Lompoc High School - La Purisima Yearbook (Lompoc, CA)

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of the scene. Almost at the same instant a drone was heard, and a loud crack told that a bullet had struck the ship. Martin saw the spot where it hit, and all were perturbed to see that it had come about a yard from Mr. Luthy. Captain Corley immediately ordered all to take refuge in the cabin. There they stayed until the rifles had been brot out and given to the members of the party. By this time the other craft had gained on them, and within a few min- utes they would probably be close enough to board the captain's vessel. A loud impact told them that they had been hit by the fishing boat. Nothing more being heard, they cautiously emerged from the door of the cabin, but they saw no boat. Going to the rail, they saw a lot of wreckage floating about, and five men swimming around. Two of these soon sank, never to rise again. Vesquez and two of his companions were fished out and in a short time were as good as new. Vesquez explained what had happened. They had intended to ram Captain Corley's boat, but due to a miscalculation they missed it and consequently went by in front of it. When about half way across her prow, the other caught them, square amidship. Their old fishing tub was unable to stand such a blow,-she was broken in two by the terrific impact and soon sank. We're rid of two dirty raseals, anyway, said Mr. Luthy. After a consultation, it was decided to take Vesquez and his two companions, Pio and Moro, to Santa Barbara, and turn them over to the Federal authorities. Altho the three knaves begged to be let go, the others did what they considered best, and took them to the ocean town. Having returned from Santa Barbara, they made camp in a sheltered cove. The island had some vegetation on it,-mostly scrub oaks and creeping vines. These were small, but hampered locomotion nevertheless. Next morning they set out for the treasure. Several places along the way they found heaps of human bones. There were ten of these piles, as they afterwards discovered. Nothing else was noticed, except that in several places pits had been dug. These were full of trash and Water, but atithe bottom was solid stone. Pieces of rock taken from the bottoms of these holes were heavy, and there were small particles of a bright golden color to be seen. What these could be, no one knew, but all were agreed that it seemed to indicate the presence of gold. Leaving these pits, they pressed on. The sun was now high in the heavens, its rays beating down on them unmercifully. Not another human being was to be seen-on every side the vegetation stretched away in sombre shades. Once in a while a glimpse of the cool, blue ocean was caught. The sight of this spur- red them to greater efforts, for each promised himself a dip in the refreslling water as soon as the more pressing business was over. The way began to become rougher, and every once in a while they had to stop and rest. Sometimes forced delays were necessary, in order that the treasure seekers might choose a way by which they could go on. N Suddenly a shrill, high, trembling call caught their attention. Involuntarily, each shuddered and stopped,--and Mr. Luthy gasped and said, My God, what was that. It sounded like the death-call of a human beingf' It can't hurt us, reasoned Mr. Mark. Altho this was recognized by every one as the truth, they kept close together and conversed in lower shrill cry had struck terror to each one's heart. About half an hour later, they came upon the body of an old rough clothes. There was a bloody hole in his left side, and, unconscious, he was able to mutter the words, If you love your careful. A few minutes later he passed on to another world. Soon the sharp report of a rifle broke the stillness, and a bullet flattened itself against a rock. Then another, and another, and still another shot came whizzing along. Suddenly Mr. Mark crumpled up. This happened so suddenly 19 tones. The man, clad in altho nearly own life, be

