San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1895-12-29

ohN AOOhSN oN NAS "Ae'f a'AS RA~AN'
eyes.
'.Now, lord, l understood to what his
words had reference, for are they not a
part of the ritual of the service, Open
ing of the Hearth
est is enough, said. Now, lord,
what do you desire?
az desire to know where that which
is hidden can be brought to light, and
il IL dwells in this land, for have
journeyed far to seek it,
+" 1T dwells here l answered, for l
have beheld il with my eyes, and he
guards it who is its keeper
"'Can you lead me to him, brother?'
NO, for l have no such commands;
but perhaps / can bring him to you,
| though | must journey by sea and land
to find him-that is, if he wills to come.
! Give me proofs, lord, or do not start
on this Grand
"'Will he believe that which you
have seen with your eyes?'
"'He will believe it, for he has trust
| ed me from childhood
"'Then lookr said the man, and,
opening his robe at the neck, he lxneeled
down in the light of the fire.
"There, lord, upon his breast hung
that which has been hidden from our
sight since the sons of Quetzal, the god,
ruled in the land, the counterpart of
the severed symbol which is upon your
breast. That is all my story, lord"
Now /, Ignatio, listened amazed, for
! the thing was marvellous.
ibid the man send me no further
message?" asked.
'None. He asked me If had money,
! and without waiting to be answered he
Lon1f,,1e - In, ~
nodded gold from hide bag, whereof
each lump was stamped with the sym
boil of the heart"
LET me see one," said.
''Alas! my lord Ignatio, have none.
| Not tar from the ruined temple where
Zibalbay and his daughter sojourned is
the hacienda of Santa Cruz. and there,
as you may have heard, dwell a gang
of men under the leadership of one
Dom Pedro Moreno, who are by profess
sion smugglers, highway robbers and
murderers, though they pretend to
earn living by the cultivation of coffee
and cocoa
'As it CHANGED in journeying home
wards, fell into the hands of some of
these men. They searched me, and,
finding Jumps of gold in my pocket,
handed them over to Don Pedro him
self, who rode up when he saw that
they had the fish in their net. He ex-
amined the gold closely, and asked me
whence it came. At first l refused to
answer, whereupon he said that /
should be confined in a dungeon at the
hacienda until such time as chose to
speak.
"Theu, being mad to get back to my
village and learn the fate of my wife, /
found my tongue and spoke the truth,
saying that the gold was given me in
exchange for food by an old Indian
doctor, who dwelt with his daughter
in ruined temple in the forest.
Mother of Heavenr said Don Pedro,
i have heard of this man before; but,
now know the kind of merchandise In
which he trades, think that 1 must
pay him visit and learn what mill it
was stamped at
"Then, having plucked me bare as a
fowl for the oven, they let me go with
out hurt"
1, Ignatio, sat late that night ponder
ing over these tidings that filed me
with a strange hope. 1 threw myself
upon my bed and strove to sleep, but
could not. Then remembering the
! bSlO11 bAldb MY RlNCI INT, i
rose, purposing to change my thoughts
in studying it and so win sleep. 1t was
hard task, but at length mastered its
meaning, and found that it dealt with
a mine near Cumarvo, and described
the exact position of the mouth of the
tunnel.
This mouth, it would appear, had
been closed up in the reign of Guate,
moe, and the scroll was written by
the cacique who had charge of the
mine in those days, in order that rec
ord might remain that would enable
his descendants to reopen it, should q
time come when the Spaniards were
driven from the land. That the mine
was very rich in free gold was shown
by the weights of pure metal stated in
this scroll to have been sent year by
year to the court of Montezuma by thi.
cacique, and also by the fact that II
was thought worth hiding from the
Spaniards.
Early on the morrow / went to the
room of Senior Strickland and spoke tC
him with heavy heart.
''Senor," / said, you will remember
that when l entered your service told
you that | might have to leave it al
any moment. Now / am here to say
| tlldb bllC blillc ID cOLut. lOr Il messenger
has arrived to summon me to the other
end of Mexico upon business of which
may not speak, and tomorrow mus
start upon the journey"
81 am sorry to hear 1t. Ignatio," hC
answered, "for you have been a good
friend to me. Still, you do well to sep
arate your fortunes from those Of ar
unlucky man."
Sand you, senior, do ill to spealS thu.
to me-" answered; "still, i forgive
you because / know that at times
when the heart is sore, the mouth ut
tiers words that are not meant. Listen
senior: When you have eaten your
breakfast, will you take a ride with
me?"
Certainly, if you like But where
do you want to ride to?"
"To another mine that Is, or should
be, about two hours on horseback from
here, in valley at the foot of yondel
peak"
An hour later we were riding among
the mountains, / having left message
for Molas to say that / should return
before dark. After hard Journey and
o long search, by good luck. we discoy.