Page:Here and there in Yucatan - miscellanies (IA herethereinyucat00lepl 0).djvu/16

. One old man who pretended to know the whereabouts of the treasure is said to have been frightened from the place by the apparition of a gigantic negro, accompanied by a fierce hound. Three men once made a bet to pass the night on the island, and actually went there; but it is believed that they were pursued and terrified to death by the spectral keeper of the hidden gold, for daylight revealed one prostrate corpse on the beach, another in the water, and the third man was a raving maniac who never recovered reason.

Several years ago it was generally thought that pirates had buried various treasures there, but in what particular places no one knew. At certain times of the year fishermen from the mainland went to the island to fish, building huts to serve them for the season. One day when a few of these men were on the beach, a large American vessel appeared on the horizon. In due time it cast anchor before Contoy. Several men landed, and producing papers and maps, said that they had come for certain money buried there.

Strange to say, their map led them to the very spot where the fishermen had built their hut: the thatched roof was right over the treasure! The occupants were told that if they would dig they