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THE FLOWERS COLf FOT ION
Alleged Pirate Gold in Biloxi Bay Is Sought by Organized Company
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By DAVID HOLT
Writ*
: for B/>« 5unny South
HE stories so often told of
pirate treasure near Bi
loxi have led to the for
mation of a small company
to make a systematic ex
ploration during the com
ing summer for at least
such booty as may be
concealed beneath the wa
ters of the Back bay of
Biloxi.
The most promising field
for exploitation, and tile
one which will first re-
c. ive attention, is a point opposite the
site of Fort Maurepas, founded by Le
tt. oyne d’Iberville, abotit one-half nnle
from shore, and known to the old oyster-
men as ’the rook pile."
For many years the residents of Biloxi,
v. ho made their living by longing oysters,
bad known of tills rock pile, and had
noticed that (he oysters which they pick-
( cl up at this point were often tinged
with iron rust. The water there is about
eight feet deep at ordinary tide; and the
< lil fishermen used to often grasp sorne-
tling with their wooden oyster tongs
v hich they would tug at for a whlie and
then, with little curiosity, turn loose.
One evening, late in the summer of
IEP3. Eugene Tiblier, Jr., a boy of 18
V ars, was alone in a skiff tonging ovs-
11 rs <m the rock pile, when his tongs
struck something hard and solid Visions
of buried treasure of which lie Ipid heard
from his youth up. overcame his fears,
and he decided to make an investigation.
He was a good swimmer, and arraying
himself only in the glad sunshine of tin-
summer evening, lit- dived where his
tongs had caught something he knew
to be larger than one oyster. In the clear
watew of the bay he could see. while
near the bottom and clinging to his
tongs, that the object which had attrac
ted iiis attention, was ihe mouth of an
old cannon proruding from the sand,
tr.ud and oysters. The next day iie. his
father and three other men returned to
tin spot on a schooner, prepared lor
v.nrk, with visions of Spanish doubloons
for inspiration
FUTILE SEARCH.
For a week tlie men labored with the
most primitive implements, and ns the
result of their work secured four old
cannons, a number of strips of iron, old
cannon balls, a cord or two of old oak
ship timbers, a few rust eaten blocks
with fragments of rotten rope encrusted
in them with an accumulation of shells,
mud and rust, and a number cf fire
brick or tile, which soon crumbled to
dust when exposed to the air. They be
calm- discouraged and gave up the
search.
Old Eugene Tiblier. father of the boy
who made tlie discovery, now has these
guns and other wreckage from the sunk
en ship, piled on the beach in front of
bis home on the banks of Bayou Port
age. opposite Fort Point on the north
s'de of the Back bay, and ony one who
will go there may see for himself, and
i lay learn something of the traditions of
tlu old settlement as well.
The largest of the four cannons is seven
feet long and has a bore of abotit three
ami a half inches. This gun is more cor
roded than the others, and is evidently
of a different metal, said to be of Nor
wegian iron. The best preserved specimen
is about six feet long, nearly tlie same
lu re as the longer gun. and lias a bed
i , funnel shaped muzzle. The two ania.it-
er weapons are each three feet, six im-lies
it; length and have a bore of three inches
or thereabouts.
The cannon balls found were, some *>r
i item, of much larger bore than any of
the guns yet found, and that, with otner
Ihings leads Mr. Tiblier to believe that
only the upper deck of the vessel has
.'cl been explored, and that deeper in the
mud are buried guns of larger bore, and
possibly other articles of value and in
terest. This opinion will soon be v* ri-
l.ed 111- disproved, for by the time this
article appears in print the work, of ex
ploration will be under way.
I’p to this time absolutely no clew has
I found to identify the vessel, and
one of the records known in tlie writer
• r l lie people along the coast who are
.miliar with the few remaining chron
icles of d'Iberville's time and inter pe
riods. throw any light upon the stioj- i.
One of the mysteries about the old Nes
se] is the manner in which she could •
have been sunk as such a place. Had
she drawn more than 8 feet of water, it
is very doubtful that she could h: e
entered the Back bay in the first pi*
and had she been driven aground in a
storm, which is not probable in suel. t
land locked harbor, she would hr •-
struck much nearer the shore, in shal
lower water, as in a storm the water ,a
that point is always at least 2 I t
deeper, unless the wind is from a nortn
orly direction, in which event the vessel
would have been in a perfectly protected
position.
