Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1905-12-02
By LOUIS
TRACY
Copyright. 1908. by
Edward J. Clode

| TO facilitate the disposal at dis
lance of the disturbed debris he threw
each shoveful on to canvas sheet
which he subsequently dragged anon.
the trees in order to dislodge Its COLI
tents After doing this four times he
noticed certain metallic specks in the
| firth load which recalled the presence
of the anthony. But the appearance
of the sixth cargo was SO remarkable
| when brought out into the sunlight
| that ii invited closer inspection.
Though his knowledge Of geology was
slight, he was forced to believe that
| the specimens he handled so obviously
contained neither copper nor iron
pyrites, but glittering yellow gold.
| Their weight, the distribution OF the
metal through quartz in a transition
state between an oxide and telluride
compelled recognition.
| Somewhat excited yet half skeptical
lie returned to the excavation and
seooped out yet another collection
This time there could be no mistake
Natures own alchemy had fashioned
a veritable ingot. There were small
Jumps in the ore which would only
need alloy at the mint before they
could be issued as sovereigns, so free
from dross were they
Iris had gone to Venus bath and
would be absent for some time. jerks
sat down on n tree stump. He held In
his hand small bit Of ore worth per-
haps EGO. Slowly the conjectures al
ready pieced together in his mind dur
ing early days on the island came
back to him.
The skeleton of an EnglIshman ~
ing there among the bushes near tho
well, the Golgotha of the poison filled
hollow, the mining tools, both Chinese
and European; the plan on the piece
of tIn--ah the piece of tin! Mechan'
ically the sailor produced 1t from the
breast pocket of his Jersey. AT last
the mysterious sign "32 divided by i"
revealed its Significance. Measure thir-
ty-two feet from the mouth Of the tun-
mel, dig one foot In depth, and you
came upon the mother lode Of this gold
bearing rock This, then, was the Sc
cret of the cave.
The Chinese knew the richness of the
deposit and exploited its treasures by
quarrying from the outer side Of the
hill. But their crags ignorance Of mod
ern science led to their undoing. The
accumulation of liberated carbonic acid
gas in the workings killed them in
scores. They probably fought this I'M
seen demon with the tenacity Of their
race until the place became accursed
and banned of all living things. Yet
had they dug little ditch and per-
United the invisible terror to flow quiet
ly downward until its potency was dis
sipated by sea and air they might
have mined the whole cliff with i'm
punity.
The unfortunate unknown, ]. She
, of the whitened bones-might have
done this thing too. But he only pos
sessed the half knowledge of the work
ing miner and while stunning the
plague stricken quarry adopted the
more laborious method Of making an
adit to strike the deposit He succeed
ed, to perish miserably in the hour
when he saw himself millionaire.
Was this portent of the fate about
to overtake the latest corners? jerks,
of course, stood up. He always stood
square on his feet when the volcano
within him fired his blood.
"No!' he almost shouted. II will
break the spell. am sent here by
Providence, not to search for gold, but
to save a woman's life, and If all the
devils of China and Malay are in league
against me will beat them!'
CTo be Continued.)