great difference,
and I should probably never turn to account those I had. But the incident
revived suspicions as to the good faith of the two castaways, which had
been long floating vaguely in my mind. From the first I had rather doubted
the account they gave of themselves. And Kidd! I had never much liked him;
he had a hard inscrutable face, and unless I greatly misjudged him was
capable of bolder enterprises than petty larceny. He was just the man to
steal secretly away and return with a horde of unscrupulous
treasure-seekers, for he knew now that there were diamonds in the
neighborhood, and he must have heard that we had found gold and silver
ornaments and vessels in the old cemetery--

"_Dios mio!_ What is that?" exclaimed Angela, dropping her book and
springing to her feet, an example which I instantly followed, for the
earth was moving under us, and there fell on our ears, for the first time,
the dread sound of subterranean thunder.

"An earthquake!"

But the alarm was only momentary. In less time than it takes to tell the
trembling ceased and the thunder died away.

"Only a slight shock, after all," I said, "and I hope we shall have no
more. However, it is just as well to be prepared. I will have the mules
got out of the stable; and if there is anything inside you particularly
want you had better fetch it. I will join you in the garden presently."

As I passed through the house I saw Kidd coming out of the room where I
kept my specimens.

"What are you doing there?" I asked him, sharply.

"I went for a tool I left there" (holding up a chisel). "Did you feel the
shock?"

"Yes, and there may be another. Tell Maximiliano to get the mules out."

"If he has been after the diamonds," I thought, "he must know that I have
taken them away. I had better make sure of them." And with that I stepped
into my room, put on my quilted jacket, and armed myself with a small
hatchet and a broad-bladed, highly tempered knife, given to me by the
abbe, which served both as a dagger and a _machete_.

When I had seen the mules safely tethered, and warned the servants and
others to run into the open if there should be another shock, I returned
to Angela, who had resumed her seat in the veranda.

"Equipped for the mountains! Where away now, _caro mio_?" she said,
regarding me with some surprise.

"Nowhere. At any rate, I have no present intention of running away. I have
put on my jacket because of these diamonds, and brought