Chapter 3: A Curious Discovery

William wiped the soil from his hands, paid the minister and walked back towards home. He heard men shoveling dirt back into the new grave of his brother Joseph. He was at the edge of town, where criminals were buried. The support of family and friends was absent from this funeral. The only company he had was his old friend and first-mate, Jim Spriggs. Spriggs accompanied him back home.

At the house, the two men sat down for a drink. The room was brightly lit now, and not so reminiscent of the dark night Joseph had returned. “Tell me again what he said…” inquired Spriggs, trying to make some conversation.

“He said it was true, he had gone on the account with Pirates,” replied William. “But he claimed that he had no choice, and seemed guilty.” William had said this much before, but he had not shared his brother’s last words with anyone. Here, with his only old friend, William thought he would dare to share them, and more.

“He said something else, Jim. He said that I should take his share.”

“You mean his share of the… spoils?”

“They divide it up, Jim, you’ve heard the stories. Hide it close by before they come into port; dig it up once things settle down a bit.”

Spriggs was growing wide eyed, but spoke low and cautiously. “Will, did he tell you where it was?”

“No, but he said something strange just before he died. Said something about his belt. I took it off of him just before the constable’s men arrived. Been wearing it ever since.”

Spriggs looked at the wide belt around his Captain’s waist. He took a draught of his beer, and then drew a knife from the table next to him. “Let’s take a look, Will.”

William hesitated, looked out the open window nervously, and put the belt on the table. Carefully, Spriggs examined the belt. It was made of two pieces of leather, carefully sewn flat against one-another. With a nod from William, he began to slit the leather along its seam. In a moment they both saw something yellow slip from inside the folds and out onto the table. “Damn that brother of yours,” said Spriggs, with laughter in his curse. “He really did it; he really was one of them.” He shook his head, though smiling, and handed the folded paper to William.

William held it gingerly, and then carefully opened the folds. It was yellow and worn, with faded brown ink that had been smeared in places, but it was clear that this was a map, a treasure map.

“Spriggs, my old friend, I think we are in for a bit of adventure…”

Chapter 4: The Resolution Sets Sail

It was a bright and clear August morning when Captain William Salt and his mate, Jim Spriggs, finally finished bringing on provisions for their voyage. They had a very small crew, made up of Spriggs' two nephews, George and Jacob. Usually they hired between six and ten hands, depending upon the trip, but the relatively small sloop could be managed by the four of them. In William and Spriggs’ minds, it seemed that the less people who knew their plans the better.

They had taken on a cargo of summer corn and West Indies rum, which they were going to sell in the Isles of Shoals. These were a small group of islands thirty miles northeast of Boston, about halfway between Narragansett Bay and Nova Scotia. North of these islands lay small scattered settlements all along the coast.

The northern settlements in Casco Bay, Machias, and Cape Elizabeth were remote, yet sometimes visited by fishermen, traders and a mix of privateers, pirates and lone warships. There was often trouble brewing between the French, English and Dutch colonies, and as a result some settlements changed hands numerous times. It was rumored that pirates often used the rocky islands in this lonely area for repairs, rest and at times to hide their treasure.

It was here that William’s map now pointed them, to the lonely island of Isle Haute. The stop at the Isles of Shoals would break up the trip and give them a reason to travel to the area. There were townspeople who looked at William strangely now that his deceased brother was revealed to have been a pirate. It was natural that his behavior might be questioned by nosy locals, so he made sure the voyage appeared to be a standard trading trip.

Spriggs and the two boys manned the small capstan and with a fair amount of noise managed to raise the anchor. The sails were unfurled and the ship began to glide out of the bay and towards the open water. All felt a sense of freedom and of excitement. Whether it was to fish or trade or seek out forbidden gold, the wind and salt air leant a sense of adventure to any voyage.

It took several days to travel out past Block Island, up through Vineyard Sound and then northeast past the shoals of Cape Cod. The weather was mild and calm. As they moved north past the busier shipping near Boston they saw a number of other sloops, pinks and brigs on the water. Nearing the Isles of Shoals they found one brig already anchored at Star Island, named so because of its shape. As they came into the port, which was peopled by New Englanders known to associate with both honest and questionable navigators alike, William uttered a low whistle to Spriggs.

“What’s the matter, Will?” asked Spriggs.

“I don’t like the looks of the men on that brig, Spriggs”

“Why not?”

“Well,” said William, cautiously, “they remind me of my brother…”

Chapter 5: Escape from Star Island

Captain William Salt and his mate Spriggs put their sloop into the harbor at Star Island and set to shore in a small rowboat to talk with the locals. They had arrived with a hold full of West Indies rum and Rhode Island corn, and were hoping to make quick work of selling their cargo. There was a small waterfront market and a number of other ships docked in the port. Several were fishermen, but there was one dark craft named the Adventure whose crew seemed more than a little suspicious. The two avoided this ship and landed at the dock, then made their way to the marketplace.

As they approached the marketplace, a small man with spectacles approached them and identified himself. “Good morning! I am Elias Washburn, the harbormaster. Will you be offloading any cargo here?”

“Well, as a matter of fact, we are interested in selling some staples, if there is a merchant who is buying,” answered William.

“What kind of cargo?”

“Corn and rum.”

“Ahh, well I think you will find a market for both…” said the harbormaster, but before he could continue a gruff voice interrupted him.

