Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1888-03-22
CHAPTER XXXIV.
"AND so THEY WE'RE MARRIED.

Tragic was the fate of Haydee, but more
awful yet was the end of her murderers
Fifteen men, all stone dead! Lying scat
tered, helter-slelter, here and there, gashed
and bloody, and not one of them with his
back to the foe-brave, if bad
Ali that was a dreadful fight, fearful
slaughter And all through greed Of gold.
But thus was the cruel death of Haydee
avenged.
What should be done with their bodies?
Should they leave them to rot there on
Afric's burning sands for the foul birds
lowering high in air to gorge themselves
upona Or cast them on the ebbing tide,
food for the carrion fish of the seai
''They fought like brave men. Give them
brave mans burial!'' quoth Fairfax.
''Where!n queried Nebbitt.
Didn't they come to find the welll"-
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 of that
frlghtful sceneof carnage; how they tenn
porarily heaped the hideous pile of corpses
behind the walls of the tower; how they left
the treasure still hiding in the well; how,
when morning and the ''Namovna' came,
they lay lolling about on the sands, smoking
and chatting as unconcerned1y 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 'em well with
those cannon; how Nebbitt and Fairfax
cleverly 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 latter?
Haydee's description Of her fathers
wealth fell far short of the truth. Casks
yes, casks upon casks completely filed
and packed and literally bursting with
thousands and thousands of crisp silver and
gold coins, long bars of yellow bullion of
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, a 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 scroll whereon 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 private room on the ''Na-
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 freakof
their master and his tests. Who ever heard
of giving holiday to all your crew and rum
ming of with your own steam yachtl Their
sharp eyes sought evidence for its cause,
but found none land it was many a long
day ere the Tangiers trip ceased to be their
favorite topic of conversation, so they all
fell to work, and, at nightfall, Tangiers was
far behind.
In an upper chamber Of Cragie Castle sit
Lydia and Natalie, busted with their
needles. Both have been silent for some
time, as both are deep in thought A maid
enters quietly and hands note to Lydia In
an instant the hot blood mounts to her
face, and in an instant, too, it goes. She
looks up at the girl with nod and goes on
with her work. By and by she glances
hastily and furtively at Natalie, who ap-
pears to be still deeply absorbed in her
fancy-work. Then she rises and steals soft
~ out Of the room on tptoe, unnotioed by
the Princess; returning soon to the foot of
the stairs, her face trifle pale and her lips
nervous1y working. With strong effort
she controls herself and calls out, in ordi-
nary tones: