San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1893-02-22

| u ne treasure fftutD OF ALzLUn.
mower work, armlets and anklets, all of
solid, heavy material and skillful work
manship.
Along the side of the chamber were
ranged three rows Of urns filled with
gold dust, kingly store of itself, that
equaled tn, ELDEST fantasy of the Ara
| bian story 1 Ter and made Eric almost
fear that he was dreaming. Among all
these treasures Iklapel picked his way,
and Gilbert followed him until the old
man paused before heap of silver bars
and lifting several passed them to him,
saying:
"Six of these are all that you require.
They are worth thousand taos and
more, but we need not be particular.
1t is years since these things were
touched. We do not have as much
need of them as we once had, it seems"
How long have these treasures been
accumulating?" inquired Eric.
| MANY thousands of years. In the
ancient times we had twenty temples,
| and these statues adorned them the
| utensils and furniture were used in
them, and the people yearly brought
new and rare gifts; but as our race de-
clined they were gathered here, and here
they have remained"
But are they safe here, with no
| guardY'
Very safe, indeed, for no one knows
| except ourselves of their existence or of
| this chamber. OF course our people
| know of the maze of underground pas
sages, but they fear to penetrate them,
and the passage leading to this room is
well concealed, as you observed. But
we will return with our burden before
it grows late" And the aged priest
moved up the dark way with the light,
while Gilbert carried the silver ingots.
1t was no mean load; they weighed
| many poInds, and his arms ached when
they reached the sacred chamber and
climbed up into daylight.
That night Eric went with Kulcan to
Chalpa's dwelling for the first and only
time, taking the silver with him. They
| arrived late, and as they entered heard
| loud and boisterous voices in eager
clamor. There were four half drunken
| priests squatting around the tablet Of
stone eagerly watching the fitting of tie
| dicebox. Their uproar drowned a
noise that Kulcan and Gilberts entrance
had made, and Chalpa, with his back L.
he sat waiting for the bets to be made, a
sneering smile upon his face and his
hand over the end of the box. He start
| ed as Kulcau seated himself at his side
saying:
"Chalpa, have come with the thou
| sand taos to once more, and for the last
time, test my luck and yours. Remem-
Der the agreement-all my lOsings and
| my sister against thousand taos"
Chalpa turned pale, stole a scared
| glance at Eric and faltered. He found
himself in difficult position. He feared
Eric most nightly and felt that his
methods were suspected if not known
to him; but he dared not hesitate, and in
| a moment he had resolved to allow Kul-
can to regain his wealth, or seem to at
least, by the same device whereby he
had lost it. He smiled and said, with
we'll assumed heartiness:
1T is well, my Kulcan. wished to
give you an opportunity to recover, if
possible, what you had lost. 1t is fair
bargain"
| "Then l wager you now on the odd
dice five hundred taos against my Sis
terri cried Kulcan, placing three ingots
on the tablet. A couple of other players
laid wagers also upon the odd side, and
Chalpa tilted the box.
One glance showed that Kulcan had
won. Chalpa's face was serene, how
ever, as he replaced the dice, and the
young priest again wagered five hundred
taos against his lost property. He tilted
the box and shot the dice out upon the
tablet once more, and Kulcan won again.
He had freed his sister and regained his
estates, and now for revenge! With a
look full of meaning into Chalpa's cruel
eyes, he cried:
"Once more, five hundred against five
hundred taos on the even numbersV
Chalpa did not dare refuse nor did he
dare cheat, yet five hundred taos was an
immense sum for him, successful though
he had been i'll his operations. He felt
Gilbert's keen searching gaze upon him,
and he feared to look up. His nervous
fingers shook the box, and the dice rat
tied.
Come" cried Kulcan. "YOu do not
fear the test now. You have taken the