The morning news., 1899-02-12
THE SNAKES MARK.
,o,Dq nm Account of the Finding of
the Lost Treasure OF the h"ii"-
we'll Family.
BY p. Y. BLACK.
CopvrIehted, 1898, by the ;. ;. Nc
CIure Co.
CHAPTER X.
The JeweIed serpent.

,o,,, mas So unexpected that Oziel did
for q second realize that he was gone.
rlo how was half way down the slope be-
bfs friend scrambled TO his feet and
made after him Oziel heard that strange
.i.st of barbarous rites cry out, and saw
49,. -rsat and sudden tightening of his
a,5 and troubled yet gentle face, and then,
,ta torches extinguished, he found himself
T., d blackness the more intense for the
Glare which had preceded it. He lost sight
oe pstin and at the same moment his
foot caught in a trailing vine and ne was
,itcbed violently down the hill, falling on
h,s head The blow was a severe one, ana
he Law insensible. hearing nothing OF The
angry cries of the disturbed savages nor
of Justin's quickly stified shout for AID
as he was carried off.
For hours he lay there, unconscious. The
,.oices died away quickly and the lake
.bimmered in the faint moonlight silently
In the forest and rock-strewn peaks OF
the mountains, the sullen growl of thunder
s,iu distantly rolled, and now and again.
tbe sope of the hill shivered beneath him.
t,,, O7iai heard. saw, nothing. At last
tba si,n rose. al angry, glaring red, IL was
rrorning. with again ferocious neat. f1afd-
ly had the fierce orb mounted the SKY De-
t,ra the branches beside the lad were part
"a oItboupb the steps of the one who sep
orated them were noiseless, and Ozlel
roke at last to find a man kneeling beside
MIN bathing his face and hands with wa
ter from the lake. Oziel looked up dlzzy'
sick and with a bewildered sense OF coming
into new world. His eyes were met by
tboss NJ the old man, who had held aloft
the snake in the savage dance OF the
torches.
"NIistress Marian-Justin-h
an, 70 What has happened?" cried Oziel,
his dreams of home.
"Rest awhile, my son. and drink of this
water. So in a minute you VIII oe souhu'
You are but stunned. No limbs are
broken"
The man held a rude earthenware cup
10 his lips and Oziel drank greedlly. Ike
freshed, ne gazed again upon the white
robed priest and at once memory rusheu
back to him.
Where is JUSTINE" he cried, slttlhg up
"and who are you?'
The old man began to shake with excite
ment
Justin" he said, standing up and press
ing his hands to his head in a passion of
uncomfortable joy. dustin the name OF
my boy | heard his voice and saw his
face in the light, and he went as he came
in a flash. / feared it was a dream, but
you-what brought you to these hills? Is
my boy with you? Tell me, tell me? Have
l dreamed or have 1 just awaked and
have l been dreaming all these years?"
Who are you?" cried Oziel, scrambling
dizzy to his feet
"Ah!' the old man answered. 'It is
that I have been asking myself for long
time, for many years, and last night when
he cried out 90 me, Father! the reply
came in a flash. / remember; l know!
am his father and I was-I was Roger
Halloween"
For a moment Oziel gazed upon him
stupidity, remembering Gabriers story as
told in New York He had seen so much
Of the traders duplicity that he had doubt
ed how much of the tale might be true.
AT best he had expected 20 hear of Sir
Roger as dead, or as a hopeless lunatic
cazed by his misfortunes and his wounds
m the wreck. But now, although the
priest of the night had borne a witless
lace and lifeless eye, the man before
MN stood erect-excited but sane, trem-
piinS but with newly reused energy, old
Dut male. Oziel, too, began to tremble.
80 hopeless had seemed the case of the
laos IN the power of the conspirators that
'ne apparrion of Roger Hallowell, alive
ana well able to care for himself, to pro-
,ecl justin unnerved the faithful fellow
ny Its unhoDed for timeliness. For a mo-
,ient ne was filed with joy-the next his
iVaIt ear sank for Justin-where was he?
zen me cried the man, where IS my
"oy ana what has brought YOU here?"
poured forth his story, yet he had to
pause every now and then.
,, Not so last. not so fast" cried Sir
,Soser i have TO think and recall it all.
'1t memory revives but slowly. NV wife?"
Al OzeFs look he turned away and was
s.eht' When he looked at the lad again
MS MS eyes were full of tears, and instructive
~ Ozlel nailed that as a good sign. The
80 ol me priest the night before had
w.s gn Incapable of tears as of laughter.
wen the tale was briefly told, Sir Rogers
excitement was extreme.
81, see their purpose" he cried "but
81, n'eu al these years when thought dead bv
E ng world IL It sounded like a miracle 10
,Iei' ana set him shuddering with
,nousht of witchcraft and demons. il is
r,t De tHought he lived in ignorant DAYS.
wa, ".'SH heh bele<ed in the powers of the
al one and with his close Intimacy with
urLsS pacing most things strange and
W, o.neard OF to his real and active presence
bo eile earth. Sir Roger told how he had
st,,L Gu wrecked, how he had been thrown
ana ',''ieu t on The island, with many wounds.
au,a,- NV When, after a long time. he
iifa 9no rom unconsciousness all his past
rls me was dead to him, a blank He conld
y,bs,, le'hember his name, his family.
l,a'lle llience he had come Such instances are
s.0yv N''own to be common now, but to Ozjol II
Uan5d W. as a direct malignity of the devil.
r''lIg 'anuerlng by the shore, Halloween found
HE a me wreck, but they conveyed 10
baa uillu no clear indication of what
tbe.o happened. He felt, he knew. thai
fn.! was a past for him. that great mis-
s,I',I .une had occurred, but his memorv
oai-lssied -ssied IN vain to assert itself In The
n'a .ui aIter the storm he went out 10 tho
st''s, 'ech ana found there gems ana gold lie
,steu t5a!' at them. He Remembered not how
b,s bIey We're got, II they were his lie
in,y ush' these ashore, his vexed brain trv.
The ~ recall their value to him. ana In
te.,,s see was surprised by two barhorons
desi-es from the hills inland. with vag.,a
tben, 70 protect his treasure. he repeiiad
ol-eni' crell and doing so was worked IN ~
Gben' ,ase. 70 his surprise, when he faced
ana Mratnfully, they recoiled IN vonder
r -