THE AZTEC TREASURE-HOUSE

 By Thomas Allibone Janvier

Copyright, 1890, by Harper & Brothers. 

_All rights reserved. _

TO C. A. J. 

Departimiento y ha entre los engaños. Catales y ha que son buenos, e tales que malos, e buenos son aquellos que los omnes fazen abuena fe e a buena intencion. --ALONZO el SABIO, Setena Partida, Titulo xvi. , Ley ii. 

[Illustration: The Dying Cacique. ]

CONTENTS. 

 PROLOGUE

 I. FRAY ANTONIO

 II. THE CACIQUE'S SECRET

 III. THE MONK'S MANUSCRIPT

 IV. MONTEZUMA'S MESSENGER

 V. THE ENGINEER AND THE LOST-FREIGHT MAN

 VI. THE KING'S SYMBOL

 VII. THE FIGHT IN THE CAÑON

 VIII. AFTER THE FIGHT

 IX. THE CAVE OF THE DEAD

 X. THE SWINGING STATUE

 XI. THE SUBMERGED CITY

 XII. IN THE VALLEY OF DEATH

 XIII. UP THE CHAC-MOOL STAIR

 XIV. THE HANGING CHAIN

 XV. THE TEMPLE IN THE CLOUDS

 XVI. AT THE BARRED PASS

 XVII. OF OUR COMING INTO THE VALLY OF AZTLAN

 XVIII. THE STRIKING OF A MATCH

 XIX. THE SEEDS OF REVOLT

 XX. THE PRIEST CAPTAIN'S SUMMONS

 XXI. THE WALLED CITY OF CULHUACON

 XXII. THE OUTBREAK OF REVOLUTION

 XXIII. A RESCUE

 XXIV. THE AFFAIR AT THE WATER-GATE

 XXV. THE GOLD-MINERS OF HUITZILAN

 XXVI. THE GATHERING FOR WAR

 XXVII. AN OFFER OF TERMS

 XXVIII. THE SURRENDER OF A LIFE

 XXIX. THE ASSAULT IN THE NIGHT

 XXX. THE FALL OF THE CITADEL

 XXXI. DEFEAT

 XXXII. EL SABIO'S DEFIANCE

 XXXIII. IN THE AZTEC TREASURE-HOUSE

 XXXIV. A MARTYRDOM

 XXXV. THE TREASURE-CHAMBER

 XXXVI. THE VENGEANCE OF THE GODS

 XXXVII. THROUGH DARKNESS TO LIGHT

 XXXVIII. KING CHALTZANTZIN'S TREASURE

 EPILOGUE

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 

THE DYING CACIQUE

THE LETTER FROM THE DEAD

PACKING IN THE CORRAL

THE FIGHT IN THE CAÑON

THE CAVE OF THE DEAD

AFLOAT ON THE LAKE

EL SABIO'S PREDICAMENT

MAKING THE PEACE-SIGN

THE FULFILMENT OF THE PROPHECY

THE STRIKING OF A MATCH

CHECKING YOUNG'S OUTBREAK

THE LEAP FROM ABOVE THE WATER-GATE

THE TLAHUICOS AND THEIR GUARDS

IN THE GATE-WAY OF THE CITADEL

THE LAST RALLY

EL SABIO'S DEFIANCE

FRAY ANTONIO'S APPEAL

YOUNG'S STRUGGLE WITH THE PRIEST CAPTAIN

IN THE LIBRARY BEFORE THE OPEN FIRE

 _Who'd hear great marvels told-- Come listen now! Who longs for hidden gold-- Come listen now! Who joys in well-fought fights, Who yearns for wondrous sights, Who pants for strange delights-- Come listen now!_

 _For here are marvels told To listen to! Here tales of hidden gold To listen to! Here gallant men wage fights, Here pass most wondrous sights, Here's that which ear delights To listen to!_

THE AZTEC TREASURE-HOUSE

PROLOGUE. 

"God sends nuts to them who have no teeth:" which ancient Spanishproverb of contrariety comes strongly to mind as I set myself to thiswriting. 

By nature am I a studious, book-loving man, having a strong liking forquiet and orderliness. Yet in me also is a strain that urges me, evenalong ways which are both rough and dangerous, to get beyondbook-knowledge, and to examine for myself the abstractions of thoughtand the concretions of men and things out of the consideration whereofbooks are made. And I hold that it is because I have thus sought fortruth in its original sources, instead of resting content with whatpasses for truth, being detached fragments of fact which other men havefound and have cut and polished to suit themselves, that I have gatheredto myself more of it, and in its rude yet perfect native crystals, thanhas come into the possession of any other modern investigator. In makingwhich strong assertion I am not moved by idle vanity, but by a just andreasonable conception of the intrinsic merit of my own achievement: aswill be universally admitted when I publish the great work, now almostready for the press, upon which, in preparatory study and in convincingdiscovery, I have been for the past ten years engaged. For I speak wellwithin bounds when I declare that a complete revolution in all existingconceptions of American archæology and ethnology will be wrought when_Pre-Columbian Conditions on the Continent of North America_, byProfessor Thomas Palgrave, Ph. D. (Leipsic), is given to the world. 

Upon this work I say that I have been engaged for ten years. Rathershould I say that I have been engaged upon it for forty years; for itsgerms were implanted in me when I was a child of but six years old. Before my intelligence at all could grasp the meaning of what I read, myimagination was fired by reading in the pages of Stephens of the wonderswhich that eminent explorer discovered in Yucatan; and my mind then wasmade up that I would follow in his footsteps, and in the end go farbeyond him, until I should reveal the whole history of the marvellousrace whose mighty works he found, but of whose genesis he could onlyfeebly surmise. And this resolve of the child became the dominantpurpose of the man. In my college life at Harvard, and in my universitylife at Leipsic, my studies were directed chiefly to this end. Especially did I devote myself to the acquisition of languages, and togaining a sound knowledge of the principles of those departments ofarchæology and ethnology which related to the great work that I had inview. Later, during the ten years that I occupied (as I believe usefullyand acceptably) the Chair of Topical Linguistics in the University ofMichigan, all the time that I properly could take from my professorialduties was given exclusively to the study of the languages of theindigenous races of Mexico, and to what little was to be found in booksconcerning their social organization and mode of life, and to the broadsubject of Mexican antiquities. By correspondence I became acquaintedwith the most eminent Mexican archæologists--the lamented Orozco yBerra, Icazbalceta, Chavero, and the philologists Pimentel and Peñafiel;and I had the honor to know personally the American archæologistBandelier, the surpassing scientific value of whose researches among theprimitive peoples of Mexico places his work above all praise. And by thestudy of the writings of these great scholars, and of all writingsthereto cognate, my own knowledge steadily grew; until at last I feltmyself strong enough to begin the investigations on my own account forwhich I had sought by all these years of patient preparation fittinglyto pave the way. 

But inasmuch as my life until a short time since has been wholly that ofa scholar, and wholly has been passed in quiet ways, I truly have had noteeth at all for the proper cracking of the nuts which have come to mein the course of the surprising adventures that I have now set myself tonarrate. For in the course of these adventures (necessarily, yet sorelyagainst my will) I have been thrust by force of circumstances into manyimminent and prodigious perils; much time that I gladly would havedevoted to peaceful, fruitful study I have been compelled to employ inrude and profitless (except that my life was saved by it) battling withsavages; and--what most of all has pained me--many curious andinteresting skulls that I gladly would have added entire to mycollection of crania, I have been driven in self-defence to ruinirreparably with my own hands. 

All of which diversities of my likings and my happenings will appear indue order, as I tell in the following pages of the strange and wonderfulthings which befell me--in company with Rayburn and Young and FrayAntonio and the boy Pablo--in our search after and finding of the greattreasure that was hidden, in a curiously secret place among the Mexicanmountains more than a thousand years ago, by Chaltzantzin, the third ofthe Aztec kings. 

I. 

FRAY ANTONIO. 

My heart was light within me as I stood on the steamer's deck in thecool gray of an October morning and saw out across the dark green seaand the dusky, brownish stretch of coast country the snow-crowned peakof Orizaba glinting in the first rays of the rising sun. And presently, as the sun rose higher, all the tropic region of the coast and the brownwalls of Vera Cruz and of its outpost fort of San Juan de Ulua wereflooded with brilliant light--which sudden and glorious outburst ofradiant splendor seemed to me to be charged with a bright promise of myown success. 

And still lighter was my heart, a week later, when I found myselfestablished in the beautiful city of Morelia, and ready to beginactively the work for which I had been preparing myself--at firstunconsciously, but for ten years past consciously and carefully--almostall my life long. 

Morelia, I had decided, was the best base for the operations that I wasabout to undertake. My main purpose was to search for the remnants ofprimitive civilization among the more isolated of the native Indiantribes; and out of the fragments thus found, pieced together with whatmore I could glean from the early ecclesiastical and civil records, torecreate, so far as this was possible, the fabric that was destroyed bythe Spanish conquerors. Nowhere could my investigations be conducted tobetter advantage than in the State of Michoacan (of which State the cityof Morelia is the capital) and in the adjacent State of Jalisco; for inthis region tribes still exist which never have been, reduced to morethan nominal subjection, and which, maintain to a great extent theirprimitive customs and their primitive faith, though curiously minglingwith this latter many Christian observances. Indeed, the independence ofthe Indians of these parts is so notable that the proverb "Free asJalisco" is current throughout Mexico. Moreover, Morelia is a city richin ancient records. The archives of the Franciscan province, that hasits centre here extend back to the year 1531; those of the Bishopric ofMichoacan to the year 1538; and those of the Colegio de San Nicolás tothe year 1540; while in the recently founded Museo Michoacano alreadyhas been collected a rich store of archæological material. In a word, there was no place in all Mexico where my studies and my investigationscould be pursued to such advantage as they could be pursued here. 

From a fellow-archæologist in the City of Mexico I brought a letter ofintroduction to the director of the Museo, the learned Dr. Nicolás Leon;and so cordially was this letter worded, and so cordially was itreceived, that within the day of my coming into that strange city Ifound myself in the midst of friends. At once their hearts and theirhouses were opened to me, and they gave me with a warm enthusiasm thebenefit of their knowledge and of their active assistance forwarding thework that I had in hand. 

In the quiet retirement of the Museo I opened to that one of its membersto whom the director especially had commended me, Don Rafael Moreno, thepurposes which I had in view, and the means by which I hoped toaccomplish them. "Surely, " I said, "among the free Indians in themountains hereabouts much may be found--in customs, in tone of thought, in religion--that has remained unchanged since the time of theconquest. "

Don Rafael nodded. "Fray Antonio has said as much, " he observed, thoughtfully. 

"And as your own distinguished countryman, Señor Orozco y Berra, haspointed out, " I continued, "many dark places in primitive history may bemade clear, many illusions may be dispelled, and many deeplyinteresting truths may be gathered by one who will go among theseIndians, lending himself to their mode of life, and will note accuratelywhat he thus learns from sources wholly original. "

"Fray Antonio has professed the same belief, " Don Rafael answered. "Butthat his love is greater for the saving of heathen souls than for theadvancement of antiquarian knowledge, he long ago would have done whatyou now propose to do. He has done much towards gathering a portion ofthe information that you seek, even as it is. "

"And who is this Fray Antonio, señor?"

"He is the man who of all men can give you the wisest help in yourpresent need. We see but little of him here at the Museo, though he isone of our most honored members, for his time is devoted so wholly tothe godly work to which he has given himself that but little remains tohim to use in other ways. He is a monk, vowed to the Rule of St. Francis. As you know, since the promulgation of the Laws of the Reform, monks are not permitted in our country to live in communities; but, withonly a few exceptions, the conventual churches which have not besecularized still are administered by members of the religious orders towhich they formerly belonged. Fray Antonio has the charge of the churchof San Francisco--over by the market-place, you know--and virtually is aparish priest. He is a religious enthusiast. In God's service he giveshimself no rest. The common people here, since his loving labors areamong them while the pestilence of small-pox raged, reverently believehim to be a saint; and those of a higher class, who know what heroicwork he did in that dreadful time, and who see how perfectly his lifeconforms to the principles which he professes, and how like is thespirit of holiness that animates him to that of the sainted men whofounded the order to which he belongs, are disposed to hold a likeopinion. Truly, it is by the especial grace of God that men like FrayAntonio are permitted at times to dwell upon this sinful earth. "

Don Rafael spoke with a depth of feeling and a reverence of tone thatgave his strong words still greater strength and deeper meaning. Afterthat moment's pause he resumed: "But that which is of most interest toyou, señor, is the knowledge that Fray Antonio has gained of our nativeIndians during his ministrations among them. It is the dearest wish ofhis heart to carry to these heathen souls the saving grace ofChristianity, and for the accomplishment of this good purpose he makesmany journeys into the mountains; ministering in the chapels which hiszeal has founded in the Indian towns, and striving earnestly by hispreaching of God's word to bring these far-wandered sheep into theChristian fold. Very often his life has been in most imminent peril, forthe idolatrous priests of the mountain tribes hate him with a mostbitter hatred because of the inroads which his mild creed is making uponthe cruel creed which they uphold. Yet is he careless of the danger towhich he exposes himself; and there be those who believe, such is thetemerity with which he manifests his zeal, that he rather seeks thanshuns a martyr's crown. "

Again Don Rafael paused, and again was it evident that deep feelingsmoved him as he spoke of the holy life of this most holy man. "You willthus understand, señor, " he went on, "that Fray Antonio of all men isbest fitted by his knowledge of the ways of these mountain Indians toadvise you touching your going among them and studying them. You cannotdo better than confer with him at once. It is but a step to the churchof San Francisco. Let us go. "

What Don Rafael had said had opened new horizons to me, and I wasstirred by strange feelings as we passed out together from the shadysilence of the Museo into the bright silence of the streets: for Moreliais a quiet city, wherein at all times is gentleness and rest. Forpriests in general, and for Mexican priests in particular, I hadentertained always a profound contempt; but now, from an impartialsource, I had heard of a Mexican priest whose life-springs seemed to bethe soul-stirring impulses of the thirteenth century; who was devoted insoul and in body to the service of God and of his fellow-men; in whom, in a word, the seraphic spirit of St. Francis of Assisi seemed to liveagain. But by this way coming to such tangible evidence of the survivalin the present time of forces which were born into the world six hundredyears ago, my thoughts took a natural turn to my own especial interests;and, by perhaps not over-strong analogy, I reasoned that if this monkstill lived so closely to the letter and to the spirit of the Rule thatSt. Francis, six centuries back, gave to his order, most reasonablymight I hope to find still quick something of the life that was in fullvigor in Mexico only a little more than half that many centuries ago. 

We turned off from the Calle Principal by the little old church of LaCruz, and passed onward across the market-place, where buying andselling went on languidly, and where a drowsy hum of talk made arhythmic setting to a scene that seemed to my unaccustomed eyes less abit of real life than a bit lifted bodily from an opera. Facing themarket-place was the ancient church; and the change was a pleasant one, from the vivid sunlight and warmth of the streets to its cool, shadowyinterior: where the only sign of life was a single old woman, her headmuffled in her _rebozo_, praying her way along the Stations of theCross. For more than two hundred and fifty years had prayer been madeand praise been offered here; and as I thought of the many generationswho here had ministered and worshipped--though evil hearts in plenty, nodoubt, both within and without the chancel there had been--it seemed tome that some portion of the subtle essence of all the soul-longings forheavenly help and guidance that here had been breathed forth, by men andwomen truly struggling against the sinful forces at work in the world, had entered into the very fabric of that ancient church, and so hadsanctified it. 

We crossed to the eastern end of the church, where was a low door-way, closed by a heavy wooden door that was studded with rough iron nails andornamented with rudely finished iron-work; pushing which door openbriskly, as one having the assured right of entry there, Don Rafaelcourteously stood aside and motioned to me to enter the sacristy. 

From the shadowy church I passed at a step into a small vaulted roombrilliant with the sunlight that poured into it through a broad windowthat faced the south. Just where this flood of sunshine fell upon theflagged floor, rising from a base of stone steps built up in a pyramidalform, was a large cross of some dark wood, on which was the life-sizefigure of the crucified Christ; and there, on the bare stone pavementbefore this emblem of his faith, his face, on which the sunlight fellfull, turned upward towards the holy image, and his arms raised insupplication, clad in his Franciscan habit, of which the hood had fallenback, knelt Fray Antonio; and upon his pale, holy face, that the richsunlight glorified, was an expression so seraphic, so entranced, that itseemed as though to his fervent gaze the very gates of heaven must beopen, and all the splendors and glories and majesties of paradiserevealed. 

It is as I thus first saw Fray Antonio--verily a saint kneeling beforethe cross--that I strive to think of him always. Yet even when thatother and darker, but surely more glorious, picture of him rises beforemy mind I am not disconsolate; for at such times the thought possessesme--coming to me clearly and vehemently, as though from a stronglyimpelled force without myself--that what he prayed for at the momentwhen I beheld him was that which God granted to him in the end. 

Some men being thus broken in upon while in the very act of communingwith Heaven would have been distressed and ill at ease--as I assuredlywas because I had so interrupted him. But to Fray Antonio, as I trulybelieve, communion with Heaven was so entirely a part of his daily lifethat our sudden entry in nowise ruffled him. After a moment, that hemight recall his thoughts within himself and so to earth again, he arosefrom his knees, and with a grave, simple grace came forward to greet us. He was not more than eight-and-twenty years old, and he was slightlybuilt and thin--not emaciated, but lean with the wholesome leanness ofone who strove to keep his body in the careful order of a machine ofwhich much work was required. His face still had in it the softroundness and tenderness of youth, that accorded well with itsexpression of gracious sweetness; but there was a firmness about thefine, strong chin, and in the set of the delicate lips, that showed areserve of masterful strength. And most of all did this strength shineforth from his eyes; which, truly, though at this first sight of him Idid not perceive it fully, were the most wonderful eyes that ever I haveseen. As I then beheld them I thought them black; but they really were adark blue, and so were in keeping with his fair skin and hair. Yet thatwhich gave them so strong an individuality was less their changing colorthan the marvellous way in which their expression changed with everychange of feeling of the soul that animated them. When I first saw them, turned up towards heaven, they seemed to speak a heavenly language fullof love; and when I saw them last, stern, but shining with the exultantlight of joy triumphant, they fairly hurled the wrath of outraged Heavenagainst the conquered powers of hell. And I can give no adequateconception of the love that shone forth from them when pitying sympathyfor human sorrow, or even for the pain which brute beasts suffered, touched that most tender heart for which they spoke in tones richer andfuller than the tones of words. 

Don Rafael, standing without the door that he had opened in order that Imight precede him, did not perceive that we had interrupted Fray Antonioin his prayers; and began, therefore, in the lively manner natural tohim, when I had been in due form presented as an American archæologistcome to Mexico to pursue my studies of its primitive inhabitants, tocommend the undertaking that I had in hand, and to ask of Fray Antoniothe aid in prosecuting it that he so well could give. 

Perhaps it was that Fray Antonio understood how wholly my heart alreadyhad gone out to him--assuredly, later, there was such close sympathybetween us that our thoughts would go and come to each other withoutneed for words--and so was disposed in some instinctive way to join hispurposes with mine; but, be this as it may, before Don Rafael well couldfinish the explanation of my wishes, Fray Antonio had comprehended whatI desired, and had promised to give me his aid. 

"The señor already has a book-knowledge of our native tongues. That iswell. The speaking knowledge will come easily. He shall have the boyPablo for his servant. A good boy is Pablo. With him he can talk in theNahua dialect--which is the most important, for it is sprung mostdirectly from the ancient stock. And I will arrange that the señor shalllive for a time in the mountains--it will be a hard life, I fear--atSanta María and at San Andrés, in which villages he can gain amouth-mastery of both Otomí and Tarascan. A little time must be given toall this--some months, no doubt. But the señor, who already has studiedthrough ten years, will understand the needfulness of this shortdiscipline. To a true student study in itself is a delight--still morethat study which makes the realization of a long-cherished purposepossible. The señor, I know, reads Spanish, since so perfectly he speaksit"--this with a gracious movement of the hands and a courteousinclination of the body that enhanced the value of the compliment--"butdoes the señor read with ease our ancient Spanish script?"

"I have never attempted it, " I answered. "But as I can read easily theold printed Spanish, I suppose, " I added, a little airily, "that I shallhave no great difficulty in reading the old script also. "

Fray Antonio smiled a little as he glanced at Don Rafael, who smiledalso, and as he turned out his hands, answered: "Perhaps. But it is notquite the same as print, as the señor will know when he tries. But itmakes no difference; for what is most interesting in our archives Ishall be glad--and so also will be Don Rafael--to aid him in reading. 

"You must know, señor, " he went on, dropping his formal mode of addressas his interest in the subject augmented, and as his feeling towards megrew warmer, "that many precious documents are here preserved. So earlyas the year 1536 this western region was erected into a Custodia, distinct from the Province of the Santo Evangelio of Mexico; and fromthat time onward letters and reports relating to the work done by themissionaries of our order among the heathen have been here received. Intruth, I doubt not that many historic treasures are hidden here. Inmodern times, during the last hundred years or more, but little thoughthas been given to the care of these old papers--which are so precious tosuch as Don Rafael and yourself because of their antiquarian value, andwhich are still more precious to me because they tell of the sowingamong the heathen of the seed of God's own Word. It is probable thatthey have not been at all examined into since our learned brothers Pablode Beaumont and Alonzo de la Rea were busy with the writing of theirchronicles of this Province--and the labors of these brothers ended morethan two hundred and fifty years ago. In the little time that I myselfcan give to such matters I already have found many manuscripts whichcast new and curious light upon the strange people who dwelt here inMexico before the Spaniards came. Some of these I will send for yourexamination, for they will prepare you for the work you have incontemplation by giving you useful knowledge of primitive modes of lifeand tones of faith and phases of thought. And while you are in themountains, at Santa María and San Andrés, I will make further searchesin our archives, and what I find you shall see upon your return. 

"With your permission, señores, I must now go about my work. Don Rafaelknows that I am much too ready to forget my work in talk of ancientmatters. It is a weakness with me--this love for the study ofantiquity--that I struggle against, but that seems rather to increaseupon me than to be overcome. This afternoon, señor, I will send a few ofthe ancient manuscripts to you. And so--until we meet again. "

II. 

THE CACIQUE'S SECRET. 

Fray Antonio punctually fulfilled his promise in regard to themanuscripts, and I had but to glance at them in order to understand thesmile that he had interchanged with Don Rafael when I so airily hadexpressed my confidence in my ability to read them. To say that I moreeasily could read Hebrew is not to the purpose, for I can read Hebrewvery well; but it is precisely to the purpose to say that I could notread them at all! What with the curious, involved formation of theseveral letters, the extraordinary abbreviations, the antique spelling, the strange forms of expression, and the use of obsolete words I couldnot make sense of so much as a single line. Yet when, being forced intoinglorious surrender, I carried the manuscripts to the Museo, andappealed to Don Rafael for assistance, he read to me in fluent Spanishall that I had found so utterly incomprehensible. "It is only a knack, "he explained. "A little time and patience are required at first, butthen all comes easily. " But Don Rafael did here injustice to his ownscholarship. More than a little time and patience have I since given tothe study of ancient Spanish script, and I am even yet very far frombeing an expert in the reading of it. 

In regard to the other promise that Fray Antonio made me--that he wouldsend me a servant who also would serve as a practical instructor in theNahua, or Aztec, dialect--he was equally punctual. While I was taking, in my bedroom, my first breakfast of bread and coffee the morningfollowing my visit to the church of San Francisco, I heard a faint soundof music; but whether it was loud music at a distance or very soft musicnear at hand I could not tell. Presently I perceived that the musicianwas feeling about among the notes for the sabre song from _La GrandeDuchesse_--selections from which semi-obsolete opera, as I thenremembered, had been played by the military band on the plaza theevening before. Gradually the playing grew more assured; until it endedin an accurate and spirited rendering of the air. With this triumph, thevolume of the sound increased greatly; and from its tones I inferredthat the instrument was a concertina, and that whoever played it was inthe inner court-yard of the hotel. Suddenly, in the midst of the music, there sounded--and this sound unmistakably came from the hotelcourt-yard--the prodigious braying of an ass; and accompanying this camethe soft sound of bare feet hurrying away down the passage from near mydoor. 

I opened the door and looked out, but the passage was empty. The galleryoverlooked the court-yard, and stepping to the edge of the low stonerailing, I beheld a sight that I never recall without a feeling of warmtenderness. Almost directly beneath me stood a small gray ass, a verydelicately shaped and perfect little animal, with a coat of mostextraordinary length and fuzziness, and with ears of a truly prodigioussize. His head was raised, and his great ears were pricked forward in afashion which indicated that he was most intently listening; and uponhis face was an expression of such benevolent sweetness, joined to suchthoughtfulness and meditative wisdom, that in my heart (which is veryopen to affection for his gentle kind) there sprung up in a moment areal love for him. Suddenly he lowered his head, and turned eagerly hisregard towards the corner of the court-yard where descended thestair-way from the gallery on which I stood; and from this quarter cametowards him a smiling, pleasant-faced Indian lad of eighteen or twentyyears old, whose dress was a cotton shirt and cotton trousers, whosefeet were bare, and on whose head was a battered hat of straw. And asthe ass saw the boy, he strained at the cord that tethered him and gaveanother mighty bray. 

"Dost thou call me, Wise One?" said the boy, speaking in Spanish. "Trulythis Señor Americano is a lazy señor, that he rises so late, and keepsus waiting for his coming so long. But patience, Wise One. The Padresays that he is a good gentleman, in whose service we shall be treatedas though we were kings. No doubt I now can buy my rain-coat. And thou, Wise One--thou shalt have beans!"

And being by this time come to the ass, the boy enfolded in his arms thecreature's fuzzy head and gently stroked its preternaturally long ears. And the ass, for its part, responded to the caress by rubbing its headagainst the boy's breast and by most energetically twitching its scragof a tail. Thus for a little time these friends manifested for eachother their affection; and then the boy seated himself on the pavementbeside the ass and drew forth from his pocket a large mouth-organ--onwhich he went to work with such a will that all the court-yard rang withthe strains of Offenbach's music. 

It was plain from what he had said that this was the boy whom FrayAntonio had promised to send to me; and notwithstanding hisuncomplimentary comments upon my laziness, I had taken already a strongliking to him. I waited until he had played through the sabre songagain--to which, as it seemed to me, the ass listened with a slightlycritical yet pleased attention--and then I hailed him. 

"The lazy Señor Americano is awake at last, Pablo, " I called. "Come uphither, and we will talk about the buying of thy rain-coat, and aboutthe buying of the Wise One's beans. "

The boy jumped up as though a spring had been let loose beneath him, andhis shame and confusion were so great that I was sorry enough that I hadmade my little joke upon him. 

"It is all right, my child, " I said, quickly, and with all the kindnessthat I could put into my tones. "Thou wert talking to the Wise One, notto me--and I have forgotten all that I heard. Thou art come from FrayAntonio?"

"Yes, señor, " he answered; and as he saw by my smiling that no harm hadbeen done, he also smiled; and so honest and kindly was the lad's facethat I liked him more and more. 

"Patience for yet a little longer, Wise One, " he said, turning to theass, who gravely wagged his ears in answer. And then the boy came up thestair to the gallery, and so we went to my room that I might have talkwith him. 

It was not much that Pablo had to tell about himself. He was aGuadalajara lad, born in the Indian suburb of Mexicalcingo--as hismusical taste might have told me had I known more of Mexico--who haddrifted out into the world to seek his fortune. His capital was theass--so wise an ass that he had named him El Sabio. "He knows each wordthat I speak to him, señor, " said Pablo, earnestly. "And when he hears, even a long way off, the music that I make upon the little instrument, he know that it is from me that the music comes, and calls to me. And heloves me, señor, as though he were my brother; and he knows that withthe same tenderness I also love him. It was the good Padre who gave himto me. God rest and bless him always!" This pious wish, I inferred, related not to the ass but to Fray Antonio. 

"And how dost thou live, Pablo?" I asked. 

"By bringing water from the Spring of the Holy Children, señor. It istwo leagues away, the Ojo de los Santos Niños, and El Sabio and I makethither two journeys daily. We bring back each time four jars of water, which we sell here in the city--for it is very good, sweet water--atthree _tlacos_ the jar. You see, I make a great deal of money, señor--three _reales_ a day! If it were not for one single thing, Ishould soon be rich. "

That riches could be acquired rapidly on a basis of about twenty-sevencents, in our currency, a day struck me as a novel notion. But Iinquired, gravely: "And this one thing that hinders thee from gettingrich, Pablo, what is it?"

"It is that I eat so much, señor, " Pablo answered, ruefully. "Truly itseems as though this belly of mine never could be filled. I tryvaliantly to eat little and so to save my money; but my belly cries outfor more and yet more food--and so my money goes. Although I make somuch, I can scarcely save a _medio_ in a whole week, when what El Sabiomust have and what I must have is paid for. And I am trying so hard tosave just now, for before the next rainy season comes I want to own arain-coat. But for a good one I must pay seven _reales_. The price isvast. "

"What is a rain-coat, Pablo?"

"The señor does not know? That is strange. It is a coat woven of palmleaves, so that all over one it is as a thatch that the rain cannot comethrough. What I was saying just now to El Sabio--" Pablo stoppedsuddenly, and turned aside from me in a shamefaced way, as heremembered what he also had said to El Sabio about my laziness. 

"--Was that out of the wages I am to pay thee thou canst save enoughmoney to buy thy coat with, " I said, quickly, wishing to rid him of hisconfusion. And then we fell to talking of what these wages should be, and of how he was to help me to gain a speaking knowledge of his nativetongue--for so far we had spoken Spanish together--and of what ingeneral would be his duties as my servant. That El Sabio could beanything but a part of the contract seemed never to cross Pablo's mind;and so presently our terms were concluded, and I found myself occupyingthe responsible relation of master to a mouth-organ playing boy and anextraordinarily wise ass. It was arranged that both of these dependantsof mine should accompany me in my expedition to the Indian villages; andto clinch our bargain I gave Pablo the seven _reales_ wherewith to buyhis rain-coat on the spot. 

I was a little surprised, two days later, when we started from Moreliaon our journey into the mountains to the westward, to find that Pablohad not bought his much-desired garment; though, to be sure, as therainy season still was a long way off, there was no need for it. Hehesitated a little when I questioned him about it, and then, in a veryapologetic tone, said: "Perhaps the señor will forgive me for doing soill with his money. But indeed I could not help it. There is an old man, his name is Juan, señor, who has been very good to me many times. He hasgiven me things to put into this wretchedly big belly of mine; and whenI broke one of my jars he lent me the money to buy another with, andwould take from me again only what the jar cost and no more. Just nowthis old many is sick--it is rheumatism, señor--and he has no money atall, and he and his wife have not much to eat, and I know what pain thatis. And so--and so--Will the señor forgive me? I do not need therain-coat now, the señor understands. And so I gave Juan the seven_reales_, which he will pay me when he gets well and works again; andshould he die and not pay me--Does the señor know what I have beenthinking? It is that rain-coats really are not very needful things, after all. Without them one gets wet, it is true; but then one soon getsdry again. But truly"--and there was a sudden catching in Pablo's throatthat was very like a sob--"truly I did want one. "

When Pablo had told this little story I did not wonder at the esteem inwhich Fray Antonio held him, and from that time onward he had a verywarm place in my heart. And I may say that but for his too greatdevotion to his mouth-organ--for that boy never could hear a new tunebut that he needs must go at once to practising it upon his beloved"instrumentito" until he had mastered it--he was the best servant thatman ever had. And within his gentle nature was a core of very gallantfearlessness. In the times of danger which we shared together later, excepting only Rayburn, not one of us stood face to face and foot tofoot with death with a steadier or a calmer bravery; for in all hiscomposition there did not seem to be one single fibre that could be madeto thrill in unison with fear. Of his qualities as a servant I had agood trial during the two months that we were together in themountains--in which time I got enough working knowledge of the Indiandialects to make effective the knowledge that I had gained frombooks--and I was amazed by the quickness that he manifested inapprehending and in supplying my wants and in understanding my ways. 

As to making any serious study of Indian customs--save only those of themost open and well-known sort--in this short time, I soon perceived thatthe case was quite hopeless. Coming from Fray Antonio, whose benevolentministrations among them had won their friendship, the Indians treatedme with a great respect and showed me every kindness. But I presentlybegan to suspect, and this later grew to be conviction, that because mycredentials came from a Christian priest I was thrust away all the moreresolutely from knowledge of their inner life. What I then began tolearn, and what I learned more fully later, convinced me that theseIndians curiously veneered with Christian practices their native heathenfaith; manifesting a certain superstitious reverence for the Christianrites and ceremonies, yet giving sincere worship only to their heathengods. It was something to have arrived at this odd discovery, but ittended only to show me how difficult was the task that I had set myselfof prying into the secrets of the Indians' inner life. 

Indeed, but for an accident, I should have returned to Morelia no wiser, practically, than when I left it; but by that turn of chance fortunemost wonderfully favored me, and with far-reaching consequences. It wason the last afternoon of my stay in the village of Santa María; and thebeginning of my good-luck was that I succeeded in walking out upon themountain-side alone. My walk had a decided purpose in it, for each timethat I had tried to go in this direction one or another of the Indianshad been quickly upon my heels with some civil excuse about the dangerof falling among the rocks for leading me another way. How I thussucceeded at last in escaping from so many watchful eyes I cannot say, but luck was with me, and I went on undisturbed. The sharply slopingmountain-side, very wild and rugged, was strewn with great fragments ofrock which had fallen from the heights above, and which, lying there forages beneath the trees, had come to be moss-grown and half hidden bybushes and fallen leaves. In the dim light that filtered through thebranches, walking in so uncertain a place was attended with a good dealof danger; for not only was there a likelihood of falls leading tobroken legs, but broken necks also were an easy possibility by thechance of a slip upon the mossy edge of one or another of the manyledges, followed by a spin through the air ending suddenly upon thejagged rocks below. Indeed, so ticklish did I find my way that I beganto think that the Indians had spoken no more than the simple truth inwarning me against such dangers, and that I had better turn again whilelight remained to bring me back in safety; and just as I had reachedthis wise conclusion my feet slid suddenly from under me on the veryedge of one of the ledges, and over I went into the depth below. 

Fortunately I fell not more than a dozen feet or so, and my fall wasbroken by a friendly bed of leaves and moss. When I got to my feetagain, in a moment, I found myself in a narrow cleft in the rocks, and Iwas surprised to see that through this cleft ran a well-worn path. Allthought of the danger that I had just escaped from so narrowly wasbanished form my mind instantly as I made this discovery; and full ofthe exciting hope that I was about to find something which the Indiansmost earnestly desired to conceal, I went rapidly and easily onward inthe direction that I had been pressing towards with so much difficultyalong the rocky mountain-side. The course of this sunken path, I soonperceived, was partly natural and partly artificial. It went on throughclefts such as the one that I had fallen into, and through devious wayswhere the fragments of fallen rock, some of them great masses weighingmany tons, had been piled upon each other in most natural confusion, soas to leave a narrow passage in their depths. And all this had been donein a long-past time, for the rocks were thickly coated with moss; and inone place, where a watercourse crossed the path, were smoothed by waterin a way that only centuries could have accomplished. So cleverly wasthe concealment effected, the way so narrow and so irregular, that Iverily believe an army might have scoured that mountain-side and neverfound the path at all, save by such accident as had brought me into it. 

For half a mile or more I went on in the waning light, my heartthrobbing with the excitement of it all, and so came out at last upon avast jutting promontory of rock that was thrust forth from themountain's face eastwardly. Here was an open space of an acre or more, in the centre of which was a low, altar-like structure of stone. At theend of the narrow path, being still within its shelter, I stopped tomake a careful survey of the ground before me; for I realized that inwhat I was doing Death stood close at my elbow, and that, unless I actedwarily, he surely would have me in his grasp. Coming out of the shadowsof the woods and the deeper shadows of the sunken path to this wide openspace, where the light of the brilliant sunset was reflected stronglyfrom masses of rosy clouds over all the eastern sky, I could seeclearly. In the midst of the opening, not far from the edge of thestupendous precipice, where the bare rock dropped sheer down a thousandfeet or more, was a huge bowlder that had been cut and squared withineffective tools into the rude semblance of a mighty altar. Thewell-worn path along which I had come told the rest of the story. Herewas the temple, having for its roof the great arch of heaven, in whichthe Indians, whom the gentle Fray Antonio believed to be such goodChristians, truly worshipped their true gods; even as here their fathershad worshipped before them in the very dawning of the ancient past. 

A tremor of joy went through me as I realized what I had found. Here waspositive proof of what I had strongly but not surely hoped for. TheAztec faith truly was still a living faith; and it followed almostcertainly that, could I but penetrate the mystery with which it washedged about so carefully by them still faithful to it, I would findall that I sought--of living customs, of coherent traditions--wherewithto exhibit clearly to the world of the nineteenth century the wonderfulsocial and religious structure that the Spaniards of the sixteenthcentury had blotted out, but had not destroyed. What myfellow-archæologists had accomplished in Syria, in Egypt, in Greece, wasnothing to what I could thus accomplish in Mexico. At the best, Smith, Rawlinson, Schliemann, had done no more than stir the dust above thesurface of dead antiquity; but I was about to bring the past freshly andbrightly into the very midst of the present, and to make antiquity oncemore alive!

As I stood there in the dusk of the narrow pathway, while the joy thatwas in my heart swelled it almost to bursting, there came to my ears thelow moaning of one in pain. The faint, uncertain sound seemed to comefrom the direction of the great stone altar. To discover myself in thatplace to any of the Indians, I knew would end my archæological ambitionvery summarily; yet was I moved by a natural desire to aid whoever thuswas hurting and suffering. I stood irresolute a moment, and then, as themoaning came to me again, I went out boldly into the open space, andcrossed it to where the altar was. As I rounded the great stone I saw avery grievous sight: an old man lying upon the bare rock, a great gashin his forehead from which the blood had flowed down over his face andbreast, making him a most ghastly object to look upon; and there wasabout him a certain limpness that told of many broken bones. He turnedhis head at the sound of my footsteps, but it was plain that the bloodflowing into his eyes had blinded him, and that he could not see me. Hemade a feeble motion to clear his eyes, but dropped his partly raisedarm suddenly and with a moan of pain. I recognized him at a glance. Hewas the Cacique, the chief, and also, as I had shrewdly guessed, thepriest of the village--the very last person whom I would have desired tomeet in that place. 

"Ah, thou art come to me at last, Benito!" he said, speaking in a lowand broken voice. "I have been praying to our gods that they would sendthee to me--for my death has come, and it is needful that the one secretstill hidden from thee, my successor, should be told. I was on thealtar's top, and thence I fell. "

I perceived in what the Cacique said that there was hope for me. Hecould not see me, and he evidently believed that I was the second chiefof the village, Benito--an Indian who had talked much with me, and thetones of whose voice I knew well. Doubtless my clumsy attempt tosimulate the Indian's speech would have been detected quickly underother circumstances, but the Cacique believed that no other man couldhave come to him in that place; and his whole body was wrung withtorturing pains, and he was in the very article of death. And so it was, my prudence leading me to speak few and simple words, and my good-luckstill standing by me, he never guessed whose hands in his last momentsministered to him. 

As I raised his head a little and rested it upon my knee, he spokeagain, very feebly and brokenly: "On my breast is the bag of akin. Init is the Priest-Captain's token, and the paper that shows the way towhere the stronghold of our race remains. Only with me abides thissecret, for I am of the ancient house, as thou art also, whence sprungof old our priests and kings. Only when the sign that I have told theeof--but telling thee not its meaning--comes from heaven, is the token tobe sent, and with it the call for aid. Once, as thou knowest, that signcame, and the messenger, our own ancestor, departed. But there was angerthen against us among the gods, and they suffered not his message to bedelivered, and he himself was slain. Yet was the token preserved tous, and yet again the sign from heaven will come. And then--thouknowest--" But here a shiver of pain went through him, and his speechgave place to agonizing moans. When he spoke again his words were but awhisper. "Lay me--in front of--the altar, " he said. "Now is the end. "

"But the sign? What is it? And where is the stronghold?" I criedeagerly; forgetting in the intense excitement of this strange disclosuremy need for reticence, and forgetting even to disguise my voice. But myimprudence cost me nothing. Even as I spoke another shiver went throughthe Cacique's body; and as there came from his lips, thereafter foreverto be silent, a sound, half moan, half gasp, his soul went out from him, and he was at rest. 

When a little calmness had returned to me, I took from his breast thebag of skin--stained darkly where his blood had flowed upon it--and thentenderly and reverently lifted his poor mangled body and laid it beforethe altar. And so I came back along the hidden path, safely andunperceived, to the village: leaving the dead Cacique there in thesolemn solitude of that great mountain-top, whereon the dusk of nightwas gathering, alone in death before the altar of his gods. 

III. 

THE MONK'S MANUSCRIPT. 

When Pablo and I started, the day following, upon our return to Morelia, the village of Santa María was overcast with mourning. The Cacique wasdead, they told us; had fallen among the rocks on the mountain-side, being an old man and feeble, and so was killed. And I was expresslycharged with a message to the good Padre, begging him to hasten to SantaMaría that the dead man might have Christian burial. I confess that Ifound this request, though I promised faithfully to comply with it, highly amusing; for I knew beyond the possibility of a doubt that ifever a man died a most earnest and devout heathen it was this sameCacique for whom Christian burial was sought; and I felt an assuredconviction that when the services of the Church over him were ended--andwhatever good was to be had for him from them secured--he would beburied fittingly with all the fulness of his own heathen rites. But thismatter, lying in what I already perceived to be the very wide regionbetween the avowed faith and the hidden faith of the Indians, was noconcern of mine; yet I longed, as only a thoroughly earnestarchæologist could long, to be a witness of the funeral ceremony inwhich Fray Antonio most conspicuously would not take part. As this washopelessly impossible--for only by very slow advances, if ever, could Ireach again by considerate investigation the point that in a moment Ihad reached by chance--I came away from Santa María reluctantly, yetgreatly elated by the discovery that I had made. 

So jealous was I in guarding the strange legacy that the Cacique hadbequeathed to me that not until I was safe back in Morelia, in my roomat the hotel, with the door locked behind me, did I venture to examineit. The bag, about six inches square, tightly sewed on all four of itssides, was made of snake-skin, and was provided with a loop ofsnake-skin so that it might be hung from the neck upon the breast like ascapulary. My hands trembled as I cut the delicate stitching of magueyfibre, and then drew forth a mass of several thicknesses of coarsegray-brown paper, also made of the maguey, such as the ancient Aztecsused. Being unfolded, I had before me a sheet nearly two feet square, onwhich was painted in dull colors a curious winding procession of figuresand symbols. My knowledge of such matters being then but scant, I couldtell only that this was a record, at once historical and geographical, of a tribal migration; and I saw at a glance that it was unlike eitherof the famous picture-writings which record the migration of the Aztecsfrom Culhuacan to the Valley of Mexico, and then about that valley untiltheir final settlement in Tenochtitlan. I was reasonably confident, indeed, that this record differed from all existing codices; and I wasfilled with what I hope will be looked upon as a pardonable pride athaving discovered, within three months of my coming to Mexico, thisunique and inestimable treasure. 

My natural desire was to carry my precious codex at once to Don Rafael, that I might have the benefit of his superior knowledge in studying it(for he had continued very intelligently the investigation of Aztecpicture-writing that was so well begun by the late Señor Ramirez), andalso that I might enjoy his sympathetic enjoyment of my discovery. As Iraised the bag, that I might replace in it the refolded paper--which Ialready saw heralded to the world as the Codex Palgravius, andreproduced in fac-simile in _Pre-Columbian Conditions on the Continentof North America_--some glittering object dropped out of it and fellwith a jingling sound upon the stone floor. When I examined eagerly thisfresh treasure I found that it was a disk of gold, about the size andthickness of a Mexican silver dollar, on which a curious figure wasrudely engraved. The engraving obviously represented an Aztecname-device, the like of which, in the ancient picture-writings, distinguish one from another the several generations of a line of kings. This name-device was strange to me; but, as I have said, I had not atthat time studied carefully the Aztec picture-writings, and there weremany names of kings which I would not then have recognized. But that thegold disk was the token concerning the meaning of which the dyingCacique had given so strange a hint, I felt assured. 

Being still further gladdened by this fresh discovery, I carried mytreasures at once to the Museo; and Don Rafael's enthusiasm over themwas as hearty as I could desire. Being so deeply learned in suchmatters, he was able in the course of a single afternoon to arrive atmuch of the meaning of my codex; and his rendering of it showed that itpossessed a very extraordinary historical value. In the Codex Boturini, as is well known, are several important lapses that neither that eminentscholar, nor any other archæologist whose conclusions can be consideredtrustworthy, has been able to supply. All that reasonably can beimagined concerning these breaks is that the historian of the Aztecmigration deliberately omitted certain facts from his pictured history. The astonishing discovery that Don Rafael made in regard to my codex wasthat it unquestionably supplied the facts concealed in one of thelongest of these unaccountable blanks. This was not a mere guess on hispart, but a demonstrable certainty. On a fac-simile of the CodexBoturini he bade me observe attentively the pictures which preceded andwhich followed the break in question; and then he showed me that thesesame pictures were the beginning and the ending of my owncodex--obviously put there so that this secret record might be insertedaccurately into the public record of the wanderings of the Aztec tribe. 

Further, the geographical facts set forth in the Codex Boturini havingbeen very solidly established, it was easy to determine approximatelythe part of Mexico to which the beginning and the end of my codexreferred. But the migration here recorded was a very long one, and allthat Don Rafael could say with certainty concerning it was that it toldof far journeyings into the west and north. He was much puzzled, moreover, by a picture that occurred about the middle of the codex, andthat seemed to be intended to represent a walled city among mountains. To my mind this picture tallied well with what the dying Cacique hadtold me touching the hidden stronghold of his race. But Don Rafaelattached very little importance to the Cacique's words; and onarchæological grounds maintained that a walled city was an impossibilityin primitive Mexico--for while walls were built in plenty by theprimitive Mexicans, and still are to be found in many places, no mentionof a walled city is made by the early chroniclers, and of such a citythere never has been found the slightest trace. 

In regard to the engraved disk of gold, Don Rafael said at once andpositively that it represented a name-device which never had beenfigured in any known Aztec writing; and he was of the opinion--being ledthereto by consideration of certain delicate peculiarities of the figurewhich were too subtle for my uninstructed apprehension to grasp--thatthe name here symbolized was that of a ruler who was both priest andking. That the piece of gold was found associated with picture-writingunquestionably belonging to the theocratic period lent additional colorto this assumption. The sum of our conclusions, therefore, was that wehad here the name-device of a priest-king who had ruled the Aztec tribeduring some portion of the first migration. And, assuming that he hadlived during the period to which my codex referred, and accepting thesystem of dates tentatively adopted by Señor Ramirez, we even fixed theninth century of our era as the period in which he had lived and ruled. 

During two whole days Don Rafael and I worked together over thesematters in the Museo; and it was not until our investigations wereended--so far, at least, as investigations could be said to be endedwhile yet no definite conclusions were reached--that my thoughtsreverted to Fray Antonio, and to the requirement of courtesy that Ishould report to him the result of my course of study in the Indiantongues. It is but justice to myself to add that, knowing him to be goneto Santa María to attend to the Cacique's burial, I had temporarilydismissed this matter from my mind. 

But when I was come to the Church of San Francisco--carrying with me theCodex Palgravius and the engraved disk of gold, in both of which I knewthat he would take a keen interest--I had no immediate opportunity ofexhibiting to him my treasures. 

As I pushed open the sacristy door, when I had knocked upon it and hehad called me to enter, he came towards me at once in excitement soeager that his face was all lit up by it; and almost before I couldgreet him he exclaimed: "You are most happily come, my friend. At thisvery moment I was about to send for you; for I have found that whichwill stir your heart even as it has stirred mine. Yet perhaps, " and hespoke more gravely, "it will not stir your heart in the same way thatmine is stirred by it--for if I can but find the key that will unlockthe whole of the mystery that here partly is revealed, I see before mesuch opportunity to garner the Lord's vintage as comes but seldom to Hisservants in these later ages of the world. "

So strange was Fray Antonio's manner, and so wayward seemed his speech, that I was half inclined to think his religious enthusiasm fairly hadlanded him in religious madness; which thought must have found utterancein my look of doubtfulness, for he smiled kindly at me, and in a quietertone went on:

"My wits still are with me, Don Tomas; though I do not wonder at yourthinking that I have lost them. Sit down here and listen to the story ofmy discovery; and when it is ended you will perceive that I very wellmay be excited by it and still be sane. "

Being assured by this calmer speech that Fray Antonio had not takenleave of his senses, I made a weak disclaimer, that he smilinglyaccepted, of my too clearly expressed doubts in that direction; and soseated myself to listen. 

"You know, señor, " he began, "that common report has declared thatbeneath this Church of San Francisco is a secret passage that extendsunder the city and has its exit in the outlying meadow-lands. I mayconfide in you frankly that this passage does exist, and that I, incommon with all members of my Order who have dwelt here, know preciselywhere its entrance is and where its outlet. These matters need not beexposed, for they are not essential to my purpose. But you must knowthat in the midst of this passage I found on the day preceding yourreturn from the mountains a little room of which the door was so wellconcealed that my finding it was the merest accident. And in the room, with other things which need not here be named, I found a chest in whichare certain ancient papers of which I have been long in search. In thearchives are frequent references to these papers--they are of muchimportance to our Order--but as with all my search I never coulddiscover them, I had decided in my mind that in one or another of thetroublous periods that our Church has passed through they had beendestroyed. It is plain to me now that in one of these periods of dangerthey were hidden in this safe place. 

"Some of these papers, dealing with mere matters of history, you willhave pleasure in examining in due time. But that which I shall show younow, and which has so excited me that you not unnaturally thought that Ihad gone mad over it, has got among the rest, as I verily believe, bysimple accident. Among the books and papers in the chest was a parchmentcase on which was written 'Mission of Santa Marta, ' and the date '1531. 'Within it were some loose sheets of paper on which were records ofIndian baptisms, as is evident by the strange mixing of Christian and ofheathen names. Plainly, this was the register of some mission station ofour Order in that far-back time. But as I pried into the case moreclosely, I found, within a double fold of the parchment--yet not asthough intentionally hidden, but rather as though there placed fortemporary safety--a sealed letter directed to the blessed Fray Juan deZumárraga, who was of our Order, and who, as you know, was the firstbishop of our holy Church in this New Spain. As I drew forth theletter, the seal, that time had loosened, fell away and left it open inmy hand. That this letter never until now has been read I am altogetherconfident, for the prodigy of which it tells would have made so great astir that ample record of it would have been preserved. Nor is itdifficult to account for the way in which it missed coming to the eyefor which it was intended. In that early time many and many of ourOrder, going out to preach God's Word among the barbarians, came happilyto that end which is the happiest end attainable in God's service: ablessed martyrdom. " Fray Antonio's voice trembled with deep feeling ashe spoke, and I remembered that Don Rafael had told me that this goodbrother, it was believed, himself longed for a death so glorious. "Andbeing thus slain, " Fray Antonio in a moment continued, "the missionstations which they had established were left desolate, with what theyheld--save such few things as might be cared for by the savagemurderers--remaining there within them. In later times, as theconquering Spaniards overspread the land, many of these stations werefound, with nothing to tell save nameless bones of those who had diedthere that God's will might be done. 

"It is my conjecture, therefore, that this parchment case was found--howmany years after the death of him who owned it, who can tell?--in one ofthe many stations that the savages thus ravaged; that the soldiers, orwhoever may have found it, brought it hither, the nearest importantabiding-place of our Order; and that, being carelessly examined, it wascarelessly thrown aside when found to contain, apparently, only thelittle record of the work which our dead brother accomplished before Godgranted him his crown of earthly martyrdom and so made quick his way toheaven. Had the letter ever reached that 'first hand' for which thewriter says he waits to send it by, it assuredly would have come to theknowledge of the gold-loving Spanish conquerors, and armies would havegone forth to answer it. But our dead brother, having written it andplaced it in this fold of the parchment for safety until the chance tosend it southward should come, was cut off from life suddenly; and so, of the prodigious marvel of which knowledge had so strangely come tohim, only this mute and hidden record remained. "

"But the letter itself?" I asked, with more energy than politeness. "What _is_ the story that it contains? What is this mystery? Tell me ofit first, and then explain as much as you please afterwards. "

Fray Antonio smiled at me kindly. "Ah, you too are becoming excited, " hesaid. "But, truly, it is not fair that I should thus have kept youwaiting. Indeed, I am so full of it all that I forgot that as yet youknow nothing. Come out with me into the court-yard, where the light isstronger--for the writing is very faint and pale--and I will read youthis letter in which so wonderful a story is set forth. "

Together we passed out through a little door in the rear of the sacristyinto what had been the inner and smaller cloister court-yard of the oldconvent--a lovely place in which a fountain set in a quaint stone basinsparkled, and where warm sunshine fell upon the rippling water and uponbeds of sweet-smelling flowers. And here it was, standing among theflowers in the sunshine, beside the quaint fountain, that Fray Antonioread to me the letter--that in this strange fashion had come to us froma hand dead for much more than three centuries, and that yet brought tous two a vital message that wholly was to shape our destinies. 

IV. 

MONTEZUMA'S MESSENGER. 

The letter was without date, but, being addressed to the BishopZumárraga, the phrase that occurred in it--"this New Spain, wherein, Very Reverend Father, you have labored in God's service this year andmore past"--showed that 1530 was the year in which it was written. As toplace, there practically was no clew at all. The writer referredrepeatedly to "this mission of Santa Marta, in the Chichimecacountry"--but the mission had perished utterly but a little while afterit was founded; and at that period the term Chichimeca country was usedby the Spaniards in speaking of any part of Mexico where wild Indianswere. 

Being shorn of a portion of its pious verbiage, and somewhat modernizedin style, the ancient Spanish of this letter contained in effect theseEnglish words:

[Illustration: THE LETTER FROM THE DEAD. ]

 "VERY REVEREND FATHER, --This present letter will be sent forward to you by the first hand by which it may be hence transmitted; and in your wisdom, with God's grace also guiding you, I doubt not that you will take measures for sending missionaries of our Order to the great company of the heathen whose whereabouts I am to disclose to you. And also, no doubt--keeping the matter secret from the pestilent Oidores of the Audiencia--you will communicate this strange matter through safe channels to our lord the King: that with our missionaries an army may go forth, and that so the great treasure of which I give tidings may be wrested from the heathen to be used for God's glory and the enriching of our lord the King. 

 "Know, Very Reverend Father, that a month since, I being then abroad from this mission of Santa Marta, preaching God's word in a certain village of the Chichimecas that is five leagues to the northward, was so strengthened by God's grace that many of the heathen professed our holy faith and were baptized. And of these was one who among that tribe was held a captive. Which captive, as I found, was of the nation that dwelt in Tenochtitlan before our great captain, Don Fernando Cortés, reduced that city to submission. But little of earthly life remained to this poor captive when I, unworthily but happily, opened to him the way to life glorious and eternal; for in the fight that happened when he was captured--of which fight he alone of all his companions had survived--he was sorely wounded; and though in time his wounds had healed he remained but a weakly man, and the service to which his captors forced him was hard. So it was that I had but little more than time to put him in the way leading to heaven before his spirit gladly forsook its weary body and went thence from earth. 

 "That he truly was a convert to our holy faith I am well assured, by the signs of a spirit meet for repentance which he showed in his own person; and still more by his strong longing, most earnestly expressed, that this same glorious faith of freedom should be preached to a certain great company of his people, whereof he most secretly told me, who still remain bound in the bondage of idolatry. And it is what he told me of these, Very Reverend Father, and of the marvellous hidden city wherein they dwell, and of the mighty treasure which there they guard, that I desire now to bring to your private knowledge, before it shall be known of by the Oidores, and through you to our lord the King. Here now is the whole of the mystery that he recited:

 "In very ancient times, he said, his people came forth from seven caves which are in the western region of this continent, and wandered long in search of an abiding-place. And in the course of ages it came to pass that a certain wise king ruled over them to whom was given the gift of prophecy. Which king, by name Chaltzantzin, foretold that in the later ages there should come an army of fair and bearded men from the eastward, who would prevail over the people of his race: slaying many, and making of the remainder slaves. Being sorely troubled by thought of what he thus foresaw, he set himself to provide a source of strength whereon his descendants in that later time might draw in the hour of their peril--and so save themselves from cruel death and from yet crueler slavery. To which end, in a certain great valley that lies securely hidden among the mountains of this continent, he caused to be built a walled city; and this city he then peopled with the very bravest and strongest of his race. And he made for those dwelling there a perpetual law that commanded that all such as showed themselves when come to maturity to be weak or malformed in body, or coward of heart, then should be put to death; to the end that their natural increase ever should be of the same stout stuff as themselves, and also that there might be no lack of victims for the sacrifices which are acceptable to their barbarous gods. And thus he provided that in the time of need there should be here a strong army of valiant warriors, ready to come forth to fight against the fair-faced bearded men, and by conquering them to save safe the land. 

 "And yet more provision did King Chaltzantzin make for the strengthening and the saving of his race in the later ages. Within this walled city of Culhuacan he caused to be builded a great treasure-house, wherein he garnered such store of riches as never was gathered together in one place since the beginning of the world. And his order was that if even the power of the army which should go forth from that city sufficed not to conquer the foreign foemen, then should this vast treasure be used to buy his people's ransom, that they might not perish nor be enslaved. 

 "Having set all which great matters in order, King Chaltzantzin came forth from the Valley of Aztlan, leaving behind him the noble colony that he had there founded; and so with his people wandered vagrant--even as their gods had commanded that they should go until by a sign from heaven they should be shown where was to be their lasting home. And that the fulfilling of his purpose might be made the more sure, he brought his people forth from that valley by most perilous passes and through strait ways so that they might not return thither; and that they who remained might not follow, he closed the way behind him with mighty bars. 

 "In the fulness of time this wise king died, and others reigned in his stead; and at last the ages of wandering of the Aztec tribe were ended by the sign coming from heaven whereby they knew that the Valley of Anahuac was to be their abiding home. There built they the city of Tenochtitlan: which city the valiant captain, Don Fernando Cortés, conquered this short time since--and by conquest of it verified precisely the prophecy that King Chaltzantzin uttered in very ancient times. 

 "But the captive Indian told me, further, that before the coming of the Spaniards there was seen the sign of warning that King Chaltzantzin had promised should tell when the danger that he had so well prepared for should be near; which sign was the going out of the sacred fire that the priests guarded on a certain high hill. Meantime, all knowledge of their brethren hidden in the Valley of Aztlan for their help in time of peril was lost to the Aztec tribe in dim tradition; for the King had commanded, in order that his people might not fall into weakness through trusting in the strength of others for protection, that no open record of the colony that he had founded should be preserved. Therefore was this matter a secret known only to a few priests whose blood was of the royal line; in whose keeping, also, was the token that King Chaltzantzin had commanded should be sent to the walled city of Culhuacan when its warriors were to be called forth, and a map whereby the way thither was made plain. And so it was that, when the sacred fire ceased burning, the priests were alert for the threatened danger; and when the landing of the Spaniards--'fair-faced and bearded men, coming for the eastward'--was known to them, they warned their king, Montezuma, that the prophecy was fulfilled, and that the time for sending for the army and the treasure had come. 

 "For the bearer of this message was chosen a priest of the blood royal, with whom went also a younger priest, his son. And with these went a guard, whereof the captive Indian was one, that they might be carried in safety through the region where the wild Indians were. But the valor of the guard was useless, for the wild Indians set upon them in such prodigious numbers--in a place not far from where is this present mission of Santa Marta--that all of the company, save only this single Indian who was wounded and made captive, was overpowered and slain. Yet among the slain, the Indian said, was not found the body of the priest's son; nor was there found on the priest's body the token that he had been the bearer of, nor the map that showed the way. For a time the Indian had hoped that the younger priest had escaped out of the fight alive, and had carried to them who dwelt in the walled city of Culhuacan the message of summons; but as the years went onward and nothing came of it, this hope had died within his heart. 

 "This, Very Reverend Father, is the strange story told me by this Indian; who spoke with the urgent sincerity of one devout in the Christian faith who knew by sensible perception that his death was near at hand. Eagerly he begged that to these Gentiles, his brethren by blood, might be sent in their secret fastnesses the blessed Word whereby they would be delivered from the chains of their idolatry into the freedom of Christian grace. And, surely, the treasure that they ward very well may be wrested from these heathen that it may be used in part in this land in God's service, and that in part it may go to the just enriching of our lord the King. 

 "Nor is the matter one that is difficult of accomplishment. For a token which shall give us the right of entry into this walled city of Culhuacan we need only the Word of God and a sufficient force of men well armed with swords and matchlocks. Nor is it any bar to our quest that the map showing the way thither has been lost. The Indian told me that this way is so plainly marked that one who had found it could not lose it again. For at spaces of not more than a league or two apart, upon flat places of the rock convenient for such purpose, was cut the same figure that the token of summons had engraved upon it; and, with this, an arrow pointing towards where the next carving would be found: and so these signs went onward, the heathen priest had told him, even to the very entrance of the Valley of Aztlan. And that this matter might be made sure to me, he led me to a spot but a league to the westward of this mission of Santa Marta and there showed me one of these signs, with the pointing arrow carved also on the rock beside it--of all of which the drawing here made is an indifferent good copy. And by that guiding arrow we went onward to another like carving at a little less than two leagues away to the northward. Therefore, Very Reverend Father, I, of my own knowledge, am a witness to a part, at least, of the truth of what that Indian told. And with all my heart do I add mine own entreaty to his simple pleadings for the salvation of the souls of his brethren; and also do I venture to entreat that among those who go to carry the Word of God to this hidden heathen host I may be one; so that I, though all unworthy of such honor, shall have a part in rendering to God so glorious a service. 

 "The more urgently do I ask this favor because here, in this mission of Santa Marta, it is but too clear to me that I am laboring in a barren field. Some hundreds of the heathen I have indeed baptized; but among all these who have professed our Christian faith scarce a score show outward and visible signs of a true regeneration. Many, I am sadly sure, still practise in secret their old idolatry--and find little more than mere amusement in the rites of our most holy Church. When they tire of this novelty, which, in the case of folk of such light natures no doubt will be in a little while, they will return openly to their idolatry; and it probably may happen that they then will sacrifice me to their heathen gods. That, in one way or another, they do intend to kill me, and that soon, I feel quite sure. I am but twenty-three years old, Very Reverend Father; and that is an early time in life to end it. No doubt, also, in killing me they will use torture. And I long fervently to live, not only for the pleasure of it, but also that I may do good service to God, and to our Father Saint Francis, by saving many heathen souls. Therefore I beg that when the army marches to the reduction of this hidden city that I may be one of our brethren who will go with it, to hold by tender preaching of God's goodness and mercy such heathen as may remain alive after our soldiers shall have conquered that city with the sword. 

 "I commend you, Very Reverend Father, to the care of Our Lord in all things, and pray that he may guard your most illustrious and very reverend person, and protect you in all matters of your temporal and spiritual estate. And I am the least worthy of your servants, FRANCISCO de los ANGELES. "

"Of a truth, " said Fray Antonio, as he ceased reading, "this brother ofmine adhered closely to the truth when he subscribed himself the leastworthy of the bishop's servants. Were it not here in his own hand, Ishould refuse to believe that one of our Order at that time in New Spainhad any thought of saving his own life when God's work was to be done. "

For myself, I must own that my heart was deeply touched by the veryhumanity of this poor Brother Francisco's cry for help that came up outof the dead depths of the past; and that was the more keen and pitifulbecause the cruel death at the hands of the barbarous Indians that he sodreaded assuredly had overtaken him. His could not have been a strongnature, and it was the weaker because of his youth; but, after all, itwas the nature that God had given him, and there must have been a strainof strength in it, else he never would have braved the dangers whichovercame him in the end. And he was "but twenty-three years old"!

Yet when I sought to lead Fray Antonio's mind to such consideration ofthe matter he replied, sternly: "This weak brother failed in his duty. To him God gave an opportunity to die gloriously for the Faith; but, instead of accepting that noble reward joyfully, his strongest wish wasthat he might find a way by which he might escape alive. Had allprofessors of the Christian creed so conducted themselves, that creedlong since would have perished from off the earth. _Semen est sanguisChristianorum_ is well said of Tertullian the Carthaginian, and, later, of the blessed Saint Jerome. "

As Fray Antonio thus spoke he so drew up his slight figure, and in hissweet voice was a ring of such commanding sternness, that he was for themoment transformed. Here was a man wholly different from the gentlescholar whom I had already learned to love. In the glimpse that I thushad of his underlying character I saw vivified again the spirit of theearly Christian Church; and I understood, as I never had understoodbefore, of what stuff they were made who heard pronounced upon them thesentence, "To the lions!" and joyfully accepted their cruel fate, defiant of what man might do to them because of the perfection of theirfaith in the merciful forgiveness and upholding steadfastness of theirChristian God. 

But in a moment a look of sadness and regret came into Fray Antonio'sface, and he added, sorrowfully: "God forgive me for thus judging mybrother, who long since was judged! Who can say that when the hour oftrial came he did not meet his death as bravely as any martyr of themall? And who can say, " he went on, but speaking softly, as one communingwith his own soul, "how I myself--But God gives strength. " And then heceased to speak aloud, but his lips moved silently as though in prayer. As I close my eyes I see him again as clearly as I saw himthen--standing beside the old stone fountain, amid the flowers, in thegladness of the bright sunshine; in his eyes a strange, far-away look, as though the future for a moment had been opened to him; and on hisstrong, fine face a sternly resolute expression, which yet was softenedby the traits which were so strong within him of holiness and gentlenessand love. I cannot know what Fray Antonio prayed for, there in the oldconvent garden; but I can guess, and I am well persuaded that his prayerwas heard. Truly, I think that it was something more than chance thatled us thus at first to talk, not of the wonder that was in BrotherFrancisco's letter, but of Brother Francisco himself and of his end. 

And then the subject-matter in chief of the letter claimed ourattention. In itself this was sufficiently marvellous; but whatincreased the marvel of it was the conviction, strong within us both, that if the hidden city of Culhuacan ever had existed at all it existedstill. Our belief was so entirely logical that, assuming the truth ofthe story told by the Indian captive, it admitted nowhere of a doubt. That the city had been hidden for a long period, through at leastseveral hundreds of years, from the Aztecs themselves, and that noknowledge of it had been conveyed to them by wild Indians who had comeby chance upon the valley wherein it was, was evidence enough of thesecurity of its concealment. There was nothing surprising, consequently, in the fact that the Spaniards had not discovered it when they firstoverran Mexico, nor that it had remained unknown to the Mexicans ofmodern times. As is well known, there are to this day prodigious areasin Mexico which remain utterly unexplored. In the region west ofTampico; in the north-western States of Sinaloa, Durango, and Sonora; orin the far southern States of Oajaca and Chiapas, a valley as great asthat in which the City of Mexico now stands might lie utterly hidden andunknown. And if, as the Indian's narrative implied, this particularvalley had been selected deliberately because it was so hidden and soinaccessible, and if the described precautions had been taken to isolateits inhabitants, it very well might have continued to be lost in itsdeep concealment through an almost infinite range of years. That itnever had been found since the Spaniards came into Mexico we wereabsolutely certain, for the outcry over so great a wonder would haveechoed throughout the whole of the civilized world. Finally, in the nameof the city, Culhuacan, we had a substantial fact which connected theextraordinary story that had come to us so strangely with matters withinour own knowledge. For this name not only is given in the Aztectraditions as that of the sacred spot in which their god Huitzilopochtlispoke to them, but survives until this present day in the name of thevillage that lies at the foot of the sacred mountain, in the Valley ofMexico, called by the Aztecs the Hill of Huitzachtla, and by theSpaniards the Hill of the Star--on which, at the end of each cycle offifty-two years, the sacred fire was renewed. Surely it was no accidentthat had caused the name Culhuacan to be given to this village on thissacred spot; rather must it have been so named by the elect few to whomthe secret was known as a perpetual reminder to them of the reserve ofmen and treasure upon which they could draw should danger threaten theircountry and their gods. 

