The Spanish Treasure. A story of love and the love of gold, etc

Front matter

THE SPANISH TREASURE. the flebt of ooi.rMBua.— See Pane THE Spanish Treasure. A STOEY OF LOVE ANE THE LOVE OF GOLD. Bv ISABELLA CASTE .AR. ILL USTBATED. LONDON: JAMES HENDERSON, RED UON HOUSE, RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET, E.C. NEW YORK : ROBERT CONNER'S SONS. 1893. CONTENTS. Chapter Page I. A Chance Meeting ... ... ... ... 7 II. Dolores ... ... ... ... ... ... 13 III. A Flower of the Heather 19 IV. The Silver Lining ... ... ... ... 22 V. The Hon. Clarence Stanley 23 VI. At the Opera 34 VII. An Ambitious Girl 45 VIII. The Secret of the Miniature =53 IX. "Knowledge is Power" ... ... ... ... 64 X. A Dangerous Gift ... ... ... ... 77 XI. Dolores is Troubled . ..: ... ... ... 84 XII. An Accidental Kiss ... ... • ... ... 93 XIII. Polly's Engagement ... ... ... ... 130 XIV. The Unexpected Happens ... ... ... 138 XV.

The Lady of the Fan 170 XVI. A Tell-tale Photograph 177 XVII. An Interesting Letter 185 XVIII. The Dagger is Made Ready CONTEXTS. Chap, er Page XIX. A Cry for Help and the Answer 203 XX. Playing with Fire ... 212 XXI. Some of the Results ... ... ... ... 220 XXII. A Pleasing Alternative ... ... ... 227 XXIII. A Girl's First Love 238 XXIV. Love's Martyrdom ... ... ... ... 247 XXV. Master and Slave 258 XXVI. A Mysterious Tragedy —Almost 269 XXVII. Fate Throws the Dice for Olive Gaye ... 275 XXVIII. Dolores is Vindicated 2SS XXIX. In the Santiago Canyon ... ... ... ... 296 XXX. " LoveJs Young Dream" ... ... ... 307 XXXI. A Ghostly Avenger 316 XXXII. Tlie Twelfth of October, 1892 327 XXXIII. Orange -Blossoms TREASURE

Chapter I

A CHANCE Mil ii N a damp, unpleasant day, tAvo 3 -oung women were hastening through a croAvd — forthe street was full of people, notwithstandingthe dismal weather. Both these girls were going in the same direction, both Avalking at the same pace, and keeping the same distance betAveen them, so that an observer might well have fancied that one Avas in pursuit of the other. This Avas parti)7 true, although neither Avas aAvare of it. The foremost of the girls Avas handsome, richly and ele gantly attired, bright and happy looking ; the other Avas pale, sad, plainly dressed and, though her face was of the kind that might under exceptional circumstances become beautiful, it Avas not now pretty enough to attract ev7en a passing glance. W TBEASUKE. I Any casual passer would have described these two as a young woman of the upper class and a poor girl.

The first paused as she reached the corner of a fashionable street ; the other girl also stopped, a feAV feet dis tant. The street was crowded, as it usually is at that time of day, and several vehicles were passing rapidly in various directions. The snow of tAvo days past made a deep, slushy mire, as slippery and dangerous to walk through as it was unpleasant to see. The young lady, who was not accustomed to walking, and had no sense of the danger of that particular crossing, suddenly tossed her little head aud, with a slight laugh, plunged forward into the chaos of moving carriages and horses. The movement Avas so unexpected that a policeman, who had been coming to her assistance, stood still and gave utterance to a few vehement remarks ; whilst explosive exclamations, apparently from every point of the compass, were bloAvn about through the air ; all sorts of vehicles backed hurriedly and their wheels became interlocked. .Several horses performed im promptu circus-feats of standing on their hind-legs, and all the drivers swore loud and heartily with much apparent relish.

