The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-09-02
GNATIo TELLS sTRIcI1LANp STORY OLE THE TALIsMAN

more of the roof would surely fall ere
long, and that if my friend stayed here
he must die with me- Nothing could
save me; | was doomed to a slow
death beneath the stone, and yet if I
told him this 1 knew that he would not
go. Therefore l answered as strongly
as L could:
Fly, senior, L am safe, and do but
stay to light candle. l will follow
you"
You are lying to me-" he answered;
your voice comes from the level of
the floor" And as he spoke l heard
the scratching sound Of a match.
So soon as he had found his candle
and lit it, he knelt down and looked at
me. Then he looked at the roof above
and following his glance with difficult
" / saw that next to the hole whence
the boulder had fallen hung a huge
block OF stone surrounded by great
cracks from which water dropped, that
trembled like leaf whenever he mov-
ed or spoke.
For the love of God, ayr' 1 whis-
pered. I'm a few hours it will be over
with me, and you cannot help me. /
am a dead man; do not stop here to
share my fate
For a moment he seemed to hesitate
then his courage came back to him. and
he answered hoarsely:
we entered this place together
friend. and we will go out together, OF
not at all. You must be fixed by the
rock and not crushed, or you would
not speak of living for hours. Let me
look" and he lay upon his breast and
examined the fallen rock by the light
of the candle. Thank God, there is
hope" he said at last 'The boulder
rests on the ground and upon the
stone against which 1 struck my leg,
for only one point of it is fived in your
back. Do you think that anything is
broken. Ignatio?"
L cannot say, senior, my pain is
great and l am being slowly crushed
to death: but I believe that as yet my
bones are whole. Fly, senior, 1 beg of
YOU
Il will not" he answered, sullenIy.
I am going to roll this rock off you. u
Then. lifting with all his great
strength. he strove to move the stone
from off me. but without avail, for it
was beyond the power of mortal man
to stir it. and all the while the black
mass trembled above his head
I must go for help" he said, pres
emily.
Yes. yes, senior, go for help" 1 an
swered. for l knew well that before
he could return with any, more of the
roof would have fallen, shutting me
in to perish by inches, or perhaps
crushing the life out of me in mercy.
Then l remembered, and added:
stay moment before you go; you
are noble. 1 will give you something.
Feel here round my neck, there is lit
tie chain-now draw it over my head
so. You see a token hangs to it: if
ever YOU are in trouble with the In
dams. take their head man apart and
show him this, and he will die for you
if need be-
"Englishman, by this gift 1 have
made You heir to the Aztecs in the
heart of every Indian, and the master
of the great brotherhood of Mexico.
Molas. the messenger, will tell you all
and bring You to those who can initiate
you. Bid him lead you whittier he
would have led me. Farewell, and God
go with YOU. Tell the Indians how L
died. that they may not think you
murdered me-"
To these words of mine the senior
made no answer. but thrust the token
into his pocket without looking at it,
like one who dreams. Then, taking the
candle with him, he crept forward
down the tunnel and vanished and
nv heart sank as / saw him go. leav-
ing me to NV dreadful fate without a
word of farewell.
Doubtless he is too frightened to
speak," / thought, land it is right that
he should fly as quickly as possible
to save his life"
Now. as ] was soon to learn, 1 was
doing the senior a bitter wrong in my
mind, seeing that he never dreamed Of
deserving me, but went to find a means
Of rescue AS he told me afterward.
when he reached the mouth of the tun-
mel he could think of no way by which
/ might be saved, since these noun
tains were uninhabited, and it would
take several hours to bring men from
Cumarvo.