The Courier-Journal from Louisville, Kentucky • Page 49

17 fayto 441 how 0 y4nJ foa; Ae Dignified Scientist's Fantastic Midnight Adventure Fulfilled the Weird Prophecy Made by a Heart-Broken Mother Centuries Ago. IT WAS midnight bat Dr. Alfonso Caso found sleep impossible. He had the strange feeling that something thrilling was about to happen to him. Stepping out of his tent, Dr.

Caso breathed deep of the languid night air and looked across the plains of Southwestern Mexico, lying like blurred shadows under the pale moonlight. The sensation that tremendous ex- 5 a6T PS' til Si 4 iy Pretty Char lotte Ferson, vV ft" 1 Si? a Member of Dr. Caso's Archaeological Staff, Displays One of the Beautiful Hock Crystal Ornaments Found in the Ancient Tomb. beating hearts, the scientists let themselves down into the tunnel. Along the sides of it stood the old stone tombs of the Mixtec chiefs and priests of antiquity, just what they had been searching for all during the previous month In all, 600 tombs were found.

Only seven have been opened thus far. The last of these is believed to be the last resting place of a mad priest who lived centuries ago. Gold and jeweled ornaments of extraordinary value was found in this sepulcher, riches such as are usually interred with the body of a mighty eitement wa3 imminent still troubled his "The weirdlr-illuminated fish began to move and the light in which it swam passed forward with the ghostly creature of the deep. lor more than a mile the bewildered scientist mind. Dr.

Caso is the Director of the National Museum of Archaeology of Mexico and he dislikes being disturbed by thoughts that cannot be explained by the logical processes of his orderly mind. He was more annoyed than he usually would have been because he was in a Xollowed the incredible vision. monarch, oddest of all, the superstitious with He part of Mexico that is rampant curious legends and superstitions, laughed softly to himself. Could the folk-lore that was in the air be getting him too? For a month he had been searching for the an 4 slowed down or stopped, they followed his example. Then, as suddenly as they had appeared, the illuminated lish and the light vanished through another hole in the ground with a low, hissing sound.

Dr. Caso bent over the hole. He had been over this ground but had not noticed this aperture before. Shrugging his shoulders, the scientist placed a heap of stones at the spot. He could not credit what he had seen and returned to his tent in utter bewilderment.

However, early next morning he conducted his associates and the peon workmen to the place where the fish had disappeared. There was a small hole there and a little pick-and-shovel work widened this. The hole opened into a subterranean passage. With cient tombs of the lost city of Monte Alban without success and had listened to many fantastic tales about the relics. What happened next to this distinguished man may never be proved or disproved.

He only smiles and remain.3 silent when questioned on the subject. But today all Mexico is talking in whispers of the mysterious adventure that is said to have befallen Dr. Caso that midnight as he stood in the pale moonlight. According to these accounts, a weird, yellowish folk of Mexico have connected Dr. Caso's vision with an old, old story concerning this mad priest of the Mixtecs.

This race, of whom the peasants living in the vicinity are the direct descendants, was contemporary with the Aztecs, the Mayans and the Incas. Their civilization began about the ninth century and ended with the coming of the Spanish Conquistadores. That they had a remarkably fine culture is demonstrated by the beautiful works of art found in the tombs. They were especially skillful at making jewelry and delicate filigree work, all of which was done with crude instruments. They also developed to a high degree the craft of dyeing, and some fabrics found in the tombs are still bright in their original colors.

In their religious worship they went in for human sacrifices, but not on so large a scale as the Incas. And instead of worshipping the sun they worshipped the elements. The fable of the mad god that the superstitious Mexicans are now connecting with the discovery of the riches-filled tombs of Monte Alban revolves arouid the Mixtec method of human sacrifice. In each generation this people selected for sacrifice the one boy child who, at birth, had a head larger than any other child's. From the morning he was born this infant was for death.

