San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1893-02-28

mere comes Jan-lIa at last" SAT-
Eric as the youth began to descend tn,
ladder from the room above. He car
ried with much difficulty huge bundl,
of frewood-light branches, such a,
were used as fuel for the temple. Wher
he reached the foot of the ladder he fel
ON his knees and embraced Eric's leg.
with many protestations of JOY.
IL did not believe you dead, my mas
ter. knew you would return. have
| brought the rifle and the cartridge belt
now we can rescue Iklapel and Kulcan
There are many who are with you Chal.
| pa is feared more than he is loved, and
when they see you many will desert him.
Let us hurry"
Hasten slowly, my lad. We will wait
for the proper moment: then with due
effect and the pomp of our surroundings
we will crush friend Chalpa so that he
will not rise again"
See" said Jan-ila, breaking into his
bundle of fagots, in which he had con-
cealed the rifle, Il have brought food
and candles"
That's more to the point, for 1 am
nearly starved" answered his master.
But first we will go to the chamber
under the temple. There we can be near
Iklapel and be ready at any moment
Show us the way, Listahr
They followed the old man, who held
a candle alOft, and after a journey of
perhaps half hour came to a stop be-
fore an apparently solid wall of large
stones Eric recognized the great slab
in the center as door similar to the
one lklapel had opened when they had
inspected the treasure vault.
They passed through and along the
passage again until they came upon the
treasure house of Atzlan, filled to over
flowing with the accumulated wealth of
dead, forgotten nations. Even old Listah
lost his stOical reserve and burst into as
tOnished Explanations, while Jan-ila
walked around among the various an
cient, almost priceless relics with open
eyed and open mouthed wonder. 1t
was truly remarkable spectacle. More
wealth in gold and silver lay there I'M
guarded, unheeded. than the banks of
the entire world could command. Its
introduction into the commerce of the
United States would revOlutiOnize all
the markets on earth! Half-yes, one
eighth-of it was colossal fortune; the
wealth that Pizarro, Cortez and their
followers ravished from Peru and Mex
leo was equaled and surpassed by this
treasure.
1T is the treasure of the gods" said
Listah finally. 1t belongs to them
yes, and it belongs to Quetzalw
ut is not for us at any rate" rejoined
Jan-ila. Il would not know what 10 do
with it if had it.
Nor |" Listah replied, but Quetzal
knows, | would wager, and many Won
derful things he could make for us. For
me one good AK or knife of his wondrous
new metal that he calls iron is worth
all this great pile"
There was strong fascination in the
hoard to Eric. He felt a sort of miserlv
greed creep over him as his eyes roved
over the mass; the old vases full of gold
dust, strangely shaped utensils and fur
niture, meaningless trappings of all
sorts, shapes and sizes aroused his anti
quarian interest and his cupidity at the
same time, for there were fortunes in
single objects lying there upon the tiled
pavement; relics of the prehistoric past
that nations would vie with one another
to secure-not for their intrinsic value
alone, but for their chronological interest.
a great golden calendar, circular
disk, with strange obsolete characters
all over its surface, lay against the wall.
What prize for a museuml And he
noticed several figures of animals, we'll
modelled in gold, and among them stood
a regal elephant with greatly curved
tusks. He looked sharply at it, and as
he stared he realized that it was a model
in miniature of the extinct mammoth!
There are pictures of them in the
sacred books" said Jan-ila when Eric
had pointed out this wonder, "for Ihave
seen them often. The pictures show
men spearing them and being trampled
under feet by these same monsters"
They lost no more time, but started at
once for the chamber under the temple,
for Eric remembered well the way now,
and they reached it in few minutes.
Noiselessly they entered it, and the two
priests reverently, for both had been
there before on solemn occasions. This
room held the ark of the Atzlan faith,
QuetgalcoaCl's vessel, and it was sacred
apartment, into which none but priests
ever ventured Listah extinguished the
candle as soon as they were fairly in the
cellarlike chamber. A few narrow shafts
of light shot through the crevices, but