"No doubt, " said Fray Antonio, "what is here told of a secret record, known only to the priests, supplies one of the lapses in the picturedhistory of the Aztec migration; but as we know not which break in thehistory is thus filled in, we have no clew whatever as to thewhereabouts of this hidden place. Nor have we any clew as to thewhereabouts of the mission of Santa Marta, whence we might go onward, guided by the carvings upon the rocks, until we found at last the placewe sought. The mission of Santa Marta, where my brother Francisco longago ministered, might have been anywhere in all Mexico; and being sosmall a mission, and enduring for so short a period, it is not likelythat any record of it anywhere has been preserved. Had we but the mapand the token of which my brother writes, our way would be clear;without these guides it well may be a toilsome way and long. Yet do Iknow, " Fray Antonio continued, earnestly, "that I shall find this hiddencity. In my soul is a strong and glad conviction that God has called meto the most glorious work of carrying to the heathen dwelling there themessage of His saving love. He has worked one miracle already to call meto this duty; in His own good time and way I doubt not that He will workanother miracle by which I may be set in the way of its accomplishment. "

As Fray Antonio spoke of the map of the Aztec migration, a hope cameinto my heart that, as I considered it, seemed surely to be a certainty. In the excitement of listening to this strange letter--concerning whichnot the least strange matter was, that between the writing and thereading of it had passed three hundred and fifty years--I had forgottenmy own discoveries, and that my purpose was to show him the picturedpaper and the curious piece of gold. But as he spoke of the migrationthis matter was called to my mind suddenly; and then in an instant theconviction thrilled through me that the clew which would lead us to thehidden city was in my possession. 

"God already has worked that other miracle, " I cried, joyfully. "Here isthe token, and here is the map that shows the way!" and, so speaking, Iopened the snake-skin bag that I had taken from the breast of the deadCacique and drew forth its precious contents. 

For myself, I needed no additional proof that here was all that wasneedful to guide us to the hidden city. Yet was I glad that in so gravea matter we should have added to absolute conviction the weight ofabsolute proof. And this we had most clearly; for Fray Antonio, coolerthan I, compared the drawing in the letter with the engraving upon thepiece of gold, and found the two to be essentially identical, save thatthe engraving lacked the sign of the arrow pointing the way. 

"And now, " I cried, enthusiastically, "for such discoveries inarchæology as the world has never known!"

"And now, " said Fray Antonio, speaking slowly and reverently, "for suchglorious work in God's service as has been granted but rarely to man todo!"

V. 

THE ENGINEER AND THE LOST-FREIGHT MAN. 

That the weight of a strange destiny was pressing upon us, neither FrayAntonio nor I for a moment doubted. It was something more than chance, we believed, that had brought us together, and that thereafter, by suchextraordinary means, had put into our hands, in places far asunder, yetat almost precisely the same moment, these two ancient papers; either ofwhich, alone, would have been meaningless; but the two of which, together, pointed clearly the way to a discovery so wonderful that thelike of it was not to be found in all the history of the world. 

At the moment that I comprehended how great an adventure was before me, and what honorable fame I was like to get out of it, I determined that Iwould keep the whole matter secret from my fellow-archæologists until Icould tell them, not what I intended doing, but what I actually haddone--for I had no desire to divide with any one the honors that fairlywould be mine when I published to the world the result of myinvestigation of this hidden community that had survived, uncontaminated, from prehistoric times. Having this strong desire withinme, it was with great pleasure that I acceded to Fray Antonio's requestthat our project of discovery should not be published abroad. His motivefor secrecy, as I presently perceived, was bred of the one single strainof human weakness that ever I found in him. Even as I was determinedthat no other archæologist should share with me the honor of discoveringthis primitive community, so was Fray Antonio determined that to himalone should belong the glory of carrying into that region of denseheathen darkness the radiant splendor of the Christian faith. If thiswere sin on his part, it certainly was a sin that he shared with manysaints long since in Paradise. Even the blessed Saint Francis himself, when, at the Council of Mats, he portioned out among his followers theheathen world that they might preach everywhere Christianity, reservedfor himself Syria and Egypt; in the hope that in one or the other ofthose countries he might crown his labors by suffering a gloriousmartyrdom. And perhaps in this matter Fray Antonio was not unmindful ofthe example set him by the great founder of the Order to which hebelonged. 

But while we were thus firmly decided to keep to ourselves the honorsthat so great an archæological discovery and so great a Christianconquest must bring to us severally, we perceived that it would not bethe part of prudence to essay our adventure without any companions atall. Some portion of the country through which we were to pass we knewto be frequented by very dangerous tribes of Indians, against theassaults of which two lonely men--neither of whom had any knowledgewhatever of the art of war--could make but a poor stand. And even shouldwe escape the wild Indians, we knew that we might get into many evilstraits in which our lives might be ended, yet through which a largercompany might pass in safety. And for my own part, I must confess that Ihad a strong desire to have with me some of my own countrymen. For thegallantry of the Mexicans, which gallantry has been proved a thousandtimes, I have the highest respect; yet is it a natural feeling amongAnglo-Saxons that when it comes to facing dangers in which death loomslargely, and especially when it comes to a few men against a company ofsavages, and standing back to back and fighting to the very last, Anglo-Saxon hearts are found to be the stanchest, and Anglo-Saxon backsto be the stoutest which can be thus ranged together. But in our owncase I did not at all see whence such an Anglo-Saxon contingent was tobe obtained. 

We had been talking over this matter of a fighting force one afternoonin Fray Antonio's sacristy--where our many colloquies were held, for wemoved with a thoughtful deliberation in setting agoing ouradventure--and we had come almost to the determination of organizing alittle force of Otomí Indians, and calling upon two brave younggentlemen of Fray Antonio's acquaintance to join us as lieutenants. Although I was willing to adopt this plan, since no other was open tous, I was far from fancying it; both for the reason which I have alreadynamed, and also for the reason--and this Fray Antonio admitted was notwithout foundation in probability--that our young allies would be morethan likely, by their indiscreet disclosures, to make our purpose fullyknown. Therefore, it was in no very pleasant frame of mind, ourconference being ended, that I returned to my hotel. 

As I entered the hotel court-yard I heard the sound of Pablo'smouth-organ, and with this much laughter and some talk in English; andas I fairly caught sight of the merrymakers, I heard said, in mostexecrable Spanish, "Here's a _medio_ for another tune, my boy; and ifyou'll make the donkey dance again to it, I'll give you a _real_. "

That I might see what was going forward without interrupting it, Istepped behind one of the stone pillars that upheld the gallery; and forall that my mind was in no mood for laughter just then, I could not butfall to laughing at what I saw. 

Over on the far side of the court-yard, with Pablo and El Sabio, weretwo men whose type was so unmistakable that I should have known them forAmericans had I met them in the moon. One was a tall, wiry fellow, witha vast reach of arm, and a depth of chest and width of shoulders whichallowed what powerful engines those long arms of his were when he setthem in motion. His face was nearly covered by a heavy black beard, andhis projecting forehead and his resolute black eyes under it gave him alook of great energy and force. The other was short and thick-set, witha big round head stockily upheld on a thick neck, and with agood-humored face, which, being clean-shaven, was chiefly notable forthe breadth and the squareness of the jaws. He had merry blue eyes, andhis crown--he was holding his battered Derby hat in his hand--was asbare as a billiard ball. Below timber-line, as he himself expressed it, he had a brush of close-cut sandy-red hair. I had encountered both ofthese men when I first came to Morelia, and during two or three weeks Ihad seen a good deal of them, for we had met daily at our meals; and themore that I had seen of them the better was I disposed to like them. Thetall man was Rayburn, a civil engineer in charge of construction on theadvanced line of the new railway; the other was Young, the lost-freightagent of the railroad company--whose duty, for which his keen quicknesspeculiarly well fitted him, was that of looking up freight which hadgone astray in transit. Both of those men had lived long in rough anddangerous regions, and both--as I then instinctively believed, and as Icame later to know fully--were as true and as stanch and as brave asever men could be. 

What they were laughing at, there in the court-yard, was anextraordinary performance in which the performers were Pablo and ElSabio. With a grin all over the parts of his face not engaged in theoperation of his mouth-organ, Pablo was rendering on that instrument ahighly Mexicanized version of one of the airs from _Pinafore_ that hehad just acquired from hearing Young whistle it. To this music, with amost pained yet determined expression, the Wise One was lifting his feetand swaying his body and nodding his head in a sort of accompaniment, his movements being directed by the waving of Pablo's disengaged hand. The long ears of this unfortunate little donkey wagged in remonstranceagainst the unreasonable motions demanded of his unlucky legs, and everynow and then he would twitch viciously his fuzzy scrap of a tail; buthis master was inexorable, and it was not until Pablo's own desire tolaugh became so strong that he no longer could play the mouth-organ thatEl Sabio was given rest. As he ended his dancing I must say that therewas on El Sabio's face as fine an expression of contempt as the face ofa donkey ever wore. 

"Hello, Professor!" Young called out, as he caught sight of me, "haveyou given up antiquities an' gone into th' circus business? This outfitthat you've got here will make your fortune when you get it back intoth' States. If you don't want to run it yourself, I'll run it for youon th' shares; an' I guess Rayburn'll be glad t' go along as clown. He'dmake a good clown, Rayburn would. You see, we're both of us out of work, an' both lookin' for a job. "

"What do you mean by being out of work?" I asked, when I had shakenhands with them. "What's become of the railroad?"

"Oh, th' railroad's got into one of its periodical bust-ups, " Younganswered. "A row among the bondholders, an' construction stopped, an'working expenses reduced, an' pretty much all hands bounced, from th'president down. I guess Rayburn an' I can stand th' racket, though, ifth' company can. I've been wantin' t' get out of this d----d Greasercountry for a good while, an' I guess now I've got my chance. I mustsay, though, I wish it had come a little less sudden, for I haven'tanything in particular in sight over in God's country, an' Rayburnhasn't either. So if you want to start your circus we're ready for youright away. Where did you get that boy-an'-donkey outfit from, anyway?They're just daisies, both of 'em an' no mistake!"

"I don't know that you can count on me for a clown, Professor, " Rayburnsaid, "but I might go along as door-keeper, or something of that sort. But I don't believe that Young and I will need to go into the circusbusiness. We are out of work, that's a fact; but the company has donethe square thing by us--paid us up in full to the end of next month andfitted us out with passes to St. Louis. We're all right. Young isheading straight for home, but I rather think that I'll take a turnaround the country and see what the civilized parts of it look like. Ever since I came down here, nearly, I've been at work in the wilds. Iwant to see some of the old temples and things too. You can put me up tothat, Professor. Where's a good ruin to begin on?"

From the moment that I laid eyes on these two men, as I came into thecourt-yard, my mind was made up that I would do my best to induce themto join with Fray Antonio and me in our search for the hidden city; andI had listened very gladly to what they told me, for it showed me that Ishould not have to ask them to abandon profitable work in order to joinin our doubtful enterprise. So we talked lightly about the circus andother indifferent matters for a while; and then we had a lively suppertogether at La Soledad (which always seemed to me a very original namefor a restaurant), and then I brought them to my room to smoke theircigars. 

It was while they were in the comfortable frame of mind that is begottenof a good meal and subsequent good tobacco--over there in Morelia wesmoked the Tepic cigars, which are excellent--that I opened to them thegreat project that I had in hand. I told them frankly the whole story:of my strange adventure in the Indian village, of the paper and the goldtoken which the Cacique unwittingly had given me, of the letter thatFray Antonio had found, and of how our joint discoveries set us clearlyin the way of finding an Aztec community that certainly had existedunchanged, save for such changes as had been developed within itself, since a time long anterior to the Spanish conquest of Mexico. I dweltwith enthusiasm, and I think forcibly, upon the inestimable gain to thescience of archæology that would result from the investigations that weintended to make; and I touched also upon the scientific value thatwould attach to a careful and accurate description of the effectproduced upon this primitive community by Fray Antonio's preaching; forthis would be, as I pointed out, the first occasion in the history ofthe world when a record would be made, from the stand-point of theunprejudiced ethnologist, of the reception accorded by a heathen peopleto the doctrine of Christianity. In a word, I presented the case mostglowingly--so glowingly, in fact, that my own heart was quite fired byit--and ended by urging them earnestly to join us in a work thatpromised so greatly to increase the sum of human knowledge touching themost interesting subjects that can be presented to the consideration ofthe human mind. And I am pained to state that I discovered, when Ifinished my appeal, that Young was sound asleep!

Rayburn did not go to sleep, and he did take a certain amount ofinterest in what I said, but I was discouraged by his very obviousfailure to respond to my enthusiasm. 

"You see, Professor, " he said, "the fact of the matter is that I can'tspare the time. I might take a month or two, but you seem to think thata year is the least time in which any substantial results can heaccomplished. I can't give a year, or anything like a year, to what, sofar as I am concerned, will be sheer idleness. I've got a mother andsister at home on Cape Cod who depend on me for a living, and I must getto work again. You see, there is glory enough in all this, and glorythat I should like to have a share in; but glory is a luxury that Ican't afford. I've got to go to work at something that has money in it. "

The sound of Rayburn's voice had the effect on Young of waking him up. He listened, in a sleepily approving way, to Rayburn's practicalcomment, and then, giving a prodigious yawn, added, on his own account:"Yes, that's about the size of it. We're neither of us here for ourhealth, Professor; what we're after is spot cash. If there was any moneyin your scheme I'd take a hand in it quick enough; but as thereisn't--Well, not this evening, Professor; some other evening. "

"No money in it!" I answered. "Why, haven't I told you that there isstored in this hidden city the greatest treasure that ever was broughtinto one place since the world began?"

"No, I'll be d----d if you have!" Young replied, with great energy andpromptness. "Not a word, unless it was while I was asleep. What's hesaid about a treasure, Rayburn? I'm awake now, an' I'll keep awake ifthere's anything like that to be talked about. "

"You certainly haven't said anything about a treasure so far, Professor, " Rayburn said. "I'd like to hear about it myself. If there isa treasure-hunting expedition mixed up with this scientific expeditionof yours, that puts a new face on the whole matter. I can't afford theluxury of scientific investigation pure and simple, but if there ismoney in it too, that is quite another thing. So tell us about yourprospect, Professor, and if the surface indications are good you cancount on me to go in. "

I confess that I was a trifle disappointed upon finding how eagerlythese young men sought information in regard to a matter that Iconsidered so unimportant that I had forgotten even to mention it. But Ireflected that, after all, the motive by which they were induced to joinin our adventure was immaterial, while our need for the strength thattheir joining in it would give us was so pressing that upon gaining themfor allies very likely depended our eventual success. Being moved bywhich considerations, I dilated upon the magnitude of the hiddentreasure with such vehemence that presently their eyes were flashing, and the blood had so mounted into their brains that their very foreheadswere ruddy and their breath came short. And I must confess that my ownpulses beat quicker and harder as I talked on. Of this treasure I hadnot before thought at all, being so thoroughly taken up with thescientific side of the discovery that I hoped to accomplish; but now Iwas moved profoundly by thoughts of what I could do for the advancementof science had I practically limitless wealth at my command. Andespecially was I thrilled by the thought of the magnificent form inwhich my own magnificent discoveries could be given to the world. Compared with my _Pre-Columbian Conditions on the Continent of NorthAmerica_, Lord Kingsborough's great work, both in form and in substance, would sink into hopeless insignificance. And in all that I said of thevastness of the hidden treasure I felt certain that I was keeping wellwithin the bounds of truth, for I had the positive assurance that in theAztec treasure-house in that hidden valley the ransom of a nation wasstored. 

"Will you go with us?" I asked, when I had brought my glowingdescription to an end. 

"Well, I should smile, Professor, " was Young's characteristic answer. 

"You can count me in now, and no mistake!" said Rayburn, and added, "ByJove, Palgrave, I mean to take a part of my share and buy the whole ofCape Cod!"

And so the make-up of our party was decided upon. Fray Antonio joined itfor the love of God; I joined it for the love of science; and Young andRayburn joined it for the love of gold. In regard to the boy Pablo, hecould not strictly be said to have joined it at all. He simply wentalong. 

VI. 

THE KING'S SYMBOL. 

Fray Antonio was well pleased when I told him of the stout contingentthat I had secured; and when he had seen Rayburn and Young, and hadtalked with them--though his talk with Young did not amount to much, forYoung's Spanish was abominable--he was as thoroughly satisfied as I wasthat for our purposes we could not possibly have found two better men. 

In the course of this conference we made short work of our preparationsfor departure. Rayburn's experience in fitting out engineering partieshad given him precisely the knowledge required for putting our ownlittle party promptly and effectively in the field; and in this matter, and in all practical matters connected with the expedition, he took thelead. He and Young already possessed the regulation frontier outfit ofarms--a Winchester rifle and a big revolver--which they increased byanother big revolver apiece; and I armed myself similarly with a pair ofrevolvers and a Winchester: concerning the use that I should make ofwhich, in case need for using them arose, I had very grave doubtsindeed. Fray Antonio declined to carry any arms at all; and after he hadaccidentally discharged one of my pistols, which he had picked up toexamine, so that the ball went singing by my ear and actually cutthrough the brim of Young's hat, there was a general disposition toadmit that the less this godly man had to do with carnal weapons thesafer would it be for all the rest of us. Young's hat was a batteredDerby, and about as unsuitable a hat for wear in Mexico as possiblycould be found; but for some unknown reason he was very much attached tothat hat, and he was so wroth over having a hole shot through it in thatunprovoked sort of way that he manifested a decided coolness towardsFray Antonio for several days. 

In the matter of armament, the happiest member of our party was Pablo. He was a handy boy, and when he had demonstrated his ability to manage arevolver by doing some very creditable shooting with mine (at mark thatI had stuck up in the corral, in order that I might gain ease in the useof this unknown weapon), I delighted him inexpressibly by buying him apistol for his very own. I think that Pablo, upon becoming the possessorof that revolver, at once grew two inches taller. The way that hestrutted as he wore it, and his eager thrusting forward of his left hip, so that this gallant piece of warlike furniture might be the mostconspicuous part of him, were a joy to witness. For a time hismouth-organ was entirely neglected; and coming quietly into the corralone day, I found him engaged in exhibiting the revolver to El Sabio; whoregarded it with a slightly bored expression that I do not think Pablotook in good part. 

Rayburn decided that our expedition could be made more effectively witha small force than with a large one. He argued that unless we took intothe Indian country a really powerful body of men, we would be safer witha very few: for a few of us would feel keenly the necessity of keepingconstantly on guard; could be more easily managed and held together inrunning away; and in case a fight was forced upon us we would fight moresteadily because each of us would know surely that he could rely uponthe support of all the rest. Which reasoning we perceived to be so soundthat we promptly accepted it. 

Rayburn added to our company, therefore, only three men: two OtomíIndians of whom Fray Antonio gave a good account, and Dennis Kearney, who had served as axeman on the recently disbanded engineering corps. He was a merry soul, this Dennis, with a stock of Irish melodies in hishead that would have made the fortune of an old-time minstrel. He andPablo took to each other at once--though, since neither of them spoke aword of the other's language, music was their only channel ofcommunication--and Pablo presently presented us with a rendering on hismouth-organ, from a strictly Mexican stand-point, of "Rory O'More" thatquite took our breaths away. While Pablo played, Dennis would stand bywith his head cocked on one side, and with an air of attention asclosely critical as that which El Sabio himself exhibited; and whenPablo went wrong, as he invariably did in his attempted _bravura_passages, Dennis would stop him with a wave of his hand, and an "Aisynow, me darlint! That's good enough Mexican, but it ain't good Irish atall, at all, " and then would show him what good Irish was by singing"Rory O'More" in a fashion which made the old stone arches ring with avolume of music that could have given odds to an entire brass band. PoorDennis! Only the other day I heard an organ-grinder grinding forth "RoryO'More, " and the memory of the last time I heard Dennis sing that song, and of what heroic stuff that merry-hearted rough fellow then showedhimself to be made, came suddenly over me, and there was a choking in mythroat, and my eyes were full of tears. 

Well, it was a good thing--or a bad thing, as you please to put it--thatwe could not see far into the future that morning when we packed ourmules in the corral of the hotel, and set out upon the march that wasto lead us through such perilous passages before we reached its end. 

[Illustration: PACKING IN THE CORRAL]

That I might fill to the brim the cup of Pablo's happiness--for myconscience pricked me a little that I suffered him to go with us--I hadbought him the rain-coat of palm leaves for which his heart so long hadpined. What with this and his revolver, and the delight of going upon ajourney (for he had very fully developed that love of travel which is sostrong in his race), his wits seemed to be completely addled with joy. He insisted upon putting on his absurd rain-coat at once; and he did somany foolish things that even El Sabio looked at him reproachfully--thiswas when he tried to place on that small donkey's back some of the heavypack-stuff destined for the back of one of the big mules--and we gotalong much better with his room, as he presently enabled us to do, thanwe did with his company. When the time for starting came, we had quite ahunt for him; and we might not have found him at all had we not beenguided by the sound of music to the sequestered spot to which he hadretired in order to give vent to his pent-up feelings by playing on hismouth-organ "Pop goes the weasel"--an air that Young had been whistlingthat morning and that had mightily taken Pablo's fancy. 

We made rather an imposing cavalcade as we filed forth from the greatgate of the hotel, and took our way along the Calle Nacional, theprincipal street of the city, towards the Garita del Poniente. FrayAntonio and I rode first; then came Rayburn and Young, followed byDennis Kearney; then the two pack-mules, beside which walked the twoOtomí Indians; and closing the procession came Pablo, wearing hisrain-coat, with his revolver strapped outside of it, and riding El Sabiowith a dignity that would have done honor to the Viceroy himself. Pablocertainly was in the nature of an anti-climax; but I would not have toldhim so for the world. Fray Antonio wore the habit of his Order, thisprivilege having been specially granted to him by the Governor of theState as a safeguard for all his expeditions among the Indians. It wasunderstood, indeed, that he now was going forth on one of his missionaryvisits among the mountain tribes, and simply rode with us, so far as ourways should lie together, for greater security. I had announced that Iwas going among the Indians again in order to increase my knowledge oftheir manners and customs; and Rayburn--to whom the rest of the partywas supposed to belong--had stated that he was taking the field in orderto make a new reconnaissance along the line of the projected railway. Itwas in order to maintain these several fictions that we went out by thewestern gate, and that we continued for two days our march westwardbefore turning to our true course. 

Of our progress during the ensuing fortnight it is not necessary that Ishould speak, for beyond the ordinary incidents of travel no adventuresbefell us. During this period we went forward steadily and rapidly; andat the end of it we had covered more than three hundred miles, and hadcome close to where--supposing our rendering of the Aztec map to becorrect, and that we had rightly collated it with the dead monk'sletter--the mission of Santa Marta had stood three centuries and a halfbefore. There was no possibility that any trace of this mission would befound; but every rock that we came to was most eagerly scrutinized, foron any one of them might we find the King's symbol engraved. 

For two or three days we had been travelling through a region very wildand desolate. Far away along the western horizon rose a range ofmountains whose bare peaks cut a jagged line along the sky. The countrybetween us and these far-away mountains was made up of many parallelranges of rocky hills; which ranges were separated by broad, shallowvalleys, where cactus and sage-brush covered the dry ground thickly; andthe only trees that broke this dreary monotony were pita-palms, the mostdismal thing in all created nature to which the name of a tree ever hasbeen given by man. There was no trail, and travelling through thistangle of briers was very difficult. All of Rayburn's skill, which longpractice had developed to a high degree, was required to enable us topick a way through so thorny a wilderness. At times the Indians withtheir _machetes_, and Dennis with his axe, had to cut a path for us; anddespite all our care, our own hands were cut and torn, and the legs ofour poor beasts were red with blood. 

The deadly dryness of this arid waste added to our discomfort. A strongdry wind blew steadily from the north, building up out of fine dustwhich was over all the surface of the baked ground littlewhirl-winds--_remolinos_, as the Mexicans call them--which went dancingdown the valleys as though they were ghostly things; and occasionally, when one of these struck us, we were covered with a prickly dust thatfairly burned our skins. What water we got was to be had only by diggingin the _arroyos_ which traversed the centre of each valleylongitudinally; and although this water always was muddy, and had astrongly alkaline taste, it is the only thing that I remember withpleasure in all that weary laud. Of animal life there was nothing to beseen, save a-plenty of rattlesnakes; and a few great buzzards whichwheeled above us from time to time as though with the intention ofkeeping track of us until we should fall down and die of thirst andweariness, and they should be able to feast upon us at their ease. 

At the end of the third day of this dreary travelling we had come closeto the great western range of mountains, and our camp that night wasmade in the mouth of a little valley that opened from among thefoot-hills. The night before we had made a dry camp, and for the wholeof the twenty-four hours we had had but a pint of water apiece. Pablo, Iam sure, had given half of his own scant allowance to El Sabio. Theother animals--it was all that we could do for them--had only theirdusty mouths and nostrils wiped out with a wet sponge. They werepitiable objects, with their bleeding legs, their haggard eyes, theirout-hanging tongues, and their quivering flanks. As Fray Antoniounsaddled his horse I saw that there were tears in his eyes; but therest of us, I fear, were too thoughtful of our own misery to feel muchsorrow for the misery of our beasts. 

I suppose that a man must suffer the lack of it, as we then did, inorder to know how precious a thing water is. And to give some notion ofits preciousness to those who not only are free at any time to drinktheir fill of it, but even can fill bath-tubs with it, and feel the joyof it on their bare bodies whenever they are so minded, I will say thatwhen a little digging gave us that night as much water as we wanted, ourjoy was far greater than it would have been had we there found thehidden city of which we were in search. 

Our well was sunk in the broad sandy bottom of the _arroyo_, in themidst of a narrow and delectably grassy valley between two foot-hills. And the abundance and the sweetness of the water, as well as thepresence of grass, showed us that but a little way up this valley theremust be an open stream. We drank, and our beasts drank, until all of ourskins were nigh to bursting; and the abundance of water was so greatthat we even could wash the dust at last from our parched faces andnecks and arms; and much like raw beef our skins looked when our washingwas ended, and the stinging of them was as though we had been whippedwith nettles. It was our intention now to leave the plains and to marchalong the edge of the foot-hills parallel with the main range, otherwisewe should not have ventured thus to wash ourselves. In a region wherealkali dust is in the air, washing is to be shunned; for each time thatthe skin is cleaned the new deposit of dust takes a deeper biting hold. 

It was rather that we might escape the misery of further travel on thearid plains than because we had any strong hopes of thus finding the wayof which we were in search that we had decided to change our line ofmarch. Young had begun openly to express his contempt for the Aztec map, and in the hearts of all of us had sprung up some doubts as to itstrustworthiness as a guide. After all, it was not in the least a map inthe true meaning of the word; and that it should show us rightly our waydepended not only upon our having interpreted correctly its curioussymbolism, but also upon the correctness of the interpretation thatMexican archæologists had given to the map of the first Aztecmigration--of which map, as we believed, our map was a reserved andsecret part. If either interpretation were wrong, then we might behundreds of miles distant from the region in which the way marked bygravings of the King's symbol should be sought. 

Four or five hours of daylight still remained to us after we had dug ourwell, and with the delicious water flowing into it had satisfied ourthirst; but we had no intention of going farther that day. We had noneed to hobble the animals, for they could be trusted to stay near thewater-hole while they feasted on the grass, and we needed food and restquite as much as they did. Young and Dennis together got us up a famousmeal, and when it was ended we lighted our pipes and held a sort ofcouncil of war. That we might talk the more freely, in both English andSpanish, we drew away a little from where the two Otomí Indians andPablo were stretched out upon the grass together; and we bade Dennistake a look around the shoulder of the first hill, so that we might knowsomething of what our way would be like when we started in the morning;for we were not as yet ready that the minor members of the expeditionshould know the purpose that we had in mind. We had decided that when, by the finding of the course indicated by the gravings of the King'ssymbol, our quest fairly had a beginning, being no longer a matter ofmere hope and conjecture, we then would give Dennis and Pablo and thetwo Indians some notion of what we intended doing; with the option ofdeciding for themselves whether or not they would have a part in it. Andthe thought never once occurred to our minds that circumstances mightarise of such a nature that neither they nor we would have any choice inthe matter at all. 

As we consulted together we had spread out before us a map of Mexico, and with this the map that the Cacique had given me, and a copy of themap showing the great Aztec march. Yet the more that we councilled theless could we come to any reasonable conclusion as to what was best forus to do. As nearly as we could tell from the strange guides that weneeds must be led by, we had beaten thoroughly the region where once themission of Santa Marta was; and not a trace of the gravings on the rockshad we found. To go over this region again, searching still moreminutely, was too great an undertaking even to be thought of; and yetthe only alternative to this painful course seemed to be that we shouldabandon our search altogether; in short, we were completely at sea. 

"What _I_ think, " said Young, "is that that old dead monk, an' that olddead Cacique, have set up a job on us. They're both of 'em lyin' likefiddlers; that's what's th' matter with _them_. There ain't any hiddencity, or hidden treasure, or hidden d----n anything; it's all a fraudfrom beginnin' t' end. I vote t' pull up stakes an' go home. "

A cool refreshing wind was beginning to sweep down to us from themountains; but it was blowing only in puffs as yet, for the night wouldnot be upon us for several hours. Borne faintly and fitfully upon thisuncertain wind came to us the strains of "Rory O'More"; with whichmelody, as we inferred, Dennis was beguiling his solitude while heexplored the route that we were to take the next day. Pablo, sittingcomfortably on the grass, his back propped against the back of El Sabio, also caught the sound; and straightway began to play an accompaniment onhis mouth-organ to Dennis's distant singing. The strains gradually grewlouder, showing that Dennis was returning; but when they stoppedsuddenly we thought that he had only tired of the sound of his ownvoice, or, perhaps, did not think anything about the matter at all. 

But when a sound of hurried, irregular steps came down the wind to us, we all were on our feet in a moment and had our arms ready, for it wasevident that Dennis was running from something; and the danger waslikely to be a serious one, for running was not at all in Dennis's line. We wondered why he did not call out; but the explanation of his silencewas plain enough, ten seconds later, as he came around the shoulder ofthe hill, staggered in among us, and fell on the grass at our feet--withthe blood streaming from his mouth and nostrils, and with an arrow clearthrough his breast. 

"Indians!" he gasped, with an effort that brought a torrent of bloodspurting from his mouth; and he added, faintly, "But I've bate 'em, th'divvils, in their hopes of a soorprise!"

These triumphant words were the last that Dennis Kearney uttered onearth. As he spoke, a fresh outburst of blood came from his nostrils andmouth, a quiver went over him--and then he was dead. I do not believethat many men would have done what Dennis did: run a good quarter of amile with an arrow through his lungs, and then die exulting because hehad succeeded in warning the camp. 

Rayburn had the situation instantly in hand. "Get the packs and saddleson quick!" he cried. "The Indians 'll come around that hill and try toscoop us here in the open. They won't close in; they'll keep off, andjust lie around for a week till we're played out, and then they'll stepin and finish us; they'll do that, likely enough, anyway. But our onechance is to get to a place up the valley here, where they can tackle usonly from in front. There's water up there, so we'll be all right, andwe may be able to shoot enough of them to make the rest give it up, orthey'll close in, and we'll have the comfort of getting the whole thingended without any useless fooling over it. "

All the while that he spoke he was working away, and so were we all, atsaddling and packing; and, luckily, the animals, although the water andthe food and the rest had put new strength into them, still were tootired to give us the trouble that animals give at such times when theyare fresh. In a surprisingly short time we were ready to start; and yetnot a sign had we had, save the warning that Dennis had brought us, thatthere was an Indian within a hundred miles of us. Indeed, but for hisdead body on the ground beside our camp-fire, we might have imaginedthat our scare was only a bad dream. That it was a very bad reality wasshown just as the last pack went on, when one of our Otomí Indians gavea howl as an arrow went through his leg, and I felt a sharp little nipon my forehead where an arrow just grazed it, and there was that queer, faint whirring sound in the air that only a flight of a good many arrowstogether will produce. 

Rayburn took the body of poor Dennis before him on his own horse; he'dbe d----d if the Indians should get Dennis yet, he said; and away wewent up the sandy bed of the _arroyo_, driving the mules before us, andthe Otomí Indians pelting along on a dead-run. The Indian who had beenhit coolly broke the arrow off short, and then pulled it out through thewound. 

Suddenly we saw Young, who was riding a little ahead of the rest of us, half pull up his horse and look earnestly at a great shoulder of rockthat jutted out from the mountain-side. "There's your King's symbol, and be d----d to it!" he shouted; and added, "What's the good of aKing's symbol when we're all goin' to lose our hair?"

He was under full head-way again in a moment. As we shot past the rock weall turned to look; and there, sure enough, was the long-sought-forsign. 

VII. 

THE FIGHT IN THE CAÑON. 

As we fled along the valley, and in a few moments heard the sound of theIndians pursuing us, my mind was chiefly occupied with considerations ofthe quality which we denominate fear. I perceived that this purelyoccasional passion had a very direct bearing upon my own especialscience of archæology. I reflected that had I been engaged in building acity at the moment when that irritating flight of arrows fell amongus----the sting of one of which I still felt smarting upon myforehead----I should assuredly have ceased at once the building of thatcity, and should have moved rapidly away. And thus an excellentlywell-built city, that would have delighted archæologists of the future, would have been lost to the world. Putting the matter yet more closely:here I had just found the sign for which I and my companions had beentoilsomely searching for a considerable time; the sign whichunquestionably would lead us to the most interesting archæologicaldiscovery that ever had been made. And yet, instead of stopping tostudy this sign earnestly, that I might understand all the meaning ofit, I was hastening away from it with all possible speed; and for nobetter reason than that certain barbarians, whose knowledge ofarchæology was not even rudimentary, were pursuing me that they mighttake my life--an imperfectly expressed concept, by-the-way; for life canbe taken only in the limited sense of depriving another of it; it cannotbe taken in the full sense of deprivation and acquisition combined. These several reflections so stirred my bile against the Indians inpursuit of us that I began to have a curiously blood-thirsty longing forour actual battling with them to begin; for I was possessed by a mostunscientific desire to balance our account by killing several of them. And I confess that this desire was increased as I looked at the deadbody of poor Dennis, lying limply across the fore-shoulders of Rayburn'shorse. 

It was with real satisfaction, therefore, that I obeyed Rayburn's orderto halt, that we might make ready for the fight to begin. The valley upwhich we had been riding had narrowed by this time into a strait wayshut in between high and nearly perpendicular walls; and the place thatRayburn had chosen for us to make our stand in was the mouth of a cañonsetting off from the valley nearly at right angles. The walls of thiscañon came almost together above, far overhanging their bases, so thatassault from overhead was impossible; some fragments of fallen rock madea natural breastwork for us to fight behind; and a little stream ofpure, sweet water flowed at our feet. Had this place been made for usexpressly it could not better have suited our purposes; and finding itso opportunely put fresh heart into us. There was not, of course, ashadow of resemblance between the two, but, somehow, I fancied that theplace where we stood resembled my old class-room at Ann Arbor; and Iactually found myself repeating the opening sentence of the address thatI delivered when I was formally inducted into the Chair of TopicalLinguistics. I mention this fact not because it is of the slightestimportance in this present narrative, but because I think that it wellillustrates the tendency towards illogical association that is socurious a characteristic of the human mind. 

I was not able to observe this phenomenon attentively, for Rayburnhustled us all about so sharply that I had no available time just thenfor abstract thought. The mules and the horses and El Sabio were driveninto the cañon, and we were ranged behind the fragments of rock almostin a moment. Each man had his Winchester and revolvers in readiness, anda couple of cases of cartridges had been broken out from the packs andput where we all had easy access to them. While this work was goingforward we could hear the Indians coming hotly up the valley, and wewere barely ready for them when the foremost of their party came insight. 

"Wait a little, " said Rayburn, quietly. "They don't know which turnwe've taken, and they'll probably get into a bunch to do some talking, and then we can whack away right into the flock. "

While we were thus making ready I could see that Fray Antonio was ingreat distress of mind. He was a very brave man, and I know that hisstrong desire was to fight with the rest of us. And yet, just as theIndians showed themselves, he deliberately turned his back upon them andwalked away into the cañon's depths. His very lips were white, and therewere beads of sweat upon his brow, and I saw that his fingers twitchedconvulsively. I know what he wanted to do, and I saw what he did. Ifever a man showed the high bravery of moral courage, Fray Antonio showedit then. Even Young, in whom I did not look for appreciation of braveryof that sort, said afterwards that it was the pluckiest thing he eversaw. 

As Rayburn had expected, the Indians halted--but keeping more undercover than he had counted upon--and held some sort of a council. But itdid not seem, from what we could see of their gestures, to relate to theway that we might have taken so much as to the cañon in which weactually were concealed. They pointed towards the mouth of the cañonrepeatedly, and it struck me that in their motions there was a curiousindication of dread or awe. One old man was especially vehement ingestures of this unaccountable nature; and when at last the younger menin the council seemed to revolt against his orders, this man, and allthe older men with him, retired down the valley whence they had come. 

[Illustration: THE FIGHT IN THE CAÑON]

The young men, left to themselves, hesitated for a moment, and then witha cry--as though for their own encouragement--came charging towards usin a body. As we got a full view of them we perceived with muchsatisfaction that their only arms were bows and arrows and long spears, and that there were not more than twenty men in the lot. And thenRayburn gave the order to fire. I confess that my hand so trembled as Ipulled the trigger of my rifle that I was not at all surprised to findthat the man whom I had fired at--a very tall, powerful young fellow, who seemed to be in command--was not hit; but a man just behind himdropped, and I had a queer feeling in my throat, and certain oddsensations in my stomach, as I realized that I had shot him. Indeed, Iwas so engrossed with meditations upon the curious ease with which aman's life is let out of him, that I quite forgot for some seconds tocontinue firing. The others, luckily, conducted themselves in a morepractical manner; and the little whirlwind of balls which sped from theWinchesters made it wonderful, not that so many of the Indians fell deador wounded, as that any of them remained alive and unhurt. But eight ofthem did survive their charge in the face of the storm of bullets thatwe pelted at them; and these--headed by the tall fellow, who seemedbullet-proof--came rushing at us over our breastwork of rocks, shoutingand flourishing their long spears. 

I cannot say very accurately what happened during the next five minutesor so, for one of the Indians came directly at me, and before I could atall stop him--for I found that shooting at him with my revolver did himno harm at all; and this struck me as odd, for I had repeatedly hit themark while practising in the corral--he had prodded his spear throughthe fleshy part of my left arm. It hurt severely. He had aimed histhrust, doubtless, at my heart, and he certainly would have penetratedthat vital organ had I not at that moment slipped, and so disarrangedhis aim. He pulled the spear out of my arm, which action also gave megreat pain, and his manner indicated that he was about to thrust it intosome other part of me; which he surely could have done, for I was whollyat a loss as to what measures should be taken to assure my own safety. Indeed, I was very well convinced that my life was as good as ended, anda curious flash of thought went through me that I cannot coherentlyremember, but that was in the nature of a query as to whether or not ina future state the many scientific truths which as yet are butimperfectly understood will be wholly revealed to us. 

However, the opportunity that I confidently expected would be given tome in a moment to obtain an answer to this interesting question did notthen occur. Just as the Indian was lunging at me--I can see his uglyface now, as I close my eyes and let my thoughts turn backward to thatcritical moment--there was a flash of some bright object before me, andthen the Indian's entire head seemed to shut up suddenly, something likean opera-glass, and he went down to the ground like a stone. As Iturned, I saw that my deliverance had come from Pablo, and even in thatvery exciting moment I observed with astonishment that the weapon withwhich he had slain the Indian was a great jagged sword--if the_maccuahuitl_ can be called a sword--such as the Aztecs used in ancienttimes. I could not then conveniently stop to question him whence he hadobtained that very interesting weapon, for there was another Indianalready close upon me; and I am pleased to say--for I do not wish thebelief to go abroad that scientific men are worse than useless inpractical emergencies--that, without assistance from Pablo or fromanybody else, I managed to pick up my rifle, and with the heavy ironbarrel of that weapon, used clubwise, I mashed the head of that Indianinto a perfect pulp. I know positively that I mashed it into a pulp, forI tried afterwards to measure it, and found that for craniologicalpurposes it was utterly valueless. 

Even had I required Pablo's aid in this encounter he could not possiblyhave given it to me, for he was himself just then very hotly engaged. Indeed, but for assistance that come to him from an unexpected quarterhis life assuredly would have been lost. He was in the act of haulingback to strike at the fellow facing him, and he did not at all know thathe was in imminent danger of a thrust in the back from a wounded wretchwho, having struggled upon his knees, was using what little life wasleft in him to deliver yet another blow. Just at this critical instantit was that Fray Antonio dashed into the thick of the fighting, andcovered Pablo's body with his own against this assault in the rear; sothat, as the Indian struck, the knife only cut through the monk's habitand slightly scratched his arm, instead of making a hole between Pablo'sshoulder-blades that would have let the life out of him. Young, who wasclose beside Pablo, saw what was going on, and checked it before furtherharm was done by turning quickly and shooting off the top of the woundedIndian's head; and then Fray Antonio retired out of the fighting inwhich, without himself striking a blow, he had taken so gallant a part. 

So far as I was concerned, the fight was at an end when I had socleverly mashed the head of my second assailant. No more Indians came atme, and as I looked around I perceived that this was for the excellentreason that there were no more to come. Two were just advancing onYoung; who had them covered with his revolver, and dropped them, oneafter the other, in less time than is required to tell about it. Theonly other survivor among the enemy--at least the only one able to keephis feet--was the tall young chief, and he and Rayburn were justfinishing the last round of what probably was as fine a fight as everwas fought. They were well matched in size and in weight; and if theIndian was any stronger than Rayburn, I can only say that he must havebeen a most wonderfully strong man. They were fighting on even terms;for the Indian was armed only with a short club, that he held in hisleft hand--and this left-handed method made him all the more awkward todeal with--while Rayburn, having emptied his revolver, was using as aclub its heavy barrel. 

As I caught sight of them, the Indian was in the act of springingforward and delivering a tremendous blow; but Rayburn most skilfullyparried this blow by throwing out his rifle, still retained in his lefthand, in such a manner and with such force that the Indian's arm--atthe same time striking and being struck with the iron barrel--was brokenjust above the wrist. He gave a yell of pain, as he well might; but hewas a plucky fellow, and instead of dropping his club he only shifted itto his right hand. He never had a chance to strike again with it; for inthat same instant Rayburn swung his revolver at arm's-length through theair and brought it down on his head with a sound so muffled and sohollow that I can liken it only to the staving-in of the head of a fullcask. For a moment, while Rayburn drew back to strike again, theIndian's body swayed heavily; and then all his muscles relaxed, and hefell heavily and limply to the ground--while his brains spurted out fromthe ghastly trench made by that mighty blow from back to front acrossthe entire top of his skull. 

VIII. 

AFTER THE FIGHT. 

Rayburn stood panting for a moment over the Indian's body; and then, having satisfied himself by a look around among our fallen enemies thatevery one of them was either dead or dying, he stooped down beside thestream to drink from it, and then to bathe an ugly gash in his foreheadmade by a spear thrust that luckily had glanced aside. 

Indeed, we all had wounds or bruises by which we were likely toremember our fight for a good many days to come. In addition to the cuton his forehead, Rayburn had an arm badly bruised by a crack from aclub; Young had a cut in the calf of his leg that must have been made byone of the Indians after he had fallen wounded; Fray Antonio had theslight cut in his arm that he received in rescuing Pablo; a blow from aclub on my shoulder had completely disabled my left arm, and my head wasbeginning to ache from the wound in my forehead where the arrow hadnipped me; and Pablo, by a square knock-down blow on the head thattumbled him among the rocks, had a bad gash in his cheek and was bruisedall over. And yet the very first thing that boy did when the fight wasended--being still dazed, no doubt, by the blow on his head--was to playa bit of "Rory O'More" on his mouth-organ in order to make sure that hisbeloved "instrumentito" had not been injured by his fall. The sound ofthis air gave my heart a wrench, as I thought of poor Dennis; whosegallant race with death assuredly had saved all of us from dying withouta chance to strike a blow. And both of our Otomí Indians were dead too. 

But while we had suffered thus severely we had the satisfaction ofknowing that we had inflicted a most signal punishment upon our enemies. Of the whole company that had attacked us--eighteen in number, as wefound by counting their bodies--only two remained alive when the fightended; and these two speedily relieved us of all responsibilityconcerning them by dying of their wounds. As Young tersely expressedit, we had "given the whole outfit a through bill of lading to KingdomCome!"

Notwithstanding the pain that I was in, the first thought that came tome after we had achieved peace (by the effective yet somewhat radicalprocess of killing all of our enemies) was concerning the strange weaponwith which Pablo had been fighting; and by his prompt use of which in mydefence my life had been saved. He had laid it upon a rock--whiletesting the integrity of his mouth-organ--and as I now carefullyexamined it I found that my glimpse of it as Pablo had mashed theIndian's head had not deceived me. It truly was a maccuahuitl, theprimitive Aztec sword, but very unlike any description of that weaponthat I had ever seen. The maccuahuitl, as described by the Spaniards atthe time of the conquest and as shown by the Aztec pictures of itpreserved in various museums, was a wooden blade from three and a halfto four feet long and from four to five inches wide. Along its twoedges, like great saw teeth, fragments of obsidian, about three incheslong and two inches wide, were inserted; and as these were keenly sharpthe weapon was a most ferocious one. The sword that I held in my handwas identical in its essential features with this primitive design; butit was shorter, narrower, and thinner. What was still more extraordinaryabout it was that, while it seemed to be made of brass, it had thebright glitter of gold and the temper and the elasticity of steel. Beingtested by bending, it instantly sprung straight again; andnotwithstanding the vigorous use that Pablo had been making of it on thebones of several Indians, the thin edges of the projecting teeth wereonly nicked a little--as the edge of a steel sword would have beennicked under like circumstances--and not one of these teeth was bent outof place, as assuredly would have been the case had the metal beenordinary brass. 

Fray Antonio, by this time, had returned to us again--looking rathershamefaced because of the part that he had taken in the fight--and Ieagerly showed him this strange weapon that had been so strangely found;for Pablo's account of it was simply that, just as his revolver wasemptied upon the Indians charging towards us, when there was no time toreload, his eyes were caught by the glitter of the sword as it stuck ina cleft in a rock; whereupon he most gladly seized it--and instantlyused it to good purpose upon the Indian was so close to ending me withhis spear, and subsequently contrived with it to send two more Indiansto their account. 

Fray Antonio's knowledge of the matter having a wider practical rangethan mine, for he knew well the contents of the several Mexican museumsin which specimens of the primitive weapons are preserved, I thought itpossible that he might be able to match this curious maccuahuitl with anaccount of another like it which he somewhere had seen. That there wasno record in the books of this weapon made of metal I knew very well. But Fray Antonio's surprise over it was greater than my own; and hecertainly found more in it to please him than I did; for this metalmaccuahuitl, supposing it to belong to ancient times, settled in hisfavor a controversy that for some time past we had been amicably butearnestly carrying on. I had adopted the ingenious theory of my friendBandelier that the serrated edge of the Aztec sword was accidental;resulting from the breaking away in use of portions of what at first wasa continuous edge of obsidian. Fray Antonio, on the other hand, had heldfirmly to the ordinarily accepted opinion that the sword was such as Ihave described above (I must confess regretfully) the primitive weaponto have been. 

My contention therefore was that the sword that Pablo had found was notan antique; and I fortified my position, as I considered impregnably, bythe fact that while Aztecs, before the Spanish conquest, did make someslight use of copper and gold, they assuredly had no knowledge whateverof either brass or steel. And my natural irritation very well may beimagined, by any one familiar with controversies of this nature, when Iadd that Fray Antonio endeavored to cut the ground from under me byasserting that, inasmuch as the weapon obviously was not made of brassor steel, my argument was based upon false premises and consequently ledto illogical conclusions. I am afraid that I showed a little temper onthis occasion; for Fray Antonio manifested a persistence in his defenceof what I regarded as his wholly untenable position that amounted towhat I held to be downright pig-headedness. And so, for a considerablelength of time, we stood there, among the bodies of the dead Indians, and first one of us and then the other handled the sword, and expressedwith increasing warmth our views respecting it and each other; and wemight have stood there much longer had not Young--with the best ofintentions, no doubt, but in a way the certainly was notagreeable--taken upon himself to bring our controversy for the timebeing to an end. 

"I don't exactly know what you and the Padre are jawing about at such arate, Professor, " he struck in; "but as well as I can catch on, it'sabout things which happened three or four hundred years ago. I don'twant to interrupt you, of course; but I do want the Padre--he knowssomething about surgery, as I saw the other day when he took that cactusthorn out of Pablo--to do something to plug up this hole in my leg. It'sbleeding a good deal, and it hurts like the very devil. And I guessRayburn'd be glad to have that slit in his forehead tied up too. "

To do Fray Antonio justice, he took this interruption in better partthan I did; for I was deeply interested in the argument in which we wereengaged, and wished to continue it. But when I explained what Youngwanted, he turned to him at once, and very tenderly as well as veryskilfully dressed his wound; and then bandaged the gash in Rayburn'sforehead, and the cut in Pablo's cheek. Pablo decidedly objected to thisbandaging, for it put a peremptory stop for a while to his playing onhis mouth-organ. For me no surgery was required. Fray Antonio carefullyfelt my shoulder while he moved my arm--thereby hurting me mosthorribly--and as the result of his investigations he assured me that thebones were neither broken nor out of place. 

Rayburn also examined the maccuahuitl with much interest. "Of course itis not brass, " he said, "and of course it cannot possibly bephosphor-bronze. But, if such a thing were a metallurgical possibility, I should say that it was gold--treated in some manner that gives it asgreat a hardness as bronze receives when treated with phosphorus, butwith some chemical change wrought in its constitution that gives it alsothe tempered quality of steel. Nothing but gold, you see, " he added, "could lie around out-of-doors this way and not get tarnished byoxidization. "

"What's the reason that it's not some queer thing belonging to the folkswe're looking for?" Young asked; and his question expressed a thoughtthat already had found a lodging in my own mind. For such good-luck asthis would be I was quite willing to concede that Fray Antonio was rightin his unpleasantly positive views in regard to the shape of the Aztecswords. And what Young said also put me sharply in mind of the gravingon the rock of the King's symbol, that we had found only in the samemoment to lose it again. To this matter I now adverted; and I said somevery unpleasant things about the Indians who had prevented us fromfollowing the trail, that we had sought for so laboriously, when we didfind it at last--and who still, for we doubted not that the main bodywas in wait for us lower down the valley, prevented us from returning tothe spot where we had seen the sign and thence systematically continuingour search. 

"If I was you, Professor, " said Young as I ceased speaking, "I wouldn'tbe so everlastin'ly down on these poor devils of Indians for whatthey've done. They killed Dennis, an' that's a pretty bad business; an'they got away with our two _mozos_, too; an' they've pretty wellbattered th' rest of us. But I take it that we've about evened things upby killin' eighteen of 'em--or six of their crowd dead for each one deadin ours. I guess we can call that part of th' business about square. Butwhat I'm gettin' at is, if it hadn't been for the Indians we'd neverhave come up this valley; an' so we'd never have struck th' King'ssymbol trail at all. "

"But what good did it do us to find it, when we could not follow it?" Iasked. "We cannot go back to examine the sign without risking our lives;and unless we do examine it we cannot know where the next one is, and sothe trail is lost. "

"I've just been waitin', " said Young, "t' see if I was th' only man inthis party that God-a-mighty'd given a pair of eyes to. I guess I am. Suppose you just get up, Professor, an' turn around, an' take a look atthat place where there's a brown mark on th' side of th' rock; an'suppose th' rest of you look there too. If that isn't th' King's symbol, just as plain as th' noses in all your faces, I'll eat every dead Indianin this cañon. "

And Young spoke the truth. Just above the cleft whence Pablo had takenthe sword, graven so deeply in the rock that after all the weathering ofcenturies it still remained distinct and clear, was identically the samefigure that Fray Francisco in the far past time had represented in hisletter, and that was repeated also on the far more ancient piece ofgold. Above it was cut an arrow that pointed directly up the cañon. 

It was a good thing that something came to cheer us just then; for whatwith the death of Dennis and of our two poor Indians, and our own hurts, and the melancholy feeling that must oppress men always--save those ofcruel and hardened natures--when a fight is ended in which they havespilled freely human blood, we all were oppressed sensibly by aconsuming sadness. 

But here was cheer indeed. Not only had we surely found the trail atlast, but we found it leading in precisely the direction that at thatmoment we desired to go. For us to return down the valley to the opencountry, we knew was full of most signal danger; for the Indians who sounaccountably had declined to take part in attacking us assuredly werelying in wait for us by the way. Our only chance to escape them was tostrike into the mountains; and the sign that we now had gave promisethat we should find some sort of a path along which we might go. Therefore it was with good heart that we set about getting as far intothe depths of the cañon as possible before night should be wholly uponus; trusting, in regard to possible pursuit, somewhat to thesuperstition of the Indians which so unaccountably yet so obviously hadbeen aroused, and also to the wholesome dread that they must have of usupon finding that every one of their companions had been slain. Thebodies of our poor Otomís we placed in a deep fissure in the rock, andthere heaped stones upon them, while Fray Antonio said over them thebriefer office; but the body of Dennis we carried with us, that we mightgive him a more tender and reverent burial in gratitude for his bravestruggle to save our lives when he knew that his own life was lost. Asfor the eighteen dead Indians--who had invited the death that sopromptly had come to them--we did not bother ourselves about them atall. We left them to the coyotes. 

IX. 

THE CAVE OF THE DEAD. 

Very dismal was our procession of faintly see figures moving cautiouslythrough that wild solitude. At its head went Rayburn, leading his horse, on which was Dennis's dead body; all of us, being bruised and cut andbleeding, walked slowly and painfully; and behind us, ghastly forms tornby bullets and crushed by blows, lay the slain Indians in all manner ofunnatural attitudes, made yet more hideous and fantastical by thegathering gloom of night. Indeed, night now was so close upon us thathad not the cañon in which we were run east and west, we would have beenfor some time past in darkness. As it was, though shut off from the westby the great range of mountains, a faint light came down into its depthsfrom the still bright eastern sky, where lingered ruddy reflections ofthe sunset: and so we could see to pick our way, along the edge of thelittle stream, among the rough masses of rock and trunks of trees whichhad fallen from above. 

Our march ended sooner than we had counted on. Before we hadaccomplished more than half a mile of this rough travelling, thereloomed before us a wall of rock which shut in the end of the cañon, andwhich rose as high and as sheer as did the cañon's sides. Our heartssank within us, for we perceived that we were in a cul-de-sac; whenceescape was possible only along the way by which we had come--and so toreturn, with the Indians still in wait for us, was to walk straight intothe jaws of death. And, further, if our course in this direction was cutoff, it was evident that the King's symbol graved upon the rock at theentrance of the cañon was a useless and misleading sign. 

In the hope that we might find a sharp turn, not to be perceived untilwe were close upon it, we pressed on through the dusk until we came tothe very end of the cañon, and the dark wall of rock that barred our wayrose directly above our heads. And then we found, not a turn in thecañon, but a narrow opening (through which came forth the little stream)into the body of the mountain itself. Yet we hesitated about enteringthis black gap--for who could tell what depths, unseen in that densedarkness, we might not plunge into headlong?

Much dry pine wood, branches and whole trees, lay about us in the cañon;and of this apt material Rayburn presently constructed a great torch. Lighting this in the open cañon was not to be thought of, for while wefelt tolerably certain that the main body of our enemies had notfollowed us, we could not be wholly certain that they were not closeupon our heels and ready to open upon us with a volley of arrows andspears. Rayburn therefore struck a wax-match--with which excellentarticle of Mexican manufacture we were supplied plentifully--and withthis to light his way, entered the narrow pass; and in his wake the restof us followed. Almost in a moment the walls on each side of us spreadout beyond the reach of the narrow circle of light, and we perceivedthat we were come into a cave. But before we could at all discern oursurroundings the match was blown out by a sudden suck of wind setting infrom the entrance, and we were in thick darkness. The air around us wasso sweet and so fresh that we knew that the cave must be large, and withmore than one opening--as, indeed, the suck of wind inward through thepassage by which we entered clearly showed. While Rayburn struck anothermatch, wherewith to light the torch, we all stood still in our places;and certain tremors went through our breasts because of the eeriness ofour surroundings. 

[Illustration: THE CAVE OF THE DEAD]

When the great torch blazed up, and threw everywhere save towards thehigh roof a flood of light, a real and rational fear took possession ofus. The cave was nearly circular, and at its back, directly facing theentrance, was a roughly hewn mass of stone on which rested a huge stonefigure--identical with the figures in the Mexican National Museum towhich Le Plongeon, the discoverer of one of them, at Chichen-Itza, hasgiven the name of Chac-Mool. But what filled us with dread was not thisimpassive stone image. Our alarm came from a much more natural cause, as we beheld, squatted on their haunches in long semicircular rows, facing the great stone idol, more than a hundred Indians. Truly, considering that our rifles were outside the cave and that we had withus only our revolvers, our momentary thrill of terror was highlynatural. 

Yet it was only momentary. The Indians, undisturbed by our presence andby the sudden blaze of light, remained unmoved in silent worship oftheir god; and Rayburn, the first of us to recover equanimity, set allour fears to flight as he exclaimed: "These are not the fighting kind. Every man Jack of 'em is as dead as Julius Cæsar. We've struck an Indianbone-yard. "

Here, then, was the reason why a part of the force that had attacked ushad drawn off when we made our stand at the mouth of the cañon that ledto this home of the dead. Yet when, by the light of the torch, weexamined our silent fellow-tenants of the cave, it did not seem thatthey had been placed there in recent times. Indeed, the more that FrayAntonio and I looked closely at their wrappings and noted the way inwhich their mummied forms had been ranged before this idol--thatcertainly belonged to a primitive time--the more were we inclined tobelieve that this weird sepulchre belonged to the very far back past. But for the moment it mattered not to us whence these dead forms came:the essential matter was that while we remained in the cave with them wewere in absolute safety. 

"Well, " said Young, when we had reached this comforting conclusion, "since it's a sure thing that we're all right here, I move that we makeourselves comfortable. Let's bring in th' stock, an' get th' packs off;an' then we'll build a fire an' eat another supper. Fightin' Indians ishungry work, an' I feel as if I hadn't had anything to eat for aweek"--which suggestions were so reasonable that we at once proceeded toact upon them. 

It was hard work for us, wounded and sore and tired as we were, tounfasten the pack-cords; and still harder work to collect the wood forour fire. But we managed to accomplish it all at last; and mostcomforting and refreshing was our supper amid those extraordinarysurroundings. There was even cheerfulness about our meal--and yet overin the shadows at the back of the cave, touched now and then by abrighter flash of firelight, lay before the heathen altar of old thebody of our poor Dennis; and close beside us were the long rows of deadIndians. I sometimes have thought that it was strange that we then hadany heart to eat at all, surrounded by so desolate a company. But thereis that about killing one's fellow-creatures, and being in imminentperil of being killed one's self, I have found, that blunts for a whilethe souls of those who survive and makes them careless of death's awfulmystery. As the fire crackled and blazed, giving out a plentiful warmththat in that chill place was most grateful to our aching bodies, ourspirits seemed to brighten with its brightness; and when the rich smellof strong coffee mingled with the smell of stewing meats told thatYoung's cooking was nearly ended, we sniffed hungrily and eagerly; andwhen we actually fell to upon our meal I remember that we even laughedover it. 

Yet it is but just to Fray Antonio to say that his fine spirit did notfall to the level of grossness that ours were brought to by what, as itseems to me, was an instinctive gladness on the part of our fleshlybodies that, for a while longer, they would not return to the dustwhereof they were made. Through our meal he sat gravely silent, yet withso sweet and so tender an expression upon his gentle face that in hissilence there was no suggestion of reproof. And when our meal was ended, and we were for stretching out upon our blankets before the fire andsmoking our pipes comfortably, he reminded us, with no touch ofharshness in his voice, that a last duty was claimed of us by our deadcompanion. 

And, truly, the funeral ceremonies over Dennis in that strange place ofburial made the most curious ending of a man that ever I saw. In thefine dry sand wherewith the cave was bedded, directly in front of thealtar on which was the heathen idol, we dug his grave--toilsomely andwith pain, for all of our bodies were hurt and sore. While we labored, two great torches flared upon the altar, propped against the idol; andlong, flickering rays of light shot out to us across the mummied bodiesof the dead Indians--striking across their gleaming teeth, so that theyseemed to smile at us--from the huge blaze of the fire. 

From our stores Fray Antonio took out a little salt, and from the clearspring that bubbled up within the cave a cup of water, which elementshe blessed and mingled as the rites of his Church prescribed; and withthe water thus consecrated he sprinkled the body lying before theheathen altar, while his strong, sweet voice chanted the _De Profundis_so that all the cave rang with the rich melody of the holy strain, andour own breasts were thrilled by it. Gently we bore the body of poorDennis from its resting-place before the altar to its last resting-placein the grave that we had dug there, while Fray Antonio said the_Miserere_; and as with our pack-ropes we lowered the body into theearth, the priest sang the _Benedictus_, with its promise of a betterlife to come; and then a prayer ended all, and we filled in the grave. 

"I'm Congregational, myself, " Young said, when our work was finished;"at least I was brought up that way; an' I'm down on th' Scarlet Womanfrom first t' last. But I go in for lettin' folks believe what they'vegot a mind to; an' when it cornea t' buryin' 'em it's only square t'give 'em th' sort of send-off that they'd really like. For a Catholic, Iguess Dennis was a pretty good one; an' I must say I think it would 'a'done him good to see th' way we've given him a first-class funeral, justin th' shape he'd 'a' fixed things up for himself. But I guess whatwe've been at would have everlastin'ly shook up these dead fellows here, if they could have come t' life for about five minutes while it wasgoin' on!"

There was an element of grim humor in this suggestion of Young's thattickled my fancy; and it was, indeed, allowing for the quaintness of hisphrasing of it, but an expression of my own thoughts. But my reflectionwas upon the curious incongruity of it all, and upon the way in whichreligious faiths supplant each other; even as the different races of menwho formulate them and believe in them supplant each other upon the faceof the earth. Together in this same cave were now the dead of two faithsand two races. Who could tell what dead of other faiths and races yetunborn would lie here also before the end of time should come?

When all was ended we were glad enough to lie down to give our batteredbodies rest in sleep. We felt sure that no attack would be made upon us;yet we rolled some fragments of rock into the narrow entrance to thecave, arranging them in such a way that they would fall with a crashshould any attempt be made to move them from outside. And, thisprecaution having been taken, we lay down upon our blankets thankfully, and never troubled ourselves to keep any watch at all. 

It was brilliantly light when we awoke, for the rays of the just-risensun were striking strongly into the cave through its entrance-way; andmuch light came also through a crevice higher up, and through a greathole in the vastly high roof. Viewed in this clearer light, there was ahorrible ghastliness about the mummies ranged in their orderly rows, andpresided over by the coarsely carved, coarsely conceived stone figurethat in life they had worshipped as their god. On this image thesunshine fell full, and we perceived that its position evidently hadbeen chosen carefully, so that the very first ray of light from therising sun would strike upon it. No doubt, in ancient times, this cavehad been a temple as well as a place of sepulchre. 

We were well rested by our long and sound sleep; but the pain which waseverywhere in our bodies, from our many bruises, and from our wounds, and from the aching stiffness of our muscles, made life for a timealmost intolerable. Moreover, the languorous reaction following theundue exaltation that came of our battling and escape was upon us; sothat our pain of body was accompanied by a most sombre and melancholycast of mind. Yet, again, did the more balanced and delicate temperamentof Fray Antonio shine out by contrast with our coarser make; for whilehe also suffered pains of the body, his mind was filled with a serenecheerfulness that found expression in kindly, comforting words, by whichour flagging spirits were strengthened and upheld. There was in FrayAntonio's nature, surely, a fund of gentle lovingness the like of whichI never knew in any other man. 

And, in truth, our plight was such that we stood in much need ofcomforting. Not only were we sick with our many hurts, but we were alsoprisoners. By the full light of day we examined carefully the cave, andfound no outlet to it; and we examined carefully, also, the walls of thecañon throughout its full length, and made sure that there was no pathleading upward whereby a man could go. And escape down the valley wascut off, for the Indians--who knew, no doubt, the manner of place wewere caught in--were on guard and watching for us; which fact camesharply to our knowledge with a half-dozen arrows that dropped among usas we went out a little way beyond the mouth of the cañon to see if theway was open to us. Had we been whole, we might have made a dash andfought our way through; but even this poor plan was not possible whenour bodies were stiff and sore. Our one comforting thought was that, aswe had an abundance of provisions and an ample supply of water, we couldhold out for so long a time that the Indians at last would get tired ofwaiting for us. If they ventured to attack us in the cave, we knew thatwe could defend ourselves against any number of them successfully. Ifthey simply abandoned the siege, then we would be free without fightingat all. But it was dismal work waiting in that dismal place for one orthe other of these two ends to come. 

And the fact that the King's symbol had proved a false guide also was asource of deep concern to us. By the full strength of daylight we againexamined the graving at the entrance to the cañon, and there was nomistaking the way in which the arrow pointed. And, what was even moreperplexing and disheartening, we found the graving repeated at theentrance to the cave, and the arrow pointing directly towards the statueof Chac-Mool. It was impossible that this cave, with mummies only forinhabitants, could be the walled city wherein the reserve force of menand treasure had been hid; and yet here, obviously, was the end of thetrail. Of this we convinced ourselves by searching the cave exhaustivelyfor another outlet--even sounding the walls in the hope that we mightfind a passage that had been artificially concealed. As Rayburn terselyput it, we were no better than so many rats in a trap with terrierswaiting for us outside. 

X. 

THE SWINGING STATUE. 

Four more days went by very wearily. Our wounds were healing--for we allwere in good condition as the result of our vigorous life in the openair--but they still kept us in constant pain, and so tended to increaseour melancholy. Out in the valley, beyond the mouth of the cañon, theIndians maintained their watchful guard. Rayburn tried the experiment ofholding a hat and coat out on a pole, standing himself under cover ofthe rock, and in an instant a pair of arrows went through the dummy; andas one of these came from the right and the other from the left, it wasevident that in both directions the valley was picketed. 

We were safe enough for the time being, of course. Even should theIndians overcome their superstitious dread and enter the cañon--whichwas not probable, for they had not even ventured to remove theirdead--they could not possibly make a successful attack upon us in thecave. Behind the breastwork that we had built in the narrow entrance, and armed with our repeating rifles and revolvers, we were absolutelysecure. 

