SUNKEN SPANISH TREASURE QUEST

During George’s watch at about 3:15 A.M. he heard the muted sound of a motor moving slowly through the water toward us from the direction of the lake’s entrance. Because of the lack of moonlight and the extreme darkness on the water, he was not able to see who it was, but he had no doubt in his mind that it was the trio from the other boat trying to sneak up on us. Rather than holler out a warning and alert the raiders, he quietly crept into the Sea Otter and shook me and Lou awake. He immediately told us what was happening on deck. While Lou and I quickly began getting dressed, George then dashed to the cabin of the Snail Chaser and alerted Max. Within minutes the four of us were on the deck of the Sea Otter, each with our weapons in hand, and ready to thwart the pirates attempt to board either one of our boats. We all stood there silently in the nighttime darkness and in the warm night air just staring at the black moonless sky while listening to the soft sound of water licking along the sides of the boats. Several anxious minutes passed, and then without any warning, Max aimed his flare gun up to the sky and in seconds he fired off a flare. In another instant the rocket soared high above the water and then burst into a brilliant light which illuminated the entire area to the west of us much like the afternoon sunlight. Almost in the center of the light was that cursed boat and its three very surprised crewmen, or should I say, modern-day pirates. It was apparent they were only within minutes of attempting to board our boats and then take them over. As soon as the flare slowly dropped into the dark water the light died out. Just as quickly, Max fired another flare up into the sky causing the bright light to instantly reappear. By this time, the other boat with its crew of cut-throats was within eight to ten feet of the Sea Otter’s railing. Immediately, I could see two of the men reaching out to grab hold of the railing closest to me. I sprang from my spot on the deck, sped to the railing and leaned out across it as I viciously smacked the arm of the closest man as hard as I could with the baseball bat. As I did that, I heard his arm break with a sickening snap. He screamed a loud curse at me in Spanish and then quickly ducked back into his boat. The other man who had now gained access to the deck of the Sea Otter, charged toward me with a large hunting knife in his hand. I was barely able to duck the flailing knife as I side stepped him and then grabbed him around his neck and roughly threw him to the deck. Once I had control of the situation, I pressed the baseball bat hard against his throat. He immediately dropped his knife from his grasp, let out a loud grunt, and then tried to wiggle away from me, but I just pressed the bat on his throat all the harder. I then dropped down on him and applied a lot more pressure to his torso with my knees before he finally gave up. By this time, Max and George were at my side, while Lou had the barrel of the 22 rifle pointed directly in the man’s face. It was apparent that all of the fight was out of him, and while I still held him, I began to slowly allow him to get back up and onto his feet. The other two men who tried to hijack us were now back aboard their boat which was well beyond reach of either of our boats. “Just what in the hell were you trying to do, mister?” Max asked him in Spanish. “Why are you and those other two men with you attempting to board our boat in the dead of night?” It took the man several seconds to regain his composure before he seemed to be able to responded to Max’s questions. “We were not trying to harm you. We were just wanting to buy some of your fish. We saw you were fishing yesterday afternoon, and we decided to come aboard and see if any of them are for sale,” he lied “At three o’clock in the morning, and with a knife in your hand?” Max responded to him. “Who in hell do you think you’re talking to? We’re not idiots. Now, we’re going to give you a break even though you don’t deserve one. As soon as we let you go, you are to get back to that boat of yours. You and those other two men are then to get the hell away from here just as fast as you possibly can. If we see hide nor hair of you and your friends, or your boat anywhere close to here again, I promise you that the next time we will not be so lenient with you. Now I want to see those running lights on your boat brightly lit and see you heading fast and straight west out of this lake. Do it now! Damn it! Do it before I change my mind and give you a taste of my personal style of justice!” As Max was verbally cutting loose at the man, it was obvious to the three of us that he was furious over their attempt to board us. It would not have taken much for him to strike out and smack him in the mouth, or do something a heck-of-a-lot worse than that to him. When the tight hold I had on him was broken, and without a second’s hesitation, the man climbed over the railing, jumped into the water, and quickly swam the fifty yards to his boat. We watched as his two companions helped lift him out of the water and back on board their boat. Within another minute or so, their boat’s running lights were turned on and they were speeding toward the opening of the lake heading straight for the entrance to the Gulf. That frightening experience had been a very trying development for all of us. There was no longer any doubt in any of our minds that someone other than the four of us knew about the treasure we were uncovering, but how they knew we couldn’t even begin to guess. When their boat was completely out of sight, Max filled us in on the conversation where he had admonished the man in his native Spanish language. He also told us that the man was probably not a Cuban, as we had earlier thought, but he spoke Spanish more like he was a Mexican. “Do you really believe this is the last we will see of them?” Lou asked.