The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-04-07

/
Can Your"
My luck has got to change some
time"
Fenton sat there. the sweat pouring
from his pale face.
You poor, limp fool" Borden said,
contemptuously. Now, the first thing
is for us to go to bed"
He seemed to direct us like a cap
tain, and we readily allowed him the
! leadership. Yet | fancied something
that after / was in bed 1 arose and
bolted my door What if the dream
were not a dream? Ay, what If we
should find that treasure? And then
my dream maddened me, and l tossed
till the sun came over the mountain
top-the mountain, perhaps, of the cave
of the river.
stealthily. as if we were on some thiev-
ish errand. The manner of thieves
seemed to fall to us easily.
At first the search promised we'll, for
the old road by the monastery was q
marvellous piece of engineering for its
day and time. Nature, so forceful in
Mexico after all the years, had not de-
stroyed mans work. So anXiously we
followed that splendid and forgotten
way, which reminded us of nothing so
much as of an old Roman road, such
as you may see along the Mediter-
ranean or the Adriatic. Countless
treasure perhaps had been dragged
over it in the old days before the mine
to which it led had been abandoned.
Yes, it told of old interests, old pas
sions. On we went doggedly, through
the thick growth. no one of us with a
word, mutely following Dorden's lead.
Two hours must have passed-the
growth made it tediously slow-before
at last we saw the high projecting
rock. Yes, the rock then existed, Ny,
heart beat uproariOusly, and | knew
how my companions felt from the pal
Tor even Borden displayed. From the
western side, at the center OF the rocks
base, he began to pace.
One, two
Fenton and I followed. Yes, there was
the sheer face of the cliff, and the
thick trees and bushes at its foot. We
stumbled on over the layers of rotting
trunks and leaves. A snake. so deadly
in Sonora, ran out before him, yet Dor
den persisted. and again we were fav-
ored, for we came directly, with scarce
ly an error, on the opening. Borden
had brought a machete, and now pro-
ceeded to cut the bushes away, and
then we heard a low. distant rumble,
as of subdued thunder.
THE river" Fenton cried at this re-
peated evidence. But what we saw was
more encouraging. For the cave stopped
at about 20 feet 1t was walled by ma
sorry, Hchen covered. A hundred wrig-
Cling creatures were on the surface.
But here was, indeed, what Miguel San
tos. dead a full century and a half, had
promised; and there was the iron door,
rusted and discolored, so that we Won
dered if indeed, il would answer TO the
pressure on the upper left hand cor
ner: wondered if in all the years tho
treasure had not been taken. Again it
was Borden making the trial, while we
the cave of Santos avarice-seemed
easy indeed.
The air that swept our faces was sin
gularly fresh and sweet, due to the
waters that we heard now in a deafen-
ing roar. Then the rush of air seemed
to stop. Borden had no difficulty in
lighting the candle. which gave feeble
glare in the vast place.
Careful" he said, as he advanced,
and we saw we were on the edge of a
vast precipice. with the undistinguish-
able mass OF the roaring river far, far
below. We all three turned about, our
faces blanching. And then a strange
thing occurred. A pale white light be-
gan to be diffused. l could not account
for it then; though now / understand
that the shifting sun had reached some
opening along the course of that under
ground river. 1t was a vast stream, in
deed; a sheer fall of many hundred feet
as we now were able to see. The far
Their shore we could not tell in that half
light-now it had become almost like
early twilight; but it seemed to me as
broad as the Hudson. Whence did it
come? and whittier were those waters
Il l. I'll H.. T
interrupted by Dordens cry. He was
pointing toward projecting cliff. which
hung out far over the water. 1t was
approached by narrow neck. so that
it formed a peninsula jutting into the
air above the roaring waters. The
space might have had a diameter of 80
feet. But what we saw astounded us
even in our expectations. now raised by
the success of every step of the search.
On this space were above a score of
iron chests, their lids all opened, re-
vealing in the increasing light the sheen
of diamonds. the blue and green of
sapphires and the glow of rubies. They
lay there reckoning. as Miguel Santos
had left them. From many OF the
chests was the absorbing yellow glare
of golden coins; so many that in the
moment we could not calculate their
number Yet we knew that here was
riches. of gold, and precious stones. But
why had they been put on that jut-
ting rock? I questioned.
l don't believe the others even ques-
toned. Now that we could see quite
plainly. Borden cast the candle down
into the depths, and almost ran toward
the treasure. | saw him diZzily rushing
along the narrow passage, and kneel-
ing before one of the chests. and crying
out like a maniac. Fenton was close
behind him, gloating over the jewels.
As l followed he picked from one of
the chests a piece of manuscript.
What is this" he said, holding it up,
for the light now was strong enough
for US to read by 1t.
More of Santos words he added.
Look at the gold, not papers" Dor
den cried But the instinct of the
scholar mastered Fenton, even in that
Miguel Santos writing" he said;
and slowly he rendered:
Cold thou contest by dishonesty
shalt curse thee always. For sin must
be penance. Fool, thou shalt perish
with thy gold and thy precious stones.
The punishment of God on the miser is
that ne shall not keep what he gloats
on"
"Foolr' came Dorden's voice. Kissing
over our shoulders. l looked at him al
most fearfully, for there was = maddish
glare in his eyes. Suddenly like a fiend
he threw himself on US both. 1T shall
be rnine' he cried only mine" The