The Ladysmith news and Ingram news. [volume] (Ladysmith, Wis.) 1905-1906, 1906-06-02
:. The FilibnSterS OF Venezuela.
Or the Trials of Spanish Girl.
By SEWARD HOPKINS
Copyrighted by


| And now, while Philip and his Off
GERS were engaged in long and fruit
less task of trying to wiring informa-
| tion from sentinels who had none to
give, Mattazudo, having seen that
miles of the treeless plains were free
from water, quietly left the castle and
took his departure toward the south.
He made his way through the woods
on the high bank of the river, strik-
ing a path that led off toward the hut
! where he had found Namampa, the
herb doctor.
as he approached the spot where
the Indian had had his dwelling, his
heart gave great bound, and SEN
satiOn Of fear come to him.
The hut of the Carib was gone
The four posts which had supported
it were there, having been sunk deep
enough in the earth to make them
firm. But of the house itself not
vestige was left.
The flood had torn it from its place
and carried it-no one could tell how
| far-and the face of Mattazudo reflect
closed lips did not dare to utter.
While he stood gazing ruefully and
anxiOusly at the bare spot where once
the dwelling of Namapa stood, he was
startled at hearing a chuckling sound
behind him, and his own name spoken
| in the Indian voice. He turned, and
beheld the Carib himself coming to-
| ward him.
No hn Ioir cd or
| safe, then! My heart stood still when
l saw the desolation the flood had
| brought. I was in terror"
For me?" asked the Indian, with
| knowing leer.
Eyes, for you, you old rogue; but
more for-her. What have you done
| with her? Trust you for willy Carib
| to defeat the flood of the most precious
prey of ALL Where is she? Where is
| she, I ask"
Slowly" replied the Indian. your
Impotence will get you nowhere"
Course you! Why do you not speak
| and relieve my anxiety? Have | not
| borne enough? Was it all pleasure,
do you think, to see the beautiful girl
1 had sworn should be by own lying
| as if dead and Don Juan and Philip
| and GomeZ-those fools! niveling
and grooming over her? Was it all
pleasure to know that she was buried
| in the ground to wait for darkness,
and that her fate depended upon you?
| If you failed to take her out in time,
! she would die of suffocation, even if
the drug did not kill her. And if you
! bungied or Numbered, the sharp eyes
| of one Of Philips men would see you,
and that would end the thing for you
and her and all of u.s. Come, tell me
what I want to know. Where is the
girl?"
| The Carib Chuckled.
"Only you and | knew that the body
| they thought was useless clay still held
| the spirit of the girl, and that II
| alone-had the secret by which she
| could be restored. And then at night,
when the crazy soldiers of the pretend
| er were drunk or were at their endless
! games of chance, I stole to the grave
and dug her up and brought her here.
l placed in her mouth the powerful
drug that brought the blood into mo-
| ton again, and in an hour she was a
| living, breathing, beautiful girl, unin-
| jured, the same as before, but without
a thought of the grave into which she
| had been thrown, and demanding to
| know why she had been stolen from
her room while she slept Ho! That
was good I enjoyed her talk. You
chose well-she is beauty. But you
were to come and take her away. Why
did you not Gomez"
''You know why I did not Gomez"
replied Mattazudo, roughly. ''The
| flood prevented me. I have been torn
| by anxiety to know how you succeeded
whether you saved her from the
flood as we'll as from Philip and Go
mez."
''And she is safe?" said Mattazudo
''You swear it? Take me to her at
once"
"Not yet, my impatient lover" re-
piled the old Carib. ''She is safe
| enough, swear; but there is mat
ter of business between us. I have
kept my promise. How about yours?"
Course you again! You keep me
here at such a time as this to talk
of gold?"
''You promised me gold if I got the
girl for you. A man pays for what he
is eager to get. If I give you the girl
first, in your happiness you may for
get your debt. Come, where is the gold
that was to be mine if I saved her
for you alone?"
With an impatient curse Mattazudo
pulled a leathern pouch from his pock-
ct and flung it into the Indians hand.
There IS your gold" he said. Nov,
where is my sweetheart?"
Slowly! Slowly!" muttered the In
. mH mTw N ~ snENE