True, she may have been one of t ■
pirate La Fitte's fleet, which lie built
View of the Back Bay of Biloxi, Miss., Where Treasure Is Supposed To Be Submerged.
and armed as he could, and. from the
varied assortment of armament found,
this scorns probable.
FREQUENTED BY SEEKERS.
Tlu» Back bay of Biloxi is known to
have been an old pirate stronghold, and
the search, ashore, for the pirates* hid
den treasure goes on to this day. The
point of land a mile west of the Tiblier
place, on the bay. has been known for
generations as Treasure point. On it
Professor S. M. Tracey, special agent for
the United States department of argi-
culture. has his home, and he frequently
finds fresh excavations near his residence
where, tlie treasure hunters have been at
work.
There may be descendants of the old
pirates yet in the neighborhood who could
throw some light on these subjects if
the would talk, but they do not take the
stranger into their confidence 4 . They are
reticent; like the old Choctaws from
whom they acquired many similar traits
by association in past generations. What
they know they keep; probably adhering
to the old maxim of the portage. Al-
rnies cabri pas z* affaires mouton.”
("What concerns the goat does not con
cern the sheep.”)
One tradition with which all of the resi
dents “cross de bay” from Biloxi are
familiar, is the story that the pirate
buried rich treasure somewhere in that
neighborhood, and then killed the sailors
who di«l the work, leaving their spirits
to guard the spot. The gold may not
yet have been found, but the ghosts of
the pirate sailors have often been seen.
Of this there is enough verbal evidence
extant to bewilder the most skeptical
modern mind.
V
The Scarlet Bat,
By
Fergus Hume, Author of
“The Mystery of a Hansom Cab,
“The Golden Idol,” Etc
jf*
of Intrigue* *
| Love and Mystery in
the Metropolis of the
I World
■" v-( yr>g j g OP PRECEDING CHAP
TERS; A disturbance occurs in a theater
Lnr between i-aiu-aster, a journalist, and
mail made Starth, who, for an offen
sive jvtnuik, is knocked down. Botli are
regarded as being in love with Miss Bel
li. premiere In the new musical comedy,
and Miss Berry's father it is—a man
with a. I ;td reputation, acquired abroad—
who see< Starth safely into a cab. Lan-
<-aster, who is not, however, following at
Miss Berry's heels, is 'free to give his at
tention to one of the faces in the boxes,
which turns out to be that of Starth's
sister. As ho leaves the theater a stran
ger. claiming the faculty to read the
future in hands and faces, warns Lan
caster that if lie meets again the man
with whom he has quarreled one of them
must die. Starth writes asking Lancas
ter to call that Starth may apologize,
and Lancaster, after duly arming itint-
self with a revolver, goes. The tea which
tlie host offers contains opium, anil Lan
caster loses consciousness. Awakening
in the dark he stumihles over wliat proves
to he Starth s dead body. His own re
volver is missing. In a flash he sees
how circumstantial evidence is against
him. and dazed and bewildered lie passes
out Into the street.
CHAPTER III.
A Friend in Need.
CELLAR prejudice regards
Essex ns a damp, mashv
flat, inliabitated by mos
quitoes, rheumatic yokels,
and children of the sea-
mist. But Eustace Jarman
dwelt on a far-extending
plateau, whence from his
study window he surveyed
Tilbury, Gravesend. the
mouth of Thames river,
and vast tracts of mead
ow lands divided into ir
regular squares by erratic
hedges. His home was 3 miles from the
nearest railway station as the crow flies,
and. being cut -off from civilization In
heres of furze-grown common, was .-is
isolated as his misanthropic soul could
desire.
Jarman had the reputation of being a
solitary man, and those who knew him
in literary circles hinted at the destroy
ing influence of the inevitable woman.
But Eustace never explained. After a
journalistic career in town he disappeared
into the Essex wilds, and devoted him
self to writing music hall sketches, short
tales and articles on countries he had
visited. As he had been round the world
twice or thrice, and knew the manners
and customs of various peoples, he was
well paid for life contributions. The cost
of living at Wargrove was nil. and Jar-
1111111 was supposed to -be saving money.
At times ho would vanish into tlie Far
East, or seek South America when there
was a chance of trouble between tin-pot
republics, but he always returned to his
Essex plnfttau to live a hermit's life.
Miss Cork waited on him and looked
after his simple needs, and Miss Cork
mentioned frequently that he was the
queerest gent she ever set eyes on.
