Charlevoix county herald., 1918-06-28

gone. In way there is a pathos In
It all. They were so grand a people
In the Western eyes.
Then came the white, and disaster.
In short time they were vanquished.
their temples desecrated and robbed,
their gods o'erthrown. their lands,
their cities wrested from them; yet
clinging fanatically to belief In q
restoration by some miraculous
means. II must have been a faith truly
fanatic which urged some body OF
priesthood to transport this little image
and the emerald temple jewel through
all the miles from there to here and
set up its altar in the ruins OF clif
house in the mountains to the north.
Such faith is sublime. Could It be
rekindled in the descendants OF those
people, 1t might work the miracle they,
have about forgotten to even dream
Of"
1t struck me as q rather odd sort
of speech at such time, and l could
see by the faces of my companions
that they shared my feelings in the
matter.
Just at first when ! had heard his
soft, assured tones my heart had
leaped with the thought that now at
last the master hand had arrived and
things would begin to move. Even his
words had foreshadowed a certain
knowledge, which seemed to me to say
that his calculations alone in our
rooms had borne fruit.
Yet starting from the assertion he
had first made he had run of into q
dissertation on the ancient nations OF
the earth, both Eastern and Western,
which, while proving the image Of
Quetzal to be an object of interest to
the antiquarian, did not, SO far as /
could see, serve to throw any light
upon its present probable whereabouts
or that of its accompanying gem.
Yet Heffy seemed called upon to
make some comment.
II reckon. that's So" he remarked,
as though not quite certain Of what he
was saying. II always did feel sort
of pity for the under dog myself, but
jes' what does it lead TOT"
Dual smiled
Merely to the fact that there Is
really nothing new under the sun, Mr..
Heny. That has been said before, but
it was true even then. Human nature
changes but little after all; and II is
very much the same in its basal i'm
pulses and motives now as 1t was at
time of Moses and of the AZtecs.
Like us they had their loves and hat
reds, their desires for wealth, self ag-
grandizement, power.
Like us they planned and plotted,
and struggled to win what they wish
ed, sometimes by fair means and
sometimes by foul. The things men
do live after them, so tho things men
make may live after them also, and af-
feet other men hundreds OF thousands
of years after the hands which formed
them in the first place have crumbled-
back into dust. And now, If you will
kindly let me see the currency which
you discovered on the Indians body,
Mr.. Heffy. perhaps we can determine
how recently ii was made"
Heffy's face was puzzle as he
passed over the bills.
Dual spread them out on the cloth
of the table. glanced at them briefly
and gave them back. "They were
made quite recently" he remarked.
"Of course" said Heffy, but
n xs,xlr ,okA % k.xa
It's going to be some job to find that
green stone, an If l don't dig 1t up
pretty soon, the folks in this Joint are
going to raise merry hob with the
management"
Dual took a sip of his cocoa. "On
the contrary" he returned, II do not
expect any great difficulty in recover
ing the stone"
Laredo started, appeared about to
speak and desisted. Dayton looked
his amazement. In pure citation
grinned.
what We have to do" Dual con-
tinued, biting into a peach, lis to dis
cover such proof as will enable us first
to accuse and later convict the one
who took It,"
"You mean you know him?"
Heffy leaned forward and shot out his
jaw with the question.
Il have no proof of his identity as
yet" said Semi; "at least very slight
evidence at best"
"Then-how-" Heffy stopped. A
boy was coming among the tables.
"Mr. Dual! Mr.. Quail" his treble
rose over the buzz of the converse
ton, which whispered through the
room.
Semi signed him to him, took from
his tray single flimsy envelope of
yellow, slit 1t deftly open and gave its
contents glance. Thereafter he
placed the message in its cover and
the latter in his pocket and pushed
back his plate and cup.
"On the whole" said he, II think
you may as well remove your embargo
on the departure of the guests. Mr..
Heffy. l spoke to the manager of the
hotel as l came in to breakfast, and
aolI ~ \ h.