One rite consisted of making his The Superb Craftsmanship of the Mixtec Indians Is Well Illustrated in This Gold Filigree F'inger King. One night, says the legend, she stole into the temple where the babe torn from her arms was sleeping in a golden cradle. When the priest and his followers discovered that the child god had been kidnaped they wailed "Sacrilege!" Of course, the first place they looked was in the home of the infant's parents. The mother had ripped the cruel bandages from her baby's head and it was sleeping peacefully in her arms as the mob from the temple approached. Before they could enter the hut, the mother dashed out and ran to the river.

The crowd pursued her. But she reached the bank of the stream in time to cast her baby into the waters. The swift-running current of the river carried the body of the infant downstream but not quickly enough. Half-a-dozen Mextic temple officials leaped into the water and rescued the child. Meanwhile, other men had seized the protesting mother and had pinioned her arms to her sides.

She screamed and struggled, but could not free herself. The great priest, the one they now call mad, came up to her and glared at her. Instantly, she became still. The men around her thought it was fear, but then the woman began to speak: "Tom have taken my son!" she said softly. "You can have him.

I cast him into the waters so that the river god would take his soul. It it gone now, his spirit will dwell ever in one of the creatures ruled by the river god. Some day it will return to earth and haunt you!" The mad priest drew a dagger and killed the courageous mother. The crowd left her dead there at the river-side. The boy was placed again in the golden, sacred cradle.

When he attained the required age he was killed on an altar. But the curse of the heart-broken mother was not forgotten by the Mad Priest. Several times he confided to his followers that he was being followed around by an illuminated fish. When consulted, the soothsayers told him the fish carried the soul of the dead boy. "Be sure your tomb is well sealed," they told the mad priest, "for one day the fish will lead strangers there." In this way, it seems tp the superstitious, that the prophecy has been carried out by Dr.

Caso's discovery. skull larger bv artificial means. This was done by binding parts of it so other parts would protrude. At a certain age, not yet known to science today, the victim was sacrificed. His cranium was removed from the body and decorated with gold ornaments.

Rare jewels were placed in the holes in aIL J5 One of the Kicli Di-toveries Made by the i -f ZSpW Sc.tntwu in the Mad Prie.t's Tomb. 1 i lZlL, rV" if IS suddenly flared from a hole in the 3 FT3t ff" I ground directly before the archaeolo- fMWW k. MMWJfW s.V Rist'seyes. And as though spurted from 'jSjL j8fij56Sb4sB 2j! iiMl it! jr. I 1 JH the ground a perfectly-formed golden.

mklSMAi MkHr ri Tflr luminous, fish ro-e to the level of his l1- 112,.. 1 head. SlSraSJ iL ghostly creature of the deep. For more 1 TTP ILV ii'tf than a mile the startled scientist fol- -W4vy" fi V- yfil loed the incredible vision. He felt that SSfc, r-aT' he surely inut be dreaming but curi- I mt light suddenly flared from a hole in the ground directly before the archaeologist's eyes.

And as though spurted from the ground a perfectly-formed golden, luminous fish rose to the level of his head. The fish began to move and the light in which it swam passed along with the ghostly creature of the deep. For more than a mile the startled scientist followed the incredible vision. He felt that he surely must be dreaming but his skull. From that time qn, the cranium became the Mixtec nation's symbol of god, or Xolotl.

In the mad priest's tomb such a skull was unearthed. It is the only one ever found. The priest, by the way, is known to have been insane because of a huge tumorous growth on the side of his own skull, traces of this growth can still clearly be seen. Most Mixtec families considered it a great honor to have a child of theirs chosen for the sacrifice. But the mother of the infant picked by the mad priest rebelled against his edict sacrificing; her child.

curiosity impelled him to follow the illuminated member of the finny species. If Dr. Caso increased his pace the fish and the light moved faster, remained always just beyond his reach. If he the At the End of the Subterranean Passage Is Shown One of This Gold BrtaM plate Is Believed to Have Symbolized the Tcrrifjing Cod of Death. Seven Long-Lost Tombs Discovered After the Fantastic Adventure of the Mexican Archaeologist, Dr.

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