The Raymer enterprise., 1919-05-29

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Jacket too. felt the strain, and after
several fruitisss attempts to sleep be
rose and went out into the sunshine,
where be fell b whetting his knife. he
finished putting double edge upon the
blade, fitted q handle to II, and then q
cord with which to suspend II round
his neck. he showed It to ORellly.
and after receiving q word Of praise he
crept outdoors again and tried to for
ct how nck he was. Black spots were
dancing before Jackets eyes; hs a.
perienced spells Of dizziness and nau-
sea during which be dared not attempt
to walk. he knew this must be the re-
suit Of starvation, and yet, strangely
enough, the thought Of food was dis
tastsful To him. He devoutly wished It
were not necessary to climb that hill
again. for hs feared he would not have
the strength to descend It.
Luckily for the sake Of tho secret,
Evangelina spent most Of the day
searching for food, while Asensio lay
babblins upon bis bed. too III to notice
the peculiar actions Of his companions.
It was with q strange, nightmare
feeling Of unreality that tho tho
dragged themselves upward to the
ruined quinto when darkness finally
came. They no longer talked, for con.
versauon was q drain upon their pow.
ers, and the reaction from the days e.
citement had set In. O'Rsilly lurchsd
a. be walked. his limbs were heavy.
and his nvellest sensation was one Of
dread at the hard work In store for
him. The forcing Of that door assumed
the proportions Of Herculean task.
But once he was at the bottom Of
the well and beheld the handiwork Of
sebastian. the slave. Just - be had
left It, bis sense Of reality returned and
with II q certain measure Of determine
uon. Inasmuch a. be had made no
visible impression upon the bulkhead
BY bis direct attack. he changed his
tactics now and undertook 10 loosen
one Of the jambs where II was wedged
into the rock at top and bottom. After
q desperate struggle he succeeded In
loosening the entire structure % that
he could pry It out far enough to
squeeze his body through.
II have itw he cried to Rosa. Eeizing
the candle, he thrust 1t into the open
Ing. He beheld what he had expected
to flnd, small cavern or srotto which
had evidently been pierced during the
digging Of the well. he could appreci-
ate now how simple had been the task
Of sealing 1t up so as to battle discov.
cry. Rosa. poised above him, scarcely
breathed until he Strengthened himself
and turned his face upward once more.
He tried to speak. but voiced moth.
Ing more than a hoarse croak; the
candle In his hand described erratic fig-
ures.
"What do you sect" the girl cried In
an agony Of suspense.
Il It's herel B-boxes, chests.
casks-everythingr'
God be praisedl My fathers for
tune at last |"
Rose forgot her surroundings; she
bent her hands together. calling upon
ORellly to make haste and determine
beyond all question that the missing
hoard was indeed theirs. She drew
perilously close to the well and knelt
over II like some priestess at her de-
votions; her eyes were brimming with
tears and there was roaring In her
ears. It was not strange that she failed
to see or to hear the approach Of
great blurred figure which material
lied out Of the night and took station
scarcely an arms length behind her.
HE Intended It for his children"
she sobbed. "and providence saved It
from our wicked enemies. II was the
hand of God that led Us here, O'Reilly.
Tell me, what do you see nowr
Johnnie had wormed his way into
the damp chamber and slim rectangle
OF light was projected against the op-
poslte side Of the well. Rosa could
hear him talking and moving about.
Don Esteban varona's subterranean
hiding-place was large enough to store
treasure far greater than his; It was
perhaps ten feet In length. with roof
high enough to accommodate 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
diminutiye casks, the sort used to con-
tain choice wines or liquors; over all
was q thick covering Of slime and
mold. The iron was deeply rusted and
the place Itself smelled abominably
stale.
ORellly surveyed this Aladdln's cave
In daze. He set his candle down, for
his fingers were numb and unsteady.
Cautiously. as II fearful Of breaking
some spell, he stopped and tried to
move one Of the casks. but found that
It resisted him a. II cemented to the
rock. He noted that Its head was
bulged upward, Ar II BY the dampness