Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1896-08-06

cleaye to me till l am dead as | Will
cleave to you,n and taking his hand in
hers she looked up appealingly into his
face.
At this moment Zibalbay, who was
walking in front, lost in his own
thoughts, CHANGED to turn and see
them.
''Come hither, daughter, and you,
white man." he said in a stern voice.
Listen, both of you. am old, but my
sight and hearing are still keen, though
yonder in the wilderness took no heed
of much that saw and heard. Here in
my own land it is otherwise. Learn,
white man, that the Lady of the Heart
is set far above you, and there ! think
she viii remain. Do you understand
my meaning?"
Perfectly" answered the senior,
striving to control his anger, "but,
chief. it is pity that you did not see
well TO tell me this before. Had it not
been for what we and one dead were
able to do to save you, to-day your
bones would have been whitening in
the forest. Why did you not tell me
there that / was no fit company for
your daughter?"
Because you were sent by the gods
to do me service, and because there 1
had need of you, white man, answered
Zibalbay, quietly, las maybe l shall
have need of you again. Had it not
been for that chance we should have
parted company on the further side of
the mountain"
I'm truth l wish we had." exclaimed
the senior.
As l walked on side by side with III
balbay l spoke to him. saying: you
use sharp words toward him who is my
brother, chief, and therefore toward
me-
Il speak as 1 must" he answered
coldly. MANY troubles await me at
the city. Did you not hear what that
knave said last night, that Til1al, my
nephew, whom l left in charge, rules
in my stead? Well. this girl of mine,
who is affianced to him, and through
whom he hopes to govern in after years,
him from his place, for he looks upon
me as one dead, and it will not please
him to lay down the rod of power. How
should it please him, then, and those
who follow him, to see a white stranger
holding that daughters hand and whis-
pering in her ear?
l made no answer, for at that mo-
ment we turned corner and came face
to face with the bearers of the filters
whom Zibalbay had summoned to meet
u.
There were forty o: these men or
more; for the most part they were tall
and well shaped, with regular features
and, like Zibalbay and Maya, very fair
for Indians, but the look upon their
faces was different from any that l
have seen among my people. 1t was
not stupid or brutal, or even empty,
rather did it suggest great WEAKNESS.
WEAKNESS was the master not of their
bodies, but of their minds, and looking
at them l could understand what Zibal-
bav meant when he said that his race
was Outworn.
Summoning the captain Of the bear
ers Zibalbay talked to him while his
companions ate food that they had
brought with them, and l noted that
what he heard seemed to give him little
pleasure. Next he ordered US to enter
the filters.
We started forward down the noun
tain, and in an hour we had left the re-
gion of snow behind and entered the
cedar forests.
At length, as tho evening began to
fall, we entered the village of corn
growers, a half-ruined place, of which
the houses were for the most part built
of adobe or mud bricks and rooted
with a concrete of white lime.
When Zibalbay descended from his
litter all those present Frustrated them
by some of the head men, he had passed
into a house, which was made ready for
his use, leaving us without.
Presently messenger came from Zi-
balbay to summon US into the house,
where we found an ample meal pre-
pared, consisting chiefly of fish from
the lake, baked wild fowl, and many
sorts of fruit. BY the time we had
finished eating and had drunk the
chocolate that was served TO us in cups
of hammered silver, the night had fallen
completely. / asked Zibalbay if we
should sleep there; to which he replied
shortly that we were about to start for
the city.
Accordingly we set out by the light
of the moon, and were guided to little
harbcr in the shore of the lake, where
a large canoe, fitted with a mast and
sail and manned by ten Indians, was
waiting for us. We embarked, and the
breeze being off land, hoisted the sail
and started toward the Island of the
Heart, which stood distance of about
fifteen miles from the mainland.
The breeze was light; but after the
cold of the mountains, the air was SO soft
and balmy and the scene so new and
strange, that l for one did not regret
our slow progress. Nobody spoke in
the boat, for all of us were lost in our
own reflections and the Indians were
awed to silence by the presence of their
lord, who alone seemed impatient, since
from time to time he pulled his beard
and muttered to himself.
Before us lay the tabled golden town
we had so longed &c see. Soon our feet
would pass its white walls and our eyes
behold its ancient civilization.
What waits US there?" whispered
the senior, and he looked at Maya.
She heard his words aud shook her
head sadly. There was 10 hope in her
ewes, which were dimme1 with tears.
Then he turned to me as though for
comfort, and the easy fires of enthusi-
asm burnt up within me and answered:
Fear not, the goal is won and we shall
overcome all difficulty and danger. The
useless wealth of yonder golden city
shall be ours; and by its help' shall
wreak the stored up vengeance o. ages
upon the oppressors of my race and
build up a great Indian domin; on
stretching from sea to sea, whereof this
city shall be the hearth He heard and
smiled, answering:
lit nav be so, for your sake | trust
that it will be so, but we seek different
ends. Ignatio," and he looked again at
the lady Maya.
On we glided through the moonlight
and the silence, for from the town came
no sound save the cry of the watchmen
calling the hours as they kept their
guard along the ancient walls, till at
length we entered the shadow OF the
holy city, living dark upon the waters,
and the Indians getting out their pad
dies. for the wind no longer served Us,