The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1896-04-18

'sNonc. Tie asked me II had money,
| and without waiting TO be answered he
| gave me two handfuls of Jumps of
nodded gold from a hide bag, whereof
each lump was stamped with the sym
Dol OF the heart"
Let me see one" j said.
"Alasl my lord Ignatio, have none.
Not far from the ruined temple whore
Zibalbay and his daughter sojourned Is
the hacienda of Santa Cruz. and there.
as you may have heard, dwell gang
OF men under the leadership OF one
Dom Pedro Moreno, who are by profess
sion smugglers, highway robbers and
murderers, though they pretend 10
earn aliving by the cultivation OF coffee
and cocoa.
"As Il CHANGED In journeying home
wards, fell into the hands Of some OF
these men. They searched me, and,
finding Jumps OF gold In my pocket,
handed them over to Don Pedro him
self, who rode mp when he saw that
they had the. fish In their net. He ex-
amined the gold closely, and asked me
whence Il came. At first refused TO
answer. whereupon he said that 1
should be confined IN : dungeon 81 the
hacienda until such time as / chose TO
speak.
"Then, being mad TO get back TO my
village and learn the fate of my wife. ]
found my tongue and spoke the truth,
saying that the gold was given me in
exchange for food by an old Indian
doctor, who dwelt with his daughter
I'm a ruined temple I'm the forest.
Mother OF Heavenv said Don Pedro,
Il have heard Of this man before; but,
now know the kind OF merchandise In
which he trades. think that must
pay him a visit and learn what mill 1t
was stamped at
Then, having plucked me bare as a
fowl for the oven, they let me go with
out hurt"
I. Ignatio, sat late that night ponder
ing over these tidings that filed me
with strange hope. / threw myself
upon my bed and strove 20 sleep, but
could not. Then remembering the
scroll that my friend had given me. /
rose, purposing TO change my thoughts
In studying IL and so win sleep. IL was
hard task, but ut length mastered its
meaning, and found that 1t dealt with
mine near Cumarvo, and described
the exact position of the mouth OF the
tunnel.
This mouth, IL would appear, had
been closed up In the reign of Guate-
moe. and the scroll was written by
the cacique who had charge OF the
mine in those days, in order that rec
ord might remain that would enable
his descendants 70 reopen IL, should
time come when the Spaniards were
driven from the land. That the mine
was very rich In free gold was shown
by the Weights of pure metal stated I'm
this scroll 10 have been sent year by
year to the court of Nontezuma by this
cacique, and also by the fact that it
was thought worth hiding from the
Spaniards.
Early on the morrow / went TO the
room OF Senior Strickland and spoke TO
him with heavy heart.
"Senor." said, ''you will remember
that when / entered your service told
you that might have TO leave II at
any moment. Now l am here TO say
that the time Is come, for messenger
has arrived TO summon me TO tho other
end OF Mexico upon business of which
may not speak, and tomorrow must
start upon the journey"
~ am sorry to hear IL, Ignatio," he
answered. "for you have been n good
friend TO me. Still, you do we'll 20 sep
arate your fortunes from those of an
unluclxy man"
sand you, senior, do i'll TO speak thus
to me-" / answered; "still i forgive
you because l know that at times,
when the heart is sore, the mouth ut
ters words that are not meant Listen,
senior; When you have eaten your
breakfast, will you take ride with
me?"
Certainly II you like. But where
do You want TO ride tor"
",ro another mine that is. or should
be, about two hours on horseback from
here. In valley at the foot of yonder
peak"
An hour later we were riding among
the mountains. having left message
for Molas TO say that l should return
before dark After hard journey and
long search, by good luck. we discov-
cred q hole Immediately beneath a
rock, large enough for man TO creep
into.
"was this made by coyote, or is
IL the. mouth of a mine?" the senior
asked
THAT we can only find out by enter
ing it, answered. Doubtless when
they shut down tho mine the antiques
would have left some such place as
this TO ventilate the workings. Bring
the piclsax, senior, and we will soon
sec"
For ten minutes or more we labored,
working In soft ground with pick and
spade TIL we barred the side of n tun-
mel, which / examined.
There Is no need totrouble further
snid, "this rock has been cut with
copper chisels, for here Is the green OF
the copper. Without doubt we have
found the mouth OF the mine. Now
give me the hammer and candles, and
bring the leather bag for samples, and
we viii enter"
CHAPTER w
THE LEcESD or TIN HEART
When had gone few PAGES down
the hole II widened suddenly so that