Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1896-10-08

black shaft yawned, from which ascend
ed a sound of waters. They placed us
with our backs resting against the altar.
but Tilxal stood IN front, and between
him and us lay the mouth of the pit
stMaya, daughter of Zibalbay, white
man, Son of the Sea, Ignatio the Wan
derer, and Natal the Priest, whom,
being dead in the body. we summon in
the spirit began DimaS, in cold and
terrible voice. You, by your own con-
fession, are proved guilty of the great
est crimes that can be dreamed of In
the wicked brain of man, and executed
By his impious hands
This is the sentence of the Council
of the Heart: That your name. Natal,
be erased from the list of the officers OF
the Heart; that yonr memory be pro-
claimed accurSed; that your dwelling
place be burned with fire. and the site OF
it strewn with salt; that your corpse
be torn from its grave and laid upon the
summit of the pyramid till the birds of
the air devour it. and that your soul be
handed over to the tornentOrs of the
lower world to deal with according to
their pleasure forever and for aye.
This is the sentence of the Council
of the Heart upon you, Maya, daughter
of Zibalbay, white man, Son of the Sea.
and Ignatio, the Wanderer: That your
names be erased from the roll of the
Brethren of the Heart, and proclaimed
accursed In the streets of the city; that
you be gagged, bound hand and foot,
and chained living to the walls of the
sanctuary, and there be left before the
altar OF the god which you have
violated, till death from thirst and
hunger shall overtake you; that your
corpses be laid upon the pyramid as a
prey to the birds of the air, and that
your souls be handed over to the tor
mentors of the under world to deal
with according to their pleasure forever
and for aye.
1T Is spoken Let the sentence of
the council be done. But first, since
this bastard babe is too young to sin
and suffer punishment, let him be
handed into the keeping OF the god,
that the god may deal with him accord
ing to his pleasure
As the words passed his lips, and be-
fore we fully understood them, dazed
as we were with the terror of our aw-
full doom, Tikal stepped forward, and
even now ] shudder when l write of 1T
holding the poor infant, which at
this instant began to wall as though
with pain or fear, over the mouth of
the pit. suddenly let it fall into the
depths beneath.
The shrek of the agoDized mother
ran round the walls of the holy place,
and before 1t had died away the senior
had leaped forward. leaped like a puma
across the open well. and gripped Tikal
by the throat and waist. He gripped
him, and, rage giving him strength, he
lifted him high above his head and
hurled him down the dreadful place,
where the child had gone before.
With a hoarse scream Til1al vanished,
and for moment there was silence 1t
L
aloud in accents of madness and de-
spair:
Not all the waters OF the Holy Lake
shall wash away our sin, yet may they
serve to avenge US upon you, ., you
murderers of a helpless child!''
As she spoke, followed by the senior
and myself, who | think alone of all the
company guessed her mad purpose,
Maya ran round the altar, and with
both her hands grasped the symbol OF
the Heart which lay upon it.
"Forbear!' cried the voice of Dimas,
but she did not heed him, and before
he or any OF us couid reach her, drag
ging at it with desperate strength, she
had torn the ancient symbol from its
bed, and, with a loud and nocking laugh,
cast it down upon the marble floor,
where it shattered into fragments.
From the altar there came n sound as
OF harp strings breaking, that was fol-
lowed by another and moro awful
sound, the sound of the roar of many
waters.
Fly! fy!' cried voice ''The floods
are loosed and destruction is upon US
and upon the People OF the Heart
Now the Council rushed one and all
toward the door of the sanctuary, but
1, Ignatio, by the grace CO Heaven, re-
membered the other door, the secret
door through which we had entered,
that the priest had left ajar.
This way" cried in Spanish to the
senior, and Selling Maya by the arm
dragged her with me into the passage.
When all three of us were through
turned to close the door. and as did so
l saw an awful sight. Out of the
mouth of the pit before the altar
sprang a vast column of water,
which struck the roof of the sane
tuary with such fearful force that
already the massive marble blocks be-
gan to rain down upon the crowd OF
fugitives, who struggled and in vain to
open the door and escape into the Hall
of the Dead.
On we fed before the advancing flood,
and well was it FOR US that our course
lay upward, for otherwise we must have
been drowned as we searched for the
KEYS to open the different gates and
doors. But now fortune. which for so
long had been our foe. befriended us.
and the end of it was that we reached
The summit of the pyramid just as the
dawn began to break.
The dawn was breaking, and seldom,
perhaps, has the light of day revealed
a more wonderful or terrible sight to
the eyes of man. Outside the gates of
the courtyard OF the pyramid were
gathered a great multitude of people
waiting to be admitted TO celebrate the
feast that on this day of the year was
to be held, according to custom, upon
the summit of the pyramid. Indeed,
they should have already been as
senbled there. but it was the rule that
the gates could not be opened until the
council had left the sanctuary, and this
Eight the Council sat late.
As we locked at them a cry of fear
and wonder rose from the multitude,
and this was the cause of it: Along
that street which ran from the landing
place to the great square rushed a vast
wall of water twenty feet or more in
depth by one hundred broad Now We
learned the truth. The symbol on the
altar, know not how. was connected
with secret sluice gates which for
many generations had protected the
CITY of the Heart from flood When it
was torn from its bed these sluice gates
were opened. and, the waters rushing
in. sought their natural level, which
was higher than the housetops of the
city On the summit of the pyramid
were two priests, who tended the sa-
cred fire and made ready for the service
to be celebrated. Seeing us emerge
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