The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1865-08-25


Life is u heetlng thing, soon to be ended
Dazzling and bright, in the realms Of lirht
An angel smiled i'll her robes ct white
Smiled to think that her tears were DER.
That sorrow and grief would be hers nc
Singing with harp-notcs their sweet music
blending,
''Lfe is holy thing-pure--n ending
Francisco Dc Ln vcga-the Man-fisi
CONCLUDED
But it so chanccd that n Young
workman ill Cadiz, hearing every one
talking about this strange being. and
che unintelliSiblc expression he had
made use OF, informed his companions
That he himself came from a place
named Lierglnes, and that it was a
small town in the North OF Spain, not
far from S;lntillana. This news pro-
duced great effect; and the wise
men now began tc conjecture, that as
their guest had used only one word.
and this word the name of IL village.
the probability was that lie was born
there. They thcre1tpnn wrote. To tie
. Secretary oE the Inqaisi;ion. himself
a native OF L'e1> games, giving him I'LL
tie particulars of tue ati;li". This
gentleman Immediately Interested
himself in the business; and as he
happened to know something of the
family of Maria de Ia Vega, and had
heard of the mysterious disappearance
: 0. her son Fra ucisco, he wrote to the
widow and new children, to ask them
whether, during the last five years,
they had recei we'd any tidings of their
missing sor. They replied in the
negative, and hat every one, both in
Lierganss and Bilbao, considered that
he vas drow,1ed; for that. Oh the
occasion Of his last bathing in the
river, after having been seen swim
ming down the stream, all trace of
him had vanished, and his clothes
alone remained on the shore.
The Secretary. Don Domingo, re-
ported this intelligence to the monks
of the convent of Cadiz, with whom
he found the man-fsh had now been
staying for some considerable period.
After the lapse Of several months, u
friar, also belonging to the Franciscan
order, arrived one day at the convent.
This friar, Juan Rosende by name.
had just returned froM pilgrimage
to Jerusalem, and soon made ac-
quaintance with the apparent idiot,
whom he took under his especial
charge. He learned his history, and
also what had occurred years ago at
Bilbao; and as the good friar was
about to undertake d journey on foot
through the provinces of Spain, for
the purpose of collecting aims for the
Holy Places in Palestine, he took his
dumb protege with him, thinking it
possible that he might turn ont to be
the lost youth OF Lierganes.
In this manner, the two companions
travelled through the whole Of Spain
on foot; and it was only in the course
OF the following year (l6SO) that they
arrived at Santander. The friar now
went slightly oat Of his way, in order
to visit Licrg:snes. The. road t:lither
leads across Il tolerably high mountain,
on the other side Of which, at dis
tance of about II mile, lies the little
town. As soon as they arrived on the
summit OF tals mountain, whence the
eye commands the range of tile entire
district below, the monk turned round
to his attendant and said: ''Hitherto
I have conducted you, my son; it is
now your turn to conduct me"
The young man, without any hesi-
tation, or stopping to look much
around him, thereupon led his friend
into the village, and went straight on
to the house OF the widow Maria dc la
Vega, his supposed mother. AS soon
as the poor woman saw him enter the
. cottage, she ran towards him, claspad
him in her arms, and cried, with tears
III her eyes: "Ah, yes, yes! thou art
indeed my son Francisco--thou. art
ne who vast lost to me at Bilbao!''
= His Two brothers, one Of whom was