Out of this wild commotion the young lady presently emerged on the other side of the street, her arm closely held in the firm grasp of the poor girl before mentioned, and both young women Avere now equally pale. " I must have been mad to attempt to cross the street just then," said the former. " I don't knoAv what possessed me to do it. You see, I am not accustomed to being out alone. I left my carriage someAvhei . close by to go into a shop ; then I walked doAvn a little way to another shop, and James must have missed me. Of course, I ought to have waited till he came up ; he would have found me again in a minute. But for you, A CHANCE MEETING. I should nave been killed — horribly killed ! — crus'hed and mangled ! Oh, how frightened I was ! Yes, yes, you have saved my life ! And how can I thank you ?

Surely there is something I can do for you, too — " The speaker suddenly left off talking about herself and, turning towards the girl, who still held her arm in the same firm clasp, she looked at her from head to foot with one swift, all-comprehensive feminine glance ; and when she spoke again, it was in a softened and gentle voice. " What can I do for )'ou ?" she said. " You have certainly saved my life, and you needn't be afraid to ask something tangible, for my life is precious to many people, and I value it very much myself." The pale girl spoke for the first time, slowly and, as it seemed, with difficulty ; but her voice was distinct, though Ioaa7. " I don't knoAV that I value mine as I ought to," she said, in ansAver to her companion's last words ; " indeed , I have been trying to think, all day, how I could get rid of it.

Perhaps that is why I came to do as I did. But suppose I were to ask you now to save my life ?" " Why, I Avould do it, of course," Avas the quick repl)7. "Yes, indeed, at the risk of my oavii. What 's your name ?" " Dolores Mendoza." " What a pretty name ! Mine is just plain Polly Ham ilton. And Avere you really going to — But no mat ter. You look heart-broken and sick and sorry. AVhere can that James be ? Ah, there he is ! You may let go of me iioav, though I do tremble even yet. James, Iioav stupid of you to go and lose me ! I Avas nearly killed and Avould have been— ah, so horribly ! — but for this — lad\-." " I saAv it all, miss," said the alarmed and contrite TREASURE. James, who, by this time, Avas holding open the carriage door. " There was such a jam I couldn't get the horses through one instant sooner, miss.

My heart was in my mouth Avhen I seed you iu under them wheels, miss ! The sight fairly left my eyes, an' when I could see again, the }7oung lady had }7ou safe over !" " That she had, James, and no thanks to you or any other of those frightened, SAvearing men. Come, Dolores," she added, as she stepped quickly into the carriage, "get in here with me ; I'm going to take you home." Dolores moved towards the carriage ; but, as Miss Hamilton instantly perceived, with pain and difficulty. " Are you hurt ?" she cried ; " James, help her." " Oh, no, please ; I can do better alone," said Dolores, and with heroic fortitude she rested her foot a moment on the step and climbed into the carriage. Her pallor increased to ghastliness, and a cold perspiration started out like dew upon her broAV and round her pallid lips ; and as she sank upon the seat, a groan of anguish escaped her — anguish that could no longer be repressed.

" You are hurt !" exclaimed Miss Hamilton, in great distress. "A little, not much; the Avheel passed oA-er my foot," she murmured. Her head fell back. She had fainted. "Drive home, James, quick as possible, and be careful !" cried Miss Hamilton, with the manner that never offended her servants, though it aUvays brought prompt obedience. She passed an arm under the neck of the insensible girl and gently pillowed the drooping head on her shoulder. Mary Hamilton Avas an only child, and from infancy her will had been law in the home AA-here she reigned, _ CH VNCF. MEETING. 11 an undisputed queen. When but a mere boy, her father had " found his luck," to borrow his own words, in California in '49 ; and, having a level head and an honest heart, he had managed to hold on to his " luck " when others all around him had cither lost or squan dered theirs.

He greAV rich rapidly, and, on the princi ple that like attracts like, his money seemed to haA7e the knack of constantly doubling itself, not only in business enterprises but in the more personal affairs of his life. At the age of thirty he married the daughter of a millionaire, and though it Avas a lov-c-match, it doubled his wealth ; and it was with more than ordinary glad ness that he welcomed his first child. But with the coming of this coveted heir came the first great grief that had ever fallen upon the parents — the bo)7 died when only three years old. Within the next five years a sister and then a brother were both laid to rest beside him on that beautiful hill that overlooks the Pacific Ocean in the suburbs of San Francisco. It Avas then, in the depth of their desolation, that the bereaved father and mother felt Iioav useless, Iioav Avorse than useless, and almost a cruel mockery, was the Avealth they had rejoiced in possessing, only that they might hand it on to those Avho would folloAv them.