"It's not a bad thing that we're safe, " said Young, "an' that we've gotplenty of grub an' water, an' even lots of firewood; if we've got t' beshut up here we might as well be comfortable. But what I want is athrough ticket for home. This treasure business has gone back on us th'worst kind. That old Fray Francisco had his eye shut up by th' tall talkof th' fellow who pretended to be converted; and th' Cacique justpromiscuously lied. That's about the size of it. An' for bein' foolsenough to swallow their stuff, here we are, as Rayburn says, like ratsin a cage. "

There was so much probability in what Young said that I did not attemptto argue with him; yet was I convinced that in what Fray Francisco hadwritten, and still more in what the dying Cacique had said to me, therewas a substantial element of truth. 

Finding that nobody replied to him, for all of us were sore at heart andso disposed to silence, Young turned to the statue of Chac-Mool andproceeded to abuse it vigorously, on the ground that it was anidolatrous product of the Aztec race that was at the root of all ourtroubles. For, as he truly said, had there been no Aztecs to begin with, our departure on a wild-goose chase after an Aztec treasure-house wouldhave been an impossibility. His attention having been thus fixed uponthe idol, his habit of investigation got the better of his ill-willtowards it, and he mounted the altar to examine it moreclosely--continuing the while to address it in language that waseminently unparliamentary. 

"A pretty-looking sort a specimen _you_ are!" he said, in a tone ofvast contempt. "But you're about what I'd expect folks like that friendof th' Professor's, th' Cacique, t' worship. It takes a low sort of aheathen, even in his blindness, t' bow down to a stone like you--withyour twisted head, an' your stubby legs, an' your little fryin'-pan overyour stomach. Why, where I come from they wouldn't have you even for astone settee in a park. No, you're not fit even t' sit on--unless, maybe, it's on th' flat top of your crooked head;" and by way of testingthis possibility, Young seated himself on the head of Chac-Mool. 

And then a very extraordinary thing happened. The idol, and the greatslab of stone on which it rested and of which it was a part, slowlymoved; the head sinking, and the other end of the slab, on which thelegs were carved, rising in the air! Young sprang up with a cry as hefelt the stone sinking beneath him; and the figure, relieved of hisweight, settled back into its former position with a slight jar. In amoment that the slab was in the air there had come from under it a gleamof light. 

In the excitement wrought by this strange accident our hurts wereforgotten; and we eagerly clambered upon the altar to investigate thematter further, while hope and wonder thrilled our hearts. 

"Now, then, Young, " said Rayburn, "try it again. It looks as though thisidol wasn't all the blackguard things you've been calling it, by a longshot. "

"No, I'll be hanged if I'll try it again, " Young answered. "Try ityourself, if you want to. How do I know what's goin' t' happen with astone thing that goes tippin' around that way? I don't mind sayin' thatI'm a good deal jolted, an' don't feel like foolin' with it any more. Try it yourself, if you want to, I say. "

"All right, " Rayburn answered. "You and the Professor stand here whereyou can grab me if anything goes wrong. It looks to me as though therewas a chance for us of some sort here, and I mean to see what it is. "

Young and I stood on each side of Rayburn and held him by the arms as heseated himself on the idol's head. Borne down by his weight, the headslowly sank, the whole fore-end of the stone slab falling away into therock, and the after-end correspondingly rising and disclosing a squaredopening, through which came a strong burst of light. When the head wasdown to the level of the rock, and the slab stood up at an angle ofnearly fifty degrees, the movement ceased. Looking into the opening wesaw a flight of a dozen stone steps. On the bottom step the sun shonebrightly, and in our faces blew a draught of fresh, sweet air. On therock, beside the stair-way was carved the King's symbol, with the arrowpointing downward. 

"Hurrah!" cried Young. "Here's a way out--an' it looks as if that oldmonk an' th' Cacique weren't such a pair of blasted liars after all!"

Rayburn jumped up to have a look with the rest of us; but before hecould see anything the statue had fallen into place again and theopening was closed. "No matter, we know how to work it, now, " he said. "We must prop it up somehow; that's all. I want to have a look at thisthing. There's some mighty good engineering shown in the way the centreof gravity of that stone has been calculated; and there's a goodmechanism in the way it's hung. Here she goes again. Just chock it witha bit of rock when I swing it open. "

"Well, what I'm interested in, " said Young, "is findin' out what sort ofa place it'll get us into. It looks to me as if we might be goin' tostrike the treasure right smack here. "

Much the same notion was in all of our heads by this time, and we werefull of eagerness--the statue having been swung again, and propped inplace with a fragment of rock--as we went down the little stair. Butwhat we found was only a continuation of the cañon--as though, by somecurious freak of nature, the thin walls of rock enclosing the cave hadbeen left thus in the very middle of it. Rayburn drew our attention tothe fact that we were on the crest of a divide, for a spring thatbubbled up here flowed away from us; and this also was a cheering signthat the cañon had an outlet. How far away the outlet might be we couldnot tell; for the cañon, half a mile or so from where we stood, bentsharply to the right. But being thus assured that a way of some sort outof our prison was open to us, we turned to examine the work of theskilled mechanics who in some far past time had set this swinging statuein its place. From below, the simple apparatus, that yet for its fittingrequired so high a grade of scientific knowledge, was plainly disclosedto us. Into the great slab of stone, presumably running through it fromside to side, was set a round bar of metal--the same bright metal ofwhich the sword was made--more than a foot in diameter; and this workedin two concave metal sockets in much the same manner that the sockets ofa gun-carriage hold the trunnions of a gun. What struck Rayburn asespecially remarkable was the trueness to a circle of both the socketsand the bar; both showing, as he declared, that they had been workedupon a lathe. And he was puzzled, as in the case of the sword, as to thecomposition of the metal that thus defied oxidization through longperiods of time. "Gold is the only thing that fills the bill, " he said;"but a bar of gold, even of that size, would bend double under such astrain. I'd give ten dollars for a chance to analyze it--for there's abigger fortune in putting a metal like that on the market than there isin finding this treasure that we're hunting for: especially if it turnsout that there isn't any treasure to find. "

"Now, don't you go t' runnin' down that treasure, " Young struck in. "Just now treasure stock is up. Me an' that idol have just boomed th'market. I'm sorry I called Jack Mullins, or whatever his name is, such alot of cuss-word names. I take 'em all back. He isn't just th' sort ofan idol that I'd pick out t' worship myself, at least not as a steadything; but there are good points about him--especially th' way he tipsup. I always did like an idol that tipped up. He's done th' square thingby us in gettin' us out all right from th' worst sort of a hole; an' Iguess th' best thing we can do is t' yank our traps out of that cavean' get started again. Why, for all we know, th' treasure may be rightaround that corner. "

There was no doubt as to the soundness of Young's suggestion in regardto resuming our march; but the very serious fact confronted us that wenow must do our marching on foot. To get the horses and mules downthrough the narrow opening was simply impossible, and there was nothingfor us but to leave them behind. Rayburn looked very grave over thisphase of the matter, for leaving the mules meant also that we must leavethe greater part of our ammunition and stores. That these things wouldbe abundantly safe in the cave, for any length of time, was not to thepurpose; the essential matter was that we would be deprived of them. Itwas hard, too, to think that our animals would fall into the hands ofthe Indians--for our only course with them must be to turn them loose inthe cañon, whence they certainly would go out in search of pasture intothe valley, and so be captured; but it was still harder to think that wemust go ourselves on foot and with a scant outfit of supplies. 

It was not very cheerfully, therefore, that we went back into the caveand began to sort out from our packs the articles which would beabsolutely necessary to our preservation in the rough work among themountains that probably was before us; and our shoulders already ached alittle in anticipation of the heavy loads which they must bear. 

It was while we were thus engaged that Pablo begged that I would stepaside with him for a moment that he might speak to my ear alone. I sawthat there were tears upon his cheeks, and as he spoke he scarcelycould restrain his sobs. 

"Señor, " he said, "you know El Sabio?"

"Surely, Pablo. "

"You know, señor, that he is a very small ass. "

"It is true. "

"And you know--you know, señor, how very tenderly we love each other. Since I came away from my father and my mother, in Guadalajara, and frommy little brother and sister there, El Sabio is everything in the worldto me, señor. I--I cannot leave him, señor. I should die if we wereparted; and El Sabio would die also. And you say that you have perceivedthat he is a very small ass. Do not ask me to leave him, señor. "

"But we cannot take him with us, Pablo. What would you have?"

"That is it, señor; truly, I think that we can take him with us. Yousee, he is so little; and it is quite wonderful through how small aplace El Sabio can crawl. He can creep like a kitten, señor, and he canmake himself into a very little bunch. And so I think that he can--if wehelp him, you know, señor--and speak to him so that he will not bealarmed, and will try to do his very best to make a small bunch ofhimself--I think that we can get him down through the hole, and so takehim with us. But if we cannot, señor, then--you must forgive me, señor--I love him so very dearly, you know--then I will stay with himhere. It would be better so than that El Sabio should think I no longerloved him. And he would think that, señor, were I to go with you andleave him here among these dreadful dead gentlemen alone. "

It had not occurred to any of us that El Sabio might be condensedsufficiently to go through the narrow way; but if he truly were thecollapsable donkey that Pablo declared him to be, we had a good deal tobe thankful for. He was a sturdy little creature, and his small backcould bear easily twice as much as any two of ours. With his assistancewe certainly would be able to carry with us all of our ammunition andarms--of which defensive stuff we could not well afford to spare thesmallest part. 

And El Sabio, after Pablo had made a long explanation of the case tohim, and had told him precisely what we expected him to do--to all ofwhich he listened gravely and with an astonishing air of comprehendingwhat was said to him--seemed to enter into the spirit of the situation, and to try his very best to meet its requirements. It is a puzzle to meto this day how El Sabio managed to shrink himself so that we got himthrough that narrow hole; but he certainly did manage it--and then wentdown the stone stair-way backward, as though he had been trained to be atrick donkey from his youth up. When the feat was accomplished, and hestood safely out in the cañon, the expressions of love, and ofcongratulation upon his cleverness, which Pablo lavished upon him wereenough to have turned completely a less serious-minded donkey's head. 

Such of our stores as we were compelled to leave behind us, includingour saddles, and the pack-saddles, and all the heavier portion of ourcamp equipage, we heaped in one corner of the cave and piled rocksover; and then we turned our poor horses and the mules loose in thecañon, feeling certain that their instinct would lead them out to thevalley in search of food. It went to our hearts to know that these goodbeasts of ours were doomed to hard service under Indian masters to theend of their days. 

All being thus in readiness for our advance, we went down the stair-waybeneath the swinging statue, and from beneath pulled out the piece ofrock which propped up the great mass of stone. With a heavy jar it felland closed the passage-way, and we prepared to start. Just then FrayAntonio remembered that he had left on a ledge in the cave--that we hadused as a shelf for the storage of various small matters during oursojourn there--a little volume that he dearly loved: the _Meditations ofThomas à Kempis_. He was full of remorse for his forgetfulness, and didnot ask that we should turn back to get his book for him; yet hisdistress over the loss of it was so evident that we had not the heart togo on. 

"It will take only ten minutes to go back, " said Rayburn, and as hespoke he ran up the stair-way and set his shoulders to sway up thestone. In a moment he called: "Just come here, Young, and help, willyou? It don't work as easily from this side. " But even with Young's helpthe stone did not move. Then the rest of us joined these two, and allfive of us together pushed with all our strength--and the stone did notyield by so much as the breadth of a hair! And then rather a queer lookcame into Rayburn's face, and he said: "I think that I understand whatis the matter. The point of leverage falls beyond the edge of the hole. From where we have a chance to push, we are working against the wholeweight of the stone. We might as well try to lift the mountain itself!"And then he added, "I guess we'd better give this thing up and start. "

Very curious feelings were in our breasts as we picked up our packs andset off along the cañon; for we knew that by that way only could we go, and that, no matter what was ahead of us, our retreat was cut off. 

XI. 

THE SUBMERGED CITY. 

A sweet, warm wind blew in our faces as we set off along the cañon; thesun shone joyously upon us, and there was that fresh, tingling qualityin the air that is peculiar to regions high above the level of the sea. In spite of the fact that the way behind us was irrevocably barred, andthat no matter what dangers were ahead of us we had no option but toface them, our spirits were strong within us, and we went blithely onour way. Young, who was in advance, began to whistle "Yankee Doodle";and presently, from the rear of our procession, where Pablo walkedbeside the heavily laden El Sabio, there broke forth a mouth-organaccompaniment to this spirited melody. 

The bed of the cañon, through which a little stream ran, fell awaybefore us along a slight down grade; which descent, since we found alsoa good foot-way beside the stream, made walking comparatively easynotwithstanding our heavy back-loads. Now and then our way would bebarred by masses of rock fallen from above, and by whole trees blowndown from their insecure roothold on the rocky cliffs; and twice we cameto steep descents which would have given us trouble had we not broughtalong the ropes wherewith our packs had been bound. Shifting El Sabiodown these places was our hardest task; but with the ropes, and theintelligent part that he took in the performance, we managed itsuccessfully. 

So we went on for half a dozen miles or more through the windings of thecañon, but keeping all the while a sharp lookout ahead--for in the mouthof this end of the cañon, supposing it to open as at the other end upona grassy valley, we well enough might come upon an Indian camp. And thatwe had come upon such a camp we felt quite sure when, late in theafternoon, Rayburn signalled us from his advanced position--he havinggone to the head of the line in Young's place--to stand still until heshould reconnoitre a little. Being thus halted, we unslung our riflesand loosed our pistols in their holsters, so that we might be ready incase fighting suddenly should begin; and Rayburn went on around a turnin the cañon, and for a while we lost sight of him. 

Presently he returned and signalled us to join him, but to movecautiously. When we came up with him he led us to the bend in the cañon, and there a broad view opened to us; for the cañon suddenly widenedinto a great valley, that was everywhere, so far as we could see, surrounded by walls of rock almost perpendicular and vastly high. In thebottom of the valley was a broad expanse of delectably greenmeadow-land, broken here and there by groves of trees; and in thevalley's middle part, reaching from side to side of it, was a lovelylake, whereof the blue was flecked by white reflections of certainlittle idly drifting clouds: the sight of all which greenness and fairwater and broad range of sky--after being for so long a season pent upin rocky fastnesses and wandering over brown, sun-baked plains--fairlybrought tears into my eyes because of its fresh and open loveliness. Andin the tender feeling that thus stirred my heart, as I could see in thequick glance that he gave me, Fray Antonio also keenly sympathized; forhis nature was very open at all times to such gentle influences. 

But Rayburn and Young, as was evident from their anxious looks, werethinking only of the dangers which this lovely valley might hold instore for us; for the shore of the lake nearest to us had many housesbuilt upon it, and we could see faintly, for the width of the lake wasnearly two miles, that there were other houses upon its farther shore. Standing hidden behind a rock, Rayburn examined the valley carefullythrough a field-glass for a long while. 

"I must say this place beats me, " he said at last, as he put the glassdown from his eyes. "There's no doubt about there being a down downthere; but I can't make out a sign of a single living thing. And whatis still queerer, the houses seem to go right down into the lake. Ifyou'll take the glass, Professor, you'll see that a few of them, on thisside, stand all right on dry ground; and then, farther down the slopingbank, are a lot in the water; and beyond these there seem to be someroofs just showing above the level of the lake. And as far as I can makeout, things are just the same over on the far shore. It looks as if thelake had risen after the town was built. "

As I looked through the glass I saw that what Rayburn had said was true;and I observed with much interest that many of the houses were large, and that all seemed to be well built of stone. Their constructionreminded me of the buildings which M. Charnay examined at Tula, and Iwas eager to get down to them and examine them closely. Young and FrayAntonio took the glass, in turn, and as none of us saw any signs of lifein the valley, we decided to go on. And we were mightily stimulated inthis resolve by finding, just at the end of the cañon, where the sharpdescent began, a graving of the King's symbol on the rock, with thearrow pointing directly down the steep path. 

"Here's a walled city, for sure, " said Young; "and if this is where th'treasure-house is, we won't raise a row because th' folks have gone offan' left it. Just whoop up that burro of yours, Pablo, an' let's begettin' along. It's a pity we had t' leave th' mules behind. If th'treasure's in silver, we can't get away with much of it with nothin' butEl Sabio t' pack it on. "

Pablo did not understand this speech, of course, but he recognized hisown name and the name of El Sabio, and Young's gestures helped out themeaning of his words. Therefore Pablo grinned, and "whooped up" ElSabio; and we all set off briskly down the steep decline. 

Presently we found our way much easier than we had been led to expect byits rough beginning. As we advanced along it there was ample evidencethat the path had been graded and smoothed by the hand of man. Inseveral places it was carried on a terrace supported by a well-laidretaining wall; a deep crevice was spanned by long slabs of stone, soplaced as to form a bridge; and where it turned sharply around a highshoulder of rock, the face of the cliff had been quarried away. Yet thatthis all had been done in a very remote time was shown by the fragmentsof rock which had fallen into it here and there, and which wereblackened by age. "The same fellow who set that statue in place probablywas in charge here, " was Rayburn's comment, "and he was a first-rateengineer. I wish I knew how he managed to swing those stone slabs overthat crevice. There's no room there to set up a derrick, and it wouldpuzzle me to set blocks like that without one. "

And Rayburn's admiration for the professional skill of this engineer ofa long past age was still further excited when the path came fairly intothe valley, and thence was carried downward along the gentle slopetowards the lake, by a perfectly even two-per-cent. Grade, over a broadway paved smoothly with squared blocks of stone. And Fray Antonio and Iwere much interested in this work also, for we both perceived theidentity of its structure with the paved way that is found on the eastcoast of Yucatan, and that is continued on the island of Cozumel. 

By this paved avenue we entered the city--for, as we presently found, itwas entitled to this more dignified name. The first houses that we cameto were but small buildings enclosing a single room--such as are found, inhabited by working-people, on the outskirts of any Mexican city at thepresent day. They were silent and deserted; but they gave, at firstsight, the impression of being but momentarily abandoned, for thebelongings of their owners still remained in them as though theevery-day affairs of life still went on within their walls. In the firstthat we entered we found an earthen pot still standing on a sort offireplace, and beside the fireplace a little pile of charcoal. There wasa fragment of bone in the pot, and beneath it were some scraps ofcharcoal which remained unconsumed. It was as though cooking had beengoing on here but an hour before. Rayburn even put his hand into theashes to feel if they still were warm. But closer investigation gave usa juster notion of the long lapse of time that must have occurred sinceany fire had burned upon this hearth. In one corner of the room we founda pile of mats, but on touching these they crumbled into fragments inour hands; and the bone in the pot was so dry and so porous that it waslight as cork. 

As in this first house that we examined, so was it in all of them. All, at the first glance, seemed to have been but a moment before deserted;but all had signs about them which showed that they had been abandonedfor a very long time. In one we found a loom--in construction very likethat which the Navajo Indians use at the present day--on which hung, partly completed, a sheer filament that once had been some sort of heavywoollen cloth. In another, a cotton garment was lying carelessly upon ashelf, as though but a moment before cast aside; yet, as I tried to pickit up, it crumbled between my fingers into a fine powder. 

Of humanity, the only sign that we found anywhere about this grim anddesert place was the dried, shrivelled remnant of a woman that we cameupon in an upper room of one of the larger houses farther on. She waslying upon a bed of mats, partly turned upon her side, and one arm wasstretched out towards an earthen cup that stood just beyond her reachupon the floor. There was strong pathos in the action of the figure, forit told of the keen thirst of fever--of weakness so extreme that theinch or two between the hand and the cup was a gulf impassable--of amoaning struggle after the water so longed for--and then, at last, ofdeath in that utter and desolate loneliness. And what added to theghastliness of it all was that a thin ray of sunlight, coming through acrevice in the wall, struck upon the woman's teeth--whence the lips haddried away--and by its gleaming there made on her face a smile. 

As we came close to the lake, we perceived, as Rayburn already haddiscerned by the aid of the glass, that houses, partially submerged, actually rose from the water, and that houses of which only the roofswere visible were farther on. That this whole valley was the crater ofan extinct volcano was sufficiently evident; and we could only surmisethat in later times some fresh cataclysm of nature had poured suddenlyinto it a vast body of water, and so had submerged the city that hadbeen builded here. Whatever had brought about the catastrophe, itevidently had come with a most appalling suddenness. Everywhere thecondition of the houses showed how hastily they had been abandoned; andthe wild hurry of flight was shown still more clearly in the case of thewoman--whose surroundings gave evidence that she had been a person ofconsequence--deserted in her age or infirmity and left lonely to die. 

Young's face wore a melancholy expression as we stood upon the shore ofthe lake, and looked out across it towards the faintly seen westernshore. "If this is th' place we're huntin' for, " he said, "I guess ourtreasure stock is pretty badly watered, unless somebody's had th' senset' keep th' treasure dry over on th' other side. We'd better move overthere, I reckon, an' take a look for it, especially as we've got t' gothat way anyhow in order t' get out. There ought t' be some sort of apath around th' lake, between th' edge of th' water and th' cliffs. "

But when we came to examine into this matter we found that there was nopath at all. On each side of the valley the walls of rock rose directlyfrom the water, sharp and sheer. 

"Well, " said Rayburn, when we had finished our inspection, "we've gotto get across somehow. I guess we'll have to sail in, the first thingto-morrow morning, and build a raft. These pine-trees down here by thewater will cut easy and float well, and there's some comfort in that, anyway. But what I'm after right now is my supper. "

Pablo already had started a fire, having first unpacked El Sabio, thathe might refresh himself by rolling on the soft, green grass and byeating his fill of it, and Young presently had some ham fried and somecoffee boiled. We had counted upon having fresh meat for supper thatnight, for there was everything in the look of the valley to promisethat we would find game there; but, so far, not a four-footed thing nora bird had we seen, nor even signs of fish in the lake. 

In the morning we got out the axes and went to work at the building ofthe raft; and, notwithstanding what Rayburn had said in regard to theease of cutting them, I must confess that for my part I found thecutting of pine-trees very wearying and painful. My hands were blisteredby it, and the muscles of my back were made extremely sore by it forseveral days. Indeed, the construction of a raft big enough to float usall, and our heavy packs, and El Sabio, was a serious undertaking. Wespent two days and a half over it, and I never in my life was morethankful for anything than I was when at last that wretched raft wasdone. As Young observed, as he regarded our finished work critically, there was no style about it--for it was only a lot of rough logs, ofwhich the upper and lower layers ran fore and aft and the middle layertransversely, the whole bound together by our pack-ropes--but it waslarge enough for our purposes, and it was solid and strong. 

In the late afternoon we carried our belongings on board of it, andPablo succeeded by dint of much entreaty in inducing El Sabio to boardit also, and we pushed off from shore. For driving the clumsy thingforward we had made four rough paddles, which well enough served ourpurposes, for there was no current whatever in the lake and the air wasstill. 

[Illustration: AFLOAT ON THE LAKE]

As we went onward we discovered how considerable the city was that herelay submerged. Through the perfectly clear water we could see to a greatdepth, and beneath us in every direction were paved streets, lined withhouses well built of stone. Near the centre of the valley the size ofthe houses greatly increased, and the fashion of their building was morestately; and fronting upon a great open square in the very centre of thecity was a building of such extraordinary size that we took it to be thepalace of a king; but here the water was so deep that we could make outbut faintly the looming far below us of its mighty walls. Never have Ibeen more pained than I then was; for in that place I found myself closeto making discoveries of surpassing archæological value, and yet I wasas completely cut off from them as though they had no existence. 

Just beyond the palace, as we went onward, our raft almost touched theroof of a noble building that stood upon the top of a vast pyramidalmound, the base of which we could see but dimly far down through thewaters of the lake. This, evidently, had been the chief temple of thecity; and as we passed over it and came to its eastern side, we hadghastly and certain proof of the terrible suddenness with which the cityhad been overwhelmed. On the broad terrace before the temple was thesacrificial stone, and upon this dark mass we saw distinctly thegleaming of human bones; and as we peered down into the water weperceived that all the terrace was strewn thickly with human bones also, showing that when the rush of water came many thousands of human beingshad here perished miserably. For a little while, no doubt, all thesurface of the water round about where we were had been dotted thicklywith the bodies of the drowned which had floated upward; and then, oneby one, they had sunk again to the place where death first foundthem--where their flesh wasted away from them until only their gleamingbones remained. 

I pictured to myself the dreadful scene that once had passed, down therebelow us, where now was only the calm serenity of ancient death: thegreat crowd collected to witness the sacrifice, and then the suddencoming of the waters--possibly so quickly that the victim, held down bythe neck-yoke upon the sacrificial stone, was drowned ere there was timeto slay him. This great mound would be the last of all to be covered, and the wretched people gathered there must have seen their citydisappear beneath the waters before death came to them. No doubt theythought themselves safe in that high place, made sacred by the presenceof their gods. And when the water did reach them, what a writhing andstruggling there must have been for a little while; what a crushing ofthe weak by the strong in mad efforts to gain even a moment's safetyupon some higher standing-place! And then, at last, the water rosetriumphant in its swelling majesty over all--and beneath its placidsurface were hid the silenced terrors of all that commotion of mortalagony, whereof the outcome was the peaceful and eternal calm of death. 

XII. 

IN THE VALLEY OF DEATH. 

As the raft approached the western shore of the lake we perceivedbeneath us no longer houses, but large walled enclosures which plainlyhad been gardens of pleasure--for gaunt trees, symmetrically planted ingroves and beside stone-paved path-ways, yet stood in them; and seats ofcarved stone were placed in what once had been shaded nooks; and in manyof the gardens were carved stone fountains of elegant design. Betweenthe city and what once had been its charming suburb extended a broadpaved way, like that which we had found upon the eastern shore; and thispaved way was continued on the dry ground above the present level of thelake towards the cliffs westward. On the high western shore were a fewhouses, large and handsome, and having walled gardens around them, which evidently had belonged to persons of great wealth and consequence. 

In these we found shadowy remnants of a past magnificence. On many ofthe walls were hangings, once rich and heavy, that now were mere filmsof ghostly stuff held together by the many gold threads which had beenwoven into their fabric. Pottery, wrought into beautiful shapes, yetornamented with designs that told of but half-redeemed barbarism, wasscattered about everywhere, and scarcely a piece was broken. Some veryhandsome weapons we found also--swords and spears and knives--of thesame curious metal as the sword which Pablo so opportunely had laidhands upon in the cañon, but far more finely finished and more delicatein design. And of this same metal was made a great throne, as it seemedto us to be, that was in the largest room of the finest of all thehouses; a house that we believed was once the pleasure palace of theking. The audience-chamber in which this throne stood was of finelywrought stone-work, whereof the whole surface was covered withlow-reliefs of men and animals--scenes of battle, of council, and of thechase--surrounded by curious tracery of such orderly design that FrayAntonio agreed with me in the belief that it was some sort ofhieroglyphic writing. But this matter is treated of so fully in my_Pre-Columbian Conditions on the Continent of North America_ that I neednot enter upon discussion of it here. 

But in none of these houses, much to the disappointment of Rayburn andYoung, did we find any scrap of the treasure for which they soearnestly longed. And, truly, if treasure remained in this wrecked city, it was less likely to be in these outlying country houses than in somestrong building in the city's heart; and so beyond their reach in thedepths of the lake. If this were indeed the walled city for which wewere searching--as well it might be, for never was a city surrounded bygrander walls than the mighty cliffs wherewith the valley wasencompassed--our search was like to be a vain one so far as meretreasure was concerned; though I, for my part, felt myself well repaidfor all that I had thus far suffered by the discovery of so much thatwas of archæological value. In this purer pleasure Fray Antonio shared;yet was he also dissatisfied--for he had come with us that he mightpreach Christianity to living souls: and here were only the bones ofcountless dead. 

The paved way still led westward, and we followed it--for to thewestward must be the valley's outlet. As it rose to a higher level theway widened; and on each side of it was a stone statue of the godChac-Mool. As we came to these statues Young proceeded, in a mostbusiness-like way, and with no apparent appreciation of the queer figurethat he cut, to sit down in turn on each of their heads. And he wasmightily disappointed when he found that neither of them stirred. "They're not th' tippin' kind, " he said, ruefully, as he got down fromthe head of the second one and looked at it with an expression ofreproach. 

But his countenance brightened, when we had gone a little farther, as hecaught sight of another and much larger statue of the god that was setin a great niche cut in the cliff at the end of the paved way. Toprepare here the god's abiding-place very arduous labor had beenundertaken. For a space fully one hundred feet high and as many broadthe whole face of the cliff had been quarried into; making a deep recessthat was rounded above, and that from beneath was approached by a longflight of steps cut from the solid rock. In the centre of the recess, upon the terraced space above the stairs, was a huge squared mass ofstone, on which the great stone figure of Chac-Mool rested. The openingfaced directly eastward, and as we approached it the stone figure wasseen but indistinctly in the duskiness of the recess, over which, andfar beyond which into the valley, fell the shadow of the mighty cliff. From in front of this great altar all the valley was open to us; andhence, before the lake swallowed it, every part of the city must havebeen clearly visible in ancient times. As we mounted the steps andapproached the idol I observed that Pablo hung back a little; as thoughin the depths of his nature some chord had been touched, some ancientinstinct in his blood aroused, that filled his soul with awe. 

Certainly there was no suggestion of awe in Young's demeanor towards thestatue. With a monkey-like quickness, that I would not have given hisstout legs and heavy body credit for, he climbed upon the altar andplumped himself down on the head of the figure almost in a moment. Butagain he was disappointed, for the idol did not stir. As we examined itclosely we perceived that its fixedness was not unreasonable; for thefigure, and the altar on which it rested, were one solid mass of rockthat itself was a part of the cliff--left standing here when the nichearound it was hollowed out. A very prodigious piece of stone-cutting allthis was, and as I contemplated it I was filled with admiration of theskill of them who had achieved it. But Young came down from the idolmoodily; and he said that the way these people had of playing tricks ontravellers, by making Mullinses that didn't tip when they ought to tip, was quite of a piece with their putting their treasure where it couldn'tbe got at without a diving-bell. 

Behind the altar the niche was cut into the cliff so far that the depthsof it in the waning daylight were dusky with heavy shadows; indeed, sodense were these that Young came near to breaking his bones by fallinginto a little hole in the floor, that was the less easily seen becauseit was hidden behind a jutting mass of rock. But he caught the rock intime to save himself from falling, and eagerly struck a wax-match thathe might see if here were a passage-way for us. Descending into the rockwas a stair-way, the steps whereof were smoothed as though many feet hadtrodden them; and down these steps he promptly went, holding the lightedmatch before him--these Mexican wax-matches are as good as tapers--andhaving with him the full box of matches should further light berequired. A minute later we heard his voice calling to us, but where itcame from we could not tell--for he had descended into the rock belowus, and the sound that we heard seemed to come from the air above. While we listened we saw the gleam of the light in the darkness below, and then he came up the stair laughing. 

"Well, that's just th' boss trick, " he said. "I guess th' old priestswho used t' run this place would be everlastin'ly down on me if theyknew that I'd tumbled to it. There's a hole right up into th' idol an'room inside of him for half a dozen men, an' there's a crack in his headthat you can see out through while you're lettin' off prophecies an'that sort o' thing. Why, if you had a crowd t' work with who reallybelieved in Jack Mullins, you could set 'em up for almost anything witha rig like that!"

But this curious discovery, in which Fray Antonio and I were deeplyinterested, did not forward our immediate purpose, which was to find away out of the valley. We still cherished a faint hope, indeed, that wemight find the King's symbol with the arrow pointing the way onward, andso be assured that the city buried in the depths of the lake was not thecity of which we were in search. But in any event the need for gettingout of the valley pressed upon us; and that we might accomplish ourdeliverance from this shut-in place, we examined closely the wholecircuit of the cliffs at the western end. Not an inch of this greatexpanse of rock, for as far up the wall as our eyes could see clearly, escaped our attentive observation; yet nowhere was there, even by boldclimbing, a place where the cliff might be scaled, still less an openpath. And so, having walked slowly along the bottom of the cliffs tothe edge of the lake on the north, and there turned upon our steps andcome slowly back again to where we started from, and having made a likedouble journey of inspection to and from the edge of the lake to thesouth, we came at last to our first point of departure, and restedbefore the statue of Chac-Mool, disconsolate. 

One discovery we had made in the course of our explorations whichenabled us to understand how the fate that had overtaken the drownedcity had fallen upon it. Close by the northern border of the valley wesaw, high up above us, a vast rift more than a thousand feet wide in theface of the cliff; and below this the ground was torn into a deep wildchannel, and everywhere huge fragments of rock were scattered over theground. Here it was, then, that the water had poured in--bursting forthfrom a lake above--by which the city at one stroke had been overwhelmed. Some little notice, by the mighty roaring that must have accompanied sogreat a crash of rocks and so vast a rush of water, the dwellers in thecity must have had; and the gleam of the pouring waters would have shownthem the nature of the ruin that was upon them. There would have beentime, before the water was waist-deep in the city streets, for them tomake their way to the high mound on which their temple stood; and in theappalling horror of it all they might have clamored to their prieststhat a victim should be sacrificed to stay this terrible outburst ofanger on the part of their gods. But it was more than likely that beforethe sacrifice could be completed they all--people, priests, and he whowas to be sacrificed--perished together beneath the flood. 

"Why, " said Young, "th' Mill River disaster wasn't anything to it, an'that was pretty bad. I was runnin' th' way-freight on th' Old Colonyroad when that happened, an' I took a day off an' went up an' had a lookat it. But this just lays that little horror out cold. It's as big aslettin' loose on Boston the whole of Massachusetts Bay. "

That we should be prisoners in a place where death had wrought soswiftly such tremendous havoc was quite enough to fill our souls with abrooding melancholy. But in addition to the sombre thoughts which thuswere forced upon us, bred of sorrow for the thousands who had hereuntimely perished, the gloomy dread of a more practical sort assailed usthat we also in a little while would join the silent company of thethousands who had died here in a long past time. And the death thatseemed to be in store for us was less merciful than that which had cometo them. Theirs had been a short struggle, and then a gentle ending asthe waters closed over them. But our ending was like to be a lingeringone and miserable--by starvation. 

With the loss of our mules and horses we had been compelled to leavebehind us the greater portion of our stores; and for our protectionagainst savages, and in the belief that in the mountains we should meetwith an abundance of game, we had left almost all of our provisions, andmade our lading mainly of ammunition and arms. But in this valley, sosmiling and so beautiful, there was no live thing except ourselves. Nota beast, not a bird had we seen since we entered it; and in the lake, aswe found presently, there were no fish; the only sign that animal lifeever had existed here was that dried and withered remnant of a womanthat we had found in the deserted house, and the bones which we had seengleaming below us in the lake. This was, in truth, as we came thus tocall it, the Valley of Death. 

While we worked at building the raft we had not thought to be sparing inour eating--for building that raft was hungry work--and now thatconsideration of the matter was forced upon us, we found that we hadwith us food barely sufficient for three days. We could, of course, eatEl Sabio--though such was our feeling towards that excellent animal thateating him would be almost like eating one of ourselves; and Pablo, weknew, would regard eating this dear friend of his as neither more norless than sheer cannibalism. And even if we did eat El Sabio, the meatof his little body would but prolong our lives for a week, or possiblyfor two weeks more. And what then?

Had there been room in our souls for yet more sorrow, we could have hadit in the thought that in all that we had set out to do we hadcompletely failed. If this Valley of Death were indeed the place that wehad been seeking, little good came to us from finding it. Of the soulswhich Fray Antonio had come forth to save, here there were none. Ofarchæological discovery, truly, I had something to make me glad; yetlittle compared to what was hidden beneath the waters; and even thislittle, since knowledge of what I had found soon must die with me, wasof no avail. As for Rayburn and Young, the treasure which they soughtmight or might not be near at hand; but they certainly could no morecome at it than, were it heaped up before them, they could carry itaway. And most of all was my heart troubled by the fate that was like toovertake Pablo because of his love for me. Bitterly I blamed myself forpermitting the boy to come with me; for I should have foreseen that ahundred chances might intervene to render impossible my intention togive him his free choice to go or to stay when the decisiveturning-point in our adventure came. In point of fact, one of thesechances had intervened; and the attack upon us that the Indians hadmade, and the closing of the passage in the rock behind us that renderedreturn impossible, had forced him to remain with us without voice of hisown in the matter; and now would bring him, as it would bring the restof us, to the most horrible death of which a man can die. 

Night was falling as we ended our search along the cliffs for a way ofescape, and found none, and so came again in front of the greatidol--where our packs had been left heaped up, and where the Wise One, happily unmindful of the fate that might soon be in store for him, wasenergetically cropping the rich grass. We built a fire, for the air inthat deep valley, mingling with the mists rising from the lake, was dampand chill; and beside the fire we made our evening meal. There was nogood in talking about what was so apparent to all of us; but Young, whowas our cook, showed his appreciation of the situation practically byserving only half rations and by making our coffee very thin and poor. 

Silently we ate our short allowance of food; and thereafter we smokedour pipes with but little talk for seasoning, and that little of amelancholy sort. Of our own plight we did not speak at all, but in whatwe said there was constantly a reflection of the bitter sorrow withwhich all our hearts were charged. I remember that Young, who truly wasas merry a man naturally as ever I knew, told us that night only ofdreadful railroad accidents--of wrecks in which men lay crushed amongthe heaped-up cars, shrieking with the agony of their hurts; and thenshrieking with dread, and with yet greater pain as the fire that seizedupon the ruin around them came nearer and nearer until they fairly wereroasted alive. And Rayburn told of a prospecting party besieged byIndians upon a mountain peak in Colorado; how, one by one, they slowlydied in a raving horror of thirst until one man alone was left; and howthis one man prolonged his life until rescue came by drinking the bloodof his own body, and yet died in raging madness almost at the momentthat he was saved. 

For myself, I had nothing to add to these horrors; yet such was my frameof mind that I found a certain bitter gladness in listening to thetelling of them, and in tracing between them and our own case theghastly parallel. In our talk, which wont on in English, Fray Antoniotook no part; but he could follow well enough the meaning of it in ourtones. On his face was an expression of tender melancholy that seemed tome to tell of sorrow for us rather than of dread of what might be instore for himself; and that this truly was his mood was shown when theothers paused, sated and appalled by the horrors which they had conjuredup, and he spoke at last. 

It was not a sermon that Fray Antonio gave us; but out of the abundantstore of faith by which he himself was sustained he strove to comfort uswith thoughts of better things than life can give. And with the promiseof hope that he held out to us with the solemn authority that was vestedin him by reason of the service to which he was vowed, he mingled acertain yearning for us, very moving, that came of the love and thetender gentleness that were in his own heart. And yet, though he knewthat, excepting Pablo, we all were heretics according to his own creed, there was no word of doctrine in all of his discourse. Rather was whathe said a simple setting forth of that primitive Christianity which hasits beginning and its ending in a simple faith in an all-pervading, all-protecting love. And of this love, as it seemed to me, he himselfwas the human embodiment. Looking in his gentle face, which yet had suchhigh courage, such noble resolution in it, I felt that in him the spiritof the saints and martyrs of long past ages lived again. 

With our souls soothed and strengthened by what Fray Antonio had spokento us, we lay down at last to sleep; yet was it impossible for us todrive out from our hearts that natural sadness which men must feel whoknow that they have failed in a strong effort to accomplish a projectvery dear to them, and who know also that they are standing upon thevery threshold of a most tormenting death. 

XIII. 

UP THE CHAC-MOOL STAIR. 

We awoke the next morning at the very moment that the sun rose above themountain peaks to the eastward; and our waking was due in part to thesunshine striking upon our faces, but more to the prodigious braying, that echoed thunderously from the cliffs around us, with which El Sabiowelcomed the advent of the god of day. 

"It is a good sign, señor, " said Pablo, "when El Sabio brays thus noblyat sunrise. He does not do it often, but when he does I know beyond adoubt that I am to have a lucky day. "

"An' I must say, " Young struck in, "that for a man who expects t' havet' eat his boots in th' course of a day or two I'm feelin' this mornin'most uncommonly chipper myself. For one thing, I mean t' have anotherlook around that idol. I'm not at all sure that he's not th' tippin'-upkind. Maybe we didn't put enough weight on him yesterday; or he may dohis tippin' up from th' other end. Anyhow, I'm goin' t' have anotherwhack at him as soon as I've eat my breakfast; an' that's a performancethat won't take long t' get through with, considerin' how thunderin'little there is t' eat. "

Truly, the eating of our breakfast did not consume much time; and, soshort did Young make our rations, I am not sure that we were nothungrier at the end of it than we were at its beginning. When wefinished, the sun was still low in the east; and the bright rays struckfull upon the statue of Chac-Mool, on the great stone altar, and intothe depths of the niche that had been hollowed behind it in the face ofthe cliff. We observed that the idol was so placed that the very firstrays of the sun, coming through a cleft between two great peaks to theeastward, shone brightly upon it, while yet all the rest of the valleysave the cliff above the niche remained in shade. 

With the strong sunlight deeply penetrating it, the recess behind thealtar no longer was filled with the black shadows that had obscured iton the previous afternoon; and even the hole into which Young so nearlyhad fallen was plainly visible. Taking advantage of the better light, the lost-freight agent--who certainly had found a fitting berth in thatdepartment of railway service, for such a man for hunting for things, and for finding them, I never came across--made a more carefulexamination of the deeper portion of the recess, and presently he gave ashout that told of a discovery. 

As we gathered around him he pointed in great excitement to a row ofmetal pegs, which were fixed in the rock one above the other, diagonally; and then to the point in the roof of the recess towardswhich these pegs tended. Even with the strong light that now aided usit was some time before I could make out among the black shadows of theroof a small opening; but the longer that I looked at it the moredistinct it grew. 

"We've struck th' trail once more, " Young cried. "We've struck it sure. It don't look promisin', but here it is--for if this ain't th' King'ssymbol carved right by th' first of these pegs, then you're all atliberty t' kick me right smack over th' top of that idol for a d----nfool! Hurrah!"

Pablo could not understand what Young was saying, but it was easy toperceive from his gestures the nature of the happy discovery that he hadmade. In a tone in which deference and triumph were curiously blended, Pablo said to me: "Did I not tell you, señor, that a good thing alwayshappens when El Sabio brays at the rising sun?"

Before Pablo had ended this short but exultant deliverance, Young washalf-way up to the roof of the cave, treading gingerly upon the metalbolts and testing each one before he trusted his weight to it. In acouple of minutes he reached the roof and disappeared through the hole;and almost instantly he called down to us: "We're solid--here's aregular staircase. Come along!"

We followed him promptly enough; while our hearts thrilled, and all ourbodies trembled, with the gladness that possessed us as we found thisway opening to us from the valley wherein we had thought that surely wemust die. In a little chamber, cut in the rock above the opening intowhich the ladder of bolts led us, Young was waiting for us; and fromthis chamber a spiral stair-way ascended that was dimly lighted bycrevices cut from it out to the face of the cliff. With Young leadingus, up this we went; at first rapidly, but, later, slowly and wearily, for it seemed as though the stair would never end. Yet though our bodieswere heavy our spirits were very light; for we know by the wearisomelength of it that the stair must lead to the very top of the toweringcliffs by which we had believed ourselves to be irrevocably shut in. Andat last there was a gleaming of light above us; and this grew strongerand stronger until we came out with a shout of joy into the gladsunlight--and saw far below us the valley that we once more thoughtbeautiful, now that it no longer held us fast. 

In the depth below us we could discern El Sabio, looking no bigger thena rabbit; and he must have caught the sound of our shouting with thoselong ears of his, for there came up to us faintly from him an answeringbray. 

"It's pretty hard lines on that jackass, " said Young, "leaving himbehind down there. But he might be left in a worse place, after all. "

I could perceive that Pablo was stirred by uneasy thoughts of theseparation that now so clearly must take place between him and his dearfriend; and he looked wistfully along the path across the mountain tothe westward--cut and smoothed so that it was an easy path to go on--andevidently thought how simple a matter it would be for El Sabio to travelon with us if only once he were up the stair. But he did not speak, andI hoped that he was nerving himself to bear manfully this sore trial. For the rest of us, we had but one thought: to get our packs up thestair-way as quickly as possible--and at its quickest this work would beslowly and painfully done--and then once more go forward. Just as weturned to descend again an eagle came sailing slowly towardsus--evidently without fear of us--and Rayburn was so fortunate as tobring him down with a pistol-shot. We tossed him over the edge of thecliff; and a famous breakfast we made on him when we returned into thevalley again. I can't say that I would have much stomach for so dirty abird now, but I certainly did think that eagle most delicious eatingthen. 

The hearty meal that we made on him strengthened us mightily, and wewent to work with a will at getting our traps up the stair. With ourpack-ropes we hauled the various articles first into the little room atthe stair-foot, and then toilsomely carried them to the heights above. Saving only that this work did not blister my hands, it was worse thanthe building of the raft had been; and all of us, using in climbing andin descending the stair certain muscles which normally are not broughtoften into play, found our legs so stiff and sore for the next day ortwo that walking gave us very lively pain. 

It was as this heavy work went slowly forward that Pablo said to me, speaking in an insinuating and deprecating tone: "Up a stair such asthis is, señior, the Wise One would bound like a deer. "

I did not call in question Pablo's simile, for I knew that the boy'sheart must be very sad. Laying my hand kindly upon his shoulder, Ianswered in a way to show that I was truly sorry for him: "The Wise Onewill lead a happy life, Pablo, in this beautiful valley--where nothingcan do him harm, and where he will have an abundance of water and ofrich fresh grass. Up the stair no doubt he could climb, for he knowswonderfully well how to use those dainty little feet of his; but eventhe Wise One could not climb up the ladder of metal bolts. Thereforemust thou strengthen thy heart against the bitterness of this partingfrom him; for even if thou wouldst stay behind with him it is notpossible--for thou canst not live, like the Wise One, on water andgrass. "

"But he is so little and so light an ass, señor, " Pablo urged, "thatsurely, all of us pulling together, we could pull him up by the ropes, even as the other things have been pulled up; surely, surely, señor, that would be an easy thing for four men to do--and I also can pull atthe ropes, señor, almost as well as any man. "

It did not seem to me that even all of us pulling together could sway ElSabio up a hundred feet through the air; but Pablo was so pitiful in hisentreaties, and seemed so resolutely bent upon remaining behind in thevalley and dying there with his dear friend rather than go on withouthim, that I opened the matter to Rayburn and joined my plea to Pablo'sthat this curious effort should be made. And in addition to thesentimental reason for taking the ass with us, I pointed out toRayburn--as, indeed, he understood without my telling him--howpractically valuable El Sabio was to us in helping us to bear our heavyloads. Rayburn thought with me that the dead lift of so considerable aweight to such a height, without tackle of any sort to help us, wasimpossible. But Young, who had an inventive strain in his composition, was of the opinion that he could set up such rough tackle as wouldanswer our purpose; upon understanding which, Pablo at once embraced ElSabio and danced for joy. 

Young was, I think, the handiest man I ever knew. He had a naturalgenius for mechanics; and in the many years of his railroad life he hadgained a knowledge of all manner of expedients by which the work ofcomplicated machinery could be accomplished by very simple means. "Whenyou have a freight smash-up right in the middle of the section, " hesaid, "with nobody to help you inside of forty miles, and the expressdue to come bouncing down on you inside of two hours, you've just _got_to get things out of the way whether you've got anything to do it withor not. If I had the equipment of a first-class freight-cab here I'dyank that burro up inside of twenty minutes; and if I don't do it, anyway, inside of two hours I'll promise to eat him. "

I did not translate the whole of this speech to Pablo, for talk even infun about eating El Sabio was rather a delicate matter, considering howclose a shave that worthy animal had had to being eaten in dead earnest;but I did tell him that the Señor Young felt sure that he could swing ElSabio up through the air to where the stair began. And with Pablo--whoalso could use his hands well--most willingly helping, Young contrivedin a surprisingly short time to make a rough windlass, that waseffective enough for the work to be done with it, and to pull it up bitby bit into the chamber in the rock and there fit it together over thehole. El Sabio, being brought into the recess behind the idol, regardedus all with a doubting expression that even Pablo's repeated assurancesthat we meant well by him could not change into a look of trustfulness. Pablo declared, however, that in his heart of hearts the Wise One knewthat we all were his friends, and that even though we should hurt him alittle he would understand that it was for his good. And the conduct ofthe ass during the exceedingly bad half-hour that he then went throughseemed fully to bear out Pablo's words. Around his small body, withstays running forward around his neck and aft to his tail, we riggedlooped ropes--which ropes were gathered together above his back andthere made fast to the line that was pendent from the windlass above. From time to time, as this operation was going forward, El Sabio turnedhis head upon one shoulder or the other and gazed with a wistfulexpression at what we were doing to him; and the slow shake that he gavehis head, whereby his great ears were set to wagging mournfully, as hefinished each of these inspections, betrayed the grave wonder that waswithin him as to what it all could mean, together with a not unnaturalapprehension of what might be its ultimate outcome. 

By a good chance, the effect upon the Wise One of finding the solidearth drop suddenly from beneath his feet--when at last all was inreadiness, and Young and Rayburn began to hoist away at thewindlass--was to render him quite rigid with terror; and there was amost agonized look upon his face as he went sailing up through the air. Pablo, standing below with me, that we might steady the ass with aguy-rope during his ascent, addressed to him all manner of tender andcomforting words; but for once the Wise One seemed to be insensible tohis master's voice. Neither with his eyes nor his ears did he respond;and he well enough might have been taken for a dead ass goingheavenward, but for the sharp twitchings of his tail. And when at lasthe was safely within the upper chamber, he fairly fell down upon therocky floor of it in sheer exhaustion begot of fright. It was not untilwe had passed up a bucket of water to him, whereof he drank the verylast drop, and had been soothed by Pablo's fondling of him and byPablo's gentle words, that his broken spirit revived. And so limp andweak was he that it was a long while before we could in conscience urgehim to ascend the stair. When at last he set himself to thisundertaking, he was far from accomplishing it in the bounding anddeer-like manner that Pablo had promised for him; but he certainly didat last get to the top--which was all that was required of him--andthere drank gratefully the bucketful of water that Pablo had carried upthat great height for his comforting when his toilsome climbing shouldend. And Pablo went down into the valley once more that night in orderto bring back to his friend a hearty supper of rich grass. 

[Illustration: EL SABIO'S PREDICAMENT]

By the time that all this hard work was accomplished the day was nearlyat an end; and even had there been light for us to see our way by wewere too tired to go on--for every bone and muscle in our bodies wasweary and sore. Therefore we made our camp for the night on the flatexpanse of rock where the stair ended; and we were thankful that enoughof the eagle remained to us for our supper--and, indeed, we made ourbreakfast on him also, for he was a prodigiously large bird. Verydifferent were our feelings as we wrapped ourselves in our blankets andsettled ourselves to sleep on that open mountain-top--with the pathclear before us, and with the cheering hope in our hearts that among themountains we should find a plenty of wild creatures suitable forfood--from the dull despairing languor that had possessed us as we sankto sleep the night before. And with our joy was also a reverentthankfulness--that was more strongly stimulated by certain words whichFray Antonio spoke ere we lay down to rest--that our deliverance wasaccomplished from that death-stricken valley wherein we ourselves sosurely had expected that we must die. 

XIV. 

THE HANGING CHAIN. 

By the winding way which we followed along the mountain-top (and thatthis was the way we wished to follow the King's symbol and the pointingarrow plainly showed), we came presently close beside the rift in thecliffs through which the waters of the upper lake had been dischargedupon the city in the valley below and so had buried it. And here we madea very surprising discovery--which was no less than that the great riftin the rocks through which the water had been let loose was not, as wehad supposed, the result of some fierce convulsion of nature, but veryplainly was the fiercer work of man. Along the face of the openingwhence the water had poured forth the rock was grooved, showing thatdrill-holes had been made, close together, from the edge of the cliffbackward to the lake that once had filled all the valley now lying bareand empty before us; and with the field-glass we could see that therewas a like channelling of the rock upon the farther side of the break. And all doubt in our minds in regard to this matter was removed by ourfinding a vastly long drill--made of the bright, hard metal that we nowwere familiar with, yet could not at all understand itscomposition--lying close beside the chasm upon the bare rock. 

"There has been the devil's own work here!" said Rayburn, as he fullytook in this extraordinary situation. "Whoever did this must have spentmonths over it, perhaps years, working with such tools as these. Theyevidently went at it systematically, with the deliberate intention ofdrowning the whole crowd down below. From an engineering stand-point Imust say that it's a good piece of work. See how cleverly they've pickedout this particular spot, where the wall of rock went down almostperpendicularly into the lake, and so got the full value of the thrustof the water when their cuts were finished. If I'm not mistaken, therewas a third line of drill-holes sunk in the middle of the mass that theymeant to cut loose. That's the way I should have done it: then therewould have been a little giving in the centre that would have helped toloosen the sides. But what a lot of incarnate devils they must have beento go at such a job!"

Truly, there was something chilling to the blood in the thought of theslow labor of them who had toiled here, day after day and month aftermonth, until their ghastly purpose was accomplished, and they had slaina whole city without striking a single honest blow. Such vengeance uponan enemy as here was taken never had its equal for cold, malignantcruelty since the world began. Down in the valley below we had seengleaming beneath the calm surface of the lake the bones of the thousandswho had perished when this diabolical work was completed, and the watersbounded forth, shining and sparkling in the sunlight, on their missionof death. And whoever let them loose must have stood just where we nowwere standing; and at sight of what came of their long labor there musthave been such joy as no hell could adequately punish in their blackhearts. 

Our bodies shuddered as we turned and left the scene of this tremendoustragedy; that was the more appalling to us because of the profoundmystery in which was buried everything related to it save the fact thatit had been. 

For a long distance our way went onward beside the bare, deep valleythat had been the basin of the lake, and so the thought of the horrorwhich had been wrought so devilishly with its innocent waters lingeredgloomily in our minds. Involuntarily we associated the unknown people ofa long past time who had perpetrated this hideous wholesale murder withthe people for whom we now were searching, and an uncertain dread filledour souls as to what might be our own fate should we end by finding whatwe sought. From the tender mercies of a race in which stealthy craft andcold, malignant cruelty evidently were such conspicuous characteristics, little was to be expected. Therefore, it was in a sombre mood, and withbut little talk among us, that we went forward upon our way. 

The path that we followed showed the same care in the making of it thatwe had found in the path leading down from the cañon into the valleywhere the drowned city was. Throughout the length of it, by carrying itskilfully along the windings of the mountain-sides, an equable, easygrade was maintained; where it led across open spaces the loose stoneshad been cleared away and stood heaped along each side of it; where itskirted precipices the solid rock had been cut out in order to give awider and a surer foothold; and here and there in its course creviceswhich traversed it were bridged with great slabs of stone. Rayburn waslost in admiration of the engineering skill that was shown in itsconstruction, and declared that a very little extra work put on it wouldfit it for the laying of a line of rails. 

The valley on our right, in which the lake had been, narrowed as weadvanced; and as the path that we followed had a steadily rising grade(according to Rayburn's estimate, of a trifle more than three percent. ), the bottom of it fell away rapidly. As we reached what had been, as we found, the foot of the lake, we discovered fresh evidence of theenormous amount of labor that had been expended in order to make itswaters an effective engine of destruction. Far in the depths beneath us, extending across the whole width of the valley--but here the valley hadso narrowed that it was less a valley than a cañon--we saw a high andvastly broad stone wall. It was then that we perceived fully the wholeof the devilish design, and realized the years that must have been givento its execution. By the building of the wall the level of the lake hadbeen raised fully three hundred feet, and so a head of water had beenobtained strong enough to thrust out the mass of rock that had beenloosened by drilling through its centre and at its sides. It would havebeen possible, also, for the rock that was to be broken away to begreatly thinned by quarrying its open face while the water was risingslowly after the great dam was built. Clearly, the whole work had beenplanned with a calm, diabolical ingenuity that assured with absolutecertainty the accomplishment of the horrible purpose that those wholabored at it had in view. It seemed impossible, but for the proof thatwe here had of it, that human hearts could have in them enough of purelydevilish cruelty to spend years in thus working out to perfection sohideous a vengeance; and to me it seemed all the more dreadful becauseof the time that had passed since this most evil deed was done. Centuries had vanished, and the slayers--living out the few years oftheir lifetime--had perished from off the earth as utterly as had theslain; yet here the whole proof of the great crime that had been wroughtlived on in enduring stone that was like to last until the very end ofthe world should come. Thus had these sinners left behind them, raisedby their own hands, a monument telling of their sin; which sin had noteven the redeeming quality of passionateness, but was slow and subtleand cruelly cold. 

We were glad to turn from sight of this place and press onward into thecañon, for such the valley now had become; and we found in the darkshadows which enveloped us in this deep cleft between the mountains asombreness in keeping with the feelings in our hearts. So high above ustowered the cliffs that at their top they seemed almost to meet, showingbetween them only a narrow ribbon of bright blue sky, and below us thechasm went down sheer for a thousand feet; a gloomy depth that our eyescould not have penetrated had there not gleamed at the bottom of it thefoam and sparkle of a little stream. Here the path was hewn almostcontinuously out of the solid rock; and we could see that a like pathwas cut in the rock on the other side. That so prodigious a piece ofwork should be thus duplicated seemed to us a very astonishing waste ofenergy; for even Young did not have much faith in his own suggestionthat two prehistoric railway companies had secured rights of way alongthe opposite sides of the cañon, and had begun the building there ofrival lines. 

But the matter was explained, presently, by our finding that this otherpath was but a doubling of the path that we were on. As we rounded aturn in the cañon we came suddenly to a broad natural ledge in the rock, over which hung a great projection of the cliff so that the sky abovewas hid from us. Here our path went off into the air, and began again onthe other side of the vastly deep chasm, a good sixty feet away. "Ratherlong for a jump, " was Rayburn's curt comment as we pulled up on the edgeof the precipice and looked at each other blankly. Yet it was evidentthat those who had made with such great expense of toil and time thesepath-ways on the opposite sides of the cañon had crossed in some wayfrom the one to the other at this point, and the only surmise thatseemed to fit the facts of the case was that there had been stretchedacross the chasm a swinging bridge of _lianas_--such as still are to befound spanning streams in the hot lands of Mexico--and that in thecourse of ages this had rotted entirely away. But as this bridge, ifever there had been one here, was absolutely gone, we found ourselves inas shrewdly strait a place as men well could be in. To go ahead was asclearly impossible as was the hopelessness of turning back upon ourpath. At the most, we could only return to the valley out of which wehad climbed with such thankfulness; and rather than go back to die ofstarvation in that place, so beautiful and so desolate, there was notone of us but would have chosen to end all quickly by springing intothe gulf above which we stood. 

But while we thus stood in dreary contemplation of the miserableprospect before us, Young, as his habit was, was spying about himsharply, and so spied out a way of deliverance for us. The announcementof his discovery was made in a very characteristic way. 

"You set up to be some punkins of an engineer, now don't you?" he said, addressing Rayburn. "But did you ever happen to hear of a bridge thatwas hung up at one end an' that was operated by swingin' it backward an'forward like a pendulum?"

"No, " Rayburn answered, promptly and decisively, "I never did. "

"So I thought, " Young went on. "Well, you've admitted that in sev'ralthings th' man who was in charge of construction on this line could havegiven you points, an' this swingin' bridge notion is one of 'em. I can'tsay that I think much of it. It wouldn't do in railroads, for sure; butthere is a good deal to be said in favor of it when it helps folks outof such a hole as we're in now--an' if it still is in workin' order, that is just what it's going to do. There it is. Do you catch on?"

We all looked in the direction in which Young pointed, for his gesturewas so earnest that even Fray Antonio and Pablo caught the meaning ofit, and so saw--pendent from a point far up on the overhang of rock, andbut indistinctly showing in the shadow--a great chain that at its lowerend was caught in a metal hook set in the face of the cliff at theextreme back of the ledge on which we stood. For my part, I did not atonce catch the meaning of Young's words even when I saw the chain, butRayburn understood it all in a moment. 

"By Jove!" he exclaimed, "that _is_ a notion! You grab the end of it andjust swing across to the other side!"

Young already had loosened the chain from the hook and was testing itsstrength by putting his weight on it. At the end of it was a crossbarbig enough to get a good grip upon; and this, and the chain itself, werewrought of the bright, hard metal of which we had encountered so manyspecimens. The upper end was made fast high above us in the out-jut ofrock, very nearly over the centre of the cañon; so that no great forcewas required to carry whoever grasped the crossbar, and so swung outboldly, clear across the chasm to the ledge on the other side. But Iconfess that the thought of such a passage made me feel a little dizzyand sick; and never did I long to be safely back in my class-room at AnnArbor as I did just then!

"It seems t' be all right, " said Young, "but I guess you may as welltake a pull on it with me, Rayburn. There'd be no fun in havin' it fetchaway when a man was about half across, an' we may as well make th' thingsure. " And then, as the chain still held firm under the double strain, he added, "Well, here goes;" and, so speaking, took a running start andwent swinging out over the abyss. 

My heart was in my mouth as he leaped forth and shot out from and farbelow us; but in a moment he rose along the curve that he was traversingand was safely landed on the other side. "It's a boss invention. Workin' it is just as easy as rollin' off a log, " he called across tous; and to show how easily the passage was made, he instantly swunghimself back again. 

Pablo had manifested signs of strong uneasiness while this talk andaction were in progress, and in a very anxious tone he now inquired:"But how will it be with the Wise One, señor?"

"Why, gettin' _him_ across will be as easy as open an' shut, " Younganswered, speaking in English to Rayburn and to me. "We'll just rig himin th' rope slings again, an' make him fast to th' chain, an' give him agood boost to start him, and over he'll go before he fairly knows he'sstarted. "

But when we came to apply this brisk statement of the case practically, we found it by no means easy of execution. El Sabio grew restive as wearranged the slings of rope about his body, evidently remembering, fearfully, the strange journey that he had made in the air when we hadrigged him in a like manner in order to trice him up to where the stairbegan; and he grew yet more restive as we fastened the rope slings tothe end of the chain. Rayburn had crossed to the other side--passing thechain back by weighting it with a rock--and stood ready to receive ElSabio when he was swung across. But partly owing to a want of skill inour management of him, yet more to his own unruliness--for just as westarted him, with a strong push, he clapped down his fore-feet upon theedge of the cliff and so checked his swing outward--he did not swingwithin reach of Rayburn's hands. And so he came back towards us again, and then out once more towards Rayburn; and so swung slowly and yet moreslowly until at last he hung motionless over the very middle of thegulf, with nothing between him and the rocks below but a thousand feetof air. And then El Sabio began to kick with a vigor that set torattling every link in the chain!

Pablo was cast by this mischance into a veritable frenzy of fright; andwe were most seriously frightened also--not only because the destructionof the poor ass was imminent, but because of the danger which menacedourselves. Our party was divided, and should the chain give way, understress of El Sabio's kicks and plunges, all possibility of our comingtogether again was at an end. Rayburn might leave us and go on; and so, perhaps, save his own life. But for the rest of us there would be nohope. Behind us was death by starvation. In front of us was thisimpassable gulf. 

From Pablo, who was quite wild with dreadful anticipations of theparting of the chain and the loss to him forever of his friend, leastwas to be expected in the strait wherein we were; yet it was from Pablothat our rescue came. With a quick apprehension of the needs of thecase, he rove a running-knot in the end of one of the pack-ropes, andwith a dexterous cast of this improvised lasso set the loop of it aboutEl Sabio's neck as that unfortunate animal for a moment ceased hisstrugglings and hung still. And then we all strained on the ropetogether, and in a minute had El Sabio safely with us again; but in sucha state of terror that pity for him wrung our hearts. 

But the limpness which the reaction from such deadly fear threw him intomade handling him easy; and this time, when we launched him forth(taking the precaution, however, to fasten one end of a rope to thechain), he went sailing across the full width of the chasm, and Rayburnin a moment had him landed in safety. The instant that the chain wasloosened Pablo hauled it back, and an instant later swung lightly acrossthe cañon, and straightway fell to fondling the terrified creature andcomforting him with all manner of tender words. And he so piteouslybesought us to give El Sabio one good drink that we passed the water-kegand the bucket across, and permitted the poor ass to drink half of ourstock of water without debate of the sacrifice. Indeed, this refreshmentwas so necessary to him that without it I doubt if he could have goneon. 

While El Sabio thus gathered courage and strength again, Young swungover to the other side, and we passed our stores across from ledge toledge--having ropes made fast to the chain, and so steadying each loadfrom the one side while we hauled from the other. This was easy work, and we quickly finished it. When it was ended I braced myself for theflying journey through the air across that gulf so deep that the bottomof it was lost in black shadows, through which the sparkling waterfaintly gleamed; and my heart so throbbed within me as I took the bar inmy hands, with the knowledge that should I lose hold of it death waitedfor me below in those dark shadows, that my breath came irregularly andI heard a dismal ringing in my ears. Yet I had less to fear than eitherof the others who had crossed before me, for the ropes still were fastto the chain; and should I not swing far enough I would be helped tosafety by my companions. But for shame, I should have made my body fastto the chain by a rope sling, and so have gone across as our stores hadgone rather than as a man. But my pride forbade my surrender in thisfashion to my fears; and it was a lucky thing for me that it did. 

Holding the bar in my hands, I ran briskly across the ledge, and, with astrong kick on the edge of the cliff to give me additional impetus, Iwent spinning out into space. For an age, as it seemed to me, I sankrapidly; while that horrible feeling possessed me--the like of whichpeople subject to sea-sickness feel as the ship drops away beneath theminto the trough of the sea--of falling away from my own stomach. Andthen, just as my strength seemed to be failing, and my hold on the barloosing, I perceived that I was rising again; and this put a littlefresh heart in me, and I tightened my grip on the bar. Ten seconds, nodoubt, was the full extent of the time that my passage consumed; but itseemed to me then, and it seems to me still as I think of it, a long tenyears. And a thrill of terror goes through me as I think also of hownear I then came to a horrible death; for at the very moment that Ireached the farther side of the cañon there was a little tinkling soundin the air above me, and the bar that I held was twitched out of myhands, and then came a loud jingling of metal on rock, and as I turnedquickly I saw a gleam of sunlight catch the great chain as it wenttwisting downward into the black gulf below. 

XV. 

THE TEMPLE IN THE CLOUDS. 

Doubtless the violent strain to which the chain had been subjected by ElSabio's kicking and plunging had loosened the fastenings, centuries old, which held it to the rock; for the chain had not broken, but had comeaway entire. I sank down on the rock as weak with terror as the poor asshad been; and like him I drank greedily of water, and panted for awhile, and at last found my courage coming back to me. 

Yet my case was a happy one compared with that of Fray Antonio. Howsoever narrow my escape had been, the fact remained that I had comeout from my encounter with Death safe and unharmed; but on FrayAntonio's shoulder we could but dread that Death already had laid hishand. And that he knew how close to him Death was standing we could seeby a certain elate and confident air of courage in his bearing, and bythe wonderful tenderness and sweetness of his smile. Truly, never did Iknow a man so ready at all times as this man was to lay down the lifethat God had given him; holding it but as a trust that might at anymoment be called back to the source whence it came. Yet because it was atrust, meant to be put to useful purposes, Fray Antonio valued his lifeand cared for it. And at this time it was he himself who devised a planby which it might be saved. 

The ropes which were fastened to the chain, being held stoutly on theone side by Fray Antonio and on the other by Young, fortunately hadbroken as the great weight of the chain suddenly had come upon them, andhad broken so close to the knots which held them that nearly the wholeof their length remained. The plan that the monk now devised for comingacross to us--and a bold heart was required even to think of this daringenterprise--was that with the two ropes fastened about his body at oneend, and held by all of us at the other, he should swing down into thechasm and far under the promontory of rock on which we stood, and thenthat we should haul him up to us. The great difficulty in the way ofexecuting this plan was in getting the line across between us; its greatdanger lay in the probability--notwithstanding the depth of the recessbeneath us--that he would be dashed against the rocks with such force asto kill him outright. 

