Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1898-08-24

patriarchs.
81 call that quite a respectable
dowry," remarked Meschines Upon
my soul, Miriam, II had known what
you had up your sleeve, should have
thought twice before allowing a civil
engineer'-do you remcmber?-to run
of with you 20 easily"
At dawn they prepared the body of
old Kamaiakan for its interment. In
doing this, the professor noted the Pc
culiar appearance Of the corpse
Tho flesh Is absolutely whitehead"
said he. especially those parts which
vere uncovered. It must have been
snb1ected to the action Of some d.
ssructive vapor or gas, fatal not only to
breathe, but to come in contact with.
l have heard of poisonous emanstions
proceeding from the ground in these
regions, but never saw an instance Of
their effects before. That skull that
you say you found, Harvey, was proba-
bly, that of victim of the same cause.
But 1t is strange that Miriam, who
must have remained some time in the
very midst of it, should have escaped
without mark, or even any inconven.
ience"
MAMMALIAN ascribed 1t 10 the magic
Of the Golden Fleece" said Freeman.
We'll" rejoined the other, '.he may
have been right; but, for my part. the
only magic that can find in it lies in
the fact that is made of pure wool,
which undoubtedly possesses remark
ahlR tIya rNr.hnavftac. - ~
fiery soul of Semitzin was powerful
enough to repel all harmful influences.
The poor old fellow himself, being clad
in cotton, and with no soul but his own,
was destroyed. Let us wrap him in
bis blanket, and bid him farewell-and
with him, hope, to all that is I'M
canny and abnormal in the lives of you
young follsr'
The list rites having been paid to the
dead, ne party mounted their horses
and rode out of the gorge on TO the long
levels of the desert.
"Who come yonder2'' said Freeman.
"A couple of Mexicans, l think" said
the General.
Zone of them is woman" said
Meschines.
"They look very weary" remarked
Freeman
Miriam fixed her eyes on the ap-
preaching pair for a moment, and then
said, They are Senior de Mendoza and
Grace Parsloe"
And so. indeed, they were; and thus,
in this lonely spot, all the dramatis
persona of this history found them
selves united.
In answer to the obvious question,
how Grace and De Mendoza happened
to be there, it .rEnspircd that, left to
their own devic@s. they had undertaken
no less an enterprise than to discover
the hidden treasure. Grace had COM
municated to the Mexican such bits Of
Information as she had picked mp and
such surmises as she had formed and
he had been able to supplement her
knowledge to an extent that seemed to
justify them in attempting the advcn-
ture-not to mention the fact that Don
Miguel (such was the ardor of his SEN
timept for Gracel would had she desired
it, lIITe gore with her into a fiery
furnace or den of lions. Grace, who
was ambitious as well as romantic who
longed for the power and independence
that wealth would give, was all alight
with the idea OF capturing the hoard of
Montezuma; her social position would
be altered at stroke, and the world
would be at her feet.
Meanwhile, she had time to think
over all that happened, and to arrive
at certain conclusions. She was at
bottom good girl, though liable to be
led away by her Imagination, her
vanity, and her temperament Don
Miguers best qualities had revealed
themselves to her in the decert;
he had always thought of her
before himself, had done all that
in him lay to save her from fatigue and
suffering, and had stuck to her faith.
fully when he might have increased his
own chances of escape by abandoning
her. Did not such a man deserve to be
rewarded?-especially as he was a
handsome fellow of good family and
possessed of quite respecta BILE income
Moreover, Harvey Freeman was now
beyond her reach; he was going to
marry Miriam and she had realized that
her own brief infatuation for him had
had no very deep root after all.
Accordingly, she smiled encourag ingly
upon Don Miguel, and before they set
out on their homeward ride she had
vouchsafed him the bliss of knowing
that he might call her his.
The General, as her guardian, did not
withhold his approval; but when Grace
| drew him aside and besonght him never
| to reveal to her intended the fact that
! she had once been shop-girl, the old
| warrior smiled.
tContinucd),