\u201cHey Jack, look over there, a small chapel hidden behind those palm\ntrees in the jungle,\u201d said Jill, pointing excitedly, \u201clet\u2019s have a look.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jack and Jill were enjoying their vacation wandering about on the\nisland of La Gaviota in the Caribbean after having won a two-week all expenses\npaid trip in a TV contest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMaybe it\u2019s Blackbeard\u2019s chapel, the notorious pirate who became\nreligious at the end of his days,\u201d said Jack. \u201cBefore dying of yellow fever, he\nhid his treasure and his crew was never able to find it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They entered the small solitary chapel, floor and walls partly\novergrown with jungle vegetation, and saw a rectangular altar on which stood a\nlarge golden cross. A PX Christogram was embroidered on the altar cloth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLook, Jack!! There are seven cannons stuck vertically into the ground\nmuzzle first with their round ends cut off, leaving gaping holes. They are all placed\nin a semicircle in front of the altar,\u201d said Jill with a slight gasp of surprise.\n\u201cThat\u2019s crazy.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSure Jill, I also see three piles of cannon balls, four to each pile, spread\nin a fan pattern in front of the cannons. I wonder why?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI read that Blackbeard fell in love with a nun named Maria and decided\nto leave all his gold and jewels to the Church for good works, but the yellow\nfever got them both before they could do it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cReally, how interesting. Blackbeard must have been a special guy.\u201d\nJill was fascinated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Behind the altar there was a painting of the Ascension, the frame supported\nby two sturdy wooden pillars well fixed in masonry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLook at the hymn board over there, Jack. Psalms 101:3. What could that\nmean?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI know that psalm, seems Blackbeard was penitent. I wonder what the\nnumber MMMMVII inscribed in gold letters on the altar cloth stands for,\u201d said\nJack, scratching his head, \u201cand the text at the bottom of the painting:\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
GLOBULI IN FORAMINIS AURUM REVELARE<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTwelve cannon balls and seven cannons. I’ve read that Blackbeard was quite inventive, maybe there\u2019s a mechanism for opening something,\u201d Jack mused, eyeing the inverted cannons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThen the cannon balls must be involved somehow, maybe to exert\npressure, and don\u2019t forget the numbers, Jack.\u201d suggested Jill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat gives me an idea,\u201d said Jack, pulling out a pen, notepad and a calculator\nfrom his bag. Let me figure out how long it will take.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019ll Google the Latin,\u201d said Jill, cheerfully, \u201cI have a feeling we\u2019ll\nwork this out pretty soon, Jack. Say, I wonder where they\u2019re buried.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n What do you figure Jack and Jill could\ndo to uncover Blackbeard\u2019s treasure?<\/em><\/p>\nShare this:<\/h3>