The Irish standard., 1896-01-18


his throat and waited as though he
expected to see him rise, but he neither
rose nor stirred.
ga bad case he said, 81 fear that
he will awake no more. How came he
thus?"
ssDo you wish to know?" asked
!, Maya, speaking for the first time.
y 'Then bid your attendant stand back
and will tell you. My father yonder
was smitten down while he cursed me
!. in his rage"
N "And why did he curse you. lady?"
"For this reason: Tikal came to my
father, and, in the presence of us all,
offered to set him in his lawful place
again and to suffer him to carry out
his schemes whatever they might be,
if would consent to become his wife"
ssTo become his yvife!" said Mattai in
amazement "How' 'touldaYou become
his wife when he is married? Can there
be two ladies Of the Hearth
"No," answered Maya quietly. but
/ the proposal OF Tillal, my cousin. is that
he should either put away or kill your
daughter, in order that he may set me
in her place"
When Natal heard this his eyes
flashed and his very beard seemed to
bristle with rage.
''He proposed that! He dared to pro-
pose that!'' he gasped. so, let him
have care. set him up, and perclrance
l can pull him down again. Continue,
lady"
'!He proposed it, and my father
agreed to the offer. But il my father
accepted I refused, seeing that it is not
my wish to have more to do with Ii
kal. Then my father cursed me, and
while he cursed was stricken down
~ icy, To 2r-Y~v
"A Tilsal,, lady. Is it then your wish to
marry any other man?"
Yes" she answered, letting her eyes
fall II love this white lord here,
whom you name Son of the Sea, and 1
would become h is wife But, Natal,
Tikal Is very strong, and it may be, un-
less can find help elsewhere, that in
order to save the life OF the man | love,
of his friend and mine, lgnatio and my
own, shall be forced into the arms of
Tilzal.
but now Tikal has asked me for
my answer. and I have told him that
will give it when my father is recov-
cred or dead. Perhaps it will be for
you to say what that answer shall be,
for alone and in prison l am not strong
enough to stand against Tikal. Say,
now, do the people love me well enough
to depose Til1al, and set me in my
father S place, should he die?"
II cannot say, lady," he answered
shortly, but at the least you will
scarcely ask me thus to bring about my
own and my daughters ruin. will
be open with you. | gained over the
Council of the Heart to Tikal's cause,
and my price was that he should marry
my daughter, thereby satisfying her
love and my ambition. Yes, | have
v,1otfaI "a Nol,1,a hirh 10Th for
her sake and for my own, seeing that
after the cacique I would be the chief
man in the city.
''Can / then turn round and depose
him, and my daughter and myself with
him? And if [ did, what would be my
fate at your hands In the days to come?
No, l would be revenged on Tilzal in
deed, who has offered so deadly an
affront to me and mine, but it must be
in some other way than this. Tell me
now, lady, what is it that you desire
most; to be the cacique of this city by
your right of birth or to marry the man
you love?"
II desire to marry the man love-"
she answered, land to escape from this
place back with him to those lands
where white men live. l desire also
Ignatio should be given as much gold
as he needs to enable him to carry out
his purposes in the coast country yon-
, der. If things can be brought about
thus, Tikal and Nahua and their de-
ssendants, for aught I care, may rule
in the City of the Heart till the worlds
end"
''You ask little enough, lady" said
Mattai, land it shall go hard if can
not get it for you. Now l will leave
you, for must have time to think, but
~
nor nay till we have spoken again And
as for you, strangers, remember that
your lives depend upon your caution.
Farewell!'
Two more days passed, or SO we reck-
oned by the number Of meals that were
brought to us, but neither Tikal nor
Natal returned to visit us. Other doc
torscame and saw Zibal bay, but, though
they tried many remedies, they were Of
no avail. On the night of the second
day we were gathered round his couch
watching him and talking together sad
. ly enough, for the solitude and dark
ness and the fear of impending death
had broken our spirits so that even the
: ence.of her beloved to give comfort to
Maya.
It was just then that I looked up and
saw Natal standing in the doorway,
watching the scene curiously and with
q softening face.
''Greeting, he said, ':and forgive me
+. that come so late, but my business is
secret, and such as is best done at
night. How does it go with Zibal-
bay?'
'sHe lives" answered; II can say no
more, for he is senseless, and. without
doubt, soon must die. But come, see
for yourself.' ~
Natal walked to the bed and ex-
amined the old man, lifting the eyelids
and feeling his heart.
"He cannot live long," he. said.
'Well, death is his best friend. And
Low to my business There is trouble
in the city, aud strange rumors pass
from mouth to mouth among the peo-
pie, many of whom de0lale that Tilsal
has murdered ZibalbeE, and demand
that you, lady, should bo brought be-
fore them, that you may be named
cacique in his place. %
''Things being so, it has been urged
upon Tikal by the chiefs OF his party
that, as he will never clear himself Of
the death of Zibalbay, it would bewell
that he should make away with you
also, lady, and with these two stran-
gers. The matter was laid before him
at secret council held this afternoon,
and once he issued the order for your
deaths, only to recall it before the mes
senger had left the palace"
Now he paused, and Maya asked, in
low voice:
tSHava vnn No r,1op fo Savo ,,c Mat.