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quite imperative that this affair be settled before news of this discovery gets abroad. It was finally arranged that they should 'start within a week. The party was to be composed of Mr. Luthy, his son, Mr. Mark, Mr. Elwood, and Mr. Dirk, Elwood's assistant. Mr. Elwood was to do the necessary calculating as to the location of the treasure. Consequently, he and his assistant left the next day, and, after an absense of two days, came back and informed the rest there was something woefully wrong with his calculations. His instrument had acted queerly, and, upon checking it by the position of certain stars, he found it to be inaccurate. After fruitless efforts to find the cause, he called the rest to his office one evening. When they had assembled, he explained everything to them and asked for help and suggestions. Look the instrument over, perhaps there issomething the matter with it that I have overlooked, said the surveyor. His theodolite was brot out and made the object of their attention. Suddenly they halted their examination because of a cry from the surveyor. I knew it, he cried again and again. Here's what has caused all the mischief, and he held up a small steel screw. Yes, but what has that to do with it? asked the others in bewilderment. Can't you see that this is steel, and that all the other screws are bronze? This screw has been magnetized,-you can see it pull the needle around after it. The deflection is slight, but it prevents an accurate result. Somebody put that screw there for a purpose,-and it was not for a good purpose, either, said Martin. I'll bet that Sr. Toro put that there when he was carrying my instruments over the mountains last week, said the surveyor. Some of the time he was by himself with the instrument, and it was probably then that he did the mischief. This screw here,, and he held up the steel one, has come off another part of the instrument,-the tripod, to be exact. This one and the bronze screw are interchangeable. Toro is a sly rascal, and probably he did it on purpose. He is not so ignorant as you might suspect. Well, we'll be quit of the rascal, said Mr. Luthy, as he reached for his check book. He won't get another chance to do mischief in such a sneaking way. After some more details had been arranged, they prepared to leave the office. Just as Mr. Luthy emerged from the door he saw a shadowy figure slide around the corner of the hall. This corner was near the stairs, and when Mr. Luthy had reached the switch and turned on the lights there was nothing to be found or seen. A second try at finding the necessary bearings was entirely successful. This time the position of the treasure was definitely located. After carefully verifying all calculations, it was decided that the location of the-treasure was on Santa Rosa Island, ten miles due west along the thirty-fourth parellel of north latitude, start- ing where it intersects the one hundred and twentieth meridian of west longitude. Here, according to the Latin manuscript, Est thesarusf' It was definitely settled that all should go to Santa'Barbara, hire a boat for a month, and go after the treasure. They were successful in chartering a craft, and, everything having been prepared for a month's stay on the island they turned their faces to the Treasure Islef' When about half of the distance to the island had been covered, they were surprised to see that a small fishing boat was rapidly overtaking them. No one knew who it was or why they should be trying to catch up with them. In about an hour, the other craft was within half a mile. Suddenly a white cloud of smoke appeared from the other boat, then a sharp report disturbed the stillness i 18

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that no one at the time realized that he had been mortally wounded. Get under cover, all of you, said Mr. Luthy. The bullets seemed to have come from the west, so they took refuge behind some of the huge boulders. Martin crept around the end of a rock to drag Mr. Marks body to a place of safety. Everyone now got his gun ready for use. It was none too soon, for over the brow of a slight eminence came six men, all yelling and brandishing their arms. Martin and Elwood fired at the same time. Elwood hit his man, and he dropped, shot thru the heart. Martin was less successful, tho his man came on with only one good arm. Another shot put him out of business for good. Mr. Luthy's gun spoke, and another of the rascals bit the dust. They were now equal, for Dirk had been hit in the shoulder. Martin's rifle refused to workg a shell had become jammed in the breech mechanism, so he seized Dirk's gun, and, aiming at the foremost of the advancing men, pulled the trigger. He hit his mark, for with an unearthly yell, the man sprang into the air, and fell back, stone dead. The nearest of the attackers was now about a hundred feet away, the other was some feet to the rear. Without any warning, they suddenly dissappeared into the very bowels of the earth. For some time the defenders sat and waited for further developments, but, none being presented, they ventured out of their shelter. Upon approaching the place where the two had sunk into the earth, they found that the earth's crust had suddenly given away and let the two men down into a deep cave. How deep it was, what its contents were, and whether the two were alive or not, none could tell. Their voices were echoed back in queer tones, but no other answer was heard. A light showed that the cave was about twenty feet high. The Hoor seemed to be of solid stone. The bodies of the two men could be seen lying thereon. By means of a rope Martin descended irto the subtelranean inclosure. Those above heard a startled exclamation from the explorer below. The two men are alive, altho somewhat damaged, he said. Here in a corner is a human skeleton, and there's a pile of gold and silver as big as a hay cock in another. Wait till I tell you to pull, then go to it. Soon he had both of the unconscious men up, and then he himself followed. One of the men explained how they came to be there. It seemed that they were squatters on the island, and accidently had found the opening to a cave. They were busily at work removing the treasure in the cave when the guard informed the workers that a party of men was coming. They immediately prepared for a fight, but the old man set out to warn the approaching men not to come closer. He had been shot down by one of his own men. After the wounded had been given all possible aid, the dead were removed to a burial spot and there, on a desolate island, were laid to rest. The treasure, very largely composed of gold, was in ingots of the pre- cious metal, as well as in coins and jewelry. Nuggets of gold were found also. but the most had been reduced to pure gold and cast into bars. After several day's work at removing the treasure, they sailed for home. Once back there, they solemnly resolved never to engage in any more adventures of this sort. They had no need to worry about finances, for there was a little less than a million dollars for each of the five adventurers, and another million was divided up among the others who had played less important parts in the thrilling game of treasure seeking. Harold C. Risor, '25 20