The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1895-12-14

t. 1t was free gold, six or seven ounces
of it, almost pure, and for the most
part in small nuggets that once were
contained in q bag which had long since
rotted away.
! Doubtless, after the mine was closed,
some Aztec, who knew its secret, had
made practice Of working there for
his own benefit, till one day as he was
coming out the rock foil upon him and
crushed him, leaving his spirit to haunt
the place forever.
= There is no doubt about the mine
being rich" whispered the senior; "but,
all the same, think that we had bet
ter get out Of it, I hear odd noises and
rumb lings which brighten me- Come,
Ignatio," and he turned to lead the way
towards the opening.
Two PAGES further saw him strike
his shin against piece of rock thet
stood up six or eight inches from the
floor bed of the tunnel, and the pain Of
the blow was SO sharp that, forgetting
where he was, he called out loudly.
Next instant there was a curious
sound above me as Of something being
torn, and 10! lay upon my face on
the rock, and upon me rested a huge
mass OF stone.
/ say that it rested upon me, but this
SO, that stone would have killed me at
once as beetle Is killed be-
meath the foot of d man, instead of talk
ing more than two-and-twenty years to
do it. The greater part of it's weight
was borne by the piece OF rock against
which the senior had struck his leg, a
point of the fallen bowlder only press
ing into my back and grinding me
against the ground. Now we were in
darkness, for the senior had been
knocked down also and his candle ex.
tinguished, and, in The midst of my tor
lures, it came into my mind that must
be dead. 81.
Presently, however, heard his voice,
saying: "Ignatio, do you live, Ignabio7"
Now thought for moment, and
even in my pain. I remembered that
/ more of the roof would surely give
: here he must die with me. Nothing
could save me; was doomed to a slow
! death beneath the stone; and yet If
/, told him this | knew that he would not
go. Therefore answered as strongly
as could.
ely, senior, am safe, and do but
stay to light candle. will follow
you"
''You are lying to me-" he answered;
'fyour voice comes from the level Of the
floor" And as he spoke l heard the
scratching sound o: a match.
I So soon as he fonnd his candle and
lit it, he hneh down and looked at me.
Then he looked at the roof above, and
following his glance with difficulty l
saw that next to the hole whence the
of stone, that trembled like leaf
whenever he moved or. spoke, sur
rounded by great cracks from which
water dropped.
s'For the love of God, dy!"I whis-
pered ''In a few hours 1t will be over
with me, and you cannot help me, am
| a dead man; do not stop here to share
my fate"
| For u moment he seemed to hesitate;
then his courage came back to him, and
he answered hoarscly:
1--WE entered this place together,
friend, and we will go out together, or
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
! of the candle. "Thanlk God! there is
hope" he said at last, "the bowlder
rests upon the ground and upon the
stone against which / struck my leg,
, for only one point of it is fixed in your
back. Do you think that anything is
broken, IgnatioP"
! 81 cannot say, senior. my pain is great
and am being slowly crushed to death;
but believe that as yet my bones are
whole. Fly, senior, I beg of YOU"
II will not" he answered, snllenly.
II am going to roll this rock off you"
Then, lifting with all his great
strength. he strove to move the stone,
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.
II must 90 for help" he said pres
sn *7:s, yes, senor," I answered; Ego
for help" for 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 crush
ing the life out of me in mercy. Then
I remembered, and added:
''Stav q moment before you go; you
are noble. l will give you something.
Feel here round my neck, there is
little chain-now draw. it over my
head-so. You see token hangs to it.
II. ever you are in trouble with the In
dams, take their chief man apart and
show him this, and he will die for you
if need be.
"Englishman, by this gift I have
made you heir to the empire of the Az
tees 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
whittier he would have led me- Fare
well, and God go with you. Tell the
Indians how died, that they may not
think that you have 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. 4hen, taking
the candle with him, he crept forward
down the tunnel and vanished. and my
heart sank as l saw him 20, leaving me,
to nv dreadful fate without word of
farewell.
,"Doubtless he is too frightened to
speak," / thought, land it is right that
he should ay as quickly as possible to
save his life.
Now, as / was soon to learn, was
doing the senior bitter wrong in my
mind, seeing that he never dreamed of
deserving me, but went to find means
of rescue. AS he told me afterwards,
when he reached the mouth of the tnn-
mel he could think of no way by which
I might be saved, since these noun:
tains were uninhabited and it would
take several hours to bring men from
Cumarvo.
Outside the mine he sat himself down
to consider what could be done, but no
thought came, for it was impossible to
use the strength of the horses in that
narrow place, Then he sprung llp and