THE DOCTOR'S PROTÉGÉE.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 526, 14 December 1912, Page 2

THE DOCTOR'S PROTÉGÉE.

By ALBERT LEE,

(All Rights Rssbrybd.)

Author of "The Baronet in Corduroy,' " The Key of the Holy House," "Kin? Stoik of the Netherlands," " The Black Disc," &c. Published by Special Arrftnr«m«nt.^ CHAPTER XL.— {Continued >) The possibilities of this mine were after-thoughts, for the pressing matter while we looked around was the discovery of the treasure of which Gian Galeazzo had spoken, and we were eager to see whether it was there in reality, or only in his imagination. But Galeazzo had not befooled us. For ranged along the glistening walls of the greatest inner chamber were ancient chests, at which the. strongest man would strain in the attempt to carry one away. Malocolo went to the first, and tapping it with his spear, waitted until we crossed the floor and stood by him. I raised the lid and saw that it was" filled with golden ornaments at which the old-time artificers in gold had wrought. Something, doubtless, had happened — some catastrophe, perhaps—which prevented those who worked the mine from carrying the treasure away.

The relics and ornaments here gathered up for transport across the Dark Continent to replenish the treasure-houses of Queen Hatasu, or some other ancient. potentate, were of the purest gold. There was in one chest the body of a crocodile, two feet in lengjJi, so wrought that modern workers in the precious metals have since recognised the skill of those men who, in the ancient days, were of their same craft. Birds were there, life-size, some of them measuring from beak to tail sixteen or eighteen inches. Many of them; were standing on solid bars of gold; as big round as a woman's wrist. There were golden bowls, wine cups, and basins, beautifully chased, and some were studded with precious stones. Dogs, snakes, cats, and other creatures were modelled with rare skill, and precious stones were inserted at the eyes. It was so with all the chests, and of these we counted more than a score. In one was nothing but amulets; in another jewelled bracelets, bangles, anklets, ear-rings, brooches, and gold beads, some of the latter as large as a walnut. Fruits of ail sorts were imitated in gold, and richly colored. One was filled with nothing but gold tacks of all sizes while another chest was full of flowers in the same precious metal, and, like all we saw, wrought with exquisite skill.

Following the cavern wall we came presently to a heap which was covered with knobs of rock of varying size, as if they had been flung there carelessly ; but Malocolo cleared some of them away with the end of his spear, and we saw that they must have been placed there with a purpose, say to hide the wealth that lay beneath. There were ingots of gold stacked in this great pile, worth in all a great king's ransom. Beyond was another stack of gold similarly covered, and yet a third and fourth. They were wedges of gold without alloy, each ingot a foot long, and, roughly speaking, four inches in thickness and breadth.

Even thus far, if we appropriated this treasure, which was Teresina's by right of the contents of the Scar-let-Cross package, we were rich beyond the dreams of avarice, for Pizarro had not found much greater wealth when he took his' gallant and daring band into the very heart of Peru.

But there was more in store There were some small chests lying by themeslves in a rocky recess which might have been passed by unseen had not Teresina taken one of the torch-bearers with her, and carefully looked along the sides of the cavern. The recess was a little above the level of her face, and when she saw that there was a possible hiding-place for valuables she called me to her.

I could not well look into the recess since it was too high even for me, tall man that I was; but, following her suggestion I lifted her in my arms, so that she looked in with ease, and saw what was there by the aid of the torchlight. Standing close in to the rock, so that she might thrust in her hands, I asked her what was there.

"Some small square wooden chests, Wilfred," came her answer.

Then she drew out one of them and handed it down to Hesketh who was standing by. Knowing that they must contain something of value Teresina asked to be set down on the floor, and then we gathered in a little group about this new discovery. It was sealed, as th'i Scarlet-Cross package had been, W\k impression of the seal displaying the trident. Breaking it, I raised the cover. The effect as the torchlights met the contents was dazzling when I drew back the piece of chamois leather which lay over all. The case was ablaze with precious stones, some cut and polished, others only partly so, as if to test their

we turned from the chest, and once more I lifted Teresina in my arms, so that she might hand down what remained. There were four others, similarly sealed and with contents of the same nature. It seemed to me when we gazed into the opened chests that there were precious stones sufficient to keep the lapidaries in Europe busy for a long time to come, and wealth that would do all that Gian Galeazzo hoped for, and yet leave us incredibly rich. Hesketh had laughingly stipulated for a commission of five per cent, on all our findings, as the price of his companionship during the expedition, and when he stood and gazed down at the open cases of precious stones, and reminded us gaily of the terms, he declared that he counted himself rich enough to be envied.

Had such wealth come to us unawares, our minds might have been thrown off their balance by reason of our fortune. But we had been prepared for much, yet not for such a quantity; so that we stood and looked at' this treasure—the heaps of gold, the chests, and these blazing brilliants —in bewilderment, amazed at the thought that any one man should have gathered so much together in one short lifetime. 1 raised my eyes and gazed at Teresina, to whom half of this wealth belonged, wondering how she would bear herself under such bewildering circumstances; but she stood by my side looking serenly happy.

