MMMMMMMMMM 
 
 FRED A. 
 
 OBER.
 
 JOHN NORTH IN MEXICO 
 
 A STORY OF 
 
 THE SILVER CITY 
 
 BY 
 
 FRED A OBER. 
 
 Author of " Young Folks History of Mexico," Camps in The Caribbeers," etc. 
 
 BOSTON 
 D LOTHROP COMPANY 
 
 WASHINGTON STREET OPPOSITE BROMFIELD
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1892, 
 
 BY 
 D. LOTHROP COMPANY.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 JOHN NORTH IN MEXICO. 
 
 (A Story of the Silver City?) 
 
 PART II. 
 
 MONTEZUMA'S GOLD MINES. 
 
 2072325
 
 THE SILVER CITY. 
 
 CHAPTER I. WRECKED ON A CORAL REEF. 
 
 CITY with walls shin- 
 ing like silver, with 
 golden minarets 
 and battlements of 
 crystal, inhabited 
 by a people with the 
 manner and dress 
 of their ancestors of 
 a thousand years 
 ago, and, unitedly, 
 
 guarding a subterranean treasure-chamber holding 
 more gold than the Spaniards took from the Incas 
 of Peru ! 
 
 This was the luring phantom that had taken posses- 
 sion of John North, a New England boy nineteen 
 years old, coast born and farm bred. 
 
 It all came about from his reading that old book. 
 No one knew how or when it came into the North 
 farm garret; but everybody in the village of Selim 
 knew that it was there, and that it had charmed and 
 infatuated here a young man and there an old one 
 for at least three generations. John North, when he 
 came to reading days, found it there in company with 
 the Voyages of Captain Cook, and kindred books. 
 He had read it through at least once a year ever since 
 he could remember ; and he was far more familiar 
 
 with the map of Yucatan than with any other in the 
 atlas. 
 
 It is more than ordinary attention that he is giving 
 to the relation of the Spanish adventurer this October 
 afternoon. By his side, as usual, is spread a map. 
 He is tracing upon it ( for the hundredth time ) here 
 a line of march, there the locality of some sharp skir- 
 mish, yonder the probable scene of death and defeat. 
 Slowly and thoughtfully he turns page after page, 
 collating, and constantly recurring to the map, pick- 
 ing up different points like an Indian on the trail of 
 a foe. At last he seems to have found the object of 
 his search ; his finger circles around the figure of a 
 lake in the centre of a region of forest, gradually 
 approaches it, and finally is brought down with a 
 triumphant thump. 
 
 " That's it ! the very place ! Hurrah ! I surely have 
 found it this time! " 
 
 " What have you found, my boy ? " said a soft voice 
 behind him ; turning around, he saw his mother 
 standing in the doorway. 
 
 " Found ! Why, that mysterious city we boys have 
 always wondered about so much in reading this old 
 book. Look, mother! here it is, here it must be, 
 right in the midst of this great forest! As true as 
 you live, mother, here's the spot where Cortes hung
 
 THE SILVER CITY. 
 
 the Aztec emperor; here where the army nearly all 
 perished in crossing the river; here is the lake with 
 its lovely island where the Indians made an image of 
 a horse of the Spaniards and worshipped it as a god; 
 and here, right down in this big wilderness, must be 
 that city of temples and palaces no white man has 
 ever seen, but which I am determined to discover ! " 
 
 Despite his bold words, he half caught his breath, 
 and but glanced at his mother as he made this 
 announcement. 
 
 Mrs. North reached out and took the book. She 
 held it close, looking earnestly at her son. " This 
 wicked old book /" she exclaimed at last, laying it down. 
 " Its spell must be on me too, or I should have 
 burned it years and years ago, before my boys could 
 read.. John, listen to me. I have never told you, 
 but this very book laid its spell upon your father 
 before you were born ; he was always talking of that 
 'mysterious city.' John, they believe his ship was 
 wrecked, or burned, but I never did. What /firmly 
 believe is that your father secretly sailed for those 
 dangerous regions of which no man knew anything 
 for certain, and there lost his life. I have never 
 spoken of this, but, John, you surely are old enough 
 now to hear it, and to be warned by it too." 
 
 John seemed to consider his mother's earnest 
 words in a sort of astonished silence. 
 
 "Mother," he said at last, "if / really believed 
 this yes, if even you really believe it, there is 
 all the more reason for my carrying out my plan. 
 For mother, you may as well know it now as at any 
 time, and get used to it " and the smile was as ten- 
 der as bright which flashed all over his face "I 
 really have resolved to go." 
 
 " My boy, when you are making such wild plans, do 
 you ever consider that you are only nineteen ? Such 
 a step at such a time of life may prove your ruin. 
 You will return, if you return at all " 
 
 " Older men than I have been in search of this 
 city," interrupted John. 
 
 " Yes, yes," said his mother, " but have never 
 returned." 
 
 " That was because they were not well-informed. 
 They had not studied the matter in detail as I have. 
 If only I had the two missing leaves of this book ! 
 Mother, I feel sure that from what goes before and 
 comes after, that those leaves would locate the city 
 for me to a dot ; and now, mother, look at this matter 
 with me reasonably, /am sure that I never will be 
 fit to undertake anything else until I have disposed 
 
 of this matter. I am perfectly sure of success. I 
 am not a dreaming boy, mother. I cannot only 
 make plans, but I can manage them step by step. 
 What if I tell you that I have found a man, a cool- 
 headed, scientific man, too, who has such faith in me 
 that he is quite willing to advance me money on cer- 
 tain work that I am to do for him ; if I do that I can 
 start at once. Shall I read you this letter ? " 
 
 Mrs. North drew a long breath. John looked 
 pained, too, as he gazed down at his delicate little 
 mother, and noted how she turned her pale face 
 away from his glance. 
 
 "Come down into the sitting-room," she said. " I 
 should like to call in uncle David to hear this letter 
 read." 
 
 Left sprawling upon the floor where it had been 
 dropped, lay the wizard book, the cause of such 
 an upheaval in the North household. It was bound 
 in parchment, and bore upon its back, printed in 
 great gilt letters : " THE TRUE HISTORY OF THE 
 CONQUEST OF MEXICO ; by One of the Conquerors,'' 1 
 An innocent title enough ; but lying behind it was 
 a narrative of strange incidents and deeds of valor 
 and records of great guarded treasures, so vividly 
 
 THE OLD BOOK IN THE ATTIC 
 
 written that its influence upon its readers, boys 
 especially, was wonderful, bewitching.
 
 THE SILVER CITY. 
 
 THE OLD NORTH FARM. 
 
 It lay now in the dusty sunshine, glaring up at the 
 rafters with its glittering eyes. 
 
 " I will be picked up again soon enough never 
 inind," it seemed to say. " I am not at all disturbed. 
 I am perfectly sure of my prey." 
 
 At first glance it would seem that a more unlikely 
 
 place for a ro- 
 mance could 
 not be found 
 on the whole 
 New England 
 coast than 
 this old North 
 farm with its 
 gray moss- 
 flecked house, 
 settled down in an orchard of apple-trees ; yet from 
 beneath the gable roofs of just such weather-beaten 
 dwellings have come forth the world's hardiest ad- 
 venturers; for to boys there, of all places in the 
 world, comes the leisure of long solitary winter even- 
 ings to read books and dream dreams ; and was 
 there ever a dream so likely to set on fire a boy's 
 brain as this one of the possible discovery of a 
 grand, beautiful treasure city deep buried in a trop- 
 ical forest of Central America ? 
 
 Some ten years before this momentous October 
 day, the father of John North, a brave young sea- 
 captain, had sailed away to the South, leaving his 
 family on the small coast farm. After three years of 
 waiting, Mrs. North acquiesced in the neighborhood 
 belief that his ship and all hands had gone down, 
 although she refused to "put on black." 
 
 As soon as her two boys were half-grown, they had 
 been taken from school and set at work. In summer 
 they worked on the farm, and made an occasional 
 fishing-trip down the bay ; and in winter they hunted 
 and trapped. They were now grown into strong and 
 sturdy boys. John was two years the senior of Ben, 
 now seventeen, and though slender, was of good 
 height, and in perfect health, agile, and quick as a 
 young panther, and bound to accomplish whatever he 
 undertook. Though taken so early from school, he 
 had clung to his books, and, during the long winter 
 evenings, he had gone, more or less meditatively, over 
 a wide range of reading. 
 
 From a book, found also in the garret, he had 
 learned the art of preserving birds, and during odd 
 hours he had collected and stuffed all the most 
 interesting birds of the coast. One study leads to 
 
 another, and in order to learn the names of the birds 
 he shot, he sought books on natural history and 
 travel. Thus his mind developed in several extraor- 
 dinary directions, until he felt that the quiet little 
 world in which he had lived so long was but a 
 chimney-corner; that there was a beautiful, wonder- 
 ful unknown world outside , and he grew restless to 
 go, and ripe for the bursting forth of some romantic 
 plan like this search for the Silver City 
 
 The past summer had been an eventful one. He 
 had met on one of his hunting trips, an ornithologist 
 who, like himself, was in pursuit of specimens. He 
 proved to be a famous naturalist whom John knew 
 well by reputation; and he in his turn became inter- 
 ested in the young enthusiast of the New England 
 woods, and saw at once his value in certain important 
 plans of his own. 
 
 The letter which John carried down to read in the 
 sitting-room was from him. Even "Uncle David," 
 the shrewd neighbor who generally assisted in their 
 family councils, could not deny that it was straight to 
 the point, and all that an adventurous boy could ask : 
 
 WASHINGTON, October 73, /8 . 
 
 MY DEAR JOHN : In regard to the matter on which we have 
 corresponded, I am now ready to say that I place three hundred 
 dollars at your disposal, inclosing you a check for the same. 
 With this money I wish you to do all that is possible towards 
 securing the institution with which I am connected a collection 
 of the birds of Yucatan. You will, I hope, do your utmost to 
 procure a complete representation of its fauna 
 
 " Arn't those summat dangerous animals ? " inter- 
 rupted uncle David. " And you a-knowin' little of 
 their habits, bein' furren as it were." 
 
 "Uncle David, fauna isn't an animal, it's only a 
 word meaning the animal life of a country all the 
 animals." 
 
 " Wuss yit, if it means the hull on 'em," said uncle 
 David, with a decisive shake of the head. 
 
 John smiled reassuringly and continued : 
 
 "The professor goes on to say that he wants two of 
 each kind of the birds of Yucatan, and will give me a 
 dollar apiece for theii skins. So you see this three 
 hundred dollars is only part payment in advance. 
 Now, what do you think of it? Any young fellow 
 ever had a better chance ? " 
 
 A long silence followed. It was broken at last by 
 uncle David. " Well, John, you know what / think 
 pretty well. You know I think New England farms 
 need New England boys, an' '11 pay 'em too, if they'll 
 only stick by. All the same, no discontented young
 
 THE SILVER CITY. 
 
 feller's going to plow deep, or take much int'rest in 
 iinportin' stock. You're teched, an' you'll go, prob'ly. 
 So we might as well say go, an' good luck go with 
 ye. I feel better about it that you're goin' under the 
 protection of an insthoot>as it were, an' for a def'nit 
 object ; so much apiece for a skin, as it were, an' not a 
 huntin' as you've -sometimes talked, for that city of 
 moonshine, with silver walls." 
 
 John smiled. " That is the funniest part of it," 
 he said; "for, uncle David, if you'll believe it, this 
 region the professor has pitched upon to have me 
 explore is the very one containing that mysterious 
 city. Come, now, isn't that a clear indication of 
 Providence ? " 
 
 Uncle David's brow lowered, and his mouth 
 twitched as it always did when he was much disturbed 
 by something he could not change, but he made no 
 reply. 
 
 " Let me make one more appeal," said his mother ; " I 
 want to make you this offer. Here is the farm, it has 
 thirty acres of good land, and you and Ben shall have 
 it to yourselves ; all you can make upon it from this 
 day, this season's crops and all, if you will stay and 
 work it faithfully for five years. I'll deed it to you 
 to-morrow on these conditions." 
 
 Ben broke in eagerly': "And /have something 
 to say, John : if you'll do as mother proposes you 
 shall have my share too; the whole farm shall be 
 yours I'll be content to simply be your hired man, 
 if you'll only stay at home, John." 
 
 John shook his head, though his eyes filled with 
 warm tears. 
 
 " Then," continued his brother, the glow dying 
 away on his honest face, " I will stay and work 
 mother's farm alone. You save all you can, we'll do 
 the same ; return to us in a twelvemonth and let us 
 compare notes. I will pu-t the farm against the sea 
 and the Silver City." 
 
 " All right, old fellow," said John cheerily, spring- 
 ing up. " None of you believe in me, of course, but 
 when I come home with money enough to pay the 
 village debt and buy out uncle David beside, you'll 
 admit that I dreamed dreams to some purpose." 
 
 It was difficult to find a vessel going to that part 
 of the world John wished to reach, especially one that 
 would either take out a passenger for a small sum, or 
 let one work his passage, as he proposed doing. 
 This country of Yucatan was a long way off, especially 
 to John's mother and Ben. Every day now they 
 looked at it on an atlas ; it lav south and west of 
 
 Cuba, projecting upward from Central America. At 
 that time but few vessels sailed to it direct ; the only 
 chance seemed to secure a passage to Cuba and 
 there await some coasting vessel. 
 
 But good luck still seemed to come to John 
 It was not a week before there might have been 
 seen a schooner in Selim harbor with sails loose 
 hung to the breeze, toward which uncle David's 
 dory was being rowed, two sturdy young men at the 
 oars. Half an hour later, the sails were drawn aft, 
 the schooner was trimmed to the wind, and the little 
 dory left behind, its occupants gazing seaward tear 
 fully, the one they had left on board looking land- 
 ward with straining eyes. 
 
 The spires of the town, the rocky headlands, the 
 smooth beaches, gradually faded from sight; the 
 little brown house sank down amongst the trees, and 
 then John turned away and set his face toward the 
 Silver City. 
 
 By the time the new sailor had stowed away his 
 luggage and donned sea-clothes, the sunset was gild- 
 ing a distant cloud bank ; all that remained in sight 
 of his native land. Midnight found them tossing 
 upon the long waves of the open ocean, two thousand 
 miles between John and his destination. 
 
 The Dappled Diver was a stanch craft, though 
 small and old, of about one hundred tons' capacity ; 
 and as she sailed along steadily, requiring very little 
 "handling," the young sailor, though he shared both 
 night and day watches, found time heavy on his 
 hands. 
 
 The ship's crew and officers promised no great 
 variety of interesting acquaintanceship. Captain 
 Bowker was a " down easier," a native of that vague 
 country located any- 
 where along the New 
 England coast. His 
 mate was a connection, 
 and the cook a brother 
 of his wife, so that the 
 discipline aboard the 
 Dappled Diver was rather 
 lax, especially as the four 
 men constituting the 
 crew were also from the 
 captain's own neighbor- 
 hood. Of a kind dispo- 
 sition, he soon treated 
 might his own son. 
 
 FLYl.NG FISH. 
 
 his new "hand" as he 
 He became interested in his 
 plans, gave him advice, and steadily discouraged
 
 THE SILVER CITY. 
 
 his idea of setting off into the interior of Yucatan. 
 " Your project of exploring all along the coast," 
 said he, " is safe enough, if you are tolerable cau- 
 tious ; but once you get fifty miles inland, you leave 
 
 the region of towns 
 and cities where the 
 people are kind and 
 peaceable, and you 
 fall into the hands of 
 savages who don't 
 show any mercy to 
 strangers, but put 'em 
 to death with all kinds 
 of torture." 
 
 "But it happens 
 SEA GULL. that the portion of 
 
 Yucatan I want to 
 
 explore most is a long ways inland, in a region so 
 wild no white man has ever been known to pene- 
 trate it and yet return to describe it." 
 " And what's your idea of going there ? " 
 John colored up. He knew the reception his pet 
 scheme would meet with from this bluff sailor But 
 he came out boldly : " Well, there is said to be 
 somewhere in the wild interior a large and populous 
 city with " 
 
 " Yes, yes ; bless your heart," broke in the cap- 
 tain, "I know all about it with walls shining like 
 silver, with golden minarets and battlements of crys- 
 tal, where the people have all the ways and costumes 
 of their ancestors of a thousand years ago, and 
 where they guard a subterranean treasure-chamber 
 containing more gold than the Spaniards got from 
 Montezuma." 
 
 " That is it, truly," admitted the astonished young 
 man ; " but where did you get that description ? " 
 
 "Oh, I've seen that old book; and what's more, it 
 was nearly the means of leading me off on just such 
 a trip as you are thinking of now, only I had the 
 resolution to fight it. There was one poor fellow, 
 though, who wa'n't so fortunate. He sailed a 
 schooner the mate to mine built on the same 
 stocks and launched the same season, and though 
 only a few know it, / know that he actually went 
 down there to hunt that city." 
 
 " How long ago was it, and what became of him ? " 
 asked John. 
 
 " Nigh on to ten years ago, I reckon, and as to 
 what became of him, nobody ever knew; but it is 
 supposed that he sailed down towards Honduras. 
 
 and was wrecked off that coast somewhere. Some 
 of the sailors, it is said, reached the shore, but they 
 were took by the Indians and killed." 
 
 " Then you do know what became of him " He 
 stopped abruptly, the blood almost standing still 
 around his heart. " Captain, do you remember his 
 name ? " 
 
 ." I don't exactly. You see, I was never intimate 
 with him; only see his schooner now and then, and 
 hardly ever within hailing distance. But it seems to 
 me that they called him let me see Cap'n North; 
 yes, that was it, I think. Halloo, halloo, what's the 
 matter?" for John had seized him by the shoulder. 
 John smiled faintly as he sat down again. " My 
 father was lost at sea about ten years ago," he said, 
 "and my mother believes he went to look for this 
 city. I think it is the same man, and, Captain 
 Bowker, he may not be dead, if there is nothing sure 
 known about the shipwreck." 
 
 " This is strange ; how things do come about ! " 
 said the captain. And then he shook his head. 
 " My boy, there isn't the faintest show of his being 
 alive now. Don't let that lead you into that old 
 Yucatan wilderness." 
 
 John said not a word. Deep down in his heart 
 was forming the resolve to reach that region, and 
 never to leave it till he had found out the whole truth. 
 The captain seemed to divine his thoughts. He 
 was about to speak, when something skyward caught 
 his eye. " Look at that cloud ! " he cried ; " there's 
 a squall, sure's you're born. All hands shorten sail ! 
 lively now ! " 
 
 It proved something more serious than a squall, 
 the wind blowing before night with fury, and the sea 
 running higher than John at least had ever seen it. 
 
 For several days the 
 gale kept after them, 
 sending the little craft 
 along at a speed that 
 shortened the voyage by 
 nearly a week. 
 
 But at last there came 
 again pleasant weather, 
 and the vessel sailed 
 along on even keel 
 wafted onward by the 
 
 PETREL. 1-1 r\ t 
 
 trade winds. One of 
 
 those pleasant days, when the sun shone and the 
 flying-fish and dolphins were playing about the bows, 
 two weeks out, they entered the " Horse Latitudes."
 
 THE SILVER CITY. 
 
 They sailed slowly through vast stretches of gulf 
 weed, like those which frightened Columbus and his 
 sailors. The wind weakened so that they hardly 
 moved ahead : it was several days before they left 
 a-stern this famous " Sargasso Sea." The water 
 assumed a deeper hue as they sailed southward, and 
 from out the cool depths of blue darted the beautiful 
 flying-fish, skimming the waves and glancing like silver 
 in the sun a sight to delight our young naturalist. 
 " There ain't no end to the sights you'll see once 
 we fairly enter the tropics," said the mate, enjoying 
 his enthusiasm. "Walkin' in them tropic forests is 
 
 a round red face and twinkling black eyes. The whole 
 crew liked him, but they did detest his cooking; his 
 pastry was something horrible, and "plum duff " day, 
 which is usually looked forward to with expectancy, 
 always caused a thrill of horror to run through the 
 crew of the Diver. 
 
 " Tom," repeated the mate, ' trot cut that poim." 
 But Tom with a big blush under John's kindly but 
 keen gaze, said he had other fish to fry, and turned a. 
 deaf ear to the mate's commands. 
 
 As he turned out next morning John was surprised 
 at the swarms of sea birds flying along with the vessel \ 
 
 BAD LUCK COMES TO THE "DAPPLED DIVER." 
 
 jest like goin' through the 'Arabian Nights,' somethin' 
 that's scrumptious hoppin' up at ever}' step. There's 
 subjects for a poit, every time. Tom, here, 's a dab- 
 ster at a poim. Now there was a accident happened 
 to the Diver last v'yage, and Tom, the cook here, he 
 jest went to work and slung off some of the tallest 
 kind of poitry about it. Tom, what did you do with 
 that poim ? " 
 
 Tom was a hardy young "down caster" about 
 Ben's age, who had charge of the galley and did the 
 cooking a jolly good-natured boy, short and fat, with 
 
 gulls and terns, sea swallows, frigate-pelicans and 
 tropic birds, diving and wheeling in the clear ether, 
 while flocks of petrels, or "Mother Gary's chickens," 
 floated on the waves astern. 
 
 " They's curl's critters," remarked the mate as they 
 hung over the rail looking at the " chickens " skim- 
 ming the sea and darting at the galley refuse thrown 
 over by the cook ; " and they have a way of appearin' 
 and disappearin' that there ain't nobody can account 
 for. They're an evil bird, let me tell you, and though 
 I've seen millions of 'em in my life, I'd no mnre dare
 
 '1HE SILVER CITY. 
 
 harm one than I would the spirit of my grandma'am. 
 I've known more'n one occasion when the ketchin' of 
 one has brought bad luck to a vessel." 
 
 A cry forward just then called them that way, and 
 running up they found that one of the sailors in a 
 spirit of mischief had caught one of the little creat- 
 ures, and was hauling it in, fluttering and struggling, 
 at the end of a line. He had just got it in his hands 
 as they reached him, and with a sudden jerk broke 
 its neck and flung it to the deck at their very feet. 
 
 For a moment the mate stood dazed ; then with a 
 cry of rage he darted at the sailor, who turned in 
 time to evade him and rush up the shrouds. 
 
 " You cub ! if I ketch you on deck within twenty- 
 four hours, I'll serve you as you've served this bird ! 
 Just you stay there in the riggin' till I tell ye to come 
 down ! We're in for it now sure ; I'm as sartin some- 
 thing will happen to us before the v'yage is ended, as 
 that the sun will set this night." 
 
 As the mate thus spoke his great breast heaved 
 and the perspiration stood on his brow. All on 
 board, from the captain to the cook, shared in the 
 feeling of depression. Immediately that their com- 
 panion had been killed, the petrels had disappeared 
 just as though the sea had opened and swallowed 
 
 SCUDDING AWAY FOR DEAR LIFE. 
 
 them up; one moment they were danc- 
 ing on the water by scores, the next 
 and there was not one in sight ! 
 
 "Rats leave, a sinking vessel," muttered the cap- 
 tain, "and Mother Gary's chickens always skip 
 away when a vessel's bound for bad luck. However, 
 we're within two days of Cienfuegos, and if we don't 
 have it contrary within forty-eight hours, we're all 
 right." 
 
 The Dappled Diver was bound for the port named, 
 on the south coast of Cuba, there to load with sugar 
 and molasses for New York. The captain's plan 
 was to get into the Caribbean Sea, as he had, and, 
 after passing south of the Bahamas, and between 
 Cuba and Hayti, to sail westerly until in about the 
 longitude of the port, and then bear up for it. By 
 this means he took advantage of the rather strong 
 current setting up from the Caribbean into the Gulf 
 of Mexico. He was now approaching the point 
 whence to change their course to the northward, and, 
 late in the afternoon, after getting the longitude, he 
 told the mate that at midnight they would point the 
 Diver's nose for Cienfuegos. 
 
 As the sun went down, and as the cook called them 
 below for supper, the mate directed attention to the 
 sky in the west, which had taken on a hard, brassy 
 glare, while the intervening sea was black as ink. 
 The vessel had been sailing an easy jog all day, but 
 now the wind became baffling, and she was already 
 tossing uneasily on the restless waves. 
 
 "I don't like it," said the captain, as he and the 
 mate and John went in. "The barometer's falling 
 fast. Soon's we're through, Mr. Walker, better have 
 the men clew up them topsails, and double-reef the 
 mainsail." 
 
 But there was to be no supper that night. Bang ! 
 a loud report sounded overhead. The vessel heeled 
 till the water came running in at the lee scupper. 
 The captain and mate were out in an instant. 
 
 " Guess we won't have to clew up that fore-topsail, 
 cap'n, for there 'tis hangin' in tatters. We're struck 
 fearful ! " cried the mate. 
 
 The captain ran to the wheel, and, as he took it 
 from the man on duty, shouted hurriedly: 
 
 " Run up aloft and take in what's left of the 
 main-topsail ! Come aft, two of you, by the main 
 halliards. There ! hold on hard ; there she comes 1 
 Now go ahead and put in a double-reef in the mainsail. 
 Lively, now, our lives depend on't ! " 
 
 All the other sails were clewed up tight ; then, 
 under a rag of the mainsail and the flying-jib, she 
 was put before it, and scud away for dear life, with 
 a hurricane howling behind her.
 
 THE SILVER CITY. 
 
 After the ropes had been gathered up and every- 
 thing made snug, the captain gave up the wheel to John 
 (as it was his watch from eight o'clock to midnight) 
 and went below to consult charts and barometer. 
 
 " It's a hurricane, sure as guns," said the mate as 
 he came aft to coil up a rope. " Where we are 
 now is right on the edge of the hurricane region, and 
 we'll be sure to git enough of ft in the next two days." 
 
 Captain Bowker found he had five hundred miles 
 between them and the nearest land to westward, and 
 as the gale was after them from the eastward, there was 
 no alternative but to let her drive westward. It was a 
 terrible night, but the next morning brought no relief, 
 for the wind was blowing the tops off the white-crested 
 waves, and whistling dismally through the rigging. 
 
 The day passed. Night again fell upon a stormy 
 sea. The next day saw them still driving before the 
 unabated fury of the storm. The blackness of the 
 third night was only relieved by flashes of foam and 
 the glare of lightning through an inky sky. The crew 
 were wet through, and hungry and weary with watch- 
 ing. For the past forty-eight hours they had only 
 snatched a moment's sleep where they happened 
 to fall in their clothes. 
 
 A new cause of anxiety now harassed the captain. 
 Having been driven so long to westward, they must 
 now be very near the coast that lay five hundred 
 miles to leeward when the gale struck. They had 
 been speeding along at a rate not less than ten miles 
 an hour, possibly twelve, and it needed no deep 
 reasoning to show that most imminent danger waited 
 
 just ahead. Long and anxiously the mate and captain 
 debated what it was best to do. 
 
 " We can only let her drive," muttered the captain 
 despairingly, " and put our trust in the God of 
 storms. To-morrow will show us where we are, and 
 the wind may then be blown out." 
 
 They were running under bare poles ; most of 
 their sails were torn into ribbons. Everything mova- 
 ble had been swept from the deck. The man on 
 watch and the helmsman were lashed to their posts. 
 No fire had been lighted for two days. Only hard- 
 tack and raw bacon had been their food. 
 
 This was their condition on that third black night 
 of storm. The sun went down in a cloud, and the 
 lights in the rigging struggled feebly with the mid- 
 night darkness. The wind wailed and shrieked, the 
 sea roared and bellowed like a hundred lions chasing 
 the fleeing vessel to their dismal dens. Like a flying 
 fish before the jaws of a dolphin, she still sped on. 
 At last above the roar of the storm came a hoarse cry 
 the long-expected cry from the man at the bow 
 " Breakers ahead ! " 
 
 There was nothing to do. The trembling craft 
 dashed right on, leaped high into the clashing waves, 
 sank upon the rocks. 
 
 A mighty billow came thundering along with 
 flecks of foam dripping from its jaws ; it hung, 
 crouched, one moment above those helpless souls ; 
 another, and it fell; the next, and there was not a 
 living thing in sight.
 
 THE SILVER CITY. 
 
 AFTER THE HURRICANE. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 (ON PEDRO PINTO, Mex- 
 ican fisherman on the 
 coast of Yucatan, lived 
 in a small hut on the 
 border of Lake Santa 
 Cruz, in the island of 
 Cozumel. He had 
 dwelt solitary on this 
 island for nearly three 
 years, holding little or 
 no communication with either white men or Indians. 
 The fearful hurricane that had blown across his 
 island preventing him from going to sea for fish and 
 turtles for the past three days, had now died away. 
 Sweet was the air of the forest with odors of a thou- 
 sand flowers and vines, and bright shone the sun on 
 the waves at the mouth of the bay as he drew his 
 canoe from under its shelter of palm branches and 
 pushed it over the silver sand that bordered the 
 water. Placing in it his net and lines, his turtle peg, 
 some provisions and water, he paddled slowly out 
 from shore, Indian fashion, facing the bows. 
 
 This is perhaps the loveliest lake to the eye that 
 lies in any island of that western Caribbean Sea. It 
 is about two miles in length, and a mile in width, its 
 deep pearl-blue water circled by a belt of snow-white 
 sand, and enclosed by a wall of forest trees display- 
 ing all the varied beauty of the tropic wilderness. 
 
 Standing at his door, Don Pedro could view its en- 
 tire length and breadth; could see at a glance the 
 myriads of sea-birds that hovered over its surface, 
 and the black forms of deer and wild hogs that 
 roamed the beach on the other side. These, his only 
 neighbors, did not disturb his meditations that morn- 
 ing as he paddled easily down towards the point 
 where the lake connected with the sea, now hidden 
 by great abrupt cliffs. As he rounded this 
 promontory the roaring of the sea broke upon his 
 ears, telling him that though the storm had subsided, 
 the waters of the ocean had not, and his little canoe 
 
 presently began to toss lightly upon water agitated 
 by the rolling waves outside. He saw that he could 
 not venture in his frail craft ; that his fishing must be 
 confined to the lake. 
 
 Looking about for a choice spot, something be- 
 neath the cliff at the farther wall of the narrow en- 
 trance arrested his attention. 
 
 " Santa Maria!" muttered he in Spanish, his 
 mother tongue. " Santa Maria ! that looks like a 
 good boat for me." 
 
