In another story the stranger was more fortunate. He rented a small house, also on Mercedes street, paying several months' rent in advance. When after a few days the house was found closed it was thought the stranger had taken a trip to the country, but when two and three months passed and the tenant did not reappear, the proprietress applied to the authorities. The door was forced open and in the middle of the room a deep hole was found, at the bottom of which was an empty strongbox, while smaller boxes and the pick and shovel used in the excavation lay scattered around. On a table in the corner lay a parchment with a map that showed the location of the strongbox. Further investigation revealed that the stranger a week after his disappearance took passage on a schooner for a foreign port. The fortunate finders of such treasures have generally kept silence in order to avoid the possibility of adverse claimants, and when discovered would minimize the find. Popular rumor still designates several houses as containing hidden treasures. One of them, situated on Billini Plaza, near the cathedral, has all but been torn to pieces by tenants in vain efforts to penetrate the secret. In other cases the rumors are more vague. General Ferrand, the energetic French governor of Santo Domingo, is reported to have buried the state treasure before departing in 1808 on the disastrous expedition in which he lost his life in Palo Hincado, and in more than one place excavations have been made to seek it. Outside the walls of the city is the cemetery, which is pretty and clean and has many vaults and varicolored plants. The most conspicuous objects are the crosses which surmount the graves and the iron fences surrounding many lots, with a little lantern at each corner. The lanterns are lighted up on All Soul's Day, when people flock to the cemetery and decorate the graves of their departed friends with wreaths and flowers. An interesting monument of old Santo Domingo is the small fortress of San Geronimo, which stands deserted on the ocean shore about three miles from the city. It was built in the early days of Spanish colonization as a protection against foes who might land up the coast and is a good specimen of medieval military architecture, with its walls of immense thickness, its watch towers, its deep moat and its dark dungeons. In revolutions it was usually garrisoned and has been taken and retaken unnumbered times, and in 1903 it was bombarded by a Dominican cruiser. In the midst of its monuments of the past Santo Domingo throbs with the life of the present. Being one of the principal ports and the seat of the government it is the busiest city of the Republic. Its docks, markets and business streets are always congested with workers and traders.