Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1899-02-02

the trays signature appeared, which
proved to be the shipwrecked officers
statement. | wanted to read every
word but it was in old Spanish, the
parchment was so brittle that it rat
tied like fire crackers, and there was
really but one sentence that | needed.
So, glancing rapidly from line to line,
| finally came upon one which, trans
lated, read: Position of ledge, APP
proXimately, II degrees 30 minutes, 30
seconds y. lat, 144 degrees, % minutes
90 seconds f. lon" This | hastily pen
ciled upon the wristband of my shirt;
then. considering the advisability of de
stroying the document, / had decided
that its absence might be discovered at
any time, and was about to replace it,
when l thought of Sebastiano. l
couldn't afford to leave accurate inform
alton for him to find. In a second ortwo
an idea occurred to me. and, striking
! match, / held it over the parchment in
such a way that it charred the figures
completely out, yet looked as though
| cinder had fallen accidentally upon the
page. 1t was, of course, likely that
the padre would have his suspicious if
he ever saw it; but if l succeeded in
getting safely out of the church, l
thought, he'd have sweet time verify
! ing them.
| To replace all of the documents was
| a work of some moments, so careful
was | not to disturb the coatings OF
/ dust with which they were covered.
| Then / locked the box, while the fray
/ sadly wabbled his head at my temer-
/ ity. and started to return. The floor
/ of the vaults was of pounded clay,
and each step took produced a vibra-
! ton which filled the air with echoes
/ of other creeping footsteps. My nerves
were worn to thin edge by this time,
and had it not been for the brandy
probably should have lost conscious
ness. Yet, standing there in that foul,
subterranean passage. in an island
practically unknown to the world and
! thousands of miles from civilization,
| couldn't help grinniug to myself-a
chattering. nervous grin il was. too
at the incongruity of a prosaic com
mercial man who had worried through
/ IS wears of humdrum existence, be-
i ing in such a position. What an un-
mitigated liar my acquaintance in the
club at Hong Kong would think me
/ if l merely detailed the bare facts!
Ascending to the image chamber
/ my hand trembled so that l couldn't
hold the light steady; and this err
ratio illumination gave the figures q
/ CHASTITY appearance of life. was
hastily crossing toward the narrow
entrance which led TO the cloisters
when the murmur OF a voice in the
i chancel on the other side of the wall
made me shut off the current in my
lamp and gasp for breath. In an in
slant | was in darkness so thick
could feel it. though a very faint re
Election from the waning moon made
sort Of grayness up where the win
dows were; but. looking toward the
chancel wall noticed q faint lumi
nousness in one particular spot. and
il was from this quarter that tbs
voice seemed 10 come
II tock but moment 10 figure out
that this spot must he approximately
in the rear of the crrcisN head over
the altar. There was a pile Of boxe:
Just under il. ar my side. 50 cautious
IL climbed here I could looh
through. To my nervousness lee
me. For On his krecs before the altar
was lay brother Felipe. paster;rg GU