Courier Democrat., 1918-08-29

6f< ANU
again, Tor he feared he would not nave
the strength to descend it.
Luckily for the sake of the secret,
Eva1gelina spent most of the day
searching for food, while Asensio lay
bab6ling upon his bed, too ill to notice
the peculiar actions of his companions.
1t was with a strange, nightmare
feeling Of unreality that the trio
dragged themselves upward to the
ruined quinto when darkness finally
came. They no longer talked, for con-
versation was drain upon their pow
ers, and the reaction from the days ex-
as he walked. his limbs were heavy,
and his liveliest sensation was one Of
i dread at the hard work in store for
him. The forcing of that door assumed
the proportions Of Herculean task.
But once he was at the bottom of
the we'll and beheld the handiwork Of
Sebastian, the slave, just as he had
| left it, his sense Of reality returned and
| with it certain measure Of determina-
tion. 1nasmuch as he had made no
visible impression upon the bulkhead
by his direct attack, he changed his
tactics now and undertook to loosen
one of the jambs where it was wedged
into the rock at top and bottom. After
desperate struggle he succeeded in
loosening the entire structure so that
he could pry it out far enough to
squeeze his body through.
II have i'll" he cried to Rosa. Selling
the candle, he thrust it into the OPEN
ing. He beheld what he had expected
to find, small cavern or grotto which
had evidently been pierced during the
digging of the well. He could appreci-
ate now how simple had been the task
Of sealing it up so as to battle discov-
cry. Rosa, poised above him, scarcely
breathed until he Strengthened himself
and turned his face upward once more.
He tried to speak, but voiced moth
Ing more than hoarse croak; the
candle in his hand described erratic fig
ures. ct. ,r4.,>, =, .s -. =:
what do you see?' the girl cried in
an agony of suspense.
q It's here! B-boxes, chests,
casks-everything"
'God be praised! My fathers for
tune at last!" d. ~.
Rose forgot her surroundings; she
Dent her hands together, calling upon
o'Rellly to make haste and determine
beyond all question that the missing
hoard was indeed theirs. She drew
perllously close to the we'll and knelt
over 1t like some priestess at her de-
votlons; her eyes were brimming with
tears and there was a roaring in her
ears. 1t was not strange that she failed
to see or to hear the approach of
great blurred figure which material
lied out of the night and took station
scarcely an arms length behind her.
HE intended it for his children"
she sobbed, "and providence saved it
from our wicked enemies. It was the
hand of God that led US here O'Reilly.
Iell me, what do you see now?"
johnnie had wormed his way into
the damp chamber and slim rectangle
OF light was projected against the op-
poslte side of the well. Rosa could
near him talking and moving about,
Don Esteban Varona's subterranean
h1ding-place was large enough to store
treasure far greater than his; it was
perhaps ten feet in length, with roof
h1gE enough to accommodate q tall
man. At the farther end were ranged
several small wooden chests bound
with iron and fitted with hasps and
staples, along one side was row of
aiminutive casks, the sort used to con-
tain choice wines or liquors; over all
was a thick covering of slime and !
mold. The iron was deeply rusted and
the place itself smelled abominably .
stale.
O'Reilly surveyed this Aladdin's cave
IN a daze. He set his candle down, for
his fingers were numb and unsteady.
Cautiously, as If fearful Of breaking
some spell, he stopped and tried to
move one Of the casks, but found that
it resisted ! i'm as If cemented to the
rock. He noted that it's head was
oulged upward, as If by the dampness,
80 he took his iron bar and aimed a
sharp blow at the chine. A hoop gave
way; another blow enabled him to p&
'ut the head Of the cask. He stood
at the sight exposed, for the
little barrel was full Of coins-yellow
'oins, large and small. O'Reilly seized
handful and held them close to the
'andle flame; among the number he
loted Spanish dcubloon, such as
,oung Esteban had found.
He tested the weight of the other
asks and found them equally heavy.
Knowing little about gold, he did not
ttempt to estimate the value of thel1
ontents, but he judged they must rep
esent fortune. With throbbing
'ulses he next lifted the lid of the
earest chest. Within, he discovered {
everal compartments, each stored with
eatly wrapped and labeled packages 1
t varying shapes and sizes. The writ