The Ordway new era., 1918-12-20
scspyrisht. By i1srpsr and Brethsrs,

ration. '"Then I'm not so altogether
changed?' she asked.
"Why, you haven't changed at all,
except to grow more beautiful. Evan
gelina is right; you are too beautiful
to look at. But wait" He drew her
aside and whispered, i've been down
in the WELL" Some tremor in his
voice, some CLINT in his eyes, caused
the girl to seize him eagerly. f1ercely.
II may be wrong" he said hurriedly !;
"there may be nothing in it-and yet
saw something"
"WhatT'
"Wooden beams, timbers Of some
sort, behind the stone curbing." It
was plain Rosa did not comprehend,
so he hurried on. "At first I noticed
nothing unusual. except that the bot
tom of the well Is nearly dry-filled
up, you know, with debris and stuff
that has fallen in from the curbing
above, then I saw that although the
well is dug through rock. nevertheless
1t is entirely curbed up with stones
laid in mortar. That struck me us
queer"
"Yesr
'T noticed, too, in one place that
there was wood behind-as II timbers
had been placed there to cover the
entrance to cave. You know this
Cuban rock is full Of caverns."
Rosa clasped her hands. she began
to tremble. 'You have found 1t,
OReilly. You havew she whispered.
"No, no, I've found nothing yet. But
I've sent Jacket for pick or bar
and tonight Tn going to pull down
those stones and see what is behind
them.",
ITO night2 You must let me go.
too. want to help"
| "Very well. But meanwhile you
mustn't let your hopes rise too high.
for there is every chance that you will
be disappointed. And don't mention
1t to Evangelina. Now, then, I've
few pennies left and I'm going to buy
some candles"
Rosa embraced her lover impulsive-
ly. Something tells me 1t is true!
Something tells me you are going to
save us all"
Evangelina in the far corner Of the
hut muttered to her husband: "Such
love-birdsi They are like parrakeets.
forever kissing and cooingl"
Jacket returned at dusk, and with
him he brought a rusty three-foot iron
bar, evidently part of window graf
ing. The boy was tired. disguised. and
in vile temper. "A pickax! A crow
bar I" he cursed eloquently. "One might
as well try to steal cannon out of
San Severino. I'm ready to do any
thing within reason, but"
~Why, this will do nicely; It Is just
what I want" O'Reilly told him.
"Humphi I'm glad to hear 1t, for
that rod was nearly the death Of me.
1 broke my back wrenching at It and
the villain who owned the house
may a bad lightning split him!- The
ran after me until I nearly expired.
If my new knife had been sharp I
would have turned and Gent him home
with 1t between his ribs. Tomorrow 1
shall put an edge ON 1t. Believe me,
I ran until my lungs burst"
Little food remained in the hut,
barely enough for Asensio and the
women, and inasmuch as O'Reilly had
spent his last centavo for candles he
and Jacket were forced to go hungry
again. Late that evening, after the
.wretched prison quarters had grown
quiet, the three treasure hunters stole
out Of their hovel and wound up the
hill. In spite Of their excitement they
went slowly, for none of them had the
strength to hurry. Fortunately there
were few providers within the lines.
hunger having robbed the reconcentra-
dos of the spirit to venture forth, and
in consequence Spanish vigilance had
relaxed; 1t was now confined to the
far-fiung girdle of intrenchments which
encircled the city. The trio encoun-
tered no one.
| Leaving Jacket ON guard at the crest
of the hill, O'Reilly stationed Rosa at
the mouth of the well, then lowered
himself once more into 1t. Lighting
his candle, he made a careful exami-
nation of the place, with the result
that Esteban's theory Of the missing
riches seemed even less improbable
than 1t had earlier in the day. The
masonry work. he discovered, had been
done with n painstaking thoroughness
which spoke Of the abundance Of slave
labor. and time had barely begun to
affect 1t. Here and there a piece Of
the mortar had loosened and come
away, but for the most part 1t stood
as solid as the stones between which
1t was laid. Shoulder-high to O'Reilly
there appeared to be a section Of the
curbing less smoothly fitted than the
rest, and through an interstlce in this
he detected what seemed to be damp
wooden beam. At this point he
brought his iron bar into play.
1t was not long before he discovered
that his work was cut out for him.
The cement was like flint and his blunt
makeshift implement was almost use
less against IL Ankle-deen In the