But Young, who usually was ready for any emergency that might arise, roused out a ball of twine that was a part of our stores, and one end ofthis he made fast to a fragment of rock, and by a strong heave of itlanded it safe on the other side; whereafter the rigging of the doublerope across was an easy matter. 

Very carefully, testing the knots as he made them, Fray Antonio fastenedthe double line about his body, beneath his shoulders, and so stoodready on the edge of the chasm; while we four stood holding the line, with all our muscles braced for the strain that would come upon it ashe swung downward. For a moment he paused, with his face turned upwardwhile his lips moved. Then he waved his hand, and smiled as he calledacross to us, "It is as God wills!" and so dropped away from the ledge, and like a flash went down beyond our range of sight. 

We felt the jar on the ropes as his body struck against the face of thecliff far below us, and the reflex action as he swung out again, andthereafter the slower motion of the ropes as he swayed back and forthdangling over that black and awful chasm. And as the ropes settled intosteadiness we drew him up towards us; yet dreaded, because of the dullweight of it, and because no assuring cry came up to us, that what welifted was a corpse. 

And, in truth, as we raised the body of Fray Antonio over the edge ofthe cliff it seemed as though this dread were realized; for a greatbloody gash was upon his temple, and his limbs were limp and lifeless, and his face was deathly pale. At sight of which there came into myheart a bursting pain, as though some one had stabbed me there; andthere were tears in Young's eyes; and Rayburn gave vent to his sorrow ina great curse that was half a groan. As for Pablo, whom no danger coulddaunt, and who would bear without flinching any hurt of his own, thisdreadful sight so moved him that he fainted dead away. 

Yet even in the moment that such deep sorrow seemed to be settling downupon us, Fray Antonio slightly moved his lips, and there came forth fromthem a low faint sigh--whereupon Young jumped up with a shout andrelieved his mind by administering to Pablo a hearty kick, which heaccompanied with the remark: "You infernal fool of a Greaser Indian, what do you mean by swoundin'? He ain't dead at all!"

As tenderly as I could for the trembling of my hands, I washed away theblood from about the cut and bathed Fray Antonio's pale face, whileRayburn gave him a sup of whiskey from his flask. And then, presently, his eyes opened and energy came into his body once more. In a littlewhile he was on his feet again, and as well as ever, save for thesmarting of his cut, and in his head a dizziness and a dull throbbingpain. Just what had happened he could not tell. He knew that he hadstruck against the rock with his feet, as he had planned to do; but hemust have swung around, when the force of the impact had been thuspartly broken, and struck his head against some sharp projection, and sohave been cut and stunned. But it made no great difference how his hurthad come to him, since it had not proved to be a deadly one; thereforewe forbore to question him further concerning it, and sought by quiettalk, that led softly into silence, to take his thoughts away from theperil that he had been in. Indeed, we all were glad to rest quietlywhere we were for the night, for our bodies were tired and our nerveswere racked and strained. 

We should have been most thankful for a big potful of coffee, but therewas no wood with which we could make a fire. The best that we could do, and there was not much comfort in it, was to chew some coffee grainsafter we had made a supper upon one of our few remaining tins of meat;and then we rolled ourselves in our blankets and lay down upon the barerock. And I must say that if anybody had asked me at that moment ifarchæology was a study that paid for the trouble that it cost, I shouldhave said most unhesitatingly that it was not. 

Even sleep, which I greatly needed, and for which I earnestly longed, did not come to me easily; for each time that I seemed to be droppinggently away into unconsciousness I would be roused by the feeling that Iwas holding fast to the chain again, and so was sliding down the longcurve among the shadows, with the great walls of the cañon toweringinfinitely above me, and with the black depth below. And in my sleep Imade again the dreadful passage, and heard the clinking of the chain asit parted, and the rattle of it as it struck the rocks, and felt thegrasp of Rayburn as he caught me, just as the bar was twitched out of myhands--and so woke to find Young shaking me, and to hear him say:"There's no earthly sense in your kickin' around that way, Professor;an', anyhow, it's time t' get up. It's just a wonder how these Mexicanmornin's put life into a man. Why, there's a freshness in th' air that'sgoin' t' waste in this cañon that's fit t' make a coffin stand right upon end an' dance a jig!"

Even Fray Antonio, but for the soreness of his hurt, felt strong andwell; and we ate another tin of meat--which was much less than wewanted to eat--and so started along the path hewn out of the side of thecliff; and what with the brightness and joyfulness of the morning, wecertainly were in much higher spirits than was at all reasonable in thecase of men who had had such close companionship with Death so short atime before, and who still stood a very fair chance of dying dismally ofstarvation. The knowledge that, by the falling of the chain, our retreathad been again cut off did not at all trouble us. Even could we havecrossed the cañon, and so have retraced our steps, we could have gone nofarther than the valley of the lake; and we could as well die here asthere. And we were stayed by the reasonable conviction that the pathwhich we were travelling upon certainly would lead us out of themountains at last--even if it did not lead us to the hidden city that wesought. 

For five or six miles we doubled on our course of the day before, goingback along the cañon and seeing the path that we had followed a littlebelow us on the other side; then, by a very easy grade, our course beganto ascend, and went on rising until the other path was so far below usthat it ceased to be distinguishable. Thus we came to within a fewhundred feet of the top of the cliffs, when a sudden turn to the leftcarried us into a narrow cleft in the rock. Here the path was verysharply inclined upward for a little way; and for the remainder of thedistance to the top we ascended a long series of rudely cut steps, sosteep that our legs fairly cracked under us as we neared the end ofthem. 

But we forgot our weariness as we came out upon the summit at last, anda great view of clouds and mountain peaks burst upon us; the like ofwhich I never have seen approached save by the view out over theGunnison country from the crest of the Marshall Pass. But here we sawall around us what there is seen only in one direction; for we were on avastly high, square crest--very like that called the Gigante, which thetraveller by the Mexican Central Railroad sees to the left as he nearsSilao--and clouds and mountain peaks rose up about us on every side. 

But we did not long contemplate this heroic landscape, for a cloud, which almost enveloped us as we finished our ascent of the stair, wasswept still farther away by the brisk wind then blowing; so thatsuddenly a vast building loomed largely through the flying vapor, and ina moment was clear and distinct before our eyes. To find upon this baremountain-top, among cloud solitudes so profound as these, suchoverpowering evidence of the labor and strength of man, sent thrillingthrough our breasts a wonder that was akin to awe. It seemed unreal, impossible, that in such a place such work could be accomplished; andthe very tangible reality of it made it seem to me one of thoseprodigies of man's creation which old stories tell of as having beenwrought by a league with the devil and at the cost of a human soul. 

Had there been any signs at all of human life about this solemn andmajestic building, or upon the mountain-top whereon it stood, thechilling hold that it took upon our imaginations would have been lessstrong. What wrought upon us was the deadly silence, and the absolutestillness of everything save the drifting clouds. It seemed to us asthough we had come out from the living world and our own time into adead region belonging to a long dead past; and I remembered with ashudder that we had entered this region through that gloomy cavern, where hundreds of the ancient dead were clustered in silent worshipabout the great silent idol carved in everlasting stone. It seemed asthough some evil spell hung over us, that doomed us forever to wander inwild solitudes--which were the more appalling because constantly uprosebefore us tangible evidence of the strong current of eager human lifethat had pulsed through them in former times. Young but put into his ownrough language the thought that was in all our hearts when he declared, with a great oath, that for the sake of getting safe out of this lonelyhole he'd contract to fight Indians three days in every week for therest of his life, and be glad to do it for the comfort of havingsomebody around who was alive. 

XVI. 

AT THE BARRED PASS. 

The whole top of the mountain, near a mile square, had been so levelledby nature that little remained to be done for its further smoothing bythe hand of man. But the amount of work that had gone into the merepreparation for the building of the great temple was almost incredible. In the centre of the plateau a pyramidal mass of rock near a thousandfeet square, of a piece with the mountain itself, had been so shaped andhewn that it rose in three great terraces to the square apex on whichthe temple stood. These terraces slanted upward, surrounding the pyramidby a continuously ascending way that had its beginning and its ending inthe centre of the eastern front--so that, allowing for the diminishingsize of the pyramid, the distance by this way from the bottom to the topof it was more than a mile and a half. 

"It just took a slow-goin', lazy heathen Greaser t' think out a thinglike this, " Young observed as we went up the path. "Now, if th'Congregationalists that I was brought up among had put a church on aplace like this--an' they wouldn't have been likely t' be fools enought' do anything of th' sort--they'd 'a' had a set of steps runnin' smackfrom th' bottom t' th' top, an' folks would have got up in no time. It'sjust th' Greaser fashion all over t' spend a hundred years or so inmakin' a path five miles long around a hill about as high as th' BostonState-house, so's they can get up it easy an' save their wind. But Iwish they'd put in drinkin' fountains along th' road. I'm as thirsty asa salt cod--an' there's so precious little water left in th' keg thatI'm afraid t' begin at it for fear of suckin' it all up. "

"Drinking fountains?" Rayburn, who was a little in advance, called backto us. "Well, so they did. Come along and drink as much as you want to. "

"Cut that, Rayburn, " Young answered. "I'm too dead in earnest about mybeing thirsty to stand any foolin'. "

"I'm not fooling"--we had caught up with him by this time--"look foryourself. "

To which Young's only reply was to spring forward eagerly and drink along deep draught from a stone basin beside the path into which trickleda tiny stream from above. Finding water in this unlikely place was asgreat a surprise as it was a joy to us; for we all longed for it, yetdared not drink freely because our supply was nearly gone. It wastouching to hear the long sigh of happiness that El Sabio gave when atlast he lifted his dripping snout out of the basin; and then to see thelook that he gave Pablo, as though to thank him for so blessedlyplentiful a drink. In truth, the Wise One had not tasted a drop of waterfor nearly twenty-four hours--not since his perilous passage of thecañon--and his throat, and his poor little inside generally, must havebeen very dry. 

When we came out on the top of the pyramid at last, which at that momentwas wrapped in clouds almost as dense as London fog, we perceived theingenious plan that had been adopted in order to secure waterplentifully on this mountain-top. By careful scoring of the rock withmany little channels, all leading to a cistern that seemed to be ofgreat dimensions, the warm vapor of the clouds as it condensed intowater on touching the chill stone surface was captured and safely storedaway. And from the overflow of the cistern the fountain below was fed. 

But we did not stop to examine very carefully into this matter, so eagerwere we to press on to the temple close before us. This stood upon aterraced platform, cut from the living rock, and was a perfectly plainstructure--with walls slightly receding inward as they rose, and whollydestitute of ornamentation. For its majestic effect it depended upon itsgreat size and upon its admirable proportions; and being built of thedark rock of which the mountain was formed, and having about it much ofthe sombre feeling that characterizes Egyptian architecture, it had anair of great solemnity and gloom. 

In silence we ascended the short flight of steps that led to the broad, doorless entrance--the only opening through the massive walls--and socame into the vast shadowy hall that these great walls enclosed. Fromfront to back of this hall extended many rows of stone pillars--like thesingle row found in the great chamber among the ruins of Mitla--and bythese were upheld the huge slabs of stone of which the roof was made. Far away from where we stood, down at the end of a long vista ofpillars, was a stone altar on which was carved in stone a colossalfigure of the god Chac-Mool. Looking back through the open entrance, Isaw a break in the mountain peaks to the eastward; and so perceived thatthe first rays of the rising sun must needs enter here and strike fullupon the disk that was poised in the figure's hands. As Pablo caughtsight of the great idol recumbent there, a momentary shudder wentthrough him and he made certain motions with his hand before his eyesthat were strange to me. 

As we drew near to the altar we found that in front of it was asacrificial stone, still darkly stained where blood had flowed upon it;and beneath the stone neck-yoke, still resting there, was a witheredremnant of human vertebræ. There was something very ghastly infinding--preserved by the very stone that had held him down while lifewas let out of him--this mere scrap of the last human victim who hadperished here. As in the desolate valley, so also on this desolatemountain-top, the only proof that human life ever had been here wasfound in proof of human death. 

Save that our curiosity was gratified, and the blessing of the waterwhich we found, our ascent of the great pyramid and our examination ofthe temple bore no fruit. Young, who still seemed to think that tiltingup and disclosing secret passages was an attribute of all statues of thegod Chac-Mool, was here again convinced that his generalization from asingle case was not a sound one. In a serious way--that in itself wouldhave been laughable but for the gloom of our surroundings--he climbedupon the altar and sat first on the head of the god, and then on hisfeet, and even tried the effect of seating himself upon the stone diskthat the god upheld above his navel. But through all of theseexperiments the stone figure remained solidly immovable. 

"I guess there was only one o' that tippin' kind, " Young said, at last, "an' he sort o' flocked by himself. Let's get out of here, anyway. Ifthis ever was the Aztec bank that we're lookin' for, there must havebeen a prehistoric run on it that cleaned it out. They must have donethat sort o' thing in old times, eh, Professor? But it don't make muchdifference to us now what they did or what they didn't; an' we'd betterfill up with water an' get out--that is, if there is any way of gettin'out except along the way we came. There's no good in goin' back thatway. It would be better t' settle down here an' starve comfortablywithout wearin' out shoe-leather doin' it. But I don't mean t' do thatuntil I've had a look all around th' top of this god-forsaken mountain, an' made sure that there's only one way down. "

My own thoughts had been dwelling on the possibility that Young's wordsexpressed; for at this definite point to which we had come, the paththat we had come by very reasonably might end--so leaving us in thislonely region among the clouds to die slowly for lack of food. And therewas a certain fitness in our having made our way so far among the deadonly ourselves to die that added sombre fancies to our environment ofsombre realities. Yet there was a heartiness in Young's resolutelyexpressed determination to search for a way out of our difficultiesbefore at all yielding to them that insensibly cheered me. His words hada plucky ring to them; and bravery is as catching as is fear. 

Our empty water-kegs were at the bottom of the pyramid, and when wereached the fountain on our downward way we waited there while Pablowent on with El Sabio and fetched them up to us. There was at leastsolid comfort in knowing, as we went on downward with the kegs allfilled, that, whatever other death might come to us, at least we couldnot die of thirst. At the bottom of the pyramid we left Fray Antonio andPablo, with El Sabio and the packs, and the three of us set out toexplore the three sides of the mountain-top that were unknown to us insearch of a downward path. A heavy mass of clouds had drifted over themountain again, so thick that at a rod away all was white mist aroundus; and the light was growing faint, for the day had come nearly to anend. Indeed, had we been upon the lower levels of the earth night wouldhave been already upon us. 

Making my way along the edge of the precipice, where the plateau brokesheer off, was ticklish work; and half humorous, half melancholythoughts went through my mind touching the absurdity of an ex-professorof Topical Linguistics in the University of Michigan being thus employedin path-hunting upon a lonely mountain-top in Mexico. Truly, adversitybrings us strange bedfellows; but far stranger are the straits intowhich a man comes who takes up with the study of archæology atfirst-hand. But my path-hunting was without result, for nowhere alongthe edge of the plateau was there a break fit for the descent of anycreature save such as had wings. At the end of near an hour the cloudsonce more lifted; and then I saw Rayburn coming towards me, but with aserious look upon his face that told that he also had been unsuccessfulin his search. 

"It has rather a bad look, Professor, " he said, briefly, when I had toldhim that along all the face of the mountain that I had examined the rockwent down sheer. He filled his pipe and lighted it, and we walked backto the base of the pyramid in silence, while he smoked. Young had notreturned; but presently we heard a shout that had so hopeful a sound init as to start us both to our feet and forth to meet him. 

"Have you found a way down?" Rayburn called, as he came nearer to us. 

"You bet I have, " he called back; "and, what's more, I've seen somethin'to eat. "

"_Seen_ something!" Rayburn answered, as he joined us. "Why the dickensdidn't you _get_ it?"

"Well, because it was better'n a mile away from me. It looked like amountain sheep, as well as I could make out; but there it was for sure;an' thinkin' how good that critter will taste roasted has given me aregular twistin' pain all through my empty inside! But th' point is thatdown on that side o' th' mountain there's game; I saw birds, too, but Icouldn't make out what they were; an', somehow, it looks different downthere. It don't look like these d--n dead places we've been prowlin'through for more'n a coon's age. It looks as if God remembered it, an'it was _alive_! Why, th' very smell that came up had somethin' goodabout it; an' there was a different taste to th' air. I tell you, Rayburn, I didn't know what a lonely an' mis'rable an' lost chump sortof a way I was in until I looked over there into that place where th'whole business ain't run by dead folks. An' what's more, Professor, that's the trail for us; for, right where it starts down, there's th'King's symbol an' th' arrow, all reg'lar, blazed on th' rock. "

"Is the trail good enough to make a start on now?" Rayburn asked; "wewon't have more than half an hour more light, but I'd give a lot to getoff this mountain before dark, and every foot down that we go we'll bethat much warmer. We'd stand a pretty fair chance of freeing up hereto-night without any fire. "

"Th' trail's all right for a good half-mile, anyway, " Young answered;"an' I guess it's good all th' way. It's pretty much th' same as th' onewe come up by, an' that's good enough, where it don't jump cañons, t' goalong in th' dark; but we must rustle if we mean t' do much bydaylight. "

We were back at the pyramid by this time, and we found Fray Antonio verywilling to be off with us that we might try to get well down themountain before night set in; for at that great elevation the quickbeating of his heart added very sensibly to the throbbing pain of hiswound. Therefore we lost no time in getting our packs upon our backs, and upon the back of El Sabio, and briskly started downward; and thekeen cold that came into the air, as the sun sunk away behind themountain peaks at last, warned us that it was safer to take the risks ofa descent almost in darkness than to stay for the night upon that bleakmountain-top without a fire. 

In twenty minutes we perceived a comforting change in the temperature;and at the end of an hour--during the last half of which we walkedslowly and cautiously through the fast-thickening darkness--there wasenough warmth in the air about us to make camping for the nightendurable. But we still were at a great elevation, and the thin air wasbitingly keen, and all the more so because of the scant meal that wehad to comfort us and to put strength into us before we wrappedourselves in our blankets for sleep. 

"What's a mis'rable two pounds of corned-beef among five of us, " Youngexclaimed, in a tone of angry contempt, "when every man in th' lot ishungry enough t' eat th' whole of it, an' th' tin box it comes in, an'then go huntin' for a square meal? An' t' think o' that sheep I saw! Isay, Rayburn, did you ever eat a roast fore-shoulder of mutton, withonions an' potatoes baked under it, an' a thick gra--"

"If you don't hold your jaw about things like that, " Rayburn struck in, "I'll murder you!"--and there was such fierceness in his voice, and hetruly was such a savage fellow when his anger was up, that Young washalf frightened by his outburst, and so was silent. I must say that Iwish that he had altogether held his tongue; for, somehow, the smell ofmutton and onions and potatoes, all cooking together, was so strong inmy nostrils, and this smell so set to yearning my very hollow inside, that it was a long while before I could sleep at all; and when I didsleep, it was to be pursued by dreams of painful hungriness which werebut too surely founded in painful fact. Certainly, it was veryindiscreet in Young, to say the least of it, to make a remark of thatnature at that untoward time. 

However, that was the last day that we suffered for want of food. I wasawakened in the very early morning by the sound of a rifle-shot, andsprang to my feet, brandishing my revolver, with a confused belief inmy sleepy mind that we were attacked by Indians again; and, truly, myfirst feeling was one of pleasure at the thought of meeting, even indeadly combat, with men who were alive. 

"It's all right, Professor, " Rayburn said. "We're not fighting anybody. But I've killed a mountain sheep, and if we only can get him we'll havea solid breakfast, even if we have to eat him raw. He was over on thatpoint of rock, and he's tumbled down clear into the valley, and thesooner we get down there and hunt for him the better. "

In the bright light of the early morning we could see below us a gladlittle valley, in which trees and grass grew, and in the centre of whichwas a tiny lake. But what gave as most joy was seeing birds flying overthe face of the water, and half a dozen mountain sheep scampering awayat the sound of Rayburn's shot. Truly, the sight of these live creatureswas the most cheery that ever came to my eyes; and as I beheld them, andrealized that at last we had emerged from the dreary, death-strickenregion in which as it seemed to me we had spent years, a great wave ofhappiness rolled in upon and filled my heart. As it was with me, so wasit with the others: who gave sighs of gladness as thus they foundthemselves no longer wanderers among the chill shades of ancient death, but once more moving in the warm living world. 

The path, cut out along the mountain-side, went downward by a sharpergrade than that by which we had ascended; and we descended it joyfullyat a swinging trot, with a new life in us that made us break out intolively talk and laughter that set the echoes to ringing. And presently, in a very jerky fashion because of his rapid motion, Pablo piped away onhis mouth-organ with "Yankee Doodle"--and this was the first time thathe had had the heart to play upon his beloved "instrumentito" since ourpassage of the lake beneath which lay the city of the dead. 

In an hour we came fairly down into that bright and lovely valley, wherewas the sweet sound of birds calling to each other, and the glad sightof these live creatures flying through the air. As for the sheep thatRayburn had killed, he was knocked pretty well into a jelly by hishalf-mile or so of tumble down the mountain-side. But we were notdisposed to be over-fastidious, and we quickly had his ribs roastingover a brisk fire: that yet was not so brisk as was our hunger, for webegan to eat before the meat was much more than warmed through. When ourravening appetite was appeased a little, Young got out the coffee-potand set to making coffee. And then, with meat well cooked and coffee inabundance, we made such a meal as can be made only by half-starved menwho suddenly have come forth from the dark shadows of threatening deathinto the glad sunshine of safety. Of what further perils might be instore for us we neither cared nor thought. Our one strong feeling wasthe purely animal joy bred of deliverance from gloom and danger, and thepacking of our bellies with hearty food. 

When, at last, our huge meal was ended, we settled back upon ourblankets, and fell to smoking. Presently Rayburn gave a prodigious yawnand laid aside his pipe. "I think I'll take a nap, " he said. I saw thatYoung already was nodding and that Pablo had sunk down into slumber;while El Sabio, who had come even closer to starving than we had come, most thankfully rummaged among the rich grass. My eyes were heavy, and Istretched myself out on my blankets, with the warm sunshine comfortingmy stiffened body, and presently sunk softly into delicious sleep. 

I partly woke a few minutes later, as Fray Antonio rose, thinking thatwe all were lost in slumber, and walked a little apart from us. He alonehad made a meal in reasonable moderation, and I saw now that he had goneaside to pray. For a moment the thought stirred in me that I would joinhim in what I knew was his thanksgiving for our deliverance; but sleephad too strong a hold upon me, and my body slowly fell hack upon theblankets and my eyes slowly closed, carrying into my slumber the sighton which they last had rested: the monk kneeling upon the grass beside agreat gray rock, with clasped hands and face turned upward, pouring hissoul out in grateful prayer. 

It was well on in the afternoon when we all woke again; and Young'sfirst remark was that it must be about supper-time. Rayburn fell in withthis notion promptly, and so did I myself--rather to my astonishment, for it seemed unreasonable that after such a stuffing I should desire toeat so soon again. But we did make a supper almost as hearty as ourbreakfast had been, and in a little while wrapped ourselves in ourblankets, with our feet towards the heaped-up fire, and went off oncemore to sleep, and slept through until sunrise of the following day. Intruth, the mental strain, bred of our gloomy surroundings and of thedread of starvation that had possessed us, had taxed our physicalstrength more severely than our mountain climbing and our lack ofnourishment. The great amount of strong food that we ate, and our longslumber, showed nature's demand upon us that our waste of tissue shouldbe made good. 

When we woke again on the second morning, we all were fresh and strongand eager to press onward. There was little left of the sheep to carrywith us; but Rayburn shot half a dozen birds, some species of duck, aswe skirted the lake in our passage across the valley, so there was nofear that we should lack for food. At its western end the valleynarrowed into a cañon. There was no choice of paths, for this was thesole outlet, and we were assured that we were on the right path byfinding the King's symbol and the pointing arrow carved upon the rook. The cañon descended very rapidly, and by noon we were so far below thelevel of the Mexican plateau that the air had a tropical warmth in it;and so warm was the night--for all the afternoon we continued todescend--that we had no need for blankets when we settled ourselves forsleep. 

Rayburn was of the opinion that we were close upon the Tierra Caliente, the hot lands of the coast; and when we resumed our march in the morninghe went on in advance of the rest of us, that he might maintain acautious outlook. If he were right in his conjecture as to ourwhereabouts, we might at any moment come upon hostile Indians. It wastowards noon that he came softly back to us and bade us lay down ourpacks and advance silently with him, carrying only our arms. "There'ssomething queer ahead; and I thought that I heard voices, " he explained. "But there must be no shooting unless we are shot at. Some of theseIndians are friendly, and we don't want to start a row with them if theyare willing not to row with us. "

The cañon was very narrow at this point, and high above us its wallsdrew so closely together that the shadows about us were deep. As werounded a bend in it, the rock closed above our heads in a great arch, so that we were in a sort of natural tunnel; at the far end of which wasa bright spot showing that a wide and sunny open space was beyond. Butover this opening were bars which cut sharply against the light, asthough a gigantic spider had spun there a massive web; and as we drewnearer to this curious barrier we saw beyond it a broad and gloriousvalley, rich with all manner of luxuriant tropical growth and floodedeverywhere with the warm light of the sun. 

We approached the strange barrier cautiously, and our wonder at it wasincreased as we found that it was made of the bright metal of which wehad found so many specimens; and still more we wondered as we found thatthe bars were fastened on the side from which we approached, so that wecould remove them easily, while from the side of the valley theypresented an impassable barrier. In strong excitement we drew out themetal pins which dropped into slots cut in the rock and so held the barsfast, and in a few minutes we had cleared the way for our advance. Justas we were making ready to pass through the opening we heard the soundof voices; and as we quickly drew back into the shadows two men sprangup suddenly before us, and cried in wonder as they saw that the lowerbars across the opening were gone. Yet the expression upon their faceswas not that of anger; rather did they seem to be stirred by a strongfeeling of joy with which was also awe. Both men were accoutred in thefashion which the pictured records show was usual with the Aztecwarriors, and one of them--as was indicated by his head-dress and by themetal corselet that he wore--was a chief; and they challenged ussharply, yet with gladness in their tones, in the Aztec tongue. 

So sudden and so ringing was this challenge, and so startling was theuprising of the men before us, that as we sprang back into the shadow weinstinctively stood ready with our arms. But Fray Antonio, not havingany intent to join in the fight, was cooler than the rest of us, andinstantly perceived that fighting was not necessary. Therefore he it waswho first spoke to these strangers; and his first word to them was, "Friends!"

Then the watchmen, for such they seemed to be, spoke eagerly togetherfor a moment, and pressed to the opening to look upon us; yet seeing usbut dimly because of the dark shadows which surrounded us. Pablo wasclosest to them, and I marvelled to see how like them he was in look andin air. Him they first caught sight of, and as they saw him they bothturned from the opening, and, as though calling to some one at adistance, gave both together a great glad shout. Instantly, at somelittle distance, the cry was repeated; and so again farther on and yetfarther, with ever more voices joining in it; so that it swelled andstrengthened into a great roar of rejoicing that seemed to sweep overthe whole of the valley before us, and to fill it everywhere withtumultuous sounds of joy. 

As though the duty that they were charged with had been thusaccomplished, the men turned again to us, and he of the higher rank, speaking the Aztec language, yet with turns and changes in that tonguewhich were strange to me, eagerly called to us:

"Come forth to us! Come forth to us!" he cried. "Now is the prophecy ofold fulfilled and the watch rewarded that our people have maintainedfrom generation to generation through twenty cycles here at the gratedway! Come forth to us, our brothers--who bring the promised message fromour lord and king!"

I turned to Fray Antonio as these words were spoken, and I saw in hisface that which made me confident in my own glad conviction that here atlast was the secret place for which so long, and through such perils, wehad sought. Here indeed had we found the hidden people of whom the dyingCacique had spoken and of whom the monk's letter had told; the strongcontingent of the ancient Aztec tribe that ages since the wise KingChaltzantzin had saved apart, that when their strength was needed theymight come forth to ward their weaker brethren against conquest by aforeign foe. And the great happiness begotten of this glad discoveryfilled all my body with a throbbing joy. 

Yet as we went out through the opening that we had made between thebars, and the watchers saw us fairly in the sunlight, they sprang backas though in alarm. Rayburn met this demonstration promptly by makingthe peace-sign--raising aloft the right arm--that is common to all NorthAmerican Indians; and after a moment of hesitation the chief answered tothis in kind. So there was peace between us as we advanced; but itseemed to me that their regard of us now had in it more of wonder andless of awe. 

[Illustration: MAKING THE PEACE-SIGN]

XVII. 

OF OUR COMING INTO THE VALLEY OF AZTLAN. 

So unexpectedly had we come upon these strangers, and so marvellous wasthe finding thus of the hidden tribe for which we had sought so long, that I could not but dread, as we advanced towards the Aztec warriors, lest I should wake suddenly and find that it all was a dream. And they, also, as it seemed to me, looked upon us doubtingly, and with somewhatof dread in their regard, as though uncertain whether we were beingsfrom another world, or men of flesh and blood like themselves. 

Not until we were close upon them did further words--after that firstchallenge and answer--pass between us; and then the elder of the two, still making the peace-sign with his raised right hand, and speakingwith a trembling in his voice, as though deep emotion moved him, calledto us: "Have our brothers need of our strength? Bring ye the token thatsummons us to their aid?"

I should have been glad just then for opportunity to consult with mycompanions as to what answer I should make to these questions, for Iperceived that our position was a very critical one, and that even ourlives might depend upon the wisdom of my reply. For a moment I waited inthe hope that Fray Antonio would make answer; but as he remained silent, there was nothing for it but that I should take the hazard upon myself. Therefore, bringing forth the ancient piece of gold from the snake-skinbag--for so I had carried it constantly, even as the Cacique had donebefore me, and others before him, for more than three hundred years--Iheld it towards the man who had spoken, and said, firmly: "Here is thetoken of summons left behind him by Chaltzantzin; but we come not tocall you forth to battle, but to bring tidings that the fate which thatwise king and prophet foresaw for his people, long since was fulfilled. In the time appointed, the stranger foemen overcame and enslaved yourbrethren, bringing to pass that which Chaltzantzin foretold; and themessage that then was sent to call you forth to their aid reached younot, because even the wisdom of Chaltzantzin was powerless against thewill of the gods. Yet the gods desired not to destroy your brethren, butto punish them; and their punishment now is at an end. Once more arethey free, and once more is their ruler a wise and valiant man of theirown race. Therefore, the news which we bring you is not sorrowful, butglad. "

While I was thus speaking, the ringing cries which at the first alarmhad sounded over all the valley grew louder and stronger; but as yet wesaw only the two men who at the first had confronted us--for we were ina deep recess in the mountain, whence the ground dropped away in front, so that the immediate foreground was hid from us, and we saw only somedistant meadows, and then a broad lake, and over this more meadows and asweep of heavy timber, and back of all great mountains rising againstthe clear blue sky. 

But as my speech ended, and before those to whom it was addressed at allhad digested the wonder of it, and so hesitated in their reply, ahalf-dozen men and a woman or two came in sight in the narrow way beforeus, panting after their rapid ascent of the acclivity; and the calls ofothers pressing up the slope behind them sounded loudly, and in a verylittle while a crowd of a hundred or more pressed about us, all gazingat us and questioning us with a most eager surprise. For the most partthese seemed to be laborers from the near-by fields; for many of themcarried agricultural implements, and their bare legs and arms weresplashed with mud and were grimy of the soil. As for the look of them, save that the flowing garments of cotton cloth which the women wore wereembroidered in a fanciful fashion, I could not have distinguished thesepeople from the tallest and strongest of the Indians dwelling in the hotlands of the coast about Vera Cruz. The men, who wore only a clothtwisted about their loins, were as magnificent fellows as I ever saw. Every one of them was tall and straight, with broad shoulders andnarrow hips, and the muscles of their arms and legs stood out likecords. From Pablo, who was an unusually tall and well-formed lad, theydiffered only in the color of their skins--which were decidedly darkerthan his, as was to be expected in the case of men dwelling in thistropical region at the level of the sea. 

Towards Pablo these people manifested a familiar curiosity quite unliketheir reverential manner towards the rest of us, who so obviously werenot of their own race. And Pablo was as much perplexed by theirquestions as they were by his answers; for never was a conversationcarried on so hopelessly at cross-purposes. Our boy, being spoken to byfolk who obviously were as entirely Mexicans as he was himself, and in atongue that practically was that which he had been born to--for theIndians dwelling in the Guadalajara suburb of Mexicalcingo, being thedirect descendants of a pure Aztec stock, speak the Nahua language verycorrectly--could not at all realize that he was at last among theancient race for which we had searched so long. It was his belief thatwe had come out, in accordance with Rayburn's forecast, into the coastcountry, and that the people around him were the ordinary dwellers inthe hot lands. And the Aztecs, knowing him to be one of themselves, nodoubt believed that he knew of the purpose for which they had been leftto dwell apart, and so plied him with questions concerning theirbrethren from whom through long ages they had been separated. 

As their talk went on, getting the more involved with every questionand reply, a tendency towards ill-temper began to develop itself on eachside; for Pablo considered that these people, who professed to beignorant of so important a city as Guadalajara, were making game of him;and they were not less disposed to believe that he either was answeringthem falsely or that he was a fool. Fortunately, before any harm came ofthese misunderstandings, an interruption brought a temporary end totheir talk. 

There was a stir among the crowd, and then an opening was made in it, through which came an elderly man wearing military trappings similar to, but much handsomer than those worn by the two warriors whom we had firstencountered; and it was obvious, from the air of deference with whichthese saluted him, that he was their superior officer. In spite of thedignity of his demeanor it was evident that he was greatly excited byour advent, and his voice quivered and broke a little as he asked us whowe were and whence we came. As I repeated what I had already told theguard, and showed the gold token, the expression upon his face was thatof extreme perplexity. That the gold token gave us a strong claim uponhis respect, almost upon his reverence, was apparent in his manner as Ishowed it to him; but the conditions under which it was presentedobviously rendered him very uncertain as to what action was proper forhim to take. 

When I had finished my statement, and had returned the token to itsplace in the snake-skin bag (for the wisdom of carefully retaining thispotent talisman in our possession was evident), the officer turned tothe two warriors, and they conversed for a while in low tones apartfrom us. Of their talk I could catch only a few words, but several timesI heard repeated the name Itzacoatl, and frequent reference was made tothe Twenty Lords. I gathered, too, that the name of the officer wasTizoc, and that the name of the elder of the two warriors, a swarthyman, was Ixtlilton. In the mean time, out of respect to the officer, thecrowd had drawn away from us--being now swelled to very considerablenumbers--but those composing it gazed at us in wonder, and among themwas a steady murmur of low talk, like the buzzing of a hive of bees. 

When his conference with the warriors was ended, Tizoc approached us, and with him came a younger man, who carried a roll of paper in hishand. The face of the officer still wore a troubled, doubtingexpression, and these feelings were expressed also in the tones of hisvoice as he spoke to us. "For the coming of the token from our lordChaltzantzin we who dwell in this Valley of Aztlan have waited throughmany ages, " he said; "but the promise was given that the token shouldcome to us from our brethren in the time of their need, and should bebrought by those of our own race. But you tell us that the time of needlong since is past, and ye who bring the token are of a race that isstrange to us; and even this one among you who seems to be of ourbrethren speaks strangely of strange things. Had ye come in the way thatlong past was promised, there would have been no room for questioningyour right of entry here nor your authority over us; and I, who am theWarden of the Pass--being in right succession from him whom our lordChaltzantzin appointed to this high office--would have been the first todo you reverence and honor. But in this strange case that has arisen Ihold it to be my duty to send news of your coming to the Priest Captain, Itzacoatl, that he and his Council of the Twenty Lords may decide whatnow is right to do. In this I mean no disrespect and no unkindness; andwhile we await the Priest Captain's orders I shall have the pleasure tooffer you that rest and refreshment of which you stand in need. "

To this firm but courteous speech I was in the act of replying in fitterms of equal courtesy--for all that Tizoc had said was so reasonablethat no exception could be taken to it--when an outburst on Young's partinterrupted me. 

"Hold on there, young fellow!" he cried. "I'll be shot if I'm goin' t'stand bein' made a fool of that way! If you can't make a better likenessof me than that, you'd better shut up shop an' go out of th' business. "

I turned quickly, and saw Young standing beside Tizoc's attendant, andlooking half angrily and half laughingly at the sheet of paper that heheld in his hand. Fearful that some harm might come from Young'smaladroitness, I joined them quickly; and only a strong sense of thegravity of our situation restrained me from laughing outright as Ibehold the cause of his wrath. For the secretary, as I now perceived himto be, had made sketches in color of each member of our party; and whilethey all did violence to our vanity, that of Young--with a bald headout of all proportion to the size of his body, and with mostaggressively red hair--was so outrageous a caricature that there reallywas some justice in his resentment of it. 

But this was not a time when resentment could be safely manifested, andI hurriedly explained to Young that these pictures, no doubt, were to betransmitted as a part of the report that Tizoc was about to make to theKing concerning us, and that he must find no fault with them. 

"He's goin' t' send that thing t' th' King an' say it's me, is he? No, he's not--not by a jugful! See here, Professor! here's a photograph thatI had taken last spring in Boston. I meant t' give it to a girl before Icame away, but she went back on me an' I didn't. It's not much of aphotograph, but it don't look like a squash trimmed with red clover. Ifthey want to send anything, let 'em send that. " And before I could stophim, Young had taken the photograph out of his pocket-book and hadhanded it to the secretary, with the remark, "Just say t' him, Professor, that he is t' give that t' th' King, an' tell him t' tell th'King that Mr. Seth Young, of Boston, sends it with his compliments. "

After all, no harm came of this absurd performance, but rather good; forthe secretary exhibited the photograph to Tizoc, and both of them, andthe two warriors also, were lost in wonder at its marvellous likeness tothe original, and evidently held us in increasingly great respectbecause we were the possessors of such an extraordinary work of art. Young was a good deal chagrined, however, because the picture of himthat the secretary had drawn was forwarded as a part of Tizoc'sdespatches. He said that since he had set up a good likeness of himself, it wasn't the square thing to send the King a bad one. 

When the secretary, bearing the despatches, had departed, Tizocrequested us to accompany him to the near-by guard-house, where we couldrefresh ourselves by bathing, and where food and drink would be providedfor us. This order, for such it was, we obeyed gladly; for we were bothweary and hungry, and the prospect of what Young described as a goodwash and a square meal after it, was very pleasing to us. A detachmentof men from the guard-house, accoutred in the same handsome fashion asIxtlilton and his companion, had arrived while the secretary'sportrait-work was in progress; and I observed that all of theseguardsmen (excepting only Ixtlilton, whose skin was dark, ) were muchlighter in color and more gracious in bearing than the men in the crowdaround us. So marked, indeed, was this difference that they seemedscarcely to belong to the same race. 

As we moved away through the opening that the crowd made for us, with aplatoon of guardsmen in advance, and another in our rear, Pablo touchedmy arm and was about to speak to me; but before his mouth could openthere sounded suddenly from the hollow way in the mountain behind us amighty bray. "Ah, the little angel!" Pablo cried. "Hearken to him, señor, calling to me. " And so moved was Pablo by this evidence of ElSabio's affection that only my firm grasp upon his arm restrained himfrom attempting a dash through the guards to where the creature waspenned in by the metal bars. 

Truly, there is no sound more terrifying to those who are strangers toit than the braying of an ass; therefore, I was not at all surprisedthat a very considerable part of the crowd incontinently took to itsheels; and I needed no better evidence of the bravery of the guardsmenwho composed our escort than the steadiness with which they faced aboutin readiness to meet whatever danger might come forth from the gap inthe mountain in the wake of this great roaring. Yet what they saw therewas only the mild face of the Wise One extended towards us through theopening in the bars. 

To Tizoc, who was standing beside me, and who had not displayed even theslightest tremor of alarm as the appalling noise had broken upon us, Iexplained that the roaring creature was not harmful, but gentle andbiddable; and I begged that other of the bars might be removed, so thatit might come forth and join us. That he acceded instantly to my requestgave me a good opinion of his own faithfulness and honesty; for a man ofa suspicious and crafty nature assuredly would have believed that myrequest was but a trap laid for his destruction; and thereupon the barswere removed. And the truth of my words was made manifest, as El Sabiocame instantly to Pablo and received his caresses with every sign ofgentleness and affection. But even Tizoc did not disguise his wonderupon beholding this strange beast, for the largest four-footed creaturein all that valley, as he told me, was a little animal of the deerspecies, that was not much bigger than a hare. And when I bade Pablomount upon El Sabio's back, the look of surprise in Tizoc's face changedsuddenly to an expression of troubled doubt, in which was also alarm. Under his breath I heard him mutter, "Can it be that the prophecy willbe fulfilled?" But whatever the cause of his inward disturbance was, hespoke not of it, but turned once more forward, and gave the order tomarch. 

[Illustration: THE FULFILMENT OF THE PROPHECY]

The crowd, seeing that no harm was like to come to them, pressed forwardonce more, and gazed with open-mouthed wonder--and also, as it seemed tome, with awe--at the prodigious spectacle which Pablo, gravely ridingupon the ass's back, presented to them. And so, with the guards beforeand behind us, we marched onward into the Valley of Aztlan. 

XVIII. 

THE STRIKING OF A MATCH. 

As we emerged from the nook in the mountain-side the whole of the valleylay open before us, and never was a more lovely spot beheld by the eyesof man. A half-dozen leagues in front of us rose the great mountain wallwhich shut in its farther side, and about as far away to the right andto the left these walls swept around in vast curves and joined thecliffs through which we had come by the hollow way that tunnelledbeneath them. A noble lake extended nearly the whole length of thevalley, and covered near a third of its width, and so seemed less like alake than like a calm and majestic river. From the water-side the landrose in broad terraces, broken by belts of timber and by many groups ofsmaller trees, which, because of the regularity of their growth, I tookto be fruit plantations. All the open country seemed to be one vastgarden, most carefully tended, and everywhere cut up by little canals, whence water for irrigation was drawn. Scattered everywhere about thevalley were single houses embowered in trees, and from where we stood wecould see also four or five little towns, which also were plentifullyshaded. And on the lake many boats were passing, of which several wereof a considerable size, and were fitted with curiously shaped sails. Andall this exquisite tropical beauty of ample water and luxuriant foliageshone richly beneath the bright splendor of a deep blue tropical sky. 

Yet that which most strongly attracted our attention was not thischarming display of the manifold excellencies of God's handiwork, butrather a wonderful manifestation of the handiwork of man. Over againstus, on the far side of the lake, slantingwise from where we stood, rosea mass of buildings of such vastness and such majestic design that atthe first glance we took it to be one of the square-topped mountainswhich are found not uncommonly in this portion of the world, and aroundthe bases of which are sloping heaps of the fragments of rock whichhave broken away through countless ages from their weather-worn sides. Yet in a moment we perceived that what we saw was a walled city builtupon a great promontory, that jutted out from the mountain-side; and inthe same breath Fray Antonio and I called out together, "It is the cityof Culhuacan!"

As we uttered this name Tizoc turned towards us quickly, and with astartled, troubled look upon his face. "They are not of our race, " hesaid, as though speaking his thoughts aloud; "yet the sacred name, thatamong us only a few know, is known to them!" and the troubled look uponhis face deepened as we went onward. 

The way by which we descended was a narrow road carried zigzag down thecliff--for the pass by which we had entered the valley was fully sixhundred feet above the level of the lake--and at short intervals alongits course this road was defended by walls of very solid masonry, pierced with openings so narrow that only one man at a time could passthrough them. That the walls were for defence was shown by the piles ofmetal bars on the inner side of each opening--the side towards themountain--so arranged that in a moment they could be slipped intosockets in the stone-work, thus closing effectually the way. 

Perceiving that we regarded with surprise this curious system offortification, Tizoc explained: "These are the barriers set up againstthe Tlahuicos, who, heeding not the order given of old by our lordChaltzantzin, have striven many times to break forth from thevalley--for among these men there are many of perverse natures and evilminds. "

In _tlahuico_ I recognized a Nahua word that means "men turned towardsthe earth, " but what its meaning might be in the sense in which Tizocemployed it I did not know. I should have asked for furtherexplanation--for the manner of this man was so frank and so friendlythat it invited a cordial familiarity--but as I was about to speak wepassed through the narrow opening in a wall of unusual height andstrength, and so came into a charming garden, in the midst of whichstood a large house well built of stone. For the making of this garden anatural nook on the side of the mountain had been enlarged by filling inalong its outer edge against a great retaining-wall, built up from adepth of a hundred feet from the slope below; and on the farther side ofthe plateau thus created, where the path down into the valley went onagain, were heavy defensive walls. Near this exit, also, was a long lowbuilding that I took to be a guard-house. 

The crowd that had followed behind us from the height above went onacross the plateau, and out through the gate beside the guard-house--itsmembers casting many curious looks at us as they departed--and theguardsmen who had formed our escort, at an order from Tizoc, went on totheir quarters. But Tizoc led us across the garden to the large housethat stood in the midst of it, and there, with a formal courtesy, badeus enter. This was his home, he said, and we were his welcome guests. 

The house was so like the houses ordinarily found in Mexico that we hadno feeling of strangeness in entering it. It was built of stone neatlylaid in cement; was but a single story in height, and enclosed a largecentral court, in the midst of which a fountain sparkled, surrounded bysmall trees and shrubs and beds of flowers. All of the rooms opened uponthis central court, and in the outer wall the only opening was thenarrow way by which we had entered--for the prompt closing of whichthere lay in readiness a pile of metal bars. The flat roof, also ofstone, was reached by a stone stair-way from the court, and had about ita heavy stone parapet that was pierced with narrow slits through whichjavelins and arrows could be discharged. But these arrangements fordefence did not by any means produce a gloomy effect, as they would hadwe encountered them in a country-house in our own part of the world--forsimilar defence arrangements are found in every hacienda in Mexico atthe present day, and even I, though my stay in the country had been soshort, already had become accustomed to them. 

A buzzing chatter of talk, in which women's voices predominated, ceasedsuddenly as we entered the court; and from the swaying and twitching ofthe curtains hanging in the front of the openings leading into severalof the rooms, we inferred that we were undergoing a keen inspection. Inresponse to a call from Tizoc, some men-servants came out from one ofthe rooms and received his order to prepare food for us; and he then ledus to a large room in a corner of the court that was arranged verydelightfully as a bath. Here was a great stone tank, twenty feet or sosquare, and with a slanting bottom, so that the depth of it ranged fromtwo feet to nearly five, in which was fresh running water; and over theportion of the room that the tank occupied there was no roof but thebright blue sky. On the stone floor were beautifully woven mats, andtowels of cotton cloth hung upon pegs driven into the walls, and inearthen bowls were fresh pieces of a saponaceous root that I have seenthe like of in use among the Indians of New Mexico. It seemed to strikeTizoc as odd that we preferred to make use of the bath successivelyrather than all together; but he was too polite a man to interpose anyobjections to our eccentricities. Pablo only--coming last of all ofus--had a companion in his bathing in the person of El Sabio; and thesleekness of that excellent animal, when Pablo had brushed carefully hislong coat when his bath was ended, was a wonder to behold. 

Being thus refreshed, we heartily welcomed the excellent meal that wasserved to us in the cool shade of the veranda by which the court-yardwas surrounded. Our eating was somewhat in the Roman fashion, for thetable was a broad slab of stone, raised but a little from the ground, and around it we reclined upon mats, with cushions woven of rushes tolean upon. The food was excellent--a small animal of the deer species, but no larger than a hare, roasted whole; birds very like quails, delicately broiled; little cakes made of maize, which were rather likethe hoe-cakes of our Southern negroes than _tortillas_; some sort ofsweet marmalade; and a great abundance of oranges, mangoes, bananas, andother fruits common to the hot lands of Mexico; all of which fruitswere much more delicate in flavor than Mexican fruits usually are; theresult, as we found later, of the great care bestowed upon theirculture. Only water was served with the meal, but at the end of it asmall jar of some sort of potent liquor was brought, very cool, and withan excellent spicy taste, that Tizoc warned us must be taken butsparingly; and truly he was right, as I found from the warm and mellowfeeling of benevolent friendliness that but half a cup of it infusedinto me. Tizoc himself did not follow very rigidly the advice that hehad given us; and to this fact, probably, was due the exceedingfrankness with which he subsequently spoke with us concerning gravematters, of which he surely would have been reticent had he been in aless genial mood. 

"Just ask th' Colonel if he minds my smokin' a pipe, won't you, Professor?" Young said, when our meal was ended; and as I myself wantedto smoke, and as I was sure that Rayburn did also, I made the requestgeneral. Tizoc, to my surprise--for I believed smoking to be common toall the indigenous races--evidently did not at all understand mymeaning; but perceiving that I asked to have some favor granted, hecourteously gave the permission that I desired. As we filled our pipeshe watched us curiously; but when we drew out our matches and struckfire by what seemed to him but the turn of our hands, he started to hisfeet and manifested a strange excitement, in which there seemed to beless of alarm than of awe. His voice shook, and his whole persontrembled, as he asked, "Are ye the children of Chac-Mool, the God ofFire, and therefore the chosen servants of Huitzilopochtli theTerrible, that ye thus can do what among us is done only by our PriestCaptain Itzacoatl?"

[Illustration: THE STRIKING OF A MATCH]

Both Fray Antonio and I heard with delight this utterance, that in amoment settled the long-disputed question as to whether or not Chac-Moolwas an idol, and settled it, also, in favor of the ingenious hypothesispresented by the learned Señor Chavero. The moment was not a favorableone, however, for pursuing the matter in its archæological bearings, forall of our tact and skill just then were required to restore Tizoc tocalmness. As well as this was possible in the language common to us--wesuddenly realized how difficult it was to express in the Nahua tonguemore than rudimentary concepts of the ideas that we sought to convey--weexplained to him how matches were made; and illustrated our words byshowing him how fire was induced by friction, even as the rubbing of twopieces of wood together produced fire also. This explanation was lessexact than ingenious; but it was one that he could understand, and ithad the effect of allaying his alarm sufficiently to permit him toresume his seat, when he at once drank off a whole bowlful of thestrong, spicy liquor at a draught. Added to what he already had insideof him, this draught set his tongue to wagging in the free way that Ihave already referred to, and he grew bold enough to take a match in hishand. But even in his cups he manifested a certain reverence in hishandling of it; and presently, from a little bag that was hung about hisneck, he produced the burnt remnant of a match that he compared with itcritically. "They are the same?" he asked, as he extended the wholematch and the fragment together towards us that we might examine them. 

"They are the same, " Fray Antonio answered. "Whence comes the one thatyou guard so carefully?"

"From the Priest Captain--from Itzacoatl. With such things does hemiraculously set burning the fire of sacrifice; but he does not speak ofthem lightly, as you do; he tells us that they are the handiwork of theFire God, Chac-Mool; and when the fire of sacrifice is kindled he giveswhat remains of them as high rewards to those who have served well theState by brave acts or honorable deeds. This which I cherish was myreward for crushing a revolt among the Tlahuicos. "

Fray Antonio and I exchanged curious glances, for the conviction wasforced upon us both that the Priest Captain of whom Tizoc spoke musteither have invented friction matches, or that he must have some secretchannel of communication with the outside world. In either case it wasevident that he must be a man of unusual shrewdness; and it also wasevident that his feeling towards us--since we also could perform amiracle that he obviously made use of as a means of manifesting hisdivine right to rule--must be that of strong hostility. 

To Rayburn and Young, who had observed wonderingly Tizoc's extraordinaryconduct, I rapidly translated what he had said; and explained howserious our situation appeared in the light of this new development. 

"Well, it certainly _is_ cold weather for this Priest Captain fellow, "Young commented, "if we've got hold of his boss miracle; and I guessyou're about right, Professor--he'll want t' take it out of our hides. Just poke up th' Colonel t' telling all he knows about this old dodger. Th' Colonel's got his tongue pretty well greased just now with his ownprime old Bourbon--pass me that jar, Rayburn, I don't mind if I haveanother whack at it myself--and we may get something out of him thatwill be useful. Try it on, Professor, any way. Here's luck, gentlemen. "

That Young's tongue also was a little greased, as he put it, by thisvery agreeable beverage was quite evident; but his wits were sharpenedrather than dulled by the drink, and his present suggestion evidentlywas a very good one. As for Tizoc, his disposition towards us obviouslywas most soft and friendly; and as his mind slowly absorbed the factthat, somehow or another, the Priest Captain had made a fool of him witha miracle that was not really a miracle at all, his choler rose in amanner most favorable to our purposes. Yet this very feeling ofresentful anger--showing a growing irreverence of one to whom all thetraditions of his people gave reverence second only to that due to thegods themselves--was startling evidence of the menace that our presencewas to the theocratic ruler's temporal and spiritual power. Therefore itwas with a keen curiosity that we listened--and Tizoc needed, to inducehim to talk freely, but little of the poking-up that Young hadsuggested--to what was told us concerning the strange people among whomwe had come by ways so perilous, and of their chieftain, the PriestCaptain Itzacoatl--with whom, as no spirit of prophecy was needed totell us, we were destined soon to engage in a conflict that must befought out to the very death. 

XIX. 

THE SEEDS OF REVOLT. 

For the sake of brevity I shall summarize here the statement that Tizocmade to us, and for the sake of clearness I shall add to it some factsof minor importance which came to our knowledge later--thus at onceexhibiting the whole of the troublous condition of affairs that stirreddangerously the people dwelling in the Valley of Aztlan at the time ofour coming among them. 

At this period the political situation, as I may term it, wasexceedingly critical. Three powerful factions were in existence; andpeace was preserved only by the generally diffused belief that openrevolt, on the part of either one, would be crushed instantly by atemporary coalition of the other two. The beginning of this unpleasantlyvolcanic condition of affairs dated back six cycles--that is to say, alittle more than three hundred years--and was the direct result of aviolation of the law set forth by the wise King Chaltzantzin when thecolony was founded, by which it was ordained that all among theAztlanecas who, on coming to maturity, were weaklings or cripples, should be put to death. 

Being once suggested, the repeal or the modification of this law foundmany advocates. Naturally, the change was urged most strongly by allthose whose sons and daughters were sickly or malformed, and so weredoomed to die in the very blossom of their years. It was urged by thenobles because the more astute among them perceived the possibility ofso manipulating it that it would result in the creation of adistinctively servile class; and the priests urged it because they alsoperceived a way by which it might be made to provide more victims forsacrifice to the gods. And so it came to pass, through the influence ofthese diverse elements operating together towards a common end, that thelaw which Chaltzantzin had promulgated was set aside, and a law was madethat embodied the provisions demanded by the nobles and the priests, whereby should be created a new social class; which class, because ofthe infirmities of those composing it, received the name ofTlahuicos--"men turned towards the earth. " Thereafter, the sickly andthe crippled were not slain upon reaching maturity, but then passed outfrom the class into which they were born and became servitors. And whenthe first cycle was ended after the making of this new law, andthenceforward every year, one in every ten among the Tlahuicos was takenby lot to be sacrificed to the gods--for the priests craftily had gainedthe barbarous concession that they demanded by placing the firstfulfilment of it at a time so far in the future that all concerned inthe granting of it would be dead in the course of nature before itbecame operative. Yet to the end that those of noble birth might besaved from the ignominy of servitude, it was provided that childrenwhich by reason of natural infirmity were doomed to become slaves, mightbe saved from that fate upon coming to maturity by being thensurrendered by their parents to the priests for sacrifice. Other gracethere was none. Excepting between death and slavery, there was no choicefor the weak or the malformed. 

As time passed on, the Tlahuicos, marrying among themselves, had greatlyincreased in numbers; and so far from remaining a weakling race, the hadbecome, by reason of their frugal mode of living and of the wholesome, hearty labor in which they constantly were engaged, exceptionally haleand strong; the weak and crippled among them being mainly those who eachyear, because of such infirmities, were added to their number from thehigher ranks of the community. And thus was collected together materialas dangerous as it was inflammable; for the fresh additions to theTlahuicos kept constantly alive in the whole body a spirit of moodydiscontent, that time and again, at the season when the lots were castby which one in every ten was doomed to death, was fanned into armedmutiny. These revolts ever had as their single object escape from thevalley; which fact made evident enough the need for the elaborate systemof defensive works by which the outlet of the valley was barred. 

From the Tlahuicos were drawn the house-servants of the rich; and bythose of this wretched class who were stout of body all the heavy laborof the community was carried on--the tilling of the fields, thequarrying of stone, the building of houses and bridges and roads, thefelling of timber, the carriage of all burdens, and the working of thegreat gold-mine, concerning which I shall hereafter have more to tell. And all of these people were held in absolute bondage, either as theserfs of individual owners or as the property of the State; for eachyear the new accessions to the class were sold publicly at an auction towhoever would bid the most for them; and those which none would buy, being too infirm to be useful as laborers, the State laid claim to--butonly that they might be kept alive until such time as they should beneeded by the priests for sacrifice. 

Yet out of this custom of sale, that on the face of it was harsh andbarbarous, some slight mitigation of the cruelty of the system had come;for the practice had grown up of permitting parents to buy back theirown children--nominally thereafter holding them as slaves--and so tosave them at a single stroke from both death and servitude. One strongcause of the hatred of the Priest Captain Itzacoatl, Tizoc said (and wewondered then at the trembling in his voice, and at the evidently deepemotion that overcame him as he spoke), was that he had but latelyforbidden the continuance of this practice, by which only the letter ofthe law was obeyed. 

Until the promulgation by the Priest Captain of this decree, thepriesthood, the military aristocracy, and the mass of the army hadconstituted, politically, one single class. The civil government wasvested in a body styled the Council of the Twenty Lords, the members ofwhich originally had been chosen by Chaltzantzin, and from him hadreceived authority, in perpetuity, to fill the vacancies which deathwould cause among them by selecting the wisest of each new generation tobe Councillors. While the composition of this body was distinctivelyaristocratic--for its members were either military nobles or priests ofa high grade--there was in it also an element of democracy; for both thepriesthood and the army were recruited from all classes of society(saving only the servile class), and among the Twenty Lords there werealways men who had risen from obscurity to distinction solely by theirown merit. Over this body the Priest Captain presided; yet was his willsuperior to that of the Council, for he was the visible representativeof the gods, and so centred in his own person their high authority anddreadful power. 

Until the time of Itzacoatl, each successive priest captain, in the longline that here had ruled, had exercised so discreetly his theocraticrights, and in all ways had shown such wisdom in his government, that noconflict had arisen between the temporal and the spiritual powers. Andthus wisely had Itzacoatl governed in the early years of his reign. Butas age stole upon him--and he now was a very old man--his rule had grownmore and more tyrannical. He had drawn about him certain priests forintimate advisers, and these constantly led him to run counter to thewill of the Twenty Lords, not only in matters about which divergentopinions reasonably might be held, but in matters wherein the will ofthe whole people was at one with the advice that the Council gave. Thus, gradually, two parties were built up within the State: that of thepriests, which strongly seconded the disposition that Itzacoatlmanifested to make the spiritual power absolutely supreme, and that ofthe nobles and people of the higher class, which sought to maintain theCouncil's ancient rights in matters temporal. In regard to these twofactions, the affiliations of the army were so nicely balanced thatneither side ventured to resort to open violence--for each dreaded thatthe other would turn the scale against it by invoking the aid of theservile class. Thus it was that the despised Tlahuicos actually held thebalance of power. Yet of this fact, Tizoc declared--but I noticed thatjust here there was a curious hesitancy about his speech, as though heknew more than he was willing to disclose--the Tlahuicos were but dimlyconscious; while they did know certainly that in the present state ofaffairs any attempt on their part to rise in mutiny would be met, as ithad been met many times in the past, by all the forces of both factionsof their superiors overwhelmingly united against them. 

But the bond that was stronger than all others in holding together thiscommunity, in which, beneath the surface, were working such potentelements of disintegration, was the loyal resolve pervading it toexecute the mission to which its members were destined when they wereset apart from the remainder of their race a thousand years before. Excepting only among the Tlahuicos--who, in the nature of things, couldhave no share in it--there had ever been among all classes a ferventlonging for the summons that should call them forth to aid theirbrethren in the battling with a foreign foe that Chaltzantzin hadprophesied. And by reason of this loyalty to a lofty purpose the openrupture that assuredly otherwise would have come had been thus farrestrained. Honor forbade, Tizoc declared, that by falling to warringamong themselves they should put in jeopardy their power to respondinstantly to the summons that might at any instant come. 

It was therefore with a profound and solemn interest--for the graveimport of it was plain to him--that Tizoc, having ended his ownstatement, questioned us as to the full meaning of the words which wehad spoken when first we entered the valley: that the prophecy ofChaltzantzin long since had been fulfilled, and that now, having in itsappointed time miscarried, the summons would never come. 

With awe, and in sorrowful silence, he listened as Fray Antonio and Itold him how exactly the prophecy had been verified by the coming of theSpaniards, and by their conquest and enslavement of the Mexicans; yetwas he cheered again as our narrative continued, and he learned of thebrave fight for freedom that his brethren had made, and of the happysuccess that had crowned it in the end. Of the period between theachievement of independence and recent years we said but little--it isnot a period of which those whose feeling towards the Mexicans isfriendly have much desire to talk--contenting ourselves withemphasizing the fact that the race so long oppressed, having risensuccessfully against its oppressors, remained independent under a rulerof its own blood. 

To that part of our narrative in which we told how we had gainedknowledge of the hidden city of Colhuacan, and possession of the tokenof summons, Tizoc gave but little heed. It was evident that his mind wasengrossed with consideration of the more important matters of which wehad told him, and of the direct bearing that they had upon the troubledcondition of affairs in which his own people were involved. Seeingwhich, we left him to his own thoughts while we talked of these samematters among ourselves. 

Rayburn, in his quick, clear-headed way, grasped the situation promptlyand accurately. "About the size of it is, " he said, "that we've knockedthe false work right from under everything that these folks have beenbuilding for the whole thousand years that they have been living here;and what they've built isn't strong enough to stand alone. As Youngsays, it's a cold day for the Priest Captain because we have got hold ofhis boss miracle; but it's still colder weather for him because the newsthat we have brought makes it all right for the crowd that wants tofight him to go right ahead and do it; and I guess they will do it, too, as soon as they get the fact fairly into their heads that there nolonger is a chance of their being called off in the middle of their row. Unless I am very much mistaken, we shall see some pretty lively times inthis valley inside of the next thirty days. "

"And unless _I'm_ mistaken, " Young struck in, "th' Colonel here will beabout th' first man t' take off his coat--that is, th' thing that Isuppose he thinks is a coat--an' sail in. I don't know just what he'sgot against th' Priest Captain, except that he seems t' be a sort ofpill on gen'ral principles, but I'm sure that he's down on him from th'word go. From what th' Colonel says, I judge that his crowd has a prettygood chance of comin' out on top--for th' other crowd seems t' be madeup for th' most part of parsons; an' parsons, as a rule, haven't muchfight in 'em. What we'd better do it t' tie t' th' Colonel, an' whenwe've helped him an' his friends t' wallop th' other fellows they'll beso much obliged to us that they'll let us bag all th' treasure we wantan' clear out. An' that reminds me, Professor--we haven't heard anythingabout any treasure so far. Just ask th' Colonel if there really is one. If there isn't, I vote for pullin' out before th' row begins. It's astrue of a fight as it is of a railroad--that runnin' it just for th'operatin' expenses don't pay. "

Tizoc answered my question on this head somewhat absently, for heevidently was debating within himself some very serious matter; but hisanswer was of a sort that Young found entirely satisfactory. In theheart of the city, he said, was the Treasure-house that Chaltzantzin hadbuilded there; and within it the treasure remained that Chaltzantzin hadstored away. What it consisted of, nor the value of it, he could nottell. The Treasure-house was also the Great Temple; and of the treasureonly the Priest Captain had accurate knowledge. In the Treasure-house, Tizoc added, was stored the tribute that the people paid annually, andthe metal that was taken from the great mine. This metal was the mostprecious of all their possessions, he said, for from it their arms weremade, and also their tools for tilling the earth, and for working woodand stone. It had not always been of such value, for it naturally wastoo soft to serve these useful purposes; but at a remote period, untilwhich time their implements had been made of stone, a wise man amongthem had discovered a way by which it could be hardened, and from thattime onward the people dwelling in the valley had prospered greatly, because they thus were enabled to practise all manner of useful arts. 

"And what is this metal like?" I asked, with much interest, for myarchæological instinct instantly was aroused by hearing summed in thesefew words a matter of such momentous importance as the transition of apeople to the age of metal from the age of stone. 

"It is like this, " Tizoc answered, simply, disengaging as he spoke aheavy bracelet from his arm, "only this remains in its natural state ofsoftness. To be of great value it first must be made hard. "

I had no doubt in my own mind as to what this metal was, but I knew thatRayburn, who was an excellent metallurgist, could pronounce upon itauthoritatively. 

"Is this gold?" I asked, handing him the bracelet. 

"Certainly it is, " he answered, in a moment--"and it seems to beentirely without alloy. "

"Then your guess about the bright, hard metal that has been such apuzzle to us, " I continued, "was the right one; it is hardened gold:"and I repeated to him what Tizoc had told me. 

Rayburn was deeply interested. "Scientifically, this is a big thing, Professor, " he said. "These fellows can give points to ourmetallurgists. But for our purposes, of course, what they've caught onto here has no practical value. Gold has got to come down a good deal, or phosphor-bronze has got to go up a good deal, before it will pay usto turn gold dollars into axle-bearings and cogs and pinions. But it'smighty interesting, all the same. Fusing with silicium would give agold-silicide that might fill the bill for hardness; but I can't evenmake a guess as to how they do the tempering. Ask the Colonel what thewhole process is, Professor. It will make a capital paper to read beforethe Institute of Mining Engineers at their next meeting. "

As I turned to Tizoc to ask this question, I perceived that his regardwas fixed upon something on the other side of the court-yard, and in hislook most tender love was blended with a deep melancholy. Following thedirection of his gaze, I saw that its object was a beautiful boy, a ladof twelve or fourteen years old, who was half hidden behind someflowering shrubs, and from this cover was peering at us curiously. 

"It is my Maza--my little son, " Tizoc said, as he turned and saw thedirection in which I looked. And then he called to the boy to come tohim. For a moment Maza hesitated, but when the call was repeated he cameout from behind the screen of flowers and so towards us across thecourt-yard; and as he advanced I perceived that he was lame. In his facewas the look of wistfulness which cripples so often have, and there wasa rare sweetness and intelligence in the expression of his large browneyes. In a moment I understood why it was that Tizoc resented sobitterly the abrogation by the Priest Captain of the custom that hadpermitted parents to buy back their crippled children, and so to savethem from slavery; and a selfish feeling of gladness came into my heartas this light dawned upon me--for I knew that when we faced the dangerthat threatened us (a most real danger, for our coming into the valleywas nothing less than a deadly blow at Itzacoatl's supremacy) we surelywould find in Tizoc an ally and a friend. 

XX. 

THE PRIEST CAPTAIN'S SUMMONS. 

There was so much meaning in my look as I turned towards Tizoc that Ihad no need to speak; he knew that I had comprehended the situation, andso answered my look in words. 

