Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1893-05-11
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what say you as to its disposition"
"You have told me many things" he
began. "You have made my heart soar
snd my ears burn with wondrous tales
of your great people and their cities. i
yearn to see them. l long to witness
these wonders, but 1 am old, and grow
feeble. But my people are young; they
are your brothers now. Whyshould they
not see and have these marvels2 You
tell me that we have the wealth of many
nations, and that wealth does all things.
Why cannot you bring these wonders
here3 Need you leave Us if you can
command these things2 Need you go
away If you can bring them here to us?
Thus we can at one bound overieap the
gulf which separates us from the New
World and be equal in wealth and knowl-
edge and power to any city Of the earth.
"We are not dull; we learn readily,
and you will be proud Of your people
before another decade passes. Here in
this city you can plan new enterprises,
put in practice your theories of govern
ment, and make of this ancient Atzlan,
SO full of all the memories of past ages,
a new and mighty city-a monument to
your wisdom forever. leave 1t in your
hands, oh, my Quetzal; It's yours to take
or leave-this treasure. give it to you
as have the power, but ponder we'll my
words, for they are full Of wisdom given
me this day by God himself"
"But," answered Eric, sit is no ordi-
nary undertaking that you propose. One
man could not hope to rule this people
alone"
"You will have all the power of this
wealth behind you," interrupted klapeL
"You can make the law"
"But not enforce it, my old friend.
There's the rub Money may rule where
it is feared or worshiped, but here,
where men do not need much, they do
not fear the power of wealth. The
mere possession Of money will not be
enough for one who wishes to rule peo-
pie. Once upon time, centuries ago, q
Roman who was very rich bought from
the pretorian' guards the great Office of
emperor, but he could hold it only sixty
six days. Then another and ADLER Roman,
Severus, defeated and beheaded' him.
That was long ago, but the lesson re-
mains"
"Truly," answered Iklapel; eyet I
think you have the ability to manage
our people. They love you and perhaps
fear you ALSO"
Eric had already made up his mind.
"Well, l will try it; it will be an ex-
pertinent. It may fail, and it may prove
an immense success, but it is full of
trouble and probably danger"
"It may be So" said the old priest,
"but it is a laudable undertaking. You
have behind you the knowledge of all
the failures and successes in other lands
to guide you"
II have it," cried Eric mo, shall
not leave you, Iklapel. We will build
up Atzlan and make it a great city-the
wonder of the world"
He went out to Pierce, and taking
him by the hand said: "Old man, I've
made up my mind. We will stay here,
Leila and L Yes, don't look so amazed.
mean it. / am going to run this town
myself after this and give it BOOM"
Pierce looked blank for a moment.
"But, confound it, after we've taken
all this trouble to save your skin you
want to remain here and go through it
all over again?
"No; there will be no trouble. Be-
sides I want you to stay here for awhile
Ia year or so, old fellow, eh0 and get
into our ways. You'll like the place.
Wonderful trout fishing, splendid snipe
shooting, fine climate. Oh, you'll enjoy
it, I know"
Then, growing earnest, he outlined his
plan to Pierce. It was, in brief, to di-
vide about fifty thousand dollars among
the men who had been hired for the ex-
pedition, and retaining Whitley and
| Sheriff Woodruff dismiss them all.
He would then call together the chief
men of the city and form board Of
directors under his own presidency, lay
ing before them q scheme of manage
ment which he was sure would inure to
the benefit of all.
| The city would simply be a great
stock company, capitalized from its own
priestly savings, and its earnings would
be divided among the people. There
were rich mines to be worked, and
which alone would make the people
wealthy; in fact, the more he thought
of IL the more feasible it seemed, and he
grew enthusiastic at the prospect.
Although Pierce was not so sanguine,
he still felt that with unknown millions
in bank almost any scheme could be car
ried out, and he felt like trying the ex-
pertinent. He looked dubious, However.
Understand me-" added Eric. 81
mean business. 1t is not all pure philan-
thropy BY any means. know we viii
have to buck against ignorance, super
stition and fear; also there will be rush
of outsiders, speculators, land grabbers
and others here that must be checked.
The government will perhaps interfere;
the state certainty will. We will need
all our wits and more to manage things,
and even the success of the plan may be
our undoing, for when they are all edu-
Gated twenty years hence other interests
will perhaps be more powerful"
"And therefore it would be wise, :"
interposed Pierce, "for us to place away
In some good, solid securities few mil
lions for the use Of original charter mem
bers, as it were, in case the board of di-
rectors is voted out of Office some time
| In the future"
"Just 3d." Eric answered, "and Ikla-
pei himself would say the same. At
least it is no more than other discover
ers and conquerers have always DONE"
"Only they took all there was in
sight," said Pierce, "and we propose to
take only a small percentage. Are
Whitley and Woodruff in this at all?"
perhaps it is better that they remain
outside-for the present anyway" Eric
answered. laughing.