Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1893-05-11


not far from the water more serious
words were passing between Old China
and the tall lover of Muriella. The old
dealer in green cocoanuts and occult
mysteries was listening with i'll con-
cealed pleasure to the man who was beg
ging a favor at her hands. No love
scrape about tho shores of that pretty
bay ever escaped her notice, and nothing
pleased the stout old bumboat woman SO
much as to be sought out by the amor
GUS of the upper classes to listen to such
Information from her lips as Is sought
| from the stsecond sight mediums Of our
own country.
$50 you want to buy the Black Pearl?
To buy It'll You fool" shrieked Old
China when the Mexican had finished
his story. What do you know about
it?'
II know what was said when the COM
andante was found dead, and that the
police were afraid to search for it. Five
hundred pesos for its use tonight-that
is all ask"
'sThe police are fools, and you are a
fool. | know nothing about the Black
Pearl
"Come, China. A thousand pesos for
its use and the knowledge how to use it. "
"a thousand pesos muttered the old
woman. 'Have you the money with
your"
"Aye, that | have, and l want its use
for only this one night"
China waddled into an adjoining room,
whence after much delay she brought
forth a package carefully wrapped and
sealed. "You must not undo this, senior,
she said, '.or you, too. will suffer if you
see the pearl.
The laughter and song in the adobe
casita stopped at a knock on the outer
door, and Ned Warren's pretty Acapul-
can answered the summons. A neat
parcel was handed her by the messenger,
which she eagerly unfolded. "With the
compliments Of -" it said, but she
knew the handwriting.
"How funny at this hourr' she thought,
but her swapping black eyes danced with
glee as she undid the parcel and found it
to contain an immense black pearl set
in beaten yellow metal of quaint work
manship. At her exclamation Of delight
the others grouped about, and the object
of their admiring glances was laid upon
the table for inspection.
An instructive shudder passed through
Sanford as Muriclla laid it under the
n,,, d11 1i.rI,4 r. .,n,,,,,i ~ a,,,;4 4, ,,a,,,
liar light, and queer, pricking sensa-
tion went through his veins as he viewed
the jewel-the largest of its kind he had
ever seen. As he looked a feeling Of ex-
hilaration came over him, such as he
had not felt during the evening.
THAT last drink of tequila was too
much" he thought. but the others, too,
were beginning to evince signs of liveli-
ness even greater than all the hilarity Of
the night had brought forth. A faint
blue haze seemed to covergavery object
in the room The figures of the girls at
intervals looked far away and then near
by, while a feeling cf utter recklessness
peryaded his whole being. All the phan-
tasms Of the opium cater could not be
more weird than those which came into
Sanford's brain as his gaze was riveted
on the jewel lying among the candles
grouped around it on the table. In their
dim light it seemed to grow and grow,
emitting dcmoniacal glow that, but for
the spirit of recklessness which possessed
him, would have filed his soul with
dread.
1.-THE fandango, cried one Of the girls,
with avid burst Of laughter. "Let us
dance once me- for / feel as though my
feet were on fire. and when the guitar
sounded the notes of the dance the danc-
ers seemed to enter into it with fiendish
delight and boisterious enthusiasm. Back
and forth they crossed, swaying like will
lows in the wind, with hands on hips and
heads we'll back, their feet pattering and
stamping to the twanging Of the guitar
Faster and faster their movements be-
came, as the music seemed to fill every
fiber with its wild action.
Five bodies were found in the adobe
casita next morning, but with no marks
of violence or other signs to show the
cause of death.
The gossips of that quaint Mexican
seaport tell a weird tale Of a black pearl,
taken from the gulf, that acts upon be-
holders as does the loco weed upon all
who taste that evil plant, and they tell,
too, Of mad dance of death years ago
when two foreigners and three beauties
of the place fell exhausted about the
jewel, whose demoniacal fire kept them
treading the fandango till every energy
was gone and life went from them
John Craig in San Francisco Argonaut.