The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1918-10-25
scspyrisht. b uepsr ana nreehsrs,

contents, but he judged they must rep
resent q fortune. With throbblng
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 I'M
wrapped proved to be 1 goblet OF most
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 Q store Of oh Span
ish plate.
In one corner Of the chest he saw a
metal box Of the sort In which valuable
papers arc kept and after some effort
he managed 70 break It open. Turning
back the I'D, he found 1rst i bundle Of
documents bearing imposing scrolls
and heavy eeala. Despite the damp
ness, they were In fairly good condi-
ton, and there wAs enough left Of the
writing to identity them beyond all
question - the missing deeds Of patent
to the varona lands-those crown
grants for which Donna Isabel had
searched % fruitlessly. But this wal
not Ill that the smaller box contained.
Beneath the papees there were numer-
Gus leather bags. These had rotted:
they came apart ea1tly IN O'Re2ly's
fingers, displaying = miscellaneous ~
sortment Of unset gems-soi0e - them
at nrst 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 % go no more.
Candle In hand. he crept ont into the
well to apprise Rosa Of the truth.
.Weve got It'll There's gold By the
barrel and the deeds 70 your land. Yes,
and the jewels, t0O-a quart Of them, !
guess. I'll can't believe my eyes" he
showed her q handful of coins. Look
at thati Doubloons, eaglesl There ap-
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.
'Tvs heard about those pearls" Rosa
cried, shrilly. .Pearls from tho Carib-
bean. ~ large - plums. Isabel used
to bahble about them In her sleep"
Il found those deeds the 1rst thing.
The plantations are yours now. beyond
any question"
Rosa drew back from her p~recarious.
position. for she had grown limp from
weakness and her head was whirlins.
A. she rose to her feet she brushed
something. somebody. some flesh-and-
blood form which wal standing almost
over her. lnvoluntarily she recoiled,
topping upon the very brink Of the pit,
whereupon . heavy hand reached forth
and seized her. She found herself
Starring upward into Z face she had
grown 70 know In her nightmares, .
face the mere memory Of which was
enough 10 freeze her blood. It was .
hldeous visage, thick-lippsd. fat-fea-
tured, black: Il was dis6gured by Z
ecar from Up to temple and ont OF Il
cleaned . pair Of eyes distended and
hinged with white. Ike the eyes Of Z
man Insane.
For IN instant Rosa made no sound
and 10 effort 20 escape. The appari-
tiou robbed her of breath, Il paralyzsd
h1e u both mind and body. Her nrst
thoueAt VA that she had eo0e stark
mad. but ~ had felt Cobo's hands