But after some sad and lonely years — years of such bitter grief and disappointment as teach the heart great lessons — another child came to them and Avas not called away. They named her Mary, the loveliest of names, but its OAvner ruthlessly broke it up into that of " Polly," as soon as she could speak ; and, so strong is the force of association, to the two Avho loved her as the dearest thing on earth, " Polly " soon became the most charming name in the Avorld, since it represented all that Avas prettiest, most fascinating and endearing, most roguisii, playful and delightful to them. TKEAST.EE. In truth Polly Hamilton wasa sweet and loA7able girl. Though spoiled from her cradle she Avas not selfish, except in a superficial way, and not vainer than other girls whose mirrors compliment them even more than their friends.

She was simple, warm-hearted and affec tionate, loyal to all Avho loved her, and not bitterly unforgiving to her enemies — if she had any. As the carriage Avas whirled onward Mary Hamilton spent the few minutes of the drive homeAvard in looking at the insensible face resting against her shoulder, and in trying to guess at its owner's history. " Dolores Mendoza !" she thought. " A Spanish name and a good one. There was a Mendoza doAvn in Yuma County, and he claimed to belong to the old Castilian aristocracy. Papa will knoAV. I wonder if this girl is any kin to that stock. She has a striking face, now that I look at her closely. And Avhat hair, with her olive complexion ! What could she mean by trying to get rid of her life? So young — she can't be more than tAventy. Poor girl ! And she is poor, too, for everything about her shows it.

How slender and delicate she looks ! Ah ! I'm afraid she hasn't even had enough to eat," and taking one of the ungloved hands that Avere lying so helplessly still, in all the uncon scious pathos of insensibility, she raised it tenderly, and looked with a searching, critical gaze at the delicate attenuated fingers. Though brought up in luxury, Mary Hamilton had seen enough of life in the land of quick gains and quicker losses to recognize the signs of poverty that had overtaken those born to better fortune. Her own warm hand closed over the thin, Avorn fingers ; and she thought, gratefully, Iioav easy it Avould be to change a part of the hard fate Avhich had been laid on this unknown girl. Ho I.oKES. At that moment the carriage stopped in front of a handsome house in one of the new and fashionable uptown streets, and in the briefest possible time, James, assisted by one of the indoor servants, Avas carrying the still unconscious girl through the wide hall aud up to the room of their young mistress,

Chapter II. Dolores

" No," said Doctor Macdonald, in answer to Miss Hamilton's eager inquiries, " she is not severely hurt. Xo bones broken, no tendons tAvisted. A simple bruise and not very serious, fortunately. .She didn't faint from pain — at least the pain alone would not have caused the swoon. Compulsory fasting, poor girl ! It has been Lent for her, all the year round, I'm afraid, even at the best of times ; and for the past forty-eight hours she has had nothing more nourishing than Croton water." " Oh, Doctor Macdonald ! And New York is called a charitable city." " So it is, Miss Polly ; so it is ! Don't you run aAvay with any notions to the contrary. That young woman wasn't looking for charity, she's not that kind ; and don't make any mistake if you think of being good to her — as you do, of course, for you can't help being good to everybody.

To me, as her physician only, she has confided the fact of having had nothing to eat since the day before yesterday. That, together Avith the pain of her foot, but, more than all else, the sudden reaction of an over-Avrought, highly sensitive nervous system, has been the cause of the swoon which has so alarmed you." " Then she won't be lame ?" " Not in the least. All she needs is care and nourish ment, and within a Aveek or two she will be in her normal condition as to physical health — at least, as nearly so as is possible under the circumstances. But I must tell you that she seems to be suffering from severe mental depression, probably the result of recent grief. On that subject she will be more confidential with one of her OAvn sex than she conld ever be with a crusty old bachelor like myself.

