St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1899-05-13

get foothold. to keep your head ou;.!"
Harris shouted down to him.
Little enough.- cried Mike. 'Sure
it's deep as the say and cowld as the
gravel"
Harris had surveyors tapeline in
his pocket. He threw the reel end
down. holding fast to the other.
Catch hold Of that" he cried. Easy!
Don't break it. 1t will help you to keep
your head Above water till we can get a
line from the launch He sent Pablo
IF on run to fetch the line.
Some minutes elapsed before it could
be brought. and meantime Mike had TO
support as little of his weight as pos
sibie by the tape which Harris held.
and barely kept his head and neck
above the cold well water. like bull
frog at the margin of tank.
Van Week then tied loop in the
end of the launch-line and lowered it.
Now get your foot in that loop. Mike.
and then seize hold above. and we will
pull you out!" Harris called down to
him.
The combined strength of the three
barely sufiiced to haul the Irishman up.
Foot by foot they hoisted him. dripping
and trying to aid them by catching
toe hold and finger-hold here and there
in chinks of the old MASONRY The
well had been lined up with k.stone
blocks. in cement.
They had him within few feet of
the top when his toe dislodged one OF
the stone blocks and it fell down with
a splash. But the next moment Mike
got his arms out and was dragged forth.
a very wet and Shiny object.
bad cess to the haythen that leaves
their wells uncovered" were his first
words. But something about the hole
in the wall from which the stone block
had slipped appeared to interest him,
for all dripping as he was. he got down
on his knees and looked down at it.
I'm thinkin' that was very quare
hole" he said to Harris. Dye know. !
fancied caught the CLINT of a bottle as
passed that hole. sor.
Harris and Van Week laughed. think
ing this hint that Mike desired some
thing to warm him up. But he was not
joking.
.Sure. I can see the nose av it now!'
he exclaimed. wait bit. while put
me fut in the moose av the rope again.
and thin hould on tight while take a
peep down.
They let him down few feet, when
L. he hnfp n, the we'll
wall large. sluare-shoulderedb bottle
Of very clumsy shape.
Il have it!- cried Mike, and they
pulled him out again. And now did
yez ever see the likes of that for
bottle." he exclaimed. "Betsad. but
the ould stopper isno better than punk.
What do We make of it. sor?' he asked.
and handed it to Harris.
The bottle was lopsided affair of
impure green glass. and contained what
looked through the glass like small
bullets Harris picked out the stopper,
which was of wood wrapped in crum-
bling leather. Some moments were
required to extract it. To their great
surprise. the. round. bullet-like objects
proved to be large pearls. some of them
very beautiful. There were 149 of
them.
Van Week. who had seen jewels and
pearls in Holland. was of the opinion
that they were of great value.
Their first thought. after looking at
the contents of the bottle. was to
search the hole in the wall for further
treasure. But they found nothing ex-
cept a small. moldering box with sil-
yer crockets at the corners. This be-
ing opened. was found. to contain dis
colored parchments. evidently of the
nature of royal letters or deeds of gift
or conveyance, and also exactly hun
dred Spanish gold coins of apparently
about the weight and value of a
donbloon.
We'll. Mike. this is your find" Har
ris said to him. Il congratulate you. =
Faith. then. how wud hev found it
if yez hadn't pulled me out of the ould
well? Tell me that, SORT" exclaimed
Mike.
What is your idea, them" Harris
asked him.
''Share and share alike. sor. There
wud be no other fair way"
Including Pablo""
Sure. Didn't the nayger help pull
me out ?"
They steamed hack to the city and
showed the pearls to dealer there.
The man was astonished at the size
and beauty of many Of them. and
would not say what he thought they
were worth. An English dealer at
length rated the market value at
E3.610- or not far from $16.55o.
They had little doubt that this bot
tie of pearls and the box had been con-
cealed in the well at the time when the
city was taken by the pirates. more
than two centuries ago. and that the
person who secreted them had perished
in the sack of the town. There could
be no hope. therefore of finding the
rightful possessors.
1t will not be thought strange that
the three canal guards went again and
again to the ruins of Panama Viejo.
searching for other old wells. and
sounding them with grapple-hooks in
the hope of finding other similar caches
of oldltime wealth; but they found
nothing more.-Youth's Companion.
Too Much for the Elephant.
One of the chief features of the cir
Oh h,I l. IL