Mexico weekly ledger., 1891-09-24

you Lh0nyhL you c0utU TOD me-
Keppel Darke, finding that the red
haired man was a Frenchman, spoke to
him in that language, with which he had
a tolerable familiarity. Dupont, indeed,
had lived in London, and knew enough
English to make himself understood.
But In his present desperate condition his
thoughts inevitably expressed themselves
in his mother tongue, and much OF tho
time he was probably not aware of what
he was saying. He had been i'll four
days, the seeds of the fever contracted
on board the ship having broken out two
or three weeks later. DeliriEm occasion
ally oyercame him, and he would mutter
things that he fancied he was keeping
locked in his heart.
"Are you alone here?' asked Keppel.
"Have you no physician"
'.No, no." replied the other. 81 shall
soon be well. Ineed no one. Who sent
you here? Who are you? 1 am only a
poor man. Have you seen Maurice?
Bah! he is dead. You can't deceive me.
have done him no harm. 1 buried him
the captain and 1. He cannot come
back"
What is your disease?' Keppel asked.
"They all had it-all but the captain
and me. had seen yellow fever before;
1 was not afraid. shall get well; l & am
not going to die with all these millions
Il am a poor man; l have wandered up
here; I'm looking for work. Maurice
he follows me everywhere. What differ
ence can it make to him what / do with
the treasure? A dead man has other
things to think about. The emperor has
enough without this. What is he but a
robber? He stole them; have as much
right to them as he" His voice sank in
unintelligible mutterings.
what does all this mean?' said KEEP
pei to himself. ''Treasure-the emperor
"a dead man-robbery! He has muir
dered somebody, probably. And he has
yellow fever. He'll die of it, too, and I
may catch it myself. No matter; here I
am, and here l stay, for tonight at least.
Ican't go any farther, and l can't leave
a dying man either, even if he is a muir
derer. I have a special sympathy for
murderers, l suppose. AT any rate, I am
as much of a vagaboud and desperate as
he is. This is a poor place to die in, but
he will be better off with me here than
he would be alone. Though he doesn't
seem very hospitable, I'll make myself
at home"
He raised the head Of the sick man,
smoothed out his pillow and r~earranged
the bed clothes. As he was stopping to
tuck the blanket under the mattress he
felt something cold touch his forehead,
and lifting his head quickly confronted
the muzzle of the revolver within an inch
of his mouth. The sick mans finger was
upon the trigger, and his features We're
twisted into II hideous look of terror and
maieyolence. Keppel had the instinct to
remain perfectly still, with his gaze fixed
upon the other.
"You thought you could rob me" said
Dupont, between his teeth. "T'm not to
be robbed while I'm alive, and you shall
die first. know you-accursed spyl"
His long yellow finger had begun to
contract to pull the trigger. Keppel's
lips grew white; death looked ugly. Sud-
denly a startling change swept over Du-
points visage. His red eyebrows lifted
in a strange stare, his eyeballs protruded
and his black lips curled back from his
teeth. But his eyes were directed no
longer upon Keppel, bnt to the farther
corner of the room. The next instant he
had pointed the revolver in that direc-
ton, and fired over Keppel's shoulder,
almost deafening him. He then dropped
the weapon and sank back screaming,
with his hands over his face,
Keppel secured the revolver, and then
looked round. There was no third per.
son in the room. The bullet had passed
through a wainscot panel.
"What the devil were you shooting
atp' he demanded sternly.
"a bullet won't kill him." quarered
the man; '.he can die but once. But he
comes-he is always here. It's the treas.
ure no wants. What can a dead mar
do with treasurer
"Your dead man has saved my life. a,
all events" muttered Keppel, "and Tn
obliged to him for it. As for you-well
You will never harm any one again.
This is an ugly night; l wish it were
over. And what of tomorrow.
He found another candle, lit it, and,
having put the revolver in his pocket
set out to explore the house. There wa;
scarcely anything in it except the bar,
rooms; but in "a closet in the kitchen hs
found some loaves of bread almost a.
hard as stone. He soaked it in waite,
and ate some of it. He brought q glas.
OF water for the sick man, who drank il
eagerly. That's goodr' the poor wretcl
said. 81 shall get WELL"
81 don't think you will get we'll" re
turned keppel. lyon look to me like ,
dying man, and you hal better realiz,
1t. know nothing about the treatmen
OF yellow fever, and it's no use trying t,
find a doctor tonight. II you are aliv,
tomorrow I'll go for one. Meanwhile, i
there Is anything you want done, in cas-,
yon do die, you had better let me know
II now"
Bring no n here" said the other
with tremulous earnestness, Listen
When l get well l will divide with you
there's enough for both: we shall be tw,
OK the richest men in the world. There
are milions-millionsi I have told no
body. No M knows I am here. If the,
came they would take 1t all and put n
In jail. What is the sense Of that Man
rice knows, but he can't tell; il ism,
Maurice-it is his spirit, that's all. HI
can't speak, he al only look; and n,
but | IAN see him. We are safe If
get WELL"
lyon had better keepquiet,' said KEEP
pei. you're firing yourself out an,
you're talking nonsense. There ia n,
treasure here; IL you didn't die of th,
fever you would starve TO death, as IA
"a can see. What is your name. ans
what did you come here for?'
II am a poor peddler. Ipeddle wa.
FRUITS. ! came here to be out of the wa,
mot TO be interfered with. 1 shall tai
them down to New York and sell them
q at q time. The least of them ;
worth a hundred thousand francs
There are thousands of them.n
keppel turned away im~patiently. "
am going to tako a nap he said. /"
nw some fishnets and bagying in til
kitchen, and I'll make q bed of theI
hero In the corner. If you want any
thing you can call OUT
He got the materials and made hi
bed accordingly. His fatigue was q
great, after the exertions and excit<
msnt Of the previous two days, that /
feil asleep the instant he lay down. b
was awakened by . wild scream and
heavy tall
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