This, then, is the reason I have made the safeguards for reading this
manuscript. The message being so vital to the world, I have deposited
copies in the largest banks in Bombay and Madras. These documents are to
be mailed to me on June 21, 1931, or in case I die, may be obtained by
my executors any time before that date. Thus I will avoid practically
eight years of derision with attendant loss of position and probable
confinement for mental instability. At the same time, my warning is in
no danger of being lost, and will be given to the world in time to do
some possible good. If I am alive on June 21, 1931, I shall give my
experience to the world on that date, allowing two months for those who
heed it to escape a terrible fate. The reason I resigned my position in
the United States and am now in India will be disclosed in the
narrative.
IT was in January, 1923, that I met with this staggering experience. At
that time I was employed by the Southwestern Syndicate as chief
geologist for the Arizona-New Mexico district. I had been with them
almost fifteen years, going to them from the Concord Company, with whom
I had been associated since my graduation from the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology. Both of these companies, if I can judge by the
testimonials they so generously gave me on my resignation, rated me very
highly, and were reluctant to part with my services. I mention this not
in self-praise, but to show that I have always had a reputation for
honesty and efficient work. And I sincerely hope that this reputation
will sustain me when I say that what I am about to relate here is the
absolute truth.
On January 14, 1923, Olin Gilfillan (my most trusted field lieutenant
and a brilliant, hard-working man) and I set out on horseback from
Lovington, New Mexico, and headed toward the Mescalero Ridge. We had
with us a couple of pack mules bearing camping equipment and grub for a
week. It was our intention to scout the southeast part of the Ridge, and
report certain findings to the company. I shall not here relate any
technical description of our route, inasmuch as my complete report is on
file with the company in their Chicago office.
We left Lovington in the morning, and after a leisurely trip with a few
stops for “sighting,” made camp in a little arroyo leading up to the
Ridge. The day had been wonderfully clear, and in the early twilight I
worked on my notes while Olin built a small fire of cedar and mesquite
and prepared the coffee and bacon. After supper we lit our pipes and
talked over various things until about nine, when we crawled into our
sleeping bags.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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