Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-12-07
DAUGHTER OF THE SUN

"And not alone in doors and ,o,,-
Horaida put her faith, p" she sa;S As nas
l had not prepared the way neitb.. "
nor another man, though he bsia yea
keys, could ever have come oo he
/ have beep before and removed " O,.al .afl
small distractions. Come w;,, ,u,errait
you others, Zoraida's true safesns,.aae0ss .a0s
They were in a small square ch..
Der faced with oak on all sides e,asl sa'
ing. ceiling and floor which were ~ df1sspt'
rock. The panels Of the walls xs
some two feet wide, had, all OF ,sseA seaeA
the look OF narrow doors, each with y.
heavy latch. Zoraida put her baua bra in
the nearest latch and opened tbs ~ %
cautiously. Kendric saw only ' \ io0oi
very narrow and dark passagewa, ,
LISTEN commanded Zoraido
lie heard nothing.
Toss something down into N.
sage" said Zoraida. "Anvth;Sa M pas.
coin If you have no other useless !
jcct upon you" Oo'
So coin it was. He hoard Z, .,,
end roll and cllnk against rock fM,sln Mn
he heard the other sound, n drv a.,n sa
like dead leaves rattling toye,Sa''
Despite him he drew back swiftjS "
raida laughed and closed the doos- ~
"You know what It is, them;
He knew. It was the nnprv r
ing of rattlesnake: his onic,aaa,, ,a,
fancies pictured for him a DARK o,,aed ,Haed
way whose floor was aliye w,,h h'.y.
deadly reptiles and he felt an unn,o.a mn .as
ant prickling of the flesh. p''a"
IF you went on" she told NJ.
screnely, "anr you chose any door h,.
the right onc--and there ara twsI..
doors-you would never come TO tho ~
Of n short hallway. And, even thor. u,
you happened to choose the right doau
1t were best for you il Zoraidn wss,
ahead. Come, MY friend" "'1'
She opened another door and steDra
into the narrow opening. Though 4.
had little enough liking for tho s,'
petition. Kendricsfpllowed. Once mo,.
he heard rustlifg as of thousands y
dry, parchcd leaves, and was az loss x
know whence came the ominous sonrS
Again Noraida laughed, saying: ~
have been before and prepared IN.
way and they went on. Then coms
another door with still other bars ssi
locks. Zoraida unlocked one after N.
other, then stood back, looking M bi-
with the old mischief showing vaguely n
her eyes. = :"
'Opcn and enter" she said,
He threw back the door. But on The
threshold he stopped and stared and
marveled. Zoraida's pleased laucbte,
now was like child's.
"You are the first man, since "a.
raidn's father died. to come here" pb,
told him. And never another man will
come here until you and ! are dead. Il
is place of ancient things, my friend;
it is the heart of Ancient Mexico" :
The heart Of Ancient Mexico With.
out her words he would have known.
would have felt. For old influences EeI
on and the atmosphere Of the time a
the Montezumas still pervaded the place.
He forgot even Xoraida as he steppei
forward and stopped again, marvclins.
Here was n chamber of colossal pro.
| portions and more than n chamber IN
that it gave the impression of bein,
without walls or roof. And in a waJ
the impression was Correct for straieb.
overhead Kcndric saw ragged section
of the heavens. bright with stars, and
at first he failed to see the remote wall,
because of the shrubbcry cverywhere,
Here was n strange underground gar.
den that might have been the courtyavd
to an oriental monarch's s palace. a re.
gion of spraying fountains, Of heavily
scented flowers, of berry bearing shrubs
Of birds Of brilliant plumagc. 1t wal
night; the stars cast small light down
here into the depths of earth; and 70,
II was some moments before the startled
kcndric asked himself the questions
Where dCcs the full light come FROM
And it was still other moments befott
he located the first of the counties
lamps, lamps with green shades lost be.
hind foliage. lamps set IN rccesses
lamps everywhere. but cunningly PLACED
so that one was bathed in their lghl
without having the source Of the illu.
min0tion thrust into notice.
To be continued tomorrow