Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1918-08-22
"She' is beautiful, eh? Too beautiful

gelina is right; you are too beautiful
to look at. But waltz" He. drew her
aside and whispered, give been down
in the WELL" Some tremor in his
voice, some CLINT in his eyes, caused
the girl to seize him eagerly, fercely.
II may be wrong" he said hurriedly;
"there may be nothing in it-and yet
I saw something"
"What?"
"Wooden beams, timbers Of some
sort, behind the stone curbing." 1t
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-flled
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
it is entirely curbed up with stones
laid in mortar. That struck me as
queer"
"Yes?"
II noticed, too, in one place that
there was wood behind-as If timbers
had been placed there to cover the
entrance to a cave. You know this
Cuban rock is full Of caverns."
Rosa clasped her hands, she began
to tremble. "You have found it,
O'Reilly. You have" she whispered.
"No, no, I've found nothing yet. But
I've, sent Jacket for a pick or a bar
and tonight I'm going to pull down
those stones and see what is behind
them"
"To night? You must let me go,
too. I want to help"
"Very we'll. 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
it to Evangelina. Now, then, I've a
few pennies left and I'm going to buy
some Candles"
Rosa embraced her lover impulsive-
ly. "Something tells me it 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
l%ove-birds! They are like parrakeets,
forever kissing and cooing"
Jacket returned at dusk, and with
him he brought a rusty three-foot iron
bar, evidently part Of a window graf
ing. The boy was tired, disguised, and
in a vile temper. "A pickax! A crow
barw he cursed eloquently. "One might
as we'll try to steal a cannon out of
San severino. I'm ready to do any
thing within reason, but" ~~~.,s~~D~
"Why, this will do nicely; 1t Is just
what I want" O'Reilly told him.
! "Humph! I'm glad to hear it, fol
! that rod was nearly the death Of me
I broke my back wrenching at it and
9 the villain who owned the. house
may a bad lightning split him he
ran after me until I nearly expired
{ If my new knife had been sharp
e would have turned and sent him home
with it between his ribs. Tomorrow
shall put IN edge on it. Believe me
I a until my lungs burst"
Little food remained in the hut
barely enough for Asensio and the
v women, and inasmuch as O'Reilly haG
o spent his last centavo for candles hi
. and Jacket were forced to go hungry
again. Late that evening, after the
wretched priso1 QUARTERS had grow
quiet, the three treasure hunters stole
S out of their howell and wound up thu
y hill. In spite of their excitement they
u went slowly, for none of them had thu
l. strength to hurry. Fortunately there
were few providers within the lines
hunger having robbed the reconcentra
$ dos of the spirit to venture forth, ant
in consequence Spanish vigilance hat
6 relaxed; it was nov confined to thu
2 far-fung girdle of intrenchments which
l. enclrcled the city. The trio encoun
tered no one. ~~r~."""""o'so~s
3. Leaving Jacket on guard at the cres
e Of the hill, O'Reilly stationed Rosa a
the mouth Of the we'll, her lowered
himself once more into it. Lighting
his candle, he made a careful exami
(! nation of the place, with the result
that Esteban's theory of the missin.
9 riches seemed even less improbabl,
e than it had earlier in the day. TIL
masonry work, he discovered, had beer
done with a painstaking thOroughnes
which spoke Of the abundance Of slav'
labor, and time had barely begun II
affect ii. Here and there a piece OF
e the mortar had loosened and come
y away, but for the most part it stood
s as solid as the stones between which
= it was laid. Shoulder-high to O'Reilly
there appeared to be a section of the
e curbing less smoothly fitted than the
rest, and through an interstice in this
he detected what seemed to be a damp
t wooden beam. At this point he
? brought his iron bar into play.
1t was not Tong before he discovered
o that his work was cut out for him.
U The cement was Hike flint and his blunt
makeshift implement was almost use
less against it. Ankle-deep In the
muddy water, he patiently pecked and
pounded and Clipped, e~ndeavoring to
I, embargo the crpvicp So rs to- uSe his