The Irish standard., 1896-02-01
lowed By another and more awful
sound, the sound OF the roar Of many


and uponthe People of the Heart
,,ss.i- Now, the Council rushed one and all
/ toward the door. of the sanctuary. but
i l, lgnatio, by the grace Of Heaven, re-
i membered the other door, the secret
. door through which we had entered,
/ that the priest had left ajar.
! 'Tliis way, cried in Spanish to the
! senor,sand selling Maya by the arm l.
! dragged her with me into the passage.
When all three of us were through l
j turned to close the door, and as | did 80
I saw, an awful sight. Out of the
I. mouth. of the pit before the altar
! 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 tho Hall
/, Of the Dead. -
On we fled before the ad vancing flood,
/ and we'll 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 ais 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
u, the eyes of man. Outside the gates of
the courtyard Of the pyramid were
gathered q 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
sembled there. but it was the rule that
the gates could not be opened until the
council: had left the sanctuary and this
night the Council sat late.
! AS we looked at them 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 Que hundred broad. Now we.
I learned the truth. The sy1nbo 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
i was torn from it's bed these sluice gates
were opened, and, the waters rushing
/; in sought their natural level, which
was higher than the housetops of the
I 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
u.s.. wringing their hands and asking
what dreadful thing had come topass.
/ replied that we did not know, but
/ that, seeing the water gather in our
| prison, we had fled from it. How we
had fled they never stopped to ask, but
ran down the stairway Of the pyramid,
only to return again presently, for be-
fore they reached its base their escape
was cut off.
Meanwhile the terror thickened and
| the doom began. Everywhere the
waters spread and gathered, replen-
| ished from the inexhaustible reservoir
| of the lake. Whole streets went down
| before them to vanish suddenly be-
| meath their foaming face, while from
! the crowd below rose one continuous
shriels of agony. Maya heard it, and
! casting herself face downward upon
| the surface of the pyramid, that she
might not see her handiwork. thrust
! her fingers into her ears, while the
senior and watched, fascinated.
+ Now the flood struck the people,
| some thousands of them, who were
gathered on the rising ground at the
!; gates Of the inclosure of the temple,
and, 10! in an instant they were gone,
| borne away as withered leaves are
borne before gale. Ere man might
| count ten the most of the population
of the City of the Heart had. persisted!
For little, while some Of the:more
| massive houses stood, only. to. vanish
| one by one, in silence, as it seemed, for
! now the roar Of the waters covered all
other sounds. Before the sun was well
up it was finished, and ON the ancient
and beautiful city, Heart of the World.
there remained nothing to be seen ex-
cept the tops of the trees and the upper
parts of the pyramids of worship rising
above the level of the lake.
The Golden city Was no more.
Presently Maya rose to her knees and
looked out from beneath the hollow of
her hand, for the light was dazzling
there nj pom the white summit of the
pyramid. Then she flung her arms
above her head and uttered a great and
bitter cry.
"BehoId my landiwork,' she said,
.''and the harvest of my sin! o, my
father, that dream which was sent to
haunt my sleep was dreadful, but it did
not touch the truth. O, my father, the
people whom you would have saved are
dead, and lost is the city that you loved,
and it is I who have destroyed them.
O, my father, my father. your curse
hastfound me out, indeed. and am ac--
cursed. ~ 1<}
Some such words as these she spoke,
then began to laugh, and turning to
the senior, said:
s'Where is the child, husband?"
He could not answer her., but she
took no note of it, only she bent her
arms, rocking them and grooming as
though the infant lay upon her breast;
then came first to him and next to me,
saying. -. -
sLoolz, is he not pretty boy? Am
not happy, to be the mother of such
boy?"
Weariness, sorrow and shock had
turned her brain, and she was mad.
We led her to the watch house, where
there was. shelter, and the priests, who
had returned. gave us food as soon as
we could make them understand that
we needed it, for they, too, were almost
mad. Here her last illness seized her.
1t began with a hardening OF the breast
which changed presently to fever.
. Two days and nights with breaking
,heartss1ve nursed her there upon the
pyramid, striving not to- listen to her
mad rawlings and piteous>ta1k about the
child, and at dawn upon the third day
she died. Before she died her senses
returned to her, and she spoke to her
husband beautiful and tender words
which seem too holy TO set down.
Z She turned to the senior, and in
gaspipg and broken voice prayed Of him
not TO forget her or her child, L heard