A Queer Race: The Story of a Strange People — page 39: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

85 } A QUEER RACE. the Santa Anna, you know—that none of her crew ever got to land?——because the first thing they’d naturally do would be to inform the Admiralty and claim their pay. As for the officers, they would, of course, report them- selves, and tell how the Hecate was lost.” ‘Of course; and the fact that nothing has been heard of her or any of her crew shows, in my opinion, that the fate which the Admiralty think overtook the Hecate over- took the Santa Anna—-she perished with all on board, perhaps in a cyclone; or she may have struck ona sunken rock or got burned. Your supposition, Bolsover, that every man-jack of her crew died of thirst, and that she is either afloat or aground with all her treasure on board is —excuse me for saying 1t—all bosh; and the sooner you get the idea out of your head, the better it will be for your peace of mind.” ‘‘7 am sorry to hear you say so, Mr. Erle,” answered the boatswain, with the air of a man who, though shaken in his opinion, refuses to be convinced. ‘‘l am sorry to hear you say so. I cannot argufy like a man of ’ead and edycation, and facts is, may be, against me. Well, I don’t care a hang for the facts; and I am as cock-sure as if I saw her this minute as the galleon is a ship yet, or leastways the hull of one, and as I shall set eyes on her afore I die, and carry off as much of that there treasure as will make me asrich asaJew. Ifyou won’t go shares with me, so much the worse for you—that is all as I can say.” Though I saw that it was useless to continue the dis- cussion, | wanted to put one more question. “Did your father say anything to the Admiralty about the chaplain’s statement?” | asked. “No, he didn’t,” answered ‘om, almost savagely; “he wasn’t such a darned fool. He had too much white in his eye, my father had, to put the Admiralty on the track of thet there treasure-ship; and as it was nigh on a-hun- dred years after she disappeared, it would have done no manner of good to anybody.” Lhe subject then dropped, and it was not resumed un- til several rather strange things had come to pass, and Bolsover was in a more placab!e mood. Gom @ JOO €5 (E(0)