The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1919-12-26


Ing more than hosrse sroak: O.
candle In his hand described erratic
figures.
What DO YOU seer the Girl cris4
m an agony OF suspense -
Il It's herei B-boxes. chests'
casks-everything!"
God be praised Ny, fathers for ).
tune at lastv' -, -
Rosa forgot her surroundInss; she
beat her hands together. calling upon
oReilly 20 make haste and determine.
beyond all question that the mlssfprl
hoard was Indeed theirs. She drew
perilously close 10 the well and knelf
over X Ike some priestess at her De-
votions; her eyes were trimming with
tears and there was a roaring In her
ears. II was not strange that she
Jailed to see or to hear the approach
OF a great blurred figure which ma
teriahzed out Of the night and took
station scarcely an arm's-length be-
hind her
He intended IL for his .hfldrea.,.!
she sobbed. land Providence saved
| II from our wicked enemies II was
the hand Of God that led us here
Oheiny. Tell me, what do you see
now?" -
Johnnie had wormed his way into
the damp chamber and a slim recks
tansle Of light was projected against
the opposite side of the well. Rosa
could hear him talking and moving
about
Don Esteban Varona's subterranlS
can hiding place was large enough to
store a treasure far greater than his;
IL was perhaps ten feet in length,
win roof high enough to accommo- /,
| GATE 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 liquors; over an ;
was a thick covering Of slime and
mold. Tho iron was deeply rusted
and the place Itself smelIed abomin- 2
ably stale. =
o'Reilly surveyed tbis AIaddin's cav. !,
N daze. He set his candle down.
Tor his fingers were numb and UNI
steady. Cautiously. as IL fearful Of
breaking some spell. nc stopped and
tried to move one Of the casks. but
found that il resisted him as IL &C.
! mented TO the rock. He noted that its
mead was bulged upward. as il by
! the dampness. so he took his iron
bar and aimed short blow al the
! chlne. A hoop gave way: another
blow enabled him TO pry out the head
OF the cask He stood bIinkinR-st
the sight exposed. for the little barrel
was full Of cOins-yelIow coins, large
and small. O'Reilly seized a hand
ful ard held them close TO the candle
name among the number he noted
Spanish doUbloon, such as young
Esteban had found.
He tested the wefeht Of the otbey
casks and found them equally heavy.
Knowing little about gold. he did not
attempt 10 estimate the value of tleir
contents. but he judged they must
represent fortune With throbbinR
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 writing upon the tags was almost =,
IIegible. but the first article which
y Kelly unwrapped proved TO be n 2
goblet Of most beautiful workmanship I.
I Time had long since blsckened IL To-
the appearance Of pewter or some
base metal. but he saw that il was
of solid silver. Evidently he had I'M
covered store Of old Spanish plate
In one corner Of the chest he saw
a metal box OF the sort in which .vsJr-.,
able papers are kept. and after some
enort he managed to breaksu open
turning back the lid. he found first.
bundle OF documents bearing fmpos-
ing scrolls and heavy seals Despite
the dRmpness. they were in. fairly,
sood condition. and there was enough
left of the writing to identify thesns
beyond all question as the missing
deeds Of patent to the Narona landsAe
those crown grants for which Doas =
lea F.a1 hs.a
this was not all that the smaller boy
contained. Beneath the nspers there,
were numerous leather bags. These
had rotted; they came APART easily In;
OReilly's fingers. displaying a mis-
celianeeus assortment Of unset gems@l
some Of them at first sight looosd
like drops Of blood. others like drops s
Of pureSt water. They were the rubfrs :
and diamonds which had brought
Isabel TO her death.
O'Reilly waited to see no more
Candle in hand. he crept out into the
well to apprise Rosa OF the truth.
We've got it, There's gold by tho
barrel and the deeds TO your lana.
Yes. and the jewels, too-a quart ~ (
them, ! guess. IL can't believe nfp
eyes" He showed her handful 20 =
coins. Look at that, DoubloohsSs
eagles, There appear to be thousands
Of them. Why. you're the richeHf
girl in Cuba. RUbies. diamonds-yas, r
and pearls. too. / dare say" lie
choked and began TO laugh weakly.
Historically. -
I've heard about those pearlss-s
} Rosa cried. shrillN Pearls from the
Caribbean. as large as plums Isabel
used to babble about them m her
sleep" a-
Il found those deeds the first thing
The plantations are yours now. beyond
any question"
Rosa drew back from her precarious
position. for she had grown limp from
weakness and her head was whirling-
AS she rose TO her feet she brushed
something, somebody. some flesh-and-
blood form which was standing alnost.
over her. Involuntary she recoilej.
topping up on the very brink 81 the
pit whereupon a heavy hand reached
forth and seized her. she found her
self staring upward into face she
had grown TO know in her Nightmares,
face the mere memory OF which
was enough TO freeze her blood 1t
was a hideous visage. thick-lipped. 81
fat featured. black: il was disfiCured
by a scar from lip to temple and out.
of il cleaned a pair Of eyes distended
and ringed with white, like the eyes
Of a man insane
For an instant Rosa made no sound
and no effort to escape. The apart
tion robbed her OF breath, It paraly'Ied
her in both mind and body. Her first
thought was that she had gone stark