Mexico weekly ledger., 1889-09-26
,aApTag xxSu


Ttagic was the fate Of Haydee, but mort
awful yet wa the end of her murderers
fifteen men, all stone deadf Lying scat
tered, helter-sikelter, here and there, gashed
ind bloody, and not enc of them with his
back TO the foe-brave, If badi
All! that was q dreadful fight, q fearful
slaughteri 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
uponf Or cast them on the ebbing tide,
food for the carrion fish of the seat
'They fought like brave men. Give them
q brave mans burial ~ quoth Fairfax.
"Wherefn queried Nebbitt.
"Didn't they como to find the wellr,-
this with grim humor. sSThen 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
frIghtful scene of carnage; how they tenn.
porarily heaped the hideous pile Of corpses
behindth 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
Il chatting as unconcernedly as il they
had not passed a night Of horror; how they
satisfied the captains q~uestionings with the
remark that their universal condition arose
from q little tussle with some wandering
yagabonds on shore; and then ferociously
''sat down. on all further queries on his
part-''by the way, we scared lem web with
those cannon; how Nebbitt and Fairfax
cleverly improvised a holiday at Targiers
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 filled
and packed and literally bursting witt
thousands and thousands of crisp silver ant
gold coins, long bars of yellow bullion Of
the purest of virgin gold, great slabs Of
rich, white, shining silver, box after boz
loaded and groaning with diamonds before
whose brilliance those of Soiomon's mines
were as cOlorless glass, pearls, whose Opal
luster would have dimmed and made pale
those of Cleopatra, rubies, amethysts
garnets, o~ngx-stones, opals, a thousand,
| yea, ten tunes a thousand priceless f1ashins
| gems of purest water!-wealth that days
Of ceaseless~ counting could scarcely enumer
atei
Lastly, they found a golden, jeweled cask
ct in which was a scroll Whereon were
written these words:
"To thee, Haydee, my daughter, bequeatt
I 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 onee put to death by his mistress
with whom the secret died. Accident re
vealed to me his tomb. Thy riches vii
make thee a Princess"
Casting the corpses of the dead sailors
| down the well, they sealed the top with stons
over which was again spread the turf.
Nebbitt had a private room on the INA
movna'' IN which he sometimes kept his val
uables. He alone possessed the key anf
never allowed any one to enter. This wa:
exactly suited for receiving the treasures
of the well. And there they packed then
high and close, and dashed them securely
down, to keep the casks and boxes from
rolling about in a storm; and, having made
all fast, they shut the door n Nebbitt
turned the lock again and put the key in hi:
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 andrun
ming of with your own steam yachti Then
sharp eyes sought evidence for its cause
but found none land it was many a long
day ere the Tangiers trip ceased to be theil
favorite topic of conversation, so they all
fell to work, and, at nightfall, Tangiers was
far behind.
y = = y =
In an upper chamber Of Cragie Castle sill
Lydia and Natalie, busted with theii
needles. Both have been silent for some
time, as both are deep in thought. A maid
enters quietly and hands a note to Lydia. Ii
an instant the hot blood mounts to hel
face, and in an instant, too, it goes. She
looks up at the girl with a nod and goes OF
with her work. By and by she glances
hastily md furtively 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 b.
the Princess; returning soon to the foot Of
the stairs, her face a trifie pale and her lip:
~nervously working. With a strong effort
she controls herself and calls ont. in ordi
nary tones:
80 Natalie, just step down into the con
~servatory a moment, will youa I have some
thing l want to show you.'
A rustic of robes is heard on the stairway
alight step echoes down the long hall, ths
c%urtains are pulled apart and o slight