Virginia gazette. [volume] (Williamsburg, Va.) 1893-192?, 1898-10-08

Ou<f0 Datlfe 10 re-eCler S0IlIlE1f
that evening. and are ''Tngleses" felt
. mutual disinclination 20 do so cur.
selves I had put things away xad
closed the safe Just before Miguel |
came in, so I concluded TO let things \
remain as they might be until morn
ing. and 20 go home and see how my
house IN the suburbs had borne the l
excitement.
1 found everything intact, with the |
exception OF my servants nerves aud
q few TRIES IN tue way Of crockery.
and et last GOT 20 bed in q state Of
thankfulness that things were no
worse.
Mother earth. haviag played her
little Joke. behaved IN a manner more
betting her age that night. and
rose IN the morning 70 find the vel
come rain az iast pouring as IL only
can pour IN the tropics. and the air
cool and fresh On arriving az the
osfce building. I found my entire
clerical force assembled outside. wait
Ing FOR the encouragement Of my pres
ence before entering. and L headed q
small procession up the rickety, but
still servicesbie stairs.
The Office was - fairly good shape.
all things considered The safe was
rakishly eskew. and presented the APP
pearance Of trying 70 look around the
corner. anil the old table had de-
tached itself from the wall. vaaQuished
its solitary leg. and lay in the middle
OF the room. leaving ragged gap II
the walls. while the doog was strewa
with Niguels taily-sheers. set the
clerks 70 work gathering these up,
while I eudeavored TO open the safe.
Suddenly a clerk on his hands aad
knees II the corner exclaimed, Mira,
sencr,"
Que hav-what Il ite" said 7.
struggling with the refractory door.
Pesos iollars-seaor, \ lot CT
them
+ What are you talking about?" said
I. slipping over TO him
There on the door lay scattered
heap OF silver dollars. mingled with
the fragments Of an old inkstand and
odds and ends Of stationery. I
picked up several pieces. and on
examining the dates. found them 70
be all OF the coinage os over thirty
years before. I was stopping IN
amazement for another handful. when
old Miguel. with a strange cry, showed
rae aside with scant ceremony, and
throwing himself down on his knees,
plunged his hands into the heap and
examining them with feverish excite.
ment. like the most grasping old miser
"Que tiene tu-Vhat Is the mattel
NJ n u 1
rather testify, as I recovered my bal
ance.
The oil MAJ slowly looked up.
They said 1 was a thief, senorl Asd
see. here IS the money" and in :
( fash l saw how il had all happened
I sat down in the nearest chair ane
, stared az the big hole iE the wall from
which the money had fallen. II mus
have been lying on the table that ia.
so long ago. and when the earthquake
that damaged Quin Leng's godow-
had occurred. the table had probabl
/ ripped slightly away from the wall
D and tilted up as the foor settled. Tn
a silver and other things must hav
poured down into the space thu
opened, which had closed Mp whe
+; the CONFUSION was over, and burie
5 the dollars and Miguels good nam
< IN 4 common grave for all these years
1 Now was the old man grubbin
: among the dollars and muttering hi
}. wise's name over and over. and l va
e forgetting ny Spanish in ny efforts I
i soothe him. They clerks were gar
o ing ut Us both, and that utterly Il,
i moralized SAFE was leering az "a
whole crowd. when old Quin Leng,
/ piCtailed vision in white silk and blu
T cap, came toddling IL - see how "
Y had survive the catastrophe. Il
e grasped the whole situation az
o glance, like the wise old celestial thl
e he was.
1t would be long story 70 tell 10
e the kind old heather gentleman u
= dertook 10 see that justice was doi
e for his old friend; how We wrote
Y Spain and found the only descendal
e of Senior Augustin, who turned ont
n be a good fellow when the facts we
ID proved 20 him, and instructed q
l. Spanish bank of Manila 70 pay b
III fathers old servant a monthly So
Of which would keep him and his fami
Of in comfort for life.
* When I saw Quin Leng safterwar
he remarked that an earthquake