You and she are about of an age, and I dare Avager that before a week is over you will both have exchanged confidences to the last word — if there is such a thing among young women." " Doctor Macdonald !" exclaimed Mary, in mock indignation. " But there ! You knoAV you are a privi leged person, and you knoAV, too, that you think young Women — all of them — the most charming creatures in the wide Avorld." "Certainly, my dear," Avas the laughing reply. "I owe a debt of gratitude to the female portion of the human race. What Avould my practice be but for the lovely Avomen of this great city ? Their Avrong-headed ness and strong-headedness, their Aveak-mindedness and meek-mindedness, but, above all, their strong-mindedness ! Ah, my dear, I adore the whole lot of them ! They multiply my yearly income by ten — " " I'll hear no more !" interrupted his impatient listener.

" You are incorrigible ! But I forgive all your calumnies against my sex, since you tell me that this dear girl will suffer no permanent injury from the accident I Avas the means of causing. And noAv may I go to stay with her a Avhile ?" DOLORES. 15 " Yes, if you Avon't talk too much. She is quite weak. If she is inclined to talk to you, let her do so in moder ation. It Avill ease her mind. But let her rest and sleep as much as she will. Good-bye. I will see her again to-morrow." " Good-bye. You are so good ! I will try to remem ber all your advice, doctor, and, better still, I will act upon it." As she turned away to go upstairs, Miss Hamilton found herself thinking more deeply than was customary, with her gay and happy young mind. " Something about Dolores affects me powerfully," she mused.

" She makes me feel as if I wanted to be very good. I Avonder what it is. Perhaps it is Avhat they call 'magnetism,' 'atmosphere' and that sort of thing. I don't understand it a bit, but I'm sure it is good, for she not only attracts me but makes me Avish to be noble and great." As she reached the door of the room Avhich had been given to the young stranger, Mary paused in momentary hesitation before entering. There Avas not the faintest sound from within ; therefore, she noiselessly opened the door without knocking, to find her mother seated near the bed on Avhich the new occupant lay fast asleep. Mrs. Hamilton Avas regarding the sleeper with looks of the most lively gratitude as well as admiration, and she turned toward her daughter Avith a gesture impos ing silence. Mary dreAV fonvard a low chair and sat doAvn close to her mother.

Dolores, who was now under the influence of a mild sedative as Avell as wholesome and stimulating nourish ment, presented a very different appearance from that she had presented a few hours before. Her face was now faintly flushed with Avarmth and sleep, and her magnificent auburn hair, half unbound and lying on the lace-trimmed pillow, formed a fitting background for the delicate features and perfect though sharpened out line of the cheek and chin. " Isn't she pretty ?" Avhispered Mar}7. " Beautiful, rather, I call her," ansAA7ered Mrs. Hamil ton, in the same hushed tone. " Yes, mamma ; you are right," assented Mary. " Her face is much too fine for mere prettiness. And what lovely hands ! You can see that she's a lady, mamma ; and I do so Avant a sister — I have always longed for a sister, mamma."

" I know it, dear," ansAvered Mrs. Hamilton, stifling a faint pang of jealousy. Poor woman ! She had tried so hard to be both mother and sister, Avith sometimes a momentary bitter ness at finding the effort a failure. Bnt, " as perfect love casteth out fear," so, also, it casts out jealousy. She caught the SAveet face raised toward her, half Avist fully, half entreatingly, betAveen her own soft hands and kissed the rosy mouth with the passionate fervor of unselfish devotion. " That means ' yes,' " exclaimed Mary. " O you dear mamma !" " Hush, dearest ! You must first learn Avhat Dolores may have to say about it," Mrs. Hamilton said, Avith an indulgent smile ; for it Avas as easy to promise this "sister" to her daughter as it had been in her baby hood to promise a new doll. And though this gift might present other difficulties, there was time enough to inquire about that.

