with his Cuban neighbors, who rebelled beneath their wrongs. This
was no easy thing to do, for the agents of the crown were
uniformly corrupt and quite ruthless, while most of the native-
born were either openly or secretly in sympathy with the
revolution in the Orient. But Esteban dealt diplomatically with
both factions and went on raising slaves and sugar to his own
great profit. Owing to the impossibility of importing negroes, the
market steadily improved, and Esteban reaped a handsome profit
from those he had on hand, especially when his crop of young girls
matured. His sugar-plantations prospered, too, and Pancho Cueto,
who managed them, continued to wonder where the money went.

The twins, Esteban and Rosa, developed into healthy children and
became the pride of Sebastian and his daughter, into whose care
they had been given. As for Evangelina, the young negress, she
grew tall and strong and handsome, until she was the finest slave
girl in the neighborhood. Whenever Sebastian looked at her he
thanked God for his happy circumstances.

Then, one day, Don Esteban Varona remarried, and the Dona Isabel,
who had been a famous Habana beauty, came to live at the quinta.
The daughter of impoverished parents, she had heard and thought
much about the mysterious treasure of La Cumbre.

There followed a period of feasting and entertainment, of music
and merrymaking. Spanish officials, prominent civilians of
Matanzas and the countryside, drove up the hill to welcome Don
Esteban's bride. But before the first fervor of his honeymoon
cooled the groom began to fear that he had made a serious mistake.
Dona Isabel, he discovered, was both vain and selfish. Not only