The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1901-11-21

He pressed Medworth's hand, and
stepping into the canoe, SAID:
Away, Ramana!" Then to Arthur:
my brave friend, to you and your
companion I leave my dear ones"
you will find them safe on your re-
turn" replied Medworth.
The canoe shot away in the dark
ness, and Medworth speedily made his
way back to the cavern.
In the meantime Philip had been
reused from his reverie by the messen-
ger who had been sent by Don Juan
with the information that Mattazudo
had arrived. bringing Namampa, the
h~erb-doctor.
Throwing off his detection and
moody misgiving, he hurried to Lola's
room.
He found Don Juan and Mattazudo
there, with an aged Carib whose
twinkling black eyes looked out from
under bushy eyebrows with an express
sion of great cunning.
His skin was wrinkled and scared,
n looked like rusty parchment, and
his hands were long and skinny, SEEM
ing to be but the bony skeleton with a
covering of skin drawn tightly over
them.
Namampa bent over Lola, felt her
pulse. looked at her tongue and SOL
emily shook his head.
Every bad, Much fever. Bring me
some water" he said.
Water was brought him, and he dis
solved some crystals in it. Then he
poured the fluid down Lo,a's throat.
In an hour the anxious watchers
could see that the condition of the
sick girl had improved. Her painful
restlessness had given way to a sweet
repose. The high fever had subsidized.
Don Juan's hope was renewed.
The Carib remained in the castle,
and was constant in his attendance
upon Lola. 1t seemed for five days
that Lola was on the way to complete
recovery.
Five days Of anxious watching for
Don Juan. Five days of cruel sus-
pense for Medworth. Five days of dis
sembling for Gomez. Five days of
villainous plotting for Mattazudo.
Then, one day, when Medworth was
in his accustomed place, crouching be-
hind the secret panel, he heard the
sound OF sobbing and voices that were
very sorrowful. At first he pricked
up his ears eagerly, for Iola's name
was mentioned. He l~istened-then he
heard what he had hoped he would
never hear. Lola was dead.
He staggered away, and crept back
to the cavern and his friends.
The pallor of his face was CHASTITY
in the light Of the lantern that hung
above their heads.
whats the matter, boy?" cried
Tempest, in alarm. "You look like a
ghost. What's happened?"
She's dead!" he gasped. "Lola's
dead. 1 heard them talking about 1t
just now. She died last night. They
are going to bury her in the garden to-
day"
$50 soon?" said Tempest. why DO
they not wait longer?"
"They do not wait long In this coun-
try" senor." said Jacinta; and then.
with her long lashes hiding the CLEAN
Of satisfaction that came into her
eyes and could not be held back, she
placed her jeweled hand in Med
worth's, and, leaning forward, she
pressed her rich, warm lips to his cold,
white brow in what seemed to be. a
token of her honest sympathy. :
That afternoon there was a sad and
solemn gathering near the fountain in
the garden of Salvarez, and while Don
Juan, Philip and Gomez looked silently
on, the body Of poor Lola was lowered
into a shallow grave. w
They did not see two pairs Of eyes
that peeped from a secluded bower,
one pair being dimmed with tears.
Medworth and Tempest had risked
capture, and perhaps death, to witness
the last sad rites.
m -NhH