 Swiftly plying his paddle, he was soon alongside it r 
 indulging in the prospect of now being able to go 
 turtling in any weather, since so large and strong a 
 boat as this appeared to be, had been cast up espe- 
 cially for him by- the waves. Reaching over to 
 grasp the rail, his eye fell on an object lying across a 
 thwart that caused him to exclaim in horror, and 
 cross himself. " Ah ! Mother of Mercy! There's a 
 poor boy who must have perished in last night's 
 gale." 
 
 Clambering into the boat, he found an oar lashed 
 inside, and with this he brought his capture up 
 the bay near his hut. Running the boat upon the 
 sand, he gently lifted out its occupant, bore him up 
 the bank beneath a palm-tree, and softly laid him 
 down. 
 
 " Pobrecito ! poor little one ! " exclaimed he in 
 pity. " To think thou art so young ! To think that 
 thou should be borne ashore only to be buried ! Thou 
 seem'st a gentle lad, and might have been bon came- 
 rado with poor Don Pedro ! " 
 
 He sat down beside the boy. He took one of his 
 hands, and scanned the pallid face from which the 
 dark hair fell away wet and heavy. 
 
 " As though he might be asleep," he muttered. 
 " It is strange his eyes should be closed. When 
 people are drowned their eyes are always open. 
 How many have I looked into, staring wide at me 
 from the waves ! And his hand, it is not very cold ; 
 it is all but warm. Do I dare think he is alive ? It 
 is not. possible ; yet I can fancy that his eyelids 
 move. Ah, Dios, they do move!" 
 
 Don Pedro wasted no more time in words. He
 
 THE SILVER CITY. 
 
 flew to his hut for restoratives. There could be no 
 assistance, no advice. But Don Pedro needed none. 
 He knew the very moment when a flush of color 
 should come into the cheeks ; he could time the faint 
 gasps of breath ; he paused for the slow opening of 
 the great brown eyes that looked up into his so wonder- 
 ingly as though for the first time they were gazing 
 upon the world. Then the eyelids drooped, and a 
 deep sleep fell at once upon the boy. 
 
 "All is right," murmured Don Pedro. 
 
 He proceeded at once to remove him to his own 
 
 "AH! MOTHER OF MERCY!" 
 
 bed of moss and palm leaves ; to take off his wet 
 clothes, and wrap him in warm garments. 
 
 Soon the brown eyes opened once more ; this time 
 a troubled soul looked through, sorely perplexed. 
 The pale lips framed a question : 
 
 " Are you my father ? " 
 
 Now Don Pedro though he spoke only Spanish 
 and the language of Yucatan, had often visited the 
 English settlement of Belize, and understood much of 
 the English tongue. It was an uncertain idea that 
 this strange voice now conveyed to him, yet after 
 
 some thought he grasped and understood the ques- 
 tion ; but he could not reply in English. Taking the 
 feeble hand in his, he answered slowly in his own 
 language : 
 
 "St, su padre!" yes, I am your father. 
 
 " He has been given to me by the sea," reasoned 
 the fisherman. " He shall henceforth be my son. So 
 I am his father." 
 
 But a look of doubt deepened on the lad's face. 
 Don Pedro saw he had not been understood. He 
 bowed his head upon his hands and murmured a 
 touching prayer : 
 
 " Padre mio, I beseech thee give me a language 
 that can be comprehended by this my son, given 
 to me by the sea ! " 
 
 There was a common language at command. Un- 
 consciously, Don Pedro gave expression to it in the 
 stronggrasp of his hand and the tender light that played 
 on his usually grave and sad face. The boy under- 
 stood. He felt a father's protection. 
 
 " Where am I ? " was his next question. 
 
 After pondering awhile, Don Pedro answered with 
 careful distinctness : 
 
 " Cozumel." 
 
 An expression of astonishment now took the place 
 of doubt. He let his mind wander back to the chip- 
 charts. He slowly recalled the position of an island 
 named Cozumel. 
 
 " What ! " said he, trying to rise, " am I so near 
 the coast of Yucatan ? " 
 
 " Si yes cerca de near Yucatan," responded 
 Don Pedro. 
 
 Slowly the boy's lips moved. He meant to speak 
 aloud ; but Don Pedro heard no sound. The boy 
 rehearsed the past only to his own consciousness : 
 
 " Ah, yes ; it was that great wave hanging over us ! 
 It crushed down and swept us all into the sea, and I 
 was dashed into the boat that hung over the stern. 
 I suppose I clung to the seat. Probably I drifted. I 
 have been picked up, I suppose, story-book fashion. 
 Where are the others ? " he cried suddenly and audi- 
 bly. " I ought to see about it at once ! See here ! 
 there are several besides me ; let us set out at once." 
 
 Vainly trying to rise, he sank back with a groan, 
 and, turning his face to the wall, wrestled with the 
 anguish of full recollection. 
 
 Don Pedro was in despair. He could catch only 
 a fragment of the boy's meaning. But he gathered that 
 he had been wrecked on the southern reef, and that 
 there were others in need of assistance. He walked
 
 THE SILVER CITY. 
 
 the floor, pulling at his long white beard, devoutly 
 wishing again that there was some common language 
 
 between him and the 
 boy. 
 
 The reader has al- 
 ready concluded that 
 Don Pedro's patient 
 was no other than our 
 adventurous John 
 North. The first 
 great sea that toppled 
 over the Dappled Diver 
 swept him into the long- 
 boat hanging by its 
 davits ; the second 
 freed the boat from its 
 fastenings and flung 
 her over the reef into 
 a sheltered lagoon, where she floated, beyond the 
 reach of the breakers, and drifted finally, with the 
 unconscious occupant, against the northern point 
 forming the entrance to the lake. (See map.} 
 
 By the time John had awakened from the heavy 
 sleep into which he fell- at length, it was noon. The 
 sun hung above the lake, a ball of fire above a glow- 
 ing mirror. Don Pedro, meantime, had resolved 
 upon a visit to the wreck, which he knew must lie 
 near. He was only waiting for a word with the boy. 
 Now that he had wakened, he brought him a great 
 green cocoanut full of cool delicious water; and after 
 drinking it, John felt so much better that he insisted 
 upon rising and setting forth at once. 
 
 Don Pedro protested ; made him understand that 
 the sun was too hot, the distance too far, the excite- 
 ment too great ; that he would be back by sunset. 
 But the coast-bred New England boy laughed at the 
 idea of being unmanned by a night's wetting. He 
 rose and shook himself, staggered for a moment, and 
 then in expressive^ pantomime demanded his clothes. 
 Don Pedro, cheered with the young man's energy, 
 fished up some old garments from a battered sea- 
 chest. In these John was soon dressed, and they set 
 out. 
 
 Don Pedro carried a great wicker haversack upon 
 his shoulders, in which he had placed cooked provis- 
 ions and some stimulants. Each had a large stick, 
 and Don Pedro buckled about his waist a broad 
 leather belt full of cartridges, with a pistol and long 
 knife. 
 
 By referring to the map, the reader will notice that 
 
 Don Pedro's hut was set down on the shore of a little 
 bay on the west side of the lake, and that between it 
 and the sea or open channel where the wreck oc- 
 curred, there was but a narrow strip of land, covered 
 with dense forest. Through this forest Don Pedro 
 had long since opened a path ; for the wreck of the 
 Diver was not the first that had happened on that 
 reef ; in fact, he depended more upon what the sea 
 cast up to him, than upon the fish and turtle he drew 
 out of it ; and it was his custom to visit the point once 
 a week every Sunday and this he had done for 
 years, accumulating in his weekly excursions much 
 valuable spoil. Evidence of this might be seen in the 
 furnishings of his hut, and he had another cabin at 
 the reefs where he stored whatever he could not move 
 to the house by the lake. 
 
 The path was about two miles in length, and led 
 on through deep woods where underfoot was white 
 coral rock, and overhead a dense canopy of leaves. 
 Don Pedro strode ahead with his great knife, cutting 
 away the vines that had fallen across the trail since 
 his last visit,- and in spite of the solemn errand upon 
 which they were bound, and his own weakness, John 
 felt a sense of joy and courage as he followed, inhal- 
 ing the delicious forest odors. He was half bewil- 
 dered by the strange forms of vegetation. Long 
 vines hung from great trees, dropping suddenly from 
 out the maze of branches above, without visible root 
 or support ; and these coiled about each other, inter- 
 twined and hung with giant ferns and long mosses. 
 Through these vines, and from tree to tree, darted 
 bright-colored birds, the 
 whole forest musical 
 with their song and chat- 
 ter. 
 
 At sight of these John 
 felt stir a pulse of his old 
 ambition. He longed to 
 begin his commission for 
 the museum that moment. 
 But how could he work ? 
 His gun and ammunition 
 were lost; so was the 
 money that had been 
 paid him in advance. 
 But he cheered up pres- 
 ently; partly from the DON PEDRO'S HUT. 
 Yankee consciousness of 
 
 a birthright of good luck, and partly from a tingling 
 of strength and vim along vein, nerve and sinew.
 
 12 
 
 THE SILVER CITX. 
 
 WILD DEER OF YUCATAN. 
 
 The freshness of the great green sea-washed region 
 was like balm and wine. Hungrily, thirstily, he took 
 great draughts of these subtle restoratives. Confident 
 that a way would be opened to his work, even as one 
 had been for his escape from the sea, he followed 
 Don Pedro, watching for the first glimpse of the sea. 
 
 After an hour or so 
 the trees became smaller, 
 the forest more open, 
 dwindling to low bushes, 
 then came in sight the 
 sand dunes ; and at the 
 same time the roaring of 
 the sea burst upon their 
 ears. Anxiously, with- 
 out a word, they climbed 
 the last sand-hillock and 
 looked off upon the open 
 water. Below were the 
 reefs, from which the breakers were tossing sheets 
 of foam, and between were quiet lagoons filled with 
 sea-mosses and bright-banded fish. 
 
 ' Is there nothing, not a spar left of the vessel? " 
 said John to himself. 
 
 The next moment there loomed up the battered 
 hulk of the Divet without masts, rigging gone, but 
 standing bolt upright on the edge of a reef of coral. 
 Her entire hull was out of water, and he saw that a 
 pathway of coral led out and nearly reached her. He 
 started on a run clown the bank, but Don Pedro, 
 partly by signs and partly by words, halted him. 
 
 " Stay here till I go and examine. It is better, 
 because I know the coast." 
 
 John understood. Much against his will he re- 
 mained on the sand. His heart beat so wildly that 
 at last he sat down. In a short time he was to know 
 whether any remained of the crew, or whether he was 
 a lone castaway. It seemed only a half-mile to the 
 wreck, but Don Pedro proceeded slowly, the coral 
 points were so sharp and so slimy with seaweed ; and 
 John's gaze was divided between him as he picked 
 his way and the forlorn hulk, so pitiful in its helpless 
 condition. 
 
 Once as his eyes rested upon the vessel, he fancied 
 he saw a wreath of smoke rise into the air amidships. 
 Rubbing his eyes, he looked again. This time he 
 was sure. A thin column of smoke rose straight up 
 in the still air. He could not contain himself. He 
 shouted to Don Pedro : 
 
 " Hullo ! Hurrah ! hurrah ! " 
 
 The Mexican looked back. Following the direction 
 of John's hand, he too saw the smoke, and waved his 
 arms as token of it. John rushed down the bank and 
 out upon the coral strand, though Don Pedro waved 
 him back. But he kept on ; and he paid the penalty 
 of disobedience too, for as he reached the Mexican, he 
 found him bending above a startling, sorrowful sight 
 one of the Dappled Diver's crew stretched out cold 
 and stiff, one hand clinging to the seaweed, and his 
 vacant eyes rolled up to the sky. 
 
 It was from an apprehension of this very thing, 
 and from a doubt of his strength to stand the shock, 
 that Don Pedro had cautioned him to await his 
 return. Now he had the grim satisfaction of seeing 
 the wilful boy's face grow ghastly, and his legs 
 weaken so that he must have fallen but for an out- 
 stretched arm. 
 
 " Now you go back," entreated Don Pedro ; " there'll 
 be more." 
 
 " No," persisted John. " I go on. I can endure 
 now, if I find them all. I must reach the vessel ; 
 there there is at least one man alive." 
 
 Taking him by the hand, Don Pedro led the way, 
 muttering prayers ; and finally they reached a point 
 whence their voices might reach the ears of whoever 
 might be on board. 
 
 " Ship ahoy ! " shouted John ; but his voice was 
 not the clear clarion it was when he could make a 
 person hear distinctly across the old North farm. It 
 must have fallen far short of the mark. 
 
 Then Don Pedro joined in with a wild, grim Mexi- 
 can sort of " Hullo ! " 
 
 It answered the purpose, though addressed to Yan- 
 kee ears. They heard a faint answering shout, like 
 an echo ; but it was not an echo, for soon a head ap- 
 peared above the rail, and then the figure of a man 
 with wildly waving arms ; and they heard joyful, 
 though unintelligible, shouts. 
 
 And now another figure joined the first. John 
 made a telescope of his 
 hand. He thought he 
 recognized Tom Bolton, 
 their cook. A little later 
 he was sure, for no other 
 man or boy would have 
 stood on his head for joy, 
 and waved his legs in- 
 stead of his arms. 
 
 Soon they got near 
 enough to hear one 
 
 THE TERN.
 
 THE SILVER CTT\. 
 
 PECCARY, OR WILD HOG. 
 
 another's calls. Then they learned that the two 
 were Tom Bolton and Mr. Walker, the mate. 
 
 "Where are the oth- 
 ers ? " called John. 
 
 "Gone! every one !" 
 shouted Mr. Walker. 
 "Can you get us ? " 
 
 They had reached the 
 limit of the reef. Be- 
 tween them and the ves- 
 sel lay an open channel 
 nearly sixty feet wide. 
 John looked doubtful. 
 " Hold on ! " shouted the mate. " I can bring you 
 aboard, if you can't bring us ashore." 
 
 He disappeared, was gone for a few minutes, then 
 came in sight again with a coil of line. To one end 
 of this he tied a heavy lead. 
 " Now stand from under ! " 
 
 He whirled the lead about his head, then let fly the 
 coil, which straightened out, reached across the chan- 
 nel and well up upon the coral. 
 " Pull in the slack," he cried. 
 
 John and Don Pedro pulled until they brought up 
 from the water the end of a heavy rope which the 
 mate had bent on to the line. 
 
 " That's the talk," he shouted again ; "now make 
 the cable fast about one of them rocks some ways 
 from the shore." 
 
 This done, the mate and Tom took several turns 
 about the capstan, and soon drew the cable tight as a 
 drumhead. 
 
 " Three Swiss Family Robinson cheers for our 
 suspension bridge ! " cried Tom. " Let's see how she 
 works ! " 
 
 Before the mate could prevent, he had darted over 
 the side, and swarmed across the rope-bridge like a 
 monkey across a grape-vine between trees. 
 
 " How are you, John, old fellow ? " he demanded 
 eagerly, as the two boys grasped each other by the 
 hand. " I'm mighty glad to see you, 'specially " 
 and here he looked as sorrowful as was possible to 
 Tom Bolton " 'specialty's the mate and I thought 
 we was all there was left. Come aboard, and see 
 how snug we're fixed, you and your friend here. 
 What's the old chap's name anyway ? Don't-ee he 
 speak-ee English ? " 
 
 " Easy, Tom," said John, feeling the enlivening ef- 
 fect of his presence, and smiling. " He understands 
 sufficient English for you to have a care in what you 
 
 say; as for his name, I don't know what it is yet my- 
 self." 
 
 " No matter ; good feller, anyhow ; saved your life, 
 did he ? 
 
 "Old gentleman, if you're a friend of John's you're 
 my friend too. Shake-ee now, shake-ee ! " 
 
 Don Pedro smiled, much amused at this odd, rosy, 
 plump specimen of a boy, and gave Tom's hand a 
 hearty grip. 
 
 " Now come aboard, both of you ! " cried Tom, 
 "and hallo! look at that shark! And there's a 
 dozen more taking up their stations right under the 
 rope. This 'ere bridge is a leetle nearer the water 
 than I'd like for the first few feet from shore." 
 
 " Oh, I'll go ahead if you say fear's the word, 
 Tom," said John ; and lightly climbing the rope, he 
 was soon over the rail with his hands in the horny 
 palms of the mate. Don Pedro after signing Tom to 
 be careful, which Tom mimicked behind his back in 
 very excess of high spirits, also 
 reached the vessel's side in 
 safety; and after they were 
 aboard Tom shouted out that he 
 
 TOM CROSSES THE SUSPENSION BRIDGE. 
 
 was going to cruise along shore a little, to see what 
 he could pick up. 
 
 The old Dappled Diver decks were desolate enough.
 
 THE SIL VER CITY. 
 
 " You can see what a pickle we're in," said the mate ; 
 " not a loose piece of plank left big enough to swim by, 
 let alone make a raft of. Howsoever, if you hadn't 
 hove in sight when you did, we should have up 
 anchor and made a lay for land to-morrow ; for 
 though the Diver's high and dry now, the fust west 
 wind'll likely drift her out to sea. You see how 
 she's fixed sot right into a cradle in the reef, and 
 can't budge an inch long's the wind holds the way 
 'tis ; but when the wind changes, then look out, 
 says I." 
 
 John asked for an account of the wreck from ship- 
 board standpoint, and Mr. Walker sat down to spin 
 the dark yarn. 
 
 "Well, John," said he, "you see that big wave 
 just knocked everybody over like tenpins, and every 
 single soul that was on deck was washed overboard. 
 After that the waves weakened, till finally they 
 throwed us on to the reef just far enough to be out 
 of reach of the M'ust ones, and there we sot, jest 
 as safe as if we was shored up on the stocks ; you 
 see everything had gone by the board a long time 
 before, and there wa'n't nothing to topple her over 
 no masts nor riggin'." 
 
 " But where were you all this time, mate ? " 
 
 " I was below ; I said to Captain Bowker, said I, 
 'Cap'n, it's my opinion we're better off below, for 
 whatever comes, we can't do no good on deck.' 
 That was a few minutes before that wave hit us ; but 
 he up and said that his duty was on deck, and if he'd 
 got to die he'd be found with his hand on the wheel ; 
 and so I s'pose he was, poor fellow ! 
 
 "I went below and got into my bunk. The next 
 thing I know'd I heerd an , awful screeching, and 
 the vessel heeled over a minute, and then there was 
 a lull, and the water came pouring into the cabin 
 till it was half-way up to my bunk. But I lay there 
 till mighty near daylight, when not seein' the water 
 gainin', I ventured to wade to the cabin stairs, and 
 put my head up outside. ' Ahoy on deck there ! ' 
 says I. There wa'n't no answer. ' Anybody alive ? ' 
 says I. There wa'n't no sound except the dash of 
 the waves against the counter, and the wailin' of the 
 wind. I tell ye I felt* scared. The blood kind o' 
 settled 'round my heart, and I fell down on the deck, 
 and I tried to pray. Says I : 'O Lord, am I the only 
 living thing aboard this vessel ? Every one that went 
 is a better man than I be why did you leave me ? ' 
 Then I sot there till daylight." 
 
 "But where was Tom all this time ?" 
 
 "Well, I'll tell ye: Tom was asleep ! " 
 
 " Asleep ! How could he sleep through all that 
 terrible night ? " 
 
 " That's what I say. But sleep he did. Blamed 
 if he didn't sleep through the hull on't. And the 
 fust thing I know'd was his comin' up and layin' his 
 hand on my shoulder, and a-sayin', ' Seems to me, 
 mate, they's a good deal of water in the cabin,' says 
 he. And when I looked up, amazed that there had 
 somebody been alive all that time in the vessel, he 
 says, says he, ' Mate, where's the rest of us ? ' 
 
 " And then I answered and said, ' Tom, there ain't 
 no rest of us now; we're all there is? He dropped 
 down on the bitts there as though he'd been struck 
 by a marlinespike. There we both sot without sayin' a 
 word till noon. Bymeby Tom up and picks himself 
 up kinder slowly, and says he, ' Mate, I reckon 
 we've got to have somethin' to eat. I'll rummage 
 the caboose.' Then I see there wa'n't no use settin' 
 there. I gathered myself together and hunted round 
 for -something to make a fire; and we'd jest got our 
 breakfast, and had time to bail the heft of the water 
 out of the cabin when you diskivered us. Go below 
 and take a look ? Invite your chum, if you like. 
 Mexican, ain't he ? What d'you say his name was ? " 
 
 " You know as well as I, for I haven't heard him 
 Siay, and don't know how to ask him." 
 
 "Just so. But all these fellers speak Spanish, 
 and when I was on the Spanish Main I learnt to 
 jabber that. Now you just lay back and listen. 
 Here goes : 
 
 " I say Seenor, parlez vous Espanol, hey ? " 
 
 "Si, Senor" 
 
 " You no speaky English lettly bit, hey ? " 
 
 " No, Seuor." 
 
 " Understandy some, hey ? " 
 
 " Si, Senor, comprendo unpoco" (Yes, sir, I under- 
 stand a little.) 
 
 " Well then, you don't mind tellin' me your name, 
 do you ?' " 
 
 " Como ? " (How ?) 
 
 " Your name ; can't you tell us what your daddy 
 calls you to hum ? " 
 
 " Ah, usted quiere mi nombre ? " (You wish to know 
 my name ?) " To soy " (I am) " Pedro Pinto, a su 
 disposition" (At your service.) 
 
 " There, now you're talkin' ! Well, John, he calls 
 himself Pedro Pinto. Pedro is Peter, and to do the 
 correct thing, we oughter call him Don Pedro, or Mr. 
 Peter. Well, Don Pedro, I'm mighty glad to see you,
 
 THE SIL VER CITY. 
 
 though we have come on to you rather sudding. There, 
 John, I guess I've done the business up kinder slick; 
 come below now. 
 
 "You see everything jest about as you left it," 
 continued the mate cheerfully, as they descended the 
 cabin stairs and passed into the wet and dismal 
 rooms. " 'Bout the same, only 'tain't. Here's the- 
 chronometer, jist as Captain strapped it up to 
 take with him. Well, he's gone himself, but he 
 didn't take no timepiece. Here's all his charts and 
 
 As if in reply, Tom's voice reached them ringing 
 out from the water edge to which the rope-bridge was 
 stretched : " Help ! help ! " 
 
 Rushing to the rail, they saw Tom struggling in the 
 water, clinging to the slackened cable. 
 
 " Help. ! " he cried. " The sharks are after me! " 
 
 In the thickening twilight, they saw three ghostly 
 white bodies gliding through the water towards the 
 spot where poor Tom was splashing, his bocfv half 
 submerged. It seemed a hopeless case, for there 
 
 THE MEXICAN' WAS THE FIRST TO ACT. 
 
 papers and cur'os'ties that he's been a-savin' for his 
 wife and children, poor things ! All this property 
 and all there is movable aboard, I've got to make 
 myself responsible for to the owners and underwriters. 
 What's yourn, you take. Nobody knows if I'll ever 
 git away home to render an account at all. Here's 
 your room, and here's your chist and box; guess 
 you'd better git 'em up on deck, and take out what's 
 in 'em, and dry 'em in the sun ; guess your powder's 
 pooty wet by this time, and your gun some rusty. It's 
 nigh onto sunset, but and if you an' Don Pedro'll take 
 hold, we'll git out what we can. Here we air on deck ; 
 to-night we'll stretch a awning, and sleep here. Wonder 
 what's become of Tom 'bout dark ; ought to be here." 
 
 was nothing at hand to throw at the sharks, and if 
 one descended the rope to grasp the boy, it would 
 only slacken the more and plunge him the deeper. 
 John turned white. Was the most terrible incident 
 of all sea-life stories to come true under his very eyes ? 
 The Mexican was the first to act. Motioning the 
 mate to the capstan to tighten the cable, he took his 
 long bright knife between his teeth, and swinging 
 over the rail, crept cautiously along the rope. 
 
 He drew nearer and nearer, but he was fully a rod 
 away when the leading shark turned over on his back 
 and glided beneath the boy with open mouth set with 
 white and glistening teeth.
 
 i6 
 
 THE SILVER CITY. 
 
 OUT OF DANGER IN TO DANGER. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 
 iARAMBA!" muttered 
 Don Pedro between his 
 teeth, slipping along the 
 rope ; " the boy's gone ! 
 ha ! that was not badly 
 done ! " 
 
 By a convulsive up- 
 ward fling, Tom had 
 raised himself out of 
 water at the right in- 
 stant, and the shark's 
 jaws closed on empty 
 air ; not on air alone either, for they clutched the 
 lower portion of his jacket, and held on. 
 
 The sweat broke out on Don Pedro's forehead and 
 hands. If he advanced one move nearer, he would 
 sink the cable deeper, and Tom's hold would prob- 
 ably give way. There was but just one thing to do 
 a risky thing. But he reached around, drew his re- 
 volver from his belt, and levelled it at the head of 
 the shark. The aim was a sure one ; at the report 
 the jaws relaxed, and Tom was for a moment free. 
 But only for a moment, for before he could move 
 on into safety, the blood that tinged the water from 
 the wounded fish drew a score of others, cruel and 
 eager ; four at once swam straight for the place of 
 the wounded one, in their blind, furious haste disre- 
 garding Tom, who now hung helpless with one arm 
 over the cable, and his eyes starting from his blood- 
 less face as he beheld the eddying horror beneath him. 
 Don Pedro was again equal to the emergency. Drop- 
 ping his revolver he crept forward, seized the heavy, 
 inert fellow, and by a mighty lift and spring, cleared 
 the horrible seething waters below, and placed Tom 
 before him above him on the rope. The tightening 
 of the cable through the combined efforts of John 
 and the mate at the capstan, raised them a little, but 
 not beyond the reach of the sharks, who by a lucky 
 leap could still have seized them both. 
 
 " For your life," gasped Don Pedro as he motioned 
 
 Tom to climb along the rope. The boy understood 
 the situation well enough to draw himself though 
 slowly and clumsily up the slanting cable towards 
 the ship's side, where at last John grasped him by 
 the collar and lifted him over the rail. 
 
 This had occupied several long minutes ; and 
 meanwhile Don Pedro was in peril himself. Had he 
 followed Tom immediately, he might have escaped; 
 but the sturdy old fisher lingered to have a blow at 
 the sharks. He bore them an ancient grudge, for 
 they were constantly besetting him at sea, and had 
 robbed his nets of many a catch. They were not 
 slow to meet him half-way. One after another they 
 rose, with open mouths, gnashing their white teeth in 
 vain efforts to seize him as he dealt them blow after 
 blow with his keen-edged knife. 
 
 John and the mate watched this battle with dismay, 
 for they saw Don Pedro's danger better than he him- 
 self. And now knotting a rope around his waist and 
 taking another in his hand, leaving the mate holding 
 the slack of both, John crept in his turn down the 
 cable towards the rash man who had saved his life. 
 He had evidently become conscious of his folly and 
 his peril, and would have turned, but he could not ; for 
 when he should turn, so near was he to the water, his 
 leg would be bitten off in an instant ; as it was, the 
 mass of sharks below were only kept at bay by 
 repeated blows. Without moving his head, he called 
 vehemently : " Carne ! came : " 
 
 "What does he mean ? " called the mate to John ; 
 " he is saying meat, meat/'' Then he caught his 
 breath with an angry laugh. " Oh, what a dunder- 
 head ! Tom, can't you get at the storeroom and haul 
 out some bacon ? That's what he means. Quick ! 
 bestir yourself whether you can or not, and heave it 
 over at the stern ! That will draw them sea-wolves 
 away from him ! Quick, now ! he can't last there 
 much longer ! " 
 
 At the repeated splashings of the great pieces of 
 pork, the attention of the sharks was drawn, and all 
 but the desperately wounded ones swam in that 
 direction ; all but one which refused to leave, and at 
 him, as his head appeared above the surface, Don
 
 THE SILVER CITY. 
 
 Pedro darted a savage and despairing blow. The 
 knife struck deep, stuck fast, and, in his efforts to 
 withdraw it, Don Pedro fell into the seething waves. 
 This was John's opportunity. In an instant he 
 was in the place just occupied by the Mexican, and 
 reaching him the rope. Don Pedro was no slow- 
 thoughted, unwieldy Tom. In a flash he grasped it, 
 running his arm through the noose 
 getting a firm grip on it, and the mate 
 at the other end drew in with a will. 
 But now it appeared that the obstinate 
 Mexican had refused to let go his hold 
 on the knife, and what with his weight 
 and the struggle of the shark, the mate 
 could make but slow headway. He 
 
 THE SHARK MAKES A STRANGE REV- 
 ELATION. 
 
 got him at last to the side of the vessel, but that was 
 all he could do. John had crept up the cable, and 
 now as he struck deck, he lent a hand ; but together, 
 they could not raise the combined weight of the fish- 
 erman and the shark. 
 
 "Le' go that knife !" howled the mate ; "here come 
 
 the rest of the sharks, and in two minutes they'll 
 make mince-meat of ye ! Le' go, I say; le' go! " 
 
 With a groan, Don Pedro loosed his hold on the 
 knife, and they had him out of the water ; and not 
 a second too soon either, for the channel was fairly 
 seething with sharks. 
 
 " Look at the beggars ! " cried the mate in mingled 
 wrath and disgust, as they landed Don 
 Pedro on deck. " I can count more'n 
 forty fins cuttin' the water there. Well, 
 old fellow, how d'ye feel ? " 
 
 " Mi cuchillo, y mi pistole ! oh, my 
 knife and my pistol ! " groaned the 
 fisherman : " I've lost them both." 
 
 "Well, yes, I sh'd say you had; 
 but don't mind that, we've enough 
 aboard here," answered the mate, shak- 
 ing off his fatigue with a shrug and a 
 smile. "And now is not this a merry-go-round ! fust 
 Don Pedro rescoos John, then he saves Tom, and then 
 John saves Don Pedro, and then I save the lot of ye; 
 all it lacks is, I should fall overboard and the rest of 
 ye turn to and rescoo me ; an' I ain't so sure, Mr. Peter 
 Pinto, that your knife's gone either; they say that 
 nothin' ain't lost when you know where 'tis, and 
 there's your knife a-held into that shark's jaws. II 
 I had a harpoon now, I'd soon have him on deck, 
 knife an' all. Tom, don't you know -where there's a 
 harpoon, or grains, or somethin' ? " 
 
 "I don't know where nothin' is, and don't care," 
 said Tom feebly : " but I believe there's one in the 
 cap'n's room all rigged, with a line on it." 
 
