, 1890-08-14

money quickly, Wltuout, uoWcNei,
much success. He had come down
from San Francisco to Santa Rosa,
small village In the southern part
of the state, for change of air after
an attack of illness, and here had
made the acquaintance of Father
Fran cisco, who was In charge of
mission, and they had become great
friends.
In spite of his affected incredulity,
the old priests story made great
impression, and tn more he and the
padre talked about IL the more
plausible did 1t seem, till finally he
determined he would go in search
of the wrecked ship. He confined
his scheme to the priest, and by
promising, in case he found the
treasure, to remember the shrine of
st. Francis, he won the old mans
heart, and he entered with his
whole soul into the project.
How to gain access to the ship
was the grent difficulty, but Father
Francisco produced II queer looking
roll of bark, together with some
tough twigs and small branches;
with these he soon constructed Il
n neat and strong canoe.
"This il u boat used by the Mari
posa Indians. Its chief recommen-
dations are its strength and light
ness. 1t can also be taken apart
and rolled up 80 as to be packed on
the back of u man or n horse, and
will be the very thing to navigate
with. IL below the sandy surface IL
only mud, you can force this through
by thelhelp of n pole; IL 1t IL water
so much the better-it will float. 1t
Is tough and not easily broken. For
pole you can take good stout
cane; IL Is strong and also light. l
can furnish you one. In my work
among the Indians L had use for
these things; now they, like myself,
are being laid aside.'
At last, equipped with his canoe
and cane, II number of canteens Of
water and II lot of condensed food,
mounted on an Indian poney, Aus
tin started out, like another Don
Quixote, In search of adventure.
Alter several days travel, he left
civilization behind him and plunged
into strange and dreary country
but seldom travelled by the foot of
man. Now skirting around the
sides of mountains, now traversins
valleys deep and dreary, now clam.
bering over ranges of bald and
barren hills. At last, from one of
these ranges, he beheld the white
sands of the Colorado desert
stretched before him--but no ship
lay i'm sight, nor vestige of one.
Lying dog, that MeXicanW he
muttered, with sense of disap-
pointment. Then he laughed at
himself for expecting so easy find,
and pushing on, making his way
toward the gulf, but keeping in
among the hills as afiording Il better
vantage ground for surveying the
landscape.
These hills were bare and barren,
with only u few patches OF gray sage
brush cropping up here and there,
and which his horse did not dis
dain munching for lack of other for
age.
Day after day he journeyed on,
with no better result. His supply
of water ran low, and he became un-
easy, when to his joy he discovered
"a small spring flowing near the bot
tom of the hillside. He slaked his
thirst and refilled his canteens with
the brackish water. The sun shone
fiercely down, and the bald hills re-
flected an intolerable glare, that
made his head ache. He found he
was not as tough as he had been be-
fore his illness, but indifferent to
discomfort, he pushed on.
Ii was near the close of II long
days march, the heat Of the sun
had been intolerable and his head
throbbed and whirled-no ship in
sight; both the magazine article
and the Mexican miner had lied.
He was angry with himself for be-
ing duped; on the morrow he would
turn his face homeward.
He clambered upon the crest of
the range and the white sands of
the desert stretched before his view,
white, shining, dreary. But the
landscape had altered some, and
looked like great valley. For
miles and miles away he could dis
tinguish the gray outlines Of hills
family looming up against the
horizon. The sands of the vast val
ley looked SO much like white
ashes, and as smooth and level as
the sea. Could this be the bed of
the great river of which Father
Francisco spoke, which the desert
had devoured?
But what was that? There before
him lay the ship, all broken and
dismantled, with the glare of the
now setting sun coloring her masts
with ruddy glow. The sun sank
behind the landscape shrouded in
darkness.
Austin was now wild to investi-
gate his find. He could hardly
sleep that night for dreaming and
planning Tor the morrow. A hor-
rible thought struck him; suppose
the ship was simply n mirage Of the
descrt! He had heard of such
things.
Before the sun rose he was UP and
anXiously looking down upon his
find. Yes, there she lay ON the
white ashes of the plains, II veritable
ship! and queer looking one, such
AS he had seen in pictures of old ves-
sells. The stumps of the masts were
still standing above the deck and
the hull seemed perfect.
Surely there was some mistake
about II. But the sands of the des-
ert lay white and level like floor or
like the sea; miles and miles 1t
stretched out in q dreary monotony
before him. Clear against the horl-