The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1896-03-04

OlrS, i learn now JnaJ you are TO ac-
company us to the City of the Heart,
should we live to reach it.
Come if you will, but be warned, my
people are jealous people, and the
name of stranger is hateful to them.
Few such have ever reached the City of
the Heart for many generations, and of
these, save one or two, none have es-
capped from it alive. They do not de-
sire new things, they have little knowl
edge of the world beyond their walls,
and seek for none.
"Now, sirs, choose whether you will
accompany us in our march toward the
City of Waters, or whether you will set
your face to the sea again and forget
that you chanced to hear certain story
from wandering doctor, whose mis-
fortunes had made him mad, and an In
dian girl who tended him."
Now / listened to these words which
the lady Maya spoke very earnestly and
with power, and understood that tht V
meant much; they meant that in going
to the City Of the Heart we were, as she
believed, going to our doom.
Lady" | said, sit may well chance
that death waits me ycnder, but
,thither shall go If my strength does
not fail me and death will suffer it.
For the senor here it is different. He
has heard your words, and if he will
harken to them and to mine. he will
bid us farewell tomorrow and go his
ways, leaving us to go ours"
She listened, and turning toward him,
said: "You hear. What say you,
white man?" And it seemed to me
p1, l,tc a
Yes, lady, hear" he replied, with
laugh, 'and doubtless it is all true
enough, and l shall leave my bones
yonder among your countrymen. Well,
so be it; have determined to go, and
go will, since am too idle to change
my mind. Also, it seems to me that
after this days business there is more
danger in staying here than in pushing
forward"
81 am glad that you are going, since
you go of your own free will" she said,
smiling. MAY our fears be confounded
and your journey and ours prove pros
porous. And now let us rest, for you
must be very weary, as l am, and we
should be stirring before the dawn"
Next morning at the first break of
light we started on our journey, riding
on three of the mules that
we had captured and leading
the fourth laden with our goods
and water skins. Very glad were
all of us to see the last of that ruined
temple, and yet it was sad to me to
leave it, for there, hidden beneath some
of the masses of the fallen masonry, lay
all that was left OF my friend and fos-
ter brother, Molas, he whose bravery
and wit had saved our lives at the cost
of his own.
Our plan was to avoid villages where
we might be seen by men, and keep our
selves hidden in the forest, for we
feared lest we should be followed and
brought to account because of the
death of Don Pedro and his companions:
and this we were able to do, since hay
ing guns and ammunition in plenty we
shot birds and deer for our daily food
Travelling thus on mule back soon
our strength returned to us, even to the
old man Zilbalbay, who had suffered
the most from fatigue and from i'll
treatment ut the hands of the white
men. In something less than week
we had passed through the inhabited
districts of Yucatan and far out of the
reach of the white man, and now were
journeying through the forest toward
the great sierra that lies beyond.
The senior was never weary of ques
tioning the silent Zilbalbay as to the
history or rather the legend of the land
through which we journeyed, or of lis
tening to the lady Maya's description o.
the City of the Heart till even she
grew tired and begged him to speak in
stead of the country across the water
where he was born, of the ceaseless
busy life, and the wonders of civiliza
tion.
Strange as 1t may seem, l,who watched
them both from day to day, know 1t tc
be true that she was in mind the more
modern of the two, so much so indeed
that in listening to their talk l might
have fancied that she was the child Of
the new world, filled with the spirit Of
to-day, aud he the heir of a proud ant
secret race dying beneath its weight o.
years.
"lcannot understand you, she would
say to him. "Why do you SO love his
tories and ruins and stories of people
that have long been dead? hate them
Once they lived, and doubtless were
well enough in their place and time
but now they are past and done with
and it is we who live, live, live" ant
she stretched out her arms as though
she would clasp the sunshine to hel
breast.
81 tell you," she went on, shat thi.
home of mine of which you are so fonC
of talking is nothing but great bury
ing place, and those who dwell in it are
like ghosts who wander to and fr(
thinking of the things that they did, o.
did not do, thousand years before.
"Did my father but knowit, he waste.
time and trouble in making plans fol
theredemption of the People of the
Heart, who think him mad for hi,
pains. They cannot be- redeemed. l.
l could have my will while / am still
young, would turn my back upon thii
city which you SO desired 10 see, taking
with me the wealth that is useless there
but which it seems would bring m,
many good things in other lands, ant
live out my time among people VIII,
have present and future as we'll a
"a past"
Then the senior would laugh, ant
argue that the past is more than tn,
present, and that it Is better to be deaC
than alive, and many other such follies
and | would grow angry and reprov'
her for her words which shocked me
whereat she would yawn and talk o
something else, for and my discourse
wearied her. Only Zibalbay took n,
heed, for his mind was set upon othe
things, even If he heard us, which
doubt.
CHAPTER XII
MAYA DEsCBNDS THE CUEvA.
One evening after we had left tn
forest country and with much toi
nlimhad the sierra Till we reached th