Show QUEST FOR So t Millions Guarded by the te Gilded Man Manu in a lake London Express In a small smal city office situated in Lon Len donwall news is anxiously awaited from froma a man who Is sitting on the edge of a mountain lake in Colombia COl Central America waiting for rain rin Heavy Heay rain may mean to him and for those in the city in the recovery of treasure worth so experts say of at least The hero of if the tile vigil is H Knowles managing director in Bogota of Contractors limit limited limited ed The story of the company is one of ot the most amazing romances of treas treasure treasure treasure ure seeking in history The Lake of Guatavita In Colombia lies Ues in hi the basin formed by b the cone of an extinct volcano oleano It I stands to feet above the th sea se level and ind is but a few tew miles mies from the thriving little Ute coal city of Bogota Bogota Many centuries ago it i was the Sacred Lake of o a race which at the time of ot the Spanish conquest numbered over indi individuals IndividualS The worshiped the Glided Gilded Man lan and devoutly believed that their deity deiy made his home hom at the bottom of the Lake of Guatavita Periodically they are declared to t have made pilgrim pilgrimages pilgrimages ages to his lake when they thoy cast every every imaginable kind of treasure gold sil silver si silver ver and jewels into the waters with the object of propitiating the Gilded Man Ian who through his army of priests threatened all aU kinds of ot pains and pen penalties penalties unless the treasure were offered In sufficient quantities The story r of the has hag many man times been investigated by travelers and all aU agree in believing that the lake contains agee untold treasure Humboldt the famous traveler and historian was one of those thos who estimated its is value at lit An Early Failure Quesada the tile Spanish S conqueror of o the was told the story of the tile treasure and succeeded in reducing the th water of the lake then 21 feet teet deep to fifteen feet Then the sides fell foI in and andall andaU andall all aU his labor was wm wasted Further at attempts attempts attempts tempts were abandoned and the lake regained to a very large extent its is for former former mer mei depth Where the great Spanish or 01 failed however Contractors Limit Limited Limi ed a prosaic British syndicate formed just over six years ago has determined to The syndicate was formed for the purpose of exploiting a concession ob oh obtained obtained from the tile Colombian government to drain the lake lako and recover for their own uses the treasure to be hidden by Its is waters Among its Is di directors directors directors rectors are H R J S Price M P for the eastern easter division of Norfolk chairman and C J de Murletta Murietta Its Is capital was wan originally and was waS increased to in 1903 After six years ears of hard work how however however however ever some of those connected with wih the company are beginning begInning tp believe beHove that the Glided Gilded Man Mat is still sUl at the tile bottom of the lake guarding his treasure En Encouraging Encouraging Encouraging finds of ot isolated Isola te gold and all sil silver si allver ver gods and jeweled goddesses have from time to time supported the tradition tradition tion ton of the tile treasure but so far the dreams of untold wealth have not ma materialized materialized First the tile lake was as drained It I was not an easy task for it Is some nine miles mies in length and unforeseen dUb difficulties dif were continually confronting the workers The most harassing rassing h of these was the constant rain which winter i and summer hardly ever ceased At last however toward tile the end of or 1905 1505 the welcome news reached reache id Lon Ln don that Mr 11 Knowles and his staff of J engineers and workmen had succeeded tf 0 A In cutting through the te basin the th T lake and the Water had been drained off of successfully There was s great geat lation and preparations were made for the large larg consignments of gold silver and jewels which might be expected to t tt arrive by the next boats Unfortunately however the water If f not the only which the Gild Gilded ed Man has to rely for the safe keep Ing of his treasure The jubilation in m was summarily ended by a cablegram stating that feet feat 4 of solid sold mud or some Bore cubio cubie feet In all aU still lay between the treas and their quest But what Is cubic feet of mud when IB is at stake A new engineering feat was decided on the construction of a great dam across the hole made in the side of the basin terminating In a n shaft shaf through which the mud should bo washed and nd care etire re fully precipitated so as to secure tho the gold and silver treasures treasur s as they tiley t Y were disturbed from their hiding place of centuries The dam was constructed and with it wih the cleansing shaft but while the work was in progress a strange thing had haq ha happened The Gilded Man was evi evl dently denty at work again For over three years the engineers had worked In the rain In such a down downpour downpour downpour pour indeed as was unprecedented la n Central America America As the water ran n from the lake however tho rain had ran stopped and a drought equally without a in the history of the country set Bet In For more than two and a half halt years not a drop of at rain has fallen at v the scene of the operations and when a the engineers had completed the con coit r of the tho dam it i was only to find that the sun had baked the cubic feet of mud into the consistency of hard rock o Hidden Wealth Then Th n metaphorically speaking the t th engineers sat down and wept The Th rocklike kt f fit sUB still ill lies HAH as ns an penetrable bombproof lid ld over o r the golden gods and the silver siver dishes dishos and ornaments to say nothing of ot the jew jeweled je Jeweled goddesses and their glittering gU handmaidens The few natives In the region rem remnants remnants remnants nants of the great race of oc occasionally visit the scene and smile cheerfully at the downcast Englishmen HI It is 18 all aU the work of the Glided Gilded Man who is watching over his tre uJo mountain they say and they plainly hint that when the rain cOmes If ever everIt everIt It i does come cometo to soften sofen the mud some J other obstacle will wi defeat detent the desire of the treasure treasur seekers i i Letter Leter after letter Iron from Mr Knowles to the little office in tao city dejectedly refers to the determined opposition na nature nature nature ture has placed In his way I regret to say rain absolutely re refuses refuses refuses fuses to fall fail here he writes In one of his letters leters This Is all al the more heart heartrending heartrending rending as it falls all 01 around I have hava been here hoping against hope hearing the thunder and seeing the storm stern pass pasa pas us by which Is an awful trial as you youcan youcan OU can imagine We really ought to get all al the water we want vant In May he wrote again but nobody can guarantee this So far his Ills pessimism has been Justi Justified just fled fied fed The Gilded Gide Man is taking cam of ot his hi oun ow |