"Do you wonder that I rejoice over your coming, and over the news whichyou bring? The will of the gods no longer is that we shall do the workfor which our lord Chaltzantzin destined us; therefore are we free toset aside the custom that he decreed by which our weak ones arecondemned to death, and with it the custom, yet more cruel, of our owndevising, by which they are saved from death only that they may be madeslaves. To my boy neither slavery nor death shall come. Through you thegods have spoken, and he is saved. And now also is fulfilled theprophecy that of ancient times was spoken, that with the coming into theValley of Aztlan of a four-footed beast, bearing upon its back a man, the power of the Priest Captain should end. "

Much more, doubtless, Tizoc would have said to us, for an exaltedemotion stirred him; but at that moment there was the sound of hurryingfeet in the outer enclosure, and then Tizoc's secretary came through thenarrow entrance into the court-yard, followed closely by a detachment ofthe guards. The secretary spoke hurriedly to his master, apart from us, and from his excited manner in speaking, and from the anxious look uponhis master's face as he listened, we inferred that some very stirringmatter was involved in the communication that he brought. 

For a few moments Tizoc stood in silence, his head bowed, as thoughengaged in earnest thought. Then he turned to us and spoke. "The PriestCaptain has sent his order that you shall be brought before him, " hesaid, "and that you must go hence without delay. " And then he added, taking me aside and speaking in a low voice: "There is great commotionalready in the city, for the soldiers have noised abroad the news whichyou bring. The Council of the Twenty Lords has been called together, andI am told that a messenger from the Council is on his way hither. Thatmy order to take you to the city in such haste, and directly to thePriest Captain, is so stringent, I cannot but think is caused by hisdesire to get you hence before the messenger from the Council shallarrive. His purpose towards you surely is an evil one; but fear not--youbring a message of freedom and deliverance that has only to be publishedto raise around you a host of friends. And now we must go. "

In a few moments we had quitted Tizoc's house, passed out through thefortified gate-way in the heavy wall by which the little plateau on themountain side was defended; and so, by a broad road that descendedsharply, went downward towards the border of the lake. Our order ofmarch was the same as that adopted in bringing us from the Barred Pass:before us and behind us were detachments of the guards, and Tizoc walkedwith us. In accordance with his desire, that he expressed to me in acautious whisper, Pablo rode upon El Sabio's back. There was no need forhim to explain his motive in making this suggestion. It was his purpose, evidently, to exhibit the fulfilment of the prophecy as conspicuously aspossible, and so to prepare the ground for the sowing of the seeds ofrevolt. 

I had an opportunity now to tell Rayburn and Young of what Tizoc hadbeen speaking at the moment when the summons from the Priest Captaincame; and also of the strong personal reason that he had for protectingus, even to the extent of forwarding the outbreak of revolution, in hisdesire to save from death or slavery the son whom he so well loved. 

"I'm not at all surprised to hear that what we've told 'em is going tostart a revolution, " Rayburn said. "That's just the way I sized thematter up, you know, as soon as I got down to the first facts. If they'dhad a decent sort of a fellow at the head of things, they might haveworked along so as to take a fresh start without fighting over it. Butthis Priest Captain chap isn't that kind. He goes in for Boss managementand machine politics, I should judge from what the Colonel says, asstraight as if he was a New York alderman or the chairman of a Statecampaign committee in Ohio. No doubt he's got a pretty big crowd back ofhim; but that kind of a crowd don't amount to much in a fight, whenthere's any sort of a show for the other side to win. It sort of getsout of the way, and stands around with water on both shoulders, andthen, when one side begins to get pretty well on top--it don't matterwhich--it says that that's the side it's been fighting with all along, and begins to kick the fellows that are down. Where our chance comes inis in having the respectable element, the solid men who pay taxes andhave an interest in decent government, to tie to. They may not pay taxeshere, but that's the kind I mean. And that kind, when it takes tofighting, fights hard. Then there must be a lot of fathers with crippledchildren, like the Colonel here, who are down on the Priest Captain theworst kind, and will be only too glad of a chance to go for him; andthey can be counted on to stand in with us, and to fight harder thananybody. I'll admit, Professor, that we're in a pretty tight place; butit might be a good deal tighter, and I do honestly believe that we'llget out of it. "

"And so do I, " said Young, "'specially now that I know that that burroof Pablo's is part of a prophecy. I always did think that there wasstyle about El Sabio, any way, an' now I know what it comes from. When Iwas a boy, th' one thing that used t' keep me quiet in church washearin' our minister read that story about Balaam and _his_ burro; but Inever thought then that I'd actually ketch up with a live ass that wasin the prophesyin' line of business for itself--or had prophecies madeabout it, which is pretty much the same thing. T' be sure, this prophecydon't come down t' dots quite as much as I'd like it to; but I s'posethat that's th' way with 'em always--eh, Professor? Th' prophets sort o'leave things at loose ends on purpose; so's they can run 'wild' on aclear track, without any bother about schedule time or connections. "

"Well, our burro lays over Balaam's, " Rayburn struck in. "In that caseit took the combined arguments of an ass and an angel to convince Balaamthat he was off about his location, and was running his lines all wrong;but, unless we count in Pablo, El Sabio is playing a lone hand; and I'msure that the Colonel's not fooling us about this prophecy business, either. It's rubbish, of course; but that don't matter, so long as thepeople here swallow it for the genuine thing. Just look at that oldfellow there. He's tumbled to it, and he's regularly knocked out. "

We were close to the shore of the lake by this time, and as Rayburnspoke we were passing a small house, in front of which was gathered agroup of Indians. In the midst of the group was a very old man, whowith out-stretched arm was pointing towards Pablo and El Sabio, and whoat the same time was talking to his companions in grave and earnesttones. There was a look of awe upon his age-worn face, and as we fairlycame abreast of him he dropped upon his knees and raised his arms abovehis head, as though in supplication to some higher power. The action, truly, was a most impressive one; and even more strongly than we wereaffected by it did it affect those who were clustered around him. In amoment all in the group had fallen upon their knees and had raised theirarms upward; and then a low moaning, that presently grew louder and morethrilling, broke forth among them as they gave vent to the feeling ofawful dread that was in their hearts. 

"That's business, that is, " Young said, in tones of great satisfaction. "Those fellows do believe in th' prophecy, for a fact; and if th' folksonce get it fairly into their heads that th' time has come for theirrascally Priest Captain t' have an upset, that's a good long start forour side towards upsettin' him. It was just everlastin'ly level-headedin th' Colonel t' make Pablo ride El Sabio, and so regularly cram th'thing down these critters' throats. I don't know how much of th'prophecy he believes himself, but he's workin' it for all it's worth, any way. There don't seem t' be any flies worth speakin' of on th'Colonel--eh, Professor? And I guess that anybody who wants t' get upearlier 'n th' mornin' than he does 'll have to make a start overnight. "

By this time the road that we followed had come down to the lake-level, and presently we reached the end of it, which was a well-built pier thatextended out from the shelving shore into deep water. Here a boat was inwaiting for us--a barge of near forty feet in length, with twenty men torow it, and carrying also a mast, stepped well forward, so rigged as tospread a sail that was a compromise between a lug and a lateen. Therewas some little talk between the officer in charge of the barge andTizoc, and then the latter motioned us to go on board. The barge-mastergave the order to the guard to follow us, as though the command of theparty now had devolved upon him; and it seemed to us, from the closegroup that the guard made around us in the boat, and from the anxiouslooks which the barge-master cast upon us, that very strict orders musthave been given concerning keeping us closely in ward. Under thesecircumstances, it caused us some little wonder that we were permitted toretain our arms, until the thought occurred to me that these people, having no knowledge of such things, did not at all realize that ourrifles and revolvers were arms at all. To test which theory I drew oneof my pistols--not violently, but as though this were something that Iwas doing for my own convenience--and so held it in my hands that themuzzle was pointed directly at the heart of the soldier who sat besideme; yet beyond the interest that its odd shape, and the strange metalthat it was made of aroused in him, it was evident that the man regardedmy action entirely without concern. I drew the attention of Rayburn andYoung to what I was doing, and to how evident it was that fire-armswere unknown to this people; and in their ignorance we found much causefor satisfaction. 

[Illustration: CHECKING YOUNG'S OUTBREAK]

"If they don't know enough to corral our guns, " Young said, "we've got apretty good-sized piece of dead-wood on 'em. Th' way things are goin', we may have a rumpus a'most any time, I s'pose; and if it does come to arumpus, they'll be a badly struck lot when we open on 'em. RobinsonCrusoe cleaned out a whole outfit of Indians with just an old flint-lockmusket; and I should say that we'd simply paralyze this crowd when weall get goin' at once with our revolvers an' Winchesters. Isn't thatyour idea of it, Rayburn?"

But Rayburn did not answer, for while Young was speaking he had takenout his field-glass and was examining the city, to within three or fourmiles of which we now were come. "Well, that _is_ a walled city, and nomistake!" he said, as he lowered the glass from his eyes. "Take a look, Professor. These people may be easy to fool when it comes to prophecies, but when it comes to engineering and architecture they're sound all theway through. Just look at the straightness of that wall running up thehill, and how exact the alignment is of the two parts above and belowthat ledge of rocks. They had to get that alignment, you know, by takingfore-sights and back-sights from the top of the ledge; and I must saythat for people who haven't got far enough along in civilization to weartrousers, it's an uncommonly pretty piece of work. "

As I looked through the glass I was less impressed by this technicaldetail, involving the overcoming of engineering difficulties which I didnot very thoroughly understand, than I was by the majestic effectproduced by the city as a whole, in conjunction with the site on whichit was reared. At this point the lake came close up to the vastly highcliffs by which the valley everywhere was girt in, and here jutted outfrom the cliff a great promontory of rock, whereof the highest part wasfully two hundred feet above the lake-level. For the accommodation ofthe houses which everywhere were built upon it, the sloping face of thispromontory had been cut into broad terraces, of which the facings weremassive walls of stone; and the whole was enclosed by a wall of greatheight and enormous thickness that swept out in an immense semicirclefrom the face of the cliff, and thus shut in the terraced promontory andalso a considerable area of level land at the base of it between thelowest terrace and the margin of the lake. 

On the highest terrace, crowning and dominating the whole, was amajestic building that seemed to be half temple and half fort--a squarestructure, resting solidly against the face of the cliff, and thenceprojecting a long way outward to where its façade was flanked by twolow, heavy, square towers. Architecturally, this building, unlike anyother of which I had knowledge in Mexico, saving only the temple that wehad found upon the lonely mountain-top, was pervaded by a distinctlyEgyptian sentiment. Its walls sloped inward from their bases, and notrivial nor fretful lines weakened the effect of their massive dignity;for the whole of the decoration upon them was a broad panelling that wasgained by a combination of heavy pilasters and a heavy cornice; and withthe exception of a central entrance, the front was unbroken by openingsof any kind. Possessing these characteristics, the building had about itan air of solemnity that bordered closely upon gloom; and the obvioussolidity of its construction was such that it seemed destined to last onthrough all coming ages in defiance of the assaults of time. There wasno need for me to question Tizoc; for I knew that what I beheld beforeme, crowning with sombre grandeur this strange city, girded with suchprodigious walls, was the Treasure-house that Chaltzantzin, the AztecKing, had builded in the dim dawning of a most ancient past. 

Young took his turn in looking through the glass, and as he handed it toFray Antonio he said: "If at any time in th' course o' th' past fewweeks, Professor, you've got th' notion from any o' my talk that Ithought that dead friend o' yours, th' old monk, was a liar, I want t'take it all back; and I want t' take back all that I've said about thatother dead friend o' yours, th' Cacique, havin' set up a job on us. It'sclear enough now that both o' your friends played an entirely squaregame. They said that there was a walled city, an' there it is; they saidthat there was a big Treasure-house, an' there _that_ is. They wereperfect gentlemen, Professor, and I want t' set myself right on th'record by sayin' so. If one of 'em hadn't been dead for more than threemonths, and if th' other one hadn't been dead for more than threehundred years, and if they both were here, I'd knuckle under and ask 'emt' take my hat. "

XXI. 

THE WALLED CITY OF CULHUACAN. 

Our use in turn of the field-glass was a mysterious performance thataroused keenly the barge-master's curiosity. I heard him ask Tizoc foran explanation of it; and Tizoc, who also was much interested, referredhis question to me. Had I been dealing with Tizoc alone I should havetried to make the matter clear to him; but in the case of thebarge-master, whose feeling towards us, I was convinced, was anythingbut friendly, I thought it wiser to be less frank. Therefore, coveringthe action with a negligent motion of my hand, I screwed the glassesclose together, so that in looking through them there was to be seenonly a mass of indistinct objects looming up in a blurred cloud oflight, and so handed them to him. Naturally, neither he nor Tizocarrived at any very satisfactory conclusion in regard to the real use ofthem; and from their talk it was evident that they conceived theceremony in which we had engaged in turn so earnestly to be in thenature of a prayer to our gods. Fray Antonio was both shocked and painedby their taking this view of the matter, and was for making a trueexplanation to them; but at my urgent request he held his peace. Yet itwas evident that he brooded over the matter in his mind, and so was ledto earnest thoughts of the mission that had brought him hither into theValley of Aztlan. Therefore was I not surprised--though I certainly wasalarmed by the thought of what might be its consequences--whenpresently, in low and gentle tones, he began to speak to those about himof the free and glorious Christian faith, which in all ways was moreexcellent than the cruel idolatry in which they were bound. Naturally, he was not permitted long to speak in this strain, for the barge-masterspeedily ordered him in most peremptory tones to keep silence; whichorder doubtless would have been still more quickly given had not theofficer been fairly surprised by Fray Antonio's temerity into momentaryforgetfulness of the dangerous outcome of this gentle talk. And FrayAntonio, knowing the value of the word in season that is dropped tofructify in soil ready for it, did not attempt argument with thebarge-master--by which the thoughts of those who listened would havebeen diverted from the hopeful promise of a better faith that he hadoffered to them--but obeyed the order meekly and so held his peace. Thatwhat he had spoken had taken hold upon the hearts of some at least amonghis hearers I was well assured by their grave look of thoughtfulness, and especially did Tizoc seem to be deeply moved; but--as I supposed forfear of the barge-master--there was no open comment upon what hadpassed. 

By this time, the barge being all the while urged rapidly forward by thesteady strokes of the twenty oarsmen, the city rose so broadly and soopenly before us that we could see the whole of it distinctly with ournaked eyes. And what at this nearer view seemed most impressive about itwas its gloominess; that was due not less to the prison-like effect ofits heavily built houses and its massive walls than to the dullblackness of the stone whereof these same were made. Nowhere was theresparkle, or glitter, or bright color, or brightness of any sort to beseen; and it seemed to me, as I gazed upon this sombre stronghold, thatdwelling always within it well enough might wear a man's heart out witha consuming melancholy begotten of its cold and cheerless tones. 

That it was indeed a stronghold was the more apparent to us the nearerthat we came to it. The plan of it was that of a great fan, spread openupon the hillside, and extending also across the broad sweep of levelland between the base of the promontory and the lake. The promontory hadbeen so cut and shaped that its gentle slope had been transformed intosix broad semicircular terraces, above the highest of which was asemicircular plateau of very considerable size, on which stood theTreasure-house, that also was the great temple. Along the face of eachterrace, and around the face also of the plateau, a heavy defensive wallrose to a height of twenty feet or more; and from the base of thecrowning plateau, thence accessible by a single broad flight ofstairs--being led through openings in the rampart walls of the terraces, and down each terrace face by means of stair-ways--twelve streetsdescended, of which the central six ended at the water-side and theremainder against the great outer wall. It was this outer line ofstrong defence that gave the city--which otherwise would havecorresponded curiously closely with the fortified city of Quetzaltepec, described by the Mexican chronicler Tezozomoc--its most distinctivecharacteristic. Such a vastly thick wall, for the great length of it, asthis was I never have seen in any other place; and so solid was thebuilding of it that it would have been proof against any ordinary trainof siege artillery. For defence against a foe whose only missile weaponswould be javelins and slings and bows, this great wall made the cityabsolutely impregnable. And that the protection that it gave might bestill more complete--and also, as Tizoc explained to us, that in thecase of siege the water supply might be assured, together with a supplyof fish for food--the wall was carried out into the lake so far as toenclose a basin of more than four acres in extent; within which, shouldan enemy gain access to the valley, all the boats upon the lake could bebrought together and held in safety. And finally, the one entrance tothe city was by way of a tunnel-like canal cut in the wall thus risingfrom the water; the outer end of which canal was closed in ordinarytimes by a heavy grating, while in war time the inner end also could beclosed by means of great metal bars. 

It was towards this entrance that the barge that carried us was heading. Presently we reached it, and the grating was raised for our admission bymeans of chains which were operated from the top of the wall. So low andso narrow was the passage that our heads were within a few inches of thehuge slabs of stone of which its roof was formed; and the rowers hadneed to unstep the mast and then to lay their oars inboard, while theybrought the barge through by pushing with their hands against the roofand sides. The canal was fully forty feet long, and thus the enormousthickness of the wall was made apparent to us. It truly was, as Iobserved to Rayburn, a work that well might be attributed to theCyclops. 

"I never met a live Cyclop, Professor, " Rayburn answered, "and I don'tbelieve that these fellows ever did either; but it bothers me to knowhow they managed to do work like this without a steam-derrick. If we getout of here with whole skins and our hair on our heads, I hope it won'tbe until I've had a chance to talk to some of their engineers, and soget down to the facts. "

A moment later we emerged from the tunnel through the wall, and soentered the enclosed basin that extended along the whole of the city'sfront. Within the basin were lying many canoes, and also boats of alarger sort that carried oars and that were rigged with a sort oflug-sail; but these all kept away from us, even as all the boats whichwe had seen during our passage of the lake had given us a wide berth. That our barge--one of those employed exclusively in the PriestCaptain's service--was thus shunned was due, as I found later, to thewholesome dread in which the special servitors of the temple and of itshead universally were held; for these very frequently abused theauthority acquired through their semi-sacerdotal functions by using itas a cloak to cover acts of purely personal oppression, while at alltimes they were feared as the executors of their master's wrath. Therewas, indeed (though I did not mention this fact to Fray Antonio), acuriously close resemblance between the officials of this class and thefamiliars of the Inquisition, both in the duties which they performedand in the fear and hatred which they everywhere inspired. 

But even dread of entanglement with the Priest Captain's servants couldnot restrain the curiosity of the crowd that pressed towards us on thebroad pier upon which we disembarked. It was evident that this crowd wasnot made up of the common folk of the city, and also that it was movedby a purpose far higher than that of a mere idle longing to seesomething that was strange. From their dress, and still more from thebeauty of their ornaments and the elegance of the arms which many ofthem carried, it was obvious that for the most part these men werecitizens of the highest rank; and this fact was still further attestedby the dignity of their demeanor and by the reverent age to which themajority of them had attained. So far from manifesting any vulgarexcitement, the crowd maintained an absolute silence; and with this anexterior air of calm that was the more impressive because the eager, almost awe-struck expression upon every face showed how strong was theemotion that thus strongly was restrained. But when El Sabio, after muchcoaxing, crossed the gang-plank between the boat and the pier, and socame to where he could be seen of all plainly, there was a curious lowsound in the air as though all at once every man in the crowd hadheaved a sigh; and the sound swelled into a loud murmur as Pablo, inobedience to a quick order that I gave him in Spanish, briskly mountedupon the ass's back. In this murmur only one word was intelligible, andthat I caught again and again: the prophecy!

But Pablo was no more than fairly seated upon El Sabio's back than theofficer in command of our guard took him roughly by the shoulders andsnatched him thence to the ground again; which act led Tizoc and me to aquick exchange of startled glances, for it showed very plainly that thePriest Captain--to whom the messenger telling of our coming into thevalley had been sent before any of these people had seen Pablo mountedupon El Sabio's back--had anticipated this sign of the fulfilment of theprophecy and had given orders to prevent it. Luckily, the celerity withwhich Pablo had executed my quick order to mount had saved the day forus; and even more than saved it, for as we passed through the crowd, onour way from the water-side into the city, I caught here and therefragments of comment upon what had just passed which showed that notonly was the sign told of in the prophecy recognized, but that theeffort on the part of the officer to neutralize it was understood. 

But before our going into the city there was a stirring conflict ofauthority concerning us between the temporal and the spiritual powers. We were no more than fairly landed, indeed, when an officer addressedthe barge-master, who continued in charge of our party, and gave him aformal order to bring the strangers directly before the Council of theTwenty Lords. And to this the barge-master replied that he already wasunder orders to bring the prisoners, immediately upon their landing, before the Priest Captain--and there was something both curious andominous, it struck me, in the marked manner in which the term"strangers" was employed by one of these men and the term "prisoners" bythe other. 

At this juncture we had further proof of the foresight of the PriestCaptain, and of the determined stand that he was prepared to make ratherthan to suffer the miscarriage of big plans. While the barge-master andthe messenger from the Council still were engaged in hot talk as towhich of the two conflicting orders should be recognised, there was thesound of tramping feet and of arms clanking; and then a body of fullyone hundred soldiers came quickly from behind a house that was near bythe water-side and swept down on a double-quick to where we werestanding at the end of the pier. The crowd, jostled aside to make wayfor the passage of the soldiers, evidently regarded them withastonishment; and this astonishment rapidly changed to anger as thepurpose that brought them thither was made plain. In a moment they hadclosed in around us, separating us from the Council's messenger and fromTizoc; the barge-master placed himself at the head of them, and insharp, quick tones gave the order to march; and the whole force, withourselves in the centre of it, went off the pier at a round pace, andthence along a street that led towards the city's heart. Evidentlyacting under orders, the men broke their platoons and closed in aroundus; and I was well convinced that this unsoldierly marching was adoptedto the end that El Sabio might not be seen. 

Fray Antonio agreed with me that the Priest Captain was carrying matterswith a dangerously high hand in thus opposing the will of the Councilwith armed force. This act of his, if Tizoc had correctly represented tous the excited condition of popular feeling, was quite sufficient initself to stir into violent activity the slumbering fires of mutiny. Butwhether the revolt that we now believed must surely come would come intime to be of service to ourselves, we could not but look upon as a veryopen question. 

"If this old scoundrel is as sharp as he seems to be, " Rayburn said, "and if he keeps things up in the way he's begun, it's about all daywith us. His play should be to get rid of us as quick as he can manageit; and I should judge, from the cards that he's put down, that that'sprecisely the way he means to manage the game. It's not much comfort tous to know that after he's cleaned us out somebody else will rake hispile. "

As we talked, we went on rapidly through the city; and even the dangerthat we were in, and the excitement that attended this sudden shiftingof our fortunes, could not prevent me from studying with a livelycuriosity the many evidences of an advanced civilization that I beheld. The plan of the city, as I had discerned while we were approaching it, was that of a wide-open fan. From the Treasure-house, on the height inthe centre, twelve broad streets radiated outward, of which three on thenorthern side and three on the southern ended against the greatenclosing wall, and six came down through openings in the walls alongthe several terraces directly to the water-front. All of these streetswere well paved with large smooth blocks of stone, and were led up thefaces of the terraces by wide and easy stairs. The transverse streetswere true semicircles, starting from and ending at the face of thecliff, and were carried along the outer edges of the terraces, justinside their facing walls. Rayburn was even more astonished than I wasby the exactness with which these great semicircles were laid off; forhe apprehended, as I did not, the difficulty attendant upon running aline in a true and regular curve. But I am not prepared to say that thiswork could not have been accomplished by mere rule of thumb. My friendBandelier, in the course of his admirable analysis of the ruins atMitla, has made clear to me how easy it is to attribute to scientificknowledge work that is the result only of manual skill. As I havepointed out in my discussion of this matter in my _Pre-ColumbianConditions on the Continent of North America_, the plateau at the top ofthis range of terraces easily might have been laid off in a truesemicircle by the simple means of a pointed stick at the end of a longrope; and from the true line thus established the line of the terracebelow it could have been had--and so on down to the lowest terrace ofall. 

There could be no doubt, however, that engineering skill of a highorder--howsoever crude might have been the actual method of itsapplication--was exhibited both in the preparation of the site, and thenin the city's building. On the site alone an almost incredible amount oflabor had been expended; for the rocky promontory--that primitively, asthe result showed, had been broken and irregular--had been so cut awayin some places, and so filled in in others, and the whole of it had beenso carefully trimmed and smoothed, that in the end it became a huge massof rock-work, in the regularity of which there was not perceptible thesmallest flaw. And in this preliminary work, as well as in the buildingof the houses afterwards, fragments of stone were used of such enormoussize that the moving of them, Rayburn declared, would be wellnighimpossible even with the most powerful engineering appliances of our owntime. Nor was the use of these huge pieces of stone confined to thefoundations of the houses. Some of them were high above the ground;indeed, the very largest that we observed--the weight of which Rayburnestimated at not less than twenty tons--was a single block that made theentire top course of a high wall. 

All of the stone-work was well smoothed and squared; and while theexteriors of the houses were entirely plain, we could see through theopen door-ways that the interiors of many of them were enriched withcarvings. All were destitute of windows opening upon the street; andtheir dull, black walls, and the dull black of the stones with which thestreets were paved, gave a dark and melancholy air to the city thatoppressed us even more heavily when thus seen closely than it had whenwe beheld it from afar off. Yet the interior court-yards, so far as wecould tell from the glimpses that we had of them through open door-ways, were bright with sunshine and gay with flowers; thus showing that thegloom of these dwellings did not extend beyond their outer walls. Iobserved with much interest that the provision for closing the entrancesfrom the street was not swinging doors of wood, but either metal bars, such as we had seen in Tizoc's house, or else a metal grating, that wasarranged like a portcullis to slide up and down in a groove; and Iattributed the absence of wooden doors less to a desire for strongerbarriers than to the comparative recentness of the acquisition of theknowledge of wood-working tools. Here, I thought, was a curious instanceof development along the lines of greatest resistance; for in itself theinvention and the making of a swinging door of wood was a much easiermatter than was the invention and the making of these finely wroughtsliding doors of hardened gold. 

As for Young, the sight of all this gold-work quite took his breathaway. "It regularly jolts me, Professor, " he said, "t' see th' genuinestuff, that's good t' make gold dollars out of, slung around this way. Afront door of solid gold is a huckleberry above Jay Gould's biggestpersimmon; an' as t' Solomon, these fellows just lay Solomon outcold--regularly down th' old man an' sit on him. Why, for just that onefront door of th' big house ahead of us I'd sell out all my shares inthis treasure-hunt, an' be glad t' do it. But I guess I'd have to hireSamson--who was in that line of business--t' carry it off for me. Itmust weigh a solid ton!"

By this time we had mounted all of the terraces, and the house towardswhich Young pointed as he spoke was built directly beneath the crowningplateau on which the great temple stood. It was the largest and by farthe most elegant house that we yet had seen, and the sliding grating ofgold that closed the entrance was unusually heavy, and very beautifullywrought. Sentinels were stationed here, wearing the same uniform as thatof the soldiers who formed our guard; and this further indication of theimportance of the building gave us the impression that it was thedwelling of some great dignitary. Close by the portal we were halted, while the commander of our guard spoke through the grating to some oneinside. A moment later the grating was slowly raised, and we weremarched through the narrow entrance, and so along a short passage-wayinto a long, narrow chamber that obviously was a guard-room; for spearsand javelins were ranged in orderly fashion upon racks, and swords andshields and bows and quivers of arrows were hung upon the walls. Here wewere halted again; and while we stood silent together, wondering whatmight be in store for us in this place, we heard the heavy gratingbehind us close with a dull clang. 

XXII. 

THE OUTBREAK OF REVOLUTION. 

So dismal was this sound, and so many were the dismal possibilities thatit suggested, that as I heard it a cold chill went down into my heart;and I was glad enough that we at once were led forth from theguard-room, and that in consideration of matters of immediate moment mymind was diverted from dwelling drearily upon a future that seemed fullof gloom. 

For all the brilliant blaze of sunlight that brightened the largecourt-yard into which we were conducted, there was about it curiouscoldness and cheerlessness. As in the case of all the other houses whichwe had observed, the stone-work of the walls and of the pavement was adull black; but here there were no flowers, nor bright-colored hangingsover the inner doors, nor brightness of any sort or kind. The carving ofthe stone was extraordinarily rich, to be sure; but the bass-reliefswhich covered the walls were wholly of a gloomy sort--being for the mostpart representations of the slaughter of men in sacrifice, and thetearing of hearts out--so that the eight of them made me shiver, notwithstanding the warmth of the sun. From the centre of the court-yardabroad stair-way ascended to the plateau above on which the templestood; and this direct way of communicating with it led me to theconclusion that the building was a dependency of the temple, and thatvery likely the higher members of the priesthood were housed here. 

However, little time was given for looking around us, for our guardhurried us--El Sabio following close at Pablo's heels--across thecourt-yard to a door-way at its farther side, before which hung in heavyfolds a curtain of some sort of thick black cloth. Across this entrancethe guard was drawn up in orderly ranks behind us; and then thebarge-master, who had preserved absolute silence towards us since ourmarch through the city began, held aside the curtain and silentlymotioned to us to enter. 

From the bright sunshine we passed at a step into a chamber so shadowythat we involuntarily stopped on the threshold, in order that our eyesmight become accustomed to the semi-darkness before we advanced. Theonly light that entered it came through two narrow slits in the thickwall above the portal that we had just passed; and the glimmer diffusedby the thin rays thus admitted was in great part absorbed by the blackdraperies with which everywhere the room was hung. As our eyes adjustedthemselves to these gloomy conditions we perceived that we were in ahall of great size; and presently we were able to distinguish objectsclearly enough to see that at the far end of it was a raised dais, having a sort of throne upon it; but not until, being urged forward bythe officer, we had traversed more than half the length of the hall didwe discern upon the throne the shadowy figure of a man. 

Being come close to the dais, the officer halted us by a gesture; but noword was spoken, and for several minutes we stood in the semi-darknessof that strange place in absolute silence. For myself, I must confessthat I was somewhat awed by my surroundings, and by the impassivesilence and stillness that the dimly seen figure upon the thronemaintained, and I am sure that Fray Antonio's imaginative nature wassimilarly impressed; as for Pablo, I distinctly heard his teethchattering in the dark. But neither Rayburn nor Young, as the latterwould have expressed it, awed easily, and it was Rayburn who presentlyspoke. 

"This fellow in the big chair would be a good hand at privatetheatricals. He's got a first-rate notion of stage effect. Hadn't Ibetter stick a pin in him and wake him up?"

"There's no good in stickin' pins into _him_, " said Young, in a tone ofgreat contempt. "What's the matter with him is, he's not real atall--he's stuffed!"

There was something so absurdly incongruous in these comments that theyacted instantly upon my overstrained nerves, and I burst into a laugh, in which the other two immediately joined. Evidently, this was not atall the effect that this carefully arranged reception was intended tohave upon us; for the seated figure started suddenly and uttered anangry exclamation, and at the same time gave a quick order to theofficer. 

"I take it all back, " said Young; "he ain't stuffed. I guess he was onlyasleep. "

As Young spoke there was a slight rustle of draperies, and in a momentthe curtains which had veiled four great windows in the four sides ofthe hall were pulled aside, and the darkness vanished in a sudden blazeof light. While we shaded our eyes for some seconds, Rayburn said, withgreat decision: "This settles it. He must have been in the show businessall his life. "

But the man whom we now saw clearly did not look like a showman. He wasa very old man, lean and shrivelled; his brown skin so wrinkled that hisface looked like some sort of curiously withered nut. Yet there was awonderful sinewiness about him, and a most extraordinary brightness inhis eyes. His face was of the strong, heavy type that is found in thefigures carved on the ruins in Yucatan; a much stronger type than I haveobserved anywhere among the Mexican Indians of the present day. Hisdress was a long, flowing robe of white cotton cloth, caught over hisleft shoulder with a broad gold clasp, and richly embroidered withshining green feathers; and shining green feathers were bound into hishair and rose above his head in a tall plume. His sandal-moccasins (forthe covering of his feet was between these two) repeated the sacredcombination of colors, green and white; and on his breast, falling fromhis neck, were several richly wrought gold chains. Even apart from hisstately surroundings, his dress--and especially the shining greenfeathers which were so conspicuous a part of it--would have informed methat this man was a priest of very exalted rank; and the conditions ofour presentation to him assured me that he was none other than thePriest Captain, Itzacoatl. And I may add that if ever a high dignitaryof a heathen religion was in a rage, Itzacoatl was in a rage at thatparticular moment. Young's comment lacked reverence, but it was to thepoint: "Well, he _has_ got his back up, for sure!"

With an alertness that was astonishing in one of his years, Itzacoatlrose quietly from the throne; and as he pointed to us with a commandinggesture, he asked, sharply, why we had been allowed to retain our arms, and ordered them to be taken away from us; which order troubled usgreatly, and also occasioned us a very lively surprise. As for thebarge-master, he evidently was vastly puzzled by it; for, according tohis notions, we were not armed. He did not venture to reply, but hisuncertainty was to the duty that was expected of him was apparent in hishopeless look of entire bewilderment. It seemed to me that for a momentthe Priest Captain was slightly confused, as though he recognized theincongruity between his own knowledge in this matter and his officer'signorance; and in explaining his order he took occasion to refer to thesuperior knowledge with which he was endowed by the gods. Fray Antonioand I glanced at each other doubtingly as he spoke, for this explanationstruck us as being decidedly forced. The gods of the ancient Mexicanspre-eminently were war gods; but they certainly were not likely to haveany very extended knowledge of Winchester rifles and self-cockingrevolvers. 

However, when the officer comprehended what was required of him, he wasprompt enough in his actions. Without any ceremony at all he laid handson Young's rifle, that was hanging by its strap on his shoulder, andendeavored to take it away from him. This was a line of action that theLost-freight Agent by no means was inclined to submit to. Without anyassistance he unslung the rifle, cocked it as he jumped back half adozen steps, and then raised it to his shoulder, with his finger on thetrigger and the muzzle fairly levelled at the officer's heart. "Shall Idown him?" he asked. 

"Don't shoot!" Rayburn cried, quickly; and in obedience to this orderYoung slowly dropped the rifle from his shoulder, yet held it ready foraction in his hands. The perfect calmness of the officer through thisexciting episode afforded the most convincing proof that fire-arms werewholly unknown to him. And the conduct of the Priest Captain affordedequally convincing proof that he not only understood the nature offire-arms, but that he was very much afraid of them; for, at the momentthat Young made his offensive demonstration, he very precipitatelysheltered himself by crouching behind the throne. 

"Don't shoot!" Rayburn repeated. "We may have a chance to pull throughif we don't rile these follows; but if we go killing any of them nowit's all day with us, for sure. We'd better let 'em have our guns; butthere's something mighty odd in their having found out all of a suddenwhat a gun is. "

Very reluctantly Young surrendered his rifle to the officer, who lookedat it contemptuously, as though he considered it but a poor sort ofweapon in case real fighting was to be done. In turn, the rest of usgave up our rifles also; and we were mightily pleased because theofficer did not attempt to take our revolvers away from us. But in thisour satisfaction was short-lived, for the Priest Captain quickly orderedthe officer to relieve us of them, and of our cartridge-belts as well;nor was it until we had been thus entirely disarmed that he arose fromhis undignified position and resumed his seat upon the throne. 

While the disagreeable process of disarming us was going on I spoke toFray Antonio of the curious possibilities suggested by the knowledge offire-arms which the Priest Captain, alone among all the Aztlanecas, soobviously possessed; and he, in reply, bade me remember what Tizoc hadtold us of the use that Itzacoatl made of wax-matches in lighting thesacred fire. "Can it possibly be, then, that he is in communication withthe outside world?" I exclaimed. 

As I uttered these words I glanced at Itzacoatl, and the expression onhis face was that of one who listens intently, and who is greatlyenraged by what he hears. At the same moment Rayburn cried: "That manunderstands Spanish. He is listening to you. "

Doubtless, some sort of an explanation would have followed this strangediscovery, for that we had made it was very obvious, but at that momenta man--seemingly, from his dress, a priest of high rank--came into thehall hurriedly, and very earnestly delivered a communication toItzacoatl in low, excited tones. That the substance of thiscommunication was highly disagreeable to him was shown by his manner ofreceiving it; and for a moment he slightly hesitated, as though verygrave consequences might attend upon the decision that he then made. Butit was for a moment only that he stood in doubt. Then he called thebarge-master to him, and gave some order in a low voice; and then, accompanied by the priest, went out rapidly from the hall. 

Evidently in obedience to the order that he had received, thebarge-master bade us follow him, and so led us into the court-yardagain. Young proposed, since we had only this one man to deal with, thatwe should make short work of him, and so get back our arms--whichremained where he had placed them in a pile beside the throne. ButRayburn's more prudent counsel overcame this tempting proposition. As hepointed out, the promptness with which the curtains had been pulled backshowed that attendants of some sort were close at hand; and, in additionto these, we knew that the guard of soldiers was just outside of theentrance to the hall. It was certain, therefore, that we could notregain our arms without immediately using them in very active fighting;and no matter how well we fought, under these conditions we mustcertainly be defeated in the end. All of which was so just and soreasonable that Young could not in anywise gainsay its propriety; but hewas in a very ill humor at being restrained from the pleasure of havingit out with them, as he grumblingly declared; and as we passed out intothe court-yard he relieved his mind by swearing most vigorously. 

For my part, even the peril that we were in did not suffice to distractmy mind from curious consideration of the strange state of affairs thatexisted among the folk dwelling in this hidden valley if our surmise inregard to the Priest Captain's knowledge of the outer matches, hisacquaintance with fire-arms, and his knowledge of the Spanish tongue. The implication was unavoidable that this extraordinary man actually hada more or less complete knowledge of the powers and appliances of thenineteenth century, and that he was using his nineteenth centuryknowledge to maintain his supremacy over a people whose civilization wasabout on a par with that of European communities of a thousand yearsago. From the stand-point of the ethnologist, a more interestingsituation than the one time developed could not possibly be devised. What I most longed for was the establishment of such friendly relationswith Itzacoatl that I could carry out a systematized series ofscientific investigations among the Aztlanecas before the impendingcrash of discovery came; and my keenest regret at that moment was causedby the conviction that the incapacity of Itzacoatl to understand thevalue of scientific inquiry into such curious ethnologic facts wouldresult in his mere vulgar killing of me, whereby a precious store ofknowledge would be withheld from the world at large. 

As we came out into the court-yard we heard the sound of voices, whichseemed to be raised in angry altercation, coming from the direction ofthe main entrance, with which there was also a slight clinking sound asof arms being got in readiness; and, much farther away, the soundseemingly coming from distant quarter of the city, the tapping of adrum. When we first had crossed the court-yard it had been entirelydeserted; but now many priests and soldiers were standing in groupsabout it, and more were coming down the stair from the temple; and allof these men had a look of eager alertness, as though some decisiveevent were imminent in which they expected to have a part. But we hadonly a moment in which to observe all this, for we were hurried awaytowards the corner of the building that was most remote from the street, and here, before I well could understand what was being done with me, Iwas thrust so suddenly and so violently through a narrow door-way that Ifell heavily upon the floor. Before I could regain my feet Young hadtumbled down on top of me, and then the others tumbled on top of usboth--they having been in the same rude fashion injected into theapartment; and while we thus were lying in a heap together--my own body, being undermost, having the breath wellnigh squeezed out of it--we heardthe rattle of metal upon stone as the door-way was quickly closed withheavy bars. 

We struggled to our feet in wellnigh total darkness--for outside thebars a curtain had been dropped that shut off almost wholly the light ofday--and I am confident that no one room ever contained two angrierpeople than Rayburn and Young were then; for their very strength andhardihood made them the more ragingly resent being thus tumbled about asthough they were bales or boxes rather than men. Rayburn's language wasnot open to the charge of weakness; but the words in which Young gavevent to his feelings were so startlingly vigorous that even a Wyomingcow-boy would have been surprised by them; yet I must confess that atthe moment--so greatly was my own anger aroused--I thought hisobservations exceedingly appropriate to the occasion that called themforth, and I even was disposed to envy him the command of a technicalvocabulary that enabled him to express so adequately his righteouswrath. However, I was for once well pleased that Fray Antonio did notunderstand English. 

But our anger quickly was swallowed up in anxious grief as wediscovered, when our eyes had become somewhat accustomed to the veryfaint light, that only we four were in the room together; and a greatdread fell upon us because of the imminent peril to Pablo which thisseparation of him from the rest of us implied. Assuredly there wasstrong reason why he should be an especial object of Itzacoatl's fearand hatred. He and El Sabio together were the visible sign which toldthat the prophecy touching the Priest Captain's downfall was about to befulfilled; and, more than this, Pablo's simple statement of thecondition of affairs among the modern Mexicans--showing that the crisisin their fate that Chaltzantzin had foretold, and for which he had sowell prepared, long since had come and gone--would be far moreconvincing to the masses of the Aztlanecas than would be any exhibitionof these same facts that we could make to them; for we were aliens amongthem, while Pablo was of their own race and class. That we all were liketo be done to death by this barbarous theocrat we did not for a momentdoubt; but it was plain enough that every motive of self-interest mustprompt him to put Pablo and the poor ass most summarily out of the way. And as the logic of these facts irresistibly presented itself in my minda keen and heavy sorrow overcame me, for I could not shirk theconviction that, whoever might strike the blow that killed him, I myselfwas the cause of this poor boy's death. Fray Antonio could not see myface in that shadowy prison, yet his fine nature divined the pain that Isuffered and the cause of it, and he sought to comfort me with hissympathy. He did not speak, but he came close beside me and tenderlylaid his hand upon my shoulder; and his loving touch, telling of hissorrow for me and with me, did bring a little cheer into my heavy heart. 

Meanwhile the commotion outside increased greatly, and even through thethick folds of the curtain we could hear plainly the clanking of arms, and the heavy tread of men, and sharply given words of command. Wepressed close to the bars and tried to push, the curtain aside that wemight see out into the court-yard; but the bars were so near togetherthat our hands would not pass between them, and we therefore couldgather only from the sounds which we heard what was going on outside. But the sounds were unmistakable. There could be no doubt whatever thata vigorous assault upon the building was in progress, and those withinit vigorously were defending it; and we knew that the cause of thefighting certainly must be ourselves. Already, it would seem, theprophecy of the Priest Captain's downfall was assuming a tangiblereality; for this rising in arms against him could mean nothing lessthan that his high-handed refusal to permit us to be carried before theCouncil of the Twenty Lords had fairly brought matters to a crisis, andthat the long-threatened revolution actually had been begun. 

XXIII. 

A RESCUE. 

That the two parties should be thus battling for possession of us gaveus a gleam of hope for the saving of our lives. While we remainedprisoners, in the ward of the Priest Captain, we knew that our death wasinevitable; inasmuch as the witness which we bore against him, ifsuffered to be published, must of necessity bring his authority to anend. But should we pass into the ward of the Council, there was everyreason why we should be cherished and protected; because, in theirbehalf, we would be witnesses to the justice of their rebellion againstItzacoatl's rule. Nor would this feeling of amity towards us be confinedto the leaders of the revolt; for we had perceived the substantialnature of the reasons which Tizoc had given us in support of hisassurance that the hope of deliverance from oppression which our comingbrought would raise up around us a host of friends. Therefore we knewthat upon the issue of the battling that we heard the sounds of soloudly, and yet that might as well have been a thousand miles away forall that we could see of it, our fate must depend. 

And knowing this, it was a hard trial of our nerves and tempers to beforced to remain there idle in the dark, without the chance to strike inour own behalf a single blow. Young strode backward and forward in sucha fashion, and the mutterings beneath his breath were so like growls, that the likening of him to a wild beast in a cage, while trite, isstrictly accurate. Rayburn, not less resolute, but more self-contained, pressed close against the bars and never stirred, save that now and thenhe cracked his thumbs and fingers together with such vigor that thesound was like a pistol-shot. And even I, who am not naturally of ablood-thirsty disposition, found the need of walking briskly about ourprison in order to quiet a little my strong longing to be outside with aweapon in my hands wherewith I could crack some skulls open. Indeed, among us all, only Fray Antonio maintained an outward show of calm. 

Thus far, all the sounds which we had heard had come to us from thedirection of the front of the house, whence we inferred that the fightwas being waged, greatly to the disadvantage of the assailants, throughthe grating by which the entrance was closed. But suddenly there was anoutcry of alarm close by us in the court-yard, and then the sound ofhurrying feet there, and then a roar of shouting mingled with the fierceclash of arms--so that we knew that the assailants, either by beating inthe grating or by scaling the roof, had got inside. They and thedefenders were engaged, hand to hand, almost within arm's-length of us. We could hear loudly the yells with which every stroke was accompanied, and the clang of metal striking upon metal, and the dull, crushing soundof the blows which went home truly and carved through flesh andbone--and we could see no more of it all than if we were dreaming, andthese sounds of savage warfare were but the imaginings of our brains!One man, being, as we supposed, pursued by another from the central partof the court-yard--where, as it seemed, the fight raged most hotly--madea stand just outside the curtain that overhung the bars whereby we werepent in; and we could hear him panting as he struck and parried there, and then the splitting of his flesh and the crash of his bones as atremendous blow overcame his guard, and the soft, deep groan that hegave as his life left him. His body fell against the curtain and draggedit a little; and presently, as I stood there by the bars, I found thatmy feet were in a pool of blood. 

It was only a moment or two after this that the sounds of conflict verysensibly diminished, and we heard a rush made, and the confused tread offeet upon the stairs that led upward to the temple, and then came sojubilant a shouting that we knew that to one side or the other had comevictory. 

"If th' Priest Captain's outfit's on top, " Young said, grimly, "I guesswe've about got t' th' end of a division; an' there's not much chance ofour changin' engines an' keepin' on with th' run. " To which figurativesuggestion Rayburn gave an immediate grunt of assent. 

But at that very instant there was a lull in the tumult outside, and weheard a voice that I recognized as Tizoc's loudly calling to us; and tohis hail, that carried such joyful meaning with it, I joyfully andloudly answered. To Rayburn and Young, of course, the call wasunintelligible, nor did they recognize the voice of him who called; andthey therefore were disposed to think, when I fell to shouting, that mybrain was addled. However, they changed their views a minute or twolater--the dead body resting against the curtain having been thrownaside, and the curtain itself torn down--when they saw Tizoc's friendlyface outside the bars, and then saw the bars rapidly removed. 

"Colonel, " said Young, very seriously, as we stepped forth thankfullyonce more into the sunshine, "you may not know what a brick is, but youare one. Shake!" and very much to Tizoc's astonishment, though heperceived that the act was meant to express great friendliness, Youngmost vigorously shook his hand. Under more favorable circumstancesTizoc, no doubt, would have asked for an explanation of this curiousceremony, but just then his whole mind was given to making good hisretreat and so securing us against recapture. There was not a moment tolose, he said; throughout the city the priests everywhere were rallyingforces to Itzacoatl's support, and at any instant we might be attacked. As he spoke he drew us away with him towards the street, where the mainbody of his men still remained--for only a small part of them had joinedin scaling the roof, and so taking the enemy by surprise in the rear. 

"But what of Pablo, our young companion?" I asked, stopping short as Ispoke. 

"My men are looking for him; they will find him in a moment; he surelyis safe; he may be already outside. Come. "

The possibility that Pablo truly might be outside of the building wasthe only argument that could have induced us to leave it without him;and that possibility was so reasonable a one that we made no more delay. Indeed, we fully realized the necessity for promptness. From all partsof the city came a humming, angry sound, which assured us thateverywhere the people were aroused; and Tizoc bade us arm ourselves withwhat weapons we could use most effectively among those which werescattered about the pavement of the court-yard, as we surely would haveneed of weapons soon. A sword was the only instrument of warfare ofwhich I had knowledge--which knowledge was acquired during my Germanstudent days--and I took, therefore, one of the heavy maccuahuitls; andthe others also, excepting Fray Antonio, similarly armed themselves, each with a sword that they found lying beside the dead hand that neverwould wield it more. It was as we obeyed Tizoc's order that we saw howfierce and how bloody the fight had been; for the court-yard was redwith blood, like a slaughter-house, and over the stones everywhere deadbodies were lying, all cut and gashed with ghastly wounds. Excepting afew of Tizoc's men, who had bound up their hurts, and who staggeredalong with us, not a wounded man remained alive; whence we inferred thatthe fight had been waged on strictly barbarous principles, and that noquarter had been given. And of this we had proof; for as we passedthrough the guard-room we found there a moaning wretch, belonging to thePriest Captain's party, in whose chest was a great hole made by aspear-thrust--and at a sign from Tizoc one of our men stepped aside, andwith a blow of his heavy sword coolly mashed in the wounded man's skull, and so finished him. 

The metal grating that closed the entrance had been raised by Tizoc'speople from the inside, and we passed out beneath it to where the mainbody of his men was drawn up in readiness to march. But of Pablo and ElSabio there was no sign. Tizoc was not less distressed by the loss ofthe lad than we were, for he had counted upon the moral effect which theexhibition of Pablo and El Sabio most certainly would produce to aidpowerfully in fomenting the spirit of revolt. When, therefore, werefused to go forward until further search had been made, he did notoppose us; but he told us plainly that further looking for him in thatplace was useless, for already every room in the building had beenexamined without the finding of a trace of him. There could be no doubt, he said, that when we had been made prisoners Pablo, and El Sabio withhim, had been taken up the stair to the temple for greater security; inwhich place, if they were not both by this time dead, they stillremained. Whereupon Young was for making an attack upon the templeinstantly, and in this project Rayburn and I warmly seconded him; andeven Fray Antonio said that this was a case in which he felt justifiedin using carnal weapons, since the fighting would be to rescue fromamong infidels a Christian soul. 

But Tizoc hurriedly explained to us the hopelessness, at that time, ofsuch an assault. The success that had attended his bold rescue of us hadbeen due to the suddenness of it; for the majority of the people in thecity, including the large force of soldiery there, assuredly was on thePriest Captain's side. It was outside the city that the strength of therevolution must be gathered; and his orders were, when his rescue of usshould be accomplished, to carry us safely out beyond the walls with allpossible speed. Such of the Council of the Twenty Lords as had decidedto take the chances of revolt--being all the members of that body savethe five priests that had belonged to it--already had gone down to thewater-side, together with the small force that they had gathered, thatthey might seize the water-gate and hold it until we should join them. Even now it was certain that in going down through the city we shouldhave to fight our way, and each moment that we delayed our retreatincreased our danger. Capturing the temple now was a sheerimpossibility. Our only hope of saving Pablo's life lay in our gettingaway promptly, and so beginning the preparations that would lead toultimate victory. 

All the while that Tizoc spoke he was edging us away towards the outerface of the terrace, where steps led downward; and when the men who hadbeen searching the building once more for Pablo returned without him, heresolutely gave the order to march. To the arguments that he hadadvanced we were compelled to yield; but our hearts were heavy withsorrow for the boy whom we were leaving behind us, and little hope wasin our breasts that we ever again should see him alive. 

The truth of Tizoc's words about the great danger that we ourselves werein became apparent as we crossed the terrace next below that on whichour march began. Where the street passed through the rampart by a narrowportal, and so by a flight of stone steps descended to the next level, soldiers were clustered together with the evident intention of disputingthe way with us. Their number was so much less than ours that we madeshort work of them; killing a few, and driving the remainder down thesteps before us. But those who escaped ran on ahead of us to where thenext rampart was, and there joined themselves to a much larger body thatlay in wait for us. Here our work was less easy; for the force thatconfronted us was nearly our equal, and some resolute fighting wasrequired before we could drive it before us and so pass on. Some of ourmen were killed there, and more of the enemy; and I got a trifling hurtin my arm from the point of a javelin, that, luckily, did little morethan graze the skin. I do not think that I killed anybody there, but Iremember very plainly the look of pain and of anger on the face of thatfellow who poked his javelin at me when I gashed his arm, and broke thebone of it, with a blow from my sword. I was glad, at the moment, that Ihad succeeded in giving him a worse hurt than he had given me; and thenthe absurdity occurred to me of my thus fighting with a total stranger, against whom I had no personal ill-will; and I could not but feel sorrowfor him as I thought of the long time that he must suffer severe painand great inconvenience because I had chanced to strike him that blow. However, from the way in which they went cutting and slashing aboutthem, it was evident that neither Rayburn nor Young were troubled withany compunctions of this nature. They were only too glad, apparently, toget a chance to whack away at any of the Priest Captain'srepresentatives; and they made such use of their opportunity that theAztlanecas fighting with us cried out in admiration of their prowess andtheir strength. Fray Antonio was more sorely tried than any of us duringthis passage, for I knew that his flesh greatly longed to take part inthe fighting, and that only the strong spirit which was within himsubdued the flesh and so held his hands. 

With a final rush we succeeded in forcing the enemy through the narrowopening in the rampart, and so down the steps beyond; but as we pursuedthem across the next terrace, keeping close at their heels so that theymight not have time to form again, many of our wounded fell out from theranks and dropped by the way--and we had left behind us a dozen or moreof our dead on the ground where the fight had been. 

Our tactics of rapid pursuit of the force that we had defeated served uswell at the next rampart; for the men whom we pursued and we ourselvescame to it almost in one body, and thus threw into such confusion thefresh force that was waiting for us that, without any long fightingabout it, we drove right through them and went on downward; and in thesame dashing fashion we carried the rampart beyond. However, when thosemen whom we had pushed aside from our path so easily got over theirsurprise at being so lightly handled, they formed in our rear and camehurrying after us; the result of which was that as we approached thelast of the ramparts that we had to pass through, where was gathered thelargest body of men that we had yet encountered, we found ourselvesfairly wedged in between two bodies of the enemy and outnumbered four toone. Here, too, the passage through the rampart had been closed by themetal bars that were in readiness for that purpose. Setting these inplace was no real barrier to our passage, for, being intended to closethe portal against assailants from below, the fastenings which held themwere on the side nearest to us. But to remove them it was necessary thatwe should fight our way through the crowd--with no possibility ofdriving the enemy before us, as we had done upon the upper terraces, since here the way was closed. What we did was literally to cut a paththrough the throng; and over the men who fell dead or wounded beneathour blows we made our advance. There was a curious creeping, uneasysensation in the region of my stomach as I trod thus on the bodies ofwounded men who were not dead yet, and felt them moving, and heard theirgroaning; and I was conscious of a feeling of relief when a body that Itrod upon did not squirm beneath my foot, and so by its stillnessassured me that I was standing only on dead flesh that had no feeling init. 

Very slowly did we go forward, for while the living barrier that we hadto deal with was not at the outset more than twenty feet, orthereabouts, in thickness, hacking it down took us a tediously longtime. While still we faced a dozen or more very desperate fighters, whoheld us off most resolutely from the metal bars which closed the way, apang of dread and sorrow went through me as I perceived that FrayAntonio, who a moment before had been close beside me, had disappeared. That he might the better restrain his longing to take part in thefighting he had remained in the centre of our men; and it was hard tounderstand how, in that position, harm could have come to him, formissiles had no share in the work that was going forward, which was afiery struggle hand to hand. 

As I looked for him in the throng--so far as I could do this and at thesame time keep up my guard against the man whom at that moment I wasfighting with--I saw some signs of uneasy movement among the enemy inadvance of us, and several of them evidently made an effort to reachdown as though to get at something that was on the ground; which effortwas wholly futile, for they were wedged so tightly together by ourpressure upon them that reaching downward was impossible. By a luckyblow, I just then finished the man with whom I was contending, and sohad a moment's breathing spell; and at that instant I saw one of theenemy, whose back was ranged against the bars, rise up in the air asthough a strong spring had been loosed beneath him, and then fallsidewise upon the heads and shoulders of his fellows. And then, in theplace thus made vacant, the cowled head of Fray Antonio instantlyappeared--whereby I guessed, what afterwards I knew certainly, that hehad crawled along the ground through the press until he reached theplace that he aimed at, and then had risen up beneath one of the enemywith such sudden violence that he fairly had sent the man spinningupward into the air. What his purpose was I saw in a moment, for nosooner did he stand upright than he had his hands upon the metal bars, and then I heard the clinking together of stone and metal as he liftedthem bodily away. 

XXIV. 

THE AFFAIR AT THE WATER-GATE

Rayburn gave a great roar of gladness as the clinking sound made himturn and he saw what was going forward; and Young and I joined him inlusty Anglo-Saxon cheering, while our allies, in the savage fashionnatural to them, vented their joy in shrill yells. In the midst of whichcheering and yelling we pushed forward so hotly that the enemy, disconcerted by this sudden shifting of fortune in our favor, and themen directly in front of us being most seriously incommoded by theircomrade lying sprawled out and kicking upon their heads and shoulders, seemed suddenly to lose heart so completely that we had no difficultyin cutting them down. Even had they not been too closely wedged in toturn upon Fray Antonio, our strong dashing upon them would havecompelled them to leave him unharmed in order to defend themselves; andso it was that, by the time we had cut a path to the portal, the monkhad released the whole tier of bars from their fastenings, and the waywas free. 

As we sprang down the steps--with Fray Antonio, once more in the guiseof a non-combatant, safe in the midst of our company--we heard a greatoutcry from below, and saw a considerable body of men marching uptowards us steadily from the water-side; but the alarm that sight ofthem gave us was only momentary, for their shouts, and the shouts of ourmen in answer, showed us that these were friends come to our support. However we had no great need of them, for those of the enemy whom weleft alive behind us seemed suddenly to have grown sick of fighting, andmade no attempt to follow after us down the stairs. Yet the coming ofthis supporting force, to be just in the matter, no doubt was the savingof us; for more than half of the men who had been with us when westarted on our march down through the city had been slain by the way, and nearly all in our company were more or less disabled by wounds. Tizoc and Young and Rayburn had come through it all without as much as ascratch, and because of their extraordinary strength these three werealmost as fresh as when the fighting began; but the rest of us weresorely weary, and our breathing was so heavy and so tremulous that eachbreath was like a long-drawn sob. Truly, then, we were glad to fall inin advance of the supporting column and so make our way, with a strongrear-guard for our protection, across the bit of level land that laybetween us and the lake. 

At the water-side boats were in readiness for us, and here we found alsothe members of the Council who had ordered, and who were the recognizedleaders of, the revolt. There was still more fighting ahead of us, forthe necessity of sending back the relief party had prevented the seizingof the water-gate; and this was a matter that had to be attended toquickly, for we could see bodies of men coming down several of thestreets in pursuit of us, and unless we escaped outside the wall beforethey overtook us there was a strong and dismal probability that ourwhole plan would fail. Therefore, we tumbled aboard the boats with allpossible rapidity, and while the pursuing parties still were far in ourrear we shoved off from the shore. 

Two minutes' quick rowing sufficed to carry our flotilla of boats acrossthe basin, and so brought us to the long pier that extended landwardfrom beside the water-gate, and from which an open stair-way ascended tothe top of the wall. On the pier there was no one at all to oppose ourlanding; and the force on the wall was not likely to be a large one, forthe outbreak had come so suddenly that there had been no time toincrease the small detail maintained in this position in times of peace. Only a few of our men, therefore--thirty or forty, perhaps--were orderedout of the boats to the attack, of which the leader was Tizoc, and withwhich Rayburn and Young went as volunteers. I also would have joined theparty; but Rayburn, knowing that I was slightly wounded, begged me tostay where I was; and Young, as he ran up the stairs, called back to me:"You just see that they keep steam up, Professor. We'll attend t' takin'off th' brakes. "

What went on above us, on top of the wall, we could not see; but thework done there was done quickly. There was a little shouting, a soundof arms clashing, and then four or five men--as though this were theeasiest way of getting rid of them--were thrown over the parapet, andfell near us in the water. To these short shrift was given. As they cameto the surface, our fellows instantly finished them with a spear-thrustor two. Then we heard the sound of a windlass creaking, and the clankingof chains; and as we looked through the opening in the wall we saw thegrating that closed its farther end rise slowly until the way before uswas free. Two of our boats already were in the passage, so that no timemight be lost; and as these passed out into the lake, the othersfollowed after them rapidly. One boat remained to bring off theattacking party, and we wondered a little because its coming was a goodwhile delayed. But we wondered still more when it joined us at last, andwe found that Tizoc and Young and Rayburn were not in it; indeed, atthat moment I saw the three of them standing together on top of thewall. In answer to the shout that I gave, Rayburn leaned over the walland motioned to me to keep silence; and so I knew that they had not beenleft behind through treachery, but were staying there because they hadsome plan against the enemy that they thus could execute. And forknowledge of what their plan was we did not have to wait long. 

As we lay on our oars, off the outer end of the water-gate, we could seethrough it into the basin that lay before the city, and in a very fewminutes the pursuing boats of the enemy came into view. As they nearedus, we saw standing in the bow of the leading boat the same officer whohad commanded the guard that had brought us as prisoners before thePriest Captain; the man of whom I have spoken, for what his real titlewas I do not know, as the barge-master. 

He was calling to his men savagely to row faster; for our boats were soscattered that he only could see the one in which we happened to be, andhe doubtless imagined that the others had gone forward, and that thisone waited to carry off some of our men who yet remained on the wall. Heevidently hoped to be able to cut us off from the rest of our party, andhis eagerness had so communicated itself to his oarsmen that his boatled the others by nearly a hundred yards. So far as this one boat wasconcerned, we felt no alarm, for the moment that it came out through thewall our whole force was ready to dash upon it; yet we wondered whyTizoc permitted even a single boat to come out to the attack, when, bydropping the grating, they all could be penned in so effectually as togive us the advantage of a long start. 

As the boat neared the water-gate the barge-master went back from hisplace in the bow to the middle part of it, and there crouched down; andsome soldiers who were standing crouched down also; and almost as thebow entered the low, narrow passage the oars were unshipped and takenaboard. So cleverly was the unshipping of the oars managed, and so goodwas the steering, that the boat shot into the passage under full speed, and so came nearly through it before losing head-way. And we who werenearest to it got our arms in readiness--for we were convinced that inanother minute the barge-master would lay us aboard. But this was notdestined to be, nor were the men in that boat destined ever to do anymore fighting in this world. 

All this while Rayburn had stood close by the parapet, bending over itand intently watching the outside of the water-gate; above which theheavy metal grating had been hauled up, in the metal grooves that it ranin, almost to the top of the wall. At the moment that the bow of theboat showed outside the opening he raised his hand, as though signallingto Young and Tizoc behind him; and in that same instant we heard theshrieking of the windlass and the quick clanking of the unwindingchains, and saw the metal grating rushing down the face of the wall. With all the force generated by the fall from so great height of soponderous a body, the grating came crashing into the boat justamidships, fairly dividing its heavy timbers and forcing the fragmentsof it, together with all the men that it carried, down into the water'sdepths. But the barge-master died by a quicker death than drowning. Hestill was crouched in the middle of the boat, and the sharp angle of thelower bar of the grating struck him just on the nape of his neck sokeenly that his head was cut off and seemed of itself to spring forwardand away from him; while the broad flat bar, coming down upon his bowedshoulders, crushed his body into a mere quivering mass of flesh. 

A great yell of delight went up from our boats as this brilliant strokeso brilliantly was delivered; and an answering cry of triumph--that wasone-third a yell and two-thirds a cheer--came back from Tizoc and theothers on top of the wall. However, they had no time to waste inshouting over their success, for the remaining boats of the enemy hadcome by this time to the pier inside the wall, and it seemed highlyprobable that in a minute or two more our three men would be prisoners. But for all their danger they coolly finished the work that they had inhand. As they explained to me afterwards, Rayburn stood at the head ofthe stair to hold the enemy in check should they come before the workwas finished--and very strong as well as very brave men must the manhave been who would have ventured to attack him as he occupied thatposition of overpowering advantage--while the other two cast off fromthe windlass the chains by which the water-gate was operated, anddropped them over the wall into the lake; and as the gate itself wasjammed and wedged fast by the fragments of the boat, this throwing downof the chains made the raising of it a serious undertaking that wellmight require a day or more to accomplish. 

As the chains fell with a splash, and we comprehended the thoroughnessof the work that these three were doing, our people burst forth intoyells again; and a perfect roar went up from them when, the gate beingclosed and the apparatus for raising it being entirely disabled, Rayburnsprang from the outer edge of the parapet into the lake, and Tizoc andYoung instantly followed him. In truth, a more gallant feat of arms hadnot been essayed, nor carried to a more triumphant conclusion, since theRoman gate was held by Horatius; and in my admiration of it I shouteduntil the muscles of my throat were strained and aching. Our boatalready was near the wall--having pulled in that the soldiers aboard ofit might spear such of the enemy as came up to the surface alive--and wehad the three out of the water and safe among us in very short order;and then we pulled away towards the other boats with all possiblespeed--for the wall now was manned by the enemy, and they were beginningto make things unpleasantly hot for us with the heavy stones which theyheaved over the parapet, that our boat might be sunk by them, and by arapid discharge of darts. Luckily, none of the stones struck us, andbecause of the rapid way that we were making, only two of our men werestruck with the darts. So, on the whole, we came out of this encountervery well; for these two men killed in our boat were all that we lost, while of the enemy at least forty were drowned or speared. However, weowed our light escape mainly to the fact that the enemy, having armedhurriedly, and expecting only to fight with us at close quarters, hadwith them neither bows nor slings--but for which fortunate fact itscarcely is possible that a single man in our boat would have come offalive. 

[Illustration: THE LEAP FROM ABOVE THE WATER-GATE]

Dripping wet though they were, I fairly hugged Rayburn and Young whenthey were safe aboard with us, as did also Fray Antonio, whose daringspirit was mightily aroused by witnessing their splendid bravery. And ingiving them hearty words of praise for what they had done--which yetfell far short of their deserts--I naturally likened them to the Romanhero. Indeed, I may say that the parallel that I there drew was an aptone, and in some of its turns was not devoid of grace. 

"I can't say, Professor, " Young answered, when I had finished, "that Iever heard o' th' party you refer to, but if this Horace--what did yousay his last name was?--pinched his fingers in th' drawbridge chains asdamnably as I pinched mine in th' chains of that infernal grating, I'llbet a hat he was sorry that he hadn't run away!" And I truly believethat Young thought more about his pinched fingers than he did about theresolute bravery that he had shown in finishing his work upon the wallin the very face of the advancing enemy. 

Being once out of range of the darts, we pulled towards the other boatsleisurely; for now we were entirely safe against pursuit, and were freeto go upon the lake in whatsoever direction we pleased. That somepositive line of action had been determined upon was evident, for theflotilla already was in motion as we came up in the rear of it--the boatcontaining the members of the Council leading--and the order was passedback to us that we should follow with the rest. From the direction inwhich we were heading, Tizoc inferred that we were bound for the onlyother considerable town in the valley, that which had grown up aroundthe shafts leading to the great mine whence the Aztlanecas drew theirsupply of gold. There was a very grave look upon his face as he told usof our probable destination; and presently added that the population ofthis town--save the few freemen who were in charge of the workings, andthe large guard of soldiers that always was maintained there--was madeup wholly of Tlahuicos who had been selected from their fellows to beminers because of their exceptional hardiness and strength. 

