The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1893-06-15

well concealed. As you observed. But
We viii resurn with orr bursie,1 before
il grows late" And the aged priest
moved up the dark way with the light.
while Gilbert carried the silver :ngots.
Ii was no mean load; they weighed
many poands, 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. ana 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 the
dicebox. Their uproar drowned any
noise that kulcan and Gilbert's entrance
had made. and Chalpa. with his back TO.
ward the door. did not perceive them as
he sat waiting for the bets to be made, a
sneering smile upon his face and his
hand over the end of the tox. He start
ed as Kulcan 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 agreemenr-all my losings and
my sister against Thousand taos"
Chalpa turned pale, stole a scared
glance ut Eric and faltcred. He found
.i;rie>>f 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 tie same device whereby he
had lost it. He smiled and said. with
well assumed heartiness:
at is we'll, my kulcan. ! wished to
give you an opportunity to recover, If
possible, what you had lost. 1t is fair
bargain"
''Ihen | wager you now on the odd
dice five hundred taos against my sis
teri cried kulcan, placing three ingots
on the tablet. A couple of other players
laid wagers also npon 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 lis 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 numbersr'
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 III his operations. He felt
Gilberts 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
same wager before from me!'
Il fear nothing" the gambler an
swered. Il take the bet!'
The other players also placed smaller
sums upon the board upon the even side,
and the trickster tipped the box. The
eleven clay cubes rolled across the stone
with clinking rattle, and the eager eyes
counted quickly. Kulcan had again
won. Chalpa had lost the fruits of sew
eral years of swindling and usury,
Gilbert had seen t'Iat the odd dice had
come from the left and the even ones
from the right end of the dicebox and
formed his conclusions, but he refrained
from announcing his discovery, or rather
his suspicious, and when Chalpa had
made over to Kulcan the sum of his
winnings they withdrew, followed by
the other players, who were delighted
with Kulcan's good fortune.
Chalpa, on being left alone, threw
himself upon the floor in q savage frenzy
of rage and despair. and then and there
resolved to kill not only Kulcan and Gil
bert, but old Iklapel, for he knew the
secret Of the treasure vault and sur
missed how the silver had been obtained.
Although he would have feared to touch
it himself, he realized that Iklapel would
give it willingly to Eric for any purpose,
and he saw all of his hopes and plans
vanish into air with heart SO full OF
wandered in the canyon until nearly
dawn. When he came home he had per-
fected a scheme of revenge dlaboifcal in
its ingenuity and hellish i'll its complete
ness, to which, from that day forth, he
devoted all his thoughts and his tireless,
sleepless, unresting energies.
But Gilbert did not suspect this feel
bo Ohcor7-oS thot Cho 1na
was endeavoring to gain his liking by a
careful attention, but he suspected some
purpose much less serious. However,
he did not allow it to disturb him, and
his thoughts at this time were too full
of work and plans to admit of much else.
More than a year and half had
passed since his arrival, and in the last
few months he had done much work.
He had thrown q strong dam across the
stream. built stone mill, made the ma
chinery for it in the old German method
of wood and silver. and was almost
ready to turn the water into the sluice-
way upon the silent wheel. But few
details remained to perfect the mechan-
ism and astonish the Atzlans by the
sight of the river grinding their corn.
He had established the knowledge and
art of glazing pottery, the making of
candles; he had improved the looms and
added modern devices, perfected their
stills. taught them how to preserve
fruits, smoke their meats, and in hun
dred other ways effected great changes
and found the people eager to adopt
lobor cayipc ,0athOdS
But he wished to make still greater
changes. He had found in some of the
strata of the canyon walls iron in great
plenty, and he was SO constantly ham
pered by the need of this indispensable
metal that he had begun the erection OF
a furnace and ordered the extraction OF
a large amount of ore. The supervising
of these operations completely filled his
days with arduous labor. He had com
menced his furnace with modest ideas
intending to smelt his iron in the crude
manner which Livingstone found the
natives using in Central African sim
pie conical clay furnaces with rude bel