Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1918-08-13
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CHAPTER Xxx.
MORN. the Fisherman.

When Rosa Varona regained con-
seriousness sufficiently to understand
what had happened she proved herself
person of no little self-control 1t
was she, in fact. who first voiced the
fear that Cobo dead was scarcely less
menace than Cobo alive.
What are we going to do with him?"
she inquired.
Jacket, too, appreciated the dangers
OF the situation. 1--WE must get rid of
him quickly" said he, "for his men
are close by; he will be missed and
there will be a search"
II don't intend to make him a pres
ent of that treasure" O'Reilly said.
grimly. at is our only salvation"
"But how are we going to hide him?"
Jacket inquired. "One might as well
try to conceal a church; oxen couldn't
hoist him out of that hole"
PRECISELY He has made our work
easy for US. We can't take more than
a small part of the money with us, any
how; the rest will have to lie here I'M
til the war is over. Welll We shall
leave Cobo on guard over what re-
mains %
Jacket was immensely pleased with
this idea, once he had grasped it.
What could be better" he cried. 'The
mans spirit is evil enough to brighten
people away and we will drop stones
upon him, so that he can learn the
taste of his own medicine. 1t suits me
s. exactly to think of Colonel Cobo stand
ing on his head in hole in the ground
for the rest of eternityI'
O'Reilly was by this time suffering
the full reaction from the events of
the past half-hour and ne was nearer
exhaustion than he c0ued, but, con-
quering his repugnance Tor his unes-
capable task, he lowered himself once
more into the well. His arms were
weak, however, and his fingers numb,
so he fell rather than slid the length of
the rope. He managed to open the
door of the treasure chamber, then en-
tered and loaded his pockets with gold.
He sent up the jewel box at the end of
the rope, dragged the body of Cobo into
the cave then wedged the barricade
back into place. 1t required the COM
bined strength of Rosa and Jacket to
help him the last few feet of his climb.
Nov fetch stones, rubbish, anything
and throw it in there" he gasped.
The boy and the girl fell to with a
viii, and after a time Johnnie joined
them. Slowly, laboriously, the three of
them carried debris from the edge of
the quarry and bricks from the ruined
house; they scraped up armfuls of
leaves and trash-anything in fact,
which would serve to raise the bottom
of the shaft and conceal the entrance
to their enemy's resting place. 1t was
slavish work, but O'Reilly kept them
at it until they were ready to drop.
Daylight overlook them at their task.
They were weak, sick. deadly tired !;
they could barely shuttle a few yards
at a time when they finally reached
Asensio's hut; nevertheless there was
hope in their hearts, for O'Reilly's rag
ged clothes sagged with the weight of
gold pieces and the little metal box he
carried was heavy. Nor were they
greatly concerned about the safety of
the treasure they had left behind, for
the entrance to the cavern lay deeply
buried, and Cobo, the guerrilla, stood
guard over the chests of plate and the
casks of coin.
Evangelina, vastly bewildered at the
sight Of the coin which was forced into
her palm, went for food and spent most
of the day in cooking it. The treasure
hunters alternately slept and ate. 1t
was not until well along toward eve
ming that Rosa and O'Reilly felt any
desire to take stock of the contents of
that jewel box, but finally, with heads
together and with backs to the door of