SHORT STORY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14809, 12 October 1911, Page 4

SHORT STORY.

PEPITO'S BONANZA.

In* the northern part of Mexico are rugged mountain ranges, through which run many seams of silver. Some of these silver veins, are very rich in the precious metal, and they were extensively worked in former days by the Aztecs, and perhaps by those who inhabited the country before the Aztecs; but tho mines have been disused for many years, chiefly because the warlike Apaches at the north would not permit the work to continue. The old mines still exist, however, with remains of the old works, and a number of Indians, halt-breeds, and Mexicans, gain a scanty living by working in them and selling such amounts of silver as they can dig out with their rude tools. Poor and ignorant, as these people are, they have an ambition of their own, and are continually animated by tho hope that one day they may strike a great lump of silver, "or a rich vein, .such as would produce a fortune to one of them. A piece of good luck ot this kind is called a bonanza, and these wretched miners, in spite of their poverty and 4 afflictions, are spurred forward and" kept at- work by the hope of a bonanza. They are vety Superstitious, as ignorant people always are, and many strange and wild tales are current among them concerning the old mines, which are supposed to be inhabited* by demons and the spirits of those who once owned and worked them, who conceal and guard the richest veins in the mountains, prevent-, ing others from discovering or'using them. Near one of these mines lived Manuel Murleto, with his wife Zaponeta and his son Pepito. Their habitation was a miserable hovel, and their food was of the, coarsest and often very scanty, and there was little to make life desirable to them.

Zaponeta used to try to persuade her husband to leave that* place and try his luck elsewhere, but Manuel stuck to the old mine, believing that ho would yet find a fortune there. He was encouraged in this belief by a tradition to the effect that a very rich vein of silver was hidden in the mine, and by the prophecy that the lost vein would again be discovered by a boy who was pure of heart and free from sin. * - .Manuel knew, and so did Zaponeta, that if ever there-lived a boy who was pure.of heart and free from sin, such a boy' was, their son Pepito. He" was a beautiful youth, and his appearance was almost unearthly, owing to the paleness of his features, his large eyes, arid his serious countenance. He did not seem to belong to this world, and it was the opinion of those who saw him that he would not long remain in it. As for goodness, his parents had never known him to be guilty of a wrong act, nor had they ever suspected him of an impure thought. If purity and goodness wore to discover the lost vein, Manuel was sure that it would be found by means of Pepito.

One morning, when the boy arose from his couch of straw, he told his parents of a wonderful dream ' that- had visited him in the night. Two beautiful beings, : whom he believed to be angels, had come to his bedside, and had beckoned him away. He had followed them to the old mine, and farther into the heart of the mountain than he had ever gone before. At last they stopped at 'a spot which he was sure he would recognise if he should ever see it again. Here they struck against- the rock, and it opened before them, disclosing a passage which they entered,, and Pepito followed them, a bright light went before them, until they reached a cavern through' which a stream of water .ran. The light rested against the rock on the other side of the stream, and Pepito saw that the rock was streaked with shining silver. Then the angels led him back through the passage, closing the entrance behind lum, and. took him to the mouth of the mine, where he awoke." j -Manuel at Nonces? perceived an angel .visitation in this dream. He was sure that Pepito had been taken to the old mine in his sleep, and had discovered the lost vein. This was the bonanza that was to make the fortune of the family, and he insisted that the boy should revisit in his waking hours the scene which he had sought in his sleep. * . Zaponeta was not as enthusiastic as her husband was, and feared that some harm ; might-happen to her darling boy; but she j finally yielded to Manuel's urgent en-1 treaties, and equipped Pepito with a lamp and a ball of yarn. The boy said farewell to his parents, ! received their blessings, and set out to \ search for the lost vein.

At the mouth of the mine he attached the yarn to a piece of rock and unrolled the ball as he went along, so as to leave a clue by which his father might search for him in case he should get lost, and went boldly forward into. the heart of the mountains. * Ho went farther in than he had ever gone before, creeping through a narrow crevice into a passage that had not been explored during his remembrance. But it was familiar to him, and he went forward as he had done when the bright spirits led him thither in his sleep.

- Finally the passage came to an end, and then he recognised the spot to which he had been brought in his dream. He could not be mistaken. The appearance of the rock had been indelibly impressed upon his memory, and he * saw it all exactly as he had seen it in his sleep.

