* * * * * “My lord has come to Nohul Voh to learn of the road of the symbols,” he said in his strangely deep voice. “He has come with the last of the House of Nima Kiche and with the maiden he desires to wed. It is well. The Kinchi Haman plans and plots, but he can learn nothing of the book of the future from Nohul Voh. Yet unto you, Itzimin Chac, will I reveal much. Come, my lord.” Turning, he led the way through the giant weeds to the base of the mound, where, opening a massive wooden door, he stood aside, signalled for us to enter, and closed and fastened the portal behind us. For a few steps he led the way through a narrow dark passage. Then, without warning, a soft clear light burst upon us and I stared about in amazement. Had I been suddenly transported to the laboratory of an alchemist, I could not have been more surprised. We were in a large room, and everywhere the walls were hung with mystical figures on sheets of vellum, with bundles of dried plants and herbs, with the skulls of men and beasts, stuffed birds and quadrupeds, packages and bundles, and innumerable odd-shaped vessels and strange utensils. Hanging near the ceiling in the center of the room was a sphere that glowed like a miniature moon and illuminated the entire chamber. Below this was a table of stone covered with sheets of papyrus bearing innumerable diagrams, symbols, and written Mayan characters, together with metal instruments and an abacus-like affair. At one side a pottery vessel, most marvelously like a retort, simmered over a charcoal brazier. Opposite this was a pillar of carved stone, perhaps three feet in height by four feet in diameter, and with upright rods of metal about its circumference. Above this, suspended in mid-air, without visible support, was a ball of polished green stone which rotated slowly upon its axis and swung in a circle above the top of the column, now and then touching one of the upright rods and emitting a low musical sound. I stared at it fascinated and stepped closer. What held it there? What unknown unseen power kept it ceaselessly rotating, following an orbit? Then I saw that the surface of the polished top of the column was covered with incised lines and glyphs and that, at the base of each upright rod, was an astronomical symbol. But before I could make head or tail of the remarkable device, before I could frame a question, the sorcerer spoke.