Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1896-07-23

courtesy, Son of the Sea, IL answering
my question SO readily. ! did not ash
II from curiosity alone. since the people
IN this city are terrified Of strangers
and clamor for some account of you.
.Dou btless our friend Zibalbay wiz
satisfy them" said
Good. And now follow me-"
And he led MS across courts and
through passages till he reached little
anteroom filed with ancient carvings
and decorated with flowers, where some
girls stood chatting.
Tell the Lady Maya that her guests
await her, said Natal, then turned to
take his departure, adding, in a low
voice: "DOu btless we shall meet at noon
upon the pyramid and there you will
see / know not what, but whate'er be-
falls. be sure of this, strangers, that
will protect you if / can. Farewell -
Presently the door opened and
through 1T came Maya, and looking
very sweet and beautiful in the shaded
light of the room
Greeting, friends" she said, as we
bowed before her; ''I have my fathers
leave to show you something of this
city that you longed so much to see
These ladies here viii accompany us,
and a guard. but we shall want no lit
tiers until we have assembled the great
temple, for / desire that you should see
the view from thence before the place
is numbered with the multitude. Come.
II you are ready"
|, Accordingly we set out. Maya walk
ing between us, while her guards and
ladies followed after. Crossing the
square we came to the pyramid.
ut is a great building" said Maya,
noting our establishment, land one
that could not be reared in these days.
Tradition SAYS that FIVE and. twenty
Il. -
years, twenty thousand OF them cut
ting and carrying the stone and five
thousand laying the blocks
Where did the material come from,
then?" asked the senior.
''Some of it was cut from beneath the
base of the temple itself" she answered.
but the most was borne in big canoes
from quarries on the mainland, for
these quarries can still be seen.''
SIS the pyramid hollow, then?" ]
| asked.
Eyes; in it are many chambers, for
the most part store and treasure houses,
and beneath its base lie crypts, the bury
ing places of the caciques, their wives
and children. There also is the holy
sanctuary of the Heart, which you, be
ing of the brotherhood. may, perhaps,
be permitted to visit. Come, let us
climb the STAIR
And she led us across the courtyard
to the foot Of stairway forty feet or
more in breadth, which ran to the plat
form of the pyramid in six flights, each
of fifty steps linked together by resting
places
Up these flights we toiled slowly, fol-
lowed by the ladies and the guard, till
at length our labor was rewarded and
we stood upon the dizzy edge of the
pyramid.
''Lookr' said Maya.
The city beneath US was built upon a
low, heart-shaped island, so hollow in
its center that it might have been the
crater of some volcano, or, perhaps, a
mere ridge of land inclosing a lagoon.
This island measured some ten miles in
length by six across at its widest.
Following the lines of the land upon
which it stood. the city was heart
shaped, a heart of cold white marble
lying within a heart of glowing green.
All about it ran a moat filed with
water from the lake, and on the hither
side of this moat stood wall fifty feet
or more in height, built of great blocks
of the white limestone that formed the
bedrock of the island.
Within the oblong of this wall lay
the city. a city of palaces, pyramids.
and temples, or, rather, the remains of
it, for we could see at glance that the
population was unable to keep so many
streets and edifces in repair
Even in the great square beneath us
the signs of traffic were rare, and there
was little of the hustle of people en-
gagged in the business of life, although
this very place had been the scene of
last nights feasting. and would again
soon be filed with men and women
hoclzing to the pyramid.
ITo BE CONTINUED