 The mate went into the cabin, and soon came out 
 with a harpoon. Lashing one end of the rope to the 
 taffrail, rigging a block, and then running a line 
 to the stump of the mainmast, he announced himself 
 ready for business. Don Pedro's shark lay on his 
 side stone dead, and of course immovable, except when 
 his brethren dashed to take a mouthful ; and he offered 
 a fair mark for the harpoon. "There she is, my 
 hearties ! now pull away," cried the mate. 
 
 All tumbled to with a will except Tom, and the 
 shark was soon stretched on deck, the handle of 
 Don Pedro's knife still protruding from his under 
 jaw. 
 
 It may be necessary to state for the information of 
 those who have never closely examined a shark, that* 
 his mouth being underneath, he must turn over upon 
 his back before he can bite. This shark evidently 
 was just turning over when the fatal stroke pierced
 
 i8 
 
 THE SILVER CITY. 
 
 the brain from the inside. But for this lucky blow, 
 Don Pedro might have been badly torn by the 
 wounded fish when he fell. 
 
 " Well ! " exclaimed the mate as he vainly tried to 
 pull out the knife, " what a tremenjus muscle you 
 must have, Mr. Mexican ! I can't even start that 
 knife ! " 
 
 But at last with an axe from the after-hold, they 
 cleft the stout skull, and Don Pedro drew forth his 
 precious knife and replaced it in his scabbard. 
 
 " Now if you had your revolver you'd be happy, 
 wouldn't ye ? " said the mate kindly as to a child. 
 " Well, we'll have to find a better one for ye some- 
 where amongst the cap'n's things ! Now le's dis- 
 sect this chap and see what he's swallowed sence 
 he's been cruising round these waters; they say 
 sharks sometimes swallow strange objects." 
 
 Don Pedro drew his knife with a will and plunged 
 it deep, intending to lay the shark entirely open. It 
 struck something hard. He drew it forth with a 
 great gap in its bright blade. 
 
 " Must be a harpoon," observed the mate, " or 
 somethin'." 
 
 With an exclamation of astonishment, Don Pedro 
 drew forth the object that the knife had struck. He 
 looked at it with amazement. 
 
 " Jumping grasshoppers ! if that ain't a pistol," 
 cried the mate, coming up and looking over his 
 shoulder. 
 
 " Es tnio," gasped Don Pedro. "It is mine." 
 
 " So 'tis ! the same identical weepin you saved 
 Tom's life with! Carve away, and le's see what 
 else the rascal's stowed away ! " 
 
 The carving brought to light a rather miscel- 
 laneous assortment of hardware a condensed milk 
 can, a reeving block, and a small tin box which had 
 been so long in the interior of the shark as to 
 be completely encysted, or enclosed, in a sack of 
 skin. 
 
 " A regular swimmin' curios'ty shop," commented 
 the mate ; " they do says a ostrich'll swaller anything, 
 and grow fat on board nails and gimlets ; but a shark 
 '11 just beat him, it seems ! Open the box, John, and 
 le's see what's in that ! " 
 
 They pried the cover off, and disclosed a wad of 
 oiled paper, or silk. Separating this, they found a 
 roll of brown, time-discolored paper. 
 
 " That all ? " cried the mate. " Thought it was 
 a wad of bank bills, sure ! Overboard with it! " 
 
 " Wait ! " cried John, arresting his arm. " Don't you 
 
 see what that is ? It's worth more to me than all tht 
 money aboard 7 Read it ! " 
 
 The mate carefully spread out the paper. It 
 proved to be two leaves from some old book. "Well," 
 said he, " there it is, all before you, and the title at 
 the head of the page is, The Con The Conquest of 
 Mexico. Don't see nothin' startlin' in that ! What 
 different do you see, my young friend ? " 
 
 John stood staring at the paper. His thoughts 
 were travelling back to the farmhouse garret two 
 thousand miles away. By a great effort, he recalled 
 himself. His voice was hoarse as he reached for the 
 
 "IT CANNOT BE FOR NOTHING AT ALL," SAID JOHN. 
 
 paper. "Mate, that belongs to me. It is my lost 
 clue!" 
 
 " Belongs to you, does it ? Well, you can have it, of 
 course; but what do you mean ? " 
 
 Without answer, John took the lantern and went to 
 his chest, followed by the curious mate. He drew 
 out an old book bound in parchment. Opening it at 
 a certain place he said, " Mate, can you make out the 
 numbers on those pages we have just found ? " 
 
 "The first one's numbered two hundred and 
 twenty-seven, and the last two hundred and thirty."
 
 THE SILVER CITY. 
 
 " Now look in this book, and tell me what are the 
 two pages lying open before you." 
 
 'Two hundred and twenty-six and two hundred 
 and thirty-one," said the mate ; " seems to be two 
 leaves missing." 
 
 "Exactly; and those two leaves you have in your 
 hand." 
 
 The mate gave a long, expressive whistle. " That's 
 a fact ! the same title on to the pages, and the very 
 numbers that air missing ! John, how comes it ? " 
 
 "Ah, mate, I would give the world to know for cer- 
 tain," said John wearily, pressing his brow with both 
 hands. " These two leaves are the last clue to the 
 location of the Silver City. They were missing from 
 my book. Just where the description of- the city 
 .should come in, there was this gap. Now I can trace 
 my way ; but oh, to solve the deeper mystery how 
 these two leaves drifted from New England down 
 upon this coast ! " 
 
 " I know what you're thinkin' of," said the mate 
 "kindly ; " that story the cap'n told you about the old 
 sea-feller lost down here about ten years ago, and 
 who you thought might be your father." 
 
 " But you know I am not sure that he was lost," 
 said John firmly. " Even in a shipwreck, why not he 
 be rescued as miraculously as I ? How do I know 
 that he has not penetrated the interior, and is alive 
 somewhere this moment ? Answer me that ! You 
 know no one else could have brought hither leaves 
 from my book, don't you ? " 
 
 " And you think it likely the fish has carried that 
 air tin box in his stummick for ten years 'twould a 
 given him the dyspepsy, John ! But I'm not goin' 
 to take the hope out of ye. I'll just set ye right, and 
 mebbe give ye more hope. This shark might have 
 carried the box six months or a year that ain't 
 , nothin' unnateral. So it's my opinion your father 
 didn't carry it in his pocket before the accident, but 
 in his chist, or on a shelf in his cabin. Now, what's 
 the inference from this? Why, jist this; That we 
 have here a sartin proof that somebody was wrecked 
 down. here who had read your book, and took out 
 them leaves for a purpose; second, that it's more 
 than likely that person was your father ; third, that 
 the findin' it here ain't no proof positive that he's 
 drowned ; fourth, it is likely that this tin box sot in 
 the cabin somewhere, and was washed overboard 
 when the vesssl broke up, and that might a-been at 
 the time of the wreck, but was most likely a good 
 many years after. But we can't place no where- 
 
 abouts. Sharks is a wanderin' animal ; they don't 
 allers cruise in the same place ; and then again, the 
 currents might a-drifted the box for a hundred miles 
 or more. Lookin' at it this way, I should say that 
 this ere box come from somewhere south o' here. 
 Further than this I can't say ; but we can ask Don 
 Pedro about it to-morrer. He's likely to know all 
 the wrecks on the whole east coast. Not to-night ; 
 you're all played out. If it hadn't been for this 
 excitement, you couldn't kept up as you have." 
 
 John acquiesced; he was indeed weak, and was 
 trembling now from his shipwreck and from the 
 excitement, of the afternoon. 
 
 By the time the deck had been washed off, blankets 
 spread, and a sail stretched over, it was late into the 
 night. But John could not sleep. After the others 
 had dropped off, he rose and went to the rail. The 
 moon was sailing grandly up the sky, stretching a 
 pathway of light across the still sea, and bringing 
 into relief the black wall of forest on the eastern 
 shore of the island. 
 
 No life was stirring except for a black fin cleaving 
 the channel beneath ; and no sound broke the quiet 
 except the roar of the breakers outside the reef. A 
 great surge of homesickness swept over the young 
 adventurer on the wreck. The quiet security of the 
 old New England farm sleeping in the moonlight, 
 seemed too precious a possession to have been so reck- 
 lessly abandoned. But presently the old inbred New 
 England belief in " leadings of Providence," got the 
 better of this tender longing for the peaceful shelter 
 of the roof-tree. What a miraculous shipwreck ! 
 What a miraculous restoration of the missing leaves 
 of the old Spanish book the clue-leaves. He took 
 out the old, discolored worn pages and looked at 
 them tenderly. But it was his father, not the treasure 
 city, which was .uppermost in John's thoughts and 
 plans. "It cannot be for nothing at all!" said 
 John with reverent firmness. "God would not so 
 play at fast-and-loose with poor mother. If I live, I 
 know that I am to find father before I go back." 
 
 John really felt most satisfactorily certain of this ; 
 and presently, feeling he could best help affairs by 
 laying in a stock of sleep and rest, he returned to his 
 rough bed under the sail. 
 
 It was early morning, the moon still hanging above 
 the island forest, when the mate woke them all, and 
 laid before them the work he had planned for the 
 day. 
 
 " I reckon," said he, as they ate breakfast, " that
 
 20 
 
 THE SIL VER CITY. 
 
 it'll take jest about a day to git out all of value in 
 the Diver, and house it on the beach there above 
 the coral." 
 
 After breakfast they set at work with a real Family 
 Robinson vim. From the shocks and staves in the 
 hold, and some pieces of timber, they made a raft 
 much as Tom and the mate had originally planned, 
 and let it down into the water, which served them 
 much better than the cable bridge of yesterday. A 
 rope was rigged so that they could draw it from vessel 
 to shore, and back again ; then it was loaded with 
 provisions and valuables, and drawn over and un- 
 
 after the moonlight burial of poor Jack Rawlins was, 
 that they should return with him through the woods 
 to his home cabin which was larger and more com- 
 fortable than this wrecking hut, where, in fact, there 
 was no room at all inside, it being so full of the 
 effects from the vessel, that they would be obliged to 
 sleep on the sand under a sail. 
 
 Tired as they were, and late as it was, they agreed 
 to this, and at once prepared for the two-mile tramp 
 through the forest. 
 
 " Dunno but it's a resky thing," said the mate aside 
 to John. " The Mexican says nobody ever comes 
 
 IN COUNCIL. 
 
 loaded on the coral rock. It was slow work, and hard 
 work ; but by noon they had the ship's stores piled 
 upon tjje rocks ; and during the afternoon, managed 
 to get most of it to the sand beach and into Don Pe- 
 dro's wrecking camp. 
 
 " Anyhow," said Tom, who was fast getting his tone 
 again, " we've an island, and a vessel, and a year's 
 provisions, to begin life with. We aren't quite 
 orphans." 
 
 The mate and Don Pedro understood each other's 
 queer Spanish-English fairly well, and it was agreed 
 that Don Pedro should be their guide and chief 
 while they remained on the island ; and his first order 
 
 round here except himself, but between you and me, 
 John, there's some valooables here. Did you mind 
 that small box I was keerful to carry myself all the 
 way to shore ? Well, there^s over two thousand dol- 
 lars in it in gold belongin' to the owners of the Diver, 
 that cap'n brung with him to buy sugar with and 
 sich. Now wouldn't ye meditate a spell before ye let 
 on to the Mexican there's that amount o' gold a-lyin' 
 about ? " 
 
 John agreed that it would do no harm to 
 " meditate " first, and concluded to leave his own In- 
 stitute money along with the Diver gold, in the soli- 
 tude of the wrecking cabin, though in his heart h
 
 THE S IL VER CIT Y. 
 
 21 
 
 THROUGH THE TREE-TOPS. 
 
 felt a warm impulsive trust in the old fisherman. 
 
 Don Pedro led the way over the path he and John 
 
 had followed the day before. There was no necessity 
 
 for cutting away vines 
 and bushes now ; still 
 the trail was so obscure, 
 they were obliged to fol- 
 low their guide single 
 file. 
 
 " Kinder pokerish," 
 said Tom, who waddled 
 along close behind Don 
 Pedro's heels. "And kin- 
 der pleasant too ! Mighty 
 nice air! Seems like 
 
 somebody'd bust a barrel of cologne water all 
 over the ground ! Rather a fine thing this, John, 
 eh?" 
 
 But John was occupied with the weird effects pro- 
 duced by the moonlight as it struggled through the 
 trees and vines above their heads. Only now and 
 then did a beam penetrate so far as the path, or 
 glance athwart the gloomy space before them ; but 
 overhead there was an indescribable fretwork of ebony 
 and silver. Where the light did pierce so, it trans- 
 formed everything leaves, vines, plants into gro- 
 tesque images of beasts and reptiles. A great vine 
 stretching across their path, and doubling upon itself 
 in numerous folds, seemed a great boa constrictor 
 
 waiting motionless for them to approach. Dark 
 forms appeared to lurk in the shade only to skulk 
 off silently as they came near. Real bats and owls 
 softly fluttered above their heads, and myriads of 
 night insects kept up so dense a noise they could 
 scarcely hear one another speak. 
 
 They had made more than half the distance, and 
 were passing through a particularly lonely spot, when 
 Tom broke the silence again. He too had become 
 wrapt in watching the transformed shapes of trees and 
 vines, and the resemblance some of the leaves bore to 
 spiders and lizards. 
 
 " Look, John ! " cried he, pointing to a bright 9pot 
 in the gloom. " Don't that leaf there look like a big 
 spider? I'm going to pull it off and take it along, and 
 see how it looks by daylight." 
 
 As he spoke, he reached out to seize it. The leaf 
 darted forward to meet him, and he cried out sud- 
 denly in great pain : 
 
 " Oh, I'm bitten ! That was a spider ! " 
 
 Don Pedro sprang back. He drew Tom into the 
 moonlight, and examined his thumb. It was swelling, 
 and the boy was already in great anguish. He shook 
 his head, and taking Tom by the arm, hurried him 
 along. 
 
 " What is it ? " demanded John and the mate. 
 
 " A mi casa/" said he ; " to my house at once ! It 
 was a tarantula ! "
 
 22 
 
 I' HE SILVER CITY. 
 
 THE CAMP ON COZUMEL. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 URIED beneath groups of 
 cocoa palms stood the 
 cabin of Don Pedro, 
 silent and secure as he 
 had left it two days 
 before. 
 
 The party emerged 
 from the darkness of 
 the forest, crossed the 
 glade flooded by the moonlight, and plunged under 
 the dimly-lighted arches of the palm crowns. With 
 a mighty kick Don Pedro hastily burst open the 
 loosely-secured door and dragged Tom in. Seating 
 him on a heap of turtle nets in the corner, he has- 
 tened behind the grass matting partition, and after 
 searching a minute, came out with a tiny bottle and 
 glass. Pouring out a few drops of the liquid, he 
 handed it to the boy, motioning him to drink. Tom 
 did so ; but immediately his whole body seemed to be 
 on fire, and he shouted for water. 
 ' But Don Pedro motioned his friends impa- 
 tiently aside. He saturated a strip of cloth in 
 the same liquid, wrapped it about the swollen thumb, 
 repeatedly moistening it. It was some time 
 before he gave him water; but at last, looking into 
 his eyes, he nodded hopefully and allowed John to 
 place the waiting draught to his lips. Then he laid 
 his patient upon a bed of turtle nets, and covered 
 him with a blanket, and bade him sleep. 
 
 Don Pedro then lighted a candle, and beckoning 
 the men, held up the bottle to the light. They 
 started back with exclamations of disgust, for it con- 
 tained nothing less than a huge spider a tarantula 
 "pickled," as the mate expressed it, in brandy. 
 
 "And is that what you have given Tom to take?" 
 demanded John. 
 
 "6V," (yes,) answered Don Pedro calmly. He 
 explained that it was an infallible cure, and in com- 
 mon use in the tropics. 
 
 Don Pedro shrugged his shoulders as much as to 
 say that the mate could do as he pleased, but he 
 
 would rather take spider, bottle and all, than be bit- 
 ten in the forest without his favorite remedy handy. 
 
 He dismissed the affair by reaching up to a smoke- 
 blackened rafter and untying a string, thus letting 
 down two hammocks suspended side by side from 
 the corner of the room. 
 
 "Todos son tmty a son dispositions, senores?" said 
 he,' bowing, and gracefully waving his hand to include 
 everything there was in the cabin. 
 
 " What does he say, mate ? " asked John, yet half 
 interpreting their host's hospitable meaning by his 
 sweeping gestures. 
 
 " Well, that's a little too long for me to take in all 
 at once," replied th,e mate pondering. 
 
 " Oh, I've got it ! He says that his house and all 
 there is in it is ours s'long's we want to stay. All 
 these Mexicans say that, but I can tell you they.don't 
 always mean it, by a long chalk ; but let me tell you 
 again, our friend here does, I'll bet a dollar. Thank 
 you, Don Peter; much obliged. Don't put yourself 
 out a mite, but jest make us one of the folks. Shall 
 we take the hammocks or the bench ? " 
 
 " Donde ustades quieren" (where you please), said 
 Pedro, smiling. So they took the hammocks, into 
 which had been thrown a couple of handsome Indian 
 blankets, the mate remarking as they stowed them- 
 selves away: 
 
 "John, this interpritation business is gittin' too 
 heavy for me. I can understand the ord'nary sailor 
 Spanish, but when he comes any of the fancy dodges, 
 sich as the different tenses of them verbs, and the 
 singular and plural numbers, et cetery, blowed if I 
 ain't all to sea. You're quick at book larnin'; can't 
 you come to the rescoo?" 
 
 John laughed. " I have studied Spanish at home 
 from a book evenings," said he; "but it is so different 
 when you come to hear it spoken, that I don't recog- 
 nize many of the words yet. However, to-morrow 
 I'll get out my conversation book and try it on a new 
 plan." 
 
 The last one to wag his tongue at night, the mate 
 was the first to break silence next morning: "Hullo! 
 Tumble out, youngsters ! sun's up ; leastwise, though 
 they ain't no winders in this hut, it's streamin' through
 
 THE SILVER CITY. 
 
 2 3 
 
 a chink there. Ain't it cold ? Thought this was a 
 hot country ! 'Cording to the charts, we're in the trop- 
 ics; but a blanket wa'n't any too much last night." 
 
 John and Tom were awakened by this time, and 
 the latter stretched himself and rolled over on the 
 
 DON PEDRO CAME OUT WITH A TINY BOTTLE. 
 
 clay floor, where he lay on his back looking up with 
 surprise until the voice of his superior officer called 
 out: 
 
 "How's your thumb?" 
 
 "Oh, yes; here I am! I thought I was, but didn't 
 know but I was a-dreamin' yet. A shipwreck an' a 
 pair of rescues; first from a shark's jaws and second 
 from a spider's jaws. Oh, yes; I'm the feller, and 
 here I am, thumb all right ! Isn't this prime though ? " 
 By this time Tom was taking an observation through 
 a big chink in the walls of the cabin. "A breakfast 
 a-getting ready with none o' my help; a-growin' as 
 'twere, out o' doors its own self; leastwise here's Don 
 Pedro out here with a pot a-bilin' over a blazin' fire 
 under a cocoanut-tree. I say this is fun alive ! A 
 whole island all to ourselves, fish and turtle in the 
 sea, and game a-roamin' in the woods! So, boys, I'm 
 goin' to consider myself fixed for life, if Don Peter's 
 no objection to the same! " 
 
 "Now see here," said Mr. Walker, "don't you go 
 to kitin' about here as if the whole hut belonged to 
 you, and the island thrown in ! Don Pedro's a polite 
 man, an' it's my intention he shall have politeness in 
 return. I know you mean well, Tom, but your man* 
 ners ain't always agreeable ; and it kinder reflects on 
 the place where you's born and brought up, and on 
 me as comin' from the same town." 
 
 " Brought up ! " cried Tom, turning on him. " Yes ! 
 I had a lot of bringing up, didn't I? Brought up 
 with a round turn by the ear, that's the only kind I 
 had; and cuffed about ever sence I can remember, 
 till I took up maratime cookery as 'twere. That's 
 what's soured my temper, gentlemen ! " 
 
 Tom grimaced so comically that all burst into a 
 hearty laugh, including the Mexican who just then 
 entered to invite them to a breakfast of fish and tur- 
 tle steak. As they ate they planned the work for the 
 day : the mate and Don Pedro to go around by the 
 inland channel in the long-boat, and bring over the 
 valuables, the boys to remain at the lake cabin to get 
 thoroughly rested for the morrow, when the Mexican 
 was to take them over the island and show them the 
 extent of the domain he now very politely offered to 
 share with them for life. 
 
 "Ain't he the cleverest feller you ever met in your 
 life? "said Tom, as the boat containing Don Pedro 
 and the mate disappeared around the rocks that hid 
 the channel to the sea. " He ain't at all that sassy 
 sombrero kind o' Mexican you meet in your books. 
 You feels like he was your father or your uncle. I'm 
 going to stay." 
 
 John did not make his intentions known. He 
 felt it no harm to give himself up for one day to the 
 romance of the situation. 
 
 All that day till late in the afternoon the boys 
 lounged about the cabin 
 under the palm-trees. 
 They got out the ham- 
 mocks from inside, and 
 swinging them between 
 the trees, lay there in 
 perfect content and rest- 
 fulness, drinking cocoa- 
 nut water from the nuts 
 
 they knocked off of the palms, and feasting on deli- 
 cious fish they broiled on the coals in the open air. 
 
 When the boat returned it was loaded deep, and 
 
 they turned to with a will to carry its contents up to 
 
 end of the long thatched hut had 
 
 A FOOD SUPPLY.
 
 THE SILVER CITY. 
 
 stone walls, and was used by Don Pedro as a store 
 room ; it had a clay floor hard as cement, and as the 
 roof was tight, it was an excellent place to store the 
 ship's provisions. 
 
 "Enough here to last us a year!" said the mate as 
 the final barrel was rolled inside ; " that is, what we have 
 here and at the other hut. All the chists and articles 
 of value air here. Here's your chist, John, and you 
 better git that Spanish book and 
 larn a lesson to once, for this 
 talkin' a language you don't 
 know nothing about'll be the 
 death of me. You jest throw 
 yourself into it." 
 
 John did " throw himself into 
 it." Don Pedro signified his 
 willingness to become both 
 teacher and scholar, and the 
 whole party grew to understand one another more 
 readily every day ; the book was rarely out of hands, 
 and the mate, as he remarked, " Jest wrastled with 
 them Spanish verbs till he was blue in the face." 
 
 Another boatload in the afternoon about com- 
 pleted the transportation of their goods, except some 
 of the heaviest of the stores, some barrels of beef 
 and pork, which they thought could be left with 
 safety, along with anchors, ropes, cables, etc., that 
 they had no present use for. 
 
 "I tell ye, boys," said the mate, as he stretched 
 himself in the hammock while Don Pedro prepared 
 supper the Mexican declared they were his guests 
 for that day to-morrow they would begin to "have 
 things in common," work and all "it kind o' 
 made me feel bad to leave the old Diver a standin' 
 there all dismantled on the rocks, so lonesome like, 
 and 'specially when I thought of the cap'n and all 
 our old neighbors the crew as now lays at the bottom 
 of the sea. And le' me tell you, if we could only get 
 that vessel off to Cuby, there'd be more'n a thousan' 
 dollars comin' to us from the cargo alone, settin' aside 
 what the underwriters'd give us for savin' her hull ; 
 but of course she won't stan' it long, and the fust 
 gale'll be likely to damage her some, if not split her 
 up." 
 
 They all felt " lonesome like " that evening. They 
 sat around the bright out-door fire in silence. Even 
 the jolly Tom whittled away in absolute dumbness. 
 The Mexican respected their mood, and smoked his 
 pipe like a statue. The mate spoke at last. He 
 seemed to have prepared a speech. 
 
 " Boys ! " he began argumentative!}', " there ain't 
 no disguisin' the fact that we're on a island. We 
 ain't got to climb no hill and look about, as Robinson 
 Crusoe did, to find that out. And this island's off 
 the coast of Yucatan ; and Seenor Don Pedro Pinto, 
 who found this island uninhabited, and consequently 
 owns it, places it all at our disposal. There ain't no 
 nonsense about the Don ; he means it. Me and him 
 talked the matter over this forenoon, and 
 we come to the conclusion to up and divide 
 fair and square his with us and ours with 
 him. They's four of us, and each will be 
 entitled to one fourth part of the plunder 
 on the island, and these ere huts and boats 
 while we chooses to stay ; and then we agreed 
 
 DON PEDRO'S TREASURE-PIT. 
 
 to make common property of everything, and not have 
 no yourn nor mine about it, except that every man 
 keeps his own private property, of course. Ain't 
 that so, Seenor ? " 
 
 Don Pedro removed his pipe, and gravely nodded 
 assent, then went on calmly smoking. 
 
 " I've explained to him jest how we're sitooated ; 
 that in the course of time I ought to take the
 
 THE SIL VER CITY. 
 
 2 5 
 
 first vessel home, being bound to render an account 
 to the owners of the Diver, an' that you, John, in 
 the course of time would feel obliged to prosecoot 
 that little matter about your father's absence ; and 
 that you, Tom, also in the course of time would 
 go 'long home with me." 
 
 " You may jest bet your boots Tom won't do 
 no such thing," broke in that gentleman. " I'm on 
 this island, and I'm goin' to stick here, too, for I 
 ain't got any home to go to. My home in futur' is 
 on my one fourth." 
 
 " But," continued the mate, undisturbed, " Don 
 Pedro and me after this talk kind o' concluded we 
 would " 
 
 " Would what ? " asked John, as the* mate paused. 
 
 " Well," went on the mate, " when I told Don 
 Pedro as how you'd a notion you'd got a parint layin' 
 round loose somewher'n this wilderness, he felt sum- 
 mat cut up. It seems he looked on you as his 
 property ; bein' as the sea had gi'n you to him, and a 
 lot o' talk of that kind." 
 
 " Oh ! " interrupted Tom, " if he's a lookin' for 
 a son he might adopt me. I'd be a dutiful son. 
 Come now, why not? You just put it afoot if he 
 says any more about wantin' a son. I'm as much 
 cast up by the sea as John." 
 
 " But," continued the mate, " when I mentioned 
 that John wanted to find his father, and had partic- 
 ulars about the book, et cetery, he said he prob'ly 
 knowed where the wreck was, and he'd pilot us 
 there. He says 'tain't only a day's run below 
 here, and soon's we've been over the island we'll 
 fit up the long-boat and take the cruise." 
 
 John was listening with a pale face. 
 
 "Did he know anything about the crew of the 
 vessel, Mr. Walker ? " he asked now in a husky tone. 
 
 " He knows more'n he's willin' to communicate. 
 We must wait. He's too polite a man for us to 'urge 
 much. I made him my best bow, and said, ' Ef you 
 please, Senor,' which was as good as anything under 
 the circumstances." 
 
 It was late that night before they turned in, and 
 John thought he could not have been more than two 
 hours asleep when the mate awoke him and gently 
 drew him out of the hammock into the open air. 
 There he saw Don Pedro standing behind a box, 
 a machete in his hand. He motioned them to follow, 
 and the mate picked up the box, and John went 
 after as in a dream. 
 
 The Mexican opened a way with the machete 
 
 through the thick underbrush on the edge of the 
 forest, and they soon reached a glade enclosed 
 by a ring of immense old trees. By the moonlight 
 they saw a mound in the centre with white stones 
 gleaming up through a tangled mass of vines and 
 bushes. Cautiously parting this, Don Pedro entered 
 a low doorway in the ruins of what John at once 
 saw was an ancient tomb about eight feet in height. 
 No word had been spoken, and their guide now 
 placed his finger on his lips, to indicate that none 
 should break the silence. 
 
 There was Just light enough for them to distin- 
 guish the outlines of the room. It seemed to our 
 well-read John to have once served as an adoratory, or 
 place of worship, for some past people, for in one 
 wall was a niche with steps leading up to it, as 
 if to furnish a place upon which to kneel. 
 
 Don Pedro paused at the great stone forming the 
 lower step. Taking hold of one corner, he raised it 
 up, with the mate's assistance, and drew it half 
 aside. As he did so, John and the mate peered into 
 the cavity it had concealed. They nearly forgot 
 the injunction to keep silence in their amazement, 
 for the faint light that filtered through the crevices of 
 the walls revealed a heap of silver coins nearly filling 
 the hole. Don Pedro knelt, thrust his hand into the 
 glittering pile, and let them fall, jingling musically, 
 evidently enjoying the expression of the faces above 
 him at sight of so much wealth. John, at a smile 
 from the Mexican, plunged his hand in, but could not 
 touch the bottom of the pit, though he worked his 
 arm in to the elbow. 
 
 And now the mate opening the box he had 
 brought, took out a package wrapped in tarred 
 paper, and digging a hole in the coins, placed it 
 in the centre and covered it. At a nod from Don 
 Pedro, they worked the flat stone back into position, 
 and scattering a little earth and lime about to conceal 
 the joints and cracks, made their way out and back 
 into the glade again. 
 
 Once more in the slight path leading to the cabin, 
 Don Pedro striding before, the mate explained to 
 John the meaning of so much mystery : 
 
 " That was the cap'n's money in that package, and 
 that silver there belonged to Don Pedro. The Lord 
 only knows how much there is, and where he got it; 
 but I have s'picion he's been a pirate in his younger 
 days leastwise, a wrecker. But he's made an even 
 deal now one-fourthed it fair and square; and 
 when I concluded to tell him about the cap'n's
 
 26 
 
 THE SILVER CITY. 
 
 money, and ask him where to hide it till such time 
 as I could turn homeward, he volunteered to show 
 us where he hid his own sp'iles. Share and share 
 alike, that's him. He only don't want Tom to know. 
 So mum's the word, till each is actily ready to 
 shoulder his share and march off. Tom's young yet, 
 but he'll get over that. The Don wouldn't 'low 
 nothin' spoke in the tomb, cause he said if we did, 
 the evil genius, or some sort of a ghostly critter, 
 would fly away with the hull find before we could 
 .say Jack Robinson. When we git back from your 
 
 He frowned ominously when he read the title, Con- 
 quest of Mexico. 
 
 " Es malicioso" muttered he; "a malicious book; 
 throw it into the sea ! It is a wizard ! it makes weak 
 men of strong men. You give up that book so evil, 
 son of mine." 
 
 John smiled at the Mexican's deep earnestness. 
 "Why," said he lightly, "it describes this very island 
 of yours, Cozumel." 
 
