Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1896-06-25

sAi1 Ouf II tIc dTcnWdy dlIuC0 DIT N1O1dS
and the senior as they fed back to
shelter. 1 saw Molas fall and the senior
stop to lift him to his feet, and as he
was in the very act a patch OF red APP
peared upon his face. Another moment
they were back under cover.
Are you hurt?" ] asked the senior.
'sNo, no. he answered, my face was
grazed by a bullet, that was all. Look
to MolaS; he is shot in the side"
'tLeave me-" said Molas; sit is moth
ing"
Then we were silent, only Maya
sobbed a little as she strove to stanch
the blood which flowed from the senor's
wound with cobwebs that she gathered
from among the stones.
Looking out cautiously we saw that
the men had dragged Don Smith to the
side of the stairway, while some of them
supported him while he died of poison,
and others watched for chance to
shoot us should we show ourselves upon
the terrace. Presently he was dead,
commenced to mount the third flight
with great caution, for they feared
snare.
SIS there nothing to be done to save
our 1iveS?" asked the senior in a heavy
voice.
There was no answer, but of sud-
den MOlas, who was standing with one
hand pressed upon the wound in his
side and the other before his eyes,
turned and ran swiftly into the cham
Der behind us, whence he appeared car
rying the copper axe.
Then, without speaking, he climbed
the masonry of the archway with great
swiftness, till he stood with his feet in
the crack beneath the crown of the
arch, which you will remember was
held in place only by the tough tree
roots that grew from it into the stone
work of the buttress.
Supporting himself by creeper with
his left hand, with his right he struck
blow after blow at the biggest of these
roots. severing them one BY one. Now
we saw his purpose-to send two hun
bred tons of stonework laundering
down the stairway upon the heads Of
the murderers.
''By heavens! That is an answer to
my question: said the senior; then he
if the arch falls you will fall with it and
be crushed"
cit matters little" he answered, ''this
is my doom day. That bullet has cut
me inside, and bleed to death. and on
this spot, as I have long feared, it is
fated that I should die. Pray for my
soul and FAREWELL
but the fourth and largest, which was
thicker than mans leg, remained, and
at this Molas began to bew despair
ing e " 49,.
We peeped round the corner Of the
arch and saw that some fifty feet below
us the band had halted on the slippery
not what. for they heard the dull sound
of the axe blows, but could not guess
what it portended.
One of their number was talking to
Don Pedro, apparently urging some
thing upon him to which he did not
agree. and in this way they wasted two
before the order was finally
given to rush up the remaining steps
and take the temple by storm.
Two minutes, it was but a short time,
yet it meant much, for now only
third of the root remained answered,
and the bark cracking and peeling
showed how great was the strain
upon it.
''Quiclz." whispered the senior, ''they
Gomez and as he spoke the hands of
the axe broke and its head fell on the
ground.
''Now if the root holds we are lost"
I said.
But it was not so, for Molas still had
his heavy hunting knife, and with this
the third cut it began to part, torn
slowly asunder as though by the
strength of a giant.
''Come down. Mo1as, come DOWN.
cried the senior
But Molas would not. He struck one
more blow, severing the root, then,
with a shout of farewell, either
through faintness or by design, he cast
himself forward with outstretched
arms against the face of the wall. His
weight was little indeed, yet it seemed
that it sufficed to turn the balance, for
again the trembling mass moved per-
ceptibly.
It slid forward faster and faster,
while sharp sounds like pistol shots
came from the heart of it, and the trees
bent like a rod beneath the rush of a
fish. Now, also, for the first time the
villains on the slope below perceived
the doom that threatened them and ut
tered such yell as 1 had never heard.
Some stood still, and some flung them
selves down the stair. One only, Don
Pedro himself, rushed forward.
It was too late: the mass of stone
work, fifty feet long by twenty in
breadth, was falling. 1t fell, taking
Molas with it.
With a roar like that of thunder. it
struck upon the stairway, and, burst
ing into fragments, swept it from end
to end.
In less than a minute it was done, the
sounds had died away, and nothing was
left to tell of what had happened ex-
cept little dust and some remains that
had been men. Of all those who stood