The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-08-12
his text the commandment, Thou

indeed, Defore II was HnISHeu, Two VI
| the men arose and crept from the
church. onscience-stricken and when
| the = preacher came to describe the
slaughter of the lad, whom their
wicked hands had of a sudden hurled
| into eternity, many of the congrega-
ton burst into tears.
! Now, I tell this story because it was
then for the first time, as [ thought OF
| the murdered boy, who some few days
before had been as full of life as l was
myself, that I came to know what
death meant, and to understand that
also must die and depart forever,
either into heaven or hell. l shook as
the thought struck me, and it seemed
ITO me that l saw death standing at my
elbow, as he stands today, ana then
and there determined that | would be
a priest and do good all my days, in
order that 1 might find peace at the
last, and escape the fate of the wicked.
On the morrow [ went into my god
fathers room, and told him OF my de-
sire. He listened to me attentively,
and answered: Il would that it might
be so, my son, holding as l do that the
things of the world to come outweigh
those of this present earth ten thou
sandfoId; but it cannot be, for reasons
that you shall learn when you are old
err Then, when my trust is ended,
you may make your choice, and, If you
still wish it, become priest
Five more years passed away,
during which time l grew strong ana
active and skilled in all manly eXer-
cises and studied much under the teach
ing of my godfather, who sent even TO
Spain to buy me books.
| Among these books were many histo-
ries, all that had been published, IN
tdeed. of my own race, the Indians, and
of their conquest by the Spaniards.
OF these histories l never tired, al.
though it maddened me to read of
the misfortunes and cruel oppression
| of my people, who today were but a
nation of slaves.
At length, on my twentieth birthday,
my godfather, who now was grown
very old and feeble, called me into his
chamber, and, having locked the door,
spoke to me thus:
| My son, the time has come when |
must deliver to you the last messages
of your beloved father, my cousin and
best friend, who was murdered by the
soldiers when you were little child,
and tell you Of your descent and other
matters.
First, then, you must know that you
are of royal and ancient blood, for your
| forefather in the eleventh degree was
none other than Guatemoc, the last of
| the Aztec emperors, whom the Span
Iiards murdered, which descent l can
prove to you by means Of old writings
and pedigrees, also it is known and at
tested among the Indians, who even
now do not forget the stock whence
sprang their kings"
Then by right l am Emperor of
Mexico 1 said, proudly, for in my folly
| it seemed a fine thing to be sprung
] from men who once had worn a crown.
Alas! my SON. the old priest an
swered sadly, lin this world might is
the only right, and the Spaniards ended
| that of your forefathers long ago by the
/ aid Of torture and the moose. Save that
L will earn you reverence among the
| Indians, it is huc a barren honor which
| you inherit with your blood.
Yet there is one thing that has come
| down to you from your ancestor, Guate-
moe and the monarchs who ruled be-
| fore him. Terchance you remember
| that on the night before he died, your
father set an amulet upon your neck,
and, removing it again, gave it to me
TO keep. Here it is
/ And ne handed me trinket made of
| the half of a heart-shaped emerald,
smooth with wear but unpublished, that
! if Joined to its missing secti3n, would
have been large AS a doves egg This
stone was no. broken, but cnt from the
| top to The b1tt}m the line Of the cGt-
! ting icing 50 cunningiy sawn that no
lone, unless he had one half before him,
Icould Initiate lie o e. Tins charm
was bored through so as To he worn
upon chain, and eng .ayal i;pon it's
isuiface were some hieroglyphics and
the orti ne u half human face.
What is it@' 1 asked.
The old priest shrugged his shoulders
land answered:
"A relic that had to do with their
wicked heather magic and rites, sup
pose. know little about it, except that
your father told me that it was the
most valued possession of the Aztec
kings, and that the natives believe
that when the two halves of this stone
come together the men of white blood
Ishall be driven from Central America
and that an Indian emperor shall rule
from sea to. sea-
and where is the other half, father %
How should l know he answered
testify, who have no faith in such
stories, or in stones with the heads of
idols craven upon them? [ am a priest
and therefore your father told me little
OF the matter, since it is not lawful
that l should belong to secret societies.
I Still, some such society exists, and. in
virtue of the ownership of that tails
man, you will be the head of it. as
your ancestors were before you, though
so far as I can learn, it has brought
them but little luck.
/ T., L
give you letters to a certain Indian
who lives in the district of which
your father was cacique, and, when YOU
show him the stone, doubtless he will
initiate you into its mysteries, though
l should counsel you to have nothing
to do with them.
Listen, Ignatio, my son, you are a
rich man; how rich I cannot tell YOU,
but for many generations your fore
if3thPrC dafN ft.aa g.,
object which l will explain to you, and
the gold will be handed over to you by
those of your clan in whose keeping ii
is.
ut was because of this treasure that
your father and your grandfather were
done TO death with many other, since
the rumor of 1t came to the ears of
those who ruled in Mexico, who, when
they couio come to it by no other means
tormented and killed them in their rage
Now, this was the message of your
rather to you concerning the wealth
that he and his fathers had hidden
Tell my son, Ignatio, should he live
to grow up, that there has never de-
parted from our family the desire to
win back the crown that Guatemoc lost
or at least, to drive out the accused
Spaniards and their spawn, and to es-
tablish an Indian republic To this end
we have heaped up wealth for genera
tons, that it might serve us when the
hour was ripe, tand because of this
wealth, of which the secret could not
altogether be hid in the land which is
full of spies, some of US have come to
cruel deaths, as 1 am about to do to-
night
But shall ole keeping my secret,
and when my son grows up others may
rule at Mexico, or the matter may
have been forgotten, at least the gold
will be where 1 left it. Now, say to
my son that it is my hope that he will
uSa III in tho couca to f,Ir+Lar which n