San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1890-06-26

ditiOn, often knee deep in mud. their fire
arms rustirg even as they bore them. At
midnight, overcome with fatigue, they
camped at sOine deserted huts, but next
morning an ample breakfast and the re-
newed splendor of an unclouded sun re-
stored their spirits.
Retreating in this mastery manner,
it was not till the hamlet Of HuetongO
was reached that they were Oyertaken
by the enemy, and even then only be-
cause Walter permitted it. He thought
best to make stand at this point, and
he fortified himself by leveling some of
the small houses and throwing barn.
Cade across the entrance of the main
street, from the fonda on one side to the
parish church on the other. He felt the
necessity of striking blow and holding
the adversaries severely in check, other
wise they would press too closely upon
the expedition at the critical moment Of
entering the Barranca, which could not
but have a disastrous effect.
COrcovedO advanced three times and
was as often beaten back, and when he
finally made himself master of the posi-
tion-having at last adopted the policy
of setting fire to the buildings and NOV
ing by slow and cautious approaches
he found it had been deserted some time
before. Straight sticks, Stimulating mus
ket barrels, and hats stuck upon twigs
had been arranged to mislead him. So
enraged was he at the deception and at
his loss that he brutally dispatched a
few Of Walters wounded who had been
left behind.
He came up with the retreating party
anew at the borders of the BarranCa.
But, thanks to the stout defense at the
breastworks, the greater part of the
treasure was already at the bottom of
the trail Agnin a skillful rear guard
hotly contested the way. Here, too, a
new subterfuge was employed. Mules
with mock loads Of treasure and loudly
tinkling bells We're sent down by mis-
leading paths and also through the jun
gle alonS the edge or the chasm. These
were eagerly followed and served to dis
tract attention from the real movements.
The valiant rear guard, directed by Wal
ter, having accomplished all that was
possible above, now plunged down the
steep descent. They took refuge in
hooks and crannies, and, aided by skill
full sharpshooting from below, still fired
back with telling effect upon the agrees
Ors. Now and then one on each side
fell in his tracks. The enemy rolled
down huge fragments Of rock, as in some
battle Of the giants; but these, after all,
were more terrifying than dangerous.
The train WIS we'll ON its way again
along the bottom of the Barranca before
COrcovcdO's men fairly entered it. AS
they formed and began to press forward,
they were startled and given pause for
while by dire explosion Walter had
concentrated all his remaining explosives
at a single point, and now fired the
mine. Its effect was to remove the arti-
fetal dixie thrown up by the late earth
quake and allow the boiling stream to
rush in over its old bed once more. The
accumulated treasure was now safely
hidden from every human eye. Up to
this last moment he had cherished a
lingering hope of being able to take out
a still further amount,
Pablo, for his part, stared round the
canyon with greedy and fearful eye, but
nothing was as it had been on the Occa-
sion Of his visit with his master. The
superstition Of the Yellow Snake still
held good with his companions, and it
was only with great difficulty that some
of them were urged forward. Those
who had objected most strenuously were
Joined to a body of reinfOrcements which
had come up and We're sent to skirt along
the margin Of the Barranca What
with the difficulties of the ground and
the caution inspired by the prowess of
the pursued, the advance below was
necessarily slow, but Corcovedo said,
with savage glee:
I'VE shall take them presently like
rats in trap"
He counted on pushing them from be-
hind while the cooperating force should
cut them off on their exit in front.
Walter, too, saw this danger, and he
began to be weighed down by heavy
depression. His men had effected prod
igies Of valOr, but as likely as not defeat
and destruction finally awaited them.
Then, too, all these desperate deeds had.
been done, these lives had been lost, and
he felt that the treasure, even if saved,
must be tinged for cvermore as with the
lurid stain of blood. But this mood was
not of long duration; his indomitable
courage reasserted itself. There was
hope in the fact that the force above,
making their way by route which they
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