Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1892-11-23

last hour?" asked Joe of Harkins, who
seemed much cast down.
He gave no evidence of it; on the
contrary, his mind seemed wonderfully
clear to the last"
perhaps he said to the left instead of
lie right of Clusters peak" suggested
the captain.
mo, am sure he said to the right,
but he may have meant the left"
'It's no use crying over split milk"
laughed the captain.
"If we have lost the cave we have
saved our scalps. I'm inclined to
think the old man misspoke himself. l
believe those renegades gave this place
a thorough looking over and are now IN
the canyon below, if there is canyon
there. If the cave is there they have
got the gold ere this, and that ends it."
Harkins sat with bowed head. He
had felt 80 sure that old Saunders told
the truth that he hated to give up the
search. There was deep silence for a
moment, broken by whisper from Joe,
"Great heavens, but what is that"
They were near the wall which formed
the end of the canyon. All raised their
heads and looked into the darkness and
saw faint light shining out like star.
AT the same moment their ears caught
the sound of many voices chanting in
low tones, and a strange, weird music
filled the heavy air.
"Hush--sit still" whispered the cap
tain as Harkins seemed about to spring
up.
Then from the face of the solid rock
issued forth q strange procession OF
strange shadows-shadows which moved
in double file right past the trio down
into the blackness Of the canyon toward
the wagons. The one who led the pro-
cession carried what looked like ban
per. Behind him was one who seemed
to carry an urn. Then came four
shadows which bore bier, and those
who came after had their faces upturned
and were wailing and chanting.
The men saw and heard and realized,
but were chilled and powerless to move.
Can the dead come back to earth? Do
the ghosts Of those who have gone be-
fore gather in the shadows and the dark
ness and hold reunions3
Chantl Chant! Chantl
Out from the solid wall-a wall in
which the sharp eyes of the gold hunt
ers had failed to detect crevice large
enough to conceal a squirrel-poured the
strange, queer specters, and down into
the darkness marched the procession.
March! Marchl March!
Their feet kept time to the wild, weird
chant, but not the sound of a football
came to the ears Of the living. Each
ghostly figure stood out separate and
distinct, but not face could be seen.
1--WE are doomed men!" groaned Har-
kins, as he covered his face with his
hands to shut out the sight.
"Aye! We shall never leave this spot
alive" added Joe.
"Hush, men!" whispered the captain
as he raised his hand. "They are dead,
true enough, but they are the dead Of
thousand years ago-of the cave dwell
ers and the Aztecs. l have seen them
twice before, and they brought no bad
luck. Here they come on the other side"
The three were seated on a rock in the
center Of the rift. The head of the
spectral procession had gone down the
canyon several hundred feet and then
turned to come back on their left, pass
ing them again within few feet.
March! Marchl March!
Chantl Chantl Chant!
Soft and low and sweet came the
notes-like the murmur Of the August
breeze in a forest pine. The feeling OF
awe was crowded out Of the hearts OF
the living, and feeling of sadness and
reverence crept in.
It was the dead burying its dead!
Marchl Marchl March! Never the
echo Of football, never the touch of
skeleton foot to the finty rock. The
ear caught no sound but that of the
ghostly voices chanting in unison.
And of sudden he who headed the
spectral procession swerved to the left
and disappeared into the solid wall and
was followed by the long lines until the
last had been swallowed up and lost
sight of. And then, as silence and dark
ness reigned again, the captain said:
"Men, we have treasure here. E6-
anime that wall and you will find an
opening to a cave behind it."