VOL. XIII.

OCEAN CITY, N. J., THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1893. NO. 26.

Ocean City Sentinel. PUBLISHED WEEKLY AT OCEAN CITY, N. J. BY R. C. ROBINSON, Editor and Proprietor. $1.00 per year, strictly in advance. $1.50 at end of year.

Restaurants.

MARSHALL’S DINING ROOMS FOR LADIES AND GENTS, 1321 MARKET STREET, Three Doors East of City Hall, PHILADELPHIA. STRICTLY TEMPERANCE. MEALS TO ORDER FROM 6 A. M. TO 8 P. M.

Good Roast Dinners, with three vegetables, for 25 cents.

Turkey or Chicken Dinners 15 cents. Ladies' Room upstairs, with homelike accommodations.

PURE SPRING WATER.

BAKERY, 601 S. Twenty-Second St. ICE CREAM, ICES, FROZEN FRUITS AND JELLIES.

Weddings and Evening Entertain-

ments a specialty. Everything to furnish the table and set free of charge. NOTHING SOLD OR DELIVERED ON SUNDAY.

H. M. Sciple. J. M. Gillespie. H. P. Sayford.

H. M. SCIPLE & CO., DEALERS IN Boilers and Engines,

Every Size for Every Duty, DUPLEX STEAM PUMPS, Third and Arch Sts., PHILADELPHIA, PA.

D. SOMERS RISLEY, No. 111 Market Street, CAMDEN, N. J.

Conveyancer, Notary Public, Com-

missioner of Deeds, Real Estate and General Insurance Agent.

Properties for sale and to rent. Money to loan on Mortgage. TELEPHONE No. 16.

PETER MURDOCH, DEALER IN COAL and WOOD, Ocean City, N. J.

Orders left at 806 Asbury avenue will receive prompt attention.

Artistic Printing.

Material--The Best. Workmanship--First class. Charges--Moderate.

R. CURTIS ROBINSON, Ocean City, N. J.

L. S. SMITH, CONTRACTOR IN Grading, Graveling and Curbing. PAINTING BY CONTRACT OR DAY. Eighth St. and Asbury Ave., OCEAN CITY, N. J.

Plasterers and Brick-Layers.

W. STONEHILL. G. O. ADAMS. STONEHILL & ADAMS, Plastering, Range Setting, Brick Laying, &c.

All work in mason line promptly attended to. OCEAN CITY, N. J.

Physicians, Druggists, Etc. DR. J. S. WAGGONER, RESIDENT Physician and Druggist, NO. 731 ASBURY AVENUE, OCEAN CITY, N. J. Pure Drugs, Fine Stationery, Confectionery, Etc., constantly on hand. DR. G. W. URQUHART, 2265 North 13th Street, PHILADELPHIA, PA. Will practice at Ocean City during the months of June, July and August.

DR. WALTER YERKES, DENTIST, Tuckahoe, N. J.

DR. E. C. WESTON, Dentist, 638 CENTRAL AVENUE, OCEAN CITY, N. J. During August, and Saturday to Monday night of September.

Attorneys-at-Law. MORGAN HAND, ATTORNEY AND COUNSELLOR AT LAW

Solicitor, Master and Examiner in Chancery, Supreme Court Commissioner, Notary Public, CAPE MAY C. H., N. J. (Opposite Public Buildings.)

LAW OFFICES SCHUYLER C. WOODRULL, 310 Market St., Camden, N. J. Solicitor of Ocean City. Bakers, Grocers, Etc. JACOB SCHUFF, (Successor to A. E. Mahan,) THE PIONEER BAKERY, No. 708 Asbury Avenue, OCEAN CITY, N. J. Fresh Bread, Pies and Cakes daily. Wedding Cakes a specialty. Orders delivered free of charge. Nothing delivered on Sunday.

HARRY G. STEELMAN, DEALER IN FINE Groceries and Provisions, No. 707 Asbury Avenue, OCEAN CITY, N. J.

Contractors and Builders. S. B. SAMPSON, Contractor and Builder No. 305 Fourth St., Ocean City, N. J. Jobbing promptly attended to. Plans, specifications and working drawings furnished. JOSEPH F. HAND, ARCHITECT, CONTRACTOR AND BUILDER, Ocean City, N. J.

Plans, Specifications and Working Drawings furnished. Estimates given on Application. Satisfaction guaranteed.

Nicholas Corson, CARPENTER AND BUILDER, OCEAN CITY, N. J.

