The Mena star., 1899-06-15

the goose-fesh all over me; the con breathing loveliness. of which l had been dreaming and this semblance of rotting carrion. was something horri- ble. I had>to take a good pull at my flask before I could unlock the iron trap and descend into the vaults. There, also, the foul dampness, and the company of real bodies. made my scalp creep until it felt as though each in- dividual hair were squirming.
 When Bartolomeo introduced me to the remains of Fray Ignacio, that morn ing. l felt more or less of friendly in- terest in the old chap; we hadn't been near enough to appreciate the ghastli- ness of the grinning skull, half hidden by its gray cowl. But now. when placed my light between his toes and attempted gently to case his stomach of that heavy box, the bony fingers clung 10 it with gruesome strength; the old bones cracked and wheezed as tugged at it. How l managed to keep from fainting outright, 1 never knew. My efforts to remove the chest from the old fellows lap seemed to threaten a odsarrangement of his skeleton so seri- ous that l gave up the attempt and un- locked it where it lay. To this he made no objections; he even appeared to take a mild interest in the proceedings, wag- ging and wabbing his old skull. with horrid whisperings and creakings, every time leaned against him.
 The papers in the box were covered with thick layer of dust, and. after another pull at the flask-in which the fray, by sorrowful wag of the cowl, refused to join mel gently lifted the top ones with pair of pocket plyers so as to show the least possible dis turbance. Realizing that every mo- ment was precious, 1 hastily scanned the other documents until one bearing the fray's signature appeared, which proved to be the shipwrecked officers statement. l 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 1 needed. So, glancing rapidly from line to line, 1 finally came upon one which. trans lated, read: "Position of ledge, ap- proximately. 12 degrees 30 minutes, 30 seconds N. lat, IA degrees, 23 minutes % seconds E. lon" This l hastily pen cilesf upon the wristband of my shirt; then, considering the advisability of de stroying the document. had decided that it's absence might be discovered at any time. and was about to replace if, when I thought of Sebastiano. l couldn' t afford to leave accurate inform ation for him to find. In q second or two an idea occurred to me. and, striking a match, held it over the parchment in such way that it charred the figures completely out, yet looked as though cinder had fallen accidentally upon the page. It was of course, likely that the padre would have his suspicious if he ever saw it; but if I 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 I not to disturb the coatings of dust with which they were covered. Then I 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 vibra- tion which filled the air with echoes of other creeping footsteps. My nerves were worn to thin edge by this time, and had 1t 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, Il couldn't help grinning to myself--a chattering, nervous grin 1t was, too at the incongruity of prosaic com mercjal man who had worried through 35 years of humdrum existence, be- ing in such position. What an un- mitigated liar my acquaintances 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 err ratio illumination gave the figures a ghastly appearance of life. I 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