Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1897-12-03

our own safety. Tomorrow, at the lat
| est, men will come to seek those villains
| who lie yonder, and if we are found
here it seems likely that we shall be
| shot down us murderers. Say, then,
what do you propose to do?"
II propose, senior, that at the first
| light of dawn we should take the mules
and ride away. The forest is dense and
it will be difficult to find us in it; more
over, two days journey will take us
beyond the reach of white men. Tell
me, LADY," ! added to Maya, who had
returned from the chamber, edo you
know the road?''
81 know the road" she answered,
"but, sirs, before you take it, it is right
that should tell you something.
"You have heard my fathers words
and they are true, every one of them,
| but they are not all the truth He rules
| that city of which he has spoken to you,
| but the mobiles there are weary of his
| rule, that at times is somewhat harsh,
| also they deem him mad It was for
this reason that they suffered him to
wander forth, seeking the fulfllment
| of prophecy in which none of them
have faith, for they were certain that
he would perish in the wilderness and
return no more to trouble them"
"Then why did they allow you, who
are his heir, to accompany him, lady?"
Because would have it so. l love
my father, and if he was doomed to die
because OF his folly, it was my wish to
die with him. Moreover, if YOU would
know the truth, hate that city where
/ was born and the man in it to whom |
am destined to be married, and desired
to escape from it if only for awhile"
| And does that man hate you, lady?"
"No," she answered, turning her
head aside; ''but if he loves me, I be-
lieve that he loves power more Had
stayed, my father would have appoint
ed me to rule in his place, and Tikal,
my cousin, would have been next to the
throne, not on it; therefore it was that
he consented to my going, or at least
think SO.
"Sirs, learn now that 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 word 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 Glanced to hear a 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 thu V
meant much; they meant that in going
to the City of the Heart we were, as she
/ believed, going to our doom.
Lady" Isaid, lit may well chance
that death Waits me yonder, but
thither shall go if my strength does
not fail me and death will suffer it.
For the senior here it is different. He
harken to them and to mine, he will
bid us farewell tomorrow and 20 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
that she awaited his answer anXiously
Yes, lady, ! hear" he replied, with
a laugh, land doubtless it is all true
enough, and 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 COMPOUNDED
| ~ Il
porous. And now let us rest, for you
must be very weary, as am, and we
should be stirring before the dawn"
| Next morning ut 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
4 1Sa1 GU lSSo we SIlOulC NC 1OllOSGQ and
brought to account because of the
death of Don Pedro and his companions:
and this we We're able to do, since hav-
ing guns and ammunition in plenty we
shot birds and deer for our daily food,
| Travelling thus on mule back soon
our strength returned tous, even to the
| old man Iilbalbay, who had suffered
the most from fatigue and from i'll
treatment at 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 OF
| 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.
| tisI,
Strange asst may seem, l,who watched
them both from day to day, know it to
| be true that she was in mind the more
/ modern of the two, go much so indeed
that In listening to their talk ! might
| have fancied that she was the child OF
the new world. filled with the spirit Of