Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1904-05-20

y
| man?" exclaimed Simon Pence.
go and leave this gold here?
Never! Never, sir, never! Go away
and leave $350,000 in gold unguard-
ed? 1 cannot think Of it. You go
back to camp and get help. / will
remain"
''Who is going to find it or steal
it?" demanded Vincent. 'sThe
chances are that no one has been
here before in thousand years. If
they had been, the gold would not
be here. It is as safe as in vault
in New York. Come along, Mr.
Pence. How dark it is getting!
What is that moaning sound? We
must go back. 1t is going to storm"
"I will never leave this gold herei"
said Mr.. Pence. '1t is not safe.
You go back and I will remain I
am not afraid. I will stay all night
if necessary. Come back in the
morning and bring help and food"
''That is foolish, Mr.. Pence said
Vincent. He had climbed out of
the cavern and stood facing the sea.
'3Come on" he said. There is go
ing to be an awful storm. It looks
like q hurricane. Come on; you
must not remain here"
go back, and let me alone" said
Mr.. Pence. 81 will never, never
leave here alive with this gold I'M
guarded. I have a gun. 1 am not
afraid. Go on back to the camp.
Tell them the gold is ours-all ours.
II I stay here and take care OF it,
ought to have more than half of
it. Go ahead, before the storm
breaksi"
It was useless to argue with him.
Vincent bade him goodbye and
started on a run for Morton's Bay.
He had not gone a quarter of
mile before the storm struck the is
land. The first blast swept him
from his feet. A falling tree half
buried him in it's branches, and his
face was scratched and bleeding. A
few rods away was. gully. Strug
Cling to his feet he ran and crawled
i'll that direction. He remembered
reaching the edge of the gully.
There was crash and roar; Vim
cent saw a flash of light and lost
he did not know. He awoke with
the rain beating on his face. There
was dull pain in his head. The
1dSS VI Vic StOIII Was
Crawling along the ground, guided
by the incessant flashes of light
ming, he reached the shelter of q
ana and huge rock python. whose
shiny scales glistened in the fame
from the heavens.
The two reptiles cuddled up to the
explorer. The big snake ran his
fat head between Vincent's coat
and his back, and lay motionless.
The lizard was more nervous, and
ran back and forth along the mar
row ledge. but lay most of the time
with his crested back resting against
Vincent's right arm.
81 was not afraid Of Them" Vim
cent explained later. "The storm
was SO much more frightfuI than
they that I did not mind them.
knew that both of them were harm
less, though that snake was big,
enough to swallow deer or a man.
But he was as scared at the storm
as I was, and I tell you any COM
pany was welcome that night.
went asleep finally, and when I woke
up the storm was over and the snake
and lizard were gone.''
Simon Pence was venturing out Of
his dungeon when the storm swept
in from the sea. He heard the roar
and dropped back in time to miss a,
palm tree, torn up by the roots and
hurled over his head. An instant
later one of the huge nonoliths fell
from it's pedestal and crashed
through the floor to- the south of
where he stood. He ran back and
forth shouting and waving his hands
in terror. From a hundred crevices
the rain poured in streams upon the
floor. At first it ran down the black
corridor, but as the storm increased
fS began to rise Inch by inch it
rose. The millionaire splashed
through the muddy food and took
refuge on slab of stone which had
sallen from the floor above. Here
he remained all night, the waters
steadily creeping toward him until
at last it seemed to find an outlet
TO the west and remained station
cry. The idols and images in the
far corner were half buried in de-
hris and water. The larger one
lifted its head above the flood, and
his wicked eyes cleaned in their
sockets in the flashes of lightning.
Blue flames of electricity ran along
the walls of the cavern; balls of fire
and tongues of phosphorescent flame
glowed in it's depths. Above the
roar and turmoil of the storm, Mr..
Pence could hear wailing cries as of
some soul in torment It was prob
ably his Imagination, but there were
sounds as If giants were struggling
II:
hesd.
Through the long night Mr.. Pence
remained in this cavern and heard
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