The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1888-06-14
CHAPTER XxxIY

CHAPTER XxxIv
"AsD so THEY WE'RE MARRIED.
Tragic was the fate OF Haydee. but moro
Fifteen men. all stone dead, Lying scat
tered. heller SHELTER, here and there, gashed
and bloody, and not one Of them with his
back to the foe-brave. il bad!
All. that was a dreadful Aght, . fearful
slaughter! And all through greed Of gold.
But thus was the cruel death Of Haydse
avenged.
What should be done with their bodiesi
Should they leave them to rot there on
Afric's burning sands for the foul birds
lowering high in air to gorge themselves
upons Or cast them on the ebbing tide,
food for the carrion fish Of the sea.
They fought like brave men. Give them
brave mans burial.' quoth Fairfax.
'Where!" queried Nebbitt
Didn't they come to find the well!'-
this with grim humor. Then show it to
them
Why should we prolong the tale Of their
African adventures by telling how they
cleared away almost every vestige CT that
frightful scene of carnage; how they tenn
porarly heaped the hideous pile Of corpscs
behind the walls Of the tower; how they left
the treasure still hiding IN the we'll; how,
when morning and the 'Namovna" came,
they lay lolling about on the sands, smoking
and chatting as unconccrnedly as If they
had not passed night Of horror; how they
satisfied the captains questionings with the
remark that their universal condition arose
from a little tussle with some wandering
vagabonds on shore; and then ferociously
'sat down. on all further queries on his
part-''by the way, We scared EN- well with
those cannon; how Nebbitt and Fairfax
clcverly improvised holiday at Tangiers
for the entire crew, captain and all, much
to their amazement; how. when the men
were well ashore, the five heroes, all alone,
steamed back to the tower, and how there
they completed the work begun by the dead
Matteo and his associates, and, too. with
the tools Of the latterl
Haydee's description of her father
wealth fell far short Of the truth. Casks
yes, casks upon casks !! completely filled
and packed and literally bursting with
thousands and thousands of crisp silver and
| gold coins, long bars Of yellow bullion o1
the purest of virgin gold, great slabs OF
| rich, white, shining silver, box after box
loaded and grooming with diamonds before
whose brilliance those of Solomon's mines
were as colorless glass, pearls, whose opal
luster would have dimmed and made pale
those Of Cleopatra, rubies, amethysts,
| garnets. onyx-stones, opals, q thousand,
yea! ten times thousand priceless flashing
| gems of purest water!--wealth that days
of ceaseless counting could scarcely enumer.
ate!
Lastly. they found golden, jeweled cask
| ct in which was a scroll whercon were
| written these words:
To thee, Haydee. my daughter, bequeath
/ my own wealth, increased by that Of Mu-
| ley Al Halef, the last and greatest astrol.
| oyer. who was buried with his treasures
| every slave who took part in the burial,
| being at once put to death by his mistress,
| with whom the secret died. Accident re-
| vealed to me his tomb. Thy riches will
make thee Princess
Casting the corpses of the dead sailors
down the well, they sealed the top with stone
over which was again spread the turf.
Nebbitt had q private room on the INA
movna'' IN which he sometimes kept his val
uables. He alone possessed the key and
never allowed any one to enter. This was
exactly suited for receiving the treasures
Of the well. And there they packed them
high and close, and dashed them securely
down, to keep the casks and boxes from
rolling about in . storm; and, having made
all fast. they shut the door and Nebbitt
turned the lock again and put the key in his
safe.
When the seamen came aboard once more
from the streets Of Tangiers they exhibited
great curiosity over the last strange freak Of
their master and his guests. Who ever heard
of giving aholiday to all your crew and run
ming of with your own steam yachts Their
sharp eyes sought evidence for its cause,
but found none land it was many . long
day ere the Tangiers trip ceased to be their
fayorite topic Of conversational SO they all
fell to work, and, at nightfall, Tangiers was
| far behind.
=
In an upper chamber Of Cragie Castle ali
Lydia and Natalie, busted with theil
needles. Both have been silent for some
time, as both are deep in thought. A maid
| enters quietly and hands note to Lydia. II
| an instant the hot blood mounts TO hen
| face, and in an instant, too, it goes. She
looks up at the girl with nod and goes or
with her work. BY and by she glances
hastily and furtivcly at Natalie, who ap
pears to be still deeply absorbed in hel
fancy-work. Then she rises and steals soft
~ out Of the room on tiptoe, unnoticed by
the Princess; returning soon to the foot OF
the stairs, her face trifle pale and her lips
neryously working. With strong effort
she controls herself and calls out, in ordi
nary tones:
20 Natalie, just step down into the con
servatory moment, will you: have some
thing want to show YOU
A rustic of robes is heard on the stairway
a light step echoes down the long hall, the
| curtains are pulled apart and q slight