Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1897-11-09

+! divided; that which is not lost. but
hidden. Perchance, brother, you can
point the path to it, and he paused
and looked at me with his piercing
eyes;
Now, lord, l understood to what his
words had reference, for are they not a
part of the ritual of the service, Open
ing of the HEARTH,
1T is enough said. Now, lord.
what do you desire?'
| ~ desire to know where that which
Is hidden can be brought to light, and
| 1t 1t dwells in this land, for have
journeyed far to seek it.
1t dwells here answered, 'for
have beheld it with my eyes, and he
guards it who is it's keeper
Can you lead me to him, brotherp'
No, for have no such commands:
but perhaps l 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 errand.'
VIII he believe that which Won
have seen with your eyes?'
He will! believe it, for he has trust
ed me from Childhood
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
that which has been hidden 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, ford.''
Now |, Ignatio, listened amazed, for
the thing was marvellous
Did 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 hide bag, whereof
each lump was stamped with the syn-
Dol of the heart"
"Let me see one," l said.
ALIAS! 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 profes.
sion snugglers, highway robbers and
murderers, though they pretend to
earn living by the cultivation of coffee
and cocoa.
"As it CHANGED in journeving home
wards, l fell into the hands of some Of
these men. They searched me, and,
rnding Jumps of gold in my pocket,
handed them over to Don Pedro him
self, who rode up when he saw that
they had the fish in their net. He ex-
amined the gold closely, and asked me
whence it came. At first 1 refused to
answer. whereupon he said that I
should be confined in dungeon at the
hacienda until such time as chose to
speak.
Then, being mad to get back to my
village and learn the fate of my wife, 7
saying that the gold was giyen me in
exchange for food by an old Indian
doctor, who dwelt with his daughter
In ruined temple in the forest.
-" Mother OF Heavenl' said Don Pedro.
I have heard of this man before; but.
now ] know the kind of merchandise in
which he trades, think that must
pay him visit and learn what mill it
was stamped at
"Ihen, having plucl1ed me bare as a
FOWL Tor the oven, they let me go with
out hurt
I, Ignatio, sat late that night ponder.
ing, over these tidings that filled me
with strange hope. threw myself
upon my he'd 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 1t and so win sleep. It was
hard task, but at length mastered it's
meaning, and found that it dealt with
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-
moo, and the scroll was written by
the cacique who had charge of the
mine In those days, in order that a rec
ora might remain that would enable
his descendants to reopen it. should
time come when the spaniards We're
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 l 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 might have to leave it at
any moment. Now 1 am here to saw
that the time is come, for messenger
has arrived to summon me to the other
end OF Mexico upon business of which
start upon the journey"
II am sorry to hear 1t, Ienatio." he
answered, flor you have been a good
friend to me. Still, you do we'll to sep
arate your fortunes from those of an
unlucl1y man,
"And you, senior, do ill to speak thus
TO me, answered.; "still, l forgive
you because l know that at times.
when the heart is sore, the mouth ut.
ters words that are not meant Listen.
senior; When you have eaten your
breakfast, will you take a ride With
me?"
Certainly, if you like. But where
do you want to ride toe"
ITO another mine that is, or should
be, about two hours on horseback from
here, in valley at the foot of Wonder
peak"
An hour later we We're riding among
the mountains, having left message
Tor Alolas to say that should return
before dark. After a hard Journey and
long search, by good luck, we discov.
cred a hole Immediately beneath a |
rock, large enough for man to creep
into.
Was this made by coyote, or is
II the mouth of mine?" the senior
asked.
THAT we can only find out by enter
Ing 1t" answered. Doubtless when |
they shut down the mine the antiques
would have left some such place as
tnls 10 yentllate the workings. Bring |
the .pickax, senior, and we will soon |
see."
For ten minutes or more we labored.
working in soft ground with pick and
spade till we barred the side of a TIM
mel, which examined,