 "I well know that; it was written by Captain 
 Bernal Diaz, who came here first in 1518, with the 
 
 ACROSS FROM COZUMEL. "THIS IS TULOOM." 
 
 search, then I'll git my money and go home ; and 
 mebbe you'll be ready too, and Don Pedro will git 
 his and travel to Spain to spend the rest of his days." 
 
 Tom proved wholly ignorant next morning of any 
 moonlight adventure ; and as nothing more was said . 
 about it, it soon appeared to John himself more 
 like a dream than reality. The ruin, however, had 
 brought to mind much he had read in his old book 
 about such structures, and before breakfast he had 
 brought out the volume. 
 
 Don Pedro saw it as he sat with it on his knee. 
 
 first Spaniards who landed here ; and again with the 
 great captain, Hernando Cortes, in 1519. Read fur- 
 ther and you will find much to please you ; but it is 
 a bad book. It leads to treasure-hunting, which is 
 evil, and only evil." 
 
 All this Don Pedro had said with difficulty; but 
 John understood him from his familiarity with the 
 book itself. 
 
 " It is strange to read here about Cozumel," he 
 said, " and then to realize that I myself am upon 
 the very island; only try to realize it here the great
 
 THE SILVER CITY. 
 
 ANCIENT WATCH-TOWER. 
 
 Cortes landed and reviewed his troops, just before he 
 invaded Mexico. They found temples with idols 
 in them, and these images they threw down and 
 broke to pieces, setting up an image of the Virgin 
 Mary in place of the idols in the temples. They 
 counted fourteen towers as they coasted the shore, 
 and the entire island was peopled with peaceful 
 Indians who cultivated the soil. Now, Don Pedro, 
 you tell us it is desolate ; that the forest we see 
 around us covers the island, and that it is filled 
 with only the ruins of temples and chapels. But 
 there probably are treasures here, deserted treasures. 
 Where is the wrong of hunting them ? " 
 
 Still Don Pedro shook his head. Presently he 
 remarked : " Y una iglesia 
 grande al norte" 
 
 " He says," explained 
 the mate, "that there's 
 the ruins of a big old 
 church up in the forest to 
 the north, that the Span- 
 iards built, but that all the 
 other ruins are of the In- 
 dian houses and sacred 
 places. I wish we had 
 
 time to explore ; but we won't, John, not till we get 
 back from your search. We'll fit up the long-boat 
 this very day, and start to-morrow." 
 
 " There's good huntln' here ; droves and droves of 
 wild hogs peccaries, he calls them and plenty of 
 deer," complained Tom. "Confound your search, I 
 say, John." 
 
 Presently, book in hand, John drew the mate aside. 
 "It's mighty interesting reading this old book is 
 here on the very spot, so to speak. Now do you 
 suppose that underground room we were in last 
 night could be one of those old Indian sacred 
 places? I read here that this whole island of 
 Cozumel was a holy place; that the Indians from 
 all over Yucatan came here to worship a goddess 
 called the Swallow Goddess. I judge that their 
 adoratory was built after the very fashion of the ruin 
 we buried the money in last night. What do you 
 think?" 
 
 "This is a bunkum old island, no doubt!" said 
 the mate thoughtfully. " Probably a good place to 
 see sights and hear sounds. You better call the 
 Mexican." 
 
 Don Pedro was called, and after hearing John's 
 query, he whispered with a side glance at Tom, " Si 
 
 es el mismo it is the same. Once all the Indians of 
 this great region venerated that chapel , but now they 
 believe it held by a spirit, and are afraid to enter 
 it or even approach it. That is why," added he 
 significantly, " I bury my treasure there." 
 
 The day was spent in fitting and loading the boat. 
 Even the idle, jovial Tom worked with a will. They 
 furnished it with a month's provisions ; guns and 
 revolvers for the four; with abundance of ammuni- 
 tion; and the mate passed the evening in making 
 rough knapsacks of oiled canvas to contain their nec- 
 essary equipments when on the march. John's chief 
 care was given to his sketching materials and pre- 
 servatives for the bird skins. A goodly sum of money 
 in gold was distributed amongst the four, stuffed into 
 "leather money-belts which Don Pedro furnished, and 
 which were buckled about their waists under their 
 clothing. 
 
 " All aboard ! " called the mate next morning, long 
 before the sun had looked over the forest that sur- 
 rounded the lake. " Now's the time if we want to git 
 out in the channel before the breeze gits up. Tom 
 and John, you two take the oars. Don Pedro'll steer, 
 and I'll h'ist sail soon's we're clear of the p'int yon- 
 der." 
 
 They rowed slowly over the calm lake, leaving 
 behind the little cabin to which they hoped to return 
 in a month, with no living thing about it except a 
 few half-wild fowls and two fish-hawks circling 
 high above in the air. The turn at the entrance 
 to the sea hid the cocoa grove, and they entered the 
 rougher waters of the channel. Before them, dim in 
 the distance, lay the coast of Yucatan. The point 
 at which they were to spend the night was exactly 
 southwest of Cozumel, where there was a sheltered 
 bay in the rockbound coast ; and sixty miles below 
 that lay the deep bay 
 where they hoped to 
 find some remains at 
 least of the almost leg- 
 endary wreck. It was 
 only thirty miles in a 
 straight line to their first 
 port. They were half- 
 way over long before 
 noon, the boat behaving ALTAR AND SCULPTURE AT 
 beautifully and sailing TULOOM. 
 
 swiftly with a fresh breeze on her quarter. Tom had 
 stationed himself at the bows, and the rest sat aft; 
 and it was about noon when they were interrupted
 
 28 
 
 THE SILVER CITY. 
 
 ALTAR AND IDOL. 
 
 in their labored Spanish conversation by a shout from 
 the boy : 
 
 "Say! Hurrah! Glory! All hands look here! 
 There's a castle! a real lord's house! bet it's 
 
 old England herself; 
 and I can see great 
 buildings of stone shin- 
 ing through the trees 
 white as snow. Good ! 
 We shall see some peo- 
 ple now ! " 
 
 "No," said Don Pe- 
 dro quickly, " es despo- 
 blado it is uninhabi- 
 ted." 
 
 John had sprung to his 
 feet. He looked land- 
 ward, with his heart in his eyes. For a moment 
 all was illusion. Could these beautiful white gleam- 
 ing walls be the walls of the Silver City ? It was but 
 for a moment. He sat down, smiling at himself for 
 a romantic boy instead of a sensible traveller. Did 
 not the book say the Silver City was far inland? 
 And this was a town on the sea wall itself. Still 
 again, did not this visible wonder make other wonders 
 very probable indeed ? As Don Pedro talked, John 
 felt surer than at any time before, that all he came to 
 find was a reality and within reach. 
 
 "El Castillo." The castle, as Don Pedro called it, 
 stood upon a high cliff, against the base of which 
 beat the great sea waves. It was pierced with loop- 
 holes, and had battlements and turrets ; but no mailed 
 face looked through the openings, and no dark- 
 skinned sentry paced the lonely battlements. They 
 ran into a protected cove unchallenged ; and, bringing 
 the boat up to the rocks where she lay in still water, 
 anchored her head and stern, and climbed ashore. 
 
 " This is Tuloom," said Don Pedro, " an ancient 
 Indian city built hundreds of years ago, perhaps a 
 thousand. Nobody lives here now. Sometimes 
 the Sublevados the unconquered savages come 
 here to hunt; but not now; it is not their season." 
 
 They carried up the solitary rocks all they needed 
 with which to make camp, and then devoted the after- 
 noon to an exploration of the ruins. They found 
 a great wall of stone surrounding a large area, in 
 which were temples and tombs, and ruins of buildings 
 spacious enough to have once been palaces. 
 
 John, like a born archaeologist, at once set to mak- 
 ing surveys and measurements, notes and sketches. 
 
 The castillo itself was one hundred feet broad, 
 and there were other buildings almost as large. In 
 the centre was a group of massive stone houses, 
 built on the summit of a high mound, and reached 
 by a grand stone staircase. Over its doorways were 
 sculptured figures, and the walls were decorated with 
 carved men and animals. The doors were so low 
 that they had to crouch to enter ; but when inside 
 they found themselves in a room forty feet long by 
 twenty wide, and fifteen feet high, with a triangular 
 arched ceiling. 
 
 Referring to the low doorway, Don Pedro said 
 there was a tradition that these buildings were 
 erected for the dwarfs and hunchbacks who once 
 lived in Yucatan Los Chiquititos the very little 
 people ; and promised to sometime tell the story of 
 their origin, and how they once inhabited an island 
 north of Cozumel. 
 
 Many sculptured altars were scattered about 
 through the forest; and on a corner of the wall 
 rose the ancient watch-tower, while before the princi- 
 pal house was the senate, or cavern, from which they 
 once drew water. 
 
 The explorers took possession of the large room 
 of the castle. They built a fire in it as night came 
 on ; and the boys mightily enjoyed the novel pros- 
 pect of sleeping in a thousand-year-old castle in 
 the forest. 
 
 Don Pedro chanced to go into the farther end 
 
 of the great room be- 
 
 fore they finally stretch- 
 ed themselves on the 
 floor to sleep. Sudden- 
 ly they heard a loud ex- 
 clamation. The next 
 moment he came rush- 
 ing back to the fire. 
 
 " The red hand!" said 
 he in a trembling voice ; 
 " it is there on the wall ! " 
 
 Wondering, the three went and looked where the 
 Mexican directed. To their surprise they each saw 
 it too ; the imprint of a hand on the wall as though 
 it had been dipped in blood. They could scarcely 
 credit the evidence of their matter-of-fact American 
 eyes, and they looked again; but there the rude 
 imprint surely was, and whether freshly painted, or an 
 old fresco, John could not decide. He, for one, had 
 no fear that it was a phantom hand. Still much 
 excited and disagreeably impressed were they all. 
 
 RUINED TEMPLE.
 
 THE SILVER CITY. 29 
 
 Don Pedro had gone outside. They could hear For a moment he stood still in astonishment. But 
 
 him pacing up and down the corridor. Don Pedro had seen them also. He grasped John's 
 
 The moon was in its last quarter, and but feebly arm. He whispered sharply : 
 
 lighted up the groups of ruins ; but as John joined " The red hand is not for naught ! and those are 
 him, he chanced to look out of the low doorway, and the Sublevados!" With that he darted within, draw- 
 he saw, or thought he saw, a dusky figure skulking ing John with him. 
 behind an altar, and another creeping behind a tree.
 
 3 
 
 THE SILVER CITY. 
 
 THE NIGHT IN TULOOM. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 ON PEDRO'S first 
 impulse as he 
 plunged under the 
 low doorway, was 
 to alarm the others 
 at once and hurry 
 them down to the 
 boat; but the 
 bright fire blazing 
 in the room in 
 contrast to the 
 gloom without, the array of firearms and his own nat- 
 ural fearlessness when unswerved by superstitious 
 influences, soon exerted their calming power. He 
 paused before the fire as if in deep thought. He 
 lifted his eyes at last and turned resolutely toward the 
 dusky red hand upon the wall. He felt a slight shud- 
 der, as any mortal classed among Spaniards well might. 
 But yet this hand of threat and warning was probably 
 limned there centuries ago, and the dusky shades 
 flitting without might.be wholly ignorant of its pres- 
 ence there. At any rate four cool, well-armed men, 
 on the alert, might defy scores of wild savages. He 
 glanced at John who stood near him in an anxious, 
 waiting attitude, with a quiet, reassuring smile. 
 
 With a touch on the shoulder he beckoned the 
 mate aside. These two men were totally different in 
 nationality, speech and nature; the one with the hot 
 blood of the Spaniard seething along his veins, and the 
 other with the cool and self-possessed temperament of 
 the North American. The man of Spanish birth much 
 admired the sturdy, slow-moving strength of the North- 
 ener, much respected his quiet decisions. With his 
 penetrating eye well upon him, he now hastily laid 
 before him his fears, and his reasons for fears. 
 
 The mate listened to Don Pedro's statements with- 
 out interruption, unless a low, short, underbreath 
 whistle now and then might be taken as comment. 
 
 "Yes, senor," he said at last, "just so. You're 
 right to be alarmed ; all the same, I don't see's 
 
 there's any necessity of vacating the premises. We'll 
 be on the alert, that's all. Perhaps we better tell 
 both the boys, so as they can comport themselves 
 properly as 'twere." 
 
 "Por su puesto of course " replied Don Pe- 
 dro. 
 
 "My young friends," said the mate, assuming a 
 bantering tone to hide the real depth of his concern 
 as he returned to his place by the fire, " our elderly 
 guide here, thinks there's a right smart chance of our 
 bein' gobbled by the sociable inhabitants of this 
 new country. He thinks that though they've had no 
 notice of our movin' in, they'll prob'ly give us a reg- 
 ul'r house-warmin', and air waitin' just outside for that 
 there purpose. He ain't seen nothin' definit, to be 
 sure, but thinks we'd better be a lookin' out. Now 
 the question is," he went on, not regarding Tom's 
 big, terrified eyes, " shall we stay up here all night, or 
 retreat to the boat best as we can? I'd like the 
 voice of the meetin' on that pint." 
 
 Consulting together, Tom's voice being but a 
 shiver and a groan, however, they concluded, when 
 they considered the difficult climbing over the cliff 
 by night, and the probability of lurking, following 
 Indians, that it would be better to wait until daylight 
 under cover, where they could act in concert. 
 
 They were now too excited to sleep, although the 
 mate advised that two of the party should lie down 
 while the other two kept watch. 
 
 " Sleep ! " growled Tom, " d' you think I can lay 
 down and sleep when there's a chance for an Injun 
 to be feelin' 'round for my scalp ? No, sir ! I prefer 
 to be awake and see how it's done." 
 
 " My son, I feel some so myself," replied the 
 mate ; " therefore we'll all bear a hand at this watch- 
 ing out, my hearties. Le's see now ! We've got all 
 our weepins here, ain't we, John ? Le'me see ! a 
 revolver apiece all around, two rifles and a shotgun, 
 besides knives and sich, and plenty of cattridges and 
 powder. Better put the fire out, Mr. Peter." 
 
 But the Mexican was sure it had already been 
 seen and could do no further harm. " But," sug- 
 gested he, "we may push those burning logs up in
 
 THE SILVER CITY. 
 
 INHABITANTS OF TULOOM. 
 
 the corner near the door, where it will light up the 
 entrance and leave us in gloom." 
 
 This suggestion was acted upon, and the group 
 drew away into the farther darkness, where they 
 huddled together on their blankets. 
 
 It will be remembered that they were in a room 
 
 which was 
 forty feet 
 long, and fif- 
 teen high, the 
 walls, roof 
 and floor of 
 solid stone. 
 There was 
 but one en- 
 trance, the 
 square door- 
 way near the 
 end, and but 
 
 three other openings, small slits, or loopholes, cut in 
 the wall, high up, overlooking the sea. Had they 
 anticipated trouble and chosen a place to withstand 
 a siege they could not have selected a stronger point; 
 but as they had not foreseen this they had brought 
 only a little food from the boat, and had little water. 
 There was a " shivering sense of danger," as Tom 
 put it, in the possibility of an attack, but it can't be 
 denied that John, at least, rather enjoyed it as he 
 looked about and saw himself surrounded by strong 
 walls and felt his own good New England rifle in his 
 hand. Could the doorway but have been barricaded, 
 he would have dared the Sublevados of all Yucatan. 
 The only shadow on his fearless mood was a remorse- 
 ful feeling that it was his own personal adventure 
 that had led his companions into this possible dan- 
 ger ; and presently he began to consider some way 
 of pursuing his journey and his quest alone, without 
 involving his friends farther. 
 
 Over their heads they could trace the mystical 
 fresco that had excited Don Pedro's fears ; and now 
 the mate asked for its meaning. 
 
 " Quien sabe who knows" replied he, shrug- 
 ging his shoulders ; " it has probably been there 
 these thousand years. It is found in all these ruins. 
 All same, I shudder when I look upon it. It means 
 death to the Spaniard. The tradition is that it is 
 death that day or night it is looked upon for the first 
 time by a stranger. Perhaps not to the stranger 
 himself, but to some one within the ruins at the 
 time. So when I saw it with my three friends all 
 
 strangers, and later thought I saw the savages, I was 
 sorry much that I had brought you here. There are 
 many red hands, and many times have I seen them, 
 but not with strangers ever before." 
 
 They looked upward with strange feelings, despite 
 their Yankee hard sense ; and Tom moved a little 
 nearer the centre of the group. 
 
 " It does look 's though it was stretched out to 
 clutch you, don't it ? " said he. 
 
 Crowds of bats flew through the darkness of the 
 high arched ceiling, and among them vampires as 
 large as pigeons flapped their hideous wings. Every 
 time they swooped from their dark hiding-places, the 
 Americans dodged, and put up their hands to protect 
 their heads. Don Pedro alone was insensible to 
 their presence. He sat grasping his rifle, his eyes 
 on the flickering fire near the doorway. The wind 
 howled outside, the moon had become obscured, and a 
 storm beat upon the sea-wall, blowing through the 
 loop-holes chill and freezing. 
 
 Don Pedro shook himself from his revery. "These 
 savages," said he, " are fierce and bloodthirsty. I 
 love not to think they stand outside. They are the 
 unconquered Indians who never submitted to the 
 Spaniards. We call them Sublevados, or rebels, and 
 they hate us of Spanish blood with undying hatred. 
 They may have had cause, in those times when Yuca- 
 tan was first conquered ; but though that is more 
 than three hundred years ago, they hate us still. 
 They kill every Spaniard that comes into their coun- 
 try. Sometimes at once ; but oftener they save him 
 for the torture. I knew a man probredto they 
 tortured ; they played toro with him." 
 
 " And that ? " demanded his heroes in whispers. 
 
 "Why, a bull-fight; .they put a ring through his 
 nose, tied 
 him to a 
 stake, and 
 then pierced 
 him with 
 their spears 
 and shot ar- 
 r o w s into 
 him." 
 
 This he 
 
 had uttered slowly, Mr. Walker and John translating 
 aloud. Tom grew sick at heart, and evidently John 
 and the mate loved not " to think of them as stand- 
 ing outside." 
 
 " Hark ! " whispered the mate. " I hear a noise; 
 
 NATURAL TOES.
 
 3 2 
 
 THE SILVER CITY. 
 
 somebody's sartin outside the steps." They listened ; 
 there was, without mistake, a confused movement like 
 the soft treading of many feet. 
 
 With straining eyes, the four inmates of the room 
 watched the doorway, lighted by the glowing fire- 
 brands, each one grasping gun or rifle. 
 
 Presently the mate touched John on the shoulder. 
 There was something coming through the aperture. 
 Another second, and the flickering light from the 
 coals showed the head and shoulders of a man. 
 
 " Halt ! " Don Pedro shouted in Spanish. " Who 
 is it ? " 
 
 The figure made no reply, but crouched on the 
 floor, still moved slowly in ; others were behind 
 they inside could hear the smothered voices. 
 
 " Don't understand Spanish," muttered the Mexi- 
 can under his breath. " Who are you ? " he added 
 aloud in Maya, the language of the Sublevados. 
 
 No answer, but the forms retreated. Soon a voice 
 outside cried in Spanish to those within: " Amigosl" 
 
 " What do you want ? " answered Don Pedro. 
 
 " To go in and talk with you." 
 '"You can't." 
 
 " We will ; we are amigos friends ! " 
 
 " How many are you ? " 
 
 " We are more than a hundred." 
 
 "One may come in ; one only." 
 
 " Bien! I, then, will come in." 
 
 " Only one ; more only at their peril." 
 
 " Beware, now ! " whispered Don Pedro hurriedly. 
 " Watch the doorway with your guns ; if more come 
 fn, shoot! If you hesitate, they can kill us all ! " 
 
 A tall form now stood erect by the fire, the feeble 
 blaze lighting up his massive frame and showing 
 e knife gleaming in one hand. 
 
 " Friend, what wish you? " 
 
 Without answer, the stranger blew a shrill whistle, 
 *nd sprang suddenly in the direction of Don Pedro's 
 voice. The beleagured four as yet had the advan- 
 tage, being in darkness ; but a moment of hesi- 
 tation would have lost their lives, for the doorway 
 was now choked with forms struggling to get inside. 
 
 Bang! bang! bang! The dark mass ceased to 
 advance. Howls of pain and rage testified that the 
 shots had been effective. 
 
 Don Pedro was struggling with his treacherous 
 amigo. He had evaded the spring, but had fallen 
 upon the slippery stone floor, and before he could 
 rise, the Indian was well upon him. No word 
 escaped either. Fiercely they fought, each straining 
 
 every muscle ; the one to use his knife, the other to 
 arrest the blow. 
 
 "Guard the door, you two fellows with your 
 revolvers ! I can't stand this ! " cried the mate, 
 rushing upon the writhing forms in the corner. 
 He might have received that knife himself, but he 
 threw himself recklessly upon them, feeling for the 
 naked body of the Indian. A deep groan told him 
 that one was hurt ; but he had the Indian by the 
 throat, and quickly bent and held his arms to the 
 floor. It was not the Indian that was harmed, for 
 he could struggle like a giant, and all the strength 
 that lay in the mate's massive body was needed 
 
 DON PEDRO AND THE TREACHEROUS "AMIGO." 
 
 to hold him down; but at last the iron grip on 
 the tower-like throat began to tell, and finally the 
 savage lay quiet. 
 
 Nor did Don Pedro move. The mate after 
 becoming satisfied that the Indian was harmless, 
 released his hold and moved over to raise his friend ; 
 but a new stir at the doorway called him back ; the 
 bodies had been drawn out, and a fresh horde now 
 dashed at the opening. 
 
 " Revolvers again ! " shouted John. " Let 'em 
 have it, Tom ! " 
 
 An outburst of cries followed the discharge, but 
 the desperate creatures still pressed in, only desisting
 
 THE SILVER CITY. 
 
 33 
 
 when the passage was again blocked by the slain. 
 
 "That's it, my sons ! " cried the mate ; " shoot as 
 they come, but not a needless shot. We don't want 
 to kill 'em, as I know of, only so far as to keep them 
 from killin' us. Watch out again, while I see about 
 Mr. Peter here." 
 
 "You come here ! " cried John, " and let me go to 
 him. I must! " 
 
 "All right; only keep your eyes about you. That 
 Indian ain't wholly dead, I suspicion." 
 
 John lit a match and held it low to the face of 
 his good friend who now lay so quiet there. It was 
 deathly pale, but his heart beat ; he was unconscious, 
 but not dead. Blood flowed from a cut in one arm, 
 and in his right temple ; but his present unconscious 
 state John thought resulted from the concussion 
 when his head struck the stone floor. 
 
 With hasty charing and a dash from the Mexican's 
 own brandy-flask, he soon had the gladness of seeing 
 the heavy eyes open, and a look of recognition flash 
 upon him. He was hurriedly binding up the wounded 
 arm, when another arm a naked one was thrown 
 about him, and he was drawn within the suffocating 
 clasp of the Indian, who also had returned to con- 
 sciousness. 
 
 John's own resistance was vain ; but Don Pedro, 
 feeling swiftly over the floor, found the knife the 
 savage had dropped, and thrusting it against his 
 breast, was about to end the matter, when the brawny 
 fellow released his hold, and cried for quarter. 
 
 " No ! " hissed the Mexican. " My turn this time." 
 
 " Don't, Don Pedro ! " gasped John, regaining his 
 breath by a mighty effort. " Let us simply bind him, 
 and hold him captive, and so buy our way out." 
 
 " Oh, kill me, if you like ! my people are here, 
 plenty, to avenge my death ! " scoffed the Indian 
 in fierce Spanish, evidently ashamed that he had 
 begged quarter. 
 
 " No, tie him ! " said John. 
 
 They dragged him forward to the fire, and the 
 mate set about binding his arms. The Indian was 
 passive ; they thought him weakened by loss of 
 blood. But he was gathering his energies up ; sud- 
 denly, in one lightning-like leap, he was on his feet ; 
 another, and he had darted through the doorway. 
 
 For a moment they were alone. The mate picked 
 himself up from the corner into which the Indian had 
 tossed him, and pulled Tom away from the coals 
 near which he had been tumbled in that desperate 
 leap for freedom. 
 
 " Hear 'em yell ! " growled Tom. " I'd give all 
 I'm worth to be back on Don Peter's green little 
 island. It's ten times wus'n a shipwreck." 
 
 He had followed orders without a word, and had 
 fired wherever he saw a head ; but now, in the first 
 silence, he gave way. War was not the young cook's 
 forte. 
 
 " Patience ! " said Don Pedro in a changed, cheery 
 voice; "we will presently escape." 
 
 " How escape ? " 
 
 Four walls and a solid roof, the only entrance 
 watched by probably a hundred Indians. They 
 regarded the Mexican wonderingly. 
 
 "I know these ruins," said Don Pedro ; "I believe 
 that it is in this one that there is an underground 
 passage to the sea. Keep them back long enough for 
 me to feel round for the stone that covers it, and 
 if it is here, as I believe, we are safe. Strange I did 
 not think of it before." 
 
 This guard was an easy matter, for the Indians no 
 longer tried to enter. They could sit down and wait. 
 The beseiged must emerge sometime. They crouched 
 in the quadrangle outside, behind pillars, in the black 
 shadows of ruined altars, like famished wolves at the 
 door of a sheepfold. 
 
 Groping in the dark, the Mexican found, so soon 
 as he expected, the rough edge of the slab that 
 covered an opening. Exerting all their strength, he 
 and the mate silently lifted and laid it aside. A 
 strong current of air blew out of the aperture. 
 
 " It is from the sea ! " whispered Don Pedro 
 joyfully. 
 
 Then, in the silence, they disputed hastily and 
 stealthily as to who should not go in first. The post 
 of danger was behind ; each insisted upon taking it ; 
 even Tom. At last Don Pedro led the way, dropping 
 noiselessly down into the passage. The mate next , 
 Tom and John were- to follow. 
 
 " It's my adventure," said John. " I take the risk." 
 
 Before he entered he crept back to the door and 
 peered out. An arrow or two flew by him. But no 
 demonstration was made toward storming the en- 
 trance. Satisfied as to their plan, he dropped into 
 the hole. It was dark and damp ; the rocks were 
 slimy ; every step was a slippery one. But the way 
 led to the sea and the boat ! 
 
 His companions had paused for him and now they 
 all groped their way downward and onward. Little 
 was said. Each knew it was the push for life. 
 
 At last they reached a narrow opening ; hitherto they
 
 34 
 
 THE SIL VER CITY. 
 
 had been able to stand erect, but now the passage 
 narrowed like the- neck of a bottle and descended 
 rapidly. " Slowly now, and carefully," said Don Pedro. 
 He slid in. The mate followed. Both landed on 
 their feet upon a ledge and in sight of the sea. But 
 as they struck, a deafening noise roared in their ears ; 
 the wall overhead seemed to fall behind them. They 
 looked back; an immense bowlder in some way 
 jarred from its poise by their descent, had fallen into 
 the passage and was so firmly wedged no human 
 power could move it. 
 
 " Boys, we can't help you. Don Pedro says it's 
 capture for you. He says, don't make no resistance 
 and they won't harm you. Don Pedro knows 'em ; 
 they will keep you a month, not less'n a month, 
 before they will hurt a hair of your heads ; then " 
 
 " I know ! " returned John in the voice of one who 
 had resolved that death was now to be faced without 
 flinching. " They will sacrifice us as an offering to 
 their gods ! However, as you won't forget us, mate, 
 we won't give up." 
 
 " Say you won't, Mr. Walker ! " added Tom, "an' I 
 
 "SENOR CAPITAN, SOMOS AMERICANOS 1 " 
 
 They were probably safe but the boys? As in 
 ft tomb ! Their advance was cut off and a horde of 
 savages were in their rear, for they could hear them 
 swarming into the apartment above, warned by the 
 roise of the escape of their prisoners. 
 
 Both men were almost stupefied by this sudden 
 calamity. Presently the mate's voice reached the 
 boys. " Boys, are you hurt ? Are you alive ? " 
 
 John answered him ; they were alive, and unhurt. 
 
 Then the mate's voice came again full of agony. 
 
 won't give up either. We'll expect you afore the 
 month's out, shan't we ? " 
 
 "So long's we live, Don and I'll follow on your 
 trail," said the mate's voice again. "Tom, John, 
 we've got to go now; the fiends are swarmin' over 
 the cliffs and down to the boat, the Don says. It's 
 to be good-by now." 
 
 " Adios, my sons / Look out for us again. Don't 
 resist ; they will not kill you. Adios!" Don Pedro 
 spoke last, then all was still.
 
 THE SILVER CITY. 
 
 35 
 
 But the silence about the two boys was again 
 soon broken. There was the report of a revolver, 
 then another, then the outcry of wounded Indians. 
 Then another period of silence, after which the fall 
 of oars and a shout told them their companions had 
 reached the boat and were probably safe. 
 
 "John," said Tom, as they held each other's 
 hands in the fresh silence of the dismal cavern, "don't 
 you feel bad for me. I know what's likely you're think- 
 in' of. It's likely you're a-thinkin' of me. But I ain't 
 afraid to go wherever you do. Now shall we shoot 
 'em as they come down on us as long as we can ? " 
 
 "No, Tom, we'll do nothing to enrage them. We 
 can only try to get back to the room and give our- 
 selves up since it must end in that anyway, unless 
 indeed we are shot down at once. I am sorry, Tom, 
 that any business of mine brought you into this trap." 
 
 " Never you mind me, Johnny North ! I get my 
 fun as I go along. I wish we's somewhere else, but 
 seein's we ain't, what's the use ? " 
 
 John was beginning to think there was better stuff 
 in Tom than he had thought, and that he might not 
 prove so bad a comrade after all, when a light 
 suddenly danced above them, between them and the 
 aperture. It must be the savages; but without 
 exchanging a word they followed it, went towards it, 
 slipping, falling, till they reached the bright opening 
 in the floor. 
 
 John thrust his head up at once, not knowing but 
 it might be taken off at a blow ; then he passed out 
 his gun, which was seized by the bearer of the torch. 
 A dozen hands roughly aided him to regain the 
 room, and they did the same for Tom as he appeared. 
 
 It cannot be affirmed that they did not quake as 
 they faced the throng of Indians filling the room, 
 keeping ominous silence, the red light from the torches 
 playing on their scowling faces. But both had pre- 
 pared themselves for the worst, and they met the 
 fierce creatures with bold front. 
 
