The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1895-12-28

was crouched upon the ground beside
US, spoke for the first time, saying:
Friends, why do you not fly? Doubt
less you can find a path down the
further side of the pyramid, and in the
forest you may hide from these men"
sit is too late to talk of fight, ''said
Molas, s'for look; they are coming up
the stair, the eight of them, with Don
Pedro and the Americana at their head"
I looked; it was true. Already they
had climbed half the steps of the first
flight.
''Oh, for some rihes!" groaned the
senior.
cit is useless to cry for what we have
not" answered.
"God can help us if He wishes, and if
He does not we must bow to His will"
Then there was silence, broken
only by the voice of Zibalbay, who,
standing behind us, lifted his hands to
heaven and prayed aloud to his gods to
bring vengeance upon our foes.
Now we could see through the trees
ming to climb the second flight.
Come, let us do something. said the
senior, and, running to the pile Of stones
which we had prepared, he called to us
to roll the heaviest upon the enemy.
This we did, but without effect, for the
tree trunks turned the stones; more
over, those against whom they were di-
rected. taking cover at the sides OF the
stairway, opened so sharp a fire on us
with their rifles that in a few minutes.
we were driven from the piles OF stones
and forced to retreat behind the shelter
of the arch
Now they came on again, till present.
.ly they reached the foot of the third
Aisrh+ orf1 r,o,,co1 f1 $o1ro hrooth Than
it was that Molas, selling one OF the
Indian blowpipes, ran out onto the ter
race followed by the senor-though
why the senior went do not know, for
he could not use the weapon. Before
the men below were aware of their
presence Molas had set the blowpipe to
his lips and discharged the poisoned
dart among them. It struck Don Smith,
the American. full in the throat. Watch
ing around the corner of the arch saw
him lift his hand to pull it out, then Of
sudden he fell to the ground, and at
that instant storm of bullets swept
and the senior as they fled back to
shelter l saw Molas fall and the senior
stop to lift him to his feet, and as he
was in tho very act patch of red ap-
peared upon his face Another moment
they were back under cover.
care you hurt?" I asked the senior.
''No, no" he answered. 'my face was
grazed by bullet, that was all. Look
to Molas: he is shot in the side"
"Leave me-" said Molas; SIT is moth
ing"
Then we were silent, only Maya
sobbed little as she strove to stanch
the blood which flowed from the senor's
wound with cobwebs that she gathered
from among the stones.
Looking out cautiously we saw that
the men had dragged Don Smith to the
side of the stairway, while some of them
supported him while he died of poison,
and others watched for chance to
shoot us should we show ourselves upon
the terrace. Presently he was dead,
and cursing us aloud his companions
commenced to mount the third flight
with great caution, for they feared
snare.
els there nothing to be done to save
our lives?" asked the senior in a heavy
voice.
There was no answer, but of a sud-
den Molas, who was standing with one
side and the other before his eyes,
turned and ran swiftly into the cham
Der behind us, whence he appeared car
rying the copper axe.
Then, without speaking, he elm bed
the masonry of the archway with great
swiftness. till he stood with his feet in
the crack beneath the crown of the
arch, which you will remember was
held in place only by the tough tree
roots that grew from it into the stone
work of the buttress.
Supporting himself by q creeper with
his left hand, with his right he struck
blow after blow at the biggest of these
ROOTS severing them one by one. Now
dred tons of stonework laundering
down the stairway upon the heads OF
the murderers.
by heavensl That is an answer to
my question: said the senior; then he
paused and added: Come down. Molas,
If the arch falls you will fall with it and
be crushed
cit matters little" he answered; this
is my doom day. That bullet has cut
me inside, and bleed to death, and on
this spot, as have long feared. it is
fated that l should die. Pray for my
soul and farewell"
Now three Of the roots were severed,
but the fourth and largest, which was
thicker than nan,.l leg, remained, and
at this Molas began to bew despair
ing {f.. :. -. -, 80, ;. :. ~,>a,
We peeped round the corner of the
arch and saw that some fifty feet below
us the band had halted on the slippery
face of the pyramid, fearing they knew
not what. for they heard the dull sound
of the axe blows, but could not guess
what it portended..
One of their number was talking to
Don Pedro, apparently urging some
/. thing upon him to which ne did not
agree, and in this way they wasted two
minutes before the order was finally
given to rush up the remaining steps
and take the temple by storm.
Two minutes, it was but a short time,
vet it meant much, for now only
third of the root remained answered,
and the bark cracking and peeling
showed how great was the strain
upon it.
"Quick, !" whispered the senior, ssthey
Gomez and as he spoke the hands Of
the axe broke and its head fell on the
ground.
"Now if the root holds we are lost"
/ said
But it was not so, for Molas still had
his heavy hunting knife, and with this
he hewed frantically at the wood. At
the third cut it began to part, torn
slowly asunder as though by the
strength Of a giant.
Come down, Molas, come down.
cried the senior. d:
But Molasswould not. He struck one
more blow, severing the root, then,
with a shout of farewell, either
4. - !. -