Evening star., 1901-02-09

The Mysterious Great White Bat, Who
Holds Full Sway There.


The Mysterious Great White Bat, Who
Holds Full Sway There.
From the st Louis Globe Democrat.
Half way up the Sierra Blanca peak ap-
preaching it from the south, where the
cedars and the spruce trees are thickest
and the pinon grows in profusion, there Is
perpendicular wall of rock. Go eastward
to it's end turn around its jagged corner,
and there is 4 narrow shelf rising rapidly
several hundred feet and leading to small,
deep canyon, in which there is very dense
growth of trees. Dark is the shade and
profuse the growth of ferns and MOSES,
and velvety under foot the dark soil made
of the leaves that have fallen for ages. Go
| up this small canyon few hundred yards;
then stop and go no farther. Before you Is
the mouth of a canyon leading to the heart
of the Sierra Its height is equal to the
height of three meh, and It's width is equal
to four times its height, and SO dense is the
growth of trees at its mouth that little,
If any, light can enter it. Within IS
| blackness profound At dusk there emerge
from it clouds upon clouds Of the winged
bats. who return at the early dawn.
Far in the innermost bowels of the noun
tain in immense arched cavern, there
| is, hanging head downward, as do all bats,
| from a ledge near the dome, the great
| white-winged mouse. Tread softly and
awake 1t not 1t is a servant of Montezu-
ma and he who derides him or persecutes
his people shah surely come to grief, last
| ing to the end Of time. Its body Is twice
as large as the largest buffalo, and each Of
it's wings has the length of ten varas. and
is nearly transparent; 1t has powerful
claws and It's teeth are sharp as knives.
| About seven generations ago it happened
that some priests Of the evil one, bearing
crossed sticks and wearing long gowns.
and strange warriors carrying thunder
q village n the RincOnada
where there are Still growing some cotton
wood trees, and where the inhabitants en-
| graved their story on the rocks. The
| strangers defled there the sacred estufa,
| auenched the sacred fire and planted a
| crossed stick. They murdered all Of the
| priests of the estufa but one. who lay sick
| in his house. In the middle of the night
| he who was sick crawled to the estufa,
| saved some Of the live Goals. and in his
house famed to life again the sacred fire.
| At the coming Of dawn the men Of the
| brown gowns, the servants of the evil one,
seized the white-haired old priest. The SOL
| diers tied him to the tail of a horse, drag
| ged him through the village and beat him
with whip of bulls hide until he fell to
| the ground as one dead, and he lay there
| in the burning sunshine all day, uncon-
| scious and without food or water. AS he
| lay thus, there came to him the spirit of
Montezuma and whispered unto him:
| Take thou the sacred fire to the abode Of
| the great white bat, and there those that
1
| be healed and their grievances avenged"
| and as the rays of the sun came over the
| Sierra Blanca. and the gray mists of dawn
| were being transformed into banks of gold,
ruby and silver, floating high above, there,
| in the innermost depth of the mountain,
| was burning the sacred fire.
| With the coming of day the strangers
sought the keeper of the sacred fire and
! fcund him not They unleashed their dogs
and two of their priests and ten soldiers
| followed them up the mountain, and the
| dogs led them to the cavern, and in the
| heart of the mountain, in the center Of the
great circular hall, whose dome-shaped
| roof is 100 varas high, and lost in the
| blackness of night, they found the aged
| priest of Montezuma, praying before the
| sacred fire. And they rushed forward with
evil intent, when, with the roar of the hur-
| rio oane. there came down from the dome of
| the cavern, like an arrow shot from a bow,
| the great white bat, and with one blow of
| his wings he struck all of them down.
| Selling two steel-clad warriors in each
| claw and one in his mouth, he flew out of
| the cavern, and the flames of the sacred
| fire leaped high in salute as he passed. In
| a few moments he returned, seized five
| more and flew out, and again he returned,
| and seizng the two priests of the evil one,
| whose walls Of agony could be heard re-
| echoing through the cavern and it's laby-
| rinth of passages he disappeared for a
longer time IGn hts return, he carried on
his back the priests that had been slain in
| the sacred esfufa of the Rnconado. He
| threw the dogs upon the sacred fire and
| went to sleep again in the dome of the
| cavern, awaiting the further summons OF
| his master. 9aT3-a
| In the village, In the broad light Of day,
| six graves opdnedi and six priests of Monte
| yuma arose tEerefYpm, mounted an invisi-
Bile steed and disappeared in the skies. The
| strangers and the remaining priest who
| witnessed tfsy CROSSED themselves and fed
| from the village. In the heart Of the noun
| tain there iseyet burning the sacred fire
and guarding At until the return of Monte
yuma are theGseyen priests of the Rim
conada. j 81
The Comanches related to our forefathers
MANY months, latsE that they had found
| among the jagged cliffs of the Guadaloupe
| mountains, nearly 100 miles away, the bod
| les of ten strange warriors, whose armor
was shattered into fragments and imbedded
i'm the rotting flesh. The priests of the God
| of the Whites were never heard Of more
| whether the great white bat devoured them
| or the evil one got his own, no man knows
This is the way my great grandfather told
the story I'VE have found some virtues ir
| the new religion and have priests with
| whom we can find no fault" said Mariana
| now let US Sleep
Hope for the Better.
From the Philadelphia Press.
Employer-"Now. where have you been
- ~ tiyrno2 At the matinee 7 sunnose