“I’ll buy your rum without the harbormaster’s duties,” broke in the stranger, who gestured towards the Adventure. “Pull up alongside and we’ll unload her for you. Pay you in gold. Harbormaster can’t very well charge you for goods that don’t land on his dock…” The man’s voice trailed off, but his eyes were fixed on William’s, expecting an answer in return. The harbormaster said nothing, but was clearly uncomfortable.

“It’s a generous offer, but I’ve businessmen here whom I patronize and the cargo is for them.” William stretched the truth a bit, but the stranger made him nervous and he had no desire to pull alongside the other ship. He held the stranger’s gaze, which turned to a glare.

“New England’s full of fools,” spat out the stranger. “And friendless fools don’t last long on the sea.” It was all he said, but there was menace in his tone. He turned his back sharply and walked away.

William and Spriggs found the marketplace and negotiated their sale. For the rest of the morning they and Spriggs nephews unloaded the cargo onto the small dock. The boys finished unloading the last of the casks while William collected his pay. As he returned his attention, however, he noticed two men talking to Spriggs’ nephews. They moved off as he came closer.

“What did they want?” he inquired of the boys.

“Seems they need more crew” said George. “They wanted us to join, but we said no.”

“They didn’t seem to like that answer,” added Jacob.

“We’ll stay on the sloop tonight and leave quickly in the morning,” said William. “It’s not above men like that to force men into their service. You boys are safer with your uncle and I.”

That night there was carousing going on across the bay on the Adventure. Captain Salt and Spriggs stayed up and listened to the other crew drinking and singing. The songs were bawdy, the voices were drunk, and more than a few harsh oaths could be heard.

“I don’t like that ship or its crew, Will,” said Spriggs. “We’ll have to pass right by them to leave port, tomorrow. If they want to stop us I don’t think we have a chance. And God save me if I let my sister’s boys be taken.”

“You’re right, Spriggs,” said William. “I’d like nothing better than to be gone when they wake up. But they’ll here the capstain clanking if we hoist anchor, and it will look very suspicious if they find us sneaking away in the night. They might chase us down just to see why we ran.”

“If you’ll indulge me, Captain, I have a plan that might work…”

With those words, Spriggs laid down a plan which had been slowly forming in his mind. It was risky, but after some quiet thought William nodded in agreement and said “Wake the boys, let’s give it a try.”

In near silence the four worked together to rig a light sail. There was a faint breeze blowing to the North, just enough for the small sloop to glide out of port. Rather than raise anchor, Spriggs carefully took his knife and cut the cable. Freed from its bonds, the ship moved quietly under the wind. Anchors were expensive, and they would not recover this one, but this was the only safe way to leave unnoticed.

There was a sliver of a moon tonight, but clouds were obscuring it. With just enough light to avoid the Adventure, William piloted the sloop past the ominous craft and out into the Atlantic. North they turned, towards Nova Scotia and a host of little islands that decorated the coast. But there was one island in particular they sought, the one on the map which William’s dead pirate brother had left them, Isle Haute.

Chapter 6: Isle Haute

It had been five days since they had quietly stolen out of the port at Star Island, skillfully avoiding the menacing crew of the Adventure. Captain William Salt and his small crew now sailed briskly upon the Atlantic as they made their way north. They scanned the horizon, laboring to pick out the island on their map from among the many that dotted the rocky coastline. On this day the sky was clear and the sun was shining, which made the task easier.

It was almost noon when Captain Salt’s first mate, Spriggs, cried out and gestured towards the northwest, “Aye, Captain, she’s off the port bow!”

William Salt, Spriggs, and the mate’s two nephews eagerly looked across the bay at the cliffs of Isle Haute, which seemed to rise up out of the water as they grew nearer. In an hour’s time they had drawn up close and anchored offshore at the north end of the island where the land was closer to sea-level.

They all climbed into the sloop’s rowboat and headed into the rough beach. William brought the map which his dying brother had left him. The tide was out, so they pulled the boat up high on the sand and then climbed up through rocks and brush about ten yards to where the land leveled out. There were blueberry bushes, tall grass and scattered boulders which littered this level spot. To the south also lay a small clearing, which on further inspection proved to be a tiny pond.

The spot matched the map perfectly, and it all made sense. Treasure was heavy, and the pirates would not have labored to carry it up the cliffs on the south side of the island. They could arrive here at any time and, under the guise of gathering wood and water, secretly retrieve their treasure from the spot. The water and boulders made ideal landmarks, and it did not take Salt and his crew long to match them to the marks on his brother’s map.

With nervous excitement they noted their position on the map and paced off the distances from the landmarks. Ten yards northwest of a great rock and twenty yards from the pond’s southern edge they found a spot of curiously disturbed ground. Eagerly they broke ground and began to dig. It did not take long to move the sandy earth. In no time they struck something hard and began to unearth a box-shaped object. They had found Joseph Salt’s chest, still bound in locked chains! The excitement was palpable as all four men strove to lift the dirt-covered, iron box out of the pit. As it settled on the ground next to them, they all took a short break and congratulated themselves heartily.

“I don’t believe it, Will, but we’ve done it!” said Spriggs. Spriggs’ nephews were dumb with amazement.

“I can’t believe it myself,” said Will. “Let’s get this thing back onto the sloop where we can examine it more closely.”

They all agreed and decided to move it back to the ship. It was heavy, and even with all four of them it took a lot of effort to move, but after some hard work they were able to get it to the shore. When they arrived at the rowboat, however, they gasped at what they saw. The rowboat was where they left it, but out in the bay there were now two ships riding at anchor: their sloop and the rogue-filled Adventure, which they had hoped they would never see again!