The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1899-08-17

ana dreamIfss sIeep thnt WORKS ike
apaesthetics, give me two bottles Of
Spanish wine that have made the voy-
age to Manila or Guajan. The padres
were built upon the cistern principle,
all OF them; but they were practically
asleep before IL. at which time they
accepted the coloners hospitality and
fell to snoring peacefully upon the
they happened to drop.
II was such n perfect night that the
senorita strolled down 10 the beach
with me before retiring. and have .
hazy recollection OF kissing her.
Something Of the sort, anyway. for
she left her cool fingers In mine for
half . minute before she disappeared.
This and her personal iovelipess In
the moonlight, came near to interfer-
ing with my progress; for upon reach
ing my room took an ensy chair out
upon the balcony and smoked for over
an hour, thinking of her. The windows
Of her room were diagonally opposite
my own. across the patio; and ! fancied
once or twice that I could detect her
figure among the shadows. After
awhile. however. IL struck me that III
were really going to do anything II was
about time to get att. So / opened the
sea chest and took out the electric safe
~ lantern, then silently made my way
along the corridors and down to the
room where the padres were snoring.
have been told by doctors that fat
men usually sleep more soundly than
their skinny brethren. and my expert
ence that night seemed 10 clinch the as
sertion; for. though had TO feel over
several square feet OF Bnrtolomeo's an
atomy In my search for his bunch Of
keys, he never even wiggled. II would
have been possible. Of course, 20 force
the locks; but that was too risky an
operation when simpler methods were
available.
Stepping across the little square, the
air was so still that I could hear the
tapping Of the ripples on the beach. a
quarter Of n mile away; and ] seemed
to be- the only living creature awake
1 had no diff'culty in finding the key
which opened the postern door at the
rear OF the church. and easily stole
through the cloisters as far as the pas-
sage leading into the chamber Of hor.
rors. This was 40 pitchy dark that |
turned on the current In my lamp and
was startled at the brilliancy OF the
light which shot from its lens. When II
fell upon the CHASTITY figure with the
diseased wish-bonc, a cold chill started
| an L..
trnst between the senoritn's warm,
breathing loveliness, OF which I had
been dreaming, and this semblance OF
rotting carrion. was something horri.
BILE. 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 II felt as though each in.
dividual hair were squirming.
When Bartolomeo introduce me tc
the remains OF Fray lgnacio. that morn
ing. ] felt more or less Of friendly in
terest in the old chap; we hadn't beer
near enough to appreciate the ghastli
ness Of the grinning skull. half hidder
|
placed my light between his toes and
attempted gently to case his stonaci
OF that heavy box, the bony finger
clung 10 II with gruesome strength;
the old bones cracked and wheezed nj
tugged at It. How managed To keel
from fainting outright, ] never knew
My efforts to remove the chest from th'
old fellows lap seemed to threaten Z
aisarrangement OF his skeleton so seri
Gus that gave up the attempt and un
locked II where II lay. To this he made
no objections; he even appeared 10 take
mild interest In the proceedings. wag
ging and wabbling his old skull. will
horrid whisperings and crenkings
every time leaned against him.
The papers in the box were covered
with n thick layer OF dust, and, afte,
another pull at the fiask-in which thu
fray. by n sorrowful wng Of the COW !
refused 10 join me--l gently lifted tn,
top ones with n pair OF pocket ply-r'
so as to show the least possible dis
turbance. Realizing that every mo
ment was precious, ] hastily scanned
the other documents until one bearint
the trays signature appeared, whicl
: .,,,.m.r, wanted IN r,ad ever,
. wnrJ. Ian, I, wa, 4, aid Sn,njsb IN,
:, ,.rchm.,t wos So bri,,l. that II ro,
tied lik. Are crackers, and there wa
rc,IIy I'm, an. sentence that I needed
So CHANGING ropidIy from line 10 line
: I GpoIIy cam. upon one which, trans
lated, read: "Posi,ion of ledge, an
& nroximntely. 12 degrees 30 minutes.
? r, S' ,, oo ,,,i,,,,,