clinging to his note of
optimism.

"No. And fortunate she is in that! _Caramba_, but he looks like an imp
from sheol!"

Jose saw that little consolation was to be derived from Don Jorge as
far as Carmen was concerned. So he allowed the subject to lapse.

"_Bien_," continued Don Jorge, whose present volubility was in
striking contrast to his reticence on the boat the year before, "I had
occasion to come up to Bodega Central--another legend, if I must
confess it. And there Don Carlos Norosi directed me here."

"What a life!" exclaimed Jose.

"Yes, no doubt it appears so to you, _Senor Padre_," replied Don
Jorge. "And yet my business, that of treasure hunting, has in times
past proved very lucrative. The Indian graves of Colombia have yielded
enormous quantities of gold. The Spaniards opened many of them; and in
one, that of a famous chieftain, discovered down below us, near
Zaragoza, they found a solid gold pineapple, a marvelous piece of
workmanship, and of immense value. They sent it to the king of Spain.
_Caramba_! it never would have reached him if I had been there!

"But," he resumed, "we have no idea of the amount of treasure that has
been buried in various parts of Colombia. This country has been, and
still is, enormously rich in minerals--a veritable gold mine of
itself. And since the time of the Spanish conquest it has been in a
state of almost constant turmoil. Nothing and nobody has been safe.
And, up to very recent times, whenever the people collected a bit of
gold above their daily needs, they promptly banked it with good Mother
Earth. Then, like as not, they got themselves killed in the wars, and
the treasure was left for some curious and greedy hunter like myself
to dig up years after. The Royalists and Tories buried huge sums all
over the country during the War of Independence. Why, it was only a
year or so ago that two men came over from Spain and went up the
Magdalena river to Bucaramanga. They were close-mouthed fellows,
well-dressed, and evidently well-to-do. But they had nothing to say to
anybody. The innkeeper pried around until he discovered that they
spent much time in their room poring over maps and papers. Then they
set off alone, with an outfit of mules and supplies to last several
weeks. _Bueno_, they came back at last with a box of good size, made
of mahogany, and bound around with iron bands. _Caramba!_ They did not
tarry long, you may be sure. And I learned afterward that they sailed