Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1918-07-30

IliOt AON vas dNoAAy bhO oNANh VI A4S'
I broke my back wrenching at 1t and
the villain who owned the house
may a bad lightning split him The
ran after me until / nearly expired.
If my new knife had been sharp 1
would have turned and sent him home
with 1t between his ribs. Tomorrow ]
shall put an edge on it. Believe me,
I ran until my lungs burst"
Little food remained In the hut,
barely enough for Asensio and the
women, and inasmuch as O'Reilly had
spent his last centavO for candles he
and Jacket were forced to go hungry
again. Late that evening, after the
wretched prison quarters had grown
quiet, the three treasure hunters stole
out of their howell and wound up the
hill. In spite of their excitement they
went slowly, for none of them had the
strength to hurry. Fortunately there
were few providers within the lines,
hunger having robbed the reconcentra-
dos Of the spirit to venture forth, and
in consequence Spanish vigilance had
relaxed; it was now confined to the
far-fung girdle of intrenchments which
encircled the city. The trio encoun-
tered no one.
Leaving Jacket on guard at the crest
of the hill, O'Reilly stationed Rosa at
the mouth of the well, then lowered
himself once more into it. Lighting
his candle, he made careful exami-
nation of the place. with the result
that Esteban's theory of the missing
riches seemed even less improbable
than it had earlier In the day. The
masonry work, he discovered, had been
done with a painstakfng thOroughness
which spoke of the abundance of slave
labor, and time had barely begun to
affect it. Here and there piece of
the mortar had loosened and come
away, but for the most part it stood
as solid as the stones between which
it was laid. Shoulder-high to O'Reilly
there appeared to be section of the
curbing less smoothly fitted than the
rest, and through an interstice in this
he detected what seemed to be damp
wooden beam. At this point he
brought his iron bar into play.
1t was not long before he discovered
that his work was cut out, for him.
The cement was like 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, endeayoring to
enlarge the crevice so as to use his
bar as a lever The sweat streamed
his own weakness. He was forced to
rest frequently
Rosa hung over the orifice above, en-
couraging him, inqriring eagerly as to
his progress. During his frequent
breathing spells he could discern her
white face dimly illumined by the
candle light from below.
After he had worked for an hour or
two, he made report: SIT begins to
look as if there really was a bulkhead
or a door in there"
The girl clapped her hands and
laughed with delight. do hurry, dear !;
I'm dying of suspense"
O'Reilly groaned: 'That fellow, Sc
bastian. knew his business. This ce-
ment is like steel, and I'm afraid Of
breaking my crowbar."
Rosa found leaf, folded kiss into
it, and dropped it to him. "That will
give you strength" she declared.
O'Reilly lost all count of time after
while and he was incredulous when
Jacket came to warn him that daylight
was less than an hour away. "Why,
haven't started" he protested. He
discovered, much to his surprise, that
he was ready to drop from fatigue
and that his hands were torn and bis
tered; when he had climbed the rope
to the upper air he fell exhausted in
the deep grass. "I-Pm not myself at
ALL" he apologiZed; nothing to eat,
you know. But the work will go faster
now, for I've made beginning"
do you still think-"Rosa hesitated
to voice the question which trembled
on her lips.
"Pll know for sure tonight" He
directed Jacket to replace the planks
over the well; then the three of them
stole away.
O'Reilly spent most of that day in
profound stupor of exhaustion.
while Rosa watched anxiously over
him. jacket, it seemed, had peacefully
slumbered on picket duty, so he occu-
pied himself by grinding away at his
knife. The last scraps of food dis
appeared that evening.
When night fell and it came time to
return to- the top of La Cumbre,
O'Reilly asked himself If his strength
would prove sufficient for the task In
hand. He was spiritless. sore, weak ;
he ached in every bone and muscle,
and it required all his determination
to propel himself up the hill. He won
dered If he were wise thus to sacrifice
his waning energies on hope so for
lorn as this, but by now he had begun
20 more than half believe in the exist
ence of the Varona treasure and he felt
an almost irresistible curiosity to learn
what secret, if any, was concealed be-
hind those water-soaked timbers at the
bottom of the well. He realized, of
course, that every hour he remained
here, now that food and money were
gone. lessened the chances of escape I;
but, on the other hand, he reasoned,
with equal force, that If he had indeed
stumbled upon the missing hoard sal
walton for all of them was assured.
The stake, it seemed TO him, was worth
the hazard
Given tempered tools to work with,
it would have been no great undertake
ing to tear down that cemented wall of
stones, but armed with nothing except
his bare hands and that soft iron
bar. O'Reilly spent nearly the whole
night at his task. Long before the
last rock had yielded, however. he be-
held that which caused him to turn a
strained face upward to Rosa.
There's a little door. as sure as you
i've" he told her. :