Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1896-05-21

| ing-to find that which is not one, but
divided; that which is not lost, but
hidden. Perchance. brother, you can
point the path to it, and he paused
eyes.
Now, lord, I understood to what his
words had reference. for are they not a
part of the ritual of the service, Open
ing of the Hearth
'''It is enough said. Now, lord,
what do you desire?'
81 desire to know where that which
is hidden can be brought to light, and
if it dwe1ls in this land, for have
iourneyed far to seek it
Sc 1T dwells here I answered. for
have beheld it with my eyes, and he
guards it who is it's keeper
Can you lead me to him, brother?'
g NO, for have no such commands;
but perhaps I can bring him to you,
though must journey by sea and land
to find him-that is, if he wills to come.
Give me proofs, lord, or do not start
on this Grand
"'Win he believe that which you
have seen with your eyes?'
He vii. believe it, for he has trust
ed me from childhood
g Then look!' said the man, and.
opening his robe at the neck, he kneeled
down in the light Of the fire.
''There, lord, upon his breast hung
LndC WHICH mas De0n n1OO0n from our
sight since the sons of Quetzal, the god,
ruled in the land, the counterpart Of
the severed symbol which is upon your
breast. That is all my story, lord"
Now I, Ignatio, listened amazed, for
the thing was marvellous.
Ibid the man send me no further
message?" asked
"None. He asked me if had money,
and without waiting to be answered he
gave me two handfuls of Jumps of
| nodded gold from a hide bag, whereof
each lump was stamped with the sym
Dol of the heart"
Let me see one" said.
''Alas! my lord Ignatio, have none.
Not far from the ruined temple where
Zibalbay and his daughter sojourned is
the hacienda OF Santa Cruz. and there,
as you may have heard, dwell a gang
Of men under the leadership of one
Dom Pedro Moreno, who are by profess
sion snugglers, highway robbers and
murderers, though they pretend to
earn living by the cultivation of coffee
and cocoa
''As it CHANGED in jOurneying home
wards, fell into the hands of some of
these men. They searched me, and,
finding Jumps of gold in my pocket,
handed them over to Don Pedro him
they had the fish in their net. He ex-
amined the gold closely, and asked me
whence it came At first I refused to
answer, whereupon he said that I
should be confined in dungeon at the
hacienda until such time as chose to
speak.
''Theu, being mad to get back to nv
village and learn the fate of my wife, I
found my tongue and spoke the truth,
saying that the gold was given me in
exchange for food by an old Indian
doctor, who dwelt with his daughter
in a ruined temple in the forest.
I have heard of this man before: but,
now L know the kind of merchandise in
which he trades. think that I must
pay him a visit and learn what mill it
was stamped at
''Then, having plucked me bare as
fowl for the oven, they let me go with
out hurt
I, Ignatio, sat late that night ponder
ing over these tidings that filed me
with a strange hope. I threw myself
upon my bed and strove to sleep, but
could not. Then remembering the
scroll that my friend had given me, I
rose, purposing to change my thoughts
in studying it and so win sleep. It was
hard task, but at length mastered its
meaning, and found that it dealt with
a mine near Cumarvo, and described
the exact position of the mouth of the
tunnel.
This mouth, it would appear, had
been closed up in the reign Of Guate-
moe, and the scroll was written by
the cacique who had charge of the
mine in those days, in order that rec
ord might remain that would enable
his descendants to reopen it, should a
time come when the Spaniards were
driven from the land. That the mine
was very rich in free gold was shown
by the weights Of pure metal stated in
this scroll to have been sent year by
year to the court of Montezuma by this
cacique, and also by the fact that it
was thought worth hiding from the
Spaniards.
Early on the morrow I went to the
room Of Senior Strickland and spoke to
him with heavy heart.
''Senor." said, ''you will remember
that when entered your service told
you that I might have to leave it at
any moment. Now I am here to say
that the time is come, for a messenger
has arrived to summon me to the other
end of Mexico upon business of which
I may not speak, and tomorrow must
start upon the journey"
81 am sorry to hear it, Ignatio,S he
answered. ''for you have been a good
friend to me. Still, you do well to sep
arate your fortunes from those OF an
unlucly man"
''And you, senior, do Ill to speak thus