From his pocket Cranston brought a sheaf of photostats and spread them for Phil to see. As he went over them, Cranston kept glancing from the window, watching for distant twinkles from somewhere in Central Park.
“The Good Wind treasure rightfully belonged to a man named Thales Van Woort,” explained Cranston. “He sent a smuggler named Caleb Albersham out to bring in the treasure. Unfortunately, Albersham’s sloop, the Rover, was lost in the same storm that sank the Good Wind.”
Phil nodded. He had heard the treasure story.
“I’ve been tracking down the records of the Albersham family,” explained Cranston, “in hope that I might find some important data. Oddly, they seem to feel that their old ancestor Caleb was a hero, not a rascal.
“Here’s a picture taken in the early days of Central Park. It shows the slab marking Caleb’s grave. A lot of those markers still remain, particularly in the Oval, near the Willow Arch.”
Those terms struck home to Phil, but he was more interested in deciphering the picture. About all he could see inscribed on the stone were the words:
HERE LIES
CALEB ALBERSHAM
ADVENTURER & MARINER
ESTEEMED BY HIS