from the book. We concluded that the old man
had died of heart failure, or old age, and thought no more about it
after the day had passed. But, when we called the watch at eight bells
next mornin', we couldn't get one of the Swanson brothers up. He was
cold and stiff; and there was nothing wrong with him either. That is,
he had turned in cheerful and healthy and died during sleep, leaving no
sign.

"The other Swanson raised merry hell that day, raving about the deck,
mourning for his dead brother. But his grief was short-lived, for when
we tried to waken him next watch he was cold and stiff. We buried him
with the ceremonies, and began to think--all of us. We wondered whether
men may rake up ill-gotten treasure from a dead past without coming
under influences of that dead past. We thought of the conquered and
enslaved natives, laboring in the mines for the aggrandizement and
enrichment of Spain, and giving up their lives in the work,
unrecognized and forgotten, while their exploiters, the children and
relatives of Ferdinand and Isabella, sat back in luxury and
self-satisfaction. We wondered as to what was killing our shipmates,
ghosts or poison.

"Naturally, we suspected the cook, and Pango, the Dagoes, and the
surviving Sou'wegian were for tossing him overboard; but the rest of us
wouldn't have it. There was no evidence of poison, and as we'd done no
killing so far in our piratical venture, we'd better keep clear of it
now, with so much at stake. A court that would acquit us as soldiers of
fortune that had merely borrowed a schooner might hang us as pirates
and murderers; but we watched the Jap. We kept him away from the grub
while we ate it. He brought it on in two or more big dishes, and there
was no chance of his poisoning one without the rest. We weren't afraid
of that.

"I examined Swanson thoroughly before we buried him, and there wasn't a
mark on him, or a sign of anything out of the way, except what didn't
seem in any way important, just below each ear, and back of the corner
of the cheek bone, was a little pink spot; but there was no blood, and
no sign of finger prints on the throat.

"Peters, the romantic young fellow, got ghosts on his mind, and as he
thought about it, they got on his nerves. He couldn't sleep, and walked
around, up and down from the cabin to the deck. The others slept in
their watch below, and on that night nobody died. But the next night
Peters was too exhausted to stay awake, and he