Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-08-01

"'Silence, wretched man. he whispered,
with hiss in his quiet voice. Then louder
and shriller, as under great excitement:
| They speak, they speak! After years of
| silence the gods declare themselvesr
''He motioned to the diamond, that even
as he spoke seemed to grow into globe of
! fire that was yet as cold and clear as MOON
light, though infinitely brighter. Totlan
| prostrated himself, leaving Inc TO retire into
the farthest corner of the temple. for 1 was
convinced then, as am now, that the thing
1 saw was of the devil, or else some hid
| ecus iugglery. and I was determined to lend
: myself to none of the mummery that fol-
lowed.
az have laid down nv pen several times
in the last hour to recall if possible the
scene that filled the chamber, but 1 am still
confused and uncertain. 1 remember
crowds of shadows that thronged about us,
phantom figures of armed men, naked, giant
like forms brandishing flaming torches,
women, fairies that I can describe, and yet
I cannot say whether these airy creatures
really illed the room in which 1 stood, or
whether beheld them all in the diamond,
of which I was conscious as we are of the
sun, whether gazing full upon it or other
things.
II am weary of striving to solve the
question of where the real and the unreal
began and ended in that accursed temple,
and, giving it up, pass to what I am sure of,
and that was only of Christopher Listhrop
himself. Him I saw rise supported by old
Totlan, who, removing from his own person
the robe he wore, cast it about my friend
| and place upon his head the diadem of
gold.
''ChrIs' face was that of dreamer just
awakened, who still retains something of
the glamour of his dreams while slowly re-
| aliZing the thing of the actual world. There
was a sound of voices, monotonously chant
| ing in subdued dull tones that 1 could not
attribute with any certainty to the phan-
toms that hurried between ME, and often
I obIiterated, the figures of Chris and the
| priest beside him, nor yet to the latter
! either. What the voices said l know not
| nor do ! recall any articulate words, though
there must have been, but as L said, all this
! is so confused and thin that assert nothing
| positively.
SLOW long this dreadful scene lasted l
cannot guess, but at last by mighty effort
L wrenched myself loose from the spell of
| superstition and fear that was tightening
| about my brain, and springing forward
leaped upward and caught the demon dia-
mond from the fingers that held it. Aye,
and gripped it, though a chill struck me to
the heart as / grasped the thing that para
lyZed muscle and nerve for a moment L
remember a cry of horror ringing through
the room, and old Totlan flung himself upon
me like a panther We grapped fercely,
but felt my strength going rapidly under
the terrible lean fingers about my throat,
when l saw as in a mist Chris grapple with
the old man and drag him off
''One look showed me the room was clear
of the shadowy forms and only myself
hriu +t.a h.lf Of hn o1l
man were present. Chris had lost his dazed
look and beyond certain Mortified express
sion in his eyes was himself once more. His
gaze caught the dazzling robe he wore and
with sudden haste he tore it from him and
plucking the diadem from his head hurled
that to the floor. Old Totlan eyed him for
a moment with devilish CLEAN of his
bright eyes, then rushed to the arm that
held the diamond, caught the hand in his
own, tugging at it with all his might
Something allied it, that We saw, for, though
few drops trickeled down the limb, the
old man paused nonplussed. Has the lake
itself gone dry?' he muttered, then once
more fell to tugging at the hand.
''The water came down in a larger stream,
and something warned me of q deadly pur-
pose in the fanatics action. L caught
Chris by the hand and We fed TO the
passage. Faster, faster for your life.' L
urged. For as we live we are under the
lake remembered seeing, as we came
along, heavy drops that chung continuously
TO the ceiling of the passage, but the idea
thai it led under the lake is SO incredible
that l must reverently ascribe it to divine
inspiration. AS we fled along the gallery,
L could hear the dripping of slowly falling
water for minute or two, then there came
a crash as if heaven and earth had fallen.
''There was a roar of rushing waters be-
hind us, and once we felt the spray of tor
rent. But the ascent was too steep for the
stream to reach us, though its momentum
swept it high. Painting, fainting, we
reached the vaulted chamber at the end of
the passage, when new fear confronted
us-how to find the concealed doors. We
glanced at each other in speechless dismay.
The walls seemed one solid mass of masonry,
but once more my courage returned, for the