Estimates given. Plans and Specifications furnished. Buildings put up by contract or day.

G. P. MOORE, ARCHITECT, BUILDER, AND PRACTICAL SLATER, Ocean City, N. J. Best Roofing Slate constantly on hand.

Samuel Schurch, PRACTICAL BUILDER, MAY BE FOUND AT Bellevue Cafe, On beach bet. Seventh and Eighth Sts.

HENRY G. SCHULTZ, CONTRACTOR AND BUILDER, 2633 Germantown Avenue, PHILADELPHIA. BRANCH OFFICE Seventeenth and Asbury Avenue, OCEAN CITY, N. J.

ARNOLD B. RACE, UNDERTAKER, PLEASANTVILLE, N. J.

All orders by telegraph or otherwise will re-

ceive prompt attention. Bodies preserved with or without ice. Office below W. J. R. R. at the residence of A. B. RACE. ARNOLD B. RACE.

Plumbers, Steam Fitters, Etc.

J. T. BRYAN, Practical Plumber and Gas Fitter, No. 1007 Ridge Ave., Philadelphia.

Circulating Boilers, Sinks, Bath Tubs, Water Closets, Lead and Iron Pipes, Pumps, Etc., fur-

nished at short notice. Country or City Resi-

dences fitted up in the best manner. Sanitary Plumbing and drainage a specialty. Orders by mail promptly attended to.

ROBERT FISHER, REAL ESTATE AND Insurance Broker, CONVEYANCER, COMMISSIONER OF DEEDS, AND NOTARY PUBLIC.

Agent for the Aetna Life Insurance Company, of Hartford, Connecticut, and some of the oldest and best Fire Insurance Companies of America.

What's the matter with Ocean City? She's booming, that's all. New water supply system; new electric street rail-

road; electric lights; new hotels; new cottages; new tenants and new guests; everything is on the jump, and Fisher is rushing the business. Call and see him, and put your money in Ocean City be-

fore things get up to the top notch.

Fisher is one of the few pioneers of Ocean City and among its first Real Estate purchasers and Cottagers, intimately associated with all its history and identified with every step of its progress and the operation of its Real Estate, has extraordinary opportunities for the transaction of all kinds of Real Estate and Insurance business.

FOR RENT--Having very extensive and influential connec-

tions, he has superior advantages in bringing those who have properties to rent and those who require them together, and at present has some of the finest cottages and other houses on his books at liberal prices.

FOR SALE--Long experience and personal dealing in Real Estate has made him expert in values of both improved and unimproved property. Occa-

sionally even in such a prosper-

ours town as ours some one wants to change or get out. Then we help them by helping some one else to a bargain.

From Ocean front to Bay, and all between, you can be suited with fine corners or central building lots. A few cottages, new and well built, now offered at cost.

Write for information of the Lot Club. Headquarters for every house-hunter and investor, Fisher's Real Estate Office, the most prominent corner in Ocean City. Insurances placed on most advantageous terms in best companies. For any information on any subject connected with any business enterprise write freely to Robert Fisher, Ocean City, N. J.

The National Institute

COMPOUND OXYGEN FOR Sickness and Debility.

GOLD CURE FOR Alcohol, Morphine, etc

For nearly a quarter of a century the firm of Drs. STARKEY & PALEN, of 1529 Arch street, Philadelphia, have dispensed Compound Oxygen Treat-

ment for chronic diseases and debility, with a most brilliant record of cures.

They have treated over 60,000 patients and in spite of opposition have forced the world to acknowledge the potency and usefulness of Compound Oxygen.

Over 1000 physicians have used it in their practice, and this number is being continually increased.

The original Compound Oxygen made by this firm is pure, comparatively de-

void of odor or taste, and one of the greatest of natural vitalizers, building up broken-down constitutions, supply-

ing nature's waste from disease, excesses or old age.

One of the beauties of using this treatment is that you take no medicine whatever, your system is not shocked by it, business or travel are not interfered with, and treatment is actually a pleasure. You simply inhale the Compound Oxygen and get it directly into the circulation, where it will do the most good--where your system can absorb every atom of it without any objection being interposed by your digestion.

A book of 200 pages mailed free to any address tells all about it.

TESTIMONIALS.

Drs. Starkey & Palen, Philadelphia, Pa.

About five years ago I was a broken-down man and a sick man, suffering with nervous prostration and lung trouble. To-day I am strong and rugged and doing heavy work every day, and I owe my health and life to Compound Oxygen and your kind help and advice. During the interval of these five years, I have been re-

commending your treatment far and near, and by my advice and your treatment we have saved several lives and benefited others. R. W. Wheeler. Jasper, New York.

