The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1918-09-26

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contents, but he Judged they must rep
resent Q fortune. With throbbing
pulses be next lifted the Id Of the
nearest chest Within, he discovered
several Compartments, each stored With
realty wrapped and labeled packages
Of varying shapes and sdzea The writ
Ing upon the tags was almost illeg1ble.
but the nrst article which O'Reilly un-
wrapped proved to BE- q goblet Of most
beautiful workmanship. Time had lang
since blackened Il to tie sppeanncs of
pewter or soiae base metal, but he saw
that u vas Of eolid silver. Ev;1ently
he l.Sd uncovered Q store Of old Span
Lab plate.
In one corner Of the chest be saw q
metal boz Of the sort In which valuable
papers are kept. and after some effort
he managed 10 break IL open Turning
back the Id. he found first q bundle Of
documents bearing imposing scrolls
aad heavy seals. Despite the damp
ness. they were in fairly good condl-
ton. and there was enough left Of the
writing 70 identify them beyond all
question as the missing deeds Of patent
to the varona lands-those crown
grants for which Donna Isabel had
searched 30 fruitlessly. But this was
not all that the smaller box contained.
Beneath the papers there were numer.
Gus leather bags. These had rotted I;
they came apart easily In O'ReiIly's
fingers. displaying a miscellaneous as
sortment Of unset gems-some Of them
at FIRST sight looked like drops Of blood,
others like drops Of purest water. They
were the rubies and the diamonds
which had brought Isabel to her death.
OReIlly waited to see no more.
Candle in hand. he crept out into the
well to apprise Rosa Of the truth.
"we've got It'll There's gold by the
barrel and the deeds to your land. Yes.
and the jewels. too--a quart Of them,
guess. IL can't believe my eyes" He
showed her handful Of coins. Look
at thati Doubloons, eagles There ap-
pear to be thousands Of them. Why,
you're the richest girl In Cuba. Rubies,
diamonds-yes. and pearls. too, I dare
say" He choked and began to laugh
weakly. hyster.cally.
tive heard about those pearls" Rosa
cried. shnuy. "Pearls from the Carib-
bean. as large as plums. Isabel used
to babble about them in her Sleep"
II found those deeds the first thing.
The plantations are yours now. beyond
any question"
Rosa drew back from her precarious
position, for she hnd grown limp from
weakness and her head was whirling.
As ahe rose to her feet she brushed
something. somebody. some fesh-and-
blood form which was standing almost
over her. Involuntarlly she recoiled.
toppling upon the very brink Of the pit,
whereupon q heavy hand reached forth
and seized her. She found herself
staring upward into face she had
grown to know In her Nightmares, q
face the mere memory Of which was
enough to freeze her blood. 1t was o
hideous visage. thick-lipped. fiat-fea-
tured. black; II was disfigured by q
scar from lip to temple and out Of it
cleaned Q pair Of eyes distended and
ringed with white. like the eyes of q
man insane.
For an instant Rosa made no sound
and no effort to escape. The appari-
tion robbed her Of breath, It paralyzed
her In both mind and body. Her first
thought ives that she had gone stark
mad. but she had felt Cobo's hands
upon her once before and after her
nrst frozen moment Of amaxement she
realized that she was In her fullest
senses. A shrek sprang to her lips.
she tried to fight the man of. but her
weak struggle was like the huttering
Of . bird. Cobo crushed her down,
strangling the half-uttered cry.
Terror may be so intense. SO appal-
ling 40 to be unendurable. In Rosa's
case . merciful oblivion overlook her.
She felt the world grow black. fall
away; felt herself swing dizzily
through space.
OReilly looked upward. inquiring.
sharply. "what's the matterf" He
heard scuffiing Of feet above him, but
received no answer. "Rosa What
frightened your Rosa" There was
moment Of sickening suspense. then he
put his shoulder to the timbers he had
displaced and. with violent shove.
succeeded In swinging them back into
place. Laying hold Of the rope. he be-
gan to hoist himself upward. He had
gone but little way. however, when.
without warning. his support gave way
and he fell backward: the rope came
pouring down upon him. "Rosal" he
called again In q voice thick from
fright. Followed an instant Of silence;
then he fiattened himself against the
side Of the well and the breath stuck
In his throat.