It was late that same evening when the occupants of the shanty sat about
the rough board table. The stranger had been laid in his last
resting-place, Mr Bourne had read the service over him, and the
American neighbour, who had been present, had stayed to partake of the
evening meal.
This latter had passed over almost in silence, all waiting then for the
communication the doctor was to make; but he sat still, thoughtful and
silent, till Griggs, after fidgeting a little in his chair, said--
"I can't help feeling a bit sorry, doctor, for bringing the poor fellow
over to you. I never meant him to stay."
"You need no excuses, Griggs," said the doctor, rousing himself from his
musing fit. "It was an act of Christian charity, and I am glad that we
were able to share it with you."
"That's right, and nicely spoken of you, doctor," said the American;
"but I wish we had been able to help the poor fellow sooner. Here, I'm
burning to know how he got into such a state. I s'pose he told you?"
"He told me a great deal," replied the doctor, "but the time was short,
his words hurried, and what he said has set me considering as to how
much is simple fact and how much the imagination of a diseased brain."
"Hah!" exclaimed the American. "Then the best way will be for you to
tell us too, and then maybe we shall be able to help you sort it out,
and untangle the real thread from the touzly yarn."
"Exactly," said the doctor. "Well, it seems that he was one of a dozen
adventurous prospectors whose brains had been excited by one of the old
legends respecting the discovery of gold by the old mission fathers in
one of the deserts between here and Arizona. They banked their funds
together, purchased necessaries and provisions, and started with a mule
team and a large water-barrel furnished with pole and axles so that it
should act as its own wheels, revolving and bearing its own weight--a
contrivance, the poor fellow said, that answered capitally in the sandy
plains, but only proved a hindrance in the rocky ground."
"Not a bad idea," said Griggs, "if it had been all plain, for, as I
understand, it's want of water that has upset every expedition out that
way."
"When all was ready they started, well armed, as I understood him,
making for the south and west. They had certain plans which they had
obtained from explorers, and went out in full hope of discovering not
only a new land of gold, but a city said to exist in the middle of one
of the deserts, a ruin now, but containing fabulous wealth amassed by
the emperor, cacique, or whatever he was called, and fostered by the old
mission fathers, who had made the city their home."
"Hah!" cried Griggs. "This makes one's mouth water. Go on, doctor."