Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1918-07-19
CHAPTER l.
The Valley OF DELIGHT.

The Valley OF Delight.
In all probability your first view Of
the valley of the Yumuri will be from
the Hermitage of Montserrate, for it is
there that the cocheros drive you.
There you overlook the fairest sight in
all Christendom-"the loveliest valley
in the world" as Humboldt called It
for the Yumuri nestles right at your
feet, vale of pure delight, glimpse
of Paradise that bewilders the eye and
HIls the soul with ecstasy.
Standing beside the shrine Of Our
Lady of Montserrate, you will see be.
yond the cleft through which the river
energies another hill, La CuTnbre, from
which the view is wonderful. and your
driver may tell you about the splendid
homes that used to grace Its slopes
in the golden days when Cuba had an
aristocracy. Your cochero may point
out certain grove Of orange trees,
now little more than a rank tangle,
and tell you about the quinta Of Don
Esteban Varona, and it's hidden treas
are; about little Esteban and Rosa. the
twins; and about Sebastian, the giant
slave, who died in fury, taking with
him the secret of the well.
The Spanish Main is rich in tales OF
treasure-trove, for when the Antilles
were most affluent they were least Sc
cure, and men were put TO strange
shifts to protect their fortunes. Ger
tain boards, like jewels of tragic his
tory in time assumed a sort of evil
personality, not infrequently exercising
a dire influence over the lives of those
who CHANGED to fall under their spells.
Il was as If the money were accursed,
for certainly the seekers often came
to evil. OF such character was the
Varona treasure. Don Esteban himself
was neither better nor worse than
other men of his time, and although
part Of the money he hid was wrung
from the toll of slaves and the traffic
IN their bodies, much of 1t was clean
enough, and in time the earth purified
1t all. Since his acts ade so deep an
Impress, and since the treasure he left
played so big part in the destinies of
those who came after him, 1t is well
that some account Of these matters
should be given.
The story, please remember, is an
old one; 1t has been often told, and in
the telling and retelling II is but natural
that certain glamour. a certain
tropical extravaganza. should attach to
1t, therefore you should make allow
anee for some exaggeration, some ac-
cretions due to the lapse of time. In
the main. however. II is well authenti-
Gated and runs parallel to fact.
Donna Rosa Varona lived barely long
SaoughS to learn that she had given
Oirth to twins Don Esteban, whom
people knew as grim man. took the
GLOW Of his sudden bereavement as be-
Vame one of his strong fiber. Leaving
the priest upon his knees and the doc
tor busted with the babies. he strobe
through the house and out into the
sunset, followed by the walls of the
slave women.
Don Esteban was at heart a selfish
man. and now, therefore, he felt sui
ZEN fierce resentment mingled with
ais grief. What trick was this? he
asked himself. What had he done to
merit such misfortune? Had he not
MADE rich gifts to the church? Had he
Hot knelt and prayed for his wife's
eaIe delivery and then hung his gifts
upon the sacred image, as Loyola had
Huns uD his weapons before that other
Souhte4 part Of Our Lady7 Don Este
Uah scowled at the memory. for those
sens were Of the finest.
he looked up from his unhappy
musings to find a gigantic bare
rwo'ed negro standing before him.
ne slave was middle-aged; his kinky
ra'f was growing gray: but he was Of
sIpefo proportions. and the muscles
~luch showed through the rents in his
lion garments were as smooth and
hpie as those of a STRIPPING. His
..aeA face was puckered with grief,
As he began:
master, is 1t true that Donna Rosa
The fellow choked.
ies Esteban nodded, YEARLY, "she
" dead, Sebastian"
'fs came to Sebastian's eyes and
-. s'''oWed his cheeks; he stood mo-
4 .,Iiess, striving to voice his sympathy.
a length he said:
Sne was too good fer thls world