San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1890-06-20

| an old fashioned well sweep or rural New
England. Il can let down this fail end
into the water and stir up a more or less
furious protest as wish, and then move
it away again, to await the next occa-
SION"
While the strange, dumb messages
were going he sat on the steps Of the
traver 80. terrace, dreaming of her to
whom = ~ '"2rr sent, having but scant
| leisure for I-e-niAs at other times. He
thought it good to occupy hut at this
place also as a sort of spring house. In
deed he ultimately removed most of his
apparatus here and made it the head
quarters for his analyses Of the abundant
material found in his researches. In ad-
dition to the other pretexts in mind, he
might affect, in case of discovery, to be
| taking baths for rheumatism or to be a
rapt devotee of science. They would set
| him down for visionary, or even a lu-
matte, but this would only the better
withdraw attention from the vital inter
| est at stake.
When other needed preliminaries
were accomplished, he wrote, Il had to
inaugurate extensive improvements in
my way of gathering and protecting the
deposit felled some trees where the
lower margin of the forest encroaches on
the canyon, slid them down and drew
them along on kind of sled. My idea
was to erect an efficient barrier against
the searching heat and deleteriouS fumes
from the boiling stream, one behind
which | might have secure access to
the golden spring. therefore made two
very largt. heavy frames of wood. |
nailed cross pieces upon these and small
er pieces again crossing the first Then
| bethOught me what material, strong
enough for the ordeal it would have to
endure, would be suitable for filling the
| interstiCes.
In making my way along ledge at
the top Of the lower slope of talus | came
upon strange substance in strata white,
reddish or green, embedded amid ser
pantine rock and sOapstone 1t was ap-
parently a mineral, and yet it was soft,
even silky, to the touch, and elastic and
pliabie as any vegetable fibers Surely
this was the far famed asbestos, ma
terial indestructible even by the iercest
heat or flame. Nothing could have been
more OppOrtune for my purpose. con-
veyed large quantities Of it to my cabin,
prepared the tiberS, and with this
thorou tIiy Intervene the lattice work
OF NY frames, which were then ready
for use.
TO put them in place hoisted them
with small derrick to the top of the
PLATFORM that had been my first lookout
point, and from there let them carefully
down. | secured them above by sup
ports weighted with stones, and below
the sharpaned feet Of the posts We're let
into hpla, NY degrees prepared for them
il ,Lc rock.
Il next made an improved course for
the flowing metal, the first one having
more than once given way at weak
points. made it longer, too, arranging
an even grade forit across considerable
| yawning interval, and removed the re
criVing trough to greater distance.
The new receiving trough was larger and
more smoothly finished within than the
former, and ! was even capable Of Law
ishing little ornament upon it, for what
did apparatus 50 closely identified with
the garnering of this wendrOu5 treasure
not deserve: For while | set up a small
wheel in the cold brook. capable of send
ing stream into the trough to quickly
chill its contents, but this | afterwards
removed for fear of detection Further
more | scattered rough fragments Of vol
canic Stag about in every direction, to
artfully conceal, as | hoped, all traces Of
human handiwOrk
Nor was this enough. felt it nee
essary to form around all the works and
the entire place, including my hut, a
| covert of heavy stones resembling those
in the central Cairn. The dread Of dis
cOvery is never absent from my thoughts,
and. if discovered, the most desperate
| energy of one man could not expect to
avail against such fierce cupidity as
must be aroused by the temptation here
presented.
1T is true say to myself, that the
spot is not on the route to anywhere, it
is utterly desolate, nothing is to be
gained by coming here, and the strong
est prejudice exists against it. And yet,
other men may come as | have done
other men have come, as witness the SUI
perstition, and the accurate account of
the phenomenon given even by my
guides
Il brought down my derrick, set it up
again, and placed with it numerous cy-
clcpean blocks, resembling those of the