 But there was no haste, no threats. Their arms 
 were taken from them, and they were led outside. 
 Here in the corridor stood the chief of the band, a 
 tall, sinewy man of bronze, with long black hair and 
 a piercing eye. John started, for he was the same 
 who had first entered the room, the same with whom 
 both the Mexican and the mate had fought. 
 
 He stood facing the west, and the moon being in 
 that portion of the heavens, threw upon him a feeble 
 light from between the storm-clouds, and John was 
 calm enough to observe him closely. He wore, after 
 
 the fashion of the ancient Mayas the primitive 
 people of Yucatan a cincture about his loins, and 
 a short manta, or blanket, upon his shoulders, sandals 
 of deer-skin bound to his feet by hempen thongs, and 
 a short garment of feather-work about his waist and 
 hips. His hair was cut short in front and gathered 
 upon his head from the sides in a sort of coronet, or 
 crown, hanging long behind. He grasped' a bow 
 taller than himself, and a ponderous war-club, while 
 his- quiver full of arrows hung upon his back, and a 
 gleaming knife was suspended from his girdle. 
 Portions of his body and his massive legs were 
 naked, and as he stood, wholly motionless, it looked 
 as if this barbaric attire might have been hung upon 
 a noble statue of bronze, except that his eyes 
 sparkled as he beheld his prisoners before him. 
 
 " About as fine as they make them ! " reflected 
 John, appreciating the grand physique of the man. 
 
 In ranks loosely formed, his men now gathered 
 around their chief, naked, except for cincture and 
 sandals, and with long hair falling down their backs. 
 They like him were armed with bows and arrows, 
 with spears, and the ancient two-edged sword, or 
 battle-axe, of wood edged with sharpened flints. 
 
 There they stood, this remnant of a people cele- 
 brated in antiquity, amid the ruins of the temples of 
 their ancestors, ready at order to punish these two 
 adventurers for invading their sacred precincts. In 
 spite of danger John could but look on it all as a part 
 of the pageantry of his romantic dreams made real. 
 
 The chief at last motioned them to stand before 
 him. His eyes emitted fierce rays as they approached ; 
 and John was well aware that many a hand clutched 
 the bow as he and Tom passed along the ranks. 
 
 The chief alone could speak Spanish ; his people 
 only Maya, the Indian tongue. He accosted them. 
 
 " Why are you here ? " 
 
 " We have come," replied John, " to see your 
 country, to see its birds, its people, and its wonderful 
 cities. We are but peaceful scientific explorers." 
 
 A moment the chief eyed him wrathfully. 
 
 " Caramba f Explorers ! To explore my country ! 
 I am Christobal, Chief of the Sublevados ! My castle 
 is Chan Santa Cruz. Never yet have I spared a 
 Spaniard's life, and yours shall not be the first I have 
 offered to my gods. Ha ! You did not speak of the 
 gods ! Do ye not want to see the gods of this 
 country ? Ye shall ! Ye shall see the country, the 
 birds, the people, the cities, the gods and then ye 
 shall die!"
 
 THE SILVER CITY. 
 
 A thought flashed through John's brain. He 
 whispered it to Tom : 
 
 " They take us for Spaniards, the enslavers of 
 their race. It is possible they have different feelings 
 toward Americans." 
 
 He spoke up boldly : " Senor Capitan, somos Amer- 
 icanos / " " Your Excellency, we are Americans ! " 
 
 Christobal stepped forward. He gazed at their 
 weather-bronzed faces doubtfully. 
 
 "Como? How ? not Spaniards ? Americans?" 
 
 He turned to his followers and rapidly translated 
 the meaning of that magic word. The effect was 
 electrical. The dusky throng leaped to its feet as 
 one man. They poured out a prolonged strange cry : 
 
 " Quetzalcoatl ! Quetzalcoatl ! " 
 
 The chief nodded approvingly. His men sank 
 again to the ground, but now no longer regarding the 
 boys vindictively, but smiling, and conversing excit- 
 edly amongst themselves. The chief advanced. He 
 placed his hands on the boys' shoulders. He looked 
 at them piercingly, but not unkindly. 
 
 " From the north ? Ye came from the north ? 
 whence the white-winged canoes come down to trade 
 with our coast ? From the Snow King's home ? " 
 
 " Si, Senor Capitan." 
 
 "Then you are my sons. Ye are children of 
 Quetzalcoatl. This land is yours ! " 
 
 Speaking thus, he gathered his unwilling sons to 
 his breast in a hearty embrace. They submitted, too 
 amazed to speak; but Torn was not at all grateful 
 for this turn of affairs. 
 
 " See here now ! " he said afterwards. " I was a 
 little shaky when they all glared at us so, and I 
 thought our hour had come ; but, hang it all ! I'd 
 ruther they'd knock me on the head than give me one 
 of their family embraces ! " 
 
 And now the scene and atmosphere changed 
 rapidly. It was one thing to be a Spaniard, quite 
 another to be a North American. At Christobal's 
 command, his men prepared a soft couch in a 
 sheltered portion of the corridor, of the silky down 
 of the ceiba, or the silk cotton-tree, elastic as eider 
 down. Upon this were spread mantas. Then the 
 weary men were politely bidden to lie down and rest. 
 They obeyed, wondering what would happen next. 
 But it was nearly daylight when they fell asleep, and 
 broad sunlight spread over the forest when they opened 
 their eyes some hours later. 
 
 As soon as it was found they were awake, two 
 olive-skinned boys hurried to their side, each with a 
 
 cup of coffee and a basin of water fragrant with me 
 wild bay leaves floating in it. Kneeling, and with 
 every sign of respect, they offered their service to the 
 young strangers, and when they had bathed gave 
 them a handful otpita fiber to dry the moisture. 
 
 Then they hastened away and soon returned with 
 their arms full of clothing. There were two full 
 suits belonging to the boys themselves (which they 
 evidently had brought up from the boat). These 
 they placed on one side of the couch. On the other 
 they cast a heap of Indian fabrics, bright-colored 
 blankets, leggings of deer skin embroidered with 
 beads or feathers, sarapes, or blanket-shawls of gor- 
 
 AS MAYAS. TOM AND JOHN SURVEYING EACH OTHER. 
 
 geous coloring ornamented with silver braid and 
 buttons ; sandals made with nicest care, and to be 
 secured by the softest of deer-skin thongs. 
 
 It was the garb of civilization and the garb of a 
 semi-barbaric people. By signs they offered the 
 young men their choice. 
 
 The boys looked from one pile to the other. Tom 
 broke the silence first. "John, these Injuns are 
 a-tryin' us. This is to see whether we will go with 
 them of our own free will, or whether we ain't true 
 sons and still hanker after the region of the Snow 
 King, as they call him. And there may be more 
 dependin' on the choice than we think. I motion we 
 take their toggery, and be big Injuns too."
 
 THE SIL VER CITY. 
 
 37 
 
 MAYA WOMEN. 
 
 " That's about the level of the thing, I guess," said 
 John, " and you're right ; we may as well go in for 
 whatever fun there is in it. On with the toggery ! " 
 
 With the assistance of their two Indian valets, they 
 dressed themselves as Mayas. The moment they 
 were left alone, they turned upon each other, restrain- 
 ing their laughter, how- 
 ever, as fully as possi- 
 ble. Tom, with his 
 round rosy face was 
 specially " jolly " with 
 a bright scarlet blanket 
 hanging around him, his 
 head thrust through a 
 hole in the centre, a gir- 
 dle of tiger skin about 
 his waist and leggings 
 shining with silver bells 
 and buttons. 
 
 " Oh, look at home 
 now, you young Injun," 
 
 said he at last ; " you don't seem to realize that your 
 arms are bare and that you haven't half clos' enough 
 to cover you anyway ! Come now ! Hullo ! what 
 now ? " 
 
 Their pages were approaching with small cala- 
 bashes in their hands containing different colored 
 paints. 
 
 " Blamed if they ain't going to paint us ! " 
 Yes, verily ; but the boys winked at each other and 
 submitted. First their valets coated whatever por- 
 tions of the body were not covered by the sarape and 
 leggings with roucon, or a pigment from the annatto 
 berry ; then they proceeded, as Tom expressed it, 
 " to do the ornamental," by drawing various colored 
 stripes across their cheeks and foreheads. 
 
 Tom could hardly contain himself while all this 
 was gravely going on ; and as soon as the toilet was 
 completed, he sank down, overcome with silent laugh- 
 ter, while the tears ran down his cheeks so fast as to 
 threaten to wash away all his decorations. 
 
 "O John!" he whispered, "I'd give a dollar if 
 you could see yourself ! You look just like the 
 tattooed man in Barnum's. You only want a little 
 red on your nose to be a first-class aurora borealis." 
 
 John could but laugh as he gazed at Tom for 
 a reflection of his own probable appearance ; he felt 
 the process of adoption was rather more picturesque 
 than was needful. Still the question of the good 
 faith of the adoption was enough to sober him. 
 
 " Hello ! " said he ; " here they come again. And, 
 Tom, they are going to trust us with our pistols and 
 guns. That looks well." 
 
 During these slow toilet processes the Indians had 
 kept in the background ; but now Chief Christobal 
 advanced and embraced them, wishing them good- 
 morning, and gazing upon them admiringly. John's 
 fine figure really showed well in the Maya costume, 
 and the chief patted him on the shoulder affection- 
 ately, "JBien, hijo mio .> well done, my son." 
 
 Now that it was daylight they saw more fully what 
 a magnificent man was this chief of the Sublevados. 
 He was over six feet in height, and both face and 
 figure were handsome. His men were rather under 
 medium height, but robust and well-shaped. Their 
 countenances were not ferocious ; they indicated tem- 
 pers fiery and strong, but held in check. They had 
 buried their dead during the night, and only the 
 presence of the wounded, and some blood-stains on 
 the stone floor, told of the desperate struggle. 
 Christobal showed no traces of the mate's mighty 
 grip on his throat. But the boys were touched when 
 they saw the wounded lying helplessly about. John 
 examined one after another, wishing for the box of 
 medicines he had placed in the boat when they left 
 Cozumel. Christobal watched both his movements 
 and his face attentively. Presently he sent some 
 men down the cliff. 
 When they returned, 
 they bore not only the 
 box of medicines, but 
 nearly all the boat had 
 contained. 
 
 The boys looked at 
 each other in dismay. 
 Had the boat, had the 
 mate and Don Pedro 
 been captured ! 
 
 Christobal laid his 
 hand on John's should- 
 er. Smiling, he beck- 
 oned them to follow. 
 He took them to the 
 
 top of the watch-tower, pointed out a shining speck 
 in the sunlight, a white sail far over toward Coz- 
 umel. 
 
 With wondrous kindness for a savage, Christobal 
 explained how their companions escaped by shooting 
 two Indians, who had found the boat, and had removed 
 nearly everything from it, and then cutting the moor- 
 
 GRINDING CORN FOR TORTILLAS.
 
 THE SILVER CITY. 
 
 ings, and pushing beyond reach of the pursuers coming 
 
 over the cliff. 
 
 Both the wounded and the well displayed gratitude 
 as John and Tom went to and fro dressing wounds. 
 John felt almost sure they had now their good will. 
 
 Breakfast was next offered them. In a remote 
 building, two of the Maya women had been busy 
 preparing corn-cakes, and baking them over a quick 
 fire. They crushed the corn upon a flat stone, by 
 rolling over it a round one, until it was almost as fine 
 as flour. Then they quickly made a paste, and spread- 
 ing it thinly over another hot stone, quickly baked it. 
 These were the famous tortillas, the corn-bread 
 that these people have prepared in the same manner 
 for hundreds of years. These cakes were now brought 
 on palm leaves, and placed upon an altar-top. A sav- 
 ory stew of deer meat and wild turkey was also set 
 before them, served in bowls made of calabash shells. 
 
 Christobal explained during the repast, that being 
 a war party they were without much provisions, and 
 promised better things when they should arrive at his 
 stronghold, which was several days' march, and which 
 he was going to start for at once. He and the boys 
 only " ate at the first table," and by observing him 
 they soon managed to eat Mexican fashion, without 
 knife or fork. A tortilla served as a plate being 
 flat, broad and round on this they placed meat, 
 beans or child, and ate it by means of a piece of 
 another tortilla rolled up like a spoon. When 
 through, Christobal ate his spoon and then his plate. 
 Following his example, the board was literally 
 cleared. Orders were issued to break camp at once. 
 
 Long before noon all was in readiness. A group 
 
 of men approached with two rude palanquins, or 
 litters, made by stretching elastic vines between a 
 framework of poles, over which was a roof of light 
 poles thatched with leaves. A layer of palm leaves 
 at the bottom made a springy mattress, and a roll of 
 manias a pillow. Tom and John were assisted each 
 into his litera, which four men took upon their 
 shoulders, and the line of march was begun. Ahead 
 went men with machetes, or great knives, to cut the 
 way, and behind them marched the dusky warriors. 
 Chief Christobal was borne in front in another litera. 
 The wounded were behind similarly conveyed. 
 
 Tom actually chuckled 
 aloud with delight. 
 "John, we're right along 
 in the procession, ain't 
 we ? " he called back. 
 
 But John, alone now 
 to reflect, was not so light 
 of heart. Despite the 
 change in the manner of 
 the Indians, he saw no 
 positive assurance that 
 they were not two victims 
 intended for sacrifice. He well knew from books, 
 that such victims were not looked upon with hate, but 
 rather with good will ; and he saw in the homage 
 paid them, a possible omen of danger. They cer- 
 tainly were prisoners, though with willing servitors as 
 captors. All that long, hot day, as they travelled 
 through the steaming forest, this question tortured him : 
 
 " What do they mean to do with -us ? " 
 
 MAYA COOKING UTENSILS. 
 
 THREE HAPPY PRISONERS.
 
 THE SILVER CITY. 
 
 39 
 
 A GREAT MAGICIAN. 
 
 YELLOW MACAW. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 OHN NORTH was not a 
 coward. He was serious, 
 reflective, and, despite his 
 many romantic dreams and 
 projects, he instinctively 
 weighed both sides of a 
 question. Once having 
 made up his mind, no 
 danger could deter him 
 from carrying out a plan. 
 But he felt uneasy, re- 
 morseful, because his 
 search for his father had drawn others into trouble so 
 serious. 
 
 To be sure Tom's jolly view of the situation some- 
 what relieved him. He experienced a constant sur- 
 prise at the way Tom accepted anything seen to be 
 inevitable. " Hang sorrow, care will kill a cat," 
 seemed to be Tom's motto. He would not listen to 
 John's apprehensions. 
 
 " Pshaw, John," he laughed : " don't go to bor- 
 rowing trouble. Just you look at things as they 
 actually are, not as they might, could, would or 
 should be. Here we be carried along like princes on 
 the shoulders of men who are appinted our slaves. 
 Just look at 'em, smilin' up at us whenever we conde- 
 scend to look their way. How long'd you have to 
 live Down East before the people'd turn out and 
 wheel yer in a wheelbarrow, let alone a-totin' you on 
 their shoulders ! It's a shame to slander these 
 Injuns, even in your heart. I'm ready to fight for 
 'em instid of against 'em. The late onpleasantness 
 was simply because they didn't know who we were." 
 " Perhaps I ought to be ashamed of distrust," said 
 John with a faint smile. "But it wasn't on my own 
 account, Tom." 
 
 "Well, you chirk up, then. I'm goin' to be happy 
 till I see the executioner comin' for me with his knife, 
 and then I'll bet I'll manage to trip him up and offer 
 him to his own idols. Besides," continued Tom, 
 
 "they've given us all our weapons ; you've got your 
 gun and revolver, and I my pistol and rifle, and all 
 the cartridges we want. In fact, I think they are 
 rather timorous about our guns lying about anyway. 
 They've got nothing theirselves but spears and bows 
 and arrers. We're the dangerous party at present, I 
 take it. Le's think of something else. Say ! how 
 about your stuffin' birds ? Your institute work don't 
 come on very fast, does it ? " 
 
 " No," said John. " We've just been hurried from 
 one accident to another all the time." 
 
 " Well," said Tom shrewdly, " I should say you 
 might improve this 'ere present accident. All your 
 stuffin' things are here, for them Injuns have saved 1 
 everything of ours, and are bringing 'em along as if 
 they was sacred." 
 
 " Tom, you're right. Even if I can't save the 
 specimens I preserve, it will be a diversion. It will 
 give us something to think about." 
 
 They were journeying in a vast forest. It was. 
 open underneath, and the sunlight lighted it even 
 down to the flat coral rock that forms all the under 
 stratum of Yucatan, upon which the giant trees, 
 spread their roots. It was a lively scene to a natural- 
 ist's eye. Every tree and bush seemed to contain a 
 new bird or butterfly. John observed many orioles 
 like our golden robin, only brighter and more worthy 
 the name of " fire bird ; " 
 and instead of one spe- 
 cies, he noted half a 
 dozen. There were few 
 familiar birds, but before 
 the day waned he count- 
 ed hundreds new and 
 strange. Their Indian 
 pages,bright-eyed, tawny- 
 skinned striplings of six- 
 teen, who ran by the side 
 of their litters, delighted 
 
 in pronouncing the names of both birds and trees. 
 They spoke in Maya, a musical tongue, but John wrote 
 down the distinctly uttered names. He was particu- 
 larly interested in the cha-cha-la-ka, a bird like our 
 
 THE CAT CARE KILLED.
 
 THE SILVER CITY. 
 
 ruffled grouse, but smaller, and with a longer tail; the 
 Mayas must have named it from its cry. It was very 
 
 CARRIED ALONG LIKE PRINCES. 
 
 shy, and would wait till they were quite near, then 
 fly away with a great rattle of cha-cha-la-ka ! cha-cha- 
 la-ka ! 
 
 All John's old-time longing for new hunting-fields 
 and new specimens, came strong upon him. "Tom," 
 he cried excitedly, " I must get some of these birds. 
 The Professor would be delighted with them : we 
 may pass out of their region and I miss them thus ! " 
 
 Tom was overjoyed to see his comrade's wakening 
 interest. " If I was you," said he, " I'd shoot some 
 as I went along and then skin and stuff 'em when we 
 make a halt. At the worst, they'll only be to throw 
 away, and you may get them through." 
 
 John was a good shot. His long collecting practice 
 in the New England woods had perfected his aim. 
 The neighbors had always said that when John North 
 sighted a bird over a gun barrel, it was as good 
 as dead. It is pleasant to know that he never 
 " sighted " one as mere sportsman's pleasure. 
 
 This was the reason he had not shot birds on ship- 
 board, when the sea-birds came about by hundreds ; 
 why he had not hunted in Cozumel : he could not 
 
 then preserve their skins properly for the museum. 
 
 A bright-banded parrot was chattering noisily in 
 a tall tree-top. The procession was filing across an 
 open glade. Without stopping the men, John raised 
 himself in the litera, brought the gun to his shoulder, 
 and fired. 
 
 The Indians were for a moment thrown into con- 
 sternation. As they looked about for a reason for 
 the shot, the parrot came tumbling down from his 
 high perch, and fell into John's litter. It \vas a 
 chance aim, a chance fall, but these dusky aborigines 
 seemed to look upon the occurrence as supernatural. 
 
 They approached the young North American 
 reverently. The bearers of his Htera, at a sign from 
 Christobal, lowered it to the ground. 
 
 John held up the parrot. It was stone dead. 
 Christobal gave a low command to two Indians. 
 They departed, ranging the woods. In ten minutes 
 they returned. Christobal produced a small bronze 
 cup. In it he placed the lumps of gum copal which 
 the men had collected. This he lighted. A rich 
 perfume stole forth. Three times the chief walked 
 about John swinging his censer until the fragrant 
 smoke enveloped him. The same ceremony was 
 accorded Tom. Not a word was spoken. The 
 literas were then lifted and the first inarch resumed. 
 
 "How'd you like that ?" demanded Tom as soon as 
 they were once more moving. 
 
 "Well, it's rather a novel sensation," said John, " to 
 sit and have incense burned before you. But I 
 remember reading in my old book about just such a 
 performance when the Spaniards first landed on the 
 shore of Yucatan, 
 in 1517. For the 
 first time in the 
 New World they 
 saw houses of stone, 
 like those \vhose 
 ruins we were in 
 last night. The 
 Indians came out 
 to meet them, and 
 before they would 
 communicate with 
 them, their priests 
 fumigated them 
 with incense just 
 as these Indians 
 their descendants have done to us. It has never 
 been settled whether they thought the Spaniards were 
 
 THE HOCCO, ONE OF THE STRANGE 
 BIRDS.
 
 THE SILVER CITY. 
 
 WILD TURKEY. 
 
 gods as in the Bahamas or whether they ought 
 to be fumigated to render them fit for acquaintance." 
 "Well, in our case, it's probably gods." laughed 
 Tom. " I rather think they intend to set us up 
 on pedestals and fall down and worship us, when 
 
 they git us to their town. 
 Hello!" he broke off. 
 "I say, John, look at 
 them big birds running 
 through the woods there 
 over to the right ! big as 
 turkeys they are tur- 
 keys ! where's your gun ? 
 Halt the men ! Let's git 
 down ! Quick ! there's 
 another ! " 
 
 Christobal had noticed 
 Tom's gesticulations. He 
 ordered a halt. He came to John's side. John in 
 his rude Spanish explained. 
 
 " My men will get you many," said Christobal, 
 smiling. 
 
 " I long to shoot one myself," said John. 
 " Bien. This boy will show you where to find 
 them. But your gun is not loaded." 
 
 The chief evidently had seen only old-fashioned 
 firearms, like those the English of Belize sold the 
 Indians ; never a breech-loader. 
 
 John had managed to slip a cartridge in unper- 
 ceived a paper shell loaded with large turkey 
 shot. " Always loaded," said he impressively, per- 
 ceiving the chief's ignorance. 
 
 Christobal repeated the words to his followers. 
 All fell back in silence. They regarded the mysterious 
 gun with an expression of mingled cautiousness and 
 amazement. 
 
 One of the young Indians, at a signal from the 
 chief, led the way the turkeys had gone, the whole 
 band turning to look, waiting, wondering. 
 
 John had swung his game bag over his shoulders ; 
 his gun lay in the hollow of his arm. He followed 
 the half-naked lad with long, eager strides. The chase 
 stirred the blood in his veins. The Indian stopped, 
 pointed ; in sight was a flock with a great gobbler at 
 the head, marching unsuspiciously along, flashing and 
 shimmering like strange peacocks. John raised his 
 double-barreled gun ; a puff of smoke darted out, then 
 a report. Two turkeys fell to the ground. The rest 
 were all in the air in a second, whirring or else crash- 
 ing through the underbrush, right across his path. 
 
 He turned, threw up the gun again, aimed a foot: 
 ahead of the swiftly-flying birds, and pulled the trigger. 
 The leader fell like lead, right at Christobal's feet, 
 where it fluttered a moment, then lay still. 
 
 The Indians were astonished. What must he be 
 who was endowed with a gun with two barrels, that 
 loaded itself, that killed more than one bird at a time ! 
 and never before had they seen a bird shot on the 
 wing. This young man must be nearly related to 
 the powers of the air, if not one of them. 
 
 John could easily read all this on those unfeigning 
 faces. Taking advantage of their amazement, with 
 almost no perceptible movement, he slipped two 
 more cartridges into his gun. 
 
 The reports had startled the turkeys in all direc- 
 tions, and they were flying wildly through the forest. 
 Two noble birds came crashing and sparkling through 
 the near tree-tops like meteors. They were most 
 magnificent specimens weighing at least twenty pounds 
 apiece. They were a rod apart. Up went the mys- 
 terious gun. The foremost doubled up like a crump- 
 led paper at the report, and came whirling to the 
 ground in a cloud of flashing feathers. Without 
 turning his eye, or removing the gun from his shoul- 
 der, John fired the second barrel, and the other 
 turkey followed in the track of the first. Then, while 
 the smoke was yet curling from the muzzle, he drew 
 out the exploded cartridges, and slipped in two more. 
 
 The entire band was thunderstruck. Christobal 
 stood pressing his hand to his brow. Presently 
 he gathered his manta about him, and with a majestic 
 wave of his hand silenced the murmurs of admiration. 
 
 " My son, thou hast done what none in Maya has 
 ever done before. Still I will risk the future thine 
 and mine. I have dared much for thee, thou wilt 
 soon learn; thou art henceforward to be chief of a 
 band of thy own. I, Christobal, will it so ; here and 
 now I appoint thee next in power and authority to 
 myself." 
 
 Turning, he singled out ten of the handsomest 
 young men, tall, slender, with animated faces. 
 
 " These, " said he, " are thy body-guard. Night 
 and day they will attend thee." 
 
 The young men approached, one by one, and tak- 
 ing John's right hand, each placed it upon his fore- 
 head, bowing to his feet. 
 
 The line of march was again formed. The body- 
 guard with bows, arrows, clubs and spears, formed 
 around the litera containing their young chief. Thus 
 they travelled till late in the afternoon^
 
 THE SILVER CITY. 
 
 " See what you get by following my sage advice ? " 
 queried Tom when they were well under way. " If it 
 hadn't been for me you wouldn't thought of your 
 birds. And yit, here I'm left out in the cold, with 
 no body-guard nor nothin'." 
 
 But John spoke gravely in reply: "Tom, all I get 
 I will share with you." 
 
 " By the way, " said Tom, " do you s'pose they 
 s'picioned what's in the belts we had round our bod- 
 ies when they saw us change our clo's for their war 
 paint ? And how much have we got ? " 
 
 " I have no fear of their robbing us," said John. 
 <l We have a little over a hundred dollars apiece, in 
 .gold, besides a few bank bills that are of no use in 
 this country. In fact, :ur gold is not good here; we 
 are like Robinson Crusoe after he had all the gold 
 in the ship, for nobody knows its value. 
 
 " Well, it will keep. I hope to see the time when 
 'we can spend it. But, John, why don't you ever 
 talk! you ain't given up hopin' to find track of your 
 father, have you?" 
 
 " Given him up ! hardly, Tom." 
 
 " That's the talk, my young chief ; now I want you 
 to understand that I'm rather taken with that project 
 myself. You've got that old book all safe, the Con- 
 quest, you know ? " 
 
 " Safe in my haversack ; and do you know, Tom, 
 I think we are going straight to the Silver City ! 
 Why, I feel to-day as though we were almost a part 
 of that old book ! If I understand the region, we are 
 certainly moving in its general direction." 
 
 " Shouldn't wonder," said Tom. " Shouldn't won- 
 der at anything." 
 
 " It's just strange and wild enough to be true," 
 said John. " And when I have learned more Spanish, 
 or better yet, a little Maya, I shall inquire cautiously 
 of the chief." 
 
 "So I would. It's pleasant enough being carried 
 along this way, day after day, laying on our backs 
 and safe as in our cradles, but still I'd like to know 
 where we're going to fetch up, as the feller said when 
 he'd tried the flyin'-machine and fell into the cow- 
 yard." 
 
 " Well," said John, " so long as we travel south- 
 wardly, and these Indians are friendly, I've no 
 objection, for in that direction lies the city, if it lies 
 anywhere." 
 
 In this manner they went on, chatting whenever 
 the literas came near together, and enjoying philo- 
 sophically al' that came in their way. They made a 
 
 short stop about noon, but only to dip some water 
 out of a smote and to munch some dry tortillas. 
 Late in the afternoon they came to a place selected 
 for camp. The machete bearers had gone ahead, 
 and with their sharp knives had cleared of its under- 
 brush a little knoll crowned with great trees. When 
 the band arrived fires were blazing, and the tortilla 
 women busy over their primitive mills grinding corn. 
 
 After their literas had been placed on the ground, 
 and their various luggage deposited near, John 
 requested Christobal to allow him to skin the finest 
 turkey before the cooks should have deprived the 
 fowl of its feathers. 
 
 And why should John care for a turkey skin ? 
 
 Well, there are three species of wild turkey in 
 
 THE TRIBUTE OF INCENSE. 
 
 North America. The most beautiful of the three is 
 this one of Yucatan, familiarly known as the Hon- 
 duras turkey. Ours of the United States, now found 
 in Florida and the Southwest, is a larger bird, and 
 the best known. Ours bears the Latin name of Melea- 
 gris galloparo. Then there is another, in Mexico, 
 called Meleagris Mexicana, much smaller; this glori- 
 ous bird of Yucatan is called Meleagris ocellatus. 
 Wasn't it Benjamin Franklin who thought the tur
 
 THE SILVER CITY. 
 
 43 
 
 IN MIGRATION. 
 
 key should have been 
 our national bird ? 
 Whoever it was, he 
 was right ; for we 
 have none other so 
 truly American. 
 
 As I have said, no 
 other of the family 
 can compare with the 
 Yucatan turkey in 
 beauty of plumage. 
 It is our American 
 peacock. Its very 
 
 name, ocellatus, signifies' something of its beauty 
 large eyes, or spots, of blue, which enamel the long 
 tail, surrounded by circles of brilliant yellow and pur- 
 ple. Its wings are like burnished gold and copper, 
 and when the sun shines on its glossy black, it reflects 
 every color of the rainbow. 
 
 It was with a sense of exultation that John took 
 this gorgeous creature in hand to prepare him for 
 preservation. It seemed a sin to crumple such beauti- 
 fully burnished plumage ; but he reflected that there 
 were not four in all the museums of the United 
 States, and how rejoiced the Professor would be 
 to secure specimens of so rare a bird ; and he expe- 
 rienced a keen feeling of pleasure and triumph. By 
 the time the gorgeous skin was prepared and stuffed 
 with cotton to its natural shape, it was sundown ; and 
 his Indian hosts had supper in waiting. 
 
 It was plain beyond question that Christobal and 
 all his men now regarded him as a magician ; as a 
 necromancer, or medicine man. They could scarcely 
 take their eyes off the stuffed skin which lay there 
 the exact counterfeit of the bird. 
 
 Some of them stroked it softly, then hurriedly drew 
 their hands away, as if afraid some spell surrounded 
 it ; and then talking together in low tones, congrat- 
 ulated themselves that a wonder-worker had come 
 into their tribe. Over Christobal's grave face strange 
 
 expressions passed ; now of anxiety, now of exultation. 
 
 That night the two pages were comparing notes 
 as they lay on the ground apart from the others. 
 
 " I like my new master," said Tom's servant, 
 " because he always laughs whin he speaks." 
 
 " And I like mine the young wise man," returned 
 John's boy, speaking thoughtfully, " because he 
 doesn't laugh so much, and his eyes think, think, 
 think." 
 