So when Dolores at length awaked, after a refleshing sleep, Mary quickly stooped over her, and kissing her with enthusiasm, exclaimed : " You are never going to leave us, Dolores ! You OoI.ol.KS. are going to stay with us ahvays ! You are to be my sister !" A warm flush of joy overspread the young stranger's face, and her eyes became dewy and soft with grateful emotion ; and Mary Hamilton Avas quick to see that it was not the prospect of ease and luxury that caused that flush, but the far greater joy of having found affection and appreciation in a world that had so long been a cold and barren wilderness. " You don't know me," she said tremulously, but with the happy consciousness that even such a serious draAvback was going to be disposed of. " I may be — ■ you don't know what I may be." " Just so !" said Mary, gayly.

" That only helps to make it all more interesting. Whatever you may be, it is sure to be something fine. Oh, you may trust me ! I'm better than a gypsy for reading" faces — women's faces, I mean. I don't understand men a bit. But I forget : I'm not to talk to yon. Doctor Mac said I was not ; but, you see, I am an awful chatterbox. Now, just one Avord more, dear : Tell me : Is there any reason why we tAvo — you and I — may not be laAV fully joined together, as they say in the marriage ser vice, as sisters, for better, for Avorse, in sickness and in health, through good or evil report, so long as aa _ both shall live ?" " No," ansAvered Dolores, Avith a smile that merged into a deep sigh, "no reason at all, so far as I knoAV, for I am alone in the world, without relative or friend or guardian, quite alone, without a soul to love or even hate me — till I met you this morning."

" Hoav delightful !" exclaimed Mary Hamilton. " I mean, you dear thing, hoAV sad and dreadful for you, but how delightful for me — because I can have you all to myself. And hoav, just one Avord more, Dolores, have you no other name ? Something for every-day use, you know. I Avouldn't have your name changed for anything, it is so characteristic — a real Spanisli name. But it means ' sorroAV — sadness ;' it would make me cry if I had to call you Dolores all the time." " My mother called me Lola," said Dolores softly, and her companion noted the quick catch in her breath, and instantly remembered that the Spanish girl's worn dress and hat had shoAvn all the humble signs of mourn ing their owner had been able to bestOAv on them. She guessed rightly that Dolores had but recently lost the mother whom she could not yet name without emotion.

" Lola, and sometimes Lolita," the girl continued, " for these are the pretty diminutives of my name in the Spanish language. But my mother was not Span ish. She came from the Scotch Highlands, and I have often heard her say she loved the canyons and mountains of California for that reason. My father was of Spanish ancestry, and it was to please him that I was called Dolores. It is a family name, and there is a legend that tells how a far-off ancestor of my father accompanied Columbus when he discovered this neAV world. But he Avas not an ancestor to be proud of." " Hoav splendid !" exclaimed the delighted listener. " It is like a story, only so much nicer when one knows the characters or their descendants. But I won't call you Lola or Lolita — I Avouldn't let any one call me by the dear little pet names sacred to my oavii mother.

Any one I care for enough may call me Mary or Polly or Molly; but no one may use mamma's pet names ; and so it shall be with you, too. I will choose some thing for my very OAvn ; what do you say to Lora or Lorita or Rita ? They are all pretty, and I shall call you Lorita. And you shall have a name for me, too ; choose one for yourself." A FL0WEE OF THE HEATHER. " Why not ' Maruja ?' You see I am fond of Spanish names, and ' Maruja ' is our prettiest for ' Mary.' " "Agreed!" cried Polly, clapping her hands like a child. "And now we must be good. If Doctor Mac finds you feverish when he comes to-morrow, I shall be greatly blamed ; and he will think me incapable of hav ing charge of his patient." Dolores smiled happily, and as the sedative admin istered by Doctor Macdonald still held possession, her eyelids presently drooped and she was soon in a deep sleep.

Within the next ten clays these tAvo youngigirls who had met so strangely had become devoted friends ; and the .Spanish girl's history, so far as she knew it herself, had been freely and frankly discussed.