"You are rich, my darling," I ventured, breaking in on her reverie. "We, my love, not I alone," she answered, fondly, and kissing me as if to assure mcthat her husband stood first, before her wealth.."But, Wilfred, I am afraid of the responsibility. It will overwhelm us. There are all those, poor creatures in Italy to be thought of. To begin with, I can but be grateful that this wealth did not fall into the hands of those secret societies with whom the remedy for all abuses and misgoverrnnent is assassination. It would have been terrible! For while there is so much to deplore as things are at present controlled, what guarantee would there be that the secret societies of Europe would rule without tyranny of another nature? Perhaps the last state of the nations after their drastic changes would be no better than before, and possibly infinitely worse. To trust the people is one thing to trust men like those who were colleagues of a man like Andrieno is quite another, and I would rather that all this wealth were at the bottom of the sea than fall into their hands.

We left the treasure behind us, and when the rocky door swung forward again and the latch fell with an audible click, Malocolo thrust the Gemsbok Trident into the ground again, to warn off any possible intruder among Sechele's subjects. Then we returned to Machodi to consult the king as to the transit of our wealth to the coast. His majesty placed upon us one stipulation only, namely, that since we should want many carriers to bear the treasure through his territory down to the sea, and many warriors to serve as an escort, he should receive ten thousand yards of cloth of varied colours, a quantity of iron goods and tools which, as he rightly said, would serve to develop the resources of his country, and a couple of steel boats, which he knew were now for sale at Kabinda. In his judgment he had struck a keen bargain. He wanted these things more than he wanted gold, and we on our part were anxious to get away with our newly-acquired treasure. So keen a business man was Sechele, that when we returned to Kabinda we found that his requirements practically! cleared out the storehouses in the port. Wc were amused when we placed our orders with the traders there, for when they were executed, and Sechele's men began their march back to Machodi, not a thing was missing in the long list of his majesty's demands. It was then that we heard that Sechele had sent one of his head-men in hot haste to obtain a complete list of all that the traders had on hand for disposal. We laughed when the story was told, for had the stock been double what it was the king's demands would have accordingly doubled —of that we felt assured. As it was, he had made a clean sweep of the store-houses at Kabinda. Even then, however, we had ample reason for contentment. Gold was not of the same value to him that these goods were which found their way to his capital; and Hesketh suggested, when we watched the long row of carriers making for Machodi, that doubtless Sechele was laughing in his sleeve, and . congratulating himself that he had by a long way the better of the bargain. At Kabinda we divided our wealth into two great portions. One halt was at our disposal, and out of it we made liberal grants to the brave fellows who had volunteered to serve with us. They declared themselves rich lor life with the thousand pounds apiece each man received. Hesketh, too, observed that he need no longer worry concerning his ruined plantation, but would settle down in England to the easy life of a country gentleman on what had accrued to h?m by his lucky live per cent, commission. There was an Italian Consul at Kabinda, and the half of the treasure was left with him until the Govern..

and poverty of the Italian people might be relieved.

CHAPTER XLI

"PORTE AFTER STORMIE

SEAS."

One calm late afternoon in the autumn which followed, Teresina and I rode through Bristol, and along the country road to the Bartons, which, through the death of Andrieno Telamone, had become the property of his wife. We had decided to make it our home, and were riding thither after our return to England.

How different the ride, I thought, compared with that which I had taken when decoyed from my home on the night of the snowstorm! There was a nip of frosty exhilaration i n the air, but there were glorious tints on every hand, the tokens of the fiery finger on the leaves. The maples were aflame with colour when the horses turned in at the lodge gates, and drove along the winding road to the" mansion. I forgot these surroundings when mv hand felt for Teresina's. I forgot the hectic bloom which made the things about us beautiful; forgot the mist which was beginning to fall over the crimson trophies of the autumn day, and the golden dressings of the leaves. In that silent ride, with no sound but the crunching of wheels and the stamp of hoofs upon the gravelled road, and the occasional whirr of wings when a startled partridge hurried away the story of the long months that had gone passed through our minds. Life's fateful whirligig had brought us both some terrible experiences; but we felt the clasp of each other's hands, and realised that in finding each other's love we had won what more than covered the care and danger. We Had found wealth in abundance, but it counted as a secondary thing when measured alongside of our hearts' delight.

Presently the carriage drew up at the steps which led to the doorway of the hall. The world outside was fast going into the hiding of the autumn mist, but home was awaiting us. When we entered the hall a buxom woman came forward, and made her old-fashioned curtsey —my old housekeeper, Mrs. Dawney. "Heaven bless you, ma'am, and welcome to your home," she exclaimed, turning to Teresina, and taking my wife's hand in her own in her motherly way.

When we went "to Mrs. Dawney's room that evening and told the story much as it has been set forth here, the sat and stared at us, open-mouthed.

"I've wished a thousand times since that awful night that ypu had not gone, doctor," she cried. "Snowing though it was, my mind misgave me before the carriage had crossed the square, and I went halfway down the house steps to overtake you and persuade you to put off your journey till the morning." "It was well that you did not, Mrs. Dawney." I protested, with i laugh. , "You wouldn't have suffered us you did," Mrs. Dawney retorted, seriously. "True. But should I have brought back the signora as my wife?" I asked, turning to Teresina, whose eyes were dancing with amusement. "I forgot all about that," the old woman admitted. "Well, 'tis an ill \wind that blows nobody good, they say; and I must confess that I think it's pretty true."

THE END