A Boy Crusoe; or, The Golden Treasure of the Virgin Islands

by Allan Eric

We now procured another stone from the wall, which we placed under the lever, increasing the height of the fulcrum so that we were able to lift the stone still further; and by pushing the lever around toward one side we quickly swung the stone from the opening until it rested at one side.

Lighting the lamps, we cautiously descended the stone stairs. They were covered with what seemed to be finely pulverized mould which had worked down from above; but the dampness, incident to an underground chamber rendered the steps somewhat slippery, so we had to descend carefully. There were ten steps. Reaching the bottom, Mr. Harborough and myself leading and Marjorie bringing up the rear, we found ourselves standing upon a solid floor, deeply covered with fine mould, but quite dry. The floor of the chamber was evidently composed of stone, laid very closely, without mortar. The roof was made of great flat stones, supported by two rows of pillars made of square blocks of stone, extending the length of the chamber. The walls, roof, pillars and floor were all thickly covered with dust. Searching along the walls, we discovered, at the further end, four niches sunk into the wall about five feet, and into the rear wall of each niche, there was fixed a massive iron staple, to which was fastened an iron chain of crude workmanship. At the end of each chain there was a rough iron collar which was evidently designed to be fastened with a rivet. Stepping into one of the niches, we discovered that the floor of it was thickly studded with sharp iron spikes which we found, on clearing away the dust, to be about two inches in height. The purpose of the niches was apparent; they were unquestionably designed as places of torture. Well must they have served their purpose; for the wretched victim who, on account of the short chain fastened to his neck, could not lie down, was compelled to stand constantly upon the sharp pointed spikes which would pierce and cruelly lacerate the feet.

To what period of the New World's history this dungeon belonged we could not even conjecture; but, judging from the style of architecture and the cunningly devised method of torture, Mr. Harborough, who had seen the ruined forts along the Spanish Main, had no doubt that this chamber was connected, in some way, with the old Castilian days in this part of the world.

The west wall seemed to be perfectly smooth and unbroken; but on the east side of the chamber we found a square stone, measuring something like two feet each way, being almost a perfect cube, protruding half way from the wall. This was easily removed, and thrusting in one of the lamps, we saw what appeared to be a square chest. Brushing away the dust which covered the end of the chest next to us, we saw that it was of wood, bound with bands of iron, the whole being thickly studded with nails.

"A treasure chest," exclaimed Marjorie; "oh, it seems like the stories of the buccaneers."

An iron ring was fastened to the chest, but when we took hold of it and tried to draw the chest toward us, we found it to be so heavy that we were unable to stir it. So I went to procure a lever which I cut from a small tree near the wall, and returned with it to the chamber. One end of the lever was inserted, upward through the ring of the chest and we lifted with our combined strength.

The chest was raised slightly, and then the iron bands, eaten by years of rust, broke, and the chest, rotten with age, fell apart.

Marjorie was holding one of the lamps so as to illuminate the chest, and, as it broke open, she almost dropped it, while Mr. Harborough and I dropped the lever and gazed at the broken chest and at each other in speechless astonishment; for the aperture seemed to be full of gold coins.

We had discovered a treasure chest, indeed. The coins were of several sizes, and all were covered with a brownish dust. But gold they were, and there were thousands and thousands of them.

We examined many of the coins, on which the legends were plainly legible. Each one bore a male head on one side, with dates ranging from 1517 to 1540; and on the reverse, this superscription:--"Carlos I., Espana: Rex"--Charles I., King of Spain. We concluded that we had discovered a favorite trysting place of sea-rovers who sailed these waters carrying death and desolation afloat and ashore under the protection of royal authority, with the understanding that the Spanish treasury should be enriched thereby.