It was among these men, he went on to tell us speaking in a low, guardedvoice, that the most dangerous of the revolts of the Tlahuicosinvariably had their origin; for the miners were fierce, half-savagecreatures, naturally turbulent and rebellious, and were stirredconstantly to resentful anger because of the life of crushing toil thatthey were condemned to lead. So dangerous were they that the onlyeffective means of keeping them in subjection was to hold the major partof them continually prisoners underground in the mine, with a guardstationed at the mouth of each shaft under orders to kill instantly anyman who attempted to come forth from the mine without authority. Inorder that their labor, a thing of positive value, might not be lostthrough their dying of being thus imprisoned in the bowels of the earth, they were divided into ten great companies, each one of which, inregular order, was employed in the surface work under the constantsupervision of a strong guard. Yet even these stern measures were notwholly effective in preventing mutiny. Many times great revolts hadbroken out here that had set all the valley in an uproar, and that hadbeen crashed only after pitched battles had been fought between therebels and the entire military force of the state. The town was averitable volcano, Tizoc declared; and because of the dread of it thatuniversally obtained, by reason of the frequent outbursts there oflawless violence, it had received the name of Huitzilan: the Town ofWar. 

And there could be no doubt, he added--while the tones of his voice andthe look upon his face showed how great he believed to be the riskinvolved in this line of policy--that in now directing our coursetowards the mining town the deliberate purpose of the Council was toincite these semi-savage, wholly desperate miners to join forces with usin our rising against the Priest Captain's power. 

XXV. 

THE GOLD-MINERS OF HUITZILAN. 

As we rounded a mountain spur that extended a long way out into thelake, a deep bay opened to us; which bay ran close in to the cliffswhereby the valley was surrounded, and was at no great distance from theBarred Pass, through which we had made our entry. At the foot of thebay, built partly upon the level land near the water-side, and partlyupon the steep ascent beyond, was the town of Huitzilan--whereof themost curious feature that at first was noticeable was a tall chimney, whence thick black smoke was pouring forth, that rose above a stonebuilding of great solidity and of a very considerable size. 

On archæological grounds, the sight of this chimney greatly astonishedme; and Rayburn, who was a very well-read man in all matters connectedwith his profession, was greatly astonished by it also; for the chimneyobviously was a part of extensive reduction-works, and we both knew thatsuch complete appliances for the smelting of metal, as seemed from thissign to exist here, were supposed to be the product of a high state ofcivilization in comparatively modern times. As for Young, he declaredthat the chimney gave him a regular jolt of homesickness; for, exceptingthat it was built of stone instead of brick, it might have been, for thelook of it, transplanted hither directly from the region of the BackBay. "I s'pose we'll be hearin' th' noon whistle next, " he said, mournfully; and presently he added: "Do you know, Professor, I b'lieveI'm beginnin' t' see daylight in all this tall talk you say th' Colonelhas been givin' us about th' 'rebellions, ' as he calls 'em, that go onhere. He don't mean t' close our eyes up, th' Colonel don't, for he's afirst-class gentleman; but, bein' born an' bred a heathen, he don't knowany better. What he's tryin' t' tell us about, an' can't, because hedon't know th' English for it, is _strikes_. That's what's th' matter. Miners are bound t' go on strikes. It's their nature, an' they can'thelp it. That chimbly gives th' whole thing away. You just tell th'Colonel that we've got down t' th' hard-pan an' really know what he'sbeen drivin' at. An' t' think of there bein' strikes in Mexico! I didn'tb'lieve that a Greaser had backbone enough, or ambition enough, t'strike at anything!"

However, as I had no great amount of faith in Young's theory, I did notattempt to translate to Tizoc what he had said to me; nor was there anyopportunity for further talk at that time. Already the foremost boats ofthe flotilla had made a landing at a well-built pier that extended fromthe shore into deep water; and a minute or two later our boat alsopulled in to the pier, and we disembarked. The general view of the townthat I then had showed me that it was closely built over an area rathermore than half a mile square; that the houses for the most part weremere hovels, of which the largest could not contain more than two smallrooms; and that the few houses of a better sort were within the strongstone wall by which the reduction-works also were enclosed. At the pierwhere we landed a boat was in process of lading with bars of gold fortransport to the Treasure-house in the city; and I thought that I neverhad seen anywhere more savage-looking fellows than the almost nakedlaborers by whom the work of lading was carried on. Physically these menwere magnificent creatures--tall and well-shaped and vigorous, and theease with which they handled the great bars of gold showed how enormousmust be their strength. But so full of venomous hate were the sullenlooks which they cast upon us, and so savage was the effect of theircoarse, dishevelled hair falling down over and partly veiling theirgreat glittering eyes, whence these angry glances were shot forth at uslike poisoned darts, that I was thankful to see that, all told, therewere not more than a dozen of them, and that three times as many heavilyarmed soldiers served as their guard. And looking at these creatures, who were truly less like men than dangerous wild beasts, I could notwonder at the grave concern which Tizoc had manifested at thought of therisk which we ran in taking them for allies. "It's as easy t' start'em, " Young said, when he came to an understanding of the situation, "as'tis t' start a freight-train down a three per cent. Grade. But what Iwant to know is, when we want 'em t' stop, how in th' h--ll are we evergoin' t' set th' brakes?"

[Illustration: THE TLAHUICOS AND THEIR GUARDS]

Yet, dangerous to ourselves though the use of it must be, our hopes ofsuccess rested mainly upon our ability to control and to employeffectively this savage material. Fortunately, it was not the whole ofour reliance; and it was our intention to leaven this dangerous lumpwith the very considerable number of trained and trustworthy soldiersthat we had available as the substantial nucleus of our fighting force, and also with the larger body of both slaves and freemen--not regularlydrilled soldiers, to be sure, yet many of them trained in the ways ofwar--that we counted upon to join us from among the people at large. 

This outline of the plan of action that the Council had determined uponwas exhibited to us by Tizoc during our passage down the lake; and I wasglad to find that Rayburn--for whose judgment I had much respect insuch matters--was disposed to think well of it. 

"If I expected to stay here, Professor, after the row was over, " hesaid, "I mightn't be quite as well satisfied with this plan of theirsfor running things. The war part of the programme is all right. Theywon't have any difficulty in getting their Tlahuicos to fight anythingin the way of an army that the Priest Captain shows up with. Fighting isjust what will please them more than anything else. Where the trouble isgoing to come in is when the fighting is over and they go in forreconstruction. It's one thing to make fighters out of this sort ofstuff, but it's quite another thing to make respectable citizens out ofit. That's where the hitch will be. But as we don't intend to settledown in this valley--unless we find that there's no way out of it--weneedn't bother about that part of the performance at all. That's theirfuneral, not ours. So, for my part, the sooner they get their army inshape, and get the fighting part settled, the better I'll be satisfied. "

To do the members of the Council justice, they seemed to be even moreeager than Rayburn was to forward the work that they had in hand. Fromthe pier they went directly to the enclosure in the centre of the town, within which was the building ordinarily occupied by the commandant ofthe post and by the officials of the civil government; and in thisplace, Tizoc informed us, they intended immediately to organize the newgovernment, and then to proceed with all possible despatch to makearrangements for placing an army in the field. 

In Tizoc's company, but more leisurely, we also went on to theCitadel--as we found the enclosure about the smelting-works wascalled--where comfortable quarters had been provided for us in the samebuilding wherein the Council was housed. Here we waited, in somewhatstrained idleness, while the Council carried on, in a chamber not farremoved from us, its exciting work of destroying a government that hadendured for more than a thousand years; and we were mightily surprised, knowing how prodigious was the change that then was being wrought inancient institutions, by observing how quietly it all went on. Themurmur of talk that came to us, unchecked by any intervening doors, hadno sound of excitement or of anger or of violent emotion of any sort;and I could not but hold in admiration the calm, self-contained naturesof these men who thus equably and rationally could deal with such vastlyweighty affairs. 

While this great matter--which could end only in wild commotion andfierce battling--went forward in this quiet way, Tizoc opened to usmuch that was of curious interest touching the near-by gold-mine andthey who mined the gold. Of the existence of the mine, he said, theAztlanecas had remained ignorant for many generations after their cominginto the valley; and for many more generations but little gold had beentaken from it, because the metal was of no value to his people save forthe making of ornaments. But when the process had been discovered bywhich this metal could be hardened, and so made serviceable for allmanner of useful purposes--and this the more because, by themanufacture that then ensued of tools wherewith the rock could be easilyworked, mining in a large way became possible--the development of themine upon a great scale had been begun, and had been continued upon aconstantly increasing scale from that time onward. All the earth beneathwhere we then were, he said, was honey-combed with passages whichfollowed the several veins; and of these there seemed to be no end atall, for ever as each vein was exhausted another not less rich wasfound--and thus is seemed as though all the substructure of that greatmountain range were one huge mass of gold. 

What the measures of weight were with which he estimated the annualoutput of the mine, I could not clearly understand, but the matter wasmade approximately plain to us by his statement that the daily productof the mine never was less than one of the great bars of gold that wehad seen upon the pier in process of carriage to the Treasure-house; andthat sometimes, when veins of extraordinary richness were encountered, even so much as four of these bars had been smelted from the ore thatthe mine yielded in a single day. 

"Those bars don't weigh an ounce less than two hundred pounds apiece, "Rayburn said, when I had translated to him what Tizoc had told me. "Thatmakes the output of the mine not less than three tons a month, and, in arough way, a ton of gold is worth just about half a million of dollars. If the Colonel isn't mixed in his figures, and if you've translated himstraight, Professor, these fellows are taking out somewheres in theneighborhood of twenty millions a year. "

Young gave a long whistle. "Great Scott!" he exclaimed, "that just is anall-fired big pile of money t' be wasted on a lot of barelegged heathencritters like these, who don't know th' Ten Commandments by sight, an'who've never even heard of a cocktail! D' you know what I'm goin' t' do, Rayburn, when I realize on this investment? I'm goin' t' buy th' OldColony Railroad, just for th' sake of bein' able t' bounce th'Superintendent. He bounced me after that freight smash-up--and it wasn'tmy fault that th' operator got mixed an' gave me th' wrong orders--andI'll give him a taste o' th' same kind. Won't it just paralyze him whenhe gets his orders t' quit, signed 'Seth Young, President, ' an' findsout it's th' same old Seth Young who used t' run Thirty-two on th' FallRiver division?"

"Hadn't you better let him down easy by telegraphing him right now tobegin to look out for a new place?" Rayburn asked. "We'll wait for youhere, while you step over to the Western Union office"--which coolcomment upon Young's enthusiastic discounting of a bright future broughtthe gloomy present so clearly before his mind that his castle-buildingended suddenly, and he lapsed into silence. 

But great though our wonder was at the prodigious quantity of preciousmetal that this mine yielded in each year, and amazed though we were bythought of the vast store of treasure that the valley now must hold, I, for my part, felt a far deeper interest in what Tizoc went on to tellus concerning the men by whose toil the treasure had been accumulated. And, truly, so bitter and so dreary was the life of the Tlahuicos whowere forced to labor here unceasingly, and through so long a period hadthey been thus cruelly dealt with, that it seemed to me there must restupon all the Valley of Aztlan a heavy curse that only some signal act ofexpiation could remove. And the coincidence struck me as most curiousthat here among the Aztecs, wrought by themselves upon the men of theirown race, should be found identically the same cruelties which theSpaniards practised upon the Indians whom they enslaved as miners in NewMexico: whereof came that fierce outburst of revolt two hundred yearsago, when the Pueblos ravaged with sword and flame the whole valley ofthe Rio Grande from Taos to the Pass of the North. 

There was small ground for wonder that the Tlahuicos, thus crushed byover-heavy labor, and dealt with as though they were not men, but fierceand dangerous brutes, should cherish at all times in their breasts asullen fire of mutiny; nor that on every occasion at all favorable totheir purposes there should spring forth from the glowing embers oftheir hatred a vivid and consuming flame. Only by the strength and thevigilance of the guard that constantly was maintained over them wastheir tendency to rebellion held in check; and even the guards could notprevent frequent outbreaks--which ended only in the cruel slaughter ofall concerned in them--so passionately eager was the longing of thesedesperate creatures for revenge. 

Only once, a vastly long while past, Tizoc said, had success attended aneffort on the part of the Tlahuicos to release themselves from theircruel slavery, and that they then eluded the vigilance of their masterswas due to their employment of strategy against force. The whole matter, he continued, was now but a half-remembered tradition, yet the maindetails of it were clear. In that far-back time a vein of extraordinaryrichness had been followed for a very long distance in the direction ofthe Barred Pass; and, as the event proved, the gallery was carriedbeyond the bars, passing far beneath them, and so went onward, steadilyrising, until an outlet was had into the cañon. That the secret of thisoutlet might be kept among the men who had opened it, these slew theguard that watched over them and thrust his body out into the cañon, thus most effectually placing it beyond the reach of the search thatwould be made for it; and the opening that they had made they closedcarefully, and continued a little way onward into the rock the galleryin which they were working: so that the superintendent of the mine mightsee clearly (what, indeed, was the truth) that the vein of ore had beenfollowed to its end. 

Tizoc knew not how long a time passed before the Tlahuicos made use ofthe way of escape thus opened to them; but their flight could not havebeen taken hastily, because it included a very great number of them, andincluded also carrying with them large quantities of arms for warfare, and of useful household stores. He could say certainly no more thanthat when all their well-laid plan was ready to be executed, they roseagainst the soldiers which guarded them with such suddenness and braveviolence that they succeeded in seizing and in holding the Citadel;which gave no chance for grave uneasiness, for the officers of the forcethus for a moment driven off thought that because of their retiringwithin so narrow a place they speedily must surrender for dread of beingstarved there; and it was held to be but a sign of their still greatersimplicity--since thus would there be more hungry mouths to fill--thatthey carried their women and children with them into the strongholdwhere they lay besieged. 

But so strange was the desolate silence that hung over the place intowhich so great a multitude had retired, that the besiegers presentlywere moved by it to a wonder wherein was a strong feeling of awe; andstill greater was the marvel that they had to ponder upon when, at last, meeting with no opposition, they broke in the grating that barred theentrance to the Citadel, and found within the enclosure not one singleliving soul! And so cleverly had the fugitives closed the way behindthem that a long while passed before it was known certainly what hadbecome of this living host that, as it seemed, in a moment had vanishedfrom off the face of the earth. More than half a lifetime went bywithout the shedding of light upon this mystery; and it seemed as thougha ghost had risen when one day a very aged man came forth from thatlong-abandoned passage in the mine and surrendered himself to the firstof the guards whom he encountered--and then told that he was a priestwhom the fleeing rebels had carried captive with them, and whom they hadheld a prisoner through all these many years. And he told also how therebels had made their home in a certain fair valley that was shut in andhidden among the mountains; and how that they had built a greatcity--resting fearless in the conviction that they were safe from harm. By the heavy toil that had been needful to open anew the way into themine from the cañon, the little remnant of strength in this old man'sbody had been exhausted; and presently, having told his story, he died. 

Then it was that the Priest Captain and the Council who ruled in thatancient time, having assured themselves by the sending out of spies thatall which the old man had told them was true, planned to bring upon therebels a very terrible vengeance; which was to drown them all in theircity by letting loose upon them the waters of a mighty lake. And thisplan, though its accomplishment was not arrived at until two full cycleshad passed away, so mighty was the labor that it involved, at last wasexecuted: and in one single day every living creature in all that valleywas overwhelmed by the flood let loose into it; and where so great amass of teeming life had been there remained thereafter only thedesolate silence and stillness of universal death. 

It was with long-drawn breaths that Fray Antonio and I listened toTizoc's telling of this tradition, which in many ways was far more realto us than it possibly could be to him; for we but lately had passedthrough that death-stricken valley--and ourselves had been like to diethere--and every feature of the scene, that he could but vaguelydescribe to us, we had clearly in our minds. And thus we came to knowthe full meaning of the great catastrophe whereof we had seen theoutworking, both in the destruction wrought by it and the way of itsaccomplishment, but of which we had divined no more concerning its causethan that in some way it must have resulted from a slowly worked-outvengeance prompted by a most malignant hate. 

XXVI. 

THE GATHERING FOR WAR. 

Although the whole of the discussion of their plan of revolt was carriedon by the Council with so calm a gravity, there was enough of energy andof quick movement when their deliberations came to an end; and weaugured well of the result because they thus had delayed their actionuntil their plan for making it effective had been fully matured. Thewhole of that first day in Huitzilan, and much of the following nightalso, was given to arranging clearly what must be done in order to setup a temporary government and to get an army together; and how well thispreliminary work was accomplished was shown by the precision andcelerity with which the plans then made were executed during theimmediately ensuing days. 

During this period we had ample time to look around us; and, being nowupon a most friendly footing with the strange people among whom we thusstrangely found ourselves, we were heartily aided--so far as this waspossible because of the exigencies of that stirring time--ininvestigating the manner of their lives. The material then was obtainedfor my chapter on the "House Life and Domestic Customs of the Aztecs";and the knowledge which Rayburn gathered (also embodied in his ownpaper, that attracted so much attention when read before the AmericanInstitute of Mining Engineers) he has permitted me to use in my chapteron "Mining and Metal-working among the Aztecs"; which two chapters areamong the most note worthy _Pre-Columbian Conditions on the Continent ofNorth America_. Rayburn, indeed, was lost in wonder as he came tounderstand how far scientific investigation had been carried among thisisolated people, and how well they had learned to apply their scientificknowledge to their practical affairs. In many matters, to be sure, theyfell far behind the remainder of the civilized world; but a large partof the useful knowledge that has been gained by study under civilizedconditions elsewhere we found here also as the fruit of independentdiscovery. In many cases the discovery was identical in every respectwith our own. Thus, their process (the adding of hydrochloric acid to aneutral solution of auric-chloride) for producing from gold a richpurple stain, that was employed in the coloring of hard-wood and bone, was precisely that which Boyle mentioned in 1663; and, as nearly as Icould determine the date, it was about that very time that they, also, first effected this combination. In the matter of hardening gold, andthereafter giving it all the qualities of tempered steel, they had madea step that was distinctly in advance of anything which ourmetallurgists had accomplished; and I am strongly inclined to the beliefthat--at least among the priests--knowledge had been gained of a processquite unlike that known to us for producing a gold fulminate. I was notso fortunate as to gain more knowledge of this matter than could belearned from hearsay, but from several sources I heard of the splittingasunder of a certain great rock by the Priest Captain--which wonder wasaccompanied by a thunderous noise and a gleam of flame and a burstingforth of smoke--whereby he was considered to have proved that the aid ofthe gods was at his command. But to my mind, and also to Rayburn's, theproof was, rather, that he had at his command--in some way that as yetour chemists have not fathomed--the aid of a gold fulminate that couldbe controlled in use as readily as we control gunpowder. That thisagent, whatever it might be, was not easily available, was indicated bythe fact that the Priest Captain never had given more than this singleexhibition of the wonders which he could accomplish with it; and that itthen had served his purpose well was shown by the obvious awe with whichall who told me of it spoke of the dreadful havoc that thus visibly waswrought by what they termed the thunder of the gods. 

Indeed, a very serious difficulty that the leaders of the revolution hadto overcome was the unwillingness on the part of the people at large todefy the power of their spiritual chief; which feeling among the upperclasses was mainly because disobedience to the Priest Captain was, ineffect, heresy; while among the lower classes there was joined to a likehorror of heresy a very lively dread of the punishment, both temporaland spiritual, that the Priest Captain could bring upon them because ofhis intimate relations with the supernatural beings by which the forcesof the world were controlled. 

Yet out of this condition of affairs arose an opportunity that FrayAntonio was not slow to make the most of. Our coming into the valleywith news of the outside world that directly controverted the PriestCaptain's claim to infallibility gave a great shock to the religiousfaith of the community, and so induced a willingness to listen to thepreaching of a new and purer creed. And on the part of those of theCouncil who were organizing the revolution--among whom religion seemedto be regarded less as a vital fact than as a matter of politicalexpediency--there was a strong disposition to encourage the spread ofdoctrines which obviously, by weakening the Priest Captain's hold uponthe people, would increase their own strength. Therefore, Fray Antoniofound himself free to preach to this heathen multitude the gloriousChristian faith; and that he was granted this most rare and signalopportunity, the like of which was not given even to the blessed SaintFrancis himself, so filled and exalted his soul with a radiantly joyfulthankfulness that he was as one transformed. And his holy enthusiasm, that thus made every fibre of his being vibrate with a gratefulgladness, gave him also so eloquent a command of beseeching languagethat it was a living wonder to perceive how his inspired wordspenetrated into the minds, darkened by superstitious doctrines, of thoseto whom he spoke, and so sunk into their hearts and brought the restfulhappiness of the faith Christian to those who had known only therestless terror of idolatry throughout all their lives. Like a pureflame, the doctrine that he preached ran through that host of theheathen, burning out from among them the impure creed whereby theirsouls had been held in a most cruel and desolate bondage, and giving inthe place thereof the tender comfort of a saving Christian grace. 

Yet the very fervor of Fray Antonio's preaching, and the strong holdthat the gentle doctrine which he set forth took upon the hearts of themultitude, tended also to stir up against him a lively enmity amongthose who, refusing to hearken to him, remained steadfast in the ancientfaith. Many such there were among us at that time in Huitzilan; butbecause of the firm grasp that Fray Antonio had upon so many hearts, andalso because of the countenance which the Council gave him, these didnot venture to assail either him or his doctrine openly; yet, as I notedat times the evil glances which they shot forth at him--which surelywould have killed him could he thus have been slain--I was filled withdread that hate so malignant as here was shown must surely findexpression in a direct attempt upon his life. Fortunately, there nolonger were any priests among us. Of these there had been aconsiderable number in Huitzilan upon our first coming there, butsilently, one by one, they had disappeared--going, as we well knew, tojoin themselves to the force which the Priest Captain was gatheringagainst the time when the issue between us would be settled by thearbitration of arms. And those who went from our camp to his must havecarried with them news of the peril that menaced the ancient faiththrough the new faith that Fray Antonio preached so zealously in suchburning words; for of his knowledge of what Fray Antonio was doing, andof his dread of what might therefrom result, we presently had proof in away that filled our hearts with a very dismal fear. 

All the while that this curious, and to me most interesting, conflictbetween a primitive and a highly developed religion went on, the morepractical work went on also of establishing a new government and oforganizing an army whereby it might be maintained. So far as the settingup of a government was concerned, the matter was comparatively easy; forthe majority of the Council had come out with us from Culhuacan, andthese had but to adapt to the requirements of the new situation thegovernmental machinery that already was established and at theircommand. And they were surprised pleasurably by finding how readily thistransformation was effected; for among the higher classes--from whichclasses the officials of the government exclusively were drawn--thefeeling of hatred against the Priest Captain, begotten of his many actsof cruelty and oppression, was so strong that the opportunity nowoffered to turn against him was seized upon most gladly. In every townthroughout the valley the emissaries of the Council were warmlywelcomed; and presently the new government was established everywheresave in the capital city and in certain villages upon the lake borderlying close beneath its walls. 

The work of organizing an army, however, was a more difficult matter;for very serious obstacles, both moral and material, had to be overcomebefore we of the revolutionary faction could place an effective fightingforce in the field. Of what I may term regular troops, that is to say, thoroughly drilled and disciplined soldiers, we could count upon butfew; for, practically, the whole body of the army had remained faithfulto the Priest Captain and was with him in Culhuacan. For the most part, also, the regular troops scattered through the garrisons of the varioustowns had betaken themselves immediately to Culhuacan upon theacknowledgment by the civil officers of these towns of the authority ofthe new government; and at the same time had departed with them nearlyall the priests, and such few persons of the upper classes as desiredthe maintenance of the ancient order of things. The result of whichgeneral movement at least gave us the advantage of carrying onunmolested our own work of concentrating and organizing; and, so far, was a positive service to us. 

As the nucleus of our army we had the corps that Tizoc commanded, thehighly organized body of troops charged with the important duty ofguarding the Barred Pass; and we had also the few hundreds of men whohad come out with us from Culhuacan. From these sources we were able todraw officers to command the irregular force, largely made up ofTlahuicos, that the Council rapidly got together; while for theorganizing of the main body of our troops, the savages who worked in themine, the bold stroke was made of mingling them with the men who, untilthen, had been their most relentless enemies--the soldiers who hadserved as their guards. That it was possible to put in operation thisdaring plan was due, I think, in great part to the fact that both guardsand miners were led to accept the extraordinary fellowship that itcreated by a genuine shock of surprise; and before they had at allrecovered from their astonishment their interests became identical, through their common need of defending themselves against a commonenemy. And, further, I am well convinced that the Tlahuicos had been inpart prepared, before our coming into the valley, to join in the revoltthat under any circumstances could not have been much longer delayed. Inregard to this matter, Tizoc persistently evaded my questions; but Iremembered very distinctly his curious hesitancy when he had told me ofthe effective part that the servile class could be made to take in theevent of a rebellion; and I perceived many evidences of a secretunderstanding between him and certain of the miners during the time thatthe gathering for war was going on in Huitzilan. Therefore, I inferredthat the seeds of revolt which germinated so readily had been long sincesown. 

Of all the disabilities under which we then labored, the most seriouswas the lack of an adequate supply of arms. The great arsenal of theAztlanecas was in Culhuacan; and thus nearly the whole of the supply ofmunitions of war in the valley was in the Priest Captain's hands. Fortunately, the shipment of hardened gold that we had intercepted--bylanding at the pier whence in a few hours it would have been despatchedto the Treasure-house--gave us a good supply of raw material out ofwhich spear-heads, and the heads of darts, and swords could be made; andnight and day the forges blazed in Huitzilan while the manufacture ofthese weapons went on. Of bows and arrows it was not possible to makemany in that short time, but of slings there was no difficulty in makingenough to supply our entire force--and among these people, who arewonderfully skilful in the use of it, the sling is a most deadlyimplement of war. We lacked time, also, to make any large number ofshields, and our deficiency in this respect was regarded by Tizoc, andby all the military officers who were with us, as a most serious matter;for not only would our men without shields be the more easily slain inbattle, but their fighting value would be lessened by theirconsciousness that they were without this piece of furniture that allsavage races hold to be so necessary in war. 

However, of defensive armor we had a good supply, for it chanced that inthe Citadel there was a great store of cotton cloth, suitable for makinglong kirtles of many thicknesses of cloth quilted together; whichkirtles were arrow proof, and well protected a man from his neckdownward almost to his knees. Young was disposed to think but lightly ofthis curious armor, but when Tizoc, to convince him of its utility, demonstrated its power to resist a well-pointed arrow shot at very shortrange he was forced to confess its entire applicability to the purposefor which it was designed. 

"Tell th' Colonel that I give in, an' think it a first-rate notion, Professor, " he said. "But if you can get it into his head, an' I'mafraid you can't, just tell him that when this barelegged army of oursgets fitted out with those little night-shirts they'll look for all th'world like a lot o' fellows who've scrambled out of a hotel that'scaught fire in th' middle o' th' night. All that'll be wanted t' maketh' thing perfect 'll be a couple o' steam fire-engines, an' a crowdwith all their clothes on, an' a line of policemen. I guess it's goin't' be one o' th' funniest lookin' armies that was ever seen outside of alunatic asylum. What I'd like to do, Professor, instead o' tryin' t' doany fightin' with it, is just t' take th' whole outfit back t' th'States an' make a show of it. I'd get Benito Nichols t' go in withme--he's a first-class man, Benito is, an' he's a boss hand as a showmanager--an' we'd call it 'Th' Aztec Warrior Army an' CircusCombination, ' an' we'd just rake in th' dollars quicker'n we could count'em. That makes me think o' that show we were talkin' about makin' withPablo an' his burro. " Young's voice changed as he spoke, and there was ahuskiness in it as he added: "I s'pose by this time there ain't muchleft for show-makin' purposes of either of 'em. No, I guess I'll stayaround an' take a hand in any fightin' that's goin' on; for I'd prettynear be willin' t' be killed right away after it myself for th' chancet' square things with that old devil for killin' our boy. He was a goodboy, Professor, an'--How this devilish dust does get into my eyes an'make 'em water. " With which highly irrelevant remark--for there was nodust blowing just then--Young suddenly ceased speaking and walked away. 

This was the only time that we spoke of Pablo while we lay at Huitzilan, for talk about the boy only increased the bitter sorrow for him that wasin all our hearts. As for my own heart, it was wellnigh broken as Ithought that but for me his gentle life would still be flowing onsmoothly--as I had found it flowing when, in an evil hour, I joined hisfortunes with mine, and so had brought him to so untimely and to socruel a death. And I, too, longed for the fighting to begin that I mightavenge him; for the accomplishment of which vengeance I was not merelyin part, but altogether ready to yield up my own life. 

Indeed, excepting only Fray Antonio, who saw in warfare only thewickedness and the cruelty of it, we all were most eager for ourinaction to end, and for the battling to begin that would give usopportunity to let the life out of some of those by whom Pablo had beenslain. It was with delight, therefore, that we noted the rapidity withwhich the preparations for the impending campaign were carried forward, and saw how each day the disorderly host that had been gathered atHuitzilan was changing from a confused mass of good fighting materialinto a body fairly well adapted to the needs of war. It was, in truth, astonishing to us--for we could not well comprehend how essentiallywarlike were the instincts of this people, and how quick, therefore, they must be in military matters--to observe the promptness that wasshown in getting our army in readiness for the field. And with ourastonishment came also a comforting conviction that the force that couldbe so quickly, and, as it seemed, so effectively organized, must surelyhold well together, and fight well together, when the hour for fightingcame. 

XXVII. 

AN OFFER OF TERMS. 

During the time that our various preparations thus went forward we hadno direct news from the stronghold of the enemy; yet many vague rumorsreached us of the army that was being set in order there to take thefield against us. On the other hand, the constant departure from amongus of those who were loyal to the ancient government kept the PriestCaptain well informed of all that was in progress in our camp. No effortwas made by the Council to prevent these departures, for all of ourplans were working so well, and our forces were increasing soprodigiously, that it was to our advantage that the enemy should havenews of our rapidly augmenting strength; and especially was it hopedthat the news thus carried to the city might incline many there whowavered in their allegiance to take open part with us--or, at the least, to refuse to take part against us--and that in this way there might bestirred up a very dangerous spirit of mutiny within the enemy's lines. 

The plan of campaign that the Council had adopted struck me as being anexceedingly prudent one. This was that we should not attempt an attackupon the city--for, indeed, to assail such fortifications withoutartillery would have been utterly hopeless--but should wait until theenemy came out to assail us, and then meet him on our own chosen ground. In every way this plan was in our favor. It most obviously was to ouradvantage to delay as long as possible the battle that was inevitable, and that, when it did come, must decide the fate of the rebellionfinally. Every day that this was deferred was a substantial gain to us, in that the organization of our army was thereby rendered the morecomplete, and also in that the effective hold of the new government uponthe people throughout the valley was thereby strengthened. On the sideof the enemy, delay would produce no corresponding gain, rather would ittend to weaken the hold of the Priest Captain upon those who remainedfaithful to him; and, being shut up with his whole army and a multitudeof non-combatants within those great stone walls, a very terrible foe, against which stone walls are no defence, presently would attack him inthe shape of hunger. Therefore we had only to wait--maintaining thewhile a vigilant patrol of guard-boats on the lake, so that no freshsupplies might reach the garrison in the city--in the sure convictionthat our foe would of his own accord come forth to give us battle, andthat we then would have the advantage of standing wholly on thedefensive until some happy turn of chance should so favor us that wewould risk nothing in making an assault. 

It was a very fortunate thing for us that matters stood in this way; forwellnigh the whole of the trained army of the Aztlanecas was with thePriest Captain, and against this well-disciplined body of men our ownhastily assembled and imperfectly organized army would have made but apoor showing had we met on equal terms. Even under the existingcircumstances, so favorable in many ways to our success, Tizoc and theother military officers who were with us did not at all disguise theiranxiety as to what might be the outcome of the battle so soon to befought; and especially did they dread some well-planned stealthymovement of the enemy, by which our camp might be suddenly set upon andfairly carried before our own untrained forces could be rallied from thebewilderment and confusion into which they would be thrown by the shockof such surprise. 

Rayburn, who had seen a good deal of Indian fighting in his time, fullyshared in this feeling of anxiety. "Indian fights, you see, " he said, "are not like any other kind of fights. The side that wins has got to doit with a whoop and a hurrah. Indians haven't got any staying power inthem. They can't hold out against anybody who stands up against themsquarely, and won't be scared by a howling rush into running away. That's the reason why our little bit of an army at home is strong enoughto police our whole Indian frontier. A single troop of our boys--if thefighting's square, and they haven't been corralled in an ambush--canstand off a whole tribe; and they can do it because they just get theirbacks together and won't give in. What bothers me about the fight thatwe're going to have is that the regulars are on the other side. Ofcourse, being Indians too, regulars like these don't amount to much; butthey are bound to be a long chalk better than this rowdy crowd of ours. We've got a pretty fair chance to win, because we're in a strongposition, and because our people mean to wait until the other fellowscome at 'em; but I tell you what it is, if ever they manage to getinside here, or if ever we go outside after them--that is, while they'refresh and full of fight--it's bound to be all day with us. These miners, and the rest of this Tlahuico outfit, will fight like wild-cats as longas they're on top, but every bit of fight will go right out of them theminute they find that they're beginning to get underneath. That's theIndian way. I'm trying hard to believe that our crowd will whip theother crowd; but I must say, Professor, that I'm not betting on it. "

"Well, I'm bettin' on it, and bettin' on it high, " said Young. "I don'tpretend t' know as much about this sort o' thing as Rayburn does; but Ido think I know a live devil when I see one--an' these miners are aboutas lively an' about as devilly as anything that ever broke loose fromhell. They're just as full o' th' wickedest sort o' fight as they canstick in their ugly skins, an' they're just sick for a chance t' let itget out of 'em. All we've got t' do is t' worry th' other crowd for awhile by lettin' 'em monkey around tryin' t' bag us; an' then, whenthey've been pretty well shot off, an' are gettin' tired, just make arush for 'em an' scoop 'em in. Regulars or no regulars, these miners 'llgo through 'em like a limited express; an' the' first thing th' PriestCaptain knows we'll have walloped him right smack out o' th' baggythings he wears on his feet an' thinks are boots. That's th' size of it, Rayburn. That's what's goin' t' happen right here--an' don't you forgetit! An' then, if there's any way out o' this d--n valley, we'll load upwith dollars an' pull out for home. "

For my own part, I was not disposed to be either so doubtful as Rayburnor so sanguine as Young. In what each of them said there was much truth, and my inference from such of the facts in the case as were within myknowledge and my comprehension was that the chances for and against oursuccess were very evenly divided. Had I listened only to the promptingsof my hopes, I should have entertained no doubt whatever touching thecertainty of our victory; for I was at that time so elated by theknowledge that I had acquired, and that each day was increased by theacquisition of new and most precious facts, whereby a flood of light waslet in upon what hitherto had been hopelessly dark places in Aztecarchæology, that I was disposed to believe as firmly as ever did thefirst Napoleon in the assured ascendency of my lucky star. However, Idid not wholly permit my wits to be run away with by the joy begotten ofmy truly wonderful discoveries; and I strove even to contemplate calmlythe possibility that I might myself be slain in the battle that was soclose upon us; and that thus the exceedingly valuable information whichI had acquired would be lost to the world, and to myself would be lostthe honorable fame due me for having gathered it. Yet I regret tostate--for until that time I had entertained unreservedly the beliefthat I truly was a philosopher--my attempt at calm contemplation of thisdismal and far from improbable combination of evil circumstances had noother effect upon me than to throw me into a most violent rage. Itseemed to me so stupidly unreasonable that some mere common brute of anIndian, by the crude process of splitting my skull open, might depriveme, and through me the scientific world, of the priceless knowledge thatwith much effort I had stored within my brain. 

But all thought of my own fortunes, and of this possible sudden cuttingof my life-strings, presently was thrust aside by the inroad of anothermatter that was of far more serious moment to me, inasmuch as there wasinvolved in it a menace against the life of one of my companions; and, indeed, this matter was one which startled our whole camp, for it wasnothing less than a formal offer on the part of the Priest Captain tocondone the rebellion, and to compromise with the rebels, on certain farfrom exacting terms. 

The envoy sent to treat with us came in a manner befitting his dignityand the importance of his mission, having a considerable retinue withhim in his barge, and being himself a grave and dignified man welladvanced in years. Two of our guard-boats accompanied his barge acrossthe lake, and he alone was permitted to land in Huitzilan. Being ledbefore the Council, he delivered himself briefly of his message, andadded to it neither argument nor comment of his own. The Priest Captain, he said, desiring to avoid the shedding of blood among brethren, waswilling to forgive the wrong already committed, and was willing even toconcede in part the demands made by the rebels, in consideration of theacceptance by those now in arms against him of certain very easy terms. For his part, he would yield in so far as to restore the custom ofpermitting parents to buy back their own children, and so to save themfrom being sacrificed or from becoming slaves; and he would withdrawalso his claim to the exercise of certain rights (which need not here bespecified) in civil matters, to which a counter-claim was set up by theCouncil. In return for these concessions, he demanded that the armyraised by the rebels should be immediately disbanded; that order shouldbe restored in Huitzilan by returning the miners to their work, and theTlahuicos generally to their masters throughout the valley; and that thearms which had been manufactured should be turned over to the keeper ofthe arsenal in Culhuacan. The final demand made by the Priest Captainrelated to ourselves; and the Council was given to understand that uponits punctual and exact fulfilment the whole of the negotiation mustdepend. Young and Rayburn and I, the envoy said, must be thrust outthrough the Barred Pass, whence we came, and there left to shift forourselves; Fray Antonio must be without delay surrendered--that thedreadful sin that he had committed by preaching vile doctrines, subversive of the true faith, might be punished in so signal a mannerthat the gods whom he had outraged would be appeased. 

Both Fray Antonio and I were present in the Council chamber when theenvoy delivered his message; and when this final demand wasmade--hearing which made me grow sick and faint, so keen was the pang ofsorrow that it caused me--I turned towards him quickly, expecting thathe also would feel the hurt of the blow which through him, because of mygreat love for him, had stricken me so grievously. But so far from beingat all cast down by the knowledge thus rudely conveyed that a very crueldeath menaced him, there was upon his face a look of such joyfulelation, of such rejoicing triumph, that it seemed as though the verygreatest happiness that life could hold for him had been thrust suddenlywithin his grasp. 

Within the Council, and outside of it also, when the terms which theenvoy offered were spread abroad, there was at once aroused a very hotantagonism between contending factions in regard to the wisdom ofplacing trust in the Priest Captain's promises, and to the justice ofyielding to his demands. So far as the Council was concerned, itsmembers having no especial regard for our welfare now that we had servedtheir purpose, the slaying of Fray Antonio, and the expulsion from thevalley of the rest of us, were trifling matters which well enough mightbe conceded if thereby peace might be secured. The matter of importancethat this body had to consider was how far the Priest Captain could betrusted to fulfil promises made to rebels in arms, when these samerebels voluntarily had submitted to disarmament and were at his mercy;and on this essential point the whole debate that followed turned. Thefaction that favored disarmament insisted that such yielding was notsurrender, inasmuch as the Priest Captain had conceded all that therebels had asked; while those of the faction that favored war restedtheir case on the ground that the promises of concession were made onlyto be broken, and that this sudden willingness on the part of the PriestCaptain to grant what he had heretofore so persistently refused wasproof that he recognized the hopelessness of his position, and so wasseeking to retain by craft the power that he no longer could hold byforce. These latter, therefore, urged that his false promises should notbe heeded; and that the matter at issue should be settled surely andfinally by carrying to a triumphant conclusion the war, for the wagingof which all needful preparations had been made. 

The debate upon this matter continued throughout the whole day withoutany conclusion being arrived at, and we listened to it--Fray Antonio andI translating to the others--with a very earnest interest, inasmuch asthe outcome of it all might be the instant slaying of one of us, and forthe rest of us an imprisonment in wild fastnesses among bleak mountainsfor what was like to be the whole remainder of our lives. When nightcame, and the Council, being still unresolved, broke off its sessionuntil the day following, we came back to our quarters and there talkedover the situation, and not cheerfully, among ourselves. 

"Even if these fellows understood algebra, " said Rayburn, "I don't seehow they could get an answer to the problem that they're trying to work. All the _x_'s that ever were made are not enough to represent an unknownquantity like the Priest Captain; and it simply is not in the conditionsof the case that they possibly can know what allowance to make for thefactor of error. For the last three hours, as far as I can make out, they've just been talking in a circle, and going over and over the sameground. The size of the business is that half of them believe the PriestCaptain is telling the truth, and the other half believe that he islying. This is a matter of conviction; it is not a thing that they canargue about. As far as I can see, there is nothing to prevent them fromkeeping on talking without getting anywhere for the next twenty years. "

"Well, all I can say, " said Young, "is that if they'll put me in th'cab, an' let me run their train for 'em, I'll get it up this grade in notime; an' what's more, I'll just take it down th' other side o' th'divide a-kitin'! What's th' matter with th' Priest Captain, an' onlyhalf of 'em have th' sense t' see 't, is that he's just solidly lyin'. He's been lyin' to 'em from away back, I reckon; an' he's lyin' to 'emnow; an' he'll keep on lyin' to 'em right smack along till he gets t'th' end of his run. If they're fools enough t' believe him they're boundt' get left th' worst kind. They've got him in a hole now, an' he knowsit--an' that's more'n they do, t' judge from th' way they're goin' on. I did have some respect for that Council. So far, they've managed thingsfirst-rate. They've run in advance o' their schedule right along, an'they've kep' up a rattlin' head o' steam with mighty d----n bad coal. But if they really mean t' draw their fires, just when they ought t' puton th' forced draught an' let her go for all she's worth, I must say Ihaven't any more use for 'em. Seein' 'em shilly-shallyin' around likethey're doin' now, when they ought t' be takin' their coats off an'sailin' in, just makes me sick!"

Fray Antonio--whose habit of quiet was such that he rarely sought totake part in the talks that we had in English among ourselves--somewhatsurprised me by asking me to translate to him what Young and Rayburn hadbeen saying; and when he had heard it all he was silent for a while, andevidently was engaged in earnest thought. At last, speaking verygravely, he asked us if we greatly feared being thrust out from thevalley in case the Council decided to accept the Priest Captain's terms;and without giving us a chance to answer, he bade us remember that wehad not at all explored the last valley that we had passed throughbefore we entered the cañon that ended at the Barred Pass, and that fromit there well might be some outlet through which we could return to thecivilized world; and even were we forced to end our days in it, hecontinued, speaking quickly and urgently, a much worse fate might cometo us; for the valley was a bright and beautiful one, as we had seen, and had in it an abundant supply of food. Would living there, he asked, be any worse for us than living where we then were--where we wereequally shut in? And even supposing that the war ended in victory forus, and that our allies gave us entire freedom of action, what morecould we do than end our days in the Valley of Aztlan, or else go backto that other valley and search for an outlet thence whereby we couldget into an open way among the mountains, and so once more to our homes?And then, still denying us opportunity to answer, he went on to speak ofthe pain and misery and despairing sorrow that the threatened war wouldbring; and then, more gently, of the duty that pressed upon us ofaverting this calamity, that was also a crime, even though to do so wemust sacrifice hopes and wishes very dear to our hearts. 

"What th' dickens is th' Padre drivin' at, anyway?" Young exclaimed; "Idon't ketch on at all. "

"No more do I, " said Rayburn. "It's a first-rate sermon that he's givingus, but I don't see where he means the moral of it to fetch up. "

For myself, so closely were Fray Antonio and I bound together by bondsof sympathy, I saw but too plainly what he meant should be the outcomeof his discourse; and I was not surprised, therefore--though hearingthus plainly expressed in words what I had been dreading, sent a dull, cold pain into the very depths of my heart--when he unfolded to us thewhole of the plan that he had been forming within his mind. What he saidwas said very simply, and with a loving sorrow for the pain that mightcome to us through shaping our actions in accordance with his strongdesire; and this desire was: that, of our own free-will, we shouldretire from the valley by the way that we came thither, and so leave theCouncil free to accept unhesitatingly the Priest Captain's terms. 

"And what of yourself?" I asked; for I felt within me a strongconviction that for himself he had in view a very different fate. 

He hesitated for a moment before answering me, and his color changed alittle; and then an unwonted ruddiness gave animation to his face, and alight of glad and strong resolve shone in his eyes as he replied, in avoice that was very low, and at the same time very clear and firm: "Ishall go to the Priest Captain, in Culhuacan!"

"And so go to your death, " I said, speaking brokenly, for the pain thathis words caused me went through me like a knife-thrust. 

"Say, rather, " Fray Antonio answered, "that I go to win the life, glorious and eternal, into which neither death nor sin nor sorrowevermore can come!"

XXVIII. 

THE SURRENDER OF A LIFE. 

Knowing as I did Fray Antonio's resolute nature, and understanding farmore clearly than it was possible for the others to understand theheroic impulses which stirred within him, I took no part in the attemptthat they then made to oppose the purpose which he had declared. Butwhen they somewhat shifted their position--perceiving how hopeless wastheir effort to shake by argument his firm resolve--and sought to winhim to their way of thinking by consenting to leave the valley if onlyhe would accompany them, then I most earnestly joined my entreaties totheirs. But no more by entreaty than by argument was Fray Antonio to bemoved. 

And, in truth, there was a logical consistency in what he urged inanswer to us that, much though we might resent it, we yet were compelledto respect. He had come with us, he said, for the single purpose ofpreaching the saving grace of Christianity to heathen souls whichotherwise would perish utterly in their idolatry. And this was not amatter wherein he had any right of election, but was a solemn duty thatthe vows by which he was bound compelled him to fulfil. He was not free, therefore, as we were free, to consider side issues relating to hispersonal well-being or to mere expediency; his sole endeavor must be toaccomplish by the most efficient means the duty wherewith he wascharged. It was evident, he urged, that should there be war in thevalley the chance for the further spread of Christian doctrine would hescant; for the seed that he had sown, and that already was well rootedin many hearts, would die quickly and be utterly lost in the foul growthof evil passions which would spring up rankly amid this bloody strife. But if the war could be averted, not only would these people be sparedthe misery that war must bring upon them, and the crime also of slayingeach other, but their hearts would remain open to the gentle doctrinethat he had taught; and his willingness--should such sacrifice benecessary--to yield his life that peace might be preserved, would forceupon them strongly the conviction, tending thus to their ownstrengthening, of his faithful trust in the creed which he avowed. Andit well might happen, he said, that such grace would be given him thateven within the very stronghold of the heathen faith he might win soulsto the purer faith which it was his glorious privilege to preach andstill remain unharmed; in proof of which possibility he cited the caseof the blessed St. Januarius, whom the lions refused to devour. Butwhatever might be the outcome of thus yielding himself into the PriestCaptain's hands, his duty was so clear, he declared firmly, that noevasion of it was possible. And what he purposed doing, he said, finally, was but what countless of his brethren had done in the courseof the six centuries since the founding in Assisi of the Order to whichthey and he belonged--and precisely was it what was done by the gloriousproto-martyr of Mexico, San Felipe de Jesus, who boldly carried theChristian faith among the heathen, and so died for that faith upon thecross in Japan. 

Rayburn was far from willing to yield to this line of argument; yet heunderstood it, as I did also, and perceived that it was the only logicaloutcome of the only premises which Fray Antonio would recognize. Young, on the other hand, did not in the least understand it, and FrayAntonio's reasoning simply threw him into a rage. 

"It's all d----n nonsense, " he said, "for th' Padre t' talk about hisduty towards a set o' critters like th' Priest Captain's crowd. What'sth' life o' that whole outfit worth compared t' one life like his? Hemight just as well sit down an' chop his own head off as go in amongthose fellows; an' he knows it, too. I never heard o' th' man he'stalkin' about who didn't get eat up by th' lions--somebody in th' showbusiness, I s'pose--but if he thinks there'll he anything worth speakin'of left of him two hours after he gets back into that city, he's makin'a pretty d--n big mistake. Oh, I say, Professor, we've _got_ t' stopthis. Th' Padre's off his head, that's all there is to it; an' we've gott' look after him till he braces up an' gets sensible again. I'll doanything reasonable that he wants, but I'll be d----d if I'm goin' t'stand by doin' nothin' while he cuts his own throat!"

Young was quite ready, I am sure, to resort to the radical measure ofclapping Fray Antonio into a strait-jacket; and had the opportunityarisen for bringing their difference of opinion to a practical issue Iam confident that we should have witnessed an exceedingly curiousconflict, in which heroic self-devotion would have struggled with arough but very honest love. And that Fray Antonio anticipated such aconflict was shown by his taking effective measures to render itimpossible. During the remainder of that day he steadfastly refused todiscuss the matter further; not harshly, but by shifting away into otherchannels our earnest talk. Only at night, before we lay down to sleep, of his own motion he turned once more to the matter; and when he brieflyhad exhibited to us again the motives which urged him forward upon away so perilous, he begged that we would not think ill of his insistingupon traversing our wishes, but that once more we would clasp hands withhim in sign of our forgiveness and continued love. 

So tender was the mood that came upon us with his gentle words that noneof us well could answer him; and this he understood as in turn we tookhis hand and strove to utter that which was in our hearts, and onlycould say huskily a word or two, of which the meaning was conveyed forthe most part by the sorrow and the longing that were in our tones. Young's natural instincts were wholly opposed to any display of thesofter emotions, and for shame of the weakness that in this case hecould not help but show, his face and neck flushed red, and he declaredthat he had the toothache. And then, as a vent for his overwroughtfeelings--of all things in the world--he fell to cursing theSuperintendent of the Old Colony Railroad: on the ground that but forthis functionary, who most unjustifiably had discharged him, he neverwould have come to Mexico at all!

For my own part, I was well convinced that Fray Antonio meant then tosay good-bye to us; and for a long while, as I lay awake that night, mythoughts went backward over the time that we had been companionstogether, and so dwelt upon the faithfulness of his friendship, and uponhis gallant bearing in all times of peril, and upon the pure and perfectholiness which characterized his every act and word. Into the future Idared not let my thoughts wander, for I could foresee no outcome to thepurpose which he had planned so resolutely but a dreary sorrow thatwould rest heavily upon me through all the remainder of my days. And atlast, worn out by my own grief, I fell into a troubled sleep. 

The faint gray light of early morning shone dimly in the room as Rayburnawakened me by shaking my arm; and the first words which he spoke to mewere, "The Padre is not here!"

As I roused myself fully, and sat up and looked into his face, I saw bythe look that he gave me how fully he shared the dread that was in myheart. Young still was sleeping, and we waited to rouse him until weshould make sure that what we feared must be the truth really was true. Together we went out quietly into the court-yard and so to the mainentrance of the building, where a guard was stationed. But this man wasasleep; and when I wakened him, and questioned him as to whether themonk had gone forth, he could give me no answer. Therefore we went on tothe gate of the Citadel--which gate, being a vastly heavy grating, raised and lowered by chains, was not usually closed even at night--inthe hope that there we might gain some certain knowledge. And here alsowe found all of the half-dozen men on guard slumbering, saving only oneman, who seemed to have been aroused by the sound of our footsteps, andwho raised himself on one elbow and looked at us with a sleepycuriosity. 

[Illustration: IN THE GATE-WAY OF THE CITADEL]

Even the urgency of the quest that we were upon did not suffice todistract our attention from the peril that we all were in because of theslumbering of these sentries. "If this is a specimen of the way all thewatches are kept, " Rayburn said, angrily, "we stand a pretty good chanceof being murdered in our beds. It all comes of trying to make soldiersout of savages. These Tlahuicos will fight well enough, I never doubtedthat, but to put such men on guard is simple idiocy. They have beenslaves all their lives, and they haven't the least notion in the worldof personal responsibility. It's a lucky thing that we have found outtheir methods, for I shall give the Colonel a talking to about puttingon guard some of his own men who can be trusted. It's clear that thesefellows cannot tell us anything. We'd better keep on down to thelanding; if the Padre has gone"--there was a sudden break in Rayburn'svoice as he said these words--"it's pretty certain that he has gone bywater, and we may come across somebody down there who happened to beawake and saw him start. "

There were slight signs of wakefulness beginning to show themselves aswe went down towards the water-side; a few doors already were open; hereand there thin threads of smoke curled upward through the still air;around a fountain a half-dozen women were clustered, drawing water ingreat earthen pots, and chattering together softly in half-drowsy talk. At the pier, however, we found some people who really were wide-awake:fishermen just returned with a boat-load of fish that they had caught inthe lake. And these, when I questioned them, in a moment resolved all ofour troubled doubts into a sad certainty. Only an hour before, as theylay out on the lake, a canoe had passed them paddled by a singleIndian, and in the canoe they had plainly recognized Fray Antonio. Itwas impossible that they should be mistaken, they declared, for thehabit which the monk wore made him very plainly recognizable; and theyhad observed him with a particular care, for they had been greatlysurprised by perceiving that the canoe was heading directly for "thegreat city"--by which name all save the priests were accustomed to speakof Culhuacan. 

Neither Rayburn nor I spoke, as we walked back together through the townto the Citadel. Our hearts were altogether too full for words. Even I, who had been in part prepared for Fray Antonio's departure by the tenorof his speech with us the night before, had not anticipated his goingfrom us so suddenly to what surely must be his death; and to Rayburn hisdeparture came with the startling force of a heavy and unexpected blow. Young was awake when we returned, and was in much anxiety concerning us;for our custom at all times was to hold closely together, and he knewthat something out of the common must have happened to make us breakthrough this very necessary rule; and his fears were further arousedwhen he perceived the sad gravity of our faces, and that Fray Antoniowas not in our company. Yet, though thus prepared to learn that evil ofsome sort had overtaken us, he was not at all prepared to learn howgreat that evil was. When, therefore, we told him of what we haddiscovered, which gave absolute assurance that Fray Antonio had carriedout his purpose of surrendering himself into the Priest Captain's hands, Young stared at us for a moment in a dazed sort of way, as though by nomeans grasping the meaning which our words conveyed. And then the wholemeaning of them seemed to come to him suddenly, and he burst forth intosuch a raving volley of curses that it seemed as though he were fairlymaddened by his ungoverned rage. 

I envied Young, as I am sure Rayburn did also, the relief that must cometo him with this rough but frank and natural expression of his bittergrief. For ourselves, we stood sad and silent, yet with our heartsalmost breaking within us, as we thought how small was the chance thatever in this world should we see the face of Fray Antonio again. 

XXIX. 

THE ASSAULT IN THE NIGHT. 

Neither the Council, in its irresolute parleyings, nor Fray Antonio, inhis resolute action, had at all considered certain factors which theythemselves had interjected into the problem that they then were dealingwith from such widely different stand-points and in such widelydifferent ways. The Council, at a stroke, had transformed the Tlahuicosinto soldiers, and had given the promise that in reward for theirfaithfulness and valor these slaves thenceforward should be freemen. Fray Antonio had preached to all those assembled at Huitzilan a creedthat had taken strong hold upon many hearts, and that especially hadwon the hearts of those of the long-oppressed servile class--to whom itsdoctrine of equality seemed to hold out an absolute assurance that theirlife of slavery was at an end. 

When, therefore, the terms which the Priest Captain offered were spreadabroad through the town, and through the camp close beside the town inwhich the army lay--being there in readiness instantly to occupy theCitadel should the enemy appear--a very lively anger was aroused becausesuch terms should even be listened to. For what the Priest Captaindemanded was that the apostle of the new religion should be relinquishedto him to be slain as a sacrifice to the Aztec gods, and that once morethe Tlahuicos should be thrust back into slavery; while what heconceded--in that it affected only the higher classes--made the lot ofthe Tlahuicos but the more unjustly cruel and hard to bear. 

And those who resented the delay on the part of the Council in sendingback the Priest Captain's envoy with a sharp denial, presently went onfrom hot words to violent deeds; being directly led from mutinous talkto mutinous action by the knowledge that the Council had so far acceptedthe offered terms as to send Fray Antonio to the great city to beslain--for not one among them could be led for a moment to believe, soimpossible from their stand-point did such an act appear, that the monktruly had gone thither of his own free-will. 

Practically, the whole army was involved in the movement that then tookplace; for even its officers, while not of the servile class, dreadedthe punishment that their revolt might bring upon them, and sopreferred to take the chances of the war rather than to yield themselvesto be dealt with as the Priest Captain might dispose. Therefore it was, on the day that Fray Antonio departed from us, that all the soldierstogether marched in from their camp and massed themselves compactlyabout the Council Chamber within the Citadel, and then with loud criesdemanded that the envoy should be sent back to the great city with anabsolute refusal of the offered terms. Thus was there created arebellion within a rebellion; and one that the Council was powerless toput down, for the reason that practically the whole of the force whichit had created to serve against the enemy was now risen against its ownauthority with a most masterful strength. 

In the case that thus was presented there was no opportunity totemporize. The fierce, wild creatures of whom soldiers suddenly had beenmade stood there before the Council Chamber, shouting and waving theirspears angrily and clashing together their arms. And so they continued, without one moment of quiet, until their will was obeyed. Through thesavage and tumultuous throng the envoy was led forth--his looks showingplainly his very natural expectation that his life would be let out ofhim amid that ferocious company--and so down to the water-side; andthence was sent back again to Culhuacan with the firm assurance--whichmessage of defiance the soldiers themselves dictated--that the termsoffered by the Priest Captain would be accepted only when all theTlahuicos then risen together in arms against him had been slain!

"Bully for th' Tlahuicos!" cried Young, as I translated to him theseringing words. "Just tell 'em, Professor, that I've volunteered forthree years or th' war, an' that they can count on me t' keep up a fullhead o' steam as long as there's any fightin' t' be done. Accordin' t'my notions, now that th' Padre's over there in th' city--t' say nothin'o' what we owe 'em on Pablo's account--th' row can't begin one minutetoo soon. These Tlahuicos are th' boys for me! Didn't I tell you thatnobody could stop 'em when they once got fairly started? They're a toughlot; but they're just everlastin' rustlers--an' their style suits meright now all th' way down t' th' ground floor!"

The sharp excitement attendant upon this vigorous action gave place, asthe day wore on, to a dull heavy pain as our thoughts dwelt upon thefate that Fray Antonio had gone forth to meet, and upon our presentpowerlessness to defend him in any way against it. Although the envoyhad been sent back, and war was now resolutely determined upon, thesituation remained unchanged in so far as concerned the necessityof our waiting for the Priest Captain to take the initiative. Toattack that great walled city was so hopeless a task that even theTlahuicos--flushed though they were by their victory over theCouncil--did not venture to propose it; for they knew, as we all did, that our only chance of carrying the enemy's stronghold lay in firstdefeating its garrison in a battle in the open field. Yet this dullinaction of waiting was a scarce of grave danger to us, in that ittended to wear out the spirits of our men and to make them still morecareless of their guard. What Rayburn and I had seen that morning hadshown how little trust could be placed in them, in so far as thesoldierly attribute of watchfulness was concerned; and Tizoc, with whomwe conferred in regard to this important matter, had little to say thatwe found comforting. Being himself a thorough soldier, he perceived thedanger to which the unsoldierly lack of vigilance on the part of theTlahuicos exposed our camp; but the situation was such that he waspowerless to take effective measures for our protection. The few regulartroops in our little army were not enough to do sentry duty everywhere, and the best that could be done would be to dispose them at the pointsmost open to attack--"And then trust to luck, " Rayburn put in, ratherbitterly, "that the enemy will be polite enough to try to surprise onlythe part of the camp where the sentries are awake!"

Partly that we might see for ourselves how our pickets were disposed, but more that by action of any sort we might divert our thoughts fromthe sorrow that was gnawing at our hearts, we walked out together in thelate afternoon to the rocky heights of the promontory that on thewestern side of the town extended far into the lake. From a militarystand-point this position was of great importance to us, inasmuch asbowmen or slingmen gaining access to it could command a considerablepart of the town, and even could annoy very seriously the garrison ofthe Citadel; and it also was of value to us as a place of lookout whencean attacking party coming by way of the lake from the city could beperceived while yet it was a long way off. 

We were surprised, therefore, when we had come well out upon thepromontory, that no sentinel challenged us; but our surprise vanished amoment or two later as we perceived one of our men curled up comfortablyagainst a sunny rook and apparently sound asleep. However, as we gotclose to the man it was clear to us that his sleep was one that he neverwould waken from, for a pool of blood stained the rock beside him, andan arrow was shot fairly through his heart. We made but a short stopbeside this fellow--who plainly had been shot in his sleep, and sodeserved the fate that had overtaken him--and then went forwardanxiously that we might see how the other sentinels stationed hereaboutshad fared. The result of our quest was as bad as it could be; for in oneplace or another among the rocks we found all five of the men who hadbeen posted upon the promontory, and all of them were dead. Three moreof them certainly had been shot while asleep or wholly off their guard, as was shown by the easy attitudes in which we found them sitting orlying among the rocks. The fifth had not been instantly killed; as weinferred from finding a broken arrow sticking in his left arm, and somesigns of a struggle about where he lay, and a great split in his skull, as from a sword stroke, that finally had let the life out of him. Itstruck us as strange that this man had not aroused the camp with hisshouts; but his post was at the extreme end of the promontory, so thathe must have called very loudly in order to be heard; and it waspossible that in the suddenness of his danger he never thought to callat all. However, the important matter, so far as we were concerned, wasthat these five sentinels had been slain close beside the town and inbroad daylight, and that but for the chance of our coming out upon thepromontory the most important of our outposts would have remainedunguarded until the night relief should have come on. It was Rayburn'stheory that the plan of the enemy was to place his own men on the vacantposts--trusting to the reasonable certainty that in the dusk of eveningone naked Indian would look much like another--and so despatch therelief, one by one, as the guard was changed. 

Of those of the enemy who had accomplished this piece of work soskilfully we could see no sign--unless it were a boat that we dimly sawa long way off on the lake, and that presently wholly disappeared in abank of haze; and despite the hot sunshine basking upon us a chill wentthrough me at thought of the stealthy daring and truly devilish cunningof the men who thus could do their evil work in the full light of day, and close to the encampment of an army, and yet could get safely awaywithout leaving a trace of their presence save the dead bodies of theirfoes. 

Having made sure by carefully searching among the rocks throughout thelength of the promontory that none of the enemy was hidden there, wehastened back to the town to tell what we had come upon, and to providefor mounting fresh sentinels in the place of those who had been relievedby death. We had expected that the news which we brought would stir up agreat commotion; and we were not a little troubled, therefore, knowinghow serious the matter was in its exhibition of the carelessness of ourguards, by finding that only Tizoc and a few other tried soldiers weremore than lightly discomposed by what we had to tell. The generalfeeling seemed to be--inasmuch as our lucky discovery had dispelled thedanger--that there was no need to worry about a calamity which had notoccurred; and what after all was the most essential consideration--theconstant danger that threatened us by reason of the criminal laxity ofthe watch maintained by our pickets--practically was lost sight of. Apparently neither the Council nor the higher officers of the army hadthe power to remedy this dangerous condition of affairs. At no time hadany very strong authority been exercised over the Tlahuicos--for all theorders which until now had been given to them had been directed onlytowards urging them along a way that they were glad enough to follow oftheir own accord--and since their assertion of their will that morning, what little control had restrained their waywardness seemed to have beenwholly lost. 

However, as there was a chance in it of fighting, and as fighting waswhat they longed for earnestly, our unruly soldiers were willing enoughthat a strong detachment should be placed in ambush on the promontory, to the end that the force which the enemy probably would land there thatnight might be summarily dealt with. And the better to carry out ourplan of a counter-surprise the dead sentinels were left where we foundthem. Tizoc was given the command of the ambushed force, and hewillingly granted our request that we might accompany him; whichrequest was prompted by the desire that we fully shared with theTlahuicos to get at close quarters with the enemy, and also by theconviction that in Tizoc's company--though in his company we were liketo have hot fighting and plenty of it--we would have better chances ofsafety than anywhere else in all our camp. 

For this expedition we put on for the first time our armor of quiltedcotton cloth; and the look of these garments certainly did justifyYoung's comments upon them. "It's a pity we can't get photographed now, "he said, "so's t' send our likenesses in this rig home t' our folks. You'd just jolt the Cap Cod folks, Rayburn, with that pair o' telegraphpoles you call your legs stickin' out from under th' tails o' that thingthat looks like a cross between a badly made frock-coat and anundersized night-shirt. And I guess your college boys 'd be jolted, too, Professor, if they could get a squint at you. And I s'pose that if someo' th' hands on th' Old Colony happened t' ketch up with me dressed thisway they'd think I'd gone crazy. But I haven't got anything t' sayagainst these little night-shirts except about their looks. When you getright down t' th' hard-pan with 'em, they're a first-rate thing. "

For three American citizens, belonging to the nineteenth century, wecertainly presented a strange appearance, and appeared also in verystrange company, as we marched out from the town late that afternoonwith Tizoc and his men. Each of us carried half a dozen darts, andstrapped around our waists, outside our cotton-cloth armor, we each worea maccahuitl--the heavy sword with a jagged double edge that we knewfrom experience was an excellent weapon when wielded by a strong hand. Indeed, Young and I carried the darts rather to satisfy Tizoc thanbecause we expected to make any very effective use of them, and all ofour reliance both for assault and defence was upon what we could do withour swords at close quarters. Rayburn, however, had been practisingdart-throwing very diligently, and as he naturally was anextraordinarily dextrous man he had made rapid progress in this savageart. The soldiers in our company, naked creatures, lithe and sinewy, were armed for the most part with spears and slings; and the officerswore each a sword and carried each a handful of darts. As we all steppedout briskly together I could not but think how amazed would be thePresident of the University of Michigan, and my fellow-members of theFaculty of that institution of learning, should they happen to encounterme in that barbarous company, and arrayed in that most barbarous garb!

[Illustration: THE LAST RALLY]

It was a little before sunset when we reached the place that Tizoc hadselected for our ambush upon the promontory; and an hour later, just asthe shadows of evening were beginning to fall, one of our lookout menreported that a large boat--of which the oars must be muffled, for nosound came from it--was pulling around a point just beyond where we lay. There was a little stir among our men when this news was received, and ashifting and arranging of weapons, so that all might be in readinesswhen the moment for opening the ambush came; but we had a picked forcewith us, each man of which fully understood how necessary was silenceto the success of our plans, and the quick thrill of movement was soguarded that it scarcely ruffled the deep stillness of the night. 

But the moments lengthened out into minutes, and the minutes slowlyslipped by until a full hour had passed, and the thick darkness oftropical night was upon us, and still there was no sign of a foe. Tizocgrew uneasy, for it was evident that we were in error in our conceptionof the enemy's plan. Had he intend-to mount his own men as sentinels inplace of our men whom he had slain, and then get save possession of thepromontory by killing the relief as it came on, we should have been longsince engaged with him; but here the night was wearing on, and, excepting only the boat that our scouts had seen, there had been nothingto show that the attack which we had expected so confidently wasanything more than a creation of our own fears. Yet our only course wasto remain where we were until morning; for some accident might havedelayed the attack, and the necessity of holding the promontory was sourgent that we could not take the risk of withdrawing our force. 

It was weary work sitting there in the darkness, after all the wearinessof so exciting a day, and as the hours dragged on I found myself now andthen sinking into a doze, for which I reproached myself; yet alsoexcused myself by the reflection that I did not at all profess to haveeither the training or the instincts of a soldier, but had been broughtup, as a man of peace and as a scholar, in accordance with the soundprinciple that night rationally is the time set apart for sleep. It wasfrom a most agreeable nap--in which I was dreaming pleasantly of my oldlife in Ann Arbor--that I was roused suddenly by Rayburn's quick gripupon my shoulder, and by his sharp whisper, "What's that?"

In an instant I was thoroughly awake, and as I bent forward and listenedintently I heard very distinctly a faint cry of alarm, that seemed tocome from a long way off. Tizoc, I perceived--for he had risen to hisfeet--also was most eagerly listening; and I heard a slight sound ofmovement and of arms clinking as our men roused themselves, showing thatthey also had heard that warning cry. 