 The next morn they learned that they were within 
 thirty miles of Chan Santa Cruz, the Maya capital, 
 and that probably they might reach it by nightfall. 
 
 It was noon before they again stopped. The 
 way had been through dense forest of copal, liquid 
 amber, and cedar. They had now reached the edge 
 of a plain. They halted under the border trees. 
 Tom, from his high perch, had discovered a curious 
 yellow cloud moving slowly over the plain, which 
 stretched away before them till bounded by a line 
 of blue hills. The cloud, now watched by both John 
 and Tom, drew nearer and nearer. It wavered and 
 fluttered, rose and fell with the breeze, and when 
 quite near they saw it was composed of butterflies. 
 
 A cloud of butterflies in migration to the forest. 
 It was an hour before it had passed. There must 
 have been millions billions. They were sulphur- 
 yellow, with pale spots on their wings. Christobal 
 much enjoying their wonder at the wonders of his 
 country, explained that other clouds would follow, 
 some blue, some green, and some again yellow. 
 
 After a light meal the Indians again trudged on. 
 John's guard of honor kept close, anticipating every 
 want, their dark faces breaking into smiles when he 
 spoke. But it was a tedious progress. The hot 
 plain was covered with dry grass; little clumps of 
 trees alone gave shade at intervals. 
 
 It was drawing near sunset when they reached 
 outlying fields of cotton, then sugar-cane. Little huts 
 squatted here and there in gardens of tropical plants. 
 These grew more numerous. Presently they entered
 
 44 
 
 THE SILVER CITY. 
 
 a long narrow lane between hedges of wild plants. 
 
 Apparently the entire population came down to 
 meet them with shouts of welcome ; and at last they 
 halted in a green square before a large thatched 
 house. 
 
 They were in the Indian capital, in Chan Santa 
 Cruz. 
 
 In many years no one had seen a white man in 
 that whole region. The few people who recollected 
 this event were old and white headed. They re- 
 garded the young strangers with a strange expres- 
 sion. Hardly less strange were the looks they cast 
 upon Christobal, their war chief, but with great solem- 
 nity they set apart a house for the captives, and then 
 
 been welcomed and reserved for torture, the offenders 
 had been put to death. 
 
 The council chamber was crowded. The great 
 cacique sat upon a rude throne hung with tiger skins ; 
 those next in civil rank were grouped about him. 
 Christobal's warriors were there, stalwart savages, 
 naked to the waist, who would have fought for their 
 beloved chief to the death ; but they, likewise, were 
 under oath to respect the laws. Christobal stood 
 forth to speak : 
 
 "Fathers, brothers, ye know me. I am Chris- 
 tobal ! " 
 
 " You are Christobal, the white man's foe !" 
 
 " Ye know I would not lightly break the laws 
 
 IT FELL AT T] 
 
 the tocsin beat for council. Christobal was arraigned. 
 Christobal was their war chief ; but he was amenable 
 to the civil authorities. He had transgressed an 
 ancient law of the tribe he had captured two prison- 
 ers, when he should have killed both. By their sacred 
 tribal laws, the chief forfeited his own life for this 
 transgression. Rarely had such offence been com- 
 mitted, and in those instances, after the captives had 
 
 T OF THE CACIQUE. 
 
 the sacred commands of our ancestors. But who are 
 these prisoners? Are they Spaniards, accursed en- 
 slavers of our race ? " 
 
 "Are they not?" asked the cacique. 
 
 "They are not." 
 
 " Are they Mestizos, in whose veins flows the cor- 
 rupted blood of our brother Mayas ? " 
 
 "No!"
 
 THE SILVER CITY. 
 
 45 
 
 " Fathers, brothers, they are strangers from the 
 North ! " uttered Christobal impressively. 
 
 The great cacique started, and clutched the sides 
 of his throne. 
 
 "They are Americanos!" continued Christobal. 
 The cacique arose in excitement. " Bring them 
 in ! " he cried. 
 
 John and Tom were conducted to the council 
 chamber, dimly lighted 
 by smoking torches of 
 ocote, or pine wood. 
 
 "Luck's changed," 
 whispered Tom; "that 
 old duffer on the throne 
 there's cock of the walk. 
 Shouldn't wonder if our 
 time had come." 
 
 The young men were 
 OWLS. in their Indian garb, and 
 
 the cacique could not 
 
 conceal his admiration as he glanced at John's 
 straight figure and met the fearless glance of his eye. 
 "They are not Spaniards nor Mexicans," he said 
 after a prolonged gaze. 
 
 At a signal, the guard of honor escorted them back 
 to their quarters. 
 
 "Ye know," continued the war chief, "our tradi- 
 tions; that from the North came Quetzalcoatl, God 
 of the Air, the 'Feathered Serpent ' whom our ances- 
 tors called Ku-kul-can. To him we owe our sacred 
 religion ; he taught us the art of building our temples 
 and palaces; he taught us agriculture and the weav- 
 ing of hemp and spinning of cotton. When his mis- 
 sion was ended he left us and went back to his abode 
 in the North. Our forefathers beheld him enter his 
 winged canoa of serpent skins, and embark with his 
 retinue. All the population of our ancient cities fol- 
 lowed him to the coast, entreating him to return ; and 
 at the last moment, he promised to send a wise man 
 from the region of the Snow King. We have looked 
 for that messenger many hundred years in vain, have 
 we not? Our sentinels have paeed with weary feet 
 the roof-tops of our temples, greeting every morning 
 the rising of the sun as the dawn of that new day in 
 which this herald was to arrive. 
 
 "In Tuloom, that deserted city of our fathers, I 
 encountered these white strangers. I knew not 
 whence they came. There were four; two escaped by 
 the subterraneo, but that trap prepared so many years 
 ago fell, and alloted us these two. I questioned, 
 
 moved by the gods. Lo, they were from the North ! 
 Did I not well ? " 
 
 " Thou hast not done ill, but I see nought super- 
 human in these strangers, that they are sent hither 
 by Quetzalcoatl." 
 
 "Thou hast not seen all. The elder bears with 
 him a wonder engine in which are confined the forces 
 of the elements, thunder and lightning." 
 
 " With that same weapon met the Spaniards our 
 ancestors three centuries ago," replied the cacique. 
 
 " True ; but when once it had spit forth its fire and 
 lead it rested. This is ever filled with death ; with it 
 he destroys the birds of the air as they cleave the 
 clouds. Yea, though they speed on like the wind." 
 
 " We have seen it ! " thundered forth the warriors. 
 
 " I, too, would see," said the cacique ; " order 
 them forth into the square where the birds of night 
 wing the upper darkness. If I behold any miracle, 
 then will I pardon thee." 
 
 So saying, the cacique strode into the central square, 
 followed by the warriors and the council. 
 
 "Thy life," whispered Christobal as he placed the 
 gun in John's hand, " is the forfeit if thou failest ; 
 thy life and mine ! " 
 
 Darkness was settling fast. A thousand eyes were 
 straining for a glimpse of the mysterious marksman. 
 Myriads of swifts and bats were sporting in the 
 warm heavy air overhead, and now and then a 
 night hawk, or an owl, sailed through the upper 
 atmosphere. 
 
 " Point me the bird he would have," said John 
 to Christobal quietly. 
 
 A great bird came flapping out of the west, its 
 black form indistinct and weird in the gloom. Softly 
 it sailed along, its broad wings fanning with regular 
 strokes. 
 
 The cacique raised his hand, pointing. The bird 
 sailed above as if circling about for prey ; higher and 
 higher it rose. " He will miss it," Tom whispered 
 to himself. " He waits too long." 
 
 A jet of flame leaped out of the darkness, followed 
 by a roar that disturbed the silence of the heavy 
 tropic night like the explosion of a cannon. Before 
 its echoes had died, a shrill shriek came down from 
 the clouds, but the winged creature still went up 
 higher, higher, till lost to sight. 
 
 The cacique looked gravely at Christobal : " Where 
 is thy miracle ? " 
 
 But presently, with a wild sound from the crowd, a 
 dark mass appeared in the warm darkness, rapidly
 
 THE SILVER CITY. 
 
 descending, and growing larger until it fell straight 
 to the feet of the cacique. Its crooked claws 
 clutched his trailing robe, and at the moment it 
 looked reproachfully up into his face, the death-gur- 
 gle sounded in its throat. 
 
 A prolonged wailing cry rose from the square. 
 
 The cacique stood stupefied. John rested on his 
 gun, waiting with some curiosity the signification of 
 the sudden and universal dismay. 
 
 " It is the owl ! " whispered Christobal in John's 
 ear. " It is our sacred bird. Now I know not the 
 result. But our Ruler bade thee. I think it bodes 
 him disaster, not thee and me." 
 
 The cacique raised his stern gaze at last. " Away 
 with them to the temples!" he cried angrily. 
 " Hither, Christobal ! " 
 
 Three hours later, the American boys were led out 
 
 they replaced. Their journey now was along the 
 descent of the hills. The vegetation had completely 
 changed. The trees were giants wreathed with masses 
 of vines. The flowering plants were strange and 
 gorgeous ; the birds sang wild melodies unknown 
 before to John's ears. Hours later they reached a 
 point where the hills abruptly ended, and they could 
 here and there look out from the wilderness of trees 
 upon open landscape. 
 
 " Behold ! " said Christobal suddenly, signalling 
 a halt. A valley lay before them about six miles 
 across, everywhere enclosed by hills. Green and 
 cultivated groves of trees dotted it at intervals, and 
 in its centre rose a great stone city with high white 
 walls shining like burnished silver in the morning sun. 
 
 Christobal evidently expected surprise and admir- 
 ation. But John stretched out his hands : his heart 
 
 THE GATE OF THE SILVER CITY. 
 
 of their dwelling and placed in their literas. A 
 hundred men joined the same warriors who had 
 brought them here, and led the march. 
 
 " Where are we going ? " asked John of Christobal. 
 
 "To the temples to the city our fathers built, 
 where dwell our priests," he answered, departing at 
 once to the head of the band. 
 
 As daylight appeared their eyes were bandaged. 
 " No white man has looked upon this country we are 
 now passing through," said the chief. 
 
 All day they journeyed and all the next. The third 
 day they seemed to enter a different region : hills took 
 the place of the flat plain. This they discovered by 
 the uneven motions of the literas. 
 
 The third night they camped upon a mountain 
 ridge. It was dark when they stopped. The chief 
 removed their bandages ; nor in the morning were 
 
 leaped into his throat, his eyes shone with a strange, 
 strong light. 
 
 " The SILVER CITY ! " he cried, turning to Tom. 
 
 " The home of our fathers," slowly pronounced 
 Christobal. "The Silver City la Crindad de la 
 Plata! It is your destination." 
 
 " Are we to enter there ? " asked John earnestly. 
 
 " You are to enter," answered Christobal, " never 
 to depart." 
 
 " Don't you fret," said Tom, when John had trans- 
 lated this thrilling sentence. 
 
 John did not fret. Could he doubt the end of a 
 chain of events that had led straight to the reality 
 of his dreams and plans ? He was startled, awed, 
 silenced, but not afraid. 
 
 An hour later they had crossed the valley and 
 drawn near the city. The walls were forty feet in
 
 T HE S ILVER CIT Y. 
 
 47 
 
 height, sloping inward and crowned by a parapet 
 that curved over in the Egyptian style. They seemed 
 at least two miles square, and were entirely surrounded 
 by a moat or canal a hundred feet wide, crossed by a 
 drawbridge. The fields about were in a high state of 
 cultivation, but not a living thing was seen moving 
 over their- expanse. In silence they crossed the draw- 
 bridge, and halted at the massive gate. It was com- 
 posed of two huge blocks of marble, curiously grooved 
 to fit together, and revolving on pivots of stone. 
 
 The chief struck with his spiked war club, then 
 called aloud. The gates revolved, opening a passage 
 twenty feet high and ten across. None appeared to 
 greet them. 
 
 Over the marble pavement, up between rows of 
 
 colossal statuary they marched toward a noble build- 
 ing. It was white like silver, the capitals and entab- 
 latures of its portico wrought in frosted silver ; bands 
 of gold encircled its fluted columns. Its broad door- 
 way stood open. In one of its vast rooms the 
 Indians deposited the captives' possessions, swung for 
 them two hammocks, and bade them a silent adieu, 
 one by one filing past them, seizing their hands and 
 pressing them to their foreheads. Christobal came 
 last ; in his eyes were tears. 
 
 A group of ten remained, huddling silently just 
 without their body-guard, choosing to share this 
 imprisonment. 
 
 The boys looked at each other in pale 'ilence. 
 This, then, was the Silver City I
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 (A further account oj the search for the Silver City.) 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE SACRED STRONGHOLD. 
 
 IGH as rose the walls of 
 the Silver City, forty 
 feet or more, they were 
 surrounded by a broad- 
 fosse, or moat, nearly 
 one hundred feet wide, 
 crossed by four bridges 
 leading to four great 
 gates. 
 
 Each bridge was so 
 built that the portion 
 next the wall could from within be raised by huge cables, 
 like the ancient drawbridge. The walls were two miles 
 square ; when accurately measured, they were found 
 to be a little more. Each gate terminated a grand 
 avenue, which cut straight across the vast enclosure 
 intersecting the other avenue running from gate to 
 gate. One ran from north to south, the other from 
 east to west. Both were lined with statues twenty 
 feet high, representing warriors, priests, kings, and 
 sabios, or wise men, who had fought, ruled, and flour- 
 ished in this kingdom, during past unnumbered cen- 
 turies. Exactly in the centre, where the avenues 
 crossed, sprang a magnificent arch, sixty feet high 
 
 from the marble pavement to the keystone. It was 
 triangular, not curved, its inner surface smooth and 
 shining. Crowning this mass of masonry, rising 
 high above the cemented platform of the archway, 
 towered a gigantic statue of Itzamna, the first ruler of 
 the Itzaes the people who built this city. His 
 noble head diademed by the three symbolic feathers 
 of the Quetzal, looked down upon his brother war- 
 riors full seventy feet above them, and out over the 
 beautiful plain to which he, the beneficent deity, made 
 man, had led his people, and where he had taught 
 them the art of agriculture. 
 
 The vistas down these broad avenues two miles in 
 length, were grand. Alternating with the statues, rose 
 tall palms, their polished ivory shafts crowned with 
 capitals of golden leaves, and towering to a height 
 equal with the haughty crown of Itzamna. 
 
 Four great structures were grouped about the arch, 
 the nucleus of the city; they were alike in architecture, 
 of massive proportions, with pillared corridors, beaded 
 cornices, and battlemented roofs. Around each, 
 between the pillars and the cornices, ran an entabla- 
 ture ten feet in width, one bewildering mass of hiero- 
 glyphics. 
 
 These were the records of the race, carved in 
 stone, and recording the history of the world from 
 the epoch of universal deluge. Each entablature was
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 49 
 
 devoted to a different epoch ; one was that of fire, 
 the second was that of flood, the third of earthquakes, 
 the fourth of the celestial elements, represented by 
 the sun. The first, second and third were completed: 
 fire, flood, and terrestrial convulsions had swept suc- 
 cessively the earth ; the periods of their occurrence 
 .were recorded here. The fourth great stone book was 
 incomplete ; it represented the present epoch, which 
 was to be terminated by the sun, when the celestial 
 spheres were to join together in the final destruction 
 of the world ! 
 
 Each building, too, had its especial use. One was 
 the palace of the King ; another the temple, the 
 shrine of their idols and the home of their priests : 
 the third their academy where their children were 
 taught, space being also set aside as legislative cham- 
 bers ; the last was the Strangers' House, where were 
 lodged and entertained for life, all visitors from other 
 lands. This had been vacant for years ; our New 
 England boys were its first occupants in this genera- 
 tion. 
 
 These comprised the public edifices of the sacred 
 city. The dwellings of the inhabitants were scat- 
 tered over the vast spaces enclosed by the great 
 walls. They were built of pure white stone, low, but 
 massive, with bands of blue and red above the 
 beaded cornices ; their roofs were flat, with overhang- 
 ing eaves ; there were low doorways, but no doors or 
 windows. The dwellings were grouped in gardens of 
 tropical shrubbery ; the coffee, the cacao, sugar- 
 cane, banana, bread-fruit and orange. In damp 
 recesses, that aromatic-fruited vine, the vanilla, dis- 
 played its pods over running trees already covered 
 with orchids and ferns. Could you have stood upon 
 the platform of the statue of Itzamna, you would 
 
 have looked down upon 
 a sea of green, out of 
 which gleamed here and 
 there a white roof, 
 above which the cacao- 
 palms tossed their gold- 
 green branches. 
 
 At this instant the 
 city's guests were stand- 
 ing bewildered in a cor- 
 ridor of the Strangers' 
 House. They had seen 
 
 no inhabitants. At the first trumpet blast of the sen- 
 tinel upon the walls, when he descried the procession 
 approaching from the forest, they had retired to their 
 
 \ 
 
 COFFEE BRANCH. 
 
 houses, the elders grave with apprehension, the voices 
 of the children hushed, for a report had spread that 
 they were teules these visitors men of the air who 
 could work them harm. 
 
 Now a prolonged blast resounded from the great 
 trumpet hung in the temple. While its echoes flew 
 from wall to wall, the marble streets became alive 
 with women and children who formed in procession 
 at the western gate, then 
 marched to the central 
 temple, where they halt- 
 ed, while the priests, 
 six in number, came 
 forth to their head; all 
 were bareheaded, and 
 
 simply clad in pale-blue 
 
 tunics, gathered at the 
 
 waist by a crimson cord 
 
 with golden tassels. 
 
 Their bare ankles were wound about by braided 
 
 thongs confining curious sandals of soft deerskin. 
 
 Every face was bright and open ; their skins were 
 
 golden brown, their cheeks like russet apples kissed 
 
 by the October sun ; their eyes black, large, and 
 
 silken-fringed. They were noticeably short in stature, 
 
 their hands and feet remarkably small. 
 
 Three musicians crouched on the upper step of the 
 broad staircase. One solemnly pounded a drum, 
 made of a hollow log ; another blew a flute fashioned 
 of a papyrus reed from the moat ; the other clashed 
 two turtle shells all in unison. 
 
 The procession now moved on to the Strangers' 
 House, and ascended the marble steps. By direction 
 of their pages, John and Tom came out to meet them, 
 pausing in the corridor, their body-guard in a semi- 
 circle behind them, their Indian pages on either side. 
 
 The priests approached, grave and serious men, 
 clad in long white robes. All the Indians fell upon 
 their knees with hands extended. Our New England 
 boys remained motionless, as grave as they, while the 
 priests walked around them four times, swinging cen- 
 sers, half-smothering them in incense fumes. These 
 censers they tossed finally to the four points of the 
 compass, bowing twice to the east, whence comes the 
 sun, their great deity. 
 
 Then the procession moved on, the guard of honor 
 surrounded the white strangers and led the way, with 
 the banner of the sun waving in front. 
 
 This time it was to the temple ! They entered 
 through its gloomy portal the western section, vast,
 
 5 
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 THE COCO-TREE. 
 
 high, and dark. No windows lighted it. At its far- 
 ther end a spark of fire gleamed out of the darkness. 
 It was their emblem of life, the perpetual fire, which is 
 never allowed to go out, burning upon the sacred 
 altar. On either side rose a square pedestal of mar- 
 ble. Before these the company halted, dividing to 
 right and left. Here the 
 strangers were separated, and 
 gently led to the pedestals. 
 Placed, living statues, upon 
 the gleaming heights, the 
 people fell back, the priests 
 retreated, bowing themselves 
 upon the floor ; then rising, 
 they waved their censers till 
 altar, pedestals and statues 
 were enveloped in dense 
 clouds of fragrant smoke. 
 
 When it cleared, our heroes 
 
 found themselves alone. For a few minutes they 
 remained standing, more like statues than ever upon 
 their marble bases. They were dazed by the strange 
 spectacle. At last Tom spoke : " I say, John, isn't 
 this rather solemn ? Let's git down." 
 
 " Wait, Tom, let me think ! Every move now must 
 be well taken. This is their Temple of the Sun. If 
 what I have read is true, they pay their devotions to 
 him three times each day as he is rising, as he is 
 overhead at noon, and as he sets in the west. They 
 should find us here, as they left us, when they enter 
 again." 
 
 "Well," said Torn,, "as it's now about noon, 
 'cordin' to your lay-out, we've got at least six hours 
 of standin' to do be blest if I like being interwove 
 to be part and parcel of a religious ceremony ! Say, 
 John, they've done jest what I told you they'd do ; 
 they've gone and made idols of us ! Strikes me it's 
 tolerable tedious work, bein' a idol." 
 
 " Rather saw wood," said John with a grim smile. 
 " Still, I think we should fall in with their expecta- 
 tions as far as we can guess at their ideas." 
 
 " Well, this '11 be something to tell the folks that 
 is, if we ever get out. Talk about your Arabian 
 Nights they're nowhere. We've gone through 
 more'n Sinbad the Sailor, and that fellow with his 
 wonderful lamp, ever thought of ! What d'you 'spose 
 the mate and Don Pedro's doing now? Wouldn't 
 they laugh to see us standin' here doin' duty as idols ? 
 I say, John, I'm going to see what's behind that cur- 
 lain back of the altar." 
 
 Still he paused, half-awed, while they both glanced 
 about the vast, solemn structure. Impressive cathe- 
 dral effects were obtained by the high triangular 
 arches of the ceiling, the arches at the ends built up 
 at right angles to the longitudinal one, forming a 
 deep recess separated from the nave by heavy sable- 
 black curtains. 
 
 "I'm going to see what's behind that curtain," 
 repeated Tom. 
 
 " I'm not sure that I would, Tom," began John ; " I 
 believe sharp eyes are on us." But Tom had leaped 
 down, and was already pushing aside the mysterious 
 folds. The gloom was so deep that at first he saw 
 nothing, but a minute later he stumbled backward 
 with a smothered cry. With uncertain steps, he 
 returned to his pedestal. He stood silent, burying 
 his face in his hands. 
 
 "What was it, Tom?" 
 
 Tom shook his head. "It was too horrible ! " 
 
 In silence the dark afternoon wore away. Tom, 
 tired of standing, and less anxious than John, sat 
 down on his pedestal. Long before sunset, he was 
 sound asleep. By his watch, John knew the time 
 when the priests would probably return. As the 
 time drew near, a great misgiving seized him. But 
 with the first sound of steps, he nerved himself. He 
 called to Tom, but Tom did not hear. He ran to 
 him, shook him, at last roused him. Tom pulled 
 himself together hastily, and both hastily returned to 
 their positions of state. Tom was yawning, and was 
 vaguely feeling for his pockets when the priests 
 entered the temple. 
 
 "There's one thing I don't like about these 
 Indian leggins," he muttered to John, " they ain't 
 got no pockets in 'em ! " 
 
 The priests bowed low before them, and then, at a 
 signal, pages and body-guard entered, and conducted 
 them forth, and along beneath the avenue of palms, 
 as they came, to the Strangers' House. The golden 
 beams of the setting sun were lighting the under sur- 
 faces of the palm leaves, while the city below lay in 
 shade ; and they already felt the coolness of twi- 
 light. Their guides led them through the eastern 
 room into a large court, or patio, about one hun- 
 dred and sixty feet square. A corridor ran around 
 this court, overhung by a slanting roof. Marble steps 
 descended to a plantation of tropical trees and flow- 
 ering vines. In the centre of this fragrant garden 
 was built a great marble basin, into which bubbled up 
 waters soft and clear, from a subterranean source.
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 The agile pages divested their young masters of 
 their clothing, and led them to the fountain. They 
 were soon floating in the pearl-blue water. All the 
 stiffness of limb, from the pedestal ordeal, and from 
 the fatigue of travel, vanished. The water was 
 warm, and evidently mineral, and was as invigorating 
 as soothing. 
 
 Looking upon the exquisite sculptures that adorned 
 the marble bath, the vines that hung over the marble 
 steps and scented the air with drowsy odors, and up 
 through the strangely foliaged plants that hid the sky 
 from their sight, the boys might well have fancied 
 themselves at the entrance of some Oriental paradise. 
 
 Their attendants dried them with handfuls of soft 
 pita fiber, and then rubbed over them a transparent 
 ointment, compounded from fragrant herbs, then 
 wrapped them in curiously dyed robes of cotton, 
 corded about the waist, bound soft sandals upon 
 their feet, and led them to their hammocks. The 
 combined influences of the bath, and the bland atmos- 
 phere, rendered them drowsy, but their Indians 
 awoke them. They brought them delicate coco cups 
 of foaming chocolate, and thin crisp tortillas yet 
 warm from the fire. Then they brought water to lave 
 their fingers, and, having dried them, kissed their 
 hands, and signified that now they could rest. 
 
 For many days our New England boys lived a life 
 of luxurious ease feted guests. Every morning their 
 pages brought them coco nuts of sweet water ; then 
 they bathed in the soft fountain, and drank tiny cups 
 of chocolate and ate dainty tortillas while swinging in 
 their hammocks. 
 
 Just before noon a breakfast was always brought 
 them of roast or stewed chicken, bread-fruit, sweet 
 potatoes, frijoles, or beans (one of the ancient dishes 
 of the country), and parched corn cakes. An hour 
 before sunset, a lighter repast was spread upon the 
 stone, altar-like table, mostly of fruits ; delicious 
 oranges, custard-apples and anonas. 
 
 In these days of quiet they " took account of stock," 
 as Tom expressed it; overhauled and put in order 
 everything the Indians had saved from the boat, 
 cleaned their fire-arms, and carefully prepared their 
 ammunition. 
 
 The vast room opening on the court, nearly one 
 hundred and eighty feet long, seemed so dreary and 
 unhomelike that John induced his captors to divide 
 it by gay-colored curtains. Then they hung similar 
 bright blankets scrapes against the white walls, 
 and piled in the corners heaps of cotton stuffs, bright, 
 
 and lustrous as silk : the singular Oriental effect can 
 hardly be imagined. 
 
 Of pictures they had none ; but of their books 
 they had that precious record of the " Conquest," a 
 few old magazines, a folded map of Yucatan, and an 
 almanac for that year : these they treasured. 
 
 They wondered at first why they saw so few men 
 among the people ; but it was explained that they 
 were absent on a hunt in the mountains. They usu- 
 ally stayed away several weeks at a time. 
 
 Wherever they chose they wandered among the 
 neat and attractive dwellings, through the highly cul- 
 tivated gardens, and even ascended to the base of 
 the great statue of Itzamna, by means of the pyra- 
 midal steps at the corners of the monument. Every- 
 where they met with the same reverent respect 
 as greeted their arrival. Women smiled upon them 
 from their doorways, where they sat weaving cotton 
 
 THE ORDEAL IN THE TEMPLE. 
 
 on their primitive looms, the men seized their hands 
 and pressed them against their foreheads, and the 
 little children kissed them as they hung at their sides 
 the children, chubby, laughing little elves, brown 
 and shining, they evidently did not believe the two 
 smiling white strangers were teules who would carry 
 them away to their abodes in the air : not they ! they 
 followed them as regularly as their body-guard. Yet
 
 5 2 
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 they never entered their house that was a place set 
 apart for strangers. 
 
 " Never saw such polite children in my life," said 
 Tom. 
 
 " They come honestly by it," said John, " for the 
 ancient Itzaes were the 
 l\s d0*"?i^^~ most refined people on 
 
 < '~~.,,- ~ earth. They inherit the 
 
 EHt I ^^Kfc=r'i:-^A> ./ 
 
 graces from their ances- 
 tors." 
 
 " I've been thinkin', 
 John, how 'twas these 
 Itzaes got all kinds of 
 fruits and flowers gath- 
 /flLP?*J *^&&& r ered here, when half of 
 | **&> 'em don't belong to Yu- 
 
 INDIAN CENSERS. catan, do they ? " 
 
 "No, Tom. And I 
 
 have noticed it too. These people do have nearly 
 every kind of fruit the tropics produce. Let's see, 
 now, what they've here in their gardens that came 
 originally from other countries." 
 
 They were strolling along the southern avenue, and 
 now they turned into the nearest garden. There 
 were no dividing walls ; all the people worked and 
 owned property in common. 
 
 " Now these great palms over our heads," continued 
 John, " do not belong to Yucatan. They may, per- 
 haps, be found wild in the forests of Southern Mexico, 
 but they are natives of the West Indies and South 
 America. See, they are over eighty feet tall ! Yet 
 I have read of some species growing in the Antilles 
 to a height of one hundred and fifty. I don't know 
 whether these are the Royal Palm of Cuba, or the 
 Cabbage Palm of the Southern islands. The Royal 
 Palm, the Palma Real of the Cubans, is said to be 
 the most magnificent of the family. There's an 
 avenue of these Cabbage Palms Oreodoxa oleracea 
 in Rio Janeiro, celebrated all the world over : but 
 what would botanists say if they could see this glori- 
 ous colonade of great shafts, over two miles long ? 
 This coco palm must have come to Yucatan all the 
 way from the East Indies; from the island of Ceylon. 
 Nobody knows when the first nut was drifted upon 
 these shores, but there are millions of trees growing 
 in Central America to-day." 
 
 " Look at this queer tree, John," interrupted Tom. 
 "The trunk's covered all over with great pods, ezackly 
 like rats without tails." 
 
 " That ! let me think ; oh ! that's cacao, what they 
 
 make our chocolate of and cocoa. Break open one 
 of those pods see this pulp, and these brown seeds 
 in the pulps ! They make chocolate from them. 
 Now this tree belongs to the country. Don't you 
 remember reading in my old book about the first 
 visit of the Spaniards to Montezuma, and how the 
 author says the Emperor's servants brought in foam- 
 ing chocolate in little gold cups 1 " 
 
 They were now in a grove of cacao trees, mingled 
 with others not so large, brilliant with dark glossy 
 leaves and clusters of scarlet berries clinging to every 
 branch and twig. Our book botanist was puzzled at 
 first, but after having burst open one of the berries, 
 which was about the size of a cranberry, and finding 
 two joined seeds, or beans, inside, he recalled a 
 description he had read of the coffee plant. 
 
 " Look here, Tom ! here are hundreds of pounds of 
 coffee just going to waste ! The ground is covered 
 with it. I don't believe the people dream of the 
 civilized use of the berry." 
 
 " Hurrah ! Le's boil some to-morrow, and treat 'em 
 to a new breakfast-cup right out of their own garden." 
 
