Connecticut western news., 1895-08-01
THE MILK WHITE DOE

The sound was so faint that only the ears of the skilled huntsman might hear it.
 It came from hundreds of tiny hoefs, muffled by the grass in the mountain park.
 Antelope F
 Together we lay face. downward, I and. my Indian guide, with our long rifles at easy rest, and awaited the com ing of the band. It dashed over hogs ing, struggling, undulating mass of red dish brown, white tufted bodies stretched to the fullest speed.
 Nervous? Yes, for in moment more the band would pass us within easy range.S
 We lay with forefngers on the rig- gers as the tirnid animals, wild with fear, skinned along as if waited by the spirit of the wind. Now they are direct. ly opposite. We will never have such another shot.
 Onward they dash and pass so closely by that it seems we can hear their heart beats. Their great, liquid eyes are wild with terror.
 Another moment and the herd has swept by us; only the hindmost are in view. Now they are out of hearing and presently arc lost to sight
 Absolute silence, save for the rustic of the brown grass as the cooling au-, tumn wind stirs it.
 Not chpt wac fsrQ6 Mu fy,ooy woe upon the trigger, my arm certain, but 1 lacked the power even for the gentle pressure necessary to send bullet straight into the herd I was under a spell
 I looked at Pablo. His dark face seemed almost pale; his eyes betrayed excitement, not the excitement of anger or fear, but of a tender sympathy.
 The same power that had staid my finger when it would have pressed the trigger had a like effect upon him.
 "Senor,' he said, "it is the milk white doe that none may slay."
 It was overpowering curiosity that had rendered my forefinger inf1exible, for at the head of the band was the most beautiful animal had ever seen a milk white doe. She seemed fieeter, more timid and of more graceful con tour than any of the herd. She was the perfection of animal grace and beauty. fancied I heard a soft, sad moan as she passed before the muzzle of my rife. I was lost briefly in pathetic contem- plation, and the herd was gone. Come, Pablo, it is almost dusk, but we must follow Come, stir yourself, you unenthusiastic son of Montezuma and let us be gone"
 "Senor," said Pablo, in his calm and imperturbable manner, yet with sol emn impressiveness, 'it is death to all who follow the milk white doe. "
 Nonsense; must have her. Let us follow quick. ' when we smoke by the campfire will tell yon the legend of the milk white | ioe '
 And this is the legend he told me: Before the white man knew there was a western continent, before the Span | iards came, even before the reign of the ancient Quetzalcoatl, lord of the Seven | Caves of Navatlaques and king of the | Seven Nations, out of which arose the splendor of the Montezuman empire, the powerful tribes lived in the north. They were as the sands of the shore washed | by the great ocean of the rising sun, and | the numbers of their arrows were great | er than the twigs in the forest. | Their queen was Maxtella | Her skin was as white as the snow on | wonder mountain peak, her lips were as scarlet as the flaming loco blossom, her eyes were as blue as the chalchuites in the Minas de las Perdidas, and from their liquid depths beamed truth and | purity of soul.
 She was a virgin queen. Her courtiers | wooed her in vain. The richest of them all laid his wealth of chalchuites and beautiful shells at her feet The might jest hunter brought her trophies of the chase. To all she spoke words of wis dom and beauty, but her love was fo1 no one man; it was for all her people. Her virtue and her beauty were the mar. vels of those days.
 Her counselors were W .se beyond thei1 generation. Many things they knew that were unknown to the subjects of Queer Maxtella. They knew of the eastern ocean, of great country beyond to which their ancestors had gone years be fore.
 The northern hordes were at peace So powerful were they that the tribes il the south did not dare to make war witt them, nor would the qneen suffer he subjects to make war upon those weaker lordes who dwelt in rocks and caves high up in the cliffs that bordered ol the green canyons There was a vassa chief, Azul, of lowly birth and evi ways. He saw the beautiful Maxtella md the sight of her touched his blacl heart. He loved Maxtella not for he virtue nor her wisdom. He loved Le that he might rule the land, and tha from his blood and hers might come race of sewage kings, and that the north ern hordes might make war upon tn tribes of the south and despoil them C their treasure.
 Azul knew the black magic art. II
 brought his richest treasure to Maxte
 Ia s court. He used his black art that h
 might appear pleasing in her sight. Hi
 arms and throat were bare. On his hea
 was a snowy white helmet, and hi
 dress was of green feathers His breast
 plate of feather work gleamed like jew
 els when the sun shone upon it. Ia
 and straight was this vassal chief an | mighty was his stride. Great blue an