friendly gave him a rough map of the place; and he bought mules and hired guides, and set out. The distance to the coast, in an air line, might be one hundred and fifty miles, but the devious trails and almost impassable passes lengthened it to near four hundred. ”

“ It's like resisting temptation—after the first victory, each new one is easier. The longer you keep bad people in association with good people, the feebler do the bad become. Those wild beasts were held down year after year by a helpless man and woman; you can explain it on no material basis; it's one of the mysteries. They lived in their separate caves, kept alive by their love, and waited on by cutthroats who could have killed them at any moment. How Medway happened upon the island with its caves I don't know ”

“ There was nothing for them to rob in Lower California, nor on the Mexican coast on the other side of the Gulf either; one could hardly pick out in all the world a region less productive for brigandage than this. True (he answered himself) , but what then were those two ruffians who were murdering each other on the cliff?—Well, there might be many solutions of that affair; in itself it proved nothing. On the other hand, there were the two lovers—the singing Miranda and the Ferdinand—how, upon a basis of brigandage, were they to be accounted for? ”

“ At the allusion to the proposed fate of his wife, the Don felt a terror which no peril to himself could have aroused.
"What do you advise?" he asked the mate, disguising his emotion as well as he could.
"You can't save the ship," replied the other; "but you may save the woman and the money. You've got the stuff in a strong-box, I suppose? I'll manage to get the long-boat under the stern to-night; it'll be my watch, and Medway thinks I'm with him. We four must get into her with the box, and slide off quietly. It's two to one against us, but it's our last chance. ”

“ I haven't seen many happy marriages, still I've always believed that marriage was the only right thing for man and woman; but every day you hear of folks getting married who are not truly married at all. Now Johann Orth and his wife—Don Giovanni, as I shall always think of him—had the whole breadth and depth of social convention between them to begin with ”

“ If they couldn't make up their minds to kill them, why didn't they simply go away and leave them to starve? But no: there they must stay till the drama was played out. Good luck brought me to see the last act; and there you have it."
"But that wasn't the last act," I protested, as Standish fell silent. "How did you get away? and what became of the treasure? and where are the Don and his wife? and who are they?"
"We fixed up the boat with a new mast and sail," said Standish. "The Don told me where to steer, and we crossed the Gulf in a day and a half. ”

“ Standish turned away, and sitting down on one of the chests, with his back to the wall, and with the stacked weapons in easy reach, he communed with himself.
"So far as heard from, there have been ten inhabitants on this island. There are six of their heads—ugly company, but harmless. I saw two feed each other to the sharks—making eight accounted for. Miranda and Ferdinand still live, and seem to be the most agreeable of the lot. Are there any more? Let's see: here are only two beds. But there are a dozen guns. Yes, but guns may remain after heads are cut off, or fish have eaten the owners. ”

“ Standish replied. "They are happy, living together where no one knows their history, and where they'll never be disturbed. But since they're safe from discovery, I don't mind telling you who they are. ”

“ And all I can say is, there are forces in human beings—or a Force that sometimes is manifested through them—which can do miracles. I have never set up for a religious man, particularly; but there are some things I am more certain of than any proof could make me: and they are the very things that never can be proved, any more than men can walk on air. ”

“ Standish reflected; "otherwise they'd have been left here to starve. Well, poor souls, they'll have a great yarn to spin! How to get 'em out is the first thing. I guess that ladder I climbed up on will be the best thing; or maybe there's some tackle in the outer cave.—Here she comes again !" ”

“ A shark seized the poor creature, and Standish was now alone. Should he go on, or return?
He decided to go on. The boat was easy to manage, the weather was fine and the adventure was attractive. Toward sunset, being then but a few miles offshore, he saw something which caused him to put over his helm and come up in the wind. Conspicuous in the precipitous dark line of the coast was an oblong boulder or mass of rock, at least two hundred feet in height, of a ghastly white hue ”

“ Medway, his head bound up, had them before him, and demanded the whereabouts of the treasure. They refused to tell him. 'We'll see about that!' said he; and he smiled grimly.
"Well, I say, I'm glad I don't know what happened then. But they never told me where the box was sunk. Of course, neither of them cared a snap of the finger, comparatively, for the gold. But they knew that as soon as the pirates had their fingers on it, they would turn and cut their throats. Their only chance of life was to keep their secret. Gold never served its owners better. Being out of their reach, it saved them ”

“ It was very touching (remarked Standish to me) to see them, as well as to hear them. They sat hand in hand, and often the man would raise the woman's fingers to his lips and kiss them; or they would pause to gaze deeply in each other's faces. ”

“ Now let us shake hands, as man with man. and make ready for to-night. I have but one thing to say to you: whatever happens, guard the woman!"
"Aye, sir—depend on that!" answered the mate, saluting respectfully. "And may the Lord be good to my folks at home, if I never see 'em again."
All went well; the night was dark, the sea moderate, and at the time of casting loose they were but a score of miles from the Mexican coast—an easy run for the long-boat. The mate and bo'sun had the oars; the Don the tiller, with his left arm round his wife, and his right foot on his strong-box ”

“ His rifle bothered him greatly.
But he had been in tight places before, and there had always been a way out.
"Besides," he told himself, "I'm not the first to use this path; it must be the regular road for the garrison of this enchanted castle; no doubt they skip along it like goats. This path can't end here. People don't walk along such a thing for the fun of walking back again. Where is the rest of it?"
The cliff, as has been said, took a sharp turn upon itself at the place where the ledge terminated ”

“ We are happy; let us not remember misery.'
"It was sound advice; and for my part, I have no lust to sup on horrors; and horrors there undoubtedly were that day, and after, worse perhaps than it's worth while even guessing at. The outline is this: They were overtaken, but not till after they had managed to sink the treasure-box and take a rough chart of its bearings. There was fighting: the mate was killed; the bo'sun wounded, but he escaped to shore and was never seen again. The Don, with a blow of a cutlass, opened Medway's cheek ”

“ While Standish was inspecting these odds and ends, and endeavoring to construct from their testimony some conception of the persons who had used them, he happened to catch sight of a row of globular objects, of a brownish-white hue, which were affixed in a row along a dark portion of the wall of the cave, at about a man's height from the floor. ”