But in a moment there was no need to strain our ears to catch the soundswhich came to us. The cry that a single throat had uttered was taken upby a thousand; and so grew into a dull, distant roar, that pierced theblack and sullen stillness of the night. And with this came also thehigher notes of savage yells, and then we heard the clash of arms--whichevidence that fighting was going on, no less than the direction whence, as we now perceived clearly, the sounds came, assured us that while wehad maintained our watchful guard on the promontory the enemy hadsurprised our camp. 

Rayburn sprang up with a growl like that of a savage beast. "By G----d!"he cried, "they meant us to do just what we've done, and we've walkedinto their trap like so many d----n fools!"

XXX. 

THE FALL OF THE CITADEL. 

Tizoc, I was glad to see, had his men well under his command, as wasshown by the orderly manner in which they waited, despite their eagerimpatience to be off, until he gave the command to march. And hardmarching we found it, as we floundered about that rough, rocky place, tripping and stumbling, and now and then hearing a crash in the darknessas one of our men went down. But, somehow or other, we certainly managedto get over the ground very rapidly; and all the while the sounds of thefight that was raging hotly struck with a constantly increasingclearness upon our ears. 

The whole width of the town lay between our camp and the foot of therugged path that led down from the promontory; but when we were fairlyin the streets, and no longer had rough rocks to stumble over in thedarkness, we went forward at a very slashing pace. And we were furtherhelped now by the fact that day was breaking, so that we could seeclearly where we were going; and we had also within us that feeling ofcheer and encouragement that ever is given to man by the return of thesun. In but a few minutes more, in that tropical region, a flood ofdaylight would be about us; and Tizoc's hope was that when the horror ofdarkness, ever appalling to barbarians, should be lifted, and when ourcoming should afford a firm centre to rally around, our army mightregain the courage and steadiness which it had lost in the terror andbewilderment of a night surprise. 

But he quickly found that this hope was doomed to disappointment. Only alittle beyond the gate of the Citadel we came upon a flying body ofTlahuicos--though no pursuers were in sight beyond them--and these wereso completely demoralized that they took our company for a detachment ofthe enemy, and with wild cries fled away from us down a side street andso disappeared. "What do you think of your friends now?" Rayburn askedYoung, grimly. But Young's only answer was to curse the vanishedTlahuicos for cowards. 

A moment later the whole street in front of us was filled with a howlingmob of our men, and these came surging towards us with the evidentintention of seeking safety in the Citadel. Tizoc saw at a glance thehopelessness of trying to rally a rout like this until the terrifiedcreatures, fleeing like sheep from a pack of wolves, had been given restfor a while in some safe place where their courage might return to them. Being once within the Citadel they would be for a time wholly out ofdanger; for even should the enemy try to set scaling-ladders in place, and so break in upon us there, it would be an easy matter for a fewdetermined men to hold the walls until some sort of order had beenrestored among our broken forces. Tizoc therefore promptly wheeled ourlittle force aside into an open space, and so made a way for thestruggling crowd to sweep past us. We noted, as the stream ofterror-stricken men flowed by, that their officers were not with them;from which Tizoc drew the hopeful augury that the officers, being alltrained soldiers, had drawn together into a rear-guard that sought tocover this wild retreat. And presently we found that Tizoc was right inhis inference, for soon the crowd began very perceptibly to growthinner, and the sound of loud cries and the rattle and clashing of armsrang out above the tumult, and then there came around a turn in thestreet, a little beyond where we had halted, a compact body of men whowere falling back slowly, and who were laying about them most valiantlywith their swords. Our party gave a yell, by way of putting fresh heartinto these gallant fellows, and Tizoc quickly disposed our company insuch a manner that the retreating force fell back through our midst; andthen we promptly closed in, and so took the fighting to ourselves. 

I cannot tell very clearly how our retreat to the Citadel was managed, nor even of my own part in it; for fighting is but rough, wild work, which defies all attempts at scientific accuracy in describing it--andfor the reason, I fancy, that it engenders a wholly unscientific frameof mind. Reduced to its lowest terms, fighting is mere barbarity; a mostillogical method of settling some disputed question by brute forceinstead of by the refined reasoning processes of the intelligent humanmind; and by the anger that it inevitably begets, the habit of accurateobservation, out of which alone can come accurate description, ishopelessly confused. Therefore I can say only that foot by foot weyielded the ground to the enemy that pressed upon us; that wild shoutsrang out--in which I myself joined, though why I should have shouted Iam sure I do not know--together with the sharp rattle of clashingswords; and that through the roar of this outburst of fierce soundsthere ran an undertone of groans and sobs from the poor wretches who hadfallen wounded to the ground. The one thing that I remember clearly is aset-to with swords that I had with a big fellow, just as we had comeclose to the Citadel, that ended in a way (that would have surprised himmightily had he lived long enough to comprehend it) by my finishing himby means of a stop-thrust followed by a beautiful draw-cut that was afamous stroke with my old sabre-master at Leipsic. And I well rememberthinking, at the moment that I made this stroke--and so saved my life byit, for the fellow was pressing me very closely--how happy it would havemade the old Rittmeister could he have seen me deliver it. 

As we made a rush for the gate of the Citadel, that we might get insidethis place of safety and drop the grating before the enemy could followus, we were surprised by finding many of our own men lying dead aboutthe entrance; and what was far worse for us, we found that unskilledhands had been at work with the machinery whereby the gate was loweredand by their bungling had managed to start it downward in such a waythat it had jammed in the grooves. What actually had happened there, aswe knew afterwards, was that the first of the cowardly wretches who hadentered the Citadel had tried to drop the gate in the faces of theircompanions and so secure their own safety; whence a fight amongthemselves had sprung up, in course of which many of them verydeservedly were slain, and, most unhappily for us, their frantic effortsto lower the gate had resulted in thus disabling it. 

We had a moment of breathing space before the enemy came up with us, andin this time Rayburn and Young and I had a grip of each other's hands, in which, without any words over it, we said good-bye to each other; forwe neither of us for one moment doubted that our last hour had come. Tizoc stood a little distance from us, as steady and as gallant in hisbearing as ever I saw a man; but that he also counted surely upon dyingthere was shown by the glance of grave friendliness that he gave us, andby his making the gesture that among his people is significant offarewell. Then we ranged ourselves across the gate-way, holding ourswords in hand firmly, and Rayburn, who had caught up a javelin, stoodwith it poised above his shoulder in readiness to discharge it as theenemy came on. The sight of his splendid figure towering defiantly inthat heroic attitude set my mind to running upon the Homeric legend ofthe glorious battling of the Greeks before the gates of Troy, and ofHector uplifting the rock; and I was very angry with Young, whosedisposition to seize upon the whimsical side of everything was the mostirrepressible that ever I came across, when he exclaimed: "I'll bet youfive dollars, Rayburn, that when you throw that clothes-prop you don'thit th' man you fire at!"

But Rayburn did hit his man, straight in the heart too, a moment later, as the enemy with a wild yell charged us; and then, with his back setwell against the wall, he fell to work most gallantly with his sword. 

From the very beginning of it we knew that our fighting was utterlyhopeless; for all of our company together did not number fifty men, andwe were confronting there a whole army. Up the street, as far as wecould see, the troops of the enemy were solidly massed; and for everyman whom we struck down twenty were ready to spring forward, fresh andvigorous, to exhaust still further the strength that rapidly was leavingus. That we fought on was due not to our valor but to our desperation;and also--at least such was my own feeling--to a swelling rage that madeus long to kill as many as possible of these savages before we ourselvesdied beneath their blows. Death, we knew, was the best thing that couldhappen to us; for it would save us from the worse fate, that surelywould come to us should we be captured, of being turned over to thepriests, that they might torture us before their heathen altars, and inthe end tear our still quivering hearts out. And that the wish of ourenemies--according to the Aztec custom--was rather to capture us than tokill us was shown by the way in which they fought; for all their effortwas to disable us, and so to take us alive; nor did they seem to haveany great care, if only this purpose could be accomplished, how many ofthemselves were slain. 

Sometimes in my dreams the wild commotion of that most desperate combatcomes back to me. I see again before me the crowd of half-naked men, curving in a semicircle measured by the length of my sword, their facesdistorted by the passionate anger that stirred their souls; and I seeone fierce face after another lose out of it the look of life, yet notthe look of hate, as my sword crunches into the vitals of the body towhich it belongs; and I hear the wild din around me, and the yells ofrage and of pain, and my feet tread in slippery pools of blood, and mybody aches with weariness, and sharp thrills of agony dart through thestrained muscles of my right arm--yet still I fight on, and on. And, truly, all this seems more real to me now in my sleep than it did to methen in its reality; for a dull weight of most desolate hopelessnesssettled down upon me as I fought out to the end that most hopelessbattle--so that my spirit shared in the numbness of my body, and I cutand parried and gave men their death-blows with the stolid energy of amere death-dealing machine. 

It had been from the first no more than a question of minutes how longthis unequal fight would last; and when I heard a great yell from theenemy, and perceived a flood of soldiers swirling inward through thegate-way just beyond the fellows whom I was dealing with, I knew thatTizoc's men had been beaten down or slain, and that the end was verynear at hand. As I glanced across the shoulders of the man whom I justthen put forever on the list of the non-combatants, I saw what seemed tobe an eddy in the midst of the crowd that was rushing into the Citadel;and in the thick of the tightly knotted group that thus choked thenarrow way I saw Tizoc still laying about him with his sword. He was avery ghastly object, for a cut on his head had loosened a piece of hisscalp, that hung down over his forehead and waved and trembled therelike a draggled plume; his face was bathed in blood from this horridwound, and his armor of cotton cloth was soaked with the blood that hadrun down upon it from the cut in his head, and also from a wound in hisneck. In the moment that I had free sight of him he made as fine asword-stroke as ever I saw, wherewith he fairly severed from its bodythe head of one of his assailants; and at the very same instant, whilethat head still was spinning in the air, a man directly behind himforced back the pressing crowd by main strength and so gained a freespace in which to swing his sword. I shouted to Tizoc to warn him of thedanger, and he half turned to ward against it; but before he could turnwholly around the blow had fallen, splitting his whole head open fromthe crown to the very chin. And in the midst of the fierce yell oftriumph that went up as this cowardly stroke was delivered there passedfrom earth the soul of as brave and as true a man as earth has everknown. 

A dizziness came over me as I saw Tizoc fall, and saw in the same momentthe wild rush forward of the enemy over his dead body into the Citadel;and so I suppose that what with this dizziness and my great weariness Imust have dropped my guard. I faintly remember hearing a shout ofwarning from Young, who was close beside me, which shout mingled withthe shrieks of those inside the Citadel whom the enemy everywhere werecutting down, and the great roar of victory that went up from all thearmy, both within and without the Citadel, rising tempestuously inmighty waves of sound: and then a crash like that of a thunder-boltburst directly upon my head, and a sickening pain shot through me, and Iseemed to be falling through untold depths into vast gloomy chasms (sothat I thought I was dropping once more into the hollow darkness of thecañon), and there was a very dreadful surging and roaring and ringing inmy ears; and then all this horror of evil sounds grew fainter, and Ifelt myself slipping quickly into the awful stillness and blackness thatI surely thought must be the entrance-way to death. And with thisthought a numb sort of gladness came over me, for in death there waspromise of restfulness and peace. 

XXXI. 

DEFEAT. 

After all, the life that I thought was lost, and had but little sorrowfor the losing of it, slowly came back to me again. For a good whilebefore I recovered consciousness fully, I understood a little of whatwas going on around me by sounds which, no doubt, were loud and ringing, yet which seemed to me to come faintly from a long way off. They plainlywere the sounds of fighting--of weapons rattling together, of shouts andyells and death-cries--but I did not associate them with our presentbattling, but thought that we still were in the cañon, and were stillfighting those wild Indians by whom poor Dennis was slain. And I knewthat I had been hurt badly; for in my head was a throbbing pain so keenthat it seemed like to split my skull open, and my stomach was stirredby most distressing qualms, and my weakness was such that I could notease the sore muscles of my body by moving by so much as ahair's-breadth from the cramped position in which I lay. 

It seemed to me a vastly long while that I remained in this drearycondition of half-consciousness, with no certain knowledge of anythingsave the pain that I suffered; and then I felt some one touch me, and ahand laid upon my heart; and this touch so far roused me that I heaved along sigh and slowly opened my eyes. For a moment I did not know theface that I saw bending over me; nor was this wonderful, for in place ofits usual ruddiness was a death-like pallor, that was the more marked bycontrast with the blood that trickled down over it from a great gashacross the brow whereby the bone was laid bare. But there was nomistaking the voice that called out: "He's alive, Rayburn!" and added, "I don't see what right he's got t' be alive, either, after a crack likethat. I guess studyin' antiquities must everlastin'ly harden an' thickena man's skull!"

"Studying engineering doesn't harden a man's leg, anyway, " I heardRayburn answer. "That cut pretty near took mine off. But now that we'vestopped the bleeding I guess I'm all right. I think I can work over toyou on my hands and knees and help you with the Professor. Now that Iknow he's alive I seem to be a lot more alive myself. "

"Just you stay where you are, " Young called back, sharply. "If you moveyou'll start that bandage an' I'll have t' tie you up all over again. I'll attend t' th' Professor. " And then Young bent over me, and, with atenderness that I never would have thought his rough hands capable of, set himself to bandaging my wounded head. But the best thing that he didfor me was to give me a draught of water from a gourd that had beenslung about the neck of one of the soldiers lying dead there; whichdraught, with the comfort that the cool wet bandage about my head gaveme, brought back to me so much of my strength that I was able presentlyto sit up and look around. 

Truly, a more ghastly sight than that which my eyes then rested upon Inever saw. The gate-way of the Citadel was a very shambles. Piles ofdead men lay all around me; and the prodigious number of the enemy lyingslain there testified with a mute eloquence to the desperate fashion inwhich our handful of men had fought. Over the rough pavement, down theslope towards the lake, there flowed a stream of bright red blood thatin places shone a brilliant vermilion where it was touched by theglintings of the sun. Among the dead I did not see Tizoc's body, and forthis I was glad. Half a dozen of the enemy stood by us as a guard; butthese suffered us to minister to each other, evidently feeling that nogreat amount of caution was necessary in dealing with three badlywounded men. Indeed, these guards, in their way, manifested a kindlyfeeling for us; for when they perceived that our gourd of water wasempty one of them picked up another full gourd from amid the dead andhanded it to us. From inside the Citadel there still came a tumult offierce sounds which gave proof that though the battle--if it could becalled a battle--was ended the work of killing still was going on; butthese sounds sensibly diminished while we lay there waiting to know whatfate would come to us, and we concluded, therefore, that there remainedno more rebels to be slain. 

Rayburn was seated upon the ground at no great distance from me, hisback propped against the wall. As he saw that I was looking towards him, and had again my wits about me, he greeted me with a very melancholysmile. "It's been a pretty cold day for us, Professor, " he said, "andthere's no great comfort in knowing that it's partly our own fault thatthese fellows have laid us out. I didn't give them credit for such goodtactics; and even with the bad watch that we kept I don't see how theymanaged to get their men round on the other side of our camp. Well, itmust please them to know how straight we walked into the trap that theyset for us, like the pack of fools that we were. "

"You won't ketch me joinin' in any more Indian revolutions, anyway, "Young put in. "I did think I could bet on those Tlahuicos, an' they'vejust gone back on us th' worst kind. Do you feel strong enough, Professor, to tie th' ends o' this rag?" He had been binding up the cutin his forehead, and now he got down on his hands and knees in front ofme, and bent his head down within easy reach of my hands; and mystrength had so far returned to me that without being very tired afterit I was able to make the ends of the bandage fast. The blow on his headhad glanced from the skull, luckily; but it had been heavy enough tostun him for some minutes after he received it--and his falling asthough dead had been the means, no doubt, of saving his life, even as inthe same manner my life had been saved. Rayburn's wound was a worse onethan either Young's or mine, for a great gash in his thigh had wellnighcut his leg off, and until, with Young's help, he had improvised atourniquet, from a bowstring and a broken fragment of a javelin, he hadbeen in great danger of bleeding to death. 

For more than an hour we were suffered to lie in the gate-way; while thework went on of slaying the wretched Tlahuicos, and then of marshallingthe more important personages who had been reserved alive as prisoners, and, finally, of restoring order in the victorious ranks. At the end ofthis time an officer with a squad of men came to where we were lying, and roughly ordered us to rise, to the end that we also might be placedamong the prisoners. Young and I had so far recovered our strength thatwe managed to scramble on our feet with no great difficulty; though inmy case this exertion, which made the blood flow more briskly in myveins, suddenly increased so greatly the pain in my head as to bringupon me for a little while a dizziness that compelled me to lean againstthe wall for support. In Rayburn's case standing was quite out of thequestion; and I shortly told the officer in what manner he was wounded, and that to make him rise and walk assuredly would start the bandage onhis leg, and so lead to his quickly bleeding to death. Thereupon theofficer gave an order to some of his men to fetch a stretcher such astheir own wounded were carried in; yet at the same time he said to me:"This companion of yours is a brave man; and but for my orders, I wouldloosen the bandage with my own hands, and so let him die without furtherpain;" which speech, notwithstanding the obviously kind intention of it, I did not translate to Rayburn at that time. 

While we waited for the stretcher to be brought, the soldiers fastenedabout Young's neck and about mine heavy wooden collars, which set wellout over our shoulders and were not unlike great ruffs. I confess thatfor my own part my professional interest in this curious piece of gearentirely overcame my repugnance to wearing it, for I instantlyrecognized it as the cuauh-cozatl, with which, as the ancient recordstell us, the Aztecs were accustomed to secure their prisoners of war. But Young, who could not be expected to share in my delight at seeingactually alive, and ourselves made party to it, a custom that wassupposed to have been extinguished to more than three centuries, grewexceedingly indignant at having thus placed about his neck what hecoarsely described as "an overgrown d----n goose-yoke. " Nor was I at allsuccessful in my attempt to soothe him by telling him that thediscomfort to which we were subjected was a very trifling matter incomparison with the gain to the science of archeology that flowed fromthis positive identification of an exceedingly interesting historicalfact. 

"Oh, come off, Professor, " he growled. "What th' d----l do I care forhistorical facts, or for historical lies either?--an' they're all aboutth' same thing. What I want t' do is t' punch th' head o' th' fellow whoput this thing on me, an' I can't. They'll be hangin' me up by my heelsan' stickin' a corn-cob in my mouth next, I s'pose, an' makin' a regularstuck-pig out o' me; an' then likely enough you'll try t' make mebelieve that _that_ proves something or other that nobody but you thinksever happened, an' so want me t' feel pleased about it. Antiquities bed----d! I've had as much of' em as I want, an' more too!"

While the collars were being placed about our necks, and while Rayburnwas being lifted upon the stretcher which the soldiers had brought, weheard from within the Citadel the sound of drums tapping, and then themeasured tread of soldiers marching; and as we looked through thegate-way we saw that the troops had been formed in regular order andwere moving towards us. At the head of the column were theprisoners--numbering three or four hundred, and all wearing woodencollars about their necks--covered on both flanks by a strong line ofguards. They were ranged in order of their dignity, the unlucky membersof the Council coming first, and after them the other officers of thatshort-lived government; then the military officers, and in the rear afew private soldiers. The fact that no Tlahuicos were among theprisoners led me to conclude that such of these as had not been slainhad been held under guard until they might be returned to their ownersor set again to toiling hopelessly in the mine. 

The importance that in the estimation of our captors attached toourselves was shown by their placing us at the very head of the column, in advance even of the members of the Council; and this was a complimentthat we willingly enough would have declined, for such honorableconsideration, according to the customs of this people, meant surelythat we were reserved for a very exemplary fate. But we were in noposition to raise objections of any sort just then, and we thereforefell into the place assigned to us and tried as well as we could to showa bold front as we went downward towards the lake. 

Only a few terrified women and children, who fled away as we advanced, were in sight as we passed through the streets of the town; and frommany of the hovels came the moans of poor wounded wretches who hadcrawled to their miserable homes to die in them; and from others camethe lamentations of women over their dead; and in nooks and corners, whither with their last strength they had dragged themselves, we saw menlying dead in pools of their own blood. But down by the water-side therewere live men in plenty, soldiers and oarsmen, and the pier was crowdedwith them; while out beyond the pier the whole bay was swarming withthe boats in which the enemy's forces had stolen down upon us in thedarkness from Culhuacan; making their landing, as we now learned, justbeyond the town in a bay that ran up close to where our army wasencamped. And this scene of bustling activity in the bright sunshinemade a joyous and brilliant picture; that was all the brighter becauseof its setting in that sunlit bay, opening out between beaches ofgolden-yellow sand upon the broad expanse of restful water which fellaway in gleaming splendor into a bank of soft gray haze. 

But the picture was still more stirring that we saw as we lookedlandward, when the barge that we were put aboard of pulled out from thepier and our rowers lay on their oars, and so waited while the work ofembarkation went on. Right in front of us was the broad central streetof the town; and the whole length of this, from the pier to the Citadel, was filled with a solidly massed body of soldiers that came down thesteep descent slowly, and halting often, to the boats which were inwaiting to bear them away. Barbarians though they were, these soldiersmade a gallant showing. In front of each regiment was borne its featherstandard, and in the midst of each company was its rallying flag ofbrightly painted cotton cloth. The higher officers wore wooden casques, carved and painted in the semblance of the heads of ferocious beasts;the cotton-cloth armor of all the officers was decked with a greatvariety of strange devices, wrought in very lively hues, and similarlystrong hues were used in the decoration of the universally-carried lightround shields. And all this brilliant color, the more vivid because ofits background of bare brown skins, was flecked with a thousandglittering points of light where the sunshine sparkled on swords and onspear-heads of hardened gold. 

"Its not much wonder that those fellows got away with us, " Rayburn said, as he watched the orderly manner in which the disciplined ranks movedout upon the pier and stepped briskly into the boats at the word ofcommand. "They're as fine a lot of fighters as I ever saw anywhere. Justlook how steadily they stand at a halt, and how sharply they obeyorders, and how well set up they are! I must say I don't see what theColonel could have been thinking about when he said that we had afighting chance against an army like that. Well, he's paid for hismistake about as much as a man can pay for anything. It breaks me all upto think that the Colonel is dead. He was good all the way through. AndI wonder what will become of that little lame boy of his now? They'llmake a Tlahuico of him, I suppose. By Jove! what a mess we've made ofthis whole business from first to last!"

My heart was too heavy for me to answer Rayburn save by a nod; for whilehe spoke the thought came home to me very bitterly that upon me restedthe responsibility of the black misfortune in which he and Young wereinvolved; and with this came also a great burst of sorrow as I thoughthow still more closely at my door lay Pablo's death--for Rayburn andYoung at least had come into my plans with a reasonable understanding ofthe danger to which they exposed themselves; but Pablo, having no suchknowledge, had followed me unquestioningly because of his loving trustthat I would hold him safe from harm. My sorrow concerning Fray Antoniowas keen enough, Heaven knows; but in his case I had the solace ofknowing surely that he had come to his death not because of my urging, but in pursuance of his own strong desire. There was a little comfort inthe thought that even one of these four lost lives could not be chargedto my account; and yet this reflection seemed only to make my sorrowheavier as I thought of the woful weight of my responsibility for theother three. 

For nearly two hours we lay there in the bay while the embarkation ofthe prisoners and the troops went on--our boat moving farther out fromthe pier from time to time as the double line of boats behind itlengthened. In that sheltered place there was little wind blowing, andthe blazing heat of the sun beating down upon my wounded head gave me sosharp a pain that I gladly would have died to be rid of it; and I couldsee, from the drawn look of their faces, that Young and Rayburn weresuffering not less keenly. We were thankful enough, therefore, when atlast the embarkation was completed--more than half of the army remainingin Huitzilan to restore order there--and we pulled out from the bay intothe open waters of the lake and were comforted by the light breeze, which yet brought with it a delicious refreshment, that was blowingthere. 

All the bright beauty of that lovely lake was around us, having for itsbackground the green meadows and the darker green of the forestshanging above them on the upward slopes, and beyond all the toweringheight of the cliffs, which shaded in their colorings from delicate grayto dark brown, and were touched here and there by patches of blackshadow where some great cleft opened; and yet all that we then thoughtof was that across those blue waters, which gleamed golden in thesunlight, we were going swiftly to a cruel death, and that the cliffs, whereof the beauty was hateful to us, irrevocably shut us in. Whichgloomy feelings pressed upon us throughout that dismal passage, whileall our oarsmen pulled stoutly together, and we went gliding onward overthe sunlit waters towards the evil fate that we knew was waiting for uswithin the dark walls whereby was encircled the city of Culhuacan. 

XXXII. 

EL SABIO'S DEFIANCE. 

While yet we were a long way off from the city, we heard faintly theyells of triumph with which the watchers above the water-gate gavenotice to those within the walls of the return of the victorious army;and from all the boats of our flotilla there went up a shrill chorus ofanswering yells. Our barge was the first to pass through the water-gate, out from which we had come so gallantly so short a time before, andthence went onward across the basin to the very pier that we hadstarted from with such high hopes to gather the forces for the rebellionthat had come to so sorry an end. 

All the water-side was black with the crowd that had gathered to watchour landing; but, considering that these people were there to welcome avictorious army, it seemed to me that they were strangely still anddull. There was, to be sure, no lack of yelling, but it came for themost part from a company of priests clustered on the pier where welanded, and from the soldiers and oarsmen in the boats--not from thetownsfolk at large. And when we were marched upward through thecity--following the same street that we had fought our way along whenlast we traversed it--I saw in the crowd so many sullen and dejectedfaces that it seemed to me there still was in that city a good deal ofmaterial for the making of another mutiny. 

This time we were not taken to the house in which we had met the PriestCaptain, and whence we had been delivered from imprisonment by Tizoc'sgallant rescue of us; but, passing a little beyond this house, we wereled up a broad stair-way to the plateau which crowned the city, and onwhich stood the great Treasure-house that also was the temple in whichthe Aztlanecas housed their most venerated gods. And I confess that mydelight at seeing closely this building, that until then I had beheldonly from afar off, for a time completely overcame the dread and sorrowthat had oppressed me; and the very strongest desire that stirred withinme just then was for a tape-measure and a pair of compasses and a steelsquare, together with the opportunity to fall to work with these severalinstruments upon those mighty walls. Indeed, I almost had forgotten thatI was a prisoner, and was like to die soon a very dreadful death, when agroan that poor Rayburn gave--wrung from him by the pain that hesuffered in being carried up the stairs--recalled me suddenly to arealizing sense of our situation, and so pressed home upon me the sadconviction that the science of archæology would gain nothing of all thatI might see or learn during the little while that I should remain alive. 

The outer facing of the plateau, like that of the terraces below it, wasa prodigiously heavy wall of squared stones set in cement; and for acoping this wall had great stones carved in the similitude of serpents'heads, with mouths wide open, that instantly recalled to my mind thelike enclosure that the Spaniards found surrounding the principal templein the city of Tenochtitlan--and I had a sudden strong longing that myfriend Bandelier might be with me at that moment to see how preciselyhis very ingenious speculations concerning the snake-wall about thegreat Teocalli were here confirmed. 

Through a portal formed of two huge blocks of stone carved to representtwo serpents coiled upon themselves, the heads meeting above in a sortof arch (not a true arch, for each of these serpents was a monolith, andwas supported wholly on its own base), we entered the large enclosurebefore the temple. I was surprised to find--for of such a thing amongthe ancient Aztecs there is no record--that in the centre of theenclosure the rock had been hewn away in such a fashion as to create avast amphitheatre; and that this was the place where sacrifice wasoffered by the priests was shown by the blood-stained altar in thecentre of it, to which fragments of flesh also adhered, whence waswafted up to us a dreadful stench that instantly racked us with queasyqualms. Save directly in front of the entrance to the temple, where wasa great stone balcony with a smaller balcony below it, all the sides ofthe amphitheatre were cut in steps, which made, also, benches where themultitude could sit at their ease and behold the bloody work going on inthe pit below them; and so enormous was this rock-hewn cavity that fullyforty thousand people could at once be seated there. Under the balconythere was visible the entrance to a dark tunnel-like passage, thatevidently communicated with the temple, and a smaller passage, not largeenough for a man to pass through, slanted downward to where it opened onthe terrace below; which last was to drain the blood away, and also tofree the amphitheatre from water in the season of rains. 

We held our noses as we skirted this shocking place, and we were gladenough when we got beyond it and came to the entrance to the temple--avery noble portal, severely simple, and because of its simplicity themore majestic, in which, as in the whole of the façade, was manifest thegrave and sombre Egyptian feeling that I had before observed. Throughthis we passed into the shadowy interior, lighted by only a few narrowslits cut in the enormously thick walls, where the lofty roof wasupheld by a wilderness of columns which opened before us seeminglyendless vistas where an eternal twilight reigned. Of interior decorationthere was nothing save a broad and simple panelling upon the walls, andthe great pillars were mere round monoliths without either bases orcapitals. 

As we entered this, to them, most sacred place a hush fell upon ourescort, and even I felt something of that reverent awe that is inspiredby any building which has been sanctified by the worship of multitudeswithin it through countless years. But that Young did not at all sharethis feeling with me was made manifest by his observing, after taking along look around him: "Well, this wouldn't answer for a Congregationalchurch, anyway. There ain't a pew in th' whole place, an' here in broaddaylight you couldn't see a hymn-book if you tried. I wonder what they'dsay, Professor, to a bid for puttin' in a dynamo for 'em an' lightin'this dark old hole with electricity? An' it 'u'd take off a lot o' thischill an' dampness if they'd have a steam-heater put in at th' sametime. It's enough t' give all hands rheumatism th' way cold creepsstrike up your legs. " But at this point Young's observations were cutshort peremptorily by the hand that one of the guards laid across hismouth; which hint that it was desirable for him to keep silence wasquite unmistakable. 

This decided repression of Young's chattering, no doubt, was the morevigorous because we now were approaching the farther end of the temple, where loomed before us amid the shadows a great idol, set upon analtar-like throne. This figure, fully ten feet high, was a strangemedley of grotesque and hideous carvings that yet in its entirety waslike a man; and so cruel and so ferocious was the general air of it thatit well might inspire a very lively terror in simple souls. The moststriking feature of the figure was a dismal skull, that was outheld fromthe region of the waist by two great hands placed there arbitrarily andwithout any relation to the figure's arms; and for a crest--repeatingthe motive of the gate-way--it had two serpents' heads, the bodiespertaining to which were twisted and involved about the whole mass. Foreyes this evil thing had large and gleaming green stones--being, intruth, emeralds, though I did not at that time recognize them assuch--and golden serpents, very beautifully wrought, were twisted aboutit, and a collar of golden hearts was hung around its neck over a sortof apron of shining green feathers; and feathers of a like sort roseabove the heads of the serpents in a thick plume; and over every part ofthe figure were scattered glittering objects--emeralds, and disks ofgold, and scraps of mother-o'-pearl, and fragments of obsidian--whenceshone through the heavy shadows faint, shimmering points of light. Inone of its out-stretched hands the figure held a bow, and in the other abunch of arrows; but even without these unmistakable attributes I shouldhave known from the skull and from the serpents' heads that this fierceand hideous idol represented the god Huitzilopochtli: the firstdivinity, and throughout the whole time that their bloody religionendured, the principal divinity, that the ancient Mexicans adored. Young did not venture to speak aloud again, but he turned to me with along sigh and whispered, earnestly, "That certainly is, Professor, thevery d----dest thing I ever saw!"

As I knew, it was in keeping with the Aztec customs that prisoners takenin war thus should be brought first of all before the godHuitzilopochtli, that they and their captors together might do himreverence; therefore, I was not surprised when a priest came forth frombehind the altar and bade us prostrate ourselves in adoration of theidol. As this order was given, all the Aztlanecas with us bowedthemselves to the floor; but Young, who did not understand the order, and I, who felt my gorge rising at the thought of thus humbling myself, remained erect. However, we did not continue through many seconds inthat position; for a couple of soldiers instantly laid hands upon eachof us, and by shoving our shoulders sharply forward, and at the samemoment kicking our legs from under us, they summarily laid us facedownward at full length upon the floor. As for Rayburn, they seemed tobe satisfied with his recumbent position upon the stretcher; at anyrate, they suffered him to remain as he was. 

While I lay prone, quivering with rage at the double indignity of beingthus roughly handled, and of being compelled even in form to worship adisgusting idol, I heard an odd little pattering upon the stone floor, and then something cold and clammy was thrust against my hand, and atthe same instant I heard close beside me a curious snuffling noise; andwhile a glad doubt, that I scarce ventured to give way to, was risingwithin me, the clammy thing was taken away from my hand, and therestraightway rang out through the gloomy silence of the temple athunderous braying that seemed fairly to shake the walls. There was nomistaking the voice of the friend who with this triumphant blastwelcomed me; and as I heard it there came into my heart a sudden glow ofhope that Pablo, and that even Fray Antonio also, might still be alive. And this hope was destined to be immediately and most joyfully realized, for as we rose to our feet again I saw the lad standing, with El Sabiobeside him, not a dozen feet away from me; and a little beyond them wasthe monk, his face all lighted up with a bright look of happiness andlove. And seeing these three once more standing alive and well before mewas the most amazing and also the very gladdest sight that ever met myeyes. 

It was a sore trial to me that I could not immediately hold conversewith Pablo and with Fray Antonio, and so come to know through whatadventures they had passed, and by what miracles their lives had beensaved; but the ceremony in which our captors were engaged was but halfcompleted, and the better to assure our orderly conduct during itscontinuance we were kept asunder in the procession that then wasformed--the object of which procession, as my knowledge of the Azteccustoms led me rightly to infer, was that the ceremonial of triumphmight be ended by leading us thrice around the sacrificial stone. And intruth I dreaded less the fate which this leading us about the altar ofsacrifice implied was in store for us than I did the close association, made necessary by the ceremony, with the direful stench which that vilealtar exhaled. 

At the edge of the amphitheatre, where already the evil odor was almostoverpowering, the soldiers who had charge of us relinquished us--as itseemed to me, most thankfully--to a company of the temple priests;whereof the chief was a round, fat little man, whose shortness of legsvery obviously was accompanied by a corresponding shortness of wind. Hewas, in truth, a most hopelessly undignified little personage; yet hedid his best to assume a look of dignity as he waddled down the steps inadvance of us, and he manfully endeavored to conceal the difficultiesencountered by his short fat legs in the course of this descent. And Iwas glad enough that we had his absurd performances to distract ourminds a little from the dismalness of our surroundings, and especiallyfrom the queasiness that again beset our stomachs as our noses wereassailed more and more violently by that most evil smell. The priests, Iobserved, had cotton stuffed in their nostrils; but for us there wasnothing for it but to hold our noses tightly with our hands. 

El Sabio, who had a most generous and broadly open nose, and who was notblest with hands to hold it fast with, grew restive as the first whiffstruck him; which resulted less, I suppose, from the intrinsic vilenessof the smell than from the fact that he, in common with all peace-lovinganimals, had aroused in him an instinctive terror by the odor of blood. Pablo's voice, and Pablo's touch, possibly might have soothed andquieted him; but the efforts which the priests who were leading him madeto restrain him only served the more to terrify him, and so to increasehis violence. And the priests, who now for a considerable time had seenhim daily, and had known him only as the most gentle and biddable ofcreatures, were mightily astonished, and evidently were terrified, bythis sudden outbreak of a fierce temper that most reasonably took thementirely by surprise. Partly by pulling at the rope that they had abouthis neck, and partly by such pushes as they dared to give him while hewas momentarily at rest, they succeeded in forcing him down the steps;and so at last into the large circular space at the bottom of theamphitheatre, in the midst of which stood the stone of sacrifice andwhere the smell of blood was overpoweringly strong. But by the time thatthis victory was won El Sabio had ceased to be a quiet orderly donkey, accustomed to conform to the usages of human society, and had become averitable crazy creature, inflamed by the madness of fear and rage. 

[Illustration: EL SABIO'S DEFIANCE]

By some miracle--a very happy miracle for those whom the poor ass mostnaturally regarded as his tormentors--El Sabio's nimble heels had untilthis moment lashed the air harmlessly; but just as the last stepdownward was accomplished he let out both of his hind-legs together, andwith such precision that both of his hoofs struck a remarkably tallpriest who had taken a very active part in persecuting him. The blow waslanded fairly on the tall priest's stomach, and instantly the two longhalves of that priest shut together like a jack-knife, and he fell tothe ground with a gasp that told how thoroughly the wind was knocked outof him. Doubtless this outburst of violence served but to increase ElSabio's terror, for he straightway gave so strong a plunge that hefairly broke away from the men who were holding him; and then he bentall his energies to working such destruction as never was worked by onesingle ass since the very beginning of the world!

Fortunately for our own safety--for El Sabio was in no condition todiscriminate between friends and foes--we still were at some distancefrom the bottom of the amphitheatre when this outbreak occurred; thegreater part of the priests having preceded us, and El Sabio having beenled in the van of the prisoners. It was wholly upon the priests, therefore, that his mad rage was expended, and the way that he "got inhis work, " as Young expressed it, on these enemies of his and ours was ajoyful wonder to behold. Being closely penned in--for the way whencethey had entered the amphitheatre was barred by the crowd of which wewere a part, and the entrance to the subterranean passage leading to thetemple was closed--the priests had no chance to escape from the furiouscreature save by clambering up the smooth wall, fully eight feet high, by which was enclosed the circular space that immediately surrounded thealtar. Even an agile man, going at it quietly, would have found a littledifficulty in executing this gymnastic feat, that required for itsaccomplishment sheer lifting of the body until a leg could be thrownover the top of the wall; and as these priests, for the most part, hadgrown fat and sluggish in their sacred calling, they were wellnighincapacitated from performing it. Furthermore, El Sabio manifested whathad the appearance of being a most diabolical ingenuity--yet that, nodoubt, was no more than chance--in delivering flying kicks against thelegs of these dangling creatures; wherefrom such keen pain resulted thatthey instantly let loose their hold, and came tumbling to the ground. 

So far as we were concerned--our sympathies being wholly on the side ofthe ass--this astonishing spectacle remained a broad farce until thevery end; but it presently became to the men engaged in it a veryserious tragedy. As he made his wild charges, El Sabio galloped backwardand forward again and again over the bodies of his prostrate enemies; inthe course of which gallopings his sharp little hoofs cut their nakedflesh savagely, and now and then, when he happened to land a kick fairlyagainst a man's body, we could see, from the sinking in of the fellow'sribs and the gush of blood that burst from his nostrils, that the asshad delivered a death-blow. 

As for the noise that attended this most extraordinary performance, words can but faintly describe it. From the men directly engaged with ElSabio came yells of fear and shouts for assistance and cries of anger, beneath all of which was a dull undertone of groans; the crowd around usand higher up behind us gave vent to a shrill roar of shouts and yellsthat seemed to be partly in the nature of advice, and partly the resultof that instinct which prompts all barbarians to yell whenever anybodyelse yells, on general principles. Pablo interpolated a most despairingnote in the way of beseeching cries of "B-u-r-r-r-o! B-u-r-r-r-o!"whereby he sought to allay El Sabio's frenzy, and so to save him fromthe direful fate that well might be expected to overtake him inrecompense of his direful deeds; and Young fairly tossed his batteredDerby hat up into the air as he shouted: "Go it, El Sabio! Give it to'em, my boy! Ten t' one against th' fat priest! Three cheers for th'jackass! Hip-hip-hurrah!" In short, it seemed as though Bedlam hadbroken loose among us, and as though all of us together were going mad. 

What with dodging behind his fellows, and keeping clear of El Sabio'sfrantic charges by the display of an agility that I would not have givenhim credit for, the little fat priest managed to preserve his smallround body unharmed until all of his companions had either escaped overthe wall or had been, as Young put it, knocked out by El Sabio's heels. Once or twice he had made a dash for the passage-way in which we werestanding, but the lower end of this was choked with the dozen or morebadly wounded wretches who had crawled thither in their efforts toescape; and these the priests in front of us, being but cowardlycreatures, had made no effort to succor or to lift away, for the reasonthat so long as this barrier remained they themselves were safe from ElSabio's fury. 

Having, therefore, no longer any one to hide behind, the fat littlepriest evidently realized that his only hope of salvation lay in makingan effort, truly heroic in one of his height and girth and wofulshortness of wind, to clamber up the face of the wall; and to thiswellnigh impossible task he most resolutely set himself. It was only byjumping that he was able to get a grip over the top of the wall; yetwhen this grip was gained he could get no farther on his way todeliverance, and so he hung dangling there, his face to the wall, jerking his short fat legs about spasmodically, and wasting in mostpiercing yells what little there was in him of wind. 

It did really seem as though El Sabio's action in these premises wasdictated by reason, for when he saw the priest in this whollyunprotected position he deliberately took his stand at precisely thepoint behind the little man where all of his kicking power could be mosteffectively used. There was a momentary hush as El Sabio thus placedhimself, for every one perceived how very open was the priest toassault; and at the same time it was apparent that while El Sabio'skicks assuredly would be exceedingly painful, they were not likely toinflict upon the priest, while he remained in that attitude, a deadlywound. In an instant the two small heels flashed through the air, andthere was heard a dull, soft sound--such as might come from the strikingof an over-ripe melon with a heavy club--and with this burst forth amost piercing shriek of pain. Yet the little priest, knowing that hislife depended upon it, most gallantly retained his hold. Again El Sabiokicked, and again a piercing shriek sounded; and one hand loosened for amoment and then clutched fast again. But when El Sabio kicked for thethird time human nature was too weak to resist further against bruteviolence. With a yell that fairly cracked our ears the priest let gohis hold and fell downward and backward; and at that same instant ElSabio delivered a final kick that struck fairly on the head of thefalling man and battered in his skull. 

As for El Sabio, it seemed as though he himself were like to die in thevery moment of his victory; for with a sort of groan that, coming from abrute beast, was most pitiful to listen to, the poor terrified creature, utterly exhausted by his fright and his outlay of energy in furiousviolence, sank down panting by the side of the man whom he had slain. 

XXXIII. 

IN THE AZTEC TREASURE-HOUSE. 

Even with El Sabio reduced to this condition of complete quiescence, theAztlanecas, soldiers as well as priests, still were terribly afraid ofhim; being firmly convinced, as was not at all unnatural, that for thetime being there was embodied in him a devil of a most dangerous sort. Therefore they were but too glad to yield to Pablo's burning eagernessto get to the poor ass; and when he called for aid to carry theexhausted creature out from the amphitheatre, and so away from among thedead and wounded and from the dreadful smell of blood, Young and Ipromptly were pushed forward and ordered to perform this piece of workthat even the bravest of them shrunk from undertaking. 

However, there was no real peril in it, for El Sabio was so weak that hecould not even stand, and still less was he strong enough to kickanybody. Lifting him in this dull, limp state, and carrying him up thesteep steps, was heavy work for us, wounded and weary as we were; butwith Pablo's help we managed it, and so got him up from the depths ofthe amphitheatre to its windward side--where a fresh sweet breeze thatwas blowing, and some water that a soldier brought when Pablo called forit, in a little while put new life into him. Why the ass was not made topay the penalty of his sins, by being there and then killed, at firstwas a good deal of a puzzle to me; but presently, from the talk thatwent on about us while Pablo ministered to him, and while the woundedlying around the altar were being cared for, and the dead borne away, Igathered that no one dared to kill him for fear of being himselfpossessed by the devil that needs must enter another body upon beingthus set free. And as this seemed to be a view of the case that wasworth encouraging, I very gravely told one of the priests that I myselfhad seen a man all in an instant go raving mad upon slaying one of thesecreatures and so letting the devil loose from him. As this story wascirculated among the crowd I was glad to perceive that the dread of ElSabio obviously greatly increased. 

As a result of the untoward outbreak that had occurred, no attempt wasmade to complete the ceremonial of triumph. Indeed, the victory now layso decidedly with El Sabio that there was but little to triumph over. Therefore we presently were herded together by a party of soldiers--whotook good care that Pablo should lead the ass, and that Young and Ishould walk directly behind him as a protection against any furtheruplifting of his heels--and so we all were marched once more into thetemple. This time we did not stop in front of the great idol, but wenton beyond it towards a portal in the rear of the building that opened onan inner court; on the farther side of which court, as we knew from thedescription of the place that Tizoc had given us, was theTreasure-house, in which was stored not only the treasure placed therein long past ages by King Chaltzantzin, but also the treasure belongingto the State and to the temple that had been accumulated in later times. 

At the entrance to the court-yard, where the way was closed by a metalgrating over which a heavy curtain hung, the soldiers formallyrelinquished us into the charge of a company of priests; and then thecurtain was drawn aside and the grating was raised, and we passed outinto the bright sunlight--and saw close before us the place which for solong a time had so largely filled our thoughts. It was a building of nogreat size, being but a single story high, and was dwarfed by the vastlystupendous cliffs which so far overtopped it that they seemed to extendupward to the very sky; but it was most massively constructed, and theactual available space within it was far greater than was indicated bythe relatively small dimensions of its exterior walls. When we enteredthe building, through a narrow opening protected by a metal grating, thechamber into which we came was of so considerable a size that a part ofit, we perceived, must extend actually into the cliff; and that the workof quarrying out the living rock had been carried still farther wasshown by an opening at its rear end that evidently gave access to somehollow depth beyond. 

It was towards this inner recess that our guards led us. Here anothergrating was raised that we might pass, and we went onward through anarrow passage cut in the rock, along the sides of which were manyopenings giving access to small cell-like rooms. Nor was this place, aswe had expected to find it, wholly dark; for narrow slits had been cutthrough the rock out to the face of the cliff, through which came somuch light that we could see about us very well. And but for thatblessed light, faint though it was, I doubt not that we should have gonemad there; and even with the light to cheer and to comfort us I felt ablack despair settling down upon me at the thought of being thusimprisoned within the very bowels of the mountain, with no possibilityof other release than being taken thence to die. 

At the extreme end of the passage the rock had been hollowed awaysmoothly and carefully so as to form a chamber nearly thirty feet squareand at least twenty feet high, whereof all the walls were covered withplates of gold which overlapped each other in the manner of fishes'scales; and advantage had been taken of some wide crevice or deepdepression in the cliff above to open in the roof of this chamber asmall aperture, whence a pale light entered in long fine rays whichgleamed through the shadows, and gleamed again more faintly inreflections from the golden walls. In this oratory--for such itevidently was--stood a statue, smaller than that in the temple yet stillmore magnificently arrayed, of the god Huitzilopochtli; before whichodious image we were thrown upon our faces by our guards. When thisceremony was ended we were led forth once more into the passage, and sointo two of the little cells which had been meagrely prepared for us bytossing into each of them a bundle of mats; and there our guards left usto shift for ourselves--shutting the grating behind them with a sharpringing of metal on stone that echoed dismally through the rock-hewnchambers wherein we were held fast. 

For a while we stood in melancholy silence about the stretcher on whichpoor Rayburn lay; and very pale and worn he looked after his great lossof blood and heavy fatigue and the pain and excitement of the last fewhours. Pablo had taken up his quarters with El Sabio in a cell on theopposite side of the passage--for within the limits of our prison wewere left to arrange ourselves as we pleased--and we could hear himtalking to the ass in a fashion that at any other time we should havelaughed at; for by turns he upbraided him for his rash acts, andcomplimented him upon his bravery, and expressed dread of the punishmentthat might be visited upon him, and told him of his very tenderlove--all of which, so far as we could judge, El Sabio took in equallygood part. 

"There ain't no good in standin' 'round here doin' nothin', " Young said, at last. "This don't look like much of a place t' break out of, but wemay as well see how things are, anyway. Th' Padre'd better take asquint at Rayburn's busted leg an' set th' bandages straight; an' whilehe's attendin' t' that, me an' you, Professor, can do a littleprospectin'. This is th' Treasure-house, for sure, an' it'll be somesatisfaction t' see what it amounts to. I'll bet a hat there ain'tanything worth havin' in th' whole place, after all. "

I was glad enough to have any occupation that would change even a littlethe sad current of my thoughts, and I therefore very willingly acted onYoung's suggestion--after first making sure that Fray Antonio had noneed of help in his work of dressing Rayburn's wound--and together weset about this curious exploration; that had in it a strong charm forme, notwithstanding my heavy sorrow, because of the possibility that itopened of finding curious traces of a new community so far advanced incivilization as was that which the King Chaltzantzin had brought withhim into this valley a thousand years ago. Here, unquestionably, was theoldest deposit of the belongings of any of the primitive dwellers uponthe American continent; and I trembled a little with excitement at thethought of what archæological treasures I here might find--and then Iheaved suddenly a long sigh as I remembered how useless in my presentcase would be even the most brilliant of discoveries. 

As for Young's bet of a hat that there was no treasure here worthhaving, he would have lost it, had it been accepted, at the very firstof the rooms which we examined; for the whole of this room, a cube ofabout ten feet, was packed full of bars of hardened gold from the mineat Huitzilan. And so was the next room, and the next, until we had foundfive rooms thus filled. But all the remaining rooms were entirely empty, and of the treasure set aside in long past ages by King Chaltzantzinthere was no sign. Yet here, truly, was stored wealth the like of whichthe richest monarch in the world could not match for greatness; and asYoung beheld before him such enormous riches his face grew ruddy, aneager light came into his eyes, the muscles of his throat workedconvulsively, and his breathing was labored and short--until Idemolished all his fine fancies at a blow by saying: "Much good thistreasure is to us, when there isn't a ghost of a chance that either ofus ever will get out of this valley alive!" As I uttered these bitterwords his look of animation left him, and for some moments he wassilent; and when at last he spoke, it was in a tone of calm thoughmelancholy conviction, and with a most dispassionate air. 

"I shall be obliged t' you, Professor, really obliged t' you, " he said, "if you'll just kick me for a blasted fool. Ever since that night inMorelia when you told me an' Rayburn about this treasure I've regularlyhad it on my brain. Through all these months I've been thinkin' about itwhen I was awake an' dreamin' about it when I was asleep. An' it's truefor a fact, Professor, that never until this blessed minute, when we'vereally struck it, has th' notion come into my fool head that when we didketch up with it the folks it rightly b'longed to might want t' keep itfor theirselves! Yes, just kick me, please. Just kick me for a forlorn, mis'rable, blasted fool!"

I was not disposed to laugh at Young's words; rather was I disposed toweep over them. For they brought freshly and strongly to my mind thefact that I was responsible for alluring him, by the hope of acquiringgreat riches quickly, into this accursed valley, where in a little whilehe would be most barbarously done to death. And I knew too that I wasresponsible for the like fate that must overtake Rayburn, and that inregard to Pablo my guilt was greatest of all. It was a comfort to me, truly, that not one of these ever by look or word reproached me for thusso wofully misleading them; and yet, in a certain way, their veryforbearance but added to my pain. 

Therefore was I a little gladdened, when we returned again to theothers, to find that Fray Antonio was speaking to Rayburn, with a grave, calm hopefulness, of those spiritual realities which are higher andbetter than material realities, and without steadfast trust in which, most of us, in the course of this sorrowful thing that we call life, assuredly would go mad in sheer despair. And listening to thiscomforting discourse, which was not checked by our return, did much tostrengthen me to bear my heavy load of vain regret. Presently FrayAntonio shifted his ground--for he had the wisdom to speak but shortlyon these grave topics, yet using always pregnant words which sank downinto men's hearts and germinated there--and told us of what had befallenhim since he had stolen away from us that night in Huitzilan. 

In truth, he had but little to tell, for his adventures had been of avery simple kind. Upon his arrival in the canoe at the water-gate hehad been at once recognized and admitted, and had been carried directlyto the building in which, on our first coming into the city, we all hadbeen confined. And there he had been imprisoned until he was led up tothe temple to take part in the triumph that El Sabio's violence soseriously had marred, and so once more was in our company. Of the PriestCaptain he had seen nothing at all; nor had any answer come back to himfrom that dignitary to his urgent plea that, inasmuch as he had thussurrendered himself, his companions--that is, ourselves--should besuffered to leave the valley in peace; which silence on the part of thePriest Captain was not surprising, however, in view of the bravedefiance in words sent by the Tlahuicos, who afterwards were suchcowards in deeds. 

In fact, during the brief time of his imprisonment Fray Antonio had notspoken to a soul save the man who brought him drink and food. Yet histalk with this man, scant though it had been, had filled him with thehope that, could he only hold free converse with the people at large, even as he had done at Huitzilan, the purpose that he had in mind incoming into the valley would be fulfilled. Although a priest of thetemple, his jailer had listened with a most earnest and hearty attentionto the expounding of Christian doctrine that was opened to him, and hadshown a very cheering willingness to recognize the shortcomings of hisown idolatrous belief as compared with the principles of this purer andnobler faith. And he had told Fray Antonio that many of his companionsin the service of the temple, having heard somewhat of the new creedfrom those who had tome up from Huitzilan, were eager to know moreconcerning it; so that it would seem, Fray Antonio declared, as thoughthere were a harvest there ready to be reaped to Christianity by hishand. The case was such, he thought, that could he but speak publicly tothe multitude, and especially could there but be vouchsafed from Heavensome sign by which the verity of his words might be established, he yetwould win to the glorious Christian faith this whole community, that, through no fault of its own, until that time had remained lost inheathen sin. 

Rayburn and I exchanged glances as Fray Antonio spoke of aid being givenhim in his work by a sign from Heaven, for to our notions the time ofmiracles was a long while past. But Fray Antonio, as we knew (for onceor twice we three had spoken together of this matter), did not at allhold with us in believing that miracle-working had come to an end; andindeed his faith was entirely logical; for, as he himself put it, thosewho believed that miracles ever had been wrought for the advancement ofChristianity could not reasonably draw a line at any year since theChristian Church was founded, and say that in that year miracles ceasedto be. In this matter, as in many others, the resemblance between FrayAntonio and the founder of his Order, Saint Francis of Assisi, was verystrong. 

Pablo's experience as a prisoner had been of a far more trying sort; forthe priests had sought earnestly, he said, by most stringent means, topervert him from Christianity to their own faith. When we had been sorudely separated that day, after our interview with the Priest Captain, he, and El Sabio with him, had been hurried up the stairs to the temple, and thence to the Treasure-house; and there, though not in the part ofit in which we then were, he had been ever since confined. Strongmeasures certainly had been taken to make a heathen of him. He had beenstarved for a while, and he had been deprived of water, and he had beencruelly scourged, and very harrowing presentments had been made to himof the death that he must die should he much longer refuse to yield. That the lad had remained firm in his faith, he told us, sobbing alittle at memory of his hardships, was because of the sorrow that heknew his yielding would bring upon Fray Antonio and upon me; whichcertainly was not the reason that Fray Antonio most would have approved, but it did not in the least detract from the steady courage that he hadshown in holding out firmly under pressure that would have made many aman succumb. In all the time that so many cruelties had been practisedupon him, only one man had shown him kindness--an old man, who seemed tobe in charge of the archives that the Treasure-house contained, whotwice had risked his own life by secretly giving him water and food. Buthe never had been separated from El Sabio, Pablo said joyfully, inconclusion, nor had his mouth-organ been taken away from him; and theseblessings had done much to lessen the misery that he was compelled tobear. 

When, in our turn, Rayburn and Young and I had told of the far morestirring adventures that we had passed through, and of our high hopesseemingly so well founded that had suffered so dismal a downfall, we allof us wisely refrained from speculating at all upon the future; insteadof which profitless and painful topic we strove to speak cheerfully ofindifferent matters; and this we did not only that we might the betterkeep our hearts up, but that we might not excite Rayburn, who alreadywas in a dangerously feverish condition by reason of his wound. But, though we spoke not of it, we none of us doubted what our fate would be;nor did we imagine that the death that surely awaited us would be longdelayed. 

It was a source of wonder to us, therefore, that day after day went bywithout bringing the end that we so confidently expected. From the manwho brought us our food we could learn nothing; but this was not fromill-will on his part, but because he himself knew nothing of the PriestCaptain's plans. This man, though a priest, was not unkindly disposedtowards us, and he even listened to the words which Fray Antonioaddressed to him touching Christian doctrine; but while helistened--being made of a sterner stuff than the priest who previouslyhad been Fray Antonio's jailer--he gave no sign of assent. The onlyother person whom we had a chance to speak with, and this but rarely, was the old man who had shown kindness to Pablo, the guardian of thearchives--who, by right of his official position, had free access tothat portion of the Treasure-house from which the second grating cut usoff. At the grating he and I had some very interesting conversationstogether upon archæological matters; but Fray Antonio took but littleinterest in him when he found how slight was the impression made uponhim by the most serious of doctrinal talk. In truth, this oldfellow--wherefore my own heart warmed to him--was wholly given to thestudy of antiquities; and so full was his mind of this delightfulsubject that there was no room left in it for thoughts about religionsof any sort. He was entirely catholic in this matter, for his unconcernrespecting Christianity was neither more marked nor less marked than washis unconcern toward his own avowed faith. 

Many curious things this old man told me touching the history of hispeople; and he showed me, also, the manner in which their annals werekept--an obvious evolution from the picture-writing of the Aztecs thathad advanced to a stage closely resembling the cross between ideaographsand an alphabet that the Coreans use--all of which I have dealt withexhaustively in my larger work. And he told me also, with a wonder thatdid not seem uncalled for, that several times in each year the PriestCaptain retired to the very place in which we then were imprisoned, andremained there sometimes for as much as a whole month cut off from hispeople, without food or drink, while he communed with the gods. 

But what seemed strange to me, and also bitterly disheartening, was thatthis old man, notwithstanding the office that he held and his hungrylove for ancient things, could tell me nothing of the treasure that KingChaltzantzin had stored away. He knew of this treasure, he said, onlyas a vague tradition; and although, at one time or another, he hadexplored every chamber in the Treasure-house, he never had found of thisancient deposit the smallest trace; for which excellent reason he hadconcluded that if ever there had been such a treasure it long since hadbeen dispersed. No doubt--considering how useless to me, beyond the meregratification of my own curiosity, would have been its discovery--myregret at this abrupt ending of my hopes was most unreasonable; but Iconfess that, so far as I myself was concerned, the very keenest pang ofsorrow that I suffered through all that sorrowful time was when I thuslearned that the archæological search that I had entered upon sohopefully, and that I had so laboriously prosecuted, had been but afool's errand from first to last. 

XXXIV. 

A MARTYRDOM. 

Heavily and wearily the days dragged on as we lay in that dismal prisonhewn from the mountain's heart; and as they slowly vanished there stoleupon us a new sorrow, that was deeper and more searching than thedoubting dread by which we were beset touching the cruel ending of ourlives. 

Rayburn's wound--a very savage cut in the thigh, made by the jagged edgeof a maccahuitl--from the first had been a dangerous one; and the dangerhad been aggravated by inflammation that had followed that long, hotjourney across the lake, and by the rough handling that his bearers hadgiven him, and by the excitement that had attended El Sabio's fieryoutburst beside the sacrificial stone. Even Fray Antonio's skill insurgery, without which he assuredly would have quickly died, only barelysufficed to keep him alive while the fever was upon him; and when atlast the fever left him, the little strength remaining to him grew lesswith every passing day. It was pathetic to see this man, who until thenhad been the very embodiment of rugged vigor, so worn with sufferingthat without Fray Antonio's tender assistance he scarce could move; andstill more pathetic was it to hear him moaning in his pain, and utteringheart-sick longings for sunlight and fresh air, for need of which, FrayAntonio affirmed, he was dying there quite as much as because of hiswound. Indeed, the chill chamber in the rock where he was lying was nofit place even for a well man at that time to dwell in; for the seasonof rains had come, and all the nights were cold and damp, while throughthe afternoons and in the night-time, during which portions of the daythe rain fell in torrents, the whole mountain was shaken by thetremendous peals of thunder which roared and crashed about its crest. 

It was after one of poor Rayburn's pitiable outbreaks of weak moaningthat Young led me away into the oratory, with the evident intention ofdelivering himself of some matter that pressed heavily upon his mind. 

"See here, Professor, I just _can't_ stand this any longer, " he said, when we were alone. "I'm goin' t' send word t' th' Priest Captain t'ask him if finishin' me off in short order won't make him willin' t' letRayburn out o' this damp hole into some place where he can becomfortable, an' where in th' mornin's he can get some sun an' air. Rayburn won't mind bein' squarely killed after he's healthy again. Heain't th' kind t' be afraid of anything when he's feelin' all right. Butit's just infernal cruelty t' kill him this way--it wouldn't be fair toa dog. So I'm goin' t' try what I can do. It's nothin' much t' do, anyway--only runnin' a little ahead o' th' schedule, that's all. "

Oddly enough, something of a like purpose had been for some time pastslowly forming in my own mind--though what I intended to do would have, I hoped, still better consequences; for my notion was to urge that forthe pleasure that could be had from killing me, my companions should begiven such freedom as was to be found in that rock-bound region beyondthe Barred Pass. Therefore, when Young thus brought up the matter openlybetween us, I told him of my own intention; and with some emphasis Iadvised him that inasmuch as I first had thought of it, to me belongedthe right to carry this project into execution; and especially was thisright mine, I urged, because but for me neither he nor any of the restof us--saving only, possibly, Fray Antonio--ever would have come intothat valley at all. Thereupon we fell to wrangling somewhat hotly; forYoung was a most pig-headed man when his mind was set upon anything, andhis notions of argument even at the best of times were of the loosestkind. 

How our talk might have ended I cannot tell, for each of us mostresolutely was determined to have his own way; but it actually did endbecause of an interruption by which we presently learned that a willfiner and stronger than either of ours had been acting, while we hadbeen only thinking, in a fashion that cut the ground completely fromunder us both. And all that followed within the next hour or two cameupon us with so startling a suddenness that it seemed less like realitythan like a terrible dream. 

The first intimation that we had that anything was upon us out of thecommon run of our drearily dull prison life was hearing a creaking noisethat we knew must be caused by the raising of the grating that shut usin; and as we hurried out from the oratory into the long passage-way wesaw a company of soldiers coming towards us, at the head of which was apriest. Fray Antonio and Pablo, startled as we had been by the soundcaused by the opening of the grating and the tramp of feet, also hadcome out into the passage; but while Pablo evidently was wondering, evenas we were wondering, what might be the purpose that these men had cometo execute, the look upon the monk's face was of expectation rather thanof surprise. And without waiting for the others to speak, he asked, eagerly: "Is it to be?"

"It is to be, " the priest answered; and it seemed to me that there wassorrow in the look that went with his words, and sorrow also in the toneof his voice; and that this man truly was sorrowful because of themessage that he brought I doubt not, for he was the priest who had beenjailer to Fray Antonio, and whose mind had seemed so open to receive thedoctrine that Fray Antonio taught. 

But there was only joy in the bearing of the monk as his question thuswas answered; and there was a ringing gladness in his voice as hereplied--being most careful first to draw us away from the room in whichRayburn was lying--to our looks of wondering inquiry. "The PriestCaptain has granted my request, " he said, and added quickly: "Do notsorrow for me, my friends. Dying for the Faith is the most gloriousending that life can have; and happier still is he to whom, with thisrare privilege, is given also that of dying that those whom he loves mayyet be saved alive. The Priest Captain has promised that when I havepaid this little debt of life you whom I love so greatly shall gofree--"

"Don't you believe him! He's a blasted liar from the word go!" Youngstruck in, clean forgetting, in the passionate sorrow that was rising inhis breast, that what Fray Antonio so plainly had in mind to do hehimself had been most strongly bent upon doing but a moment before. ButYoung spoke in English, and without heeding him Fray Antonio went on:"You two, and the boy, surely will live; and perhaps life may be givenalso to our friend. He is in God's hands. And then, until----"

But further speech was not permitted to him. Two soldiers steppedforward and grasped his arms, yet first suffering him for a moment toclasp hands with us, and so led him towards the open grating; and behindhim Young and I and Pablo were conducted in a like fashion by theguards. As we passed the room in which Rayburn lay we heard him moaningfaintly; and so weak was he that it seemed to me a very likely thing forus to find him dead there upon our return--if, indeed, we ever returnedat all. 

As we passed out into the inner court of the temple, where the sum shonejoyously--for the day still was young, and the rain-clouds had but begunto gather about the mountain peaks--we heard a murmur in the air likethe distant sound of bees buzzing; and as we entered the rear portal ofthe temple this sound grew louder, yet still was soft and blurred. Inthe temple, Fray Antonio was separated from us, being led towards theinner entrance of that subterranean passage which opened into the pit ofthe amphitheatre; and as we went onward to the great portal in thetemple's front we cast towards him sorrowful looks, in which all thebitter pain that was in our hearts was concentrated, but had in answerfrom him, as he walked with elate bearing between his guards, only looksof most joyful hope in which was also a very tender love. 

The noise that at first had seemed to us like bees buzzing grew louderas we advanced, until, when we came out upon the open space before thetemple, it swelled into a mighty roar. And there the cause of it wasplain to us; for before us lay the great amphitheatre crowded with aseething multitude, and all the thousands gathered there were utteringsavage cries of delight at thought of the savage spectacle that now in afew moments would gladden their fierce hearts. In the midst of thistumult we were hurried into a sort of balcony, heavily built of stone, that hung upon the slope of the amphitheatre; just behind and abovewhich was a much larger balcony of richly wrought stone-work that wascovered by a canopy of colored stuffs, and that had in its midst a sortof throne. And at sight of us a great shout went up, that in a momentdied away into a hush of silence as the Priest Captain, with a companyof priests about him, entered the balcony behind us and took his seatupon the throne. 

But in another instant the shouting burst forth again as Fray Antoniocame out from the passage that opened beneath us, and in a moment waslifted bodily by his guards and placed upon the Stone of Sacrifice inplain view of all. I wondered as I saw that only soldiers accompaniedhim, and that there was no sign of the coming of the priests by whom thesacrifice would be made. But my wonder ceased, and the burning pain thatthen consumed me was a little lessened, as there came forth from theunderground passage, guarded by four soldiers, a very tall, strongIndian, whose muscles stood out in great knots upon his lithe body andlegs and arms, and immediately following him six others no lesspowerful--for then I knew that Fray Antonio was not to die the cruel andbloody death of a sacrificial victim, but was to have, in accordancewith the Aztec custom, such chance of life as was to be found infighting these seven men in turn and receiving his freedom when he hadslain them all. Yet as I looked at the slim figure of the monk, and thenat these burly giants ready to be pitted against him, I knew that butone result could issue from that unequal combat; and a sudden dizzinesscame upon me, and for a moment all around me was dark. Nor was thismomentary darkness wholly imaginary; for just then--with a low growl ofdistant thunder--a fragment broke away from the great mass of blackcloud that hung upon the crest of the cliff above us and driftedsluggishly across the face of the sun. 

When my dizziness had passed, and I could again see clearly, the warriorwas standing upon the Stone of Sacrifice--naked save for hisbreech-clout, and armed with a round shield and a maccahuitl of hardenedgold. The monk still wore his flowing habit, whence the hood had fallenback, so that his head was bare; in one hand he held his crucifix, andwith the other he was motioning away the sword and shield that a soldierheld out to him: at sight of which refusal on his part to be armed therewas a shrill outcry among the multitude that the fight would not befair; and to this sharp noise of strident voices there was added asolemn undertone that came in a low roll of thunder from the overhangingcloud. 

[Illustration: FRAY ANTONIO'S APPEAL]

As though to still the clamor, the monk waved his hand; and when at thissign the outcries ceased, he asked--yet addressing not the PriestCaptain but the whole mass of people gathered there--if certain wordswhich he desired to utter would be heard. And in answer to him therewent up a shout of assent, in which was drowned completely (save thatwe, being close beneath him, heard it) the Priest Captain's order thatthe fight should begin. And it struck me that the Priest Captain showedhis appreciation of the critical situation with which he then wasdealing, and his dread of the forces which an ill-timed word inopposition to the will of the multitude might let loose against him, byrefraining from repeating his order when silence came again, and all thethousands gathered there leaned forward eagerly to hearken to what FrayAntonio would say. 

