| Show r la af ars of gold M I 1 Therewa ji 0 o once ce wi uron upon on p a ti time me 4 a poor mason or brics brici layer clayer in granada who kept afi all the saints days and holidays and saint monday into the bargain and yet with all his devotion he grew poorer and poorer and could scarcely I 1 earn bread for his numerous family one night he was roused from his first sleep by a knocking at his door he opened it and beheld be before him a tall meagre cadaverous looking priest hark ye honest friend baid said the stranger 1 I have observed that you are a good christian and one to be trusted will you undertake a job this very with all my heart senor padre on coh condition that I 1 am paid accord accordi accordingly 19 gly I 1 Y that you shall be but you must suffer yourself to be blindfolded to this the mason made no objections so being hoodwinked he was led by the priest through h various rough lanes and winding passages until they stopped before the portal of a house the priest then applied a key turned a creaking lock and opened what sounded like a ponderous door they entered the doorways door was closed and bolted and the mason was conducted through 0 an echoing corridor and a spacious hall t to o an interior part of the building P here the bandage was removed from ius ins its lis eyes and he found himself in a patio or ca court irta dim dimly lighted by a single lamp in lit the centre was the dry basin of an old moorish fountain under which the priest requested him to form a small vault bricks and mortar being bein at hand for the purpose ile he accordingly worked all night but without finishing 1 the job just before daybreak the priest put in a piece of gold into his band and having again blindfolded him conducted him back to lus hia dwelling are you willing said he to return and complete your work gladly senor padre provided I 1 am so well paid aid 11 ve well weil 11 then tomorrow to td morrow at midnight I 1 will call again ile he did so and the vault was completed now said the priest you must help me to bring forth the bodies which are to be buried in this vault 7 the poor masons hair rose upon his head at these words he followed the priest with trembling steps into a retired chamber of the mansion expecting to behold some ghostly 0 spectacle 1 of death but was relieved on perceiving three or four portly jars jara standing in one corner they were evidently full of inerney and it was with great labor that he 0 i nd rid the priest carried them forth and consigned IF in to their tomb the vault was then sed dmd S ded ed the met replaced and arid all traces he iha work obliterated the mason was in tn hoodwinked and led forth by a route u rent from that by which he had come V ter they had bad wandered for a long time trough a perplexed maze of lanes and alleys avy t iy ay halted the priest then put two pieces i cold hold into his hand wait dait here 11 said he until you hear the i bell toll toil for matins if you presume to uncover your eyes before that time evil will befall you J so so saying he departed the mason waited patiently amusing himself by weighing the gold pieces in his hand band and clinking them together 0 the moment the cathedral bell rang its matin peal he uncovered his eyes and found himself on the banks of the zenil from whence he made the best of ins his way home and revelled bevelled revel led with his family for a fortnight on the profits of his two nights work after which he found himself as poor as he had ever been ile he continued to work a little and pray a good deal and keep saints days and holidays from year to year while his family grew up as gaunt and ragged as a crew of gypsies As he was seated at the door of his hovel one evening he was accosted by a rich old curmudgeon who was noted for owning many houses and a griping landlord the man of money fora fot for a moment from beneath a gair tair pair of anxious shaggy eyebrows 1 iam lam I am told friend 11 said he that youarn very poor 11 there is no denying the fact senor it speaks for itself 1 I presume you will be glad of a job and will work cheap As cheap chea p my casteras mas teras any mason mas on in granada that is what I 1 want chave an old house fallen into decay that costs me more money to keep in in repair than it is worth for nobody will live in it so I 1 must contrive to patch it up at as small expense as pos por possible sible sibie tle the the ile mason was accordingly conducted to a large deserted house that seemed to be going to ruin passing through several empty hall hali hails halls s and chambers be he entered an inner court where his eye caught an old moorish fountain he paused for a moment mentor mo for a recollection of the place came over him pray said be he who occupied this house bouse formerly fprmer ly A pest on him cried the landlord it was an old miserly priest who car cai cared caled edlor for nobody but himself lle ile was said to be immensely ini rich and havin having haying no relations it was thought he would beave all ail his treasures to the church he died suddenly and priests and friars thronged thron ged to take possession of his wealth but n nothing othi ng was found but a few ducats dubats in a leathern eath purse the worst luck has fallen on me fon foe since his death the old follow continues to occupy my house without paying any rent and theres no taking the law taw law on a dead ian lan man the people pretend to hear the clinking of gold glia all ali il night in the chain cham priest blet biet t 1 a au 5 it he were count ng over oyer his bis money and sometimes mes moan no ind and n groaning r aning aboullah about the cort corf whether rue or casp these stoil stones ae have haven br brought ehla a hame on my house bouse and not a tenant will remain in it enough b said the mason sturdily let me live in your house rent free until some better tenant presents and I 1 will engage to put it into repair and to quiet the troubled spirit that disturbs it lama iama I 1 am a good christian and a poor man and am not to be daunted by the he devil himself even though he should come ip itt the shape of a big ba bag of money the offer of the honest onest mason was wag gladly accepted he moved mored his family famil yinto s into the house and fulfilled all his bis enga engagements geme ants by little and little he restored it to its former state the clinking of gold was no more heard at night in the chamber of the defunct priest but began to be heard by day in the pocket of the living mason he increased rapidly in wealth to the admiration mi ration of all his neighbors and became the richest man in granada |
