The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1916-08-17

made Cortez the most coui'0 -, o.,
all Madrid. Hast thou heard OIL ln 81.
Mrs Fame and Dorothy looked 'nen
interest All people are interested ~
the mere mention of jewels OF Pr
cious stones-even those VINO W nv
possess them. .+op
q have heard" said KynasIon
SLOWLY. the same tale all men kno ~,
the tale which Gomara wrote " ~
effect that Cortez received as a par
~ tbe ransom of the Emperor Mon'e
7uma five great emeralds, and tna'
when payment was made to the span.
ish king of the royal fifth part o. ~
treasure the stones were kept by inc
conoueror as a part of his own snare
post thou know then, or does any
man know, what afterward became u
the stones? h;s
The old man leaned forward IN ms
oooarness turning toward the souhu
of Kynastons voice. His interest," "a'
obvious.
Dorothy and Mrs. Fame took no
Mains to hide their interest now
1T was said, of course-wnat 'nou
knowest-that the emeralds were Ia
ken home by him to Spain, anu lla'
when he married second time nc
gave these to his wife. The queen
had limited that she herself was ho'
unwilling to receive as a gift these
most wonderful stones.
"They were, senior, as Gomara says
like this: One in the shape OF a great
rose. the second a fish with eyes OF
gold. the third an emerald cup, ana
the fourth a mans head with ruby
ewes set in the green surface. with
none of these, senior, are we con-
cerned.
THE fifth and the most beautiful
Of all was a great bell, made OF Solld
emerald, that stood, perhaps-so they
tell me, at least, for how can blind
man see?-the height of a man $
thumb; carved, mark thee, from the
solid emerald-the tongue is made OF
a pear-shaped pearl, and about the
base, carved and set most probably by
some skilled workman of Seville, these
words, let into the jewel in letters Of
gold:
Blessed is he who created thee.
but, .adre, we all know-the world
knows-that when CorteZ went with
| l. n 10 IL IN oh Mnnre
he took the stones with him, and wher
he was wrecked at sea off the AL
geciras coast the stones were lost
The old priest sat back clicking his
tongue softly.
Then, senior, if this be true, ant
my family for ten generations have
been made fools of, for during ter
mems lives some member of my fam
lily has always kept the shrine Of Oul
Lady of Olvidados down in Yucatan
where the old faith still holds, anC
where men have not gone aftel
strange gods"
but how in the world if you liv'
in Yucatan did you ever work you
way so far north?"
When General Zapata rose in re
bellion after President Diaz had flet
to France, the whole country rose will
him. Every place was looted, an
what few treasures we had were ia
!, ken.
I'VE in Trocanto managed to hid
the wealth of the shrine, and 70
months my brother, who had the car
of the shrine itself, had little trou
} BILE in sccreting the wealth that W
had hidden for nigh four hundre
years.
| I'VE had the stone-no, senior, nc
the five; only one-the greatest an
} most valuable. So rich it was-is!-
that am told mems hearts turned I
water at the mere sight of it. / kno,
| right well that l would have give
: much to see it for only one little mC
, ment but it was not to be.
They came, senior by night-a
beasts of prey always come-and the
iOOtOu lhS lCluptS anu DuTIleu IL dIte
3 they had looted. | was not there
l the time, but when returned foun
t my brother dying of a gunshot woun
and my mother 1t is best not
1 go into particulars, senior.
Y They had no fear of God It
s lacking always, they say, in a me
n that knows neither law nor leade
+ And the stone was gone-looted-t
ken, as everything else was take
8 with the raiders when they fed to IL
s north.
X Always, senior, our raiders ha,
o come from the north, from the da,
,, of old when the Toltecs came dow
n upon the land. and when followir
g them the countless thousands Of II
q red savages drove the Toltecs in hea
long flight, bringing death and des
lation upon the land. And then II
W Spaniard came, and-thou knevest Il
4. rest, senior.
E. 1 do but speak the empty yapc
q ings of age l am seventy-six yea
OF age, and have tracked that sto,
| III