Non-ASCII characters in Emacs 21.2.1

[Kpn]

Hi all,

I am just starting to use GnuEmacs 21.2.1 after installing a GnuLinux
Red Hat distribution 8.0.

I am trying to write a text in spanish (with its non-Ascii characters) 
and the
results are not satisfactory. I use Another-Level-Up window manager 
(based on FVWM)
and the result on the screen runs well: I see the accents and other 
non-ASCII charcters but
the buffer is not correctly saved. By invoking:
$> more archive

I see  that the non-ASCII character has not been correctly saved.

On reediting the archive:
$> emacs archive&

The non-ASCII charcter are now incorrectly prompted on the screen. Of 
course texing the archive does not make a correct dvi file.

I would appreciate some help.