"The Shanty,” as he called his place,
was an old farm house, hurled amongst
elm and oak tree.s, and surrounded by
an orchard and a flower garden, all more
or less in ruins. Jarman would not allow
t he place to be tidied up. as Miss Cork
suggested, loving better the eccentric, un
trimmed look of life property. The hedges
grew sprawling at. their own sweet will,
long grass flourished up to the very door,
and poppies, sun flowers and straggling
rose trees shewed above this miniature
jungle. Eustace possessed three rooms,
two of which were occupied by beds for
hiniself and any chance friend, and a
third apartment, iange and airy, which
served as a study, a dining room, a
smoking room, and a parlor. In this
iast were collected trophies of Jarman's
travels, ranging front Japanese curiosi
ties to South sea oddities. Books also—
but these were everywhere, and over
flowed from the study into the passages,
into the hall, up the stairs, and in some
degree into the bed rooms. Everywhere
tlier<. was a scent of tobacco smoke, and
Eustace loafed about in flannel bags with
an old shooting jacket, and a worn crick
eting cap on the back of his head.
The house was not very large, and
Jarman was over 6 feet. But lie moved
with a dexterity remark;!hie in so huge
a man. and was as handy as a woman in
looking after his housekeeping. Miss (fork
lived at tlie back, and merely acted as
lieutenant in carrying out her master's
orders. When she wished to introduce
feminine innovations Eustace protested.
He loved his savage bachelor life and liis
hermit-crab shell too much to ilesirt- new.,
fangled customs. Extra civilization, es
pecially ( ,f the womanly kind, meant extra
work, and Eustace was a lazy man.
It was a wet July night when Lan
caster sought this refuge. All day it had
been raining hard, and Jarman was just
thinking of putting on his waders for his
usual walk, when Miss Cork entered to
announce a visitor. On her heels followed
Frank, and Eustace stared when he saw
him. Tlie stare was excusable, for Lan
caster appeared in a silk hat, a frock-
coat, and patent boots. xj e was mired
with clay from the roads, torn by the
furze of the common, and dripped like an
insane river-god. Also, without imita
tion, he collapsed into the nearest chair,
while Jarman’s jaw fell still lower at
tin- sight of his white face, liis clenched
mouth and his glassy eyes. Miss Cork,
half blind, saw none of these tilings, but
she withdrew to the kitchen to soliloquize
on trie costume of the visitor, inappro
priate alike to the weather and the coun
try. Meanwhile Jarman, behind closed
doors, continued to stale.
\\ hat is tiie matter?" lie, asked at last.
1 caught the last train from Liverpool
street," explained Frank, in faint tones,
' and walked across the common. I'm
(bad beat. Give me a whisky and
soda."
Jarman supplied tills refreshment speed
ily, and again demanded explanations.
"But you'd better get into a dry kit be
fore you make 'em." said he, bustling
about. "Wliat a crazy rig to negotiate
the country in. Been drinkin’?’’
"Do I ever drink, you ass?"
“Not your style. 1 know, but that's tlie
sort that generally goes a mucker in the
end. Cut into my lied room and I'll hand
you out a few things. Hang it, man.
hold up.' - ’
Lancaster, who had lurched against
the big man's shoulder, pulled himself
straight, and tried to smile. Jarman
could see that the poor young fellow was
on the verge of hysterics, being over
wrought. and quite broken down. There
fore be spoke roughly to brace tiie slack
nerves. With a few choice expletives
he chased Frank into the bedroom, made
him strip to the buff, and saw him in
ducted after a thorough toweling, into
a pair of flannel trousers and a faded
blazer, together with a woolen shirt and
a pair of old slippers. Then lie demand
ed if Frank was hungry, and led him
back to tlie parlor.
"No. I'm not hungry," said Frank,
dropping into a chair near the fire, for
Eustace approved of a fire when the rain
fell. "but. another whisky——”
"Not a bit of it. Ton'll get squiffy.
You must eat!"
"But I want to tcell you ”
"Later! Later! Meantime, bread ant
meat.”
Jarman looted the kitchen, and, having
sent Miss Cork to bed. boiled tlie kettle
and returned with a tray. This he plac
ed before his guest, and stood over while
Frank forced ham and bread down a
most unwilling throat. Then be gave the
young man a pipe, mixed bim a second
glass of whisky of the weakest descrip
tion. and demanded explanations.