Chapter III

A FLOAVER OF THE HEATHER. The mother of Dolores had been the only child of an improvident Scotchman of good family, who had ruined his estate, broken his wife's heart and alienated every relation and friend belonging to him, and finally capped the climax of his follies by leaving his native land to seek a fortune in the gold-fields of California. To aid him in that wild quest, he had taken Avith him his golden-haired little daughter, Alice — a being so exquisite in her beauty and innocence that even in the wild uproar of the San Francisco of '50, the motley crowd among whom her father brought her, believed her a I III SPANISH TREASl IM veritable angel dropped down from a weeping heaven to shed a last ray of light into the darkness. In the midst of scenes too shocking for her to under stand, Alice Lindsay greAV to womanhood, as pure as the calla lilies that now grow in those streets, rear ing their snowy cups high above the black earth from Avhich they spring.

Her father, Avho Avas a born bohemian, easy-going, clever, bright, master of half a dozen languages, and possessed of a voice that might have charmed a sitting mavis off its nest, was soon hail-fellow-well-met with the wildest class of San Fran ciscans, and long before Alice had reached womanhood, he had made and lost half a dozen fortunes. One night, he AA-as shot in a row at a faro table, and at the age of eighteen, Alice found herself an orphan, homeless and penniless. Bnt her father's death was not the Avorst misfortune that happened to her. .She had been seen and loved by a young Spaniard, who had lacked cour age to press his suit, but Avho blessed the opportunity her loneliness and grief noAV gave him. Alice married Rafael Mendoza, and, though from that hour all Avorldly prosperity forsook him, his happiness in her love Avas so great that he never quite realized the mis fortunes that pursued him.

At the time of his marriage, Mendoza had been one of the rising men of the San Francisco of that day — a city that might then have been cabled the Phœnix of the Pacific coast, for it had risen from the ashes of four San Franciscos that had gone before, a richer, fairer, prouder city than any that had preceded it, and destined to be the foundation of the noAv beautiful city of the Golden Gate. He was also rich in flocks and herds on distant ranches ; rich in gold and bonds ; rich in fabulous Avealth of treasure and of gems said to be buried in some far canyon of Avhich he alone held the secret, A FI.oAYI.l; OF THE HEATHER. and richest of all in the possession of the one woman he had ever loved. But from the clay of his marriage a curse pursued him. His flocks and herds died ; his gold melted away ; his bonds became waste-paper ; and finally his mind failed, and he sank into helpless imbe cility.

From this last misfortune he only roused occasionally for a feAV lucid moments, when he would frantically kiss his young wife and child, and murmur, helplessly : " The curse of the Mendozas — the curse of the Avronged and murdered Indian girl ! Why has it come to me ? Hoav have I desen7ed it ?" The beautiful Senora Mendoza soon buried her hus band in the lonely canyon of Santiago, where, in his last days he had entreated to be taken, in the forlorn hope of finding the hidden treasure whose secret he had once known. But it was too late : his shattered brain could no longer think, and his hand had lost its cunning. Flis grave was dug not twenty feet from the buried treasure ; and Alice, Avith her child, Avandered far aAvay, beggars in everything save their love for each other. The Senora Mendoza, who spoke English beauti fully, thanks to her bohemian father, obtained the position of goA7erness to a Spanish family who were on the way to the Eastern States ; and after a hundred vicissi tudes and a complete breakdown in the health of the still beautiful senora, these tAvo lovely women drifted into NeAV York — harbor for every kind of human Avreck.

Dolores, whose elegant figure had obtained her the posi tion of salesAvoman in a cloak-room, had been able at first to pay their way ; but when her mother's health declined so rapidly that her condition became desperate, she was obliged to resign her position in order to give her the necessary care. From that time the gaunt specter of poverty pursued them, and its terrible eyes met the eye of Dolores wherever she looked ; but she fought it off day and night till her mother kissed and blessed her for the last time. To buy the right for that dear, dead form to lie in hallowed ground the poor girl had gathered together every shilling she yet owned ; and that being insufficient, she had then sold every article she possessed of furniture and of clothing— and on the clay when she first saw Polly Hamilton she had been walking to and fro on the earth, face to face with death by starvation— praying only that it might not be long to Avait.