Drs. Starkey & Palen, Philadelphia, Pa. About a year ago I was suffering from over-work and consequent exhaustion. I used your Compound Oxygen Treatment with good results. I never had anything to clear up my head better and put me in better shape than your Compound Oxygen Treatment.

Rev. R. A. Hunter. Irwin, Pa.

Drs. Starkey & Palen, Philadelphia, Pa. My physician, who has treated me for five years, remarked to me several weeks ago that the Compound Oxygen had certainly done wonders for me. It has also relieved me of the dreadful spells I used to have. I firmly believe that I would have gone into consumption last winter, after I had pneumonia, if I had not taken the Compound Oxygen. I must say that I am in better health than ever before since I was a child, and all from your Compound Oxygen Treatment. I feel that I can never say half enough in its praise and of the great good it has done me.

Mrs. J. E. Wood. Marianna, Ark.

Drs. Starkey & Palen, Philadelphia, Pa.

About two years ago I commenced using Com-

pound Oxygen, as proposed by Drs. Starkey & Palen. I was suffering from throat and lung troubles, the left lung having had an abscess; and having tried all other remedies known to me, I was induced to try your remedy.

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Mrs. Rev. H. W. Kavanaugh. Frankfort, Ky.

Drs. Starkey & Palen, Philadelphia, Pa.

My mother used your Compound Oxygen Treatment for Hay Fever; she has not been troubled with it since.

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Drs. Starkey & Palen, Philadelphia, Pa.

Compound Oxygen did me more good as a sufferer from Hay Fever than anything I had ever tried. Rev. J. L. Ticknor. Napton, Saline county, Md.

Drs. Starkey & Palen, Philadelphia, Pa.

It is now seven months since I received the first Treatment for my son's use, and he has not had symptoms of a return of the Asthma since taking the first dose. I take pleasure in re-

commending it to all my friends who are afflicted with any chronic disease. It seems to act like a charm on the diseases peculiar in this climate. Mrs. E. A. Porter. Sedgwick, Mo.

Drs. Starkey & Palen, Philadelphia, Pa. It is no secret that after coughing fully four months, and treating with the very best physicians, I obtained my first rest and help from the use of Compound Oxygen. Belle K. Adams. Cleveland, Ohio.

Now that science has proved beyond a shadow of doubt that Intemperance or Dipsomania is a disease subject to the same natural laws that govern all diseases, susceptible to treatment, and as large a proportion of cases cured absolutely as with any other morbid condition of the system, we have added recently The National Gold Cure for Alcohol, Morphine, etc.

This is at present the nearest perfect of any known cure, advocated by leading temperance reformers, National W. C. T. U. officers, clergymen and physicians. Frances K. Willard says of it: "We are warmly friendly to this move-

ment and believe it to be doing great good." Such papers commend as Union Signal, W. C. T. U. organ; Watch Tower, Illinois State W. C. T. U. organ; Chicago Inter-Ocean and Chicago Herald, New York Evangelist. The Philadelphia Evening Star of February 8, 1893, says of it, "it is but a recent experiment in our city, but it can refer to as remarkable evidences of success as older institutions in other places. Those afflict-

ed with an ungovernable appetite for liquor and really want to be cured, can by a few weeks' treatment have evidence of its power."

Among our hearty co-workers are Bishop Fallows, Rev. Sa Small, Hon. Walter Thomas Mills, Hon. James R. Hobbs, Gen. S. R. Singleton, Gen. C. H. Howard, Mary Lathrop and others.

We have organized a Temperance Extension Fund to be used in treating cases who cannot pay for treatment, at greatly reduced rates, taking their obligations to repay the fund in easy installments, after being restored. By so doing we use the money over and over, curing many cases with the same money. Money sent for this purpose enables the sender to name any one they please to be treated, thereby enabling them to see the direct results of their subscrip-

tion. We cure over 90 per cent. of appli-

cants, and they are as proud as we are to be in-

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Our cure is safe, swift and sure. We don't take whiskey from a man. We place it before him and defy him to drink and he begs us to take it away after a few days. We cure the disease upon scientific principles by taking away the appetite without impairing one at all or in-

curring any risk. Any subscription received will be placed to the credit of the Temperance Extension Fund and appropriately applied where most needed.

DRS. STARKEY & PALEN, 1529 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pa.

