The Iowa transcript. (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1858-1866, 1865-10-04

/
Straightway q jet of compressed mir was
spirited into the recess, and the tunnel be
fresh as an icc-housc. We lighted the lamps
| immcd iately, and stole forward to mark tn,
result
! A space thrice as great rs single explo
sion generally makes, had been cxcavatcd; q
great foundation rib Of primitive rock form.
ed the bottom, and this was full Of small
glimmering objects, unshattcred and crystal.
lied, which dimly twinklcd through the dust
and debris. | lifted from the rubbish, n
smoothly -anglcd lump of shining something,
and brought il toward \ lamp.
| am swearing to what speak upon the
Evangcls. The crystal was clear topaz,
golden yellow in color, and as big as pull
let's egg.
One Of the workmcn here came to me,
holding something in his horny palm, as big
as my own great possession. dropped the
topaz with cry. The dolt was carrying a
marvellous emerald
We all looked into each others faces for a
moment, and then the whole four rushed 10
the fissure; the usually dark and gray debris
shonc keenly here and there, and saw in an
instant that there had been some strange
CONFUSION At this part Of the mountain all
the strata lay in this small space, crushed or
bitten through with 4 great granite upheav-
nj. and the various orders had been lifted
almost vertically; q coarse, micaccous sand
stone, traversed by what seemed accidental
veins Of quartz, lay on the left. running at
its edges into hard conglomorate which
barely yielded to blow Of pick, and by
gradations of hard argilaceous slate, the re-
verse side Of the fissure, wonderful to say,
closed with solid basalt A distribution SO
much at variance with my experience was
not yet without precedents, but in the intcn-
sity Of the moment had no time to think
PROSTATE column Of basalt, half concealed
in the dust, sparkled at my feet, and as |
tnmbled it towards the clear light, il broke
across its breadth and disclosed the most
beautiful sapphire have ever seen, consd-
ering with regard either TO its purity or its
exceeding regularity.
At this instant one Of the men who was
exploring another side of the cavern uttered
n shout:
Don al Scbatico, The stone is all gold =
say again that my hand is on the Evan
gels, and that tell but what saw. Through
the sandstone strayed a vein OF quartz. and
this was Of mingled pale and metallic appear
ancc, and the metallic place, were not sui
pilates, as | thought Mt first, but almost pure
gold.
At this intelligence my comrades went al
most wild. They were poor beasts and knew
not the value Of gems, but once or twice in
their lives they had touched louis, and at
the mention of gold their animal greeds
burnt in their eyes till our little cloistcr
and for IN instant pressed my head in my
hands to know if were poor Pierro Tag
lairc indeed, or the Prince of Golconda !.
My struggle ceased at II hard. hoarse word
from Crispino Bacco:
These arc mine. am the iiscovercr d
them all; because head the gang Do none
Of you take up one stone. -
! looked at him and shuh,lcred. His face
was like = wild beasts his fingers We're
crooked hard, like a eat when she is angry.
lie did not weep nor embrace ,.s nj this gcn-
crai good fortune. but regarded us rs enc
mics coniesting his spoil.
"Crispino" | said. .arc You mad Ii
we arc to possess this wealth il must he in
common, and the secret must be kept among
us, otherwise the crown will claim every
ounce of gold"
at is minc.' he howled, al am its dis
coyerer. Stand Off -
saw the gathering fury on the faces OF
our two assistants. They muitcrcd. and
their hrows worked and hlackcncd. and to-
gether they rushed upon Hacco. Before |
could stir or speak he lay upon the rock. and
they had pounded his skull with the very
nuggets Of quartz which contained the veins
Of gold.
When their fury ahated and the murder
had been done, they stopped and brcathed
hard. The sight of the blood sobered them
they turned upon me.
.You will bctray Us, Rcccamorto2"
] saw that the crime they had done would
engulf us all unless could hiring my superb
or Intelligence TO bear upon these poor
Wrc,ches.
EITHER we must all die Int one. Fclicc.
Gasparc. | said. land he live Il fugitive OF
he hung; or we must agree to share this Sc
cret aud be faithful to each other. Take up
the body Of Hacco and run it 10 the mouth Of
the gallery; say that tho mine exploded pre-
maturcly and killed him; then return to
me"
set fajasto and all its pistons To work
immediately. that the directory might not s,ls
poet anything, and before the two men had
returned the PERPETRATORS were gashing the
softer slate and shale ut the rate Of metre
an hour. Every clip of the piston rods dis
engaged some new fragment, all beautiful
with crystals, and giving back to the iron
thud the keen ring Of precious metals.
Chrysobery lay imbedlcd in the coarse gran
tie at the bottom. The black and brown
Savoyard diamonds which had been found
in past years in the beds Of torrents, were
here, Of n pale blue lustre, rarer than had
ever read Of them, and | disengagcd one
81 ba
tanning seventeen. The gold quartz was also
varied by the glimmer Of platinum, and n
shower of garnets fell thrice. some of them
so big that they could not lie i'll the palm Of
my hand.
do not forget that to all this am ccrti-
flying under oath, and | need not specify
when the whole truth Of what disclose will
be known tomorrow to the crown. If il he
not patent already II is enough to add
TINT in the thirty or forty mines wherein my
drills broke down this precious deposit III
the mountains. bcheld and handled more
wealth than all the closters Of Dresden hold,
or the great mogul guards in his treasures.
The gems that fell were larger than all pre-
ccdcnts admitted, and Of wondrous crystalli-
cation. The topaz, bcryl, tourmaline
ryacolitas. spinclle, and corundum, were
often in the same fragment, and there to-
gether rs il hidden years before. Sapphircs
i little dull by the earth to which they were
attached, and weighing three hundred carats,
were common as pebbles around me- fill.
cd my pockets with the rarest, aud finding
others more precious still, threw them all
away and gathered and gathered, till ut last
my head began to reel with possession, and
sat upon tho ground, beneath my engines
and lallrhc,l like one Mtlcss [ did moi be-