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134 capital and his friends—that he would soon return laden with store of riches sufficient for them all, and which should enable them to fulfil the dearest wishes of their hearts without apprehensions for the future.

To tell of the hazards he encountered and the privations he endured on his journey would occupy too much space. Suffice it to say he was robbed and maltreated by a band of ruffianly ladrones before he had proceeded a day's journey; and it required all his fortitude to continue his route; but a friend in need assisted him in his extremity, and replenished his empty purse. He had been delayed and victimized by passport-officers at the gates of second-rate towns; had been clapped into a dungeon for losing a carta of safety; and, while there, a holy padre had well nigh frightened him into purgatory, to extort the little money he had secreted in the inner folds of his linen. He had been almost reduced to beg his way as he ascended the country; and suffered from hunger and thirst, nakedness and oppression, from time to time. At length he arrived in the silver regions, and commenced his treasure-hunting toil with the utmost energy and determination, hoping to discover