THE HIDDEN CITY. By WALTER H. McDOUGALL.

[Copyright, 1892, to Cassell Publishing company, and published by special arrangement with them.] [CONTINUED.] The people were all within the court with the exception of a few tardy stragglers bearing bundles of fagots from the pinion orchards outside the city; even these were hurrying in order to obtained places in the procession. The uproar was immense--each citizen seemed vying with the other as though to drown thought and anxiety--the pressure of feeling bringing a feverish hilarity to the surface in a naturally grave and serious people.

Opposite the temple, at an open door, whose wooden lintel was scarce three feet from its threshold, which was

rounded and hollowed by centuries of constant footwear, sat a little child almost hidden in the mass of jasmine-like flowers that grew closely about the

narrow portal. Her beadlike black eyes glittered with eager impatience as she watched the groups of people gather. While she wove the delicate blossoms into garland to deck her black hair--

for she was to walk with other children in the procession--she ever cast her eyes into the dark recesses of the room and murmured petulantly, calling now and then:

"Oh, grandmother, hurry! Eltza is waiting. I shall be left out!"

After a time slow and feeble footsteps were heard within, and an old woman appeared--an old woman bearing the weight of years so heavily that she scarce needed to bend an inch in emerging through the little opening. It was the child's grandmother, Intzu, the oldest woman in the city, one of the weavers of the cloth of which the sacred white robes were made--a duty which devolved upon the most aged and most skilled of the women. Her face was shriveled like an old dried apple, so full of wrinkles that not an eighth of an inch of skin was left uncreased, yet her teeth were as white and regular as her grandchild's and her eyes as bright and piercing.

She came out into the glaring light blinking her eyes and puckering the

skin about them in concentric wrinkles in an endeavor to see the child among

the flowers, and seated herself with a contented chuckle beside her on the sill.

"Ah--the sun is good. He warms old Intzu's bones, though not as fondly as he was wont to do in the old days. And today is another feast--how quickly they come now! Times are changed. Formerly they were far apart, and we waited long for the sacrifice. Now they tread each other's hurrying heels."

"How many have you see, grandmother?" asked the child, creeping closer. "Many, many, my child! Two katuns have I lived through, and each katun is

fifty-two years in length. And the gods were kind! I was not chosen for the sacrifice, though I was married late in life, for you most know that 'tis only the maidens who are taken, and none

is exempt but the blind or lame. Even the wise and good Lela, your cousin, may be chosen when the fatal dice are

thrown again, when the feast of the katun comes, two years hence. I have stood upon the housetop and seen a companion of my youth given to the gods,

and then, years after, my daughters stood with me and beheld the same

sight until it has grown an old tale to me. Yet we have always made merry, for who may mourn those who go to

dwell with the god? Some day, they say, Quetzalcoatl, the fair god, yellow haired like the sun, whose child he is,

will appear and claim the victim as his bride, but we have waited in vain, my Eltza, for many generations, and perhaps he has forgotten us down in the

canyon. But we look for him, and when he comes there will be no more sacri-

fices, no more famine, no more plagues."

"Oh, I hope he will come?" said Eltza, taking her grandmother's hand.

"After the sacrifice is finished," continued the old woman, "the people break

forth in songs of gladness and make merry with shouts and feasting all that day until the sun goes down, but the god knows, and his servant Intzu knows, the secret wailings and sorrow in the houses of his people, who fear that the next feast will take from some dwelling the light thereof forever."

"But Quetzalcoatl may come today, grandmother."

"Alas, my Eltza, I fear not; the hope of it long ago faded in my breast." "I shall watch for him," said the child, "and I believe he has been waiting for our Ainee to grow up, and he will come and take her." "Perhaps," said Intzu with a heavy sigh as the flood of memories surged over her mind; "but come, they are nearly ready." Then rising, she turned and called to some one within. "Lela, my own, we must go. Iklapel stands prepared to give the signal, and everything is ready."

In a moment there appeared at the door a girl whose tall figure formed a dazzling picture against the darkness of

the interior. Bending with stately grace she came into the light clad in a cling-

ing gown of pale blue cotton, which revealed the superb outlines of her form.

Her eyes were a deep blue, and her golden hair, tinged with a suggestion of auburn, and her white face upon which the blue veins showed in her excitement,

made her seem like a vision of some Norseman's daughter--a child of some snowland of the north. A lovely face,

with grave, serious eyes and a mouth of wondrous beauty, and yet so strong and

earnest, and withal showing a capacity for loving--a passionate mouth, formed for kisses and tender smiles.