There were no angels to strike the rock and compel it to op.>n; but Pepito saw, on examining it closely, that it was not solid, that a mass of stones had been piled up to close an entrance. He grasped one of .these with both hands, and pulled it until it fell out.

Then he was sure that his dream had not been a delusion, or a mere chance; that angels had shown him the spot in his sleep, so that he might go to it when he should awake. He could-not doubt that he was about to find the lost vein, to discover the bonanza that was to make the fortune of his family. Then his father would be forced to toil no more, and his mother wonld cease to know pain and sorrow, and they would all have enough to eat. and to drink, and to wear, and would live happily ever after. In his excitement he worked very hard until 'he was dripping with perspiration, and his limbs trembled, and the blood in his body mounted to his head, and his breath came thick and- fast. But he saw that he had succeeded in making a hole through the mass, and he persevered until he effected an entrance into the passage whose mouth was closed by the pile of rock. As he pulled out the last large stone, it fell upon his lamp, extinguishing and crushing it. . This seemed a dreadful calamity to Pepito, as he could not hope to explore the passage without - a light, and as it would even be very difficult for him, , with the help of the yarn, to trace his wayback to daylight. r But, when he was about to burst into tears, a bright light appeared in the passage, and the path before him, was plain. Catching up the ball of yarn, and unwinding it as *he went, he* > followed the light as it led him along the passage, farther "into the heart of ; the mountain, until it rested against the rock in just such a cavern as he had seen in his sleep.

Before him was a stream of water that came from some hidden spring in the mountain, and found its way through the oaves and crevices of the rock, no one knew whither. Beyond the stream was the rocky wall of the cavern, flashing and sleamins with crystals of M quartz and lumps of silver, and with a big vein running thronsh it, in which the silver lay in masses iika lead.

This, then, was the bonanza. The lost vein was found, and untold wealth lay almost within the boy's reach. .The Murieto family might bid farewell to poverty, and would thenceforth be happy, if riches could make them so.

Penito stood still for . a few seconds trembling all over with excitement. A strange heat filled his bodv, breaking out in intermittent flushes, and fire seemed to flow in his arteries, instead of blood. His head, swam ."and there was a mist before his ejcsj but through the mist be saw

the silver shining 111 the crevices of . the * rock. .He had found - the lost vein, and he wished only to secure a nugget of the silver, and hasten back to his parents, to delight them with the story ol his treasure. ;• He started to cross the stream, although his knees shook beneath him, and lie was growing more dizzy, and the fever flushes came hotter and faster than ever.

The shining water into which he stepped was deathly cold. His fever fled in an instant, and was succeeded by a mortal chilliness. The fire :in his veins was at once extinguished, and they were filled with ice. He gasped vainly for breath, and his head weighed him down as-if it had been a lump of lead. It needed but two steps to cross the little brook, and he took only one of them. Then he sank down, rather than fell, and lay there like a crushed flower, his feet, in the water, and his body on the sand, with his outstretched hand grasping a great lump of silver. Manuel and Zaponeta Murieto waited a long time for Pepito's return. They were so anxious and eager, the hours seemed to be longer than they really were. ' The wife was particular!/ uneasy, and restless. She could not keep still. " She tried to attend to some small duties about the hut, but found herself unable to do anything. The husband sat near- the door, looking and listening. - They glanced at each other now a-d then, and understood each other's thoughts, though they seldom spoke. ,

"It is not possible,'' said Zaponeta, "that anything can harm him while the good angels have him in their charge." ''They might be angry if we should find him and interfere with them," replied Manuel. V , 4 v . " But we must seek Peplto, for I can endure this suspense no longer," said the mother, after a while, and they went out together. With the aid of the yarn they traced his course into the old mine, until they came to the hole in the rock which he had * opened. They called him, but received no answer. The lamp which they carried showed them the way into a narrow and dark passage, at the end'of which was a chamber of silver. There lay Pepito, partly in and partly out of tho water— When their grief had subsided, they came awav, and replaced the stone's which the boy had pulled down, The silver chamber' was Pepito's splendid tomb. His parents were never beard of in those parts again. The lost vein was untouched. - - .