"I can give Them In one word," said
Frank, now more composed. "Murder!"
Jarman started again. and whistled,
’nion lie went to see that the door was
closed, and returned to his seat. “Who
have you been killing?”
"No one. But I'm in danger of being
accused. I am innocent—I swear I am
innocent. Eustace!”
“All right, oid man," replied Jarman,
patting his junior on the back. "I know
you wouldn’t come to me if you were
guilty."
"If l were would you shelter me?”
"H'm! Depends upon the kind of mur
der. 1 don't mind a fair light sort o’
killing. 'Fact, I've shot a man or two
myself in tlie Great Waste Lands."
"But i didn't shoot Startli. I really
didn't."
"Starth! What! is he ?”
"Dead! Dead! Shot dead. But not
by me—not by me.”
Eustace chewed his pipe, and stared
into tlie fire, puffing hard. He appeare;
to he worried.
"Poor girl!" said he at length.
Frank understood on the instant.
"Does she love her brother?”
"Do you know her?" asked Eustace,
without looking up.
Lancaster shook life head. W saw her
last night at the theater. Her brother
insulted me and asked me to see him
today, as lie- wanted to apologize "
"Wait!" Jarman threw up his hand.
“Tiie whole truth, if you please."
"I'm telling tlie truth, if you will only
listen."
"Apologizing doesn’t sound like Starth."
objected Eustace.
"I thought so when I got his note, and
I am convinced now that this invitation
was a trap.-”
"To have you shot?"
"How do I know? Tie was shot him
self."
"Who shot him?"
"I can’t say. I way lying i na stupor
when it happened."
“Drugged—with opium?" hinted Jar
man.
"Yes. Did you know that Starth "
"All along." Jarman placed the tips
of his fingers together. “See here. Frank.
I know- Miss Starth very well. She lives
here with an old lady called Mrs. Perth.
Their cottage is only a stone s throw
away from my diggings. T met the
brother there in the long ago. and
"And introduced him to me. 1 wish
you hadn't."
"It's too late now. seeing that the man's
dead, to raise objections. T never ap
proved Of Walter Starth. A bail lot a
very had lot. He never liked you. I
don't know why. But I didn't think it
would come to this.”
“Jarman" Frank started from his scat
—“you don't srppose-—
“S1t down, you ass!" Jarman pushed
Lancaster back into life ''hair. "1 won bln t
take things so quietly if you had killed
him. Barring that. I'm glad the mans
out of the world. 11c was no use in
it."
"Mv own words—my own words.
"When and where?"
“At the Piccadilly theater last night. T
shouted them in the bar after l knocked
him down.”
"H'm! Shouldn't talk like that, Frank,
it’s foolish."
"I know It is. I’m in a fix. that's why
I come to you."
“Well,” said Eustace, refilling his briar,
“tlie best thing you can do is to tell me
everything 'from the start.”
“Where am I to start from? You know
about Fairy Faun?”
"Yes; and about Starth's love for her.
He looked on you as a rival, and the
knowledge didn't increase life liking for
you. Well?”
Frank straightened himself, and forth
with delivered a succinct account of all
that had taken place, from the encounter
on the previous night to his leaving tlie
house in Sand-lane, South Kensington.
"I took tlie underground to Liverpool
street and caught the down train by the
skin of my teeth. 1 didn't even return
to my diggings, as I was afraid of being
arrested. I’m a marked man now, Eus
tace. The police will hunt me down.
And I am innocent "
“Why didn’t you give the alarm when
you found Starth dead?"
“Man alive, that would have delivered
me into the power of the law.”
“J know that. Just asked the question
to see what you’d say. H'm! It's a nasty
case for you. The circumstantial evi- .
dence— ”
“I know—T know. Who knows better
than I?" Frank rose to pace tlie room
anxiously. “I spoke 'foolishly about
Starth being better out of the world, at
the theater. I took my pistol with me—
T wa.s alone in the house with him that
servant saw me leave, and T daresay
noticed my agitation. Starth. it’s awful!
1 don't see how* I’m going to get out of
the danger. They'll hang me.”
"Steady, oid man. They won't hang
you. I won’t let them.”
"Then you'll help me to get out of tiie
country?"
"No If you cut. you'll surely be caught.
By tomorrow every seaport in the king
dom will lie watched. You must slay
here.”
“But ['ll be traced.”
"I don't think so. Plenty of men go
up and down on this line in frock-coats
and tall lints. I don't suppose any one
took particular notice of you."
