Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1896-07-16
HEART OF THE WORLD.
BY n. RIDER HAooARD.
4 Strange stoET, Taken From Manuscript Bs.
qzeEthed 81 N Old Mexican Indian to His
Friend and Csmrzae, an English.
nam Named Jones.
Copyrighted. Isa4. by H Rider Haggard
CHAPTER x
HOW uOrAa MN

forward again. In front went the Girl
Maya, Our guide, whom the senior led
BY the hand. while behind followed
ZibalJay. supported by Mclas and my
self At first these two had run as
quickly as the rest of u.s. but now all
the futigues and terrors that they had
undergone took hold of them, so that
from time TO time they were forced TO
stop and rest, which is little to be
wondered at, seeing that for five DAYS
they had eaten no solid food. for il was
Don Pedro's purpose to starve their Sc
cre=t out Of them
Slowly and with much toll we forced
a path through the tropical forests.
This forest that seemed so destitute
of lie was peopled by millions of in
-sects. all of them venomous. Garrapat-
as, tiny gray flies, wood wasps, and
ants black and red, tormented Us with
their bites and stings, till we groaned
aloud in our misery, then rememb ering
our danger pushed on again.
Thus two hours and more passed till
reaching a little stream that ran
through a ravine IN the forest, we
paused TO drink and cool our fevered
feet and hands. Zibalbay sank ex-
kausted upon the bank, where /
brought him water in my sombrero,
while his daughter sat herself down on
stone in the stream, suffering it to
flow over her feet and ankles that by
now were swollen with ant bites and
bleeding from cuts of thorns and
grasses
Presently she looked up and seeing
the senior standing on the bank talking
to me, invited him with motion of her
hand to seat himself beside her.
H'What is your name, white man?''
she asked
H. G+-;clrTap1
james Strickland" she repeated,
with some difficulty. 81 thank you,
James Strickland, for rescuing my
father from torment and me from in
suit, aad because of that deed I, Maya
of the Heart, whom many have served,
am yoir servant forever"
You should thank my friend, Don
Ignatio," he said, pointing TO me.
For few moments she looked at me
searchingiy, then replied:
Il thank HIM also, but l thank you
the most, for your hand rid me of that
hateful man and saved u.s."
1T IS early to return thanks, lady, >
he said; we are not out of danger
yet"
II have little fear now that we have
escaped from that dreadful house" she
answered, almost indifferently, .'sinee
our hiding place is near. And how can
they find ~ in this forest? Hark! what
was that?"
As she spoke faint and distant sound
fell upon our ears, such sound as
might have been made by a bell struck
far away at night.
THAT is how they will find u.s. he
said, springing to his feet. ''Do you
hear. 1gnatio? The dogs have hit our
trail. Which way does our road run
now, lady?"
Along the banks of the stream"
Then we must go forward in the
water" said the senior; Its our only
chance, for the hounds cannot track Us
there"
Not more than three hundred PAGES
from the banks of the little stream we
came upon g. high mound densely over
grown with trees, between the boles OF
which appeared masses of cut stone
This is the place, gasped Zilbalbay.
- Look Wonder above US are the walls OF
the temple, and here is the ancient
stairway that led to it." And he pointed
to long flight OF crumbling stone steps
almost hidden in ferns and bushes. Up
these steps we went with caution,
Molas carrying ZnbaIbay upon his
broad back.
The staircase was in three flights, the
top fight, now almost entirely broken
away, emerging on what once had been
a broad and splendid terrace, but to-day
was a chaos Of stoneworlI, in the crew
ices of which grew bushes and even
large trees. Over the head of the stair
way stood a colossal arch sculptured
with the figures of gods and beasts
Thsi arch was In the last stage of de-
cay: indeed. the crown of it, mass Oh
masonry that must have weighed be-
tween one hundred and two hundred
tons, had been nearly separated from
its supports by the action of time and
rain, aided, perhaps, by a shock ot
earthquake, and hung threatening over
the top of the stair. In truth, so slight
were the attachments which remained
between it and its supporting side col
-umns and buttresses, that at first sight
il seemed as though it must fall at once
A closer examination showed, how
ever. that it was held in place by three
OF four great roots, trees that grew
upon the crown of the arch Be
vond the arch, on the further
side of the terrace, rose the ruined
temple, n single-storied building with a
fiat roof. whereon grew many shrubs
and palms
Passing into the temple, Maya led US
into a chamber. In the corner lay a
little pile o. articles covered over with
"a serape that Maya fastened to remove
revealing among other things an
earthen cooking pot, copper axe OF
similar workmanship to the machete
with which the senior had killed Dor
Jose. two curiously fashioned blow
pipes. with n supply OF poisoned darts
and lastly, bags containing dried flesh
beans and cuca-paste-
IAN is safe she said; now let US
eat, that we may be strong 70 meet
danger.
While we were filing ourselves thank
fully with the dried meat the senoI
spoke to me. saying he hoped our Pur'
suit had been abandoned.
You can know little of these men tc
sneak thus" he answered. Don Pedro
will certainly seek to aTenge the blood
of his SON." -
Then what do you propose to do?'
he asked. start on again, or stop
here?''
..Senor. we must stop here because
we cannot travel farther, unless you
would abandon the old man and ms
daughter. Moreover, in the forest IL
would be easy to overwhelm US, but TINS
Mace Is hard TO climb, and here at least
we may die fighting. Let rs make
ready for the worst. senior.
.s1oyv are we to make ready" he
asked. when we have nothing to fight
with except Tnachetes and Indian blow
pipes. The powder in the pistol TASKS
Is damp and the caps viii miss ire &C
that if they come our death Is certain
1T seems So I answered. and yet
If it pleases God we may live Wonder
lie stones in plenty; let US pile them up
beneath the archway; perhaps we may
kill some of our foes by rolling them
down the steps"
This we did then. while Maya watched