Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1918-08-22
Another hour ana I'd have been mruer,
r. , ho dooJorod hr,ely}7r -.

Another hour n I'd have been mroErs
it, he declared, huskily.
"You will skill yourself" Jacket to1G
him.
Rosa bent over him with shining
eyes and parted lips. "Yes," said she's
"Be patient. We will come back
O'Reilly, and tonight we shall be rich"
4 + X 4
Colonel Cobo lit a black cigarette.
leaned back in his chair, and exhaled,
two fierce jets Of smoke through his
nostrils. For a full moment he scowIed
forbiddingly at the sergeant who had
asked to see him.
"What's this you are telling met"
he inquired finally.
~The sergeant, a mean-faced, low
browed man, stirred u~neasily.
"It is Gods truth. There are spirits
on La Cumbre, and I wish to see tha
priest about it."
"Spirits? What kind Of spirits?"
The fellow shrugged. evil Spirits
spirits from hell. The men are buying
charms"
"Bah! I took you to be a sensible
person."
"You don't believe me? Well, I
didn't believe them when they told me
about it. But I saw with my own
eyes,"
Cobo leaned forward, mildly aston.
ished. OF all his villainous troop, this
man was the last one he had credited
with imagination of this sort. "Whaf
did you see?"
"a ghost, my colonel, nothing elsa
La Cumbre Is nc place for an honest
Christian"
The colonel burst into a hooking
laugh. "An honest Christian! You'll
OF all my vile ruffians, you are the
vilest. Why, you're a thief, a liar, and
an assassin! You are lying to me low.
Come-the truth for once, before I giv9
you the componte."
"As God is my Judge, I'm telling you
the TRUTH" protested the soldier. "Flog
me If you will-rather the componta
than another night in those trenches
You know that old quinta?"
"Where Pancho Cueto made a goat
of himself? Perfectly. Do you mean
to say that you saw old Esteban Va
roma walking with his head in his
hands?"
mo, but I saw that she-devil who
fell in the well and broke her neck"
"Eh? When did you behold this
this marvel?"
"Two nights ago. She was there be-
. side the well and her face shona
through the night like a lantern. There
o was fire upon it. She came and WENT
like a moth in the lamplight. I tell
you 1 repented of my sins. Some OF
the men laughed at me when 1 told
them, as they had laughed at the 9TH
ers. But last night two Of the doubt
ers went up there" 81: s#sasz sasEssss;slssEs
n Exactly. And they saw nothing"
"Your pardon, my colonel. They
came back in a cold sweat, and they
~ spent the night on their knees. The
U. woman was there again. You have
is seen the salt sea at night? Well, her
S. face was aglow, like that, so they said.
They heard the clanking of chains, too,
to and the SOUND Of hammers, coming
8 from the YssrZ e9ws7s Of t asss s2EtIl. +
b is. all plain enough, when you know
tns story. But it is terrifying"
<; "This is Indeed amazing" CoDo ac-
knowledged, "but: of course there is
N some simple explanation. Spirits, if
d indeed there are such things, are made
&c of nothing-they are, like: thin air.
r.. How, then, could they rattle chains2
ID You probably saw some wretched pa
t. cificos in search of food and imagined
1t the rest" ..--~~-en>.sr~~aa4sssEssAasasmy
q Indeed! Then what did. 1 hear with
e. these very ears? Whispers, murmurs,
le groans, and the clinkety-clink of old
If i*Sebastian's chisel. For his sins that
ID old slave is chained in some cavern of
.e the mountain. Soundless! I'm NO
baby! I know when I'm asleep, and I
know when I'm awake. That place is
ID accursed, and l want no more of it."
+ Cobo fell into frowning meditation,
d. allowing his cigarette to smolder down
'h until it burned his thick fingers. He
was not q superstitious man and he
put no faith in the supernatural. new
X ertheless he was convinced that hts
sergeant was not lying, and reference
Ut to Pancho Cueta had set his mind to-
u working along strange channels. He
Re had known Cueto well, and the latter's
le stubborn belief in the existence of that
e Varona treasure had more than once
q impressed him. He wondered now lie
others shared that faith, or il hg
u chance they had discovered a clue tu
the whereabouts Of the money and
3 were conducting a secret search. &c
t was a fantastic idea. nevertheless
Cobo told himself that if people were
prying about those deserted premises
: 1t was with some object, and their ac-
tons would warrant observation. The
y presence of the woman-a woman
with the glow of phosphorus upon her
face was puzzling, but the whole affair