 " Not so fast, Tom," laughed John. "Our coffee 
 has to be hulled and dried first. We'll bring out 
 our haversack to-morrow, and fill it. It will be fun, 
 though, to present them a new sensation in the shape 
 of a delicious cup of coffee." 
 
 Tom was silent for a moment. " John, old fellow," 
 said he, "if there was only a market handy, we'd 
 make our fortune out of this find. Where did coffee 
 come from, John, do you know 1 " 
 
 " From the East from Arabia ; but it's at home 
 anywhere in a hot, moist region. It grows best in 
 the mountainous regions of the tropics." 
 
 "How come you to know all this 1 " asked Tom. 
 
 "Oh! I read up, knowing I was coming to a tropic 
 country. I wanted to be able to recognize things 
 when I saw them." 
 
 " But I guess here's something that '11 bother you. 
 What's this vine climbing up this old tree here ? 
 My, how nice the flowers smell ! " 
 
 "The vanilla," answered John readily; "more val- 
 uable on the coast than the coffee. Its pods have 
 been at one time worth their weight in gold." 
 
 They had come to the border of the grove now, 
 and before them lay a garden-like expanse of cane. 
 
 " Corn ! " said Tom. " No ; what is it J " 
 
 " Must be sugar-cane. Yes, it is ! I wonder how 
 they grind the cane to express the juice? I hear 
 somebody pounding; let's see what they're at!"
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 53 
 
 Having reached a small house on the border of the 
 canes, in another bower of trees, they found a woman 
 beating some stalks of sugar-cane between two stones. 
 She had cut it up in small pieces, but got very little 
 juice with all her bruising and battering. She 
 invited the boys into the house, and offered them a 
 calabash of cane juice, sweet and refreshing. 
 
 John turned to his comrade : " See here ! I don't 
 know about the coffee speculation, but one thing I do 
 know, you and I'll make these people a cane-mill 
 within two weeks." 
 
 hunting and battle arms. So the patient workers 
 hewed and trimmed with their great forest knives. 
 
 Near the plantation they had visited, they erected a 
 strong frame-work and set up the rude rollers side by 
 side, and by means of a strong beam, the rollers were 
 at last made to revolve ; in fact, they really achieved 
 a rude but effective sugar-mill. 
 
 Meantime the whole city was in a state of great 
 agitation. Men, women and children visited the 
 works every day, gazing upon the machinery with awe : 
 many evidently regarded the machinery as a malicious 
 
 IN THE COURT OF THE STRANGERS' HOUSE. 
 
 "All right; I'm jest spilin' for something to do. 
 They'll think we're gods for sure, then." 
 
 They went back to their quarters that afternoon, 
 with a jolly interest in life. The next day the simple 
 Indians were astonished to see them labor with their 
 hands. From a great log, the Indians by their direc- 
 tions, cut two round rollers two feet in diameter, and 
 then they peeled off their bark, and left tenons at 
 either end of both. There was not a saw in the 
 whole city, and few implements of iron besides their 
 
 outcome of the teules* power probably intended 
 to mysteriously hurl the city and its inhabitants forth 
 into space. Still all orders were obeyed. The day 
 came at last to put the new mill to the test. The 
 entire population seemed to have gathered, some 
 laughing, chatting, jesting, but never quarreling, 
 some pale with anxiety. 
 
 Now, obeying John's orders, the body-guard cut a 
 heap of cane stalks, and deposited them by the mill. 
 By John's directions, they now laid hold of the beam,
 
 54 
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 and the rollers revolved. A cane stalk was placed 
 between. The people gazed in new wonder. The 
 mill creaked and groaned. The golden juice dropped 
 down into the trough they had hollowed ; more cane 
 was placed, and the amber drops increased to a little 
 . rill that flowed into the calabash under the spout. 
 
 The people understood now. Some rushed to the 
 power-beam, others ran to the garden and cut cane, 
 others waited to bring and remove calabashes at the 
 trough. 
 
 The whole design was comprehended. Joyous 
 farewell to weary hours of slow hand labor! The 
 universal expression seemed to be that the wonderful 
 young fettles should be lifted to willing shoulders, 
 and be carried in triumphal procession : but none 
 dared lay hands upon them. At last by common con- 
 sent, a platform was hastily constructed, fine brilliant 
 blankets thrown over it, and the structure placed 
 
 THE UNBELIEVER. 
 
 upon poles. By signs, they entreated the boys to 
 take their places on this gay liiera. Then, bearing 
 it aloft, the joyous throng moved down the royal 
 avenue. The children, with true festal impulse, 
 gathered flowers and scattered before, the maidens 
 
 THE SUGAR CANE. 
 
 wove garlands which they timidly offered, and all 
 joined in a rude chant of rejoicing. 
 
 John never forgot this hour in which they made a 
 joyous people even more joyous. 
 
 The thanksgiving 
 over the event was uni- 
 versal, with one excep- 
 tion a grumbling old 
 Indian, who lived alone, 
 in a corner of the city 
 walls. He had shaken 
 his surly head over the 
 new machine from the 
 beginning, evidently re- 
 garding it as an abode 
 erected for the Father of Evil. He could not refrain 
 from shaking it and kicking it, to Tom's amusement. 
 
 One day Tom came in bursting with laughter. 
 "John," cried he, "you know that old feller that's 
 been poohing the mill, and trying to shake it down ? " 
 
 " Yes ; what of him ? " 
 
 " Well oh, I can't hardly breathe, I've laughed 
 so much ! Why, he went a-poohing round it this 
 afternoon, while some of the Indians was grindin* 
 cane, and his robe, or whatever you call it these men 
 wear, got caught between the rollers. And you 
 know the simple things don't know how to turn the 
 mill only one way, and they kept turning instead of 
 untwisting, and the surly old clog set up a howl and 
 begun a dance, I tell you ! And then his long hair 
 got caught, and in another minute there'd have been 
 trouble, if I hadn't been there, for they kept right on 
 turning, and drawing him in more and more. I sung 
 out, ' Back her ! back her ! ' and jumped for the beam 
 and turned the rollers back and let him loose. You 
 won't believe it but them Indians seemed to take a 
 grim delight in the whole thing. They said, near's I 
 could make out, that it was the will of the Great 
 Spirit that he should be punished for his unbelief. 
 He won't bother the mill any more, I judge." 
 
 One thing, however, puzzled our beneficent young 
 teules. W T hy had not the cacique sent for them ? 
 He was in the city. He had been told of the wonder- 
 working machines and the guns that were ever charged 
 with thunder, but no summons came from the palace. 
 
 "Wait 'till my warriors return," said he to his 
 priestly counsellors. " If we give this teule permis- 
 sion to display his weapons, he may destroy us all 
 even though he seem a beneficent teule"
 
 CACIQ.UE JOHN. 
 
 55 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 NOTHER week came 
 and went, but our 
 young New England- 
 ers took no note of 
 its passing, for great 
 plans occupied all their waking hours. John, a born 
 adventurer, as you know, had tired of the romantic 
 solitude. Surrounded by people with whom he 
 could not converse, Tom had tired of inaction. 
 The former had set himself diligently to learn the 
 Itza language; the latter had appointed himself 
 master-mechanic-in-general to this kingdom in the 
 forest. 
 
 The language was simple ; a primitive tongue, com- 
 posed largely of monosyllables, open, liquid and 
 musical. John made the acquaintance of the most 
 intelligent women of the city. He knew that woman 
 in every race, and in every age, was the conservator 
 of language in its purity. He made rapid progress, 
 and soon could converse sufficiently to further 
 Tom's improvements and inventions. Together they 
 resolved to teach the people how to make sugar 
 from the perishable cane juice. It was a difficult 
 undertaking, for neither had ever witnessed the 
 operation, and John alone knew the theory from 
 books. The Indians could make pottery, inherit- 
 ing art from their remotest ancestors. At the 
 suggestion of their stranger guests, they now fash- 
 ioned some very large jars, holding twenty gallons 
 each. These, as bidden, they filled with cane juice 
 at the mill. Jar after jar was experimented with 
 day after day. At last, the syrup in the great 
 clay furnaces which Tom had constructed, became 
 
 of the right consistency, grained, and lo, sugar! 
 and the Indians, like children, tickled their palates 
 with a new sweet. By making conical moulds of 
 clay, Tom crystallized, and in a manner refined 
 the crude product, and finally had the satisfaction 
 of turning out before John and the crowd of Indians, 
 a cone of amber sugar. 
 
 The Indians bore it to the temple and exhibited 
 it to their priests, who in turn displayed it before 
 the idols; and later it was presented to the ca- 
 cique, with the compliments of the beneficent young 
 wonder-workers. 
 
 "See," said the high priest, "what our new 
 gods have created from the cane ! It is because 
 they came from the North from the region of 
 the Snow King. They \MW frozen its blood; taste ! " 
 The cacique both tasted and handled. He was 
 beside himself with pleasure and surprise. 
 
 "Is it possible," said he, "that this cream of 
 delights came from the jointed cane of our fields? 
 Have we so long existed without knowing what 
 the cane contained? It seems that our ancestors 
 were fools that we are fools." 
 
 And the priests, warm allies of their guests, made 
 answer boldly: "As compared with these strangers, 
 
 mighty master, we are fools ! " 
 
 "Bring them to me," cried the cacique suddenly. 
 " I will await the coming of my warriors no longer. 
 
 1 see they intend us no harm. Bring them at once." 
 At once meant without ceremony. The cacique 
 
 received them in the palace court. They found him 
 walking in the inner corridor, a long, glittering 
 vista of gold-fluted pillars hung with cages of bright-
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 plumed singing-birds; the carvings upon the walls 
 were grotesque and very fanciful in design; the 
 steps that descended to the garden fountain were 
 covered with plates of hammered silver; the throne, 
 which they could see in the eastern room, gleamed 
 as if covered with beaten gold. 
 
 To delicately show that he considered the young 
 strangers his equals, the cacique had put off his 
 robe of state and was clad simply in white, with 
 only a circlet of hammered gold crowning his brows 
 and confining his long black hair. He seemed about 
 fifty years of age, tall, and finely-shaped. His keen 
 eyes rested upon his young guests piercingly for 
 a space, and then taking a hand of each, he led 
 them to seats. 
 
 "Which is he of the sacred thunder?" demanded 
 he of the priests. " And which the freezer of cane- 
 juice? I would see them work these wonders with 
 my own eyes." 
 
 The priests protested. His Majesty should not 
 expose himself to possible peril. They cited the 
 case of the man caught in the cane mill, and of 
 the cacique of the Sublevados, by whose temerity 
 the bird of night was killed and the ill will thus 
 obtained of the demons of darkness ! 
 
 " I care not," returned he ; " they were evil men, 
 who doubted the powers of these our guests. I 
 do not doubt." 
 
 First he was taken to the mill and the sugar 
 works. There he saw the workmen preparing 
 sugar for his own royal table. The laborers greeted 
 him reverently, for it was rarely the cacique went 
 abroad among his people, and they were surprised. 
 Next the American guns and pistols were exhibited, 
 but the cacique would not take them in his hands. 
 He, however, insisted upon witnessing a discharge. 
 John hesitated. He did not wish to alarm the inhab- 
 itants, nor did he care to make his experiments 
 common. 
 
 " Do a big thing," said Tom. " Try the rifle." 
 
 The rifle was a breech-loader, with a magazine 
 containing sixteen shots. But John concluded to 
 fire it but twice at most, because ammunition was 
 precious, and in order to reserve a new surprise 
 for the Indians, should there come the time of need. 
 
 "What does the cacique desire me to shoot?" 
 
 he asked. The monarch glanced up and down the 
 
 . royal avenue. He saw a vulture sailing high in 
 
 the air. Now by the laws of their religion these 
 
 Itzaes were prohibited from killing any living thing 
 
 except for food. The children and women never 
 knowingly killed even a worm or an insect. Their 
 hands were free from blood : the reason why they 
 alone, and the priests, performed all the ceremonies 
 of their worship. No person who had destroyed the 
 life of a created being might pray direct to the gods. 
 Even the fowls used for food were killed by old 
 men who had been warriors in their younger days; 
 only then might the women cook them. But there 
 was an exception in favor of killing birds of prey 
 or animals that destroyed others of their race. The 
 king-vulture was such a bird vile, unclean, and 
 held in special abhorrence by the cleanly Itzaes. 
 
 The cacique pointed out this creature to the 
 strangers. The time was noon, when these birds, 
 having digested their breakfast, leave the walls and 
 roofs where, gorged, they sit all the morning, and 
 fly forth, sailing round and round, higher and 
 higher, circling nearer and nearer towards the sun, 
 until mere specks in the clouds. It was now, as 
 I said, the heat of midday, and these birds were 
 abroad on their aerial evolutions. They were at 
 least three hundred yards up, six or eight of them, 
 the king-vulture in the centre, the others sporting 
 around him. 
 
 " I guess you're posed this time, John," said Tom. 
 "There isn't one man in a hundred could hit that 
 bird that distance. And yet, since you're a god; 
 you're expected to do it." 
 
 But John coolly lifted the rifle, in his soul thankful 
 for all his practice in the green old New England 
 forests. The cacique watched him narrowly as he 
 sighted, resting the gun over Tom's shoulder and 
 falling upon one knee. The report broke the noon- 
 day quiet of the city with 
 a loud shock. All the 
 people rushed out of 
 their houses, roused from 
 their hammock siestas. 
 It so astonished the ca- 
 cique that he forgot what 
 he had requested, until a 
 crackling of the palm 
 branches over his head 
 reminded him of the vul- 
 ture, which at that mo- 
 ment fell through the 
 palms and descended to 
 the pavement with a thud, 
 feathers dabbled in blood. 
 
 There it lay, its shiny 
 Like the chief of the
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 57 
 
 Mayas, the cacique was utterly bewildered. But a 
 descendant of a long line of royal rulers, he quickly 
 veiled his awe and tremor. His keen perception, 
 his ready wit, saw in these wielders of weapons so 
 deadly most powerful allies against his enemies, the 
 Lacandones, the fierce Indians of the mountains, 
 who were continually descending upon his city in 
 deadly raid. 
 
 But he did not give voice to this thought ; and while 
 he admired in silence, John, at Tom's whispered sug- 
 gestion, fired once more, this time at a shining bunch 
 of cocoanuts 
 two hundred 
 yards away. 
 The central 
 
 JOHN TEACHING THE PRINCESS XIA. 
 
 cocoanut fell pierced through, and another was neatly 
 cut from the stem. A loud howl greeted their fall, 
 and, to John's surprise, the Indians who had run 
 to pick them up came back grave and apprehen- 
 sive. By a strange chance the nut had fallen upon 
 the surly old Indian who had kicked their cane mill. 
 He was lying under the tree, out of sight in the 
 dense foliage, and the great nut had nearly knocked 
 him breathless. This was told the cacique. He 
 answered solemnly : " These Teules are great ; they 
 do not forget their enemies, nor may their enemies 
 hope to hide from them. We must be careful not to 
 
 offend. Where are my children ? Send them to me." 
 
 Two beautiful children soon emerged from an 
 inner apartment, followed by their attendants. One 
 of the pair was a straight young stripling about 
 fourteen years old, Prince Zan (pronounced Tsan). 
 He looked fearlessly into the eyes of the Teules, as 
 he came up, the manliest young boy John had ever 
 seen. His sister Xia (pronounced Heah) was two 
 years younger, though fully as mature as her brother. 
 
 Never, as the young men later confessed to one 
 another, had they looked upon more perfect examples 
 of perfect physique. The little girl was fairer in 
 complexion than her Indian relatives ; she had a 
 creamy hued skin soft as velvet, and cheeks flushed 
 with rose. Her eyes were deep, lustrous black, look- 
 ing from between long silken lashes; her hair was 
 cut square across her forehead and fell behind to her 
 waist, purple-black with that glossy hue, that rich 
 deep purple that gives the lustre to the raven's wing- r 
 her little mouth held the whitest of teeth, and her 
 sweet lips were parted in her wondering gaze. Her 
 feet and hands were very small, as were those of her 
 brother, and her arms bare to the shoulder, were 
 beautifully moulded. She wore the traditional iupil, 
 or costume of her Itza ancestors, the pure white gar- 
 ment, that fell from the shoulders and required no 
 fastening ; a silver cord with golden tassels confined 
 it about her slender waist, while her little feet were 
 encased in deerskin buskins braided with silver. 
 Her brother wore a similar costume except that his 
 sash was broader and had suspended from it many 
 charms and amulets. About the necks of each was 
 hung a golden chain with a star of the same precious 
 metal flashing upon their breasts, signifying that 
 they were descendants of Itzamna, son of the celes- 
 tial powers. 
 
 The cacique took the hands of the little prince and 
 princess, and, leading them forward, addressed the 
 magic-working strangers, speaking in the soft liquid 
 Itza: 
 
 " Sons of the air, ye have come among us from the 
 dwelling place of Kukulcan, we believe, because ye 
 have brought us knowledge of things we knew not of 
 before, and because we see you working for our good. 
 Ye must have seen that all we have lies at your feet : 
 our lives, our possessions. Now I make a last gift. 
 I confide to you my son and my daughter, that you 
 may instruct them, so that they may hereafter rule 
 this kingdom with wisdom and power unknown to 
 our forefathers."
 
 .58 
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 This speech was full of words which John had not 
 yet mastered ; but as the little hand of the princess 
 was laid within his, he understood that a great trust 
 was being reposed in him ; and in the following days, 
 as the little princess crouched at his feet, lisping the 
 soft syllables of the Itza language, while the prince 
 and Tom devoted their time to the mysteries of 
 mechanics, he grew to feel a graver responsibility 
 than ever before had rested upon him. 
 
 Every morning the noble maidens of the palace 
 brought the children to the Strangers' House, and 
 remained to conduct them away. 
 
 Little Xia was an apt scholar and kept pace with 
 John in the mutual endeavor to acquire a new tongue. 
 Hers was an unwritten language ; no books were 
 available indeed, with both the progress was at first 
 wholly by object teaching. But Xia rapidly learned 
 the letters of the English alphabet, and could soon 
 construct words. Ideas, of course, were difficult to 
 communicate ; but let us anticipate events a little 
 and come to the day when she first received a written 
 letter. 
 
 The mysteries of writing had never been revealed to 
 any of her race. Wonderingly she had watched the 
 process. A great longing evidently took possession 
 of her. If she could only astonish her brother by 
 reading a written note ! Would they not then rank 
 her with the Teules ? Would they not wonder ? So 
 while Tom and Prince Zan wandered in the groves, 
 taking object lessons from nature, the princess sat 
 with her maidens and her instructor in the great cool 
 corridor and pored over the secrets of the copy book. 
 Finally she could read a simple sentence in script. 
 Then patiently and slowly she formed one herself, 
 and then one afternoon she took with her to the 
 palace John's precious book. The next morning by an 
 understanding with John, she did not accompany her 
 brother to the Strangers' House. Then John wrote 
 a note and sent it to her by Zan. He took the paper 
 to his sister. She gravely opened it and read aloud : 
 " Please send me my book." Then she gave Zan the 
 book, explaining that John had sent for it, as he could 
 see. Of course he could see no such thing, and of 
 course, also, little Xia could hardly contain the joy 
 she felt at his look of wild surprise. 
 
 He ran with the mysterious, the magic paper, to 
 his father, crying aloud : " See, oh, my father, what 
 the Teule has taught my sister ! He has made this 
 paper to speak to her." 
 
 The cacique was amazed. He could not conceal 
 
 his great delight. He took the little princess in his 
 arms. 
 
 "Then thou has learnt the art of the strangers, and 
 canst make inanimate things speak for thee ! My 
 little one, great things the future hath in store for 
 thee, and for thy country through thee, thou daughter 
 of a king." 
 
 It soon became noised among the people: "Our 
 princess hath learnt the language of the invisible 
 ones, of the beings who dwell in space ; " and they 
 sorrowed, fearing she should be snatched away from 
 them to their abodes in the clouds. 
 
 Perceiving what the children of the cacique were to 
 the people, John often felt himself oppressed for fear 
 he should fail in guiding them to their highest good. 
 The expanding of Xia's simple nature was like the 
 opening of a wild rose in a forest lane, or like an 
 orange blossom in a wood of Southern pines. Her 
 young instructor felt that through her he was influenc- 
 ing the whole Itza race of the future ; nay, the destiny 
 of the kingdom itself. He shrank, sometimes, from 
 the idea of ever putting into her hands books which 
 should reveal to her the existence of civilized peoples, 
 their customs, their ideas, and their history and no 
 wonder ! Stimulated by Xia's wonderful achievement, 
 Prince Zan wandered less with Tom in the gardens, 
 and devoted the heat of the day to study. There was, 
 indeed, a general awakening, for Tom seemed to 
 keenly recognize his own educational short-comings, 
 and he, too, became one of John's pupils. 
 
 If there was one thing that astonished the Itzaes 
 more than the guns, it was John's watch. A time- 
 piece they had never seen before. At Tom's roguish 
 suggestion, he first showed it to the cacique and 
 the priests. They said at 
 once, " It is the visible 
 presence of our father the 
 Sun," but could form no 
 idea of its workings. 
 
 It is on record on im- 
 perishable stone, that the 
 ancient people of Yucatan 
 understood astronomy; 
 that they could calculate eclipses and the yearly jour- 
 neys of the sun. They were, beyond question, a wise 
 and civilized people : but war and pestilence had 
 swept the wise men away and left among their 
 descendants not even a tradition of the extent of 
 their learning. 
 
 After some reflection John proposed to erect a 
 
 A NEW WONDER.
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 59 
 
 sun-dial in the centre of the city a perpetual time- 
 piece for the inhabitants, and a memorial of the friend- 
 ship felt for them by the two strangers from the North. 
 The proposal when comprehended was received with 
 shouts of joy. Masons were sent for. Soon a table 
 of stone was erected on a spot where the sun always 
 shone ; and as rarely is there a cloudy day in Yuca- 
 tan, the public time-record would always do its duty. 
 
 A square block of smooth limestone was set in 
 mason-work, with its face horizontal to the horizon, 
 and in its centre was inserted a gnomon, or pin, 
 the shadow of which falling across the stone would 
 indicate the hour. Several days were spent in test- 
 ing the declination of the shadows, until at last John 
 had marked out a perfect dial, and a learned In- 
 dian who carved hieroglyphics, cut the stone care- 
 fully. The next work was to initiate the chief priest 
 into the secret of the hours, and when a chosen 
 number could tell the time by the shadow across the 
 dial, a great feast followed and a new epoch of the 
 national life dated from the festal day. 
 
 The priests longed to hang John's watch about 
 the neck of their chief idol, but John explained that 
 the Great Being whom they supposed had sent the 
 watch to earth, would be much offended were they 
 to offer it thus to a senseless figure of stone. In 
 this way he hoped he had taken a step toward 
 inducing them to abandon their idols and worship 
 only the true God. 
 
 He reserved the watch for important ends. The 
 cacique, he knew, was burning with a desire to 
 own it, and he resolved he should have it ; but, 
 Yankee-like, wished to make it the means of doing 
 as much good as possible. He told the prince and 
 princess that the first one who should learn to read 
 the time of day at sight, and to correctly care for the 
 watch, should have the privilege of presenting it to 
 the cacique ! 
 
 He could not have appealed to a stronger motive. 
 Both studied earnestly. It seemed that the prince 
 made the most progress, but one afternoon Xia drew 
 John aside and asked him to question her about the 
 hours. He found her answers perfect. He was 
 about to call out to Tom that Xia had won the prize, 
 when she placed her little hand over his lips. Then 
 she drew his head down and whispered in his ear, 
 " Let Zan give it ; then both of us will have had a 
 pleasure." 
 
 But before the famous watch was finally presented 
 to the king, to be hung up over the throne, it was 
 
 publicly exhibited to the people. Each man, woman 
 and child was allowed to come forward in turn and 
 look at it, to hear it tick, and to gaze upon its myste- 
 rious wheels and levers. You have seen the effect 
 the ticking of a watch will produce on a child. Then 
 imagine what it was upon these innocent people, who, 
 with all a child's simplicity, had yet the reasoning 
 faculty which attributed the small voice within the 
 case to the powers of the air. 
 
 It seemed impossible that the " Teules " could 
 gain to any greater extent the love and reverence 
 of the inhabitants of the city; but they resolved not 
 to lose what they possessed. They had not sought to 
 be believed the owners of supernatural powers; 
 neither had they chosen as yet to dispossess them 
 of the harmless belief. John's greatest object, 
 though he had indeed discovered the Silver City 
 of his wizard book, still remained unaccomplished 
 the finding of his father; he needed every advantage 
 in the search which he contemplated as soon as he 
 could speak the Itza language fluently. Therefore 
 he and Tom still accepted the homage of the people, 
 still occasionally exhibited themselves, their accom- 
 plishments and their weapons, and left the beholders 
 to draw their own conclusions. 
 
 Sometimes, naturally, they viewed the matter in a 
 ludicrous light. " I declare ! " Tom had repeated 
 many times, " if it wasn't for the fact that these 
 people are deceiving themselves, and we are not trying 
 to be more than we are, I should be ashamed of this 
 business. Here these innocents imagine we're just 
 little gods ! 'sposen they only knew what mighty 
 small pertaters we were to home ! They'd run us 
 out of the city before night." 
 
 " I think," replied John, " that we are not doing 
 wrong ; we do not boast , we do not say what we 
 can do, or may do. If the time ever comes when 
 they see that we are indeed but very common mortals, 
 I hope they will still love us for our own sakes." 
 
 " John, you're right, as usual. But I do hope the 
 time will never come when any other white folks will 
 ever enter this city. Just imagine these simple folks 
 at the mercy of a lot of traders and brutal Spaniards 
 or Mexicans ! or even sharp Yankees ! But John, I 
 think we're better boys for coming into this city, and 
 we haven't harmed them. That little prince has just 
 crept into my heart. If we should go away I believe 
 he would cry his eyes out. And as for that little Xia, 
 if ever there was a little angel she's one. Wouldn't 
 she hate to have us go, though! "
 
 6o 
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 " I think she would, Tom. And I really think it 
 would be a struggle for us to get away. They might 
 even hold us captives for life out of pure affection for 
 us ! I have no doubt I can contrive ways to get out 
 of the city, when the time comes, but I am in no 
 hurry. It's very certain that our duty lies here for 
 some months to come. But I wish, Tom, it wouldn't 
 be so much of a shock to them for me to shoot some 
 of the wonderful birds that are here in myriads. 
 What excuse can I give the cacique ? For any rea- 
 sonable excuse I'm sure he would grant me per- 
 mission; but these people are so gentle and so relig- 
 ious that the killing of any animal seems to give 
 them actual pain." 
 
 "Why, just tell 'em the ones who sent us here want 
 specimens of all they've got in the city. They'll- 
 naturally infer they're wanted for the great Ice 
 King, and be only too glad to let you get all you 
 want." 
 
 John laughed, and presently laid his wish before 
 the cacique, who gladly gave the order to assist 
 the boys in collecting specimens of every animal 
 in the kingdom ; and they were rejoiced to 
 do so, feeling flattered that the great Kukulcan 
 should take such an interest in the productions of 
 their little empire. The collection daily grew, for 
 even the children brought them beetles and butter- 
 flies and sometimes birds which they had caught in 
 their hands. Every time the gun was fired, how- 
 ever, these sensitive people felt a great shock, and 
 John recognizing that here was a race naturally more 
 refined than his own, often wondered to what heights 
 of real civilization they might not be raised. 
 
 But little Prince Zan came to his relief one day in 
 securing the birds without noise, by asking if he could 
 not use the sabrecan. This was a straight hollow 
 reed bound about with silver and gold, which the boy 
 
 had taken from his 
 
 father's royal armory 
 a blowgun, in fact, 
 such as . the South 
 American Indians 
 have used for remote 
 ages, and through 
 which clay pellets can 
 be blown with deadly 
 force. 
 
 ORIOLE. 
 
 A favorite recrea- 
 tion was a visit to the market, held in a square 
 behind the academy. A thousand Indian women were 
 
 usually gathered there, buying, selling, trading, all 
 noiselessly grouped about on the clean stone pave- 
 ment, each with the products of her garden or loom. 
 
 The most curious 
 thing was, that they 
 had no money what- 
 ever; at least, no 
 money of metal. 
 When things were 
 not evenly exchanged, 
 they used the seeds 
 
 of the cacao as 
 "change." This 
 
 primitive currency HUMMINGBIRDS. 
 
 has been in use 
 
 amongst them for many hundred years. It was the 
 only kind known when Yucatan was discovered, in 
 1506. One advantage was, that when you had accu- 
 mulated a large stock you could convert it into a 
 refreshing drink. They often smiled as the sight grew 
 more frequent of here and there a heap of coffee 
 berries in front of some enterprising vender. The 
 new beverage which the strangers had prepared from 
 the coffee berry had greatly wan the cacique. He 
 could hardly believe that anything so delicious could 
 be drawn from the red berries that lay thick and 
 neglected in his domain ; it was even more wonder- 
 ful than the sugar wonder. " There is indeed no 
 limit to thy power," said he, addressing John. " Truly 
 are you sent here to teach us those things left unfin- 
 ished by Quetzalcoatl, Have you seen our god, the 
 great Quetzalcoatl ? Then come this day at noon." 
 At noon John and Tom were waiting in the palace 
 court. The prince and the princess held them by 
 the hands, chatting gayly while their father sent to 
 notify the priests that they would inspect the temple. 
 The six holy men met them at the main entrance, 
 and after fumigating them with incense, led the way 
 through great' gloomy rooms to the inner quadrangle. 
 There was the sam,e internal arrangement as in the 
 other public buildings, but here the fagades \vere 
 elaborately sculptured. The west front instantly 
 claimed their attention. Enveloped in a maze of 
 hieroglyphics was the masterpiece of Itza sculpture 
 the great Feathered Serpent. Its richly carved 
 body extended the whole length of the wall, one hun- 
 dred and sixty feet, twisted and coiled about the 
 characters of stone that filled the spaces between the 
 cornices. The many different stones that were 
 joined together to form his body were so delicately
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 61 
 
 chisened as to appear ornamented with feathers, the 
 tail terminating in the rattle of the rattlesnake, the 
 head adorned with the plumes of the Quetzal, and in 
 the open mouth was held the head of a human being. 
 It was well calculated to awe, well calculated to rep- 
 resent an omnipotent being. Before this immense 
 effigy the cacique prostrated himself, and the priests 
 silently offered incense. But the young men stood 
 erect, while the prince and princess watched them 
 tremblingly, uncertain whether to kneel or to stand. 
 
 the result. If they are alive and powerful they will 
 turn on us our own thunder ; if not, they will stand 
 silent and shattered." 
 
