Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1894-10-31

| The 4comen of the Oto7nte 1rere no n1orel
mie, rest softly in the houses Of the sun,
for of surety they teach us how to die"
"Aye," answered, "but not thus. Lo,
women do self murderl Our foes have
swords for the hearts Of menP'
7 turned to go, and before me stood Oto-
mie.
What has befallen'" she said. where
arc my sisters? Oh, surely have dreamed
an evil dream! T dreamed that the gods
of my forefathers were strong once more.
and that once more they drank the blood
of men,"
Your Ill dream has q worse awakening,
Otomie," answered. 1.-The gods Of hell
are still strong indeed In this accursed
land, and they have taken your sisters into
their keeping"
"Is it sop" sho said softly. "Yet In my
dream it seemed to ME that this was their'
| last strength ere they sink into death un-
ending. Look yonder!" and she pointed
toward the snowy crest Of the volcan Xaca.
looked, but whether saw the sight Of
which am about to tell or whether 1t was
but an imagining born OF the horrors OF
| that most hideous night IN truth cannot
say. At the least I seemed to SEQ this, and
afterward there were some among the
Spaniards who swore that they had wit
| messed 1t also. 4
On Xaca's lofty summit now as always
stood pillar of fiery smoke, and, while /
gazed, to my vision the smoke and the fire
separated themselves. Out Of the fire was
fashioned q cross Of fame that shone like
| lightning and stretched for many rod
across the heavens, its base resting on the
mountain top. At its foot rolled the clouds
Of smoke and now these, too, took forms
vast and terrifying, such forms indeed as
those that sat in stone within the temple
behind me, but mngnifed hundredfold
See" said Otomie again, 1.-THE Cross Of
your God shines above the shapes Of mine,
the lost gods whom tonight worshiped,
though not of my own will" Then she
turned and went.
For some few moments l stood very
much afraid, gazing upon the vision on
Xaca's snow; then suddenly the rays OF the
rising sun smote it, and 1t was gone.
Now, for three days more we held out
against the Spaniards, for they could not
come at us and their shot swept over our
heads har1nlessly. During these days I
( had no talk with Otomie, for we shrank
from ono another. Hour by hour she
would sit in the storehouse Of the temple
| a very picture Of desolation. Twice tried
! to speak with her, my heart being moved
! to pity by the dumb torment In her eyes,
but she turned her head from me and made
| no answer.
Soon it came to the knowledge Of the
| Spaniards that we had enough food and
water upon the teocalu to enable us to live
there for month OF more, and seeing that
there was no hope Of capturing the place
| by force Of arms they called parley with
Us.
Invent down to the breach in the road
way and spoke with their envoy, who
stood upon the path below. At first the
terms offered were that we should suHfen-
der at discretion. To this answered that
sooner than do so we would die where We
were. Their reply was that II We would
give over all who had any part in the hu-
man sacrifice the rest Of us might go free.
| To this I said that the sacrifice had bean
| carried out by women and come few men,
and that all Of these were dead by thndr
own hands. They asked II otomie was
| also dead. I told them no, but that I
would never surrender unless they swore
that neither she nor her son should be
harmed, but rather that together with my
self they should be given q safe conduct TO
70 whittier we willed. This was refused,
| but In the end won the day, and parch-
mont was thrown up to me on the point Of
! lance This parchment, which was
signed by the Captain Bernsl Diaz, set out
that, in consideration Of the part that
and some men of the Otomie had played
in rescuing tho Spanish captives from
death by sacrifice, o pardon was granted
to me- my wife and child and all upon the
teocalli, with liberty to 90 whithersoeve2
we would unharmed, our lands and wealth
being, however, declared forfeit to the
yiceroy.
With these terms was we'll content;
indeed had never hoped to win any that
would leave us our lives and liberty. And
yet for my part death had been almost as
welcome, for now Otomie had built q wall
between US that could never climb, and
was bound to her, to a woman who, will
ingly or no, had stained her hands with
sacrifice. Yell, my son was Left to me-
and with him must be satisfed-at the
least, he knew nothing Of his mothers
shame. Oh, thought to myself, as
climbed the teocalli-oh, that could but
escape far from this accursed land and bear
him with me to the English shores-aye,
and Otomie also, for there she might fpr.
get that once she had been savsgsl Alas,
it could scarcely be!
pr rvorrr,u-un