Warren sheaf., 1899-06-08

"saS sSsAO 4uei > esWAou uOmccIS OOuSuL
commissions, so with the sapphires I
bought the position of captain in the
! artillery > 49,. ..e.-.. s..s.4.
"But why is it that you are only a
sergeant now?' asked the storekeeper.
'Arter 'ad been captain about two
years, the government hoficials discov-
cred that the two sapphires had paid
for the commission wasn't real, so T
was reduced to sergeant IS
"You wished to see king" said the
book agent to the storekeeper, land
can crafty your desire, for I am q
king myself. p = +.
Il am Spanish by descent. Some of
my ancestors went from Spain to Ire
land at an unknown period, and from
Ireland my family came to America.
AS boy, naturally took an interest
in the nation of my ancestors, and I
learned the Castilian tongue. It was in
this way that I happened to read in
an old Spanish book an account Of the
mysterious silver city of Yucatan. I
determined to discover the place, and, a
few years ago, I set out for Yucatan,
taking with ME on my quest little save
a small silver-plating battery which I
was agent for at the time.
twill not fatigue you with an account
of my search for the city. Suffice it to
say that, after long wanderings and in
credible hardships in the forests of
Yucatan, at last came in sight of an
immense city, surrounded with high
walls which were covered with plates
of silver. While staring in admiration
1 was seized from behind and blindfold-
ed. When I next opened my eyes I
found myself in gloomy dungeon,
where was to await the time when I
should be given to the sacred alligators.
marveled at the brightness of the sill
yer walls, and the chief of police told
me that the police had to polish them
with rags. Thereupon gave him a
recipe for silver polish had sold in
New Jersey.
| when the next sun rose heard a
vast tumult outside the prison walls,
and trembled, for I thought the hour
of my death was nigh. But no! a CRATE
| full people, who had hitherto polished
their abundant silver by the tedious
! process Of rubbing it with rags, re-
| ceived me, and was rendered rousing
| ovation that lasted until night. I was
given entire charge of the treasury.
Il introduced many of the arts of
civilization, thereby incurring the en-
nifty of the high priest, Batpillrafferty,
the custodian of the temple of the moon
and the hereditary feeder of the sacred
alligators. showed, that a pretended
miracle of his, where the sacred alli-
gators lay as dead, stiff and immovable,
was nothing but a state of temporary
catalepsy, easy to produce. After that
he set about accomplishing my ruin.
A series of spiritual manifestations
took place at the temple of the moon,
and the great goddess, Broranidget,
announced that, unless 500 colossal sill
yer statues and $4,000 silver statuettes
of herself were placed upon the walls
of the city within month, the inhab-
itants were doomed.
AS custodian of the treasury. I was
ordered to prepare the statues and stat
uettes. Terrible was the fear that
seized me when I found that there was
only silver enough to make the statues.
[ knew my life would be sacrificed.
There was no way to get more silver
There was no way to win the hand of
the queen Arymann and become king
of the silver city, which the pretended
decree of the goddess had tantalizingly
declared to be my reward in case the
| statues and statuettes were made.
"a week passed. The statues were
done, but how was to make the stat
| uettes? It was while was walking by
| the temple of the moon that the chance
| discovery of lead half dollar in my
| pocket gave me an idea. I would make
the statuettes of lead and plate them
with silver; for these people knew
nothing of the art of plating. did so
and became king of the silver city and
husband of the princess.
'But I foresaw that the enmity of
Batpillrafferty would accomplish my
ruin. So making casts of all the smaller
articles Of palace furniture, replaced
| them with duplicates made of lead,
plated with silver, and hid the original
| articles in the vaults, ready for the time
when I should attempt to make my es-
cape by floating down the river to the
coast on large raft. constructed the
raft, in my leisure moments, of i'm
mense logs fastened together by ropes.
The queen was easily persuaded to go
with me.
"The night for our departure came
and I sought the riverside, but no raft
was there, and I saw Batpillrafferty
just sneakinC away. The scoundrel
was scared ,He said he had taken the
raft to pieces, and that the logs were
in the temple of the moon near by. I
bade him reconstruct the raft, and fol-
lowed him as he penetrated the temple
and dragged forth great logs and rolled
them to the riverside. The raft was re-
built
Leaving Batpillrafferty tied, we set
off, the raft heavily laden with silver.
All night we floated through the forest;
and at dawn we heard the boom of surf
and knew that the sea was near. NY
heart leaped; I was just embracing my
L