She was very pale and her lips were

compressed with emotion, and there was a look of indignation and protest in her eyes which showed to plainly her thoughts.

"Must I go, grandmother? Can I not remain here? Oh, I cannot witness it!"

"My child," the old woman answered, "it is so--you must come. No one would

be missed so quickly as you. The city's ruler is dead; you, his only daughter,

cannot absent yourself from the great feast unnoticed. Already they have seen you, my darling, and many eyes

are upon you. Chalpa is now looking at us, and he motions us to make haste."

"Yes, I feel his serpent eyes upon me, though I cannot look upon him. I will go; 'twill be but a little while."

She covered her hair and forehead with a white scarf, shielding her eyes from the sun, and with a visible effort at self control took the hand of the child Eltza and followed the bent form of the aged weaver.

As they took their places old Iklapel placed the tiara upon his head and the procession began to move. First came

the body of priests in their white robes, a hundred or more, chanting a low monotonous song, followed by eight chiefs bearing a litter of wood covered with gold and decked with flowers, in which sat Ainee, a dark skinned girl of eighteen, already under the influence of the potent aitsi--a drink distilled from maize --and forming a picture that sent shudders through Lela's frame.

Then came the four death priests, swinging censors of gold and filling the air with an aromatic scent. Their faces

were painted most skillfully to represent skulls; their heads were shaved, and

their tightly fitting garments were like-

wise made to convey the idea of skele-

tons. The effect upon the minds of the people were ghastly and thrilling.

Behind them came the members of the order of the Kabilo, an ancient secret

society, to the number of four hundred, clad in black, the foremost carrying a

corpse between them. Many of them led little spotted dogs--a favorite form of sacrifice to Chalcu, the serpent, the dread god of evil.

Then came the principal families, in the order of their rank and wealth, with bearers of food, drink, flowers and fruits for sacrifice at the different altars, which were located at intervals all around the great court. The populace

followed, in less order and with more or less disputing, and stretched out the long parade until the rear nearly touched the leaders and all could see the entire ceremonies.

When order had been attained they moved slowly and with great solem-

nity toward a huge heap of wood upon which had been cast the sweepings of the houses, old utensils and clothing,

baskets and fishing nets--in fact every-

thing that would be renewed yearly in

the household. This was ignited with a brand from the sacred fire by Kulcan, who, covered with small bells and attired in a gorgeous feather robe, marched

slightly in advance, with much show of pomp, the priests chanting solemnly.

The procession moved on to a large stone altar, upon which rested the figure

of a woman, most hideously carved,

bearing in her arms maize and other

fruits. This was Ixcan-leox, the goddess of maize. To her was sacrificed bread and pinon nuts and all manner of produce

of the fields, brought in baskets and laid

around the altar. Four chiefs stood at

the corners and held aloft a red cord,

under which all who had purified themselves by fasting and dreaming were permitted to enter. Before Ixcan-leox

They burned little balls of incense, each

casting his ball into the braziers of gold,

while the people prayed silently, kneel-

ing, for good and bounteous crops.

Then they moved onward to the altar of Am, the sacred stone, the emblem of life, some holding it to be but the ancient symbol of the sun god himself. It was simply an upright conical stone standing upon a pedestal; before it, in a great fire, they sacrificed sheep and rabbits, also wounding themselves and dropping their blood into a number of braziers set about the altar. Women, kissing this stone of Am, invoked the blessings of maternity with loud pleadings. Farther on stood the dread image of Calcu--the very sight of which affrighted not only the children, but old men as well--a hideous figure, with a huge serpent coiled about his form, out of whose mouth came a pale bluish flame continually, as though he hungered for blood. Before him the people prostrated themselves, while even among the younger priests blanched faces showed here and there. To Chalcu they burned many little spotted dogs, and consigned the corpse which the Kabilo carried to the devouring flames. Kulcan addressed the prostrate multitude with devout gravity and earnest mien, advising them as to what they should do to avert evil, and announced to them the solemn feast of "Katun," or the fifty-second year, which would occur two years hence, telling them to prepare their daughters for the fatal lottery. Then opening a folded parchment he read to them the omens for the future year, announcing the findings of those whose duty it was to study the stars and other signs. He prayed aloud to Chalcu to be merciful, to tempt no man beyond his strength, to bring no evil to the city, but to be satisfied with the sacrifice of his servants. It was evident that each word was echoed by the groaning fear stricken multitude, to whom, as we shall see, the serpent emblem meant more than a mere idea, and represented a real and horrible memory of a terrific event. It was high noon, the rays of the sun falling from immediately overhead upon the city, so that the great dialpost cast but an inch of two of purple shadow.

