Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1898-01-04
OF THE WORLD.
ny H. RIDER HAGGARD.
A Strange Story, Taken From \ Manuscript Bequeathed by an Old
Mexican Indian to His Friend and comrade, an
Engnshman Named Jones.
copyriehtea, 1sa4, b1 a Rlder Haeeard.

SAS$ SSShS VAN AStA " In PA1 PSkoS Vi IA
wicked. 1 say that in the hour of the
desolation of my city not all the waters
of the Holy Lake shall wash away their
SIM"
Now the faces of us who heard turned
gray in the lamplight, for, though the
gods of this people were false, we felt
that the voice of a true prophet spoke
to us from that accusing tablet, and
that we had called down upon our
heads O vengeance which we could not
measure.
"Did l not tell you that it were wiser
to leave the writing unread" gasped
Natal, letting the tablet fall from his
hand as though it were a snake.
The clatter of it as it struck the mar
BILE floor seemed to wake us from our
evil dream, for the senior turned on him
and said, iercely:
What does it matter what the thing
says, rogue, seeing that you forged it
as you forged the other"
"Ah! would that I had" answered
Natal; sbut when doom overtakes you
and all of us, then shall you learn
whether or not l forged this writ
ing" And he lifted it from the floor,
and hiding it in the folds of his robe,
added: ''Close the heart, white man,
and give back the severed jewel to those
who wear. it,"
The senor did so, replacing the sillsen
cloth owe the symbol so that the altar
seemed to be as it had been.
Now let us be going" said Natal,
land rejoice that if yonder eye has seen
sight of men. Doubtless the vengeance
Of the gods is sure, but that of men is
swift"
AS he spoke we turned to leave the
sanctuary, and of a sudden Maya
screamed, and would have fallen had
not the senior caught her. Well might
she scream, for there in the narrow
niche of the door by which he had en-
tered, stood a white figure that at first
l took to be that of some avenging
ghost.
Another instant and I saw hat in
deed 1t was a ghost, the ghost of Zibal-
bay, or rather his body comeback from
the boundaries of death to spy upon
sacrilege before it crossed them
forever.
While he had seemed to be senseless
upon the bed in the chamber, his senses
were awake, and oh, what must he have
suffered when he heard us plan u
fraud upon his sanctuary. Then when
we had left him his fury and despair
unfettered the limbs that had been
bound ofast and gave him strength to
follow, though they could not unlock
his frozen tongue.
Oh, never shall l forget the rage of
his quivering face, or the agony and
horror of his tormented eyes as they
met ours.
He saw our fear, and with a last effort
staggered forward toward his daughter,
his c1enched hands held above his head.
Then foam, mingled with blood, burst
from his lips, and he sank down at her
feet dead.
Somehow we Gained and silcnced
Maya; somehow we escaped from that
hateful sanctuary, and by slow degrees
brought her and the dead body Of her
father up the narrow stairs and pas
sages to the hall above, where we laid
the latter on its bed. Then Natal left
us, and I remember no more till the
next morning, when the mobiles and
leeches came to watch by the body of
the cacique and embalm it in readiness
for the tomb.
The next two days went heavily for
the three of us, oppressed as we were
by the silent gloom of our prison and
the memories of that dreadful night.
At length they carried away the
corpse Of Zibalbay to be wrapped in it's
winding sheet Of gold and set with its
forefathers in the hall of the dead, and
though Maya wept, l, for my part, was
glad to see the last of him, and SO |
think was the senior, whose spirit had
begun to fail him in the presence of so
much remorse and grief.
That day-it was the day previous to
the night of the rising of the waters on
which we We're to appear before the
Council of the Heart, in the sanctuary
Tikal came to visit us. To Maya he
bowed low, but on the senior and my
self he looked with an angry eye, with
the Y indeed, of one who would have
killed us if he dared.
First, he offered her his sympathy
upon the death of her father. For this
she returned her thanks, quoting, how
ever, with a flash of her old spirit, a
certain proverb of her own people, of
which the meaning is that the death of
one man is the breath of another.
My father was your foe, Tikal," she
added, land now that he is gone you
will be able to sleep and reign in peace"
Not altogether SO, LADY," he IN
swered, seeing that he had left behind
him a more dangerous rival to my
hide from you, Maya, what you soon
must learn, that a large portion of the
people, and with them many of the no.
bles accusing me of your fathers muir
der, clamor that | should be deposed
and that you should be set up in my
place as cacique of the City of the Heart.
Some few days ago l might have
stilled their cutlery by commanding you
to be put to death, but now it is too
late, for since that time has fought for
you, and your death would doubtless
be followed by my own. When last we
met l asked you a certain question, to
which you promised me an answer
when your father was dead or re.
covered, and to-day l have come to hear
that answer.
while Zibalbay lived l had much to
offer him and you in exchange for your
hand. | offered it freely. So high a
value did | place upon it, now that it
seemed lost to me, that l was prepared
to lay down my power, to suffer your
father to violate the laws and to incur
the internal hate and active enmity OF
Natal, his daughter and his party.
Now / must make you q lower bid, that
of equal power for yourself and for your
friends here, whatever they may desire.
"Should you refuse me, this is the al
tentative: Civil war in the city till one
of us is destroyed, and instant death as
the portion of your friends.
but, Maya, | pray you not to refuse
me, for | have something more to offer
you, and it is my undying love. From
a child | have always loved you, Maya,
although you have treated me coldly
enough, andsnow day by day l love you
more. Indeed, l believed that you and
your father were dead yonder in the will
derness, for then / had faith in Natal,