“The train was crowded."
"All the better. There’s safety in a
crowd. No. Frank, don’t leave England.
Stop here, and I'll fix you up some sort
of disguise. The very daring of the thing
may be your salvation. The police will
never think that you will remain so near
town. I’ll make things safe with Miss
Cork, and she's the only person who has
seen you. When wo get time to turn
round we can sift matters out.”
"What a good chap you are. Jarman!"
“Nothing of the sort. If you were guil
ty T shouldn’t chance the risk of being
an accessory after the fact. As It is. I'll
see you through the business. It’s a nasty
affair; there’s no denying that. I ex
pect the sister will come over tomorrow
to ask for my assistance."
"Oh!" Frank jumped up nervously. "Do
you think she’ll recognize me?”
“Of course not. She saw you only
once, and that at a distance. Besides. I
don’t suppose-she Inquired your name.
Finally, as 1 intend to disguise you, she
won't guess that anything is wrong. You
work the typer?”
“Yes.”
“Good! Then you’ll stop here as my
secretary. I'll dictate, and you'll work
the machine. With your moustache cut
off. liair dyed black, a stained face, and
a pair of goggles for weak eyes, 110 one
will recognize you."
“But no one hereabouts knows me, ex
cept Miss Starth, and she only saw me
in the glu/e of the electrics for a few
minutes.
"Frank, you're an ass! Tlie Police
Gazette will have a full description of
you. Every one will lie on the lookout
Thank Heaven, you’re of the common
place type. Pink and white, fair hair,
blue eyes, well-groomed, military, figure,
and all the rest of it "
"How will my blue eyes match black
hair?"
"We'll say you're Irish, and you ..an
fix up a brogue. Trust me. I've been in
several holes myself, and know how to
got or.<t of the deepest."
"But. Jarman, who do you think kill
ed the man?”
"1 can't say that until I know more.
Tiie reason is to be found in Walter
Starth’s past. He has sown the wind
pretty freely, and I can hardly wonder
at his reaping the whirlwind."
"Do you 'think he Intended to trap
me?" asked Lancaster.
"Yes. He's not the man to apologize.
And tlie house being empty on that eve
ning shows that Starth was up to some
triekery Maybe I18 intended to kill
you. However, he never intended to
die himself."
"How do yon know? He may have
coiimiKted suicide." ■
"Bosh! Starth was the last man In
Tlie world to have such an idea. Tie
wasn't cowardly enough. I will say that.
Besides, if he wished to commit sui
cide lie would scarcely invite you to
sec him do it."
"I don't know. lie might have left a
tenter saying T shot him, and then got
out of the world to hang me.”
Jarman shrugged liis huge shoulders.
"That's an extreme measure of revenge.
If he wanted to get you into trouble, be
won':! certainly like 'to bo present to
see how you took your gruel. Another
tiling, from wliat you say. your pistol
was used."
"F think so. At all events, it was
taken from my pocket.”
"II m! He searched you. Anything*
else missing?"
“The note In which he asked me to
caff."
"That proves Starth set a trap. T
'think—no 1 don't. I can't deliver an
opinion until 1 know more. Go to bed
and sleep."
“T can't sleep." said Frank, passion
ately. "I’m ruined.’’
But for all that he dropped into a
deep slumber, almost as soon as his head
touched the pillow.
"Worn out, poor wretch!” said Eus-
taco.
CHAPTER IV.
Two Hundred Pounds Reward.
“What do you think of my new secre
tary. Miss Cork?” asked Jarman next
morning, when his housekeeper was lay
ing 'the table. He put the question pur
posely to arrange matters for the dis
guise.
"X didn't see quite rightly. Mr. Jar
man; my eyes being weak. Young?”
"And dark, and Irish. His eyes are
weak to the extent of blue glasses.”
"I didn’t see them, sir.”
"No. poor chap. He broke them cross
ing the common: left his baggage in Lon
don. and got lost in our coun'lry."
"Ob. he'll know it soon. Mr. Jarman.
I'm an Essex woman myself—Billericay
way—and the country is easy. What‘S
the gentleman's name, sir?"
"Desmond.” said Eustace, lying with
an unmoved face. "Desmond O’Neil. ’
"I'll remember, sir.”
“And. oh. Miss Cork, I shouldn’t men
tion about his late arrival and loss of
CONTINUED ON LAST PAGE.
ill
