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MINES INDIAN STORIES. 163 



that the Pueblo Indians, up to the present day, 

 are acquainted with the locales of a great num- 

 ber of these wonderful mines, of wluch they 

 most sedulously preserve the secret. Rumor 

 further asserts that the old men and sages of 

 the Pueblos periodically lecture the youths 

 on this subject, warning them against discov- 

 ering the mines to the Spaniards, lest the cru- 

 elties of the original conquest be renewed to- 

 wards them, and they be forced to toil and 

 suffer in those mines as in days of yore. To 

 the more effectual preservation of secrecy, it 

 is also stated that they have called in the aid 

 of superstition, by promulgating the beUef 

 that the Indian who reveals the location of 

 these hidden treasures will surely perish by 



the wrath of their gods. 



Plapng upon the credulity of the people, it 

 sometimes happens that a roguish Indian will 

 amuse himseh" at the expense of his reputed 

 superiors hi intelligence, by proffering to dis- 

 close some of these concealed treasures. I 

 once knew a waggish savage of this kind to 

 propose to show a valley where virgin gold 

 could be ' scraped up by the basket-full' On 

 a bright Sunday morning, the time appointed 

 for the expedition, the chuckling Indian set 

 out with a train of Mexicans at his heels, pro- 

 vided with mules and horses, and a large 

 quantity of meal-bags to carry ui the golden 

 stores; but, as the shades of evening were 

 closing around the party, he discovered, that 



he beheved he couldn't find the place. 



It is not at all probable, however, that the 



