, addressed to me:

The Grave hath its secrets, but the Past has none. Time may
crumble pyramids in the dust, but the genius of man can despoil
him of his booty, and rescue the story of buried empires from
oblivion. Even now the tombs of Egypt are unrolling their
recorded epitaphs. Even now the sculptured mounds of Nineveh are
surrendering the history of Nebuchadnezzar's line. Before another
generation shall pass away, the columns of Palenque shall find a
tongue, and the _bas-reliefs_ of Uxmal wake the dead from their
sleep of two thousand years. Young man! open your eyes; we shall
meet again amid the ruins of the _Casa Grande_!

At this moment the Judges hand fell palsied at his side, and the paper
was thrust violently into my left hand. I held it up so as to permit the
rays of the moon to fall full upon it, and read it carefully from
beginning to end. But no sooner had I finished reading it than a shock
something like electricity struck us simultaneously, and seemed to rock
the old fort to its very foundation. Everything near us was apparently
affected by it, and several large bowlders started from their ticklish
beds and rolled away down the mountain. Our surprise at this was hardly
over, ere one still greater took possession of us. On raising our eyes
to the moss-grown parapet, we beheld a figure sitting upon it that bore
a very striking resemblance to the pictures in the Spanish Museum at
Madrid of the early Aztec princes. It was a female, and she bore upon
her head a most gorgeous headdress of feathers, called a _Panache_. Her
face was calm, clear, and exceedingly beautiful. The nose was
prominent--more so than the Mexican or Tezcucan--and the complexion much
lighter. Indeed, by the gleam of the moonlight, it appeared as white as
that of a Caucasian princess, and were an expression full of benignity
and love.

Our eyes were riveted upon this beautiful apparition, and our lips
silent. She seemed desirous of speaking, and once or twice I beheld her
lips faintly moving. Finally, raising her white, uncovered arm, she
pointed to the north, and softly murmured, "_Palenque_!"

Before we could resolve in our minds what to say in reply, the fairy
princess folded her arms across her breast, and disappeared as suddenly
and mysteriously as she had been evoked from night. We spoke not a word
to each other, but gazed long and thoughtfully at the spot where the
bright vision had gladdened and be