Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-03-10

Please 90. Ana, remember. say
nothing before Asensio or his wife.
Rosa met O'Reilly just inside the
door. and at sight of her he uttered
an exclamation of surprise. for during
his absence she had removed the stain
from her face and discarded that dis
fgurement which Evangelina had
fitted to her back prior to their
departure from the Pan de Matan-
zas. She stood before him now,
straight and slim and graceful-the
Rosa of his dreams. only very thin,
very fragile. Her poor tatters only
enhanced her prettiness. so he thought,
Rosa dear! DO you think this is
quite safe?' he ventured. doubtfully.
EvangeIina. who was bending over
her husband, Strengthened herssS and
came forward with a smile upon her
black face.
she is beautiful. Ell? Too beautiful
to look at? What did 1 tell your"
Rosa was in delightful confusion at
O'Reilly's evident surprise and admi-
changed?" she asked
Why. you haven't changed at all,
except to grow more beautiful. Evan
&c ioak is right; YOU are TOO beautiful
aside and whispered. I've been down
in the we'll" Some tremor in his voice.
some CLINT in his eyes. caused the girl
70 seize him eagerly, fiercely. Il may
be wrong, he said, hurriedly; there
may be nothing in it-and yet I saw
something"
w hat
Wooden beams, timbers of some sort.
nehlnd the stone curbing." II was plain
Rosa did not comprehend so he hur-
fied on At first l noticed nothing
unusual. except that the bottom of the
wen Is nearly dry-filled up. you know,
from the curbing above, then l saw
that although the wei is dug through
rock nevertheless il is entirely curbed
up with stones laid in mortar That
struck me as queer
Yes"
Il noticed. too. in one place that
there was wood behind-as if tirnbers
had been placed there to cover the en-
trance to cave. You know this Gu
ban rock is full of caverns."
Rosa clasped her hands. she began
to tremble. You have found it,
o'Reilly. You have" she whispered
NO. no. I've found nothing yet. But
I've sent Jacket for pick or a bar
and tonight I'm going to pull down
those stones and see what is behind
them
Tonight? You must let me go, too
I want to help"
Very well. But meanwhile you
mustn't let your hopes rise too high,
for there is every chance that you will
be disappointed And don't mention it
to Evangelina- Now then, I've few
pennies left and I'm going to buy some
candles"
Rosa embraced her lover impulsiveiy
Something tells me it is true Some
thing tells me you are going to save
US all"
Evangelina in the far corner of the
hut muttered to her husband: Such
love-birds, They are like parrakeets,
forever kissing and cooing!"
Jacket returned at dusk and with
him he brought rusty three-foot iron
bar, evidently part of a window graf
ing. The boy was tired, disgusted
and in vile temper. "A pick-ax: A
crowbar" He cursed eloquently. 'one
might as well try TO steal a cannon out
of San Severino. I'm ready to do any
thing within reason. but -
Why. this viii do nicely; it is just
what 1 want" O'Reilly told him.
"Humph, I'm glad to hear it. for
that rod was nearly the death of me
l broke my hack wrenching at it and
the villain who owned the house-may
after me until nearly expired. II my
new knife had been sharp l would
have turned and sent him home with
it between his ribs. Tomorrow I shall
put an edge on it Believe me. l ran
until my lungs burst
Little food remained in the hut.
barely enough for Asenio and the won-
en-, and inas~~ch 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
flung girdle of intrenchments which en-
circled the city. The trio encountered
no one.
ay-ip
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 examination
of the place. with the result that Es-
TEXANS 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 painstaking thoroughness which
spoke of the abundance of slave labor,
and time had barely begun to affect 1t.
Here and there a piece of the mortar
had loosened and come away. but for
the most part il stood as solid as the
stores between which it was laid
ed to be a section of the curbing less
smoothly fitted than the rest. and
through an interstice in this he detect
ed what seemed TO be damp wooden
beam. At this point he brought his
iron bar into play.
II 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 il. Ankle deep in the
muddy water, he patiently pecked and
pounded and Clipped. endeavoring to
enlarge the crevice so as to use RS bar
as a lever. The sweat streaned from
him and he became dsmayed at his
own weakness. He was forced to rest
frequently.
Rosa hung over the orifce above en-
couraEing him, inquiring eagerly as to
his progress. During his frequent
breathing spells he could discern her
white face dfmly illumined by the can
die light from below.
After he had worked for an hour or
two, he made a report: TT begins to
look as II there really was a bulkhead
or door in there"
The girl clapped her hands and
laughed with delight DO hurry. dear.
I'm dying of suspense"
O'Eeilly groaned: THAT fellow. Sc
bastlan, knew his business This ce-
ment is like steel. and I'm afraid of
breaking my crowbar.
Rosa found Il leaf, folded kiss into
IT, and dropped il to him. That will
give you strength she declared
OReilly lost all count of time after
while and he was increGulous when
Jacket came TO warn him that daylight
was less than an hour away. why |
haven't started he protested He dis
covered. much 10 his surprise that he