And what he did say was the most moving and the most exalted deliverancethat ever came forth from mortal man. To that great multitude hepreached there shortly, but with an eloquence that I doubt not was borndirectly of heavenly inspiration, a sermon so searching, so full ofGod's great love and tenderness, and so full also of the majesty of Hislaw and of the long-suffering of His mercy and loving-kindness, thatevery word of it falling from his lips seemed to burn into the depths ofall those heathen hearts. My own heart was thrilled and shaken as itnever had been stirred before, and the boy Pablo wept as he listened;and even Young, to whom the spoken words had no meaning, grew pale, andsweat gathered upon his forehead as his soul was moved within him by theinfinitely beseeching tenderness of Fray Antonio's voice: for mostwonderfully did his voice rise and fall in its cadenced sweetness andentreaty, and there was a strangely vibrant quality in his tones thatmatched the tenor of his words, and so held all that vast multitudespellbound. 

As he spoke on, a hush fell upon them who listened; and then through thethrong a tremor seemed to run, but less a sound of actual speech than asubtle manifestation that in a moment a great outburst of assent wouldcome, and I felt within me that the work which Fray Antonio had dareddeath to accomplish already was triumphantly concluded; and so waited, breathless, to hear this heathen host proclaim its glad allegiance tothe Christian God. 

But the Priest Captain also perceived how imminent was the danger thatmenaced the ancient faith, and dared to take the one chance left forsaving it, and that a desperate one, by breaking in upon Fray Antonio'sdiscourse with a ringing order that the fight should be no longerdelayed; whereat a deep growl of dissent ran through the crowd, that wasechoed in a still deeper roar of thunder in the dark sky. In truth, thegathering of the storm in the heavens above seemed to be wholly inkeeping with the storm that with an equal celerity was gathering on theearth below. There was a heavy languor, a dense stillness in the air, and the cloud above us had drifted out from the face of the cliff so farthat it now hung over all the city like a vast black canopy. From thissombre mass, that buried all beneath it in gloomy shadows, flashes oflightning shot forth that each moment increased in fiery intensity, andthe rolling roar of thunder each moment grew louder and sharper in itsdark depths. Even as the Priest Captain spoke there came a yet morevivid flash, and almost with it a crashing peal. 

At the word of command, so vehemently given, the warrior faced aboutupon Fray Antonio, and held high aloft his sword; but the monk, firmlystanding there, while in his eyes shone so glorious a light that itseemed as though the wrath of outraged Heaven blazed forth from them, opposed to this earthly weapon only his out-stretched crucifix, and thusconfronted the death that menaced him with so splendid a bravery thatfor an instant his huge antagonist was held still by a wonder that wasborn half of admiration and half of awe; and in the breathless hush ofthat supreme moment Fray Antonio cried out, in tones so clear and soringing that his words were heard by all the thousands gathered there:

"I call for help upon the living and the only God!"

And even as these words still sounded in our ears there shot forth fromthe cloud above us a swift red flash of blinding light, and with thiscame a crash of thunder so mighty that the cliffs above strained andquivered, and great fragments of rock came hurtling down from them, anda shivering trembling surged through the whole mountain, so that we feltit swaying beneath our feet. 

And as we gazed in awe, through the gloom that from all parts of theheavens was gathering towards the height whereon we were, we saw beforeus God's wrath made manifest; for the warrior, still holding raised themetal sword that had tempted death to him, trembled, reeled a little, swayed gently forward, and then, with, a sudden jerk, swayed backwardagain, and so fell lifeless--his bare right arm, and all the length ofhis naked body to his very heel marked by a livid streak of bloodypurple that showed where the thunder-bolt had passed. For a moment themonk also seemed stunned; and then, kneeling beside thatlightning-blasted corpse, and holding his hands out-stretched towardsheaven, whence his deliverance had come, he cried in a clear strongvoice, of which the solemn tones rang vibrant through that awfulsilence: "The Christian God liveth and reigneth! Believe on Him whoselove and whose mercy are not less tender than is terrible Histranscendent power!"

There was no mistaking the thrill of movement that ran through themultitude as these words were spoken. I drew a long breath ofthankfulness, for I felt that Fray Antonio was saved, and that inanother instant my ears would be nigh burst by the thunderous roar ofall those thousands--won to him by his own most moving eloquence, and bysight of the miracle whereby his deliverance had been wrought--that heshould be set free. 

And in this instant--in the very moment that this sigh escaped me, whileyet the pause lasted before that great shout came--the Priest Captainsprang from, his seat above us into the balcony where we prisoners stoodguarded, on downward into the arena below, and thence upon the Stone ofSacrifice--all with a demoniac agility most horrible to look upon in oneof his withered age--and there, with a fierce thrust of a spear that hehad caught from a soldier's hand in passing, he pierced Fray Antoniobetween the shoulders straight through the heart; and the monk, stillgrasping in his hands his crucifix, fell face downward upon the Stone ofSacrifice, and lay there dead!

Then Itzacoatl, standing with one foot upon the monk's dead body, andgrasping still the spear that he had planted in that noble heart, criedout, triumphantly, "Behold the victory and the vengeance of our Aztecgods!"

And the multitude, swayed backward from the very threshold of theChristian faith, shouted together in one mighty voice, "Victory andvengeance for our gods!"

XXXV. 

THE TREASURE-CHAMBER. 

Close in the wake of that great thunder-crash there burst upon us somighty a flood of rain that it seemed as though the lightning had rivensolid walls asunder within the thick black mass of overhanging vapour, and so had let loose upon us the waters of a lake. In a moment the wholepit of the amphitheatre was awash, knee-deep, and before those who werestanding there could flounder to the steps leading upward they wereburied to their waists--and this although the water was pouring outthrough the vent provided for it with such violence that we could hearthe rush and gurgle of it above the dashing and roaring of the fallingrain. And all the dark mass of cloud above us was aflame continuouslywith blinding flashes of red lightning, while a continuous crash ofsplitting peals of thunder rang through the shattered air. 

Doubtless this storm was our salvation. That the Priest Captain'sintention, even from the first, had been to kill us also, and so makehis victory complete, I do not for a moment doubt; but he was too shrewdto waste upon a few terrified spectators an exhibition that would carrywith it a salutary demonstration of his power; and with the bursting ofthe flood upon us, the crowd that filled the amphitheatre had begun atumultuous flight to the temple; going thither partly for shelter, andpartly being awe-struck by what had passed before them and by thetremendous fury of the storm, that they might find safety in theabiding-place of their gods. 

Therefore, the order was given hurriedly that we should be taken back toour prison; in obedience to which command our guards led us through thetemple--where they had difficulty in forcing a way for us through thedense throng that had gathered within its walls--and thence to theTreasure-house beyond; and they were in such haste to be quit of us, that they also might seek safety in the temple, that they scarce waitedto close the grating behind us before they sped away. 

So overwhelming was the grief that had fallen upon us that for somemoments we stood as though stunned where the guards had left us; and, for myself, my one regret was that the chance of the storm, by saving meyet a little while longer alive, had lost to me the happiness of dyingin the same hour with the friend whom I had so strongly loved. I thinkthat this thought was in Young's heart also, as he stood there silentbeside me, the blood so drawn away from his face that a dull yellowpallor overspread his bronzed skin, while his breath came short andhard. As for the boy Pablo, his whole being was shattered. He sank downon the rock at our feet, and seemed to be moaning his very life out inlong quivering sobs. 

But presently, as our minds grew steadier, the thought of Rayburn cameto us; and the strain upon our heart-strings was relaxed a little byremembering that our lives still were worth holding fast to in orderthat we might minister to his needs. Yet when we came again into theroom where he lay, it seemed at first as though he also was lost to us;for even in that faint light we saw that his face was a deadly white, and when we spoke to him he neither spoke nor moved. But, happily, ourdread that he had died in that gloomy solitude was not realized; for asI laid my hand upon his bare breast I felt his heart feebly beating, andat the touch of my hand he sighed a little, and then slowly opened hiseyes. 

"He's only swounded, " Young cried, joyfully. "It's th' smotherin'shut-upness o' this forlorn hole he's lyin' in. There's a little moreair out in th' big room. Just grab t'other end o' th' stretcher, Professor, an' we'll yank him out there--nobody's likely t' come in t'stop us while this storm lasts. An'--an' we must be careful how we talk, Professor, y' know, " he added, in a lower tone, as we raised thestretcher. "It won't do for him t' know about--about _it_ now. " Therewas a break in Young's voice as he spoke, and I could feel by themomentary quiver of the stretcher that a shiver went through him as hethought of that "it, " about which we must for a time hold our peace. 

Young bore the forward end of the stretcher, and as we came into theoratory I felt him start as he exclaimed, "What th' devil's broke loosehere?"

The darkness of the storm outside shrouded the oratory in a duskytwilight; but even through the shadows which lay thick about us we couldsee that there had been within this chamber some outbreak ofextraordinary and tremendous violence; for the image of the godHuitzilopochtli had been cast down and broken into fragments, and justbehind where it had stood there was a dark rift in the gold-plating ofthe walls, where several plates had been wrenched bodily away. 

A strong odor of sulphur hung heavily in the air, and, as I perceivedit, the whole matter was plain to me. But Young sniffed at this odorsuspiciously when we had brought the stretcher gently to rest upon thefloor, and in a startled voice exclaimed, "Th' devil has been bustin'around in here for sure, an' he's left his regular home-made stink for agive-away!" and as he spoke there was manifest a decided bristling ofhis fringe of hair. 

I could not help smiling at this quaint proof of the shattered conditionof Young's nerves--for, under ordinary circumstances, he was the verylast man in the world to place faith in things supernatural--but Ianswered him promptly: "Then the devil did a stroke of honest businessat the same time, for all this is the work of the same thunder-bolt, orof a part of it, that killed that Indian. Didn't you hear the rocksflying from the cliff where it struck?"

"That's just what I was goin' t' say myself, " Young replied, a littleawkwardly. "An' that's what's the matter with Rayburn, an' made himswound away. How d' you find yourself now, old man?" he went on--ratherglad to change the subject, I fancied--as Rayburn, at sound of his ownname, moved a little. 

"I feel queer, " Rayburn answered. "Sort of numb and dizzy. Where's thePadre?"

"An' it's not much blame to you that you do feel queer, " Young replied, hurriedly. "This last thing you've taken it into your fool head t' do isbein' busted all t' bits by a stroke o' lightnin'. Most folks would 'a'been satisfied with havin' their legs pretty much sliced off byInjuns--but reasonableness ain't your strongest hold, Rayburn; an' Iguess it never was. "

Rayburn smile faintly as Young spoke, but instead of attempting toanswer him--being still numbed by the heavy shock that he hadreceived--he settled his head back upon the rolled-up coat that servedhim for a pillow, and languidly closed his eyes. Whereupon Young, seeingthat there was nothing further that we could do for his comfort, betookhimself--as his bent at all times was when any strange matter presenteditself, and in this case with the half-crazed eagerness with which thoseupon whom a great sorrow has fallen seek instinctively to engage theirminds with any trifling matter that will change the current of theirthoughts--to investigating carefully the work of destruction that thethunder-bolt had wrought: examining the fragments of the idol, and theloosened plates of gold and the place on the wall whence these last hadbeen wrenched away; which examination was the easier because thestorm-cloud was leaving us--though the almost continuous loud rolling ofthe thunder still stunned our ears--and a stronger light came in throughthe opening in the roof. 

I seated myself beside Rayburn and paid no attention to what Young wasdoing; for my brooding sorrow was like a slow fire consuming me--as thetragedy that I had but just witnessed, and the infinite pathos thatthere was in seeing Rayburn thus miserably dying, overwhelmed me with adesolate despair. Even when Young called to me, in a tone so eager andso penetrating that at any other time I should have been startled intoquick action by his words, I did not rouse myself to answer him; though, in a dull way, I knew that he would not thus have spoken unless somematter of great moment had aroused the full energy of his mind. 

"Professor! I say, Professor!" he repeated: "Get right up and come here. Don't sit there like a chuckle-headed chump. Get up, I tell you. Here'ssome sort of a show for us. Here's what looks like a way out o' thisGod-forsaken hole!"

As I heard these words I did get up, and in a hurry, and so joined Youngwhere he was kneeling on the floor close beside the rear wall of theoratory, directly behind where the idol had stood until the thunder-bolthad dashed it down. It was at this point, apparently, that the lightninghad entered the chamber; for here several of the plates of gold withwhich the walls were covered--overlapping each other likefish-scales--had been loosened, while three of them had been wrenchedentirely from their fastenings and had fallen down. As I joined him, Young excitedly pointed to the opening thus made, through which wasvisible not a solid wall of rock but a dark cavity, and from which wasblowing a soft current of cool air. 

"It's a way out! It's a way out! I tell you, " he cried. "This suck o'wind proves it. If we only can get some more o' these blasted platesloose we'll light out o' this and euchre the Priest Captain an' hiswhole d--n outfit yet! Ketch hold here, Professor, an' put your muscleinto it for all you're worth. Grab right here; now!" And Young and Itogether pulled at the same plate with all our might and main. But forall the impression that we made upon it we might as well have tried topull down the mountain; the plate did not stir. Young gave a heartycurse (and I confess that hearing him swearing in that natural way againwas a real comfort to me), and then we took another pull; and all thiswhile, so much does the thought of saving his life put cheer into a man, my heart was bounding within me and the hot coursing of my blood seemedlike to burst my veins. Young's fervor was not less than mine, and wewrenched and tugged together, and never stopped to mark our cut andbleeding hands. 

"We've _got_ t' do it!" Young exclaimed, as we paused at last, withouthaving loosened the plate in the least degree. "There's some way o'workin' this thing, I know. It must be some sort of a door, an' if weonly can get th' hang of it we'll be all right. Have you got your windagain, Professor? Let's try 'f we can't sort o' prize this plate out;it's a little loose. Just get your fingers under it an' we'll sort o'pull it up an' out at th' same time. So! Now sling your muscle into it. Heft!"

We were stooping a little, and so had a strong purchase, and with allour united strength we heaved away together. There was a rattling ofmetal, a yielding of the plate so easy that our tremendous effort wasout of all proportion to it; my fingers seemed suddenly to be nipped ina red-hot vice; Young uttered a yell of pain, and then we both weresprawling on our backs on the floor, while in front of us was a broadopening in the wall where a wide section of the panelling had risenupward (the plates sliding up under each other), and so had made an openway. 

"H--ll! how that did hurt!" Young mumbled, with his nipped fingers inhis mouth; and I must say that the vigor of his language was notuncalled for, as I well understood by the pain that I myself wassuffering. I never remember pinching my fingers so badly as I did thenin the whole course of my life. 

However, we did not suffer our hurts, which were not really serious, todelay us in exploring this hidden place that so suddenly and with suchunnecessary violence had opened to us. Pushing upward the ingeniouslycontrived door from the bottom, we easily raised it until an opening wasdiscovered the full height of a man; and through this we went into anarrow passage in the rock that in a moment turned and so brought usinto a room that was nearly as large as the oratory that we had justleft, and that, as we presently found, actually communicated with theoratory by means of two narrow slits high up in the wall; whichapertures here were plainly visible, but on the other side were socleverly disguised by an ingenious arrangement of the overlapping platesas to be entirely concealed. Like the oratory, too, this room had anopening in its roof through which air entered, and so much light that wecould see about us plainly. And the very first glance that I cast aroundme in this strange place assured me that, by sheer accident, we hadfound our way at last to the secret chamber wherein King Chaltzantzin'streasure had lain hidden for a thousand years. 

Rude shelves had been cut in the rock on all four sides of the room, andon these were ranged earthen pots of curious shapes, ornamented withstrange devices that my newly acquired knowledge enabled me torecognize--to express the matter in the terms of our system ofheraldry--as the arms of a king quartered with the arms of certainprincely houses or tribes. On these shelves, also, were many quaintlywrought vessels and some small square boxes, all of which were ofgold--together with a score or so of small idols moulded in clay orroughly carved in stone, in which last the workmanship was so farinferior to that of the earthen-ware pots and golden vessels as to showat a glance that they were the product of a much earlier and ruder age;but belonging to the same age as the gold-work, or to a period evenlater, was a very beautiful Calendar Stone most delicately carved inobsidian, that was identical, save in the matter of size, with the greatCalendar Stone that now is preserved in Mexico in the National Museum. This was placed at one end of the room upon a carved pedestal; and atthe opposite end of the room, the end farthest removed from theentrance, was a great stone image of the god Chac Mool. Lying upon theCalendar Stone was what at first I took to be a cross-bow made of gold;but more careful examination convinced me, especially in view of theplace where I had found it, that this certainly was an arbalest--calledalso a Jacob's staff and a cross-staff--such as in no very ancienttimes, until the invention of the quadrant, was used by Europeans intaking the meridional altitude of the sun and stars. 

At the moment that I made this last most curious and exceedinglyinteresting discovery, Young, who had been investigating on his ownaccount, gave a yell of delight, and bounded towards me flourishing hisown brace of revolvers in his hands. "They're all here!" he cried. "Allour guns are here, an' th 'ca'tridges too! Now we _have_ got the bulgeon these devils for sure!"

As he spoke I also was thrilled with joy at the thought of the vengeancewhich this recovery of our arms might enable us to take upon FrayAntonio's murderers; but my joy was only momentary, for I could not butreflect that, after all, these Aztlanecas had but acted in accordancewith their lights--excepting only the Priest Captain, for whom the mostcruel death would be all too merciful--and that our slaying them wouldnot be vengeance, but mere brutal revenge. Having which thoughts inmind, I answered, "At least we can shoot ourselves with them, and so besafe from death by sacrifice. "

"Not much we won't shoot ourselves, " Young replied, with great energy;"an' nobody's goin' t' come monkeyin' 'round us with sacrifices, either. Why, man alive, we ain't goin' t' stay here--not by a jugful! We'regoin' t' light right out o' this an' be smack off for home. "

"How?" I asked, blankly, and with real alarm; for the hot hope that hadfilled me at the thought of our having found a way of escape hadvanished as I perceived that from this chamber there was no outlet savethe hole in the roof; which hole also accounted for the current of airwhereby my hope had been inspired. Therefore, when Young spoke in thisextravagant fashion, the dread came over me that he was going mad. 

"How?" he answered, "why, through that Jack Mullins, of course. He _is_th' tippin' kind. I was just tryin' him, while you was pokin' 'round inthat old rubbish, when I happened t' ketch sight of our guns; an' seein'them, you bet, made me bounce. Here goes for another shot at him! Sticksomethin' under him t' keep him up when I heave. "

I was so dazed by the stunning wonder and by the joy that Young's wordscarried with them, that I obeyed his order mechanically. With a graveseriousness he seated himself upon the head of the idol; and as thefigure and the stone base upon which it rested settled down at the endupon which he sat, and its other end correspondingly swung upward, showing beneath it a dark opening, I wedged up the mass with a heavyplate of gold that served as the lid of one of the boxes ranged upon theshelves. 

"It won't do for us both together t' go down there, " Young said, as herose from his seat and we peered into the dark cavity. "Mullins mighttake 't into his fool head t' shut himself up while we was down there, an' that ud mean cold weather for Rayburn an' Pablo. I'll just jump downthem steps an' prospect a little, while you look after him t' see thathe keeps steady;" and with these words down he went into the hole. 

In five minutes or so he joined me again. "It don't look like th' nicestplace I ever got into, " he said, "but I guess we'll have t' take th'chances on it. There's a little room down there, an' out o' that a kindof a back entry leads into an everlastin' big cave. But there seems t'be a sort of a path runnin' along in the cave--it's all as dark as th'devil--an' as paths mostly have two ends to 'em, I guess if we keep onlong enough we'll get somewhere. We can't stay here, that's sure, sowe've just got t' risk it, an' th' sooner we get Rayburn down there th'better. When he's solidly safe, then we can do some prospectin'--bygood-luck we've got lots o' matches--an' see where that path goes to. Just sling on your guns, Professor, an' let's mosey back an' get th'percession started. It's hard lines on Rayburn t' tumble him into a holelike that when he's feelin' so bad; but I guess it's better t' take th'chances o' killin' him that way ourselves than it is t' let these devilsdo it for sure. Come on!"

While he was speaking, Young had buckled his revolvers about his waistand had slung his rifle over his shoulder, and I also in like manner hadarmed myself--whereby was restored to me a most comforting feeling ofstrength. As for Young, the recovery of his weapons seemed to make himgrow two inches taller, and he swaggered in his walk. 

XXXVI. 

THE VENGEANCE OF THE GODS. 

Almost in the moment that we thus found ourselves in condition to showfight again, the need for fighting seemed like to be forced upon us; foras we turned to leave the treasure-chamber we were startled by hearing acreaking sound that we knew came from the sliding upward of the gratingin its metal grooves wherewith the entrance to our prison was made fast. 

We paused for a moment, and then Young motioned to me to follow him, stepping lightly; and as we came out into the oratory we heard a freshcreaking, by which we knew that the grating had been closed. 

"I guess it's only th' fellow puttin' in th' grub, " Young whispered. "But go easy, Professor, an' have your guns all handy, so's you canshoot. If anybody _has_ come in it won't do t' let 'em get out again. Only mind you don't shoot unless you really have to. If there's only twoor three of 'em we'd better try t' club 'em with our Winchesters, so'snot t' bring all hands down on us with a rush before we can get Rayburnaway. "

As he spoke, we were assured that some one had entered when the gratingwas raised and had remained on our side of the grating when it wasclosed again, for we heard footsteps in the room where we ordinarilylay; and then the footsteps drew nearer, as though the unseen personwere examining the other rooms in search of us, and we knew that inanother moment or two this person would enter the chamber wherein wewere. Rayburn was lying so quietly that it seemed as though he hadfallen into a swoon again; and Pablo, as we could tell by hearing hissobs, had betaken himself to the room in which El Sabio was tethered insearch of solacing companionship. Young motioned me to stand on one sideof the entrance to the oratory, and himself stood on the other; and thuswe waited, while the footsteps rapidly drew nearer, in readiness mosteffectually to cut off the retreat of whoever might enter the room. 

The man who did enter, passing between us, was the Priest Captain. As hesaw the wreck of the idol, and the opening in the wall behind where theidol had stood, he uttered an exclamation of alarm and rage; and in thesame moment some instinctive dread of the danger that menaced him causedhim to turn suddenly around. So, for an instant, he confronted us--andnever shall I forget the look of malignant hatred that was in his faceas in that instant he regarded us, nor his quick despairing gesture atsight of Young standing there with his rifle raised. Even as he openedhis mouth to cry out, before any sound came from his lips, the heavybarrel of Young's rifle swept downward, and with a groan he fell. 

Had the blow struck fairly it could not but have split the man's skullopen; but he swerved aside a little as the rifle came down, and theweight of the stroke, glancing from his head, fell upon his shoulder. Inan instant, dropping the rifle, Young was kneeling on his breast with ahand buried in the flabby flesh of his old throat, holding tight-grippedhis windpipe. Excepting only Rayburn, Young was the strongest man I everknew (though, to be sure, at that time he was weakened by his thenrecent wound and by the privations of his imprisonment), yet it was allthat he could do to hold that old man down and to maintain his chokinggrasp. With a most desperate energy and a fierce strength that seemedout of all nature in a creature so lean and old and shrivelled, thePriest Captain writhed and struggled in his efforts to throw Young off, and sought also to grasp Young's throat with his long bony hands--whilefoam gathered on his thin lips, and his withered brown face grew blackwith congested blood, and his black eyes protruded until the half of theeyeballs, bloody with bursting reins, showed around the black, dilatedpupils. And then him struggles slowly grew less and less violent, hisknotted muscles gradually relaxed, his mouth fell open so that histongue lolled out hideously, his legs and arms twitched a littlespasmodically--and then he lay quite still. 

[Illustration: YOUNG'S STRUGGLE WITH THE PRIEST CAPTAIN]

For a minute or two longer Young maintained his grasp. Then rising tohis feet, breathing heavily, he wiped the sweat from his face as heexclaimed, at the same moment giving the dead body a vicious kick: "Youblack devil, take that! Now I've squared accounts with you for killin'th' Padre--and it's the best day's work I've ever done!"

Though the struggle between the two had been a very desperate one, therehad been no noise about it. Through the whole fight Rayburn had remainedburied in his death-like stupor; and Pablo, though so near to us, hadheard no sound of it at all. 

"Now, then, Professor, " Young said, when he had got his wind back, "we've got t' bounce. Th' first thing t' do is t' fasten that gratin' onour side, so's nobody can get in here t' bother us while we're doin' ourskippin'. I guess we can sort o' wedge it fast so's t' stand 'em off foran hour or two, anyway, an' that's time enough to give us a fair start. "

"We can do something better than that, I think, " I said, as we wenttogether towards the grating. "Unless I am much mistaken, only thePriest Captain knew about this sliding door and the treasure-chamberbeyond it. If we can restore to their places those three plates, and canclose the door behind us, I am persuaded that so far as pursuit of us isconcerned we shall be absolutely safe. "

"Gosh!" Young exclaimed. "D' you know, Professor, I wouldn't 'a' givenyou credit for havin' that much common-sense. It's a big idea, that is, an' we'll try it on. But, all th' same, we've got t' make things assure as we can, an' this little job must be attended to first. "

As we approached the grating we saw two of the temple guard standingoutside of it, apparently waiting for the Priest Captain's return; andthese men looked at us with such evident suspicion that I feared for thesuccess of our plans. "Just talk to 'em, " Young said, hurriedly. "Talkto 'em about th' last election, or chicken-coops, or anything youplease, while I take a look 'round an' sec how we're goin' t' get thisjob done. "

Young dropped behind me, and then aside and so out of sight, as Iadvanced to the grating and spoke to the men, whose faces somewhatcleared as I told them that the Priest Captain desired that they shouldwait there a little longer. And then I managed to hold their interestfor some minutes while I spoke about the devil that was in El Sabio, andabout other devils of a like sort whom I had known in my time. While Ithus spoke I heard a little tinkling sound, as of metal striking againststone--but if the soldiers also heard it they paid no attention toit--and then Young whispered, "We're solid now; come on!" Whereupon Iquickly ended my imaginative discourse upon demoniac donkeys, and withno appearance of haste we walked away. 

"It was just as easy as rollin' off a log, " Young said, jubilantly. "There was a big gold peg stickin' there all ready t' slide into a slot, so's t' hold th' gratin' down, an' all I had t' do was t' slide it. Iguess, with a plug like that holdin' that gratin' fast, they'll needjacks t' open it. Th' only other way t' start it 'll be rammin' it witha bit o' timber; but bustin' it in that way 'll take a lot o' time, an'half an hour's plenty for all we've got t' do. If you're straight inthinkin' nobody knows about that slidin' door we're solid. "

I felt very sure in my own mind that I was right in believing that onlythe Priest Captain had known of this secret opening; for, after him, themost likely person to have knowledge of it was the keeper of thearchives, and that he was altogether ignorant of it I was well assured. Therefore I most cheerfully helped Young, so far as my unskilful handscould be useful, in the work of restoring the gold plates to the placeswhence the lightning had wrenched them loose; and when this work wasdone, so cleverly did Young manage it, there was no possibility ofdistinguishing the door from any other portion of the wall; nor wasthere then a sign of any sort remaining to show that by the passage of athunder-bolt the idol had been destroyed. 

As we were finishing this piece of work we heard the soldiers at thegrating calling to the Priest Captain--at first in low tones, and thenmore loudly; and then we heard them give a yell together, whichconvinced us that they had tried to raise the grating and had found thatit was fastened down. 

The ten minutes that followed was the most exciting time that I everpassed through. Notwithstanding the secure fashion in which the gratingwas fastened, we could not but dread that those outside had knowledge ofsome means whereby it could be loosened; and in any event there was nodoubt but that they could force a way in upon us by beating it down. Therefore we knew that there was no safety for us until we were fairlyout of the oratory, and had closed behind us the sliding door--and withsuch difficult material to deal with as Rayburn, who still lay in aheavy stupor, and Pablo, whom sorrow had wellnigh crazed, we found ithard to make such haste as the sharp exigency of our situation required. Pablo, indeed, was so lost in wonder at finding the broken idol, and thedead body of the Priest Captain, and a door open in the solid wall, thatwhat little remained of his wits disappeared entirely; so that we hadalmost to carry him--while El Sabio most intelligently followedhim--into the treasure-chamber, and there we left the two together whilewe returned for Rayburn. And as we lifted the stretcher our heartsbounded, for at that instant there was a tremendous crash at thegrating; whereby we knew that those without had brought to bear againstit some sort of a battering-ram that they might beat it in. 

"It's a close call, " Young said between his teeth; and added, as werested the stretcher inside the passage while we closed behind us thesliding door: "If you're off your base, Professor, an' they do know th'trick o' this thing, it may be all day with us yet--but it's a comfortt' know that even if they do finish us we'll everlastin'ly salt 'emfirst with our guns. "

We heard another great crash behind us, but faintly now that the slidingdoor was closed, as we went on ward into the treasure-chamber; and herewe heard the like sound again, more clearly, through the slits cut inthe wall. As gently as our haste, and the awkwardness of that narrowway would permit, we lifted Rayburn from the stretcher, and so carriedhim down the short flight of stairs beneath the upraised statue to thelittle chamber that there was hollowed in the rock. Here we laid himupon the stretcher again; and then, without any ceremony whatever, webundled Pablo and El Sabio down the hole. It was a smaller aperture, even, than that through which we had come forth from the Cave of theDead, and how El Sabio was able to condense himself sufficiently to getthrough it will remain a puzzle to me to my dying day. 

All this while we could hear plainly, through the slits in the wall, thecrashing blows which every minute or so were delivered against thegrating, together with a shrill roar of shouts and yells; and we knewthat before this vigorous assault the grating must give way within avery brief period, and so let in the whole yelping pack. If I were rightin my belief that the Priest Captain alone know of the secret outlet tothe oratory, we still would be safe enough, and could make somepreliminary examination of the cave before we closed the way behind usirrevocably by letting the statue fall back into its place; but if Iwere mistaken, then there was nothing for us but to take the chance oflife and death by going on blindly into that black cavern, after wedgingfast the under side of the statue in such a way that it no longer couldbe swung open from above. 

It was most necessary, therefore, that we should see what course ourenemies would take when they came into the oratory and found it emptyof us, and the idol broken, and the Priest Captain lying dead there;and, that we might compass this end, Young and I returned into thetreasure-chamber and mounted upon a ledge that seemed to have beenprovided for a standing-place--whence we had a clear view into theoratory through the slits in the wall. And at the very moment that wethus stationed ourselves there reverberated through those rock-hewnchambers a deafening crash and a jingling clang of metal and a rattle offalling stone; and with this came a yell of triumph and a rush offootsteps--and then, in an instant, the oratory was full of soldiers andpriests, all yelling together like so many fiends. 

But upon this violent hubbub there fell a hush of awe and wonder asthose who had thus tumultuously entered the oratory saw the PriestCaptain lying dead amid the fragments of the shattered idol, andperceived that the prisoners who had been shut within these seeminglysolid walls had vanished utterly away; and then a sobbing murmur, thatpresently swelled into moans and cries of terror, arose from the throng;and in a moment more, seized by a common impulse, the whole companybowed downward, in suppliant dread of the gods by whom such direfulwonders had been wrought. 

Young gave a long sigh of relief, and with a most mouth-filling oathwhispered in my ear, "They haven't tumbled to it, an' we're all right!"

As we gazed at these terror-stricken creatures, a thought occurred to meon which I promptly acted. "Get both of your revolvers pointed throughthat hole, " I whispered to Young. "Point high, so that the balls willnot hit anybody; and when I begin to shoot do you shoot also, and asquickly as you can. Mind, you are not to hit anybody, " I added; for Isaw by the look on Young's face that he longed to fire into the crowdpoint-blank. For answer he gave me a rather sulky nod of assent; but Isaw by the way that he held his pistols that my order was obeyed. "Now, "I said, "Fire!"--and as rapidly as self-acting revolvers would do it, wepoured twenty-four shots through the slits in the wall. No doubt severalpeople were hurt by balls bounding back from the rock, but I amconfident that nobody was killed. 

When we ceased firing it was impossible to see anything in the oratory, because of the dense cloud of sulphurous smoke wherewith it was filled;but such shrieks and yells of soul-racking terror as came from beneaththat black canopy I hope I may never hear again. I waited a little, until this wild outburst had somewhat quieted, and then--placing mymouth close to one of the openings and speaking in a voice that I triedto make like that of Fray Antonio--I said, in deep and solemn tones, "Behold the vengeance of the strangers' God!"

What effect my words produced I cannot tell. Our firing must haveloosened a fragment of rock between the gold plating that lined theoratory and the outer surface of the wall, and even as I spoke thisfragment fell. With its fall the opening was irrevocably closed. 

"That was a boss dodge, " said Young, as he recharged his revolver. "Those fellows 'll just think hell's broke loose in here, for sure; andI guess after they've onct fairly got outside they'll rather be skinnedalive than come back again. But what did you say to 'em? Hearin' youtalkin' like th' Padre, that way, gave me a regular jolt. Don't youthink, though, maybe it was a little bit risky t' give ourselves away?"

But when I had repeated in English the words which I had spoken, Youngvery seriously shook hands with me. "Shake!" he said. "I've done youinjustice, Professor. Sometimes I've thought that you was too muchasleep for your own good--but if anybody ever did anything more wideawake than that, I'd like t' know _what_ he did and who he was. Why, when those fellows tell about all that's been goin' on in here--abouttheir busted idol, an' their dead Priest Captain, an' our skippin, ' an'this row our shootin' has made, an' then about th' Padre's ghost talkin'to 'em that way--it's bound t' give 'em such a jolt that th' wholeoutfit 'll slew smack round an' be Christians right off!"

Some such notion as this had been in my own mind as I executed the planthat on the spur of the moment I had formed. When, later, I thoughtabout it more calmly, I could not but regret, for Fray Antonio's sake, my hasty action; for he would have been the very last man to approve ofsuch stringent methods of advancing the Christian faith. If any resultcame from my demonstration, it certainly came through terror; and theessence of Fray Antonio's doctrine, as it was also of his own nature, was gentleness and love. 

XXXVII. 

THROUGH DARKNESS TO LIGHT. 

"I guess we're solid now, as far as bein' bothered by those sacreddevils goes, " Young said, as we stepped down from the ledge of rock onwhich we had been standing; "but this ain't no time t' take no chances, an' th' sooner we see what show we've got for gettin' anywhere throughthat cave, th' better it'll be. An' we've got t' look after Rayburn. He's closter t' handin' in his checks t'-day than he's been at all. Justthink o' him keepin' still through all that row, an lettin' himself beyanked around like a bag o' meal without takin' any notice of it! Butthere's just a squeal of a chance for him if we do get clear away. Knowin' that he's safe 'll do him more good, even, than fresh air an'sunshine--an' oh Lord! how good fresh air an' sunshine 'll be, if everwe do strike 'em again!"

When we descended the stair-way again to the little hollow in the rockwhere Rayburn was lying, we found that he still remained in his dullstupor and took no notice of our coming. Close beside were Pablo and ElSabio, huddled together for mutual support in this very trying passageof their lives. El Sabio, indeed, was a most melancholy and dejectedcreature, for his short commons and his long confinement had taken thespirit out of him pretty thoroughly; but for our purposes just then, when his tractability was very necessary to us, it was a piece ofgood-fortune that he had fallen into so low a way. As for Pablo, the boywas in so dazed a condition that I feared greatly he would wholly losehis wits. 

There was only a faint suggestion of light in that deeply hidden place, and Young struck a match that he might see to begin his explorations. "Well, I'll be shot, " he exclaimed, as the wax-taper shed its clearlight around us, "if here ain't a conductor's lantern hangin' up allready for us, an' a can o' kerosene oil!" As he lighted the lantern, andthe letters F. C. C. Showed clearly on the glass, he added, in a tone ofstill greater amazement: "Ferro-Carril Central! Why, it b'longs t' oneo' th' boys on th' Central!--but how th' dickens did it ever get _here_?An' here's a lot of old clothes--th' sort o' rags th' low-down Greaserswear. An' I'm blest, " he went on, as he picked up a scrap of paper fromthe floor, "if this ain't a Mexican Central ticket from Leon to Silao!It's dated last June, an' it's only punched once, so 't couldn't 'a'been used all the way. I say, Professor, am I asleep or awake?"

As I examined the several articles which we had come upon so strangelyin this incongruous plate, a flood of light was let in upon my mind, andwith this came also the glad certainty that the way before us to freedomwas open and assured. My belief that the Priest Captain had been incommunication with the outside world no longer admitted of a doubt, forhere was absolute proof of it: the clothes which he wore when making hisexpeditions into the nineteenth century; the lantern that he had stolenin order the more easily to find his way through the cave; the railwayticket that he had but lately used. In an instant I had connected allthis with what the guardian of the archives had told me concerning thePriest Captain's habit of retiring for long periods of time to one ofthe chambers in which we had been imprisoned, and the whole matter wasas plain to me as day; and I knew now, that in order to guard againstdiscovery, he, or one of his predecessors, to whom this secret way mustalso have been known, had caused to be set in place the fastening bywhich the grating could be secured upon its inner side; which fastening, within that very hour, had been the means of saving our lives. 

"Well, " said Young, dryly, when I had briefly explained these severalmatters, "I guess he won't pull th' wool over nobody's eyes any more!An' now you an' me 'll do some prospectin'. We must go back upstairs, before we pull out for good, an' bag what there is there that's worthcarryin' off; but th' first thing t' do is t' get Rayburn where he'll becomfortable an' safe. Until that's attended to we've got t' be carefulan' go slow; so we'll rouse up this fool of a Pablo, an' get it into hishead that if he hears anybody comin' he's t' knock th' plug from underMullins an' let him down, an' then chock him fast with a rockunderneath. It's not likely that anybody _will_ come, an' even if theydo, I don't think that they'll know th' trick about Mullins' tippin', for that's a point that I'll bet a whole kag o' beer th' Priest Captaindidn't give away t' nobody. I tell you, Professor, there wasn't anyflies on that old man, now was there? He was a wicked old devil, an'I'm glad I did for him; but he was just an everlastin' keen one, an' arustler from th' word go!"

In the dazed condition in which he then was, we scarcely should haveventured to place Pablo in a position of such grave responsibility hadthere been any likelihood of his being called upon to perform the dutywith which we charged him; but we were well satisfied that to the PriestCaptain alone had been known the secret of the sliding door, and that, consequently, the need for closing the passage leading upward into thetreasure-chamber would not arise. Without any fear for Rayburn's safety;therefore, we left him lying in the little room at the foot of thestair-way, and thence went forth through a cleft in the rock--thatseemed to be a natural crevice, where the mountain was split apart--andso came into a natural cave of such great size that the light of thelantern was not sufficient to enable us to see its roof nor its fartherwall. Save that the well-defined path that we followed was continuouslysteep, we did not find walking difficult, for the fragments of rock withwhich the floor of the cave everywhere was strewn had been lifted asidecarefully, so as to make a smooth and easy way. And only in oneplace--where for a short distance the path skirted the edge of a blackgulf, in the depths of which we could hear the rush of water--was anypart of it dangerous. 

For near an hour we went onward, all the while steadily ascending; andthen, as we turned a corner, we saw a long way before us a faintlyluminous haze. It was so very faint that only by holding the lanternbehind us, and then closing our eyes for a moment, could we assureourselves that what we saw really was light at all; but when we turnedanother corner, presently, the light, though still faint, wasunmistakable; whereat Young gave a whoop of joy, and we quickened oursteps in our eager longing to behold the sunshine that we knew could notbe far away. Suddenly the path dipped downward, and then another turnbrought us into light so strong that the lantern no longer was needed toshow us where to tread; and by a common impulse we gave a great gladshout together and went onward at a run; and so, running and shoutinglike the crazy creatures that truly for the time being we were, we madeone turn more, and then beheld before us, reaching away broadly andopenly in a fashion to give one a sense of most glorious freedom, avastly wide plain, over which everywhere the blessed sunshine blazedfull and strong. As we stood together in the mouth of the cave for amoment in silence--for no words seemed strong enough to express thebursting gladness that was in our hearts--two short blasts of a whistle, wafted upward on the light breeze that was blowing towards us from theplain, sounded very faintly but clearly in our ears. Young started as heheard this sound, and as he turned towards me he held out his hand andsaid, in a voice that was husky and tremulous, "Professor, that's alocomotive whistle, an' th' d----n fool is--is whistlin' 'down brakes'!"And in these curiously chosen, yet not unmeaning words, did we celebrateour deliverance. 

When we returned to Rayburn--and as we now knew the way, and as almostthe whole of it was downhill, our return was accomplished rapidly--someof the joyous strength that we had gained seemed to be imparted to him. He opened his eyes as we stooped over him, and there seemed to be morelife in them than there had been through all that day. 

"Rouse up, old man!" Young cried cheerily. "We've struck th' trail outo' this cussed hole at last, an' we're goin' t' hike you right along towhere you'll get some of God's sunshine again, an' some air that's fitfor a white man t' breathe;" which words brought still more light intoRayburn's eyes, and a little color came into his pale cheeks as we toldhim of the open way that we had found to light and life. 

"Where's the Padre?" he asked, as we together raised the stretcher, while Pablo, holding the lantern and leading El Sabio, went on ahead ofus. Fortunately Rayburn could not see Young's face as he answered: "Th'Padre's--well, th' Padre's just gone on up th' line. You've got t' holdyour jaw, Rayburn. You ain't fit t' talk; an' while we're packin' youalong we can't talk either. Come on, Professor; and you, Pablo, " headded, in his jerky Spanish. "Be careful with that lamp or I'll breakthe head of you!"

Although a good third of his flesh had wasted away, Rayburn would havebeen a heavy load for us to carry over level ground, even had we beenhale and strong. Worn as we then were by our prison-life, we foundcarrying him up that long steep path in the heart of the mountain aweary work that only the hope and joy that strengthened us enabled usto accomplish. As it was, we went so slowly, and made so many halts forrest, that the sun had sunk almost to the level of the distantmountains, wherewith that great plain was bordered to the westward, whenat last our toilsome journey was at an end. But we thought nothing ofthe heaviness of our labor as we saw the glad look that came into hisface when he gazed out over that broad expanse of sunlit landscape, andsnuffed eagerly the sweet fresh air, and so felt his soul grow lightwithin him as he realized that he once more was safe and free. 

In the mouth of the cave--within its shelter, yet where he could see outfreely, and so have constantly in his mind the comforting thought of hisdeliverance--we made a bed for him of soft pine-branches, which somenear-by trees gave us; and we took care that this couch should be sothick and so evenly laid that he would lie easily upon it; for we knewthat many days, perhaps even weeks, must pass before we could venture toput so heavy a strain upon his strength as would come when we carriedhim down that rough mountain-side, and so began our journey towards home. 

Fortunately, a little spring came out from the rock, clear and cool, just inside the cave; and game was so abundant on that mountain-sidethat Young came back presently from a foraging expedition with half adozen codornices, that he had come so close to as to shoot with hisrevolver, and a jack-rabbit that he actually had caught with his handsas it jumped up almost beneath his feet; which excellent fare made amost satisfying supper for all of us; and eating it so added toRayburn's strength--as we could tell by the fuller tones of his voice, and by his being able to move a little on his bed without our helpinghim--as to rouse in us a warm hope that the death that seemed so near tohim might yet be thrust away. Our chief concern, lest the shock thatwould come to him of knowing it should fairly kill him, was to hide fromhim for the present the knowledge that Fray Antonio was dead; and tocompass this end we plumply told him the flat-footed lie that the monkhad gone on in search of some town whence he might bring back horses andsupplies; and so, for a time, we laid at rest his doubts. 

In his own original way, also, Young tried to put heart into him. "Yousee, old man, " he said, "you've just _got_ t' pull through. Think howd----d ashamed o' yourself you'd feel after you was dead when you had t'tell all th' folks in heaven that you was killed by nothin' better'n amis'rable chump of an Injun! That was what bothered poor old SteveHollis when he was handin' in _his_ checks--'t least it was th' samegeneral sort of idea. I guess you never knew Steve, did you, Rayburn? Hewas an old railroader--had been a-workin' on th' Old Colony one way andanother for more'n twenty years. When I knowed him he used t' run th'steamboat express from Boston t' Fall River--their boss train on thatblasted old road. Steve owned a house clost t' th' line just a littleway out o' Braintree; an' when 't was his day off he'd mostly slide downfrom Fall River on No. 2, an' walk out home from Braintree along th'track. Nobody ever know'd just how 't happened--Steve was th' soberestman I ever knowed; never drunk a drop o' nothin'--but one day, as he waswalkin' out home, No. 15, that was th' slow freight from Boston t'Newport, ketched him an' got in its work on him--an' that was th' end o'Steve. It didn't kill him right smack off, an' I went down t' see him;for I did think th' world of old Steve. He was a-layin' in his bed, an'I could see that he was a-most gone when I got there; but he chipperedup a little for a minute as I shook hands with him and ast him how hewas. He said he was poorly; an' then he kep' quiet for a while. Then hekind o' ketched his breath an' seemed t' want t' say somethin'. So Ibent over him, an' he said, in a kind of a whisperin' groan: 'Jus' thinkof it, Seth, what did it was th' slow freight! That's what cuts me;that's what cuts me the worst kind. I wouldn't a-minded if 't had beenth' express--them things will happen, an' they've got t' come. But hereI've been a-railroadin' for more'n twenty year, an' t' think o' _me_bein' busted by that d----n slow freight!' An' then he turned over, an'give a sort of a grunt, an' died. "

I am not sure that I myself should have selected this particular storyto tell to Rayburn just then; but the moral that it containedunquestionably was a sound one, and, in a way, was calculated to impressupon him strongly the conviction that his duty was to get well. 

XXXVIII. 

KING CHALTZANTZIN'S TREASURE. 

Whether or not Young's story had this good effect upon Rayburn, I am notprepared to say; but it is certain that he slept well that night--hisfirst good night's sleep for many weeks--and that when morning came hewas so much stronger and brighter as to fill us with a still moreearnest hope that he was well started on the way to recovery. 

Young quickly brought in some birds for our breakfast, and when the mealwas finished he took me aside and said: "Now, Professor, lets me an' yougo back t' that hole an' bring away all there is there that's worthcarryin'. It's not much, I guess, but it's better'n nothin'. It justmakes me sick t' think of all that gold, that ud 'a' made oureverlastin' fortunes if we'd only been able t' pack it along with us. There was millions an' millions there, I s'pose--an' it 'll never do usany more good than if we'd never seen it at all!" and as Young spoke heheaved a very melancholy sigh. "But we may as well grab all we can get, "he went on, more cheerfully. "There was a lot o' gold boxes an' jugs inth' room where Mullins is; an' maybe there's somethin' that's worthhavin' in all them little pots. Let's go back an' see, anyway. Rayburn'slookin' almost all right this mornin'; and Pablo's got his wits backnow, an' can give him anything he wants. "

For my own part I did not desire, because of their money value, any ofthe articles which I had seen in the treasure-chamber; but I did veryearnestly long to possess myself of that most curious arbalest, and Idesired also to examine carefully--because of the discoveries of greatarchæological value which I hoped to make--the contents of the goldboxes and vases and earthen jars. Therefore, Rayburn having expressedhis entire willingness that we should leave him, I assented readily toYoung's proposition; whereupon Young lighted the lantern and we set off. 

As we entered again the treasure-chamber there was within me a strongfeeling of awe. During our hurried passage through it, the imminentdanger in which we were, and then the excitement of the scene in theoratory, and then the joyfulness of our finding a way of escape, hadprevented me from realizing how wonderful was the deposit that this roomcontained; a deposit that certainly had lain there for not less than athousand years, and that unquestionably was the most perfect survivingtrace of the most intelligent and most interesting people that inprehistoric times dwelt upon this continent. Which strange reflections, now that my mind was free to entertain them and to dwell upon them, aroused within me a feeling of such reverent wonder that I hesitated forsome moments before I could bring myself to disturb what thus through solong a sweep of ages had remained sacredly inviolate. 

But reverence, as he himself would have said, was not Young's strongesthold; in truth, I am persuaded that there was not an atom of it in hisentire composition; and as I stood hesitating beside the statue ofChac-Mool he briskly called to me: "Come right along, Professor; thereain't nobody t' stop us now. We've got th' drop, you might say, on th'whole outfit, an' we can do just as we blame please. This looks like abadly kept drug store, don't it?" he went on, "with all these pots an'boxes an' little jars stuck round on th' shelves. Well, here goes t' seewhat's in 'em: not much o' nothin', I guess; but then it _might_ bedi'monds, an' that just would be gay!"

As Young spoke he thrust his hand into one of the earthen jars, andthereby set flying such a cloud of dust that for some seconds hisviolent sneezing prevented him from examining the small object that hehad brought forth from the jar and held in his hand; and when he didexamine this object an expression of intense disgust appeared upon hisface, and he exclaimed, indignantly, "Why, it's nothin' but a foolarrow-head!"

I could not but laugh at Young as I took the arrow-head from him. For mypurposes, this beautifully carved piece of obsidian was far moreprecious than a diamond would have been; and I tried--quiteunsuccessfully, however--to arouse his interest in this proof of thehigh degree of skill to which the prehistoric races of America hadattained in the manipulation of an exceedingly hard yet delicate varietyof stone; and I added that not less interesting was the proof thusafforded us of the great value which these same races attached toimplements of war. 

"Oh, come off with your prehistoric races, Professor!" he growled. "Awhole car-load o' rubbish like this wouldn't be worth a nickel t'anybody but a scientific crank like you. If this is th' sort o' stuffthat that old king o' yours thought was worth hidin', I guess he must'a' been off his head. But that pot may 'a' got in by mistake. Before Iget too much down on him I'll give him another show. " With which words, but cautiously, that the dust might not be disturbed, he thrust his handinto another jar, and was mightily resentful upon finding that what hebrought forth from it was only the head of a lance. However, thedetermination to give King Chaltzantzin a chance to prove his sanity, together with the hope that something of real value might be found, ledhim to continue his investigations, and he presently had examined allthe jars ranged on two sides of the room; and his grumbling cursesincreased constantly in vigor as jar after jar yielded only arrow-heads, and lance-heads, and chisel-shaped pieces of obsidian, that I perceivedmust have been intended for the making of the cutting edges of themaccahuitl, or Aztec sword; but, for my part, all of these things filledme with the liveliest pleasure as I took them from Young and attentivelyexamined them; for the delicate and perfect workmanship that theyexhibited showed them to have been made by a people that had reached thehighest development of the Stone Age. 

"This business is gettin' worse, instead o' better, " Young said, gloomily, as he began his search on the third side of the room byopening one of the small gold boxes. "The stuff in here is nothin' but amean sort o' wrappin'-paper with pictures on it--like that old map o'yours that got us started on this tomfoolin' treasure-hunt. I s'pose_you'll_ just have a fit over it!" And as I uttered an eager cry ofdelight, and bent over this casket that contained such inestimableriches, he gave a sniff of contempt, and added: "There, I thought so. You think more o' that rotten old stuff than you would o' gold dollars. Well, there's no accountin' for tastes, and it takes all sorts o' peoplet' make th' world. " But I paid no attention to him as I rapidly glancedover these priceless manuscripts; and then had my cup of happinessfilled absolutely to overflowing by the glad discovery that in every oneof the gold boxes, of which there were nine in all, treasures of a likesort were stored. In the supplemental volume (in elephant folio) to my_Pre-Columbian Conditions on the Continent of North America_ thesewonderful manuscripts are reproduced in fac-simile; and when that greatwork is published the surpassing value of my discovery will be at oncerecognized. It is sufficient to say here that these several codicestogether constituted a complete hieratic chronicle of the Aztec tribes;and that (herein lying the extraordinary value of the collection) theuncertain picture-writing was accompanied by a translation into theideographic characters of later times, the meaning of which I wasenabled, thanks to the instruction that my friend the guardian of thearchives had given me, fully to understand. In short, my discoveryprecisely paralleled that of Boussard; for even as the Rosetta Stonegave the key to Egyptian hieroglyphics, so did this transliteration intointelligible characters make all Aztec picture-writing plain. As thefull significance of my discovery burst upon me, my joy and theexcitement of my splendid triumph so moved me that my hands trembled asI held these precious manuscripts, and I no longer could see clearly thepainted characters because of the tears of happiness which filled myeyes. 

Young, however, whose longing was only for material treasure, continuedhis investigations in anything but a thankful mood. "There ain't nodoubt of it _now_, " he said presently in a most melancholy tone. "Thatold king o' yours must 'a' been just as crazy as a loon. Look here: thisthing ain't even a fool arrow-head; it's nothin' but a bit o' greenglass! I reckon it's part o' th' bottom of a porter-bottle. Nice sort o'stuff this is t' call treasure, an' t' take such an all-fired lot o'trouble t' hide away! Why, I should jedge that that king must 'a' spentmost of his time settin' up nights a-puzzlin' over plans for makin' surethat he was th' very d----dest biggest fool that ever lived!--an' that'sjust what he was, for sure! It's tough, gettin' left this way; but itwouldn't begin t' be as tough as 't is if 't wasn't for all themcar-loads an' car-loads o' gold right clost by us here that we might 'a'got away with as easy as rollin' off a log if we'd only ketched on tothis back-door racket in time. An' see here, Professor, " he went on in avery earnest tone, "I don't believe there's anybody in there now; whyshouldn't we just chance things a little an' go back an' get some of it?We've got our guns; an' even if we do strike a crowd too big for us t'tackle, an' have t' run for it, we won't be no worse off 'an we are now. Come, let's try it on!"

While Young spoke I had been looking closely at the object that soviolently had excited his indignation, and instead of replying to him Iasked, "Are there any more pieces of that porter-bottle in the jar?"

"It's full of 'em, " he answered with a contemptuous brevity. 

"And the next?"

"That's full of 'em too. All th' jars on this side o' th' room are fullof 'em, " he added, as he rapidly thrust his hand into one afteranother--and so set the dust to flying that we both fell to sneezing asthough we would sneeze our heads off. "Oh come along, Professor: what'sth' use o' foolin' over this rubbish; let's go for th' stuff that's goodfor its weight in spot cash every time!"

"Wait till we see what is in these gold vases over here, " I answered, turning as I spoke to the side of the room that as yet we had notexamined. 

"What's th' good?" he asked, sulkily. But he lifted down one of thevases, and with his thumb and finger brought forth from it a littleround black ball. "Worse an' worse, " he said, as he handed the ball tome. "We've got down t' what looks like lumps o' shoemaker's wax now. That's about th' sickest lookin' thing t' call itself treasure I everdid see!"

It did not seem to me probable that the little ball was shoemaker's wax;but in order to settle this point experimentally I cut into it with mypenknife. Under the gummy exterior I found a layer of cotton-wool, andenclosed in this a hard substance about the size of a hazel-nut. While Iwas making this examination, Young investigated into the contents ofthe remaining vases--which themselves were exceedingly interesting, being made of hammered gold and most curiously engraved. 

"They're no good, " he said, "except I s'pose th' mugs must be worthsomethin'. Shoemaker's wax in 'em all! It's worse 'an th'porter-bottles--for what's th' use o' shoemaker's wax t' folks who don'trightly know what a shoe is? Come along, I say, Professor, an' let'shave a whack at them piles o' gold. If we don't tackle 'em we might justas well never have come on this treasure-hunt at all. Some o' the stuffin here's worth havin'--th' gold mugs an' boxes, an' that old goldbow-gun that you're so busted about--but what does th' whole of itamount to, anyway, when you come t' divide it up among four men an' ajackass? I guess even th' jackass ud turn up his nose at it if he knowedwhat a lot more there was that was t' be had just for grabbin' it an'packin' it along. It's somethin', I s'pose, that we've pulled throughwithout losin' our hair; but we _have_ pulled through all right, an' nowwe want t' make this business pay; an' unless we go for that gold thisbusiness won't 'a' paid worth a cuss--an' instead o' comin' out on topwe'll be left th' very worst kind!"

As Young was delivered of this dismal remonstrance I handed him thesmall object that I had extracted from the pitch-coated ball. "Beforeyou make up your mind that we are likely to be 'left, ' as you term it, suppose you look at this, " I said. 

He held out his hand carelessly; but as he saw what I had placed in ithis expression suddenly changed, and he burst forth excitedly: "GreatScott! where did this come from? Why--why, Professor, it _looks_ like itwas a pearl; but if 't truly is one it's about th' bustin'est biggestone that Godamighty ever made! Do you truly size it up for a pearlyourself?"

"Most assuredly, " I answered. "And it is a fair assumption, I think, that there is a pearl in each one of all these little pitch-coveredballs. As to what you called bits of green glass, they are neither morenor less than extraordinarily fine emeralds; I should say that thesmallest of them must be worth more dollars than you could carry at asingle load. Of course, all the emeralds and pearls together are notworth a single one of these manuscripts"--here Young gave a scepticalgrunt--"but in the way of vulgar material riches I am confident that thevalue of what is in these jars is greater than that of all the goldtogether that we saw in the Valley of Aztlan. Without a shadow of doubt, you and I at this moment are standing in the midst of the most enormoustreasure that ever has been brought together since the world was made!"

"Honest Injun, Professor?"

"Certainly, " I answered; "and if this is your notion of getting 'left'on a treasure-hunt, " I continued, "it assuredly is not mine. "

"Left?" Young repeated after me, while his eyes ranged exultantly overthe rows of jars in which this vast wealth was contained. "Well, Ishould smile! I take it all back about that old king bein' crazy. He wasjust as level-headed as George Washington an' Dan'l Webster rolled intoone. These pots full of arrow-heads an' such stuff was only one of hislittle jokes, showin' that he must 'a' been a good-natured, comical oldcuss, th' kind I always did like, anyway. Left? Not much we ain't left!We've just everlastin'ly got there with all four feet to onct!Professor, shake!"

EPILOGUE. 

Throughout my whole life I have been saddened, as each well-definedsection of it has come to an end, by the thought that during the periodthat has then slipped away from me forever I have wasted moreopportunities than I have improved. As I write these final lines, therefore, I feel a sorrowful regret, which, in a way, is akin to theregret that weighed upon me when Young and I, having carried into thecave the contents of the treasure-chamber, removed the prop wherewithwas upheld the swinging statue, and so suffered to fall into place againthat ponderous mass of stone. From below, where we were, lifting it wasimpossible; and by heaping fragments of rock under the forward end of itwe presently made it equally immovable from above. Thus for outlet orfor inlet that way was irrevocable barred; and as I write now I knowthat I am not less irrevocable severing myself from one portion of mypast. For, says the Persian poet, "A finished book is a sealed casket. To it nothing can be added. From it nothing can be taken away. Therefore should we pray to Allah that its contents may be good. "

The record that I am now ending was begun partly that I might find inthe writing of it relief from the more serious work in which I have beenengaged, and partly because I perceived that I could properly include ina personal narrative many matters which were too trivial or too entirelypersonal to be incorporated into my extended scientific treatise, butwhich, I was persuaded, were of a sufficient interest to be preserved. But I certainly should not have finished this history of our adventuresnearly so expeditiously had not Rayburn and Young taken a very livelyinterest in it, and pressed me constantly to bring it to an end. 

"You see, Professor, " said Young, "I don't want t' say anything againstthat big book you're writin'. I don't doubt that in its way it'll be adaisy; but you know yourself there won't be more'n about three cranks inth' whole o' God's universe who'll ever read more'n about ten lines ofit; an' that's why I want you t' rush ahead with th' little book--thatstands some chance o' bein' read outside o' lunatic asylums--so'sfolks'll know what a powerful queer time we've had. Don't be too cussedparticular t' say just where that valley is--for, while it's not likely, we might want t' take a fightin' crowd along an' dynamite our way backthere some day after more cash; but, exceptin' that, just give 'em th'cold facts. I reckon they'll make some folks open their eyes. "

From times to time, as my narrative has grown beneath my hand, I haveread aloud to my fellow-adventurers what I have written, and havereceived from them suggestions in accordance with which it has beencorrected or amended in its several parts; and it is but just to add, inthis connection, that in every case where I have referred (as it seemsto me now in words not nearly strong enough) to the loyalty to ourcommon interests, and to the splendid bravery which Rayburn and Youngconstantly exhibited throughout that trying time, I have been compelledto exert the whole of my authority over them in order to win theirgrumbling permission that my words might stand. Even Pablo--for the lovethat there was between this boy and me was far too strong to permit meto leave him behind in Mexico, and we are like to live together as longas we live at all--has taken issue with me concerning what I havewritten of his steadfast faithfulness and courage; and this on theground that he could not possibly be anything but faithful to those whomhe loved, and that it is only natural for a man to fight for his ownlife, and for the lives of his friends. In thus applying the word_hombre_ to himself Pablo spoke a little doubtfully, as though he fearedthat I might question his right to it; yet did he roll it so relishinglyunder his tongue, and so well had he proved his manliness, that Isuffered it to pass. 

In point of fact, the only member of our party who has accepted my justtribute of praise with entire equanimity has been El Sabio. It wasPablo's notion, of course, that El Sabio should hear what I had writtenabout him. "Not the whole of it, you know, señor, " the boy said, earnestly; "for some of what you have written--while I know that it istrue, and therefore must be told--would hurt his tender heart. It wasnot his fault--the angel!--that he gave us so much trouble when we swunghim across the cañon; and to tell him that there was even a thought ofeating him, while we were in that dreadful valley where every one wasdead, assuredly would turn him gray before his time. No; we will hideall such unpleasant parts of the book from him; but we will read to himwhat you have said concerning his beauty and his wisdom--and, surely, you might have said of those a great deal more; and also about hisgallant fight with the priests, when, all alone, he slew so many of themwith his heels. And it would have been fairer to El Sabio, señor, " Pabloadded, a little reproachfully, as we walked out together to the paddockin which the ass, grown to be very fat, was living a life of most royalease, "had you told in the book how well he served us in bringing allthe treasure, in many weary journeys, out through that dismal cave; andalso how carefully he carried the Señor Rayburn down that steepmountain-side, and so to the little town beside the railway, and neverhurt his wound. "

However, El Sabio did not seem to notice these omissions from mynarrative, though he certainly did exhibit a most curious air ofinterest and understanding as I read to him those laudatory portions ofit which Pablo desired that he should hear. According to Pablo'sunderstanding of his language, he even thanked me for speaking well ofhim; for when the reading was ended he thrust his nose far forward, laidhis long ears back upon his neck, planted his little legs firmly, andas he erected in triumph his scrag of a tail, he uttered a mostthunderous bray. "And now, Wise One, " Pablo said, tenderly, as heinfolded the head of the ass in his arms and hugged it to his breast, "thou knowest that we not only love thee for thy goodness and thywisdom, but that we also honor thee for thy noble deeds. "

Rayburn's fancy was mightily tickled by this performance in which ElSabio and Pablo and I had engaged--though Young evidently thought it butanother proof of the addled state of my brains--when I told about itthat evening as we all sat smoking comfortably in my library before theopen fire. This was to be our last meeting for some time to come; forRayburn was to start the next day for Idaho to look after some miningmatters, and Young suddenly had decided that he would accompany him. Intruth, Young was rather at a loss to know what to do with himself; forhis plan for buying the Old Colony Railroad, in order to be in aposition to discharge its superintendent, had been abandoned. "I'd liket' do it, of course, " he said. "Bouncin' that chump th' same way that hebounced me would do me a lot o' good; but I've made up my mind itwouldn't be th' square thing t' do, considerin' that if he hadn'tbounced me I'd still be foolin' round on top o' freight-cars, in allsorts o' weather, handlin' brakes. So I've let up on him, an' he canstay. What I want now is t' do some good with this all-fired big pile o'money that I've got. That's one reason why I'm goin' out with Rayburn t'Idaho. Right straight along from here t' Boisé City I mean t' set updrinks for every railroader I meet. That'll be doin' good, for sure. "

[Illustration: IN THE LIBRARY BEFORE THE OPEN FIRE]

Rayburn and I laughed a little at this odd method for benefitinghumanity that Young had got hold of; and then Rayburn's face grew graveas he said: "Well, we're doing a little good, I suppose, in putting thatold church in Morelia in good shape. I'm glad you thought of that, Professor. I don't suppose that anything we could have done would havepleased the Padre more than to have that church, that he loved so much, made as handsome as money can make it all the way through. "

"Yes, " Young added, "an' I guess th' Professor's head was level inhavin' all th' new stuff that we've put in it made t' look like 't wasabout two hundred years old. I did kick at that at first, I'll allow. What I wanted t' do was t' build a first-class new church, with arattlin' tall steeple, an' steam heat, an' electric lights, an' an organbig enough t' bust the roof off every time she was played. But th' Padrewas as keen as th' Professor, a'most, for old-fashioned things; an' so Iguess we've done that job just about as he'd 'a' done it himself. Itmakes me feel queer, though, puttin' up money on a Catholic church thatway; an' when I was tellin' an old aunt o' mine, down t' Milton, aboutit, she just riz up an' rared. An' she didn't feel a bit better when Itold her that if I thought it ud please th' Padre t' have me do it, I'dgo smack off t' Rome an' shake hands with th' Pope. And I truly would dothat very same thing, " Young continued, earnestly, while his voicetrembled a little, "for this side o' heaven I never expect t' meetanybody that's so near t' bein' a first-class angel as th' Padre was. An' when I think how he saved our mis'rable lives for us, as he surelydid, by givin' away his own--that was worth more'n all of ours puttogether, an' ten times over--I don't care a continental what hisreligious politics was; an' I'll punch th' head of anybody who don't saythat he was th' pluckiest an' th' best man that ever lived!"

Pablo had caught the word Padre in Young's talk, and as the lad lookedup from the corner in which he was sitting, I saw that his eyes werefull of tears; Rayburn's eyes also had an odd glistening look about themas he turned away suddenly, and emptied the ashes from his pipe into thefire; and I know that I could not see very clearly just then, as verytender, yet very poignant memories surged suddenly into my heart. 

And when the others left me--as they did presently, for we could notfall again into commonplace talk--I bade Pablo be off to bed, and so satthere for a while alone. What I had planned to do that night was torevise an address that I was shortly to deliver before the ArchæologicalInstitute; but the pen that I had taken into my hand lay idle there, while my thoughts went backward through the channels of the past. 

In that still season of darkness I seemed to live again through all thetime that Fray Antonio and I had been together--from the moment when Ifirst caught sight of him, as he knelt before the crucifix in thesacristy, to my last sad look at the dead body whence his soul had spedback again to God. 

As my thoughts dwelt upon this most loving and most tendercompanionship, the like of which for perfectness I am confident wasnever known, and then upon the cruel violence that brought it to an end, so searching a pain went through my soul that I knew that either it mustcease or I must die of it in a very little while. And then was borne inupon me the strong conviction--and so has it since been always, whenthus my thoughts have been engaged--that because of my very love forFray Antonio must I rejoice that he had died so savage a death;believing confidently that what he prayed for when first I found him inthe Christian church of San Francisco was, in truth, that very crown ofmartyrdom that God granted to him when at last I lost him in the heathencity of Colhuacan. And with the pressing in upon me thus strangely ofthis strange thought, it seemed as though he himself said again to me, "I go to win the life, glorious and eternal, into which neither deathnor sin nor sorrow evermore can come. "

THE END.