The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1893-04-28


Upon the day that Gilbert was to start
the machinery of the mill the entire
populace gathered at the riverside. In
all the vast crowd standing there walt
ing there was not one incredulous OBJ
server, not one skeptical doubter of the
success of the project, as there would
have been in any other city on earth
perhaps, but every man felt confident
that its success was assured. They were
there not to test nor criticise, but to see
the triumphant beginning of 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 would not be dis
appointed or doubtful; their ignorance
of mechanics assured that, and any ex'
PLANTATION would have suficed them.
But to make it certain he had tested 1t
the evening before and knew that every
thing would work to his satisfaction,
and he mounted the stone steps leading
to the sluiceway with a confident smile
accompanied by Leila, Iklapel, Kulcan
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 to 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-
ous."
Then Iklapel stepped forward, and
after waiting for the noisy outcry to
subside spoke to them. He said:
s'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 FOL
them increasingly; they can speak tc
each other afar off, even when they car
not see one another; they make wood
and gold and silver talk; they walk upoI
the water and under it, and they fly
through the air like birds; they xii
their enemies with their eyes and witt
thunder. We are glad that our brothe,
has come to us. He is Quetzal, the Ions
awaited, the restorer of Atzlan."
This speech of the aged high prizes
was greeted with tumulTuous applause
but Kulcan's sharp eyes detected aroun'
Chalua a group whose silence and pc
culiar looks denoted that there wa
some feeling among a few inimical t
Gilbert and his ideas. He noted it wit
a mental resolve to investigate its mean
ing. but it passed from his mind a me
ment later as Gilbert raised the gate an
the water rushed down the slu1cewa
and poured over the wheel.
For an instant it seemed to resist, a
though the long ages of superstition
barbarism and ignorance were loath I
relax their dead grasp, and then it slowl
turned with majestic motion and b
gan to revolve easily and graceful
under the steady flow. Gilbert ran mi
the mill while the people stood in sileI
awe outside, and he saw the yellow graf
po1r out upon the stones, and In a fe
moments the meal, rich and tempting
appeared, and he called them all with
glad. triumphant shout to come and 81
It. They crowded in with rather timo
ous looks and gazed wonderingly upC
the moving wheels and the golden me
no1irine into the bins In steady stream
and they voiced their thanks most hear
ily. It was a touching sight indeed
Eric and to Leila, for it meant SO mus
70 them. with their minds filed, as Thu
were, with plans for the good of the pc
pie OF Atzlan.
That night they Toasted, q merry gat
er;nQ. and the principal Wand was bre,
and cakes 1naze from the new meal.