The dread event of the day was about to occur, and the people pressed one an-

other closer in their desire to obtain a nearer view. Very many slipped from

the ranks and mounted to the highest housetops in order to witness every detail of the awful scene.

Iklapel, standing motionless on the temple, felt that the procession was

nearing him. A strange commingling of fear and hope moved him, for the memory of the voice in the storm was

fresh in his mind, and he felt that the

hour had come for the manifestation or intervention which he expected. The head of the procession had already nearly reached the temple summit. He heard the measured tread of feet as they mounted the graded causeway, and knew that in another moment Kulcan with his charge would stand beside him.

Had Iklapel's vision been what it was of old, and had his eyes been directed upward toward the frowning cliffs, he would have been startled to see a face

peering down upon the wondrous scene --a face in which astonishment and

gratification were mingled, for the owner of it saw white faces in the multitude below him and felt himself safe. He would have seen a body belonging to the face emerge and descend the crumbling, ladderlike pathway, rifle and bird in hand, in eager anticipation of a welcome which meant food and drink to a hungry and thirsty man. But Iklapel saw nothing, nor did one eye turn in all that host of gazing faces upward toward the real sun--to the golden emblem of which they sacrificed. Each face was turned toward the temple in a fixed expectancy, eager to catch every action of the priests and the victim. Many were there who had seen but one such sight, when children; children were there to see it for the first

time--were to be held up so that they

might see and hold it in their minds; aged and middle aged, who had seen it before, some of them many times--all waited the last dread act in the tragedy. The litter containing Ainee was at last placed before the altar, and to the surprise of all the girl stepped from it calmly and with firmness. Her face bore no trace of the intoxicating aitsi, its effects having passed away in the trying hours of the morning. Borne up, even until the last terrible moment, by a firm conviction that Kulcan, her avowed lover, would devise some means to save her, she faced the four dread figures of the death priests and suffered them to bind her shapely arms behind her without a movement or a shudder. But when Iklapel stepped forward as the weird chant of the Kabilo began and handed Kulcan the sacrificial knife she started, and her eyes were filled with a tearless appeal. Even yet her faith in his wisdom and his love did not desert her, but when she saw that he trembled and averted his eyes a chill swept her frame and the awful truth burst upon her in a moment. Casting her eyes upward in a wild, terrified gaze, she saw what calmed her in an instant, and she faced her lover with a confident, tender smile upon her face. Kulcan had taken the knife, an ancient blade of white quartz--a material which supplied so many beautiful stone weapons to the prehistoric races--and he stood before Ainee with a pallid face, the cold perspiration upon his brow glistening in

the sunlight, in an attitude of prayer.

He had come to the supreme test of his priesthood and his love, and the priest had conquered the lover, but he wanted the courage to strike the blow; the moment was one of the deepest torture to him and to most of the spectators, who, spellbound with emotion, stood in deepest silence, unbroken by even a breath. Chalpa, the second priest, standing close to Iklapel, his dark face, drawn lips and set teeth marking him a living resemblance of the god of evil himself, cursed under his breath at the delay. "The coward dare not strike," he muttered. "Ah, would that he dared refuse! Then I should hold his place this day, for the people would tear him to pieces for spoiling this goodly sport. Let me but grasp the knife and they would be rarely served. Aha! the dog will do it after all!" for Kulcan had raised his head, and with one long despairing look deep into the girl's smiling eyes placed the blade against her bare throat with a hand whose trembling made the weapon flash in the light like a row of diamonds. As he drew in his breath with a shuddering effort the multitude gave an audible, gasping respiration; then, with one quick movement, he raised the knife aloft, his eyes fixed on the spot upon her throat where the blow must fall. But while it trembled against the shadow of the cliff, darting back in slender shafts the rays of that sun in whose dread service it had drank the blood of his victims for unknown ages, there came a sharp, ringing report that

echoed and rolled like thunder along the

canyon walls, and the knife was shattered in a thousand fragments, which, falling, dashed the sacred embers from the altar and extinguished the fire instantly forever. At the same moment there rang out a shrill voice, the voice of the child Eltza, crying gleefully as she smote her little hands together:

"Quetzal! Quetzal! He has come and saved our Ainee!"

[TO BE CONTINUED.]