Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1893-04-06

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 l 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 outcry 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 afar 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"
This speech of the aged high priest
was greeted with tumultuous applause,
but Kulcan's sharp eyes detected around
Chalpa a group whose silence and pc
culiar looks denoted that there was
some feeling among few lnimical to
Gilbert and his ideas. He noted it with
mental resolve to investigate its mean-
ing, but it passed from his mind a mo-
ment later as Gilbert raised the gate and
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 were loath to
relax their dead grasp, and then it slowly
turned with 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 III with rather timor-
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 touching sight indeed to
Eric and to Leila, for it meant SO much
to them, with their minds filled, as they
were, 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 IL long
time it was regarded by the people as
almost sacred, but the steady outpour
from the mill soon familiarized them
with the product of its machinery, and
as it entirely abolished the use of the
laborious mortars and grinding stones
, it made the lives of the women less toll
} some. This made him more of "a favor
lite than ever among the women, and old
Bari, the wife of Listah, idoliZed him.
l She came with her grain to the mill fire.
5 quently and praised Eric's good deeds
to the men in charge until they tired of
? her garrulity.
Listah had disappeared and secluded
l himself in order to fast, pray and be-
come "epsu," or purified, by isolation
5 from mankind, but where he had gone
was mystery that perpleyod these two
r young mer. Bari used enough meal for
= two, and they believed she was supply
q ing her husband with food yet they
:: could not detect her taking 1t to him. 1t
9 was the custom to tempt, annoy and
disturb any "epsu" seeker in order to
II test his strength, and they desired tC
discover his whereabouts, but they
l. failed, for garrulous as she was she
o could hold her tongue when she wished
l. 1t was while they were plying hel
with vexatious questioning that they
r were overheard by Gilbert, who was
s. surprised to find that Listah had taker
~ up his VOW as soon as he had laid away
II his crutches, and drawing the old WON
an aside he asked her to tell him wher,
y her husband was hiding, promising t.
y keep her secret carefully. Bari looked
ia at him with knowing smile and re
n, piled:
ID "Quetzal knows full we'll where hi
er servant Listah hides, waiting for tn
NJ day that is to come when he will b.
le needed. Why ask me, the old woman
N when he knows his servant is under hi
N feet, down in the dark halls beneath us
10 becoming purified and perfect? | tax
ie food to him from your mill every night
e but he has not seen the sun for man,
n days"
so From this Eric readily OWNED tina
H. old Listah had taken refuge in the un
&c foreground passages that were SO gen
orally avoided by the people. He won
ri dered if Iklapel was aware of the priest
re retreat, but he came to the conclusion
IN that Listah had probably discovere
t. some opening in one of the remote pas
b. sages and remained near his base Q
10 daily supplies He had certainly chose
ia a most secluded place to perform hi
IN vows, and he hoped he would be undis
nj turbed.
re have said that Eric and his assistant
! in al