Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1896-06-18

/ tainted there among the ferns.
Ten days had passed since 1 was car
/ ried from the mouth of that accursed
| mine back to Cumarvo in litter, and
| during all this time / had suffered
/ much pain in my back and been very
/ nl-so i'll, indeed, that / was scarcely
| allowed to speak with anyone. Now,
| however. l was much better, and one
| afternoon Senior Strickland, assisted
by my foster brother Molas, lifted me
from my bed into hammock.
| by the way, 1gnatio." said the
| senior when Molas had gone, Il never
gave you back this charm of yours.
| What queer-looking trinket it is!'
| he added, taking it from his neck;
land what did you mean by your talk
| in the tunnel about its making me heir
| to the empire of the Aztecs in the heart
of every Indian. and the rest of it?''
''Know, senior, that this broken gem
is the secret symbol of great order,
of which you are now one of the lords,
seeing that the browning and vital
ceremony OF the creation of a Lord of
| the Heart consists in the hanging of
the symbol about his neck for the
space of 4 minute only by myself.
Understand. senior, that the first duty
of the servant of the Heart is silence,
and that silence l demand of you.''
But suppose that a man should not
keep silence, Ignatio, what them" he
asked.
'There is land, senor," 1 an
swered, ''where the most talkative
grow dumb, and it's borders can be
crossed by all, even by the Lords of
the Heart, for fearful is the doom of a
false brother"
'You mean that if repeat anything
l may hear l shall be murdered?'
Indeed, no, senior; but you may hap
pen to die. | speak on the Heart; do
you hear with the ears?"
Il hear with the ears" he answered,
catching my meaning.
Very well, senior, since you have
now sworn secrecy to me by the most
solemn oath that can pass the lips of
man, will speak to you openly.
You have heard the story of that
white man, or god, sometimes called
Quetzal by the Indians, and sometimes
Cucumatz, who came to these lands in
the far past and civilized their peoples?
''When Quetzal sailed away from his
people he left the stone, that once he
had worn upon his brow, of which this
Is the half, to be a treasure to the
kings who came after him. Also he set
this fate upon it: that while the heart
remained unbroken, for SO long should
the people be one and whole; but if it
came about that it was cut or shat
tered, they should be divided with it.
to be no more one people until again
the fragments were one stone.
''Now, when these king brethren
quarrelled and parted, they sawed the
token asunder. as you see.
SAT length it came into the hands of
the great Guatemoc, last of the Aztec
emperors, who, before the Spaniards
hung him, found means to send it to
his son, from whom it has come down
to me.
Now of this stone, through all the
ages it has never been lost, and it is
known in the land from end to end; he
who wears it for his life being called
those who wait since it may happen
in his day that the two halves may
come together again"
'And what if they do?'
''Then, so says the legend, the In
dams will once more be a mighty nation,
and drive those who oppose them into
the sea as the wind drives dust"
Now the senior rose from his chair
and walked up and down the room.
''Do you believe all this?' he asked
suddenly.
YES" 1 answered, ''or the greater
part of it. Indeed, if what I hear is
true, the lost half of the talisrnan that
has been missing for SO many gen.
erations is in Mexico at this moment,
and, so soon as am well enough, l go
to seek him who bears it, and who has
come from far to find me. That is why
we must part, senor."
''Where has this man come from?"
he asked eagerly.
Il do not know for certain" an
swered, ''but I think that he has come
from the sacred city of the Indians, the
hidden golden city which the Spaniards
sought for but could not find, though
it still exists among the mountains and
deserts of the far interior"
why do you want to visit it, Igna-
tio?"
'sTo understand that, senior. you
must know my history" And I told
the part that had played in it, all of
which have already set out, also of the
secret hopes and ambitions of my life.
''Senor," / added, Though / am
beaten 1 am not yet crushed, and still
desire to build up n great Indian en-
pire. First. 1 will seek this man that
the two halves OF the heart may come
together and the prophecy be fulfilled;
then, if maybe, l will travel with him
to the city, Heart of the World care
less whether l live or die, but deter
IuIISti, IL tiICIt ID hISos W NAS AAS, iAoiiis5
for the fulfilment of the dream of an
Indian empire-Christian, regenerated,
and stretching from sea to sea-that l
have followed all my days"
THE dream. Ignatio? Perhaps you
name it well, yet few have such noble
dreams. And now, who goes with you
on this journey?"
who goes with me? Molas. as far
as the temple where the Indian is.
After that, if proceed, no one"
Then said he, the prospect of hunt
ing for that city pleases me, for am
an adventurer to my heart. l am
ready to start for Tobasco, and the
Sacred City, and wherever else you
like. SO soon as you are fit to travel
do you swear that on the Heart,
senor?" / asked.
by all means; but should prefer to
give you my hand upon it, And he
stretched out his hand, which took.
Good. You swear on the Heart,
and you give me your hand-the oath
is perfect.
CHAPTER V.
THE BEGINNING OF THE QUEST.
Something more than 4 month from
the day when Senior Strickland and
l made our compact to search for the
secret city of the Indians, we found
ourselves, together with Molas, at Vera
Cruz waiting for a ship to take us to