The Arkansaw traveler., 1882-06-18
Legends of Santa Barbara.
Derrick Dodd.l


 Years ago there rosssllAa he seen on A hill overlooking the town and the sea the spa cious adobe of the Spanish freebooter-a sor of Californian Captain Kidd. who prcyed upon the commerce of the south- ern Pacitic. and who. finally. disappeared. sunk at sea by Portuguese galley, II was said. and leaving large sums of iil-gotten gold buried somewhere m the vicinity of the town. Many year did the simple natives search and dig for the ever elusive treasure. until the vcry cattle were left un- herded upon the hills tha, ihcir owners might indulge m the feverish search for sudden wealth that disturbed the even tenor of their pastoral life. They were lyarice bitten. The good padre preached to no purpose against the sin of eovetous- ness. until his parish was almost brough, to distress and famine. One day the the good man called his flock together and said:
 My children. I have had vision. Dur holy patron. Santa Barbara. has ap- oeared To me in d trance. She promises io aid your search for the pirates gold. To give you good luck she has blessed this bag of seeds. three of which you must drop into each hole you dig in quest of he treasure.
 They rescrently obeyed. and the fair lill slopes were undermined in new zeal Time passed by. bur when the discour aged tceasure seekers at length abandoned thcir quest. hundreds of orange trees held their shining globes to the sun. These he natives gathered and shipped 10 the all-devouring nav of the great mining .ity tha: had sprung up in the north. and when the shining dollars they brough, ,lIttered in their sun-browned hands the sise padre would smile and say = Be hold. here at last IS the pirates treasure. my children"
 If there should ever be a summer resort mountaInous-or even hIlly coun- that does not possess Lover Leap. VIC wish il ;o be put Tn evidence d, 1ncc. Ofcourse. Santa Barbara possesses oae of the dizziest altitude. although from , touching tabieau we came upon as we gained the summit of the beetling orag Tn question. the other day. Lovers Sleep would be the mfr appropriate. Al all events the one provided to satisfy the sem ,imental demands ef tourists Tn this Yieln- itv has a satisfactory fall of some 800 feet. 1ui;e enough to accommodate the mos; suieidally romantic of crossed lovers.
 Ne, long ago the blooming but im- nature daughter of d neighbering ranch man. who had probably been paren,ally 'estrietcd from sugaring her own tea. or molassesing her bread on both sides. d,- :crmincd to elnpe. She vanished accord- nslv. with a corresponding idiot of the male species. and ior three weeks their distracted relatives hunted literally high and low ior them. That Is 10 say. ticy'd d searched both the valleys and mountains f.r the fusitises. While doing the latter :, pathetic naic was discovered pinned Ia ! tree a, the very verge of the awful leap. l, explained that the lovers had resolved to perish together. and that their. mangicti forms would be found al the bot ,om of the cliff. and where they wished ,heir pulvenzcd remains buried in one grave.
 The two srief-s,rcken fathers repaired to the base of the gloomy preeipice and began Ia cxcavatc last resting place for their offspring while the rest of the fami hes searched for the fragments of the re- mans.
 While engaged in this solemn work a hired man approached and handed the father of the girl a telegram. IL was dated from Chicago. and read: Dear Pap Am dead broke: send me money to get divorced and come home The parents looked al each other. .A close observer might have observed slight spasmodic contraction of their left cyciiei,.
 a If they have jumped clear to Chicago from up there" said one looking above. guess we had better leave them to jump home again.
 You bet cmphatically responded the other. and then, looking at the hole. "l guess we had better call this days