San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1893-02-23

| IaDOrlOuS mOTEaTS ana Srlndlng STONES
| it made the lives of the women less toll
some. This made him more of favor
tie than ever among the women, and old
Bari. the wife of Listah, idolized him.
| She came with her grain to the mill fire.
quently and praised Eric's good deeds
to the men in charge until they tired of
| her garrulity.
Listah had disappeared and secluded
himself in order TO fast, pray and be-
come "epsu," or purified, by isolation
] from mankind, but where he had gOnH
was a mystery that perplexcd these two
Young men. Bari used enough meal for
two. and they believed she was supply
| ing her husband with food, yet they
| could not detect her taking it to him. 1t
was the custom to tempt, annoy and
| disturb any "epsu" seeker in order to
| test his strength, and they desired to
| discover his whereabouts, but they
failed, for garrulous as she was she
could hold her tongue when she wished.
1t was while they were plying her
with vexatious questioning that they
were overheard by Gilbert, who was
surprised to find that Listah had taken
up his VOW as soon as he had laid away
his crutches, and drawing the old wom-
an aside he asked her to tell him where
her husband was hiding, promising to
keep her secret carefully. Bari looked
at him with a knowing smile and re-
piled:
"Quetzal knows full well where his
servant Listah hides, waiting for the
day that is to come when he will be
needed. Why ask me, the old woman,
when he knows his servant is under his
feet, down in the dark halls beneath us,
becoming purified and perfect? | take
food to him from your mill every night,
but he has not seen the sun for many
days"
From this Eric readily OWNED that
old Listah had taken refuge in the I'M
foreground passages that were so gen
orally avoided by the people. He Won
dered if Iklapel was aware of the priests
retreat, but he came to the conclusion
that Listah had probably discovered
some opening in one of the remote pas
daily supplies. He had certainly chosen
a most secluded place to perform his
vows, and he hoped he would be undis-
turbed.
have said that Eric and his assistants
were the only active workers in Atzlan
during the long summer days. Every
hour had its duties, and his labors kept
him awake far into the night. He was
compiling an Atzlan dictionary, study
ing the ancient records, making a col
lection of the fauna and flOr.of the can
yOn, making sketches of the people and
their costumes, with notes upon their
habits and customs; teaching Leila and
Eliza the English language and the art
of reading and writing during intervals
in his regular occupations of furnace
building. mining, milling and curing
the few ills of generally healthy popu
lace.
He wore the Atzlan costume, for his
own clothes had long ago become rags,
and he felt himself as thorough an Atz-
Ian as any man in the city, and when he
saw the autumn come again and the
harvest feasts were held he felt all the
joy of a native. The people were more
lively; they held games and weird dances
every day, which interested him intense
ly i'll their esoteric significance, and the
prospect was very satisfactory to him
and to Leila and Iklapel. That his COM
ing had been of immense benefit to the
people he could see, and he felt a swell
ing of pride at the fact which was only
quelled by the thought of what he could
have accomplished with better facilities.
He felt no desire to return to civilized
life; he was willing to devote several
years to the work of converting this city
of the stone age into modern borough
with all its improvements. With iron
as his servant everything was possible,
! and in few days iron would be forth
coming. Then for machinery, steam,
electricity!
Meanwhile he had accomplished won
ders. Hundreds Of labor saving devices
benefited the city; candles, soap, glazed
pottery, spinning wheels, improved
looms, beer, yeast, pulley hoists and
many other valuable fruits of civilization
had been introduced. While he was fin
ishing his furnace he had made molds
for casting plowshares, harrows, anvils,
CRATES, axes, hammers and other imple-
ments Of cast steel, and he viewed the
| outlook with supreme satisfaction. His
| iron works were some distance from the
city-down in the canyon-where he had
discovered the remains of ancient smelt-
ing furnaces forgotten long ages since
and almost buried in the debris of the
shady cliffs. Remains like these have
since been discovered in other parts OF