Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1898-01-04
CHAPTER XIX
THE SACRILECE.

and took the talisman from his neck.
Il feel like n who robs the dead"
she said.
Remember that it is to save the
living, and be comforted," answered
Natal as we left the chamber.
"Take a lamp, each of you," he said
when we had reached the further end
of the great hall, where he unlocked
the copper gates with a key from the
bunch that hung at his girdle. We
passed through, and turning he almost
closed the gate, but not quite.
"Why do you leave the gates aiar?"
/ asked.
Because there are non to follow
u.s." he answered, land who knows
what may happen? Should we be
forced to fly the sanctuary open doors
are easier to pass than shut ones"
"What could force us to fly the sanc-
tuary?" / asked.
Natal shrugged his shoulders and
went on. We passed down manystairs,
along passages, and through secret
doors, each of which Natal left open
behind us, till at length we came to the
sanctuary of the nameless god and stood
on the further side of the wall huddled
together and clasping each others
hands, for the place was awesome, and
it's utter silence and solemnity filed ua
with fear.
The roof of the sanctuary, which
was of no great size, was vau1t-shaped,
in imitation of the arching sky, and in
it appeared a golden sun, q silver cres-
! cent moon, and the stars of heaven. Its
walls were lined throughout with pol
ished blocks of the beautiful stone
known as Mexican onyx, fretted over
to the height of a man with a border Of
hieroglyphics and efigies of the lesser
gods in attitudes of alteration, cast in
gold and set flush with the face of the
wall.
The furniture was very simple, con-
sisting only of stools cut from rich
woods, heavily gilded in quaint designs,
and a small table, whereon lay sheets
of paper made of bark, together with
brushes of reed fiber and pots OF pig
I ment, such as were used in the picture
writing of this people. At that end by
which we had entered the chamber was
an altar of black marble, written round
with letters shaped in gold, and upon
this altar lay something covered with a
silken cloth.
For a minute or more we stood silent,
contemplating these wonders, then with
a gesture of impotence Mattal spoke in
a whisper, saying:
t- Lieu uiliU OC uoIC Mll1Cu VIC IdtO
come to do, for now the sacrilege is
committed, and it is too late to hest
tate"
Speaking thus, he stepped to the
altar and lifted the silken cloth that lay
over the object which was upon it, re-
vealing the image of a human heart,
fashioned in bloodstone, with veins OF
gold. In the center of this heart APP
peared a small and shallow hole that
had been followed in its substance.
This is the tradition" said Natal,
still speaking in a whisper, 'sthat when
the two halves of a certain tnlisman are
placed in this hollow, the symbol will
open and reveal that which has been
set within it since it was fashioned
thousands of years ago., and there is
this in favor Of the truth OF this tale,
that golden hinges appear upon the
sides of the symbol.
I'm this matter, however, there is
something more to fear than the ven
geance of the gods, for, an ancient ira.
dition tells us that if the symbol be
stirred from the place where it has lain
for SO many years, the loodgate will
roll back and the waters of the lake
will pour in upon the city, destroying
it and it's Inhabitants"
"Yet the floodgate cannot roll back
when it is not shut, nor can the waters
flow in during the dry season when
they are not on a level with the walls
answered Maya.
They cannot, lady; and yet other
things may happen. And o to ou1
task. Stranger, give to the Lady Maya
your half of the ancient talisman, that
she may set it together with the hall
she bears in the place prepared in the
symbol"
Now, with a sigh seeing that it was
too late to draw back l undid the emer.
aid from my neck and gave it to Maya,
who laid it side by side with its count
erpart, upon the palm of her trembling
hand, and stepped with it to the altar,
Here she stood for a moment, then
whispered in a faint voice:
.sTerror has taken hold of me, and ]
fear to do this thing"
yet, it must be done, and not by
me-" said Natal, cor we shall have
come on Il FOOLS GRAND, and go back.
some of us, to a FOOLS DEATH" and he
looked toward me.
81 will not do it," l said, 4 answering
his look, not because l fear mr gods
but my own conscience l do sr."
"Then / will" said the sen Eboldly,
"for l fear neither. Give NJ that
trinket, Maya
She obcyed, and he had let .e two
halves of the talisman fall INFO their
place in the symbol.
For some seconds, we stood still,
watching the. altar with eager eyes
but the symbol never stirred. Then ]
said:
SIT seems, Natal, that you mus,
hide your lying writing elsewhere,
since yonder heart will not open; or II
it will, we have not found the key"
"Wait a little" broke in the senior.
"Perhaps the springs are rustel." And
he placed his thumb upon the halves d
the emerald and pressed so hard that
the symbol trcmbled on it's marble
bed.
"Beware!" cried Natal, and before
the echoes of his voice had died away
all of us started in establishment, fol
10! the heart was opening like a flower
talisman fell from it as it's two halves
revealing something hidden in its
lamplight.
In the hollow of the heart laid upo1
a square plate of gold, which was Gov
cred with writing, glared a red jewe:
shaped like a human eye, that seemed
to answer stare with stare.
"If we stand like this we shall grow
frightened" said the senior, roughly
glancing round him as he spoke; there
Is nothing to fear IN a red stone GU
like an eye"
"If you think so, white man." an
sNered Natal, in a voice that shook {