The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1896-04-25

his story, was minded 10 fly.
1T Is /, Ignatio. and have brought
a lever. Now when lift, struggle for
ward II you can"
Then he placed the trunk of the thorn
tree In what seemed TO him the best
position, and put all his strength upon
Il. IL was In vain; even so he could
not stir the rock.
TRY a little more TO the right,rI
said. family; there Is a better hold"
He shifted the lever and dragged at
II till his muscles cracked, and / felt the
stone tremble as its bulk began TO rise.
III you can help ever SO little, II will
comet" he gasped.
Then In my despair, though the an
guish of 1t nearly killed me, / set my
palms upon the ground, and contract
ing myself like snake that Is held
with forlxed stick, thrust upwards
with my back, till the point Of the stone
was raised to the height of eight or
ten inches from the ground.
For a moment. and one only. II hung
there; next instant the lever slipped,
and down II came again. But had
taken my chance, for clinging 10 the
floor with my fingers, so soon as my
back was free, with quick movement
/ dragged myself foot or more for
ward. Then the point of rock that had
been lifted from my back fell again,
but this time II struck the ground be-
tween my thighs.
Now he seized me by the arms and
tore me free, though / left one OF my
long boots beneath the stone. strove
to rise, but could not because of the
hurt to my back.
"You must carry me, senor," said.
He glanced at the mass that trembled
above us, then, giving me the candle,
lifted me from tho ground like an in
FAINT and staggered forward down the
tunnel. Perhaps we had gone some
seven or eight PAGES, not more, when
there was a dreadful crash behind u.s.
The roof had fallen In and tho spot
which we had occupied some thirty Sec
onds before was now piled high with
rocks.
"Onr said, cracks are showing In
the stone above us!" and he rushed for
ward till we found ourselves exhausted
and bleeding among the grasses outside
the mine.
Now / bowed my head and returned
thanks for my escape; then, lifting 1t,
/ looked my preserver In the face and
said:
II swear by the name of God, senior,
that he never made a man nobler than
yourself"
The next instant I fell forward and
tainted there among the ferns.
Ten days had passed since was car
ried from the mouth of that accursed
mine back to Cumarvo In litter, and
during all this time i had suffered
much pain in my back and been very
ill--so i'll, indeed, that | was scarcely
allowed to speak with anyone. Now,
however, was much better, and one
afternoon Senior Strickland, assisted
by my foster brother Molas, lifted me
from my bed into hammock.
"By the way, Ignatio." said the
senior when Molas had gone, II never
gave you back this charm of yours.
What queer-loolxing trinlSet IL Isl"
he added, taking 1t from his neck;
land what did You mean by your talk
In the tunnel about its making me heir
to the empire OF the Aztecs in the heart
OF every Indian, and the rest Of it?'
know, senior, that this broken gem
Is the secret symbol OF n great order,
of which you are now one of tho lords,
seeing that tho browning and vital
ceremony of the creation of Lord of
the Heart consists in the hanging of
the symbol about his neck for the
space of a minute only by myself.
Understand, senior, that the first duty
of the servant OF the Heart Is silence,
and that silence / demand of YOU"
But suppose that man should not
keep silence, Ignatio, what then?" he
| asked.
"Thcre is land, senor." an
swered "where the most tallxative
| grow dumb, and its borders can be
the Heart, for fearful Is the doom of u
false brother"
"You mean that II repeat anything
/ may hear / shall be murdered2'
Indeed, no, senior; but you may hap
| pen to die. i speak on the Heart; do
you hear with the ears?"
II hear with the ears" he answered,
catching my meaning.
Very well, senior. since you have
now sworn secrecy TO me by the most
solemn oath that can pass the lips Of
man, will speak to You openly.
"You have heard the story of that
white man, or god, sometimes called
| Quetzal by the Indians, and sometimes
| Cucumatz, who came TO these lands In
the far past and civilized their peoples?
when Quctzal sailed away from his
| people he left the stone, that once he
had worn upon his brow, of which this
Is the half, 20 be treasure 70 the
kings who came after him. Also he set
this fate upon IL: that while the heart
remained unbrolSen, for SO long should
the people be one and whole; but IL IL
came about that IL was cut or shat
tered, they should be divided with IL.
TO be no more one people until again
the fragments were one stone.
Nov, when these king brethren
quarrelled and parted, they sawed the
token nsunder, as you see.
"At length IL came into the hands Of
the great Guatemoc, last OF the Aztec
cmpcrors, who, before tho Spaninrds
hung him, found means 10 send IL TO
his son, from whom IL has come down
| 10 me.
"Now of this stone, through nll the
ngcs IL has never been lost, and IL is
known In the land from end 20 end; he
who wears IL for his life being called
Keeper OF the Heart and also Hope of
those who wait since IL may happen