The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1893-06-22
THU HIDDEN CITY.
Ey WALTER q. EDOUeALL
Chapter VIII continued.)

upon the DAY that Gilbert was to start
the machinery IF the mill the entire
pJpulace gathered AZ the riverside. In
all the vast crowd standing there wait
lug there was not one incredulous OBJ
server, rot one skeptical slonoter OF the
success If the project. rs there WOULD
have been in any other city on earth
perhaps. but every man felt confident
that is success was assured They We're
there not ID test nor criticise, but To see
the triumphant beginning of "a new era.
Gilbert did not feel the usual tremors
Of the inventor thrill his frame before
this audience for he knew that If the
machinery failed TO respond to the wa
ter's power the people wonld not be DIS
appointed or doubtful: their ignorance
of mechanics assured that. and any ex'
PLANTATION would have sufficed them
But TO make ii certain he had tested 1t
the evening before and knew that every
thing would work To his satisfaction.
and lie mounted the stone steps leading
to the sluiceway with confident smile
accompanied by Leila. iklapel, hnlcan
and several of the principal citizens
Standing there beside the water gate,
with his hand upon the long wooden
bar which raised it, he turned to the
multitude of upturned faces and said:
MY brothers, when | lift this gate
you will begin 10 live in new age.
The past will be no longer with you. 1t
will do in one day more than all Your
women, and they will rest and teach
your children. We will make the river
weave our cloth and water our fields
and do other things for US in times to
come. In the land from whence | come
the elements are bound to our service
and they toll for Us night and day.
And so they shall toll for you, for we
shall go ON and ON until we have here in
our city all that other lands have to
make life pleasant and toll less ardu-
Gus"
Then Iklapel stepped forward, and
after waiting for the noisy cutlery to
subside spoke to them. He said:
"Our brother is right. He has told me
many things of the fair land he lived in
before he came to us. In that land there
is no night, for they turn it into day
with many suns and moons which they
have made for themselves. They have
made great monsters that work for
them increasingly; they can speak to
each other affair off, even when they car
not see one another; they make wood
and gold and silver talk; they walk upon
the water and under it, and they fly
through the air like birds; they kill
their enemies with their eyes and with
thunder. We are glad that our brother
has come to us. He is Quetzal, the long
awaited, the restorer of Attain"
Thi7 speech O.: the aged high priest
was greeted with tumulUuous applause,
but Kulcan's sharp eyes detected around
Chalpa a group whose silence and pc
culiar looks denoted that there was
some feeling among a few inimical to
Gilbert and his ideas. He noted it with
a mental resolve to investigate its mean
ing, but it passed from his mind a mo-
the water rushed down the sluiceway
and poured over the wheel. =
For an instant it seemed to resist, as
though the long ages of superstition,
barbarism and ignorance We're loath to
relax their dead grasp, and then it slowly
turned with a majestic motion and be-
gan to revolve easily and gracefully
under the steady flow. Gilbert ran into
the mill while the people stood in silent
awe outside, and he saw the yellow grain
pour out upon the stones. and in a few
moments the meal, rich and tempting,
appeared, and he called them all with
glad, triumphant shout to come and see
it. They crowded in with rather timer
GUS looks and gazed wonderingly upon
the moving wheels and the golden meal
pouring into the bins in steady streams,
and they voiced their thanks most heart
lily. 1t was a touching sight indeed to
Eric and to Leila, for it meant SO much
to them, with their minds filled, as they
We're, with plans for the good of the peo-
pie of Atzlan.
That night they Toasted, merry gath
ering, and the principal Wand was bread
and cakes made from the new meal. 1t
was delicious, perfect, and for long
time 1t was regarded by the people as
almost sacred, but the steady outpour
from the mill soon familiarized them
as it entirely abolished the use of the
laborious mortars and grinding stones
1t made the lives of the women less toll
some. This made him more of favor
lite 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 ID charge until they tired of
her garrulity.
Llstah had disappeared and secluded
himself IN order TO fast, pray and be-
come "epsu," or purified, by isolation
from mankind, but where he had ron,,
was mystery that perplexed 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
tailed, for garrulous as she was she
could hold her tongue when she wished.
liz was while they were plying her
with vexatious questioning that they
We're overheard by Gilbert, who was
surprised to find that Listah had taken
mp his VOW as soon as he had laid away
MS crutches, and drawing the old WON
an aside he asked her to tell him where
her husband was hiding. promising to
Keep her secret carefully. Bari looked
at ham with knowing smile and re-
piled:
"Quetzal knows full well where his
servant Listah hides, waiting for the
Gay that Is to come when he will he
needed WiS ask me. the old woman.
~hen ne knows his servant is under his
Feet, down in the dark halls beneath ms
becoming purified and perfectP talre
food to him from your mill every nigbt
put ne has not seen the sun for manv
days" ~ AlisnS
from this Eric readily OWNED that
oid Llsfah had taken refuge in the nm
oerground passages that were so pen-
IAl1