The Monticellonian., 1918-09-06

again, for he feared he would not have the strength to descend it.
 Luckily for the sake of the secret, Evangelina spent most of the day searching for food, while Asensio lay babbling upon his bed, too ill to notice the peculiar actions of his companions.
 It 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 a drain upon their pow CTS, and the reaction from the days ex- citement had set in. O'Reilly lurched as he walked. his limbs were heavy, and his liveliest sensation was one of dread at the hard work in store for him. The forcing of that door assumed the proportions of a Herculean task
 But once he was at the bottom of the well and beheld the handiwork of Sebastian, the slave, just as he had left it, his sense of reality returned and with 1t certain measure of determina tion. Inasmuch 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 1t 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.
 'I have it" he cried to Rosa Seizing ing. He beheld what he had expected to find, a 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 baffie discov- breathed until he strengthened himself and turned his face upward once more.
 He tried to speak but voiced noth- ing more than hoarse eroak; the candle in his hand described cratic fig ures.
 What do you see?" the girl cried in an agony of suspense.
 q It's herel B-boxes, chests, casks-everything!' P
 God be praised My fathers for tune at last!"
 Rose forgot her surroundings; she bent her hands together, calling upon O'Reilly to make haste and determine beyond all question that the missing hoard was indeed theirs. She drew perilously close to the well and knelt over it like some priestess at her de votions; her eyes were brimming with tears and there was q roaring in her ears. It was not strange that she failed to see or to hear the approach of a great blurred figure which material ized out of the night and took station scarcely an arms length behind her.
 He intended 1t 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. Tell 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- posite side of the well. Rosa could hear him talking and moving about.
 Don Esteban Varona's subterranean hiding place was large enough to store treasure far greater than his; 1t was perhaps ten feet in length, with a roof high enough to accommodate a 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 a row of diminutive casks, the sort used to con tain choice wines or liquors; over all was thick covering of slime and mold. The iron was deeply rusted and the place itself smelled abominably stale.
 OReilly surveyed this Aladdin's cave In 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 1t resisted him as If cemented to the rock. He noted that its head was bulged upward. as If by the dampness, so he took his iron bar and aimed a sharp blow at the chine. A hoop gave way another blow enabled him to pry out the head of the cask. He stood blinking at the sight exposed, for the little barrel was full of coins-yellow coins, large and small. O'Reilly seized a handful and held them close to the candle flame; among the number he noted a Spanish doubloon, such as young Esteban had found.
 He tested the weight of the other casks and found them equally heavy. Knowing little about gold, he did not attempt to estimate the value of theiI contents, but he judged they must rep resent fortune. With throbbing 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- beautiful workmanship. Time had long since blackened it to the appearance of pewter or some base metal, but he saw that it was of solid silver. Evidently he had uncovered a store of old Span ish plate.
 In one corner of the chest he saw a . 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 a bundle of