274 THE ARCTURUS ADVENTURE 



lowing year, and the ship stayed this time, lying 

 in Chatham Bay as before. Mike was again the 

 bos'n. He went ashore one day to hmit pigs and 

 surprising a large boar, fired and missed. The pig 

 rushed at him, and as Mike excitedly clubbed his 

 gun and swung at the animal's head, the weapon 

 was discharged and Mike fell. It was dark before 

 the others knew what had happened. Captain Gis- 

 sler went ashore with a lantern, found him and 

 bandaged him as best he could: a little tarpaulin 

 shelter was rigged over him, and one man stayed 

 to watch. \Mien Gissler came back from the ship 

 towards morning with a stretcher that he had 

 worked all night in making, Mike was dead. His 

 last words were, "To hell with the island!" 



He is buried on the point of land that reaches 

 out towards Nuez, the spot where the accident hap- 

 pened. 



This expedition was as fruitless as the first, but 

 Gissler saw that the location of the hoard would re- 

 quire a long residence, and careful consideration 

 of every clue. He had also succumbed to the beauty 

 of the place and was beginning to have a proprie- 

 tary feeling toward this isolated emerald patch in 

 an azure sea. There was an interval of a year or 

 two while he laid his plans and made his arrange- 

 ments with the Costa Rican government, and then 

 he returned as a citizen of Costa Rica, Governor 

 of the island, and owner of half of it. The terms 

 of the bargain were that he should colonize Cocos, 

 and that the Costa Ricans should keep communica- 

 tions open and give him the sole concession for 



