A story from the Japan Weekly Mail has been going
the round of the papers which shows, if true, that "Treasure Island" contains not a word that is impossible ; and if untrue, that a very remarkable rival to Mr. Louis Steven- son in his special field has arisen in the Far East. There is the treasure, two millions sterling in doubloons, "cut out" and carried off the moment it was put on board a brig—the date is 1823, and the place Peru—and before the owners could get on board, by an English Lieutenant in the Peruvian Navy. There is the Lieutenant's voyage across the Pacific, and the burying of the treasure in a secret island. Then comes the inevitable mutiny on the way home, and the Lieutenant, two officers, and the equally inevitable cabin-boy leave by stealth in an open boat, having first set the ship on fire. Before the boat reaches land, however, one of the four is murdered and thrown overboard. The survivors safe on shore, the cabin-boy goes off for his master on an amatory errand to Lima, and is there imprisoned. Thus, only the Lieutenant and one other man know where the treasure is. Next, the Lieutenant and his companion charter "a small fore and aft schooner, the Swallow," commanded by Captain Thompson, and set out to realise their store. During the voyage, however, the other man tips the English Lieutenant overboard as he sits "on the lee rail" chatting with him, and thus remains alone in possession of the secret. The Captain of the 'Swallow' next has his suspicions, overhauls the dead man's things, and finds the chart of the island. Meeting another English Captain near the island, the two agree to share, letting the remaining buccaneer also share if he points out the exact spot. To this he appears to consent ; but before putting off to shore in the ship's boat, he goes below, fills his pockets with iron and lead, and then going down the ladder, pushes off the boat with one foot from the side of the schooner, and drops feet first into the sea. Mr. Louis Stevenson is said to be yachting in the Pacific. Surely he could not do better than search for this new Treasure Island.
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