Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1899-02-02

any time. and was about to replace il,
when l thought Of Sebastiano.
couldn'r afford to leave accurate inform
alton for him to find. In a second or two
an idea occurred TO me. and, striking Il
match. held it over the parchment in
+ such a way that it charred the figures
. completely out, yet locked as though a
/ 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, 1
/ thought, he'd have a sweet time verify
ing them.
! To replace all of the documents was
a work of some moments, so careful
was l 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-
tion 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 grinning to myself-a
chattering. nervous grin it was, too
at the incongruity of a prOsaic com
mercial man who had worried through
35 years of humdrum existence, be-
ing in such a position. What an un-
mitigated liar my acquaintanees in the
club at Hong-Kong would think me
if merely detailed the bare facts!
Ascending to the image chamber,
my hand trembled so that l couldn't
hold the light steady; and this er-
ratio illumination gave the figures Il
ghastly appearance of life. l was
hastily crossing toward the narrow
entrance which led to the cloisters,
when the murmur of a voice in the
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 l was in darkness so thick l
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 a faint lumi-
nousness in one particular spot, and
it was from this quarter that the
voice seemed to come.
1t took but a moment to figure out
that this spot must be approximately
in the rear of the crucifiX head over
the altar. There was a pile of boxes
just under it, on my side, so l cautious
ly climbed to where I could look
through. Then my nervousness left
me. For on his knees before the altar
was lay brother Felipe, pattering out
prayers for the repose of the good
dead fathers below. 1t afterward came
out that he had been asleep in his cell,
and, awaking suddenly, had heard
footsteps and echoes in the catacomb
which fairly curdled his blood; so,
by the light of the only candle he
could find, he was doing his best to lay
the restless spirits.
How recklessness got the upper
hand of me would be hard to say; but,
without giving the danger a second
thought, 1 lifted my lantern to the
aperture and turned on the current.
l would have given large sum to have
seen the effect from the church side;
it must have been more than startling.
l could tell the exact instant when the
lay brother raised his eyes to the top
of the crucifix by the way his muir
e+A Oh
gasp of astonishment too great for
louder articulation, a shiver of ecstat
ic fear; and when I squinted through
the hole, after shutting off the cur
rent, he was groyeling, face down,
upon the chancel floor.
This was my opportunity. Calculat-
ing that he wouldn't dare raise his
eyes for several moments, no matter
what strange noises echoed through
the church, 1 slipped around through
the postern and succeeded in restor-
ing to Padre Bartolomeo's snoring
torso his bunch of keys without being
seen. Once back in my room, l locked
the door and put a chair against it;
for I was considerably shaken up, and
looked as though l had spent week
in the Internal regions.
Breakfast was fortunately late, so
I had time to battle and make myself
a little more presentable, but l must
have looked seedy even then. This,
however, was naturally laid TO the
dinner party of the previous evening,
none of the gentlemen feeling very
positive a to when or just how he had
parted from the others. I thought
that when the padres got thoroughly
walked up and had time to get the lay
brothers experience through their
heads there was likely to be more of
a sensation than the little town had
known in many moons; so, complain
ing of a sever headache, I invited the
colonel and his daughter to sail with
me in the new proa. Having to hear a
few cases at the tribunal that morn
ing, he politely declined but assured
me that Dorotea would be pleased
to go.
This was better than had bargained
for. knowing the strict ideas in re-
gard to chaperonage which regulate
Spanish society, it never occurred to
me that such a tete-a-tete would be
permitted; but l found that Guajan,
like a steamer at sea, was more or less
outside of social restrictions, law
uRto itself.
The senorita seemed to have perfect
confidence in my seamanship and was
evidently glad of such an opportunity
to ask questions. As we skinned
along the blue water 7 satisfied her
curiosity regarding American women
and gave radical opinions on men of
various nationalities - chief among
which was caution against believing
what any man said to her unless she
knew him very well, because theywere
not all truthful and honorable like N.Y.
self. I wonder how many men have
solemnly worked this gray-bearded
old warning on girls whose society
they selfshly wished to monopolize.
And also wonder what curious train
of thought must run through a wom-
ans mind when she hears it from the
hundredth man.
It is unnecessary to detail the pro-
gressive steps by which our talk be-