The Ordway new era., 1918-12-27
sht. by Harper and Brothers,

| a
pulses he next lifted the lid of the
nearest chest. Within. he discovered
several compartments, each stored with
neatly wrapped and labeled packages
of varying shapes and sizes. The writ
ing upon the tags was almost illegible.
but the first article which O'Reilly un-
wrapped proved to be a goblet of most
beautiful workmanship. Time had long
since blackened 1t to the appearance of
pewter or some base metal, but he saw
that 1t was of solid silver. Evidently
he had uncovered a store of old Span
ish plate.
In one corner of the chest he saw
metal box of the sort in which valuable
papers are kept. and after some effort
he managed to break 1t open. Turning
back the lid. he found first bundle of
documents bearing imposing scrolls
and heavy seals. Despite the damp
ness, they were in fairly good condi-
ton. and there was enough left of the
writing to identify them beyond all
question as the missing deeds of patent
to the Varona lands-those crown
grants for which Donna Isabel had
searched SO fruitlessly. But this was
not all that the smaller box contained.
Beneath the papers there were numer-
GUS leather bags. These had rotted
they came apart easily in O'Reilly's
fingers, displaying 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.
O'Reilly 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, l
guess. II can't believe my eyes" He
showed her handful Of coins. Look
at thatl Doubloons. eaglesl There mp
pear to be thousands of them. Why,
you're the richest girl in Cuba. Rubies,
diamonds-yes, and pearls. too, dare
say" He choked and began to laugh
weakly, Historically.
1--WE heard about those pearls" Rosa
cried, shrilly. "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 had grown limp from
weakness and her head was whirling.
As she rose to her feet she brushed
something. somebody. some fiesh-and-
blood form which was standing almost
4 -gI,, ,I,o
toppling upon the very brink of the pit,
whereupon heavy hand reached forth
and seized her. She found herself
staring upward into a face she had
grown to know in her nightmares. a
face the mere memory of which was
enough to freeze her blood. 1t was a
hideous visage, thick-llpped, fiat-fea-
tured, black; 1t was disfigured by
scar from lip to temple and out Of 1t
cleaned a pair of eyes distended and
ringed with white. like the eyes of a
man insane.
| For an instant Rosa made no sound
and no effort to escape. The appari-
tion robbed her of breath, 1t paralyzed
her in both mind and body. Her first
thought was that she had gone stark
mad, but she had felt Cobo's hands
upon her once before and after her
first frozen moment of amazement 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 fluttering
of bird. Cobo crushed her down.
strangling the half-uttered cry.
Terror may be SO intense. SO appal-
ling as to be unendrrable. In Rosa's
case n merciful Oblivion overlook her.
She felt the world grow black, fall
away; felt herself swing dizzily
through space.
OReilly looked upward, 1nquiring,
sharply, "What's the matter7" He
heard scuftilng Of feet above him, but
received no answer. "Rosal What
frightened you? 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. "Rosa !" he
called again in q voice thick from
fright. Followed an instant Of silence /;
then he fattened himself against the
side Of the well and the breath stuck
In his throat.
Into the dim circle Of radiance above
a head was thrust-a head, pair of
wide shoulders, and then two arms
The figure bent closer. and O'Reilly
recognized the swarthy features of that
man he had seen at the Matanzas rail-
road station. There could be no doubt
Of tit was Cobo.