The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1877-12-22


assembled to the uppe' portion of the
house. The staircase led him to cor
ridor which he pursued until he came to
door which was but, partially closed.
He knew the room well; it was the
chamber of the bankers daughter.
Salano peered into the apartment eau
tiously, and perceivifg that its fair oc-
cupant was buried in slumber, he en-
tered silently. 1t was an elegant cham
Der, and fitted up in rich and lavish
manner. Elegant books, flowers, paint
ings and statuettes we're there, and a
profusion of articles of vertu and costly
ornaments of ormolu and buhl. A taper
was burning before 2 virgin in a recess,
and when the burglar perceived it he
crossed himself pioIsly, as all good Span
iards should.
The eyes of Sdlano sparkled when
they rested upon the fair senorita' s
dressing table. Diamonds of rare size
and water, rubies and glittering sap
phires, blended their sheen with
cdbochon emeralds, pearls and beryl. He
caught up the precious gems hastily and
placed them in casket standing open
on the table-rings, chains, bracelets,
watches and brooches, all shared SINH
lar fate. And money too; for in beau
tifully embossed and jeweled portemon-
maize he found goodly supply of bdttets dc
banque and draft payable at sight for
thirty thousand reals, which the banker
had that day presented the young lady
as a birthday gift, and this he did not
fail to appropriate for his own use and
behoof.
Salano had scarcely completed pack
ing up the valuables when the somnolent
beauty moved uneasily on her couch and
manifested signs of awakening He
seized the precious casket, and spraDg
with cat-like silence and agility into
what he supposed to be closet or ward
robe, but in reality it was dumb-waiter,
communicating with the kitchen below.
Imagine his astonishment, then, when,
in moment more he found himself
sprawling on the floor of the culinary
apartment, while million or two of
stars of the first magnitude were dane
ing before his bewildered eyes. The
cook, who was entertaining a male
friend, was fully persuaded that the APP
partition in the black domino descending
50 suddenly by the dumb-waiter could
be no less parsonage that Satdnas him
self, and thereupon she set up series of
hysterical screeches that would have
awakened the dead. Her lover was no
whit less frightened than herself, and
in attempting to secrete himself in the
fireplace he brought his naked feet in
contact with the living Goals of fire
which the cook had recently covered
with ashes, and he burned them severely,
and the pain caused by the burning
cinders made him leap so suddenly that
he overturned kettle of boiling water
sitting upon the hob and in the agony
and terror he rolled upon the floor, and
howled and prayed to his patron saint
in manner at once ludicrous and pain
full to behold,
The cook Sas the first to recover pres
ence of mind, which she Immediately
made manifest by an absence of body,
for she fled uttering piercing screams,
leaving her companion to his fate, what
ever it might be.
In the passage she encountered Don
Alamada, and the appearance of sec
ond specter in somber domino added,
if possible, to the terror of the frightened
domestic, and she vanished up the stairs
before mentioned with dispatch that
would have done credit to the most agile
harlequin.
The way being clear, Salano joined his
companion, and the two escaped from
the house, and ere long were at their
lodgings engaged in inspecting and di-
viding their booty.
The piercing screams of the fright
ened cook and the howls of the boorish
lover soon aroused the entire house, and
it was some time before it's master could
gain any clue to the origin of the terri
BILE clamor. The cook insisted that an
apparition of man bedecked with rib
bons and tinsel like asatGdor, and fol-
lowed by specter bull, and roaring in
anger and breathing sulphurous flames
from his nostrils, had suddenly emerged
from the dumb-waiter, while her lover
with teeth chattering with terror stoutly
maintained that it was most certainly
the evil one, inasmuch as he had seen
his barbed tail and closely observed his
cloven hoofs.
1t is scarcely necessary to add that La
Bonita on New Years Day acquired the
much-coveted diamond ring, but within
a week she decamped for Paris, escorted
bya well-known gambler and roue; and a
few days later Salano and Don Alamada
were arrested and thrown into prison,
the authorities of Barcelona having
traced the robbery to them by means Of
some of the gems which they attempted to
dispose OF being recognized by the mer-
chants of the city s-ssS
-
ACCORDING to the Figaro, the explora-