 The king's eye. troubled and thoughtful, fell 
 before John's gaze. Twice he tried to speak, but 
 paused. At last he said : 
 
 " Let me tell the history of the Feathered Serpent. 
 Let us sit in the shade of this corridor. I speak of a 
 time so remote that all men have forgotten when that 
 time was. But then appeared Quetzalcoatl, genera- 
 
 " THE GOD WE WORSHIP IS A LIVING GOD," SAID JOHN. 
 
 " How is this," demanded the cacique. "Do you 
 come into the presence of the great Quetzalcoatl, the 
 Plumed Serpent, without bowing down ? Are you 
 not afraid of his vengeance ? " 
 
 " The God we worship," replied John, " is a living 
 God. We cannot prostrate ourselves before any 
 image of stone or wood." 
 
 " Offer this ' image ' insult," returned the cacique, 
 "and his fire will consume you." 
 
 A sudden bold idea seized John. 
 
 "We, the Teules," said he, "will face your idols 
 with our thunder-charged weapons. We will abide 
 
 tions after the great flood. Among our neighbors, 
 the Mexicans, \\ho were soon to be divided amongst 
 themselves, slaying one another, this great white 
 man, with calm face and flowing beard, landed at the 
 river Panuco, coming from the East. His palace he 
 built at Tullan, and there he devoted his life to the 
 instruction of the people. He taught them how to 
 cut the chalchihuite, the green emeralds, and how to 
 work silver and gold. He built himself palaces, one 
 of emeralds, one of silver, another of shells, one of 
 all kinds of precious woods, one of turquoise and 
 another of bright feachers. His commands were
 
 62 
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 made known by a crier, who shouted from the 
 hilltop of Tullan, and his shoutings could be heard 
 for more than one hundred leagues around, even to 
 the seacoast. The people loved and worshiped him ; 
 for the useful arts he taught, for the peace and pros- 
 perity of his reign, and that he would not allow the 
 shedding of blood in sacrifice, preferring flowers and 
 the incense of forest gums. But at last some evil 
 chiefs rebelled, and it so grieved him that he retired 
 from his people. He destroyed his palaces, buried 
 his treasures, and sent the sweet singing birds 
 (abounding where now there are none), to go before 
 him to the Land of the Sun. Ye may trace his pro- 
 gress through Mexico, by tradition, and by the monu- 
 ments he reared on his retreat. Ye may still find 
 the pyramids of Teotihuacan, monuments to the Sun, 
 and Moon, and that of Cholula, than which there is 
 none larger on earth. From Cholula he marched 
 with his followers to the sea, embarking at the river 
 Coatzacoalcos, and then the Mexicans lost sight of him 
 forever. But he appeared later to a branch of our 
 family, the Mayas, having only crossed an arm of the 
 great gulf and landed at Champoton. The Mayas 
 received him gladly; they followed his precepts, 
 built him palaces and temples, and they flourished. 
 They would have kept him amongst them, but the 
 time drew nigh when he must really depart for the 
 Land of the Sun. He crossed Yucatan to the East- 
 ern coast, entered his winged canoe of serpent skins, 
 with the royal birds, the Quetzales, at the prow, and 
 sailed away. This was the great lord, Quetzalcoatl, 
 called by our brothers the Mayas, Kukulcan, or the 
 Plumed Serpent. 
 
 " He comforted the people by a promise to return, 
 and since that most remote of cycles he has been 
 looked for anxiously. In his honor our forefathers 
 caused this image of him to be carved in stone. For 
 three generations of time two cycles a hundred 
 years our most cunning sculptors labored upon this 
 holy work." 
 
 " But he came not to you," said John. "How is it 
 that you have adopted the god of the Mayas ? " 
 
 "The Itzaes, my people," replied the cacique, 
 "were the discoverers of this country of Yucatan. 
 In remote ages our ancestors resided in the kingdom 
 of Xibalba, to the south ; explorers among them came 
 to this valley and erected this city, and called it 
 Chacnovitan, or the resting place. In the ages which 
 followed, they removed to Bacalar, the birthplace of 
 the Heavens, because there the sea supports the sky 
 
 in the east. Again they removed farther north, and 
 founded the cities of Chichen, residence of the Tiger 
 king, Itzamal, the Temple of the Fiera Ara, then 
 Uxmal, where is the Temple of the Sorcerer, and 
 many others. Cycles many passed, and the Maya 
 people arrived from the south and west and founded 
 Mayapan. We received them happily, but other 
 tribes later came, and all united and made war upon 
 us. We retreated from city to city until at last we 
 intrenched ourselves here, repaired our walls, rebuilt 
 our temples, and here have remained these many, 
 many cycles. 
 
 " The leader of the Itzaes was the great Zamnu, 
 whose statue ye may see above the royal avenue. 
 Like the Plumed Serpent, he taught his followers. 
 But he was a man, albeit with the breath of God 
 moving him to great deeds but still a man, who, 
 when he died, we buried ; his head at Itzamal, his 
 right arm at Chichen,- his body at Uxmal, and his 
 heart in the city he had founded here, in our 
 ancient and holy Chacnovitan. He represented, 
 alike with Quetzalcoatl, the power and goodness of 
 our Great Spirit who dwells in the Sun, who has 
 retreated beyond the region of the Snow King. 
 Thus, ye see, it is not this carven image of glistening 
 stone that we really worship, but honoring it, we 
 honor the mighty power, the goodness, that it 
 symbols. Listen further. For uncounted centuries 
 have our people borne in mind the parting message 
 of Kukulcan, that he would send messengers to re-es- 
 tablish the reign of peace and wisdom. Seven cycles 
 ago there came to our shores* great houses with 
 wings that moved upon the water, bearing men in 
 armor, and animals that obeyed those men like their 
 own wills. .These, my ancestors thought, are the mes- 
 sengers of Kukulcan. But, alas, they brought not 
 peace ! their hearts lusted for gold ; they brought the 
 sword and death to millions of our race. They were 
 not the messengers of the Plumed Serpent. All this 
 vast country was enslaved, all but my own people, 
 who have thus far escaped their search, for they have 
 heard of us, these monsters from a strange land, and 
 for six cycles have hunted for us. 
 
 "Ye see now why it is no man ever hath seen 
 our city and returned to tell the tale. Our friends 
 without mercilessly slay every stranger ; should he by 
 any chance enter the city, he is never allowed to 
 leave. Ye see now also why ye were allowed to enter ; 
 because ye were believed by Christobal to be messen- 
 
 * Probably the Spaniards under Cordova Grijalva and Cortes.
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 gers from Quetzalcoatl. By your own admission, ye 
 are not ; else ye would not wish to destroy his sym- 
 bols. Still, I know ye not, only that ye must be 
 Teules. Ye have instructed us for our good. We 
 love you for that ye have done, for what ye are. And 
 ye are willing prisoners are ye not ? " 
 
 Prince Zan threw his arms about Tom's neck, the 
 princess laid her soft cheek against John's face and 
 whispered, "Tell my father yes." 
 
 "Yes," said John gravely, "we are willing prison- 
 
 THE HOPE OF THE CITY HUNG UPON JOHN'S AIM. 
 
 ers. Yet I will now warn you that the time is coming 
 
 when we shall leave you." 
 
 The cacique shook his head. " I defy you." 
 "Great king," replied John, "four months from 
 
 this day, as the moon rides in the centre of the 
 
 heavens, you, with your own hands, will open for us 
 
 those massive gates of stone." 
 
 Xia had drawn herself away from John ; her eyes 
 were dilated with anger and grief, her little hands 
 clenched. She choked and struggled with her tears. 
 Had there been a word in the Itza tongue to express 
 her feelings, she might have said, " I hate you," but 
 these gentle people had no word for hate. So she 
 cried angrily, " I love you no more ! " and darted 
 hastily into the darkness of the temple. John quickly 
 arose, but stopped, sat down again, and buried his 
 face in his hands. 
 
 "Thou see'st," said the cacique, " the grief of my 
 little daughter Xia. O, my son, though we may 
 easily confine thee by walls of stone, yet thy heart 
 recall thy heart, and live with us thy undivided life." 
 
 John was about to reply, when a loud blast swept 
 through the temple the danger-cry from the 
 trumpet of the sentinel on the rampart! They 
 hurried to the southern gate, climbed to the parapet, 
 whence they could look over the valley. 
 
 "Ah," cried the cacique, "my home-returning 
 warriors and they are followed by the fierce Lacan- 
 dones ! " 
 
 Two bodies of men were savagely fighting on the 
 skirts of the wood, one pressing towards the city, the 
 other trying to flank them and get between them and 
 their haven of refuge. A tall warrior, blazing in 
 paint and feathers, stood upon a mound directing 
 the Lacandones, and above -his head waved their 
 sacred banner. Evidently their chief. 
 
 The strangers took in the situation at a glance. 
 John spoke hurriedly. 
 
 " The rifle ! If we lay that warrior low we shall 
 save our friends, and probably our own lives." 
 
 Tom's brief absence seemed an age. The attack- 
 ing savages had divided the band of Itzaes and were 
 shouting victory. The hopes of the city hung upon 
 John's aim the cacique, the priest, the people felt 
 this. He was four hundred yards away. John 
 adjusted his sights so the ball should strike on the 
 flashing breast-plate. He glanced along the barrel. 
 A puff of smoke, a loud report ; the chief was 
 unharmed.
 
 6 4 
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 "THE KING IS DEAD! LONG LIVE THE KING! 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 TAN DING on the green 
 mound, with one hand 
 grasping the banner- 
 staff, the war chief of 
 the fierce Caribs still di- 
 rected the movements of 
 his troops. He had been 
 exultant, for at the very 
 moment of the arrival 
 of the cacique on the 
 walls, his trained warriors had broken the Itza line, 
 and they were driving the band towards the city with 
 savage cries, when that sharp rifle crack sounded over 
 the tumult. Both parties had halted instantly, the 
 pursuer and pursued alike paralyzed by that myste- 
 rious thunderbolt. The war chief had not been 
 harmed by the bullet, but the banner-staff had been 
 shattered, and the banner itself had fallen to the 
 ground. The effect had been more dire than if the 
 chief had been struck dead, for at the fall of the ban- 
 ner their sacred emblem of victory all courage 
 had deserted the Carib troops. 
 
 But as they were about to fly for the forest, the war 
 chief had snatched the banner from the ground and 
 waved it above his head, turning his fierce warriors 
 again upon the Itzaes who had rallied. The clash 
 of arms, the horrid din and shouting now once more 
 filled the air. The Itzaes, though fighting bravely, 
 were again overwhelmed by numbers, and the Caribs 
 came on, crowding them into the moat. 
 
 " You're too tender-hearted, John," groaned Tom. 
 " Give me the rifle. It's an awful thing to kill even 
 a Carib chief, but when it will be the means of sav- 
 ing a thousand others, I hold it's a sin not to do it. 
 Give me the rifle, I say." 
 
 "No, Tom, I'll give superstition one more trial." 
 Again that mysterious explosion arrested the contend- 
 ing warriors, and again the sacred banner was dashed 
 to the ground. 
 
 But this old Carib chief was a man of no common 
 mould. Believing though he did that these thunder- 
 bolts came from the skies, he yet bade defiance to 
 the supernatural forces fighting against him. A 
 second time he snatched up the flag and rushed with 
 it to the head of his troops. They had turned again 
 to fly, but as before, they sprang back to the fight 
 with cries of rage. 
 
 The young men now dashed down from the parapet. 
 
 The massive stone gates swung open, then closed 
 after them the cacique and the two young strang- 
 ers followed close by their bodyguard. The cacique 
 bore the ponderous spear of his fathers, and wore 
 upon his left arm the great gleaming shield of 
 gold adorned with feathers ; a helmet of the same 
 precious metal protecting his head, three feathers of 
 the Quetzal, the sacred bird of Itzamna, hanging from 
 its crest. 
 
 It was a desperate measure. Scarce had they 
 crossed the drawbridge when they were on the skirts 
 of the struggling throng. " Revolvers ! " shouted 
 John. 
 
 " Aye, revolvers ; only we can save the Itzaes ! " 
 cried Tom in return. 
 
 On either side of the cacique they rushed into the 
 thick of the fray, each wjth a six-shooter in his right 
 hand, and a belt of cartridges around his waist. The 
 astonished warriors, Carib and Itza, beheld this fear- 
 ful force advancing; the golden-shielded cacique in 
 his flashing armor, flanked by two strange young 
 white warriors who bore death-dealing weapons spit- 
 ting fire and smoke ! 
 
 The Itzaes raised a cry that shook the walls: 
 " Our cacique ! Victory ! Victory ! ! " Even the 
 wounded raised themselves from the ground and 
 staggered to the fight again. 
 
 Dismay spread through the Carib ranks, but the 
 old war chief refused to fly. Around him and the 
 sacred banner gathered the bravest of his troops. 
 Upon them advanced the cacique, and his fiery aids 
 supported by the Itzaes. 
 
 Flushed as the young men were with the strange
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 ardor of fight, they coolly fired and charged, alter- 
 nately keeping up a continuous fire. Spears, darts, 
 and arrows were aimed at them, but the Itza war- 
 riors successfully interposed their shields. 
 
 One by one the Caribs fell, and at last they fled, 
 with cries of terror, to the wood until the old war- 
 chief stood alone, in his left hand the banner, in his 
 right a spear with head of polished bronze. He was 
 a giant as compared with the Itzaes, and his shining 
 helmet rose full a foot above the level of their own. 
 
 " Back ! " shouted the cacique to his men ; "he is 
 mine. Mine to take or to slay as I will it ! " 
 
 The boys had held their fire. They revolted 
 against shooting a brave man so evidently at their 
 mercy. " Fair play," cried Tom, and John, though 
 he said nothing, dropped his gun. The Itza army 
 was in wild tumult. The life of their great cacique 
 should not be staked against that of a barbarous 
 Carib chief. Still at the gesture of command they 
 fell back. The duel begun. Bands of Caribs came 
 stealthily out from the forest to watch. The cacique 
 advanced ; the Carib made a savage lunge which the 
 Itza parried with his shield, at the same instant 
 throwing forward his heavy spear and piercing the 
 Carib through and through. But the wily Carib had 
 drawn back his own spear, and as the cacique darted 
 forward, met him full upon its point! They fell 
 together two brave men. 
 
 With a wild howl, the Caribs drew back into the 
 wood and disappeared, and the Itzaes turned toward 
 the city gates. It was a mournful procession that 
 bore the cacique across the drawbridge, and beneath 
 the arch of the southern gate. He yet breathed 
 feebly, and as they laid him on a couch in his royal 
 palace, he opened his eyes. John was bending over 
 him, his face showing the sorrow he felt. Xia and 
 Prince Zan were silent with grief. This sudden 
 calamity had absorbed the resentment of the little 
 princess against John, and she clung to his hand in 
 pitiful grief. The cacique asked for the chief priest. 
 He came. His five companions, all holy men, stood 
 beside him. He motioned John to kneel, placed his 
 hand on his head. He spoke with effort : 
 
 " This is my successor ! I command ye that ye 
 make him king ! " The priests, though in con- 
 sternation, signified their assent, but John himself 
 sprang to his feet in protest. Yet the hand extended 
 to bless him fell so heavily, the dying eyes gazed 
 into his so beseechingly, that he could not utter his 
 refusal. 
 
 The dying cacique spoke but once more : " My 
 children, I go to the Land of the Sun." 
 
 The young prince and princess of the Itzaes now 
 were fatherless. Xia threw her arms about John's 
 neck and clung to him sobbing, while Zan fell upon 
 the couch in overwhelming grief. John stood by 
 them silent, stupified with many troubled thoughts. 
 
 After two days the people assembled to conduct 
 the remains of their king to their last resting-place, 
 in the great cavern where reposed his ancestors. If 
 they felt grief, they dissembled it. They spoke to 
 one another with philosophy : " It is well that our 
 beloved cacique should have gone before us, for 
 Quetzalcoatl will grant him a kingdom in the Land 
 of the Sun ; and to this he will invite us when we 
 also depart." 
 
 The same week the new cacique was installed. 
 
 THE DUEL. 
 
 They would have made the ceremonies the most gor- 
 geous that ever were witnessed in the city, but John 
 refused. He promulgated his first decree, that he 
 accepted the crown only in obedience to the will of their 
 late king ; that he should only hold it in order to act 
 as an all-powerful guardian to prince Zan, the rightful 
 heir, until he should be old enough to govern. This 
 decree was received submissively, as another evi-
 
 66 
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 AN EVIL WIZARD. 
 
 dence of the god-like wisdom of the young Teule. 
 Since the daring rush upon the Caribs, the Itzaes 
 openly worshiped the white warriors. Tom was 
 elected their war-chief; a post of high honor and 
 second only in importance to John's own caciqueship. 
 They both were installed in the royal palace ; the lit- 
 tle prince and princess shared 
 with them the royal table ; the 
 household of the late king, his 
 well drilled attendants and ret- 
 inue of servants were placed 
 at their disposal. However, 
 perhaps warned by the gravity 
 of the priests, Cacique John 
 saw fit to issure a second pro- 
 mulgation similar to the first : 
 that the prince and princess were by all to be looked 
 upon as lawful sovereigns in minority and the strangers 
 as their prime ministers or regents. 
 
 There was one event to which in the hurry and 
 confusion of the battle John had attached small 
 importance. But now the high priest brought it to 
 his royal notice. The Itzaes had fetched from their 
 mountain retreat of the Lacondones an important 
 captive indeed, it was the capture of this man that 
 had brought the Caribs to the valley of the Silver City. 
 The new cacique now learned that the Caribs, 
 though a ruder people than the Itzaes hunters and 
 nomads rather than agriculturists still possessed a 
 capital city, though its rude houses were nearly all of 
 wood and thatch. 
 
 This town was built near agreat cliff in the mountains, 
 at the base of which extended an immense cavern, 
 very high and dry, in which they had deposited their 
 dead from time immemorial. These bodies were 
 prepared with gums and bitumen ; in fact, made 
 mummies, and in this state would remain a thousand 
 years. 
 
 As keeper of this burial cavern they had always 
 contrived to secure a captive from some other nation. 
 This was in obedience to tribal traditions. Once in a 
 great number of years they managed to capture a Span- 
 iard or white Mexican ; such a keeper they highly cher- 
 ished, honoring him above all other men, but keep- 
 ing him closely guarded. Ten or eleven years ago 
 John learned they had taken an important prisoner 
 in one of their annual excursions to the sea. He 
 was a white man, but not a Spaniard. He spoke a 
 language none had ever heard. They found him on 
 the shore a wanderer a tall, slim, sad man. 
 
 They named him " Him-whom-the-sea-cast-up," for 
 they saw no boat by which he could have reached 
 the shore, and took him to their capital city and set 
 him as custodian of the burial cave. Year after year 
 passed away and this mysterious white man still held 
 this position. Never once in all that time did the 
 suspicious Caribs remit their watch of him, though he 
 was allowed to walk about the village and even 
 explore the forest, followed by a guard. He learned 
 the language of the tribe, but held little conversation. 
 He loved little children, and they loved him in return. 
 But he seemed always oppressed by melancholy 
 thoughts. Day after day he would climb the great 
 cliff and sit looking over the forest towards the sea 
 eastward. 
 
 One day, seated on the cliff, he beheld a body of 
 strangers approaching different Indians from the 
 Caribs ; they were clothed, while the Caribs wore but 
 a waist girdle. When they had drawn nearer, he saw 
 their faces were milder. They were, in fact, a group 
 of Itza hunters, who had strayed farther than usual, 
 looking for game. The poor cavern keeper looked 
 about him ; his guard was asleep. He cautiously 
 crawled a distance, then arose and ran in the direc- 
 tion the Itzaes had taken. 
 
 They received him warmly, and hastened away with 
 him to join the main body of hunters. The Caribs 
 were soon on their track, furiously demanding back 
 the keeper of their sacred cavern. But it is a law 
 among the Itzaes never to deliver up a creature that 
 has claimed their protection. Sooner, they would 
 fight until the last man fell. The rage of the Caribs 
 was awful. They gathered all their warriors and 
 pursued the retreating Itzaes, reaching them as they 
 n eared the margin of the valley. 
 
 In the fight that ensued the stranger fought desper- 
 ately on the side of the Itzaes ; but having received 
 a slight wound, he was not taken direct to the Stran- 
 gers' House, but to the home of one of the hunters, 
 where he was kindly cared for. After the burial of 
 the cacique, and the installation of their new king, 
 and after the tumult of feasting had subsided, he was 
 assigned a room in the Strangers' House, and now 
 Cacique John was apprised of his presence and his 
 history. 
 
 John was strangely stirred by this recital. Tom 
 gazing upon his paling cheek, himself felt a thrilling 
 shiver of excitement. Without delay or ceremony, 
 they proceeded to the Strangers' House, exchanging 
 no word of their vague presaging. They found a
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 67 
 
 tall, finely-formed man who looked to be about fifty 
 years of age. A great beard covered his face and 
 fell nearly to his belt. His countenance was sad and 
 marked with deep lines. He welcomed them courte- 
 ously, but in a strange tongue. John spoke to him in 
 Spanish, then in Itzae, but he did not understand. 
 He fastened upon him his great mournful eyes and 
 tried in vain to utter some intelligible word in 
 response. By signs, he inquired from whence they 
 came, touching- his own face, and pointing to theirs, 
 
 him, evidently trying to frame some articulate sound 
 which his lips refused to utter. With a gesture of 
 despair, he relaxed his hold and covered his face 
 with his hands. They approached to comfort him, 
 but he motioned them back, and they left him lean- 
 ing against the wall. 
 
 " I've been thinking, John," said Tom suddenly, 
 "maybe that this man could tell you something of in- 
 terest if he could speak." 
 
 John's voice trembled as he replied: 
 
 "WHOSE? WHOSE?" 
 
 signifying his knowledge that all were white men. 
 They pointed Northward. He looked at them 
 fixedly, but there was little of their appearance to 
 betray their nationality. Four months had passed 
 since they were taken prisoners, and their hair had 
 grown long like that of the Indians, and was cut 
 across their foreheads in the same style, while their cos- 
 tumes were of the Itza men of the higher rank. 
 
 But as they turned to depart, after trying to assure 
 the stranger of their protection, Tom made a 
 remark to John in English. He felt his shoulder 
 grasped at once ; the bearded stranger stared up ;>n 
 
 whether there is one of our warriors who can speak 
 the Carib dialect ; if so, bring him to me." 
 
 The occupant of the Strangers' House remained 
 for a long hour leaning against the wall ; then he 
 sought his hammock. He looked about him aim- 
 lessly ; as though his thoughts were wandering against 
 his will. A few articles remained that belonged to 
 the young men. A gun stood in the corner, the 
 wooden chest also. It was this chest that finally 
 fastened his attention. He walked to it, and at last 
 opened the lid. In it he saw cartridges, some 
 civilized clothes, and a book. These objects evi'
 
 68 
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 dently interested him. He held up the clothes. 
 They were of Northern make ; evidently they were 
 familiar to him. Mechanically he took up the 
 book and looked at the title on the back. It 
 glared at him in great gilt letters, as it had at many 
 a man, young and old, before, in a far-away New 
 England garret. He vaguely shook his head over it. 
 The book the old wizard, necromantic book in 
 its turn seemed to look at this half-barbaric stranger 
 as he turned its pages, leering up at him through its 
 eyes of gilt. But he saw dimly, for letters if he 
 had ever known them had grown strange to him 
 during his years of exile. 
 
 But summoning back to him recollections of the 
 past, from the obscurity of years, his intelligence 
 finally interpreted the meaning of the characters upon 
 which he gazed : THE CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 
 By ONE OF THE CONQUERORS. 
 
 The book fell from his now nerveless grasp, the 
 lid of the chest dropped with a crash and imprisoned 
 it in darkness. The man staggered to his hammock 
 and threw himself face downward. But presently he 
 rose and groped toward the chest again, raised the 
 lid tremblingly, drew the book from its hiding place, 
 and bore it to his hammock. 
 
 " If two leaves are gone," reasoned the wretched 
 man to himself, " it is the same book that hated book 
 that sent me hither possessed with that insane idea, 
 twelve years ago. No, it is all here ha! but they 
 ire loose and they are crumpled ! " 
 
 How that hated book must have rejoiced at the 
 man's surprise! To see him start and clutch his 
 beard, to see him gaze wildly at those crumpled 
 leaves, was something for an evil wizard to enjoy. 
 To hear him mutter : " The very same that I myself 
 tore out of that infernal book when I left home ! How 
 did these leaves get back again ? Who found them 
 in that tin box in the cabin of my wrecked vessel, 
 and fitted them into the place from which I tore 
 them twelve years ago ? How has this book itself 
 been borne hither ? " 
 
 Suddenly a gleam of glad light shot into those wild 
 eyes. A sudden impulse seized him, shook him, set 
 him in fierce, swift action. He hurried from the 
 house, clown the royal avenue, and breathless, into 
 the palace. There he found the young cacique 
 examining some birds which had just been brought 
 him from the forest. He looked up as this excited 
 stranger entered, then with a change of countenance, 
 arose to receive him. The man held out before him 
 
 John's own book. He cried out excitedly, " Whose ? 
 whose ? " It was all the English his long unused 
 memory could recall. 
 
 " Mine," answered the young man in English, 
 grasping both the book and the thin, hard hand that 
 held it. 
 
 He pointed to John's name on the fly-leaf. 
 "Whose?" again demanded he. 
 
 "Mine!" John again replied, gazing at him with 
 intense feeling. 
 
 The book fell to the floor. The poor bewildered 
 stranger extended his arms with a look of entreaty. 
 
 A thousand emotions struggled together in the 
 young man's heart, but in all this confusion he 
 was conscious that before him was he for whom 
 he was about to search the whole wilderness of 
 Yucatan ; that his father stood before him ! 
 
 When half an hour later War-chief Tom entered 
 the room, it is hard to say whether or not he was 
 surprised to see the Carib captain and the cacique 
 sitting together, joy visible on every feature. Since 
 the Silver City itself had proved a verity, it was 
 nothing so very strange that John's lost father should 
 turn up. 
 
 "Powerful glad to see you here," said he, shaking 
 his hand heartily. " John and me's been thinkin' for 
 some time of callin' 'round your way." 
 
 But the man could answer only with a vague smile. 
 The tears came into John's eyes. " Tom," said he, 
 " we shall have another to teach now, for my father's 
 been so long among the Indians that he's forgotten 
 even the simplest words of English." 
 
 It was indeed weeks before the poor old New 
 England captain recovered much knowledge of his 
 native tongue. But he was by nature endowed wkh 
 great energy, and he resolutely began with the alpha- 
 bet which he had learned forty years before ; and 
 when he had acquired the letters anew, he set 
 patiently to w T ork to join sentences. Even little Xia 
 could excel him for a long, long time. But there 
 came a miracle. Suddenly, one day, all his forgotten 
 knowledge rushed over him like a wave, and he 
 spoke his own language readily. 
 
 It was a long story that he told them of his adven- 
 tures : too long to repeat here ; and since his own 
 had been so strange, it was no great marvel to him 
 that his son too had been shipwrecked, and that they 
 thus had found each other. But he never tired of 
 questioning John about his mother and brother. 
 Twelve long years had separated him from them, and
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 69 
 
 OLD SPANISH ARMOR. 
 
 now that the veil of darkness had been partially 
 lifted, his desire to see them daily grew stronger and 
 stronger, causing John to make rapid plans for future 
 action. Whatever his own future might be, it was his 
 first duty to enable his father to return home. 
 
 He immediately undertook to obtain news from 
 the mate and Don Pedro. 
 During his captivity, now 
 nearly five months, he had 
 had no word from these 
 old comrades, though he 
 and Tom had lain awake 
 many a night speculating 
 upon what the chances had 
 been of their escape from 
 the Mayas. 
 
 The body-guard furnished by Chief Christobal, 
 had remained devotedly attached to John's ser- 
 vice ; and now, two of them being consulted, offered 
 to return to Tuloom, and take canoe for Cozumel, 
 with a letter for the mate. This expedition was to 
 be kept secret from not only the Itzaes, within the 
 city, but from the Mayas at Chan- Santa Cruz. The 
 messengers felt sure they could avoid their Maya 
 friends, by a wide circuit, and they swore to deliver 
 their message should they escape with their lives. 
 
 John wrote a long letter, explaining the romantic 
 fortunes that had befallen them, using thin paper, 
 and Tom also wrote a similar message. These two 
 letters the Indians concealed in their long black hair. 
 They were well equipped for a long march ; had a 
 stock of sharpest of arrows, a strong knife each, and 
 a pack of provisions, snugly strapped to their 
 shoulders. They promised to return in three weeks, 
 and John bidding them good-by, felt with a strange 
 regret, and yet a deep relief, that they had sent out 
 a thread to connect them again with civilization. 
 
 He now turned his attention once more to the in- 
 ternal improvement of the city. Tom had made an- 
 other discovery. Having been appointed war chief, 
 he had felt it his duty, as well as his great delight, 
 to drill his troops every day, and in marching and 
 counter-marching, he visited every portion of the 
 city, and often conducted his men into the outlying 
 fields for wider range of evolutions. It was outside 
 the city, and by rather a ludicrous accident, that he 
 made the important discovery. He fell over a 
 sharp-pointed aloe and tore a long rent in his robe. 
 There were no pins at hand, neither needle and 
 thread ; but one of his soldiers improvised both. He 
 
 cut a leaf of the aloe that had torn the rent, and 
 pounding it until all the pulpy portion had been re- 
 moved, lelt the fibres or filaments hanging from the 
 sharp thorn that terminated the leaf a bundle of 
 threads attached to a sharp needle a needle 
 ready threaded. With this the Indian sewed up 
 the tear and the troops went on with their drill. 
 
 John at once saw that the plant was the famous 
 Sisal hemp ; the Agave Sisalensis, the fibre of which 
 is so valuable that thousands of bales, four hundred 
 weight each, are now shipped every year from Yuca- 
 tan. Here it was growing wild, without culture, and 
 whenever an Indian wanted thread for a garment he 
 cut down a plant, pounded out the pulp of the leaves, 
 dried the fibres, and so was provided. 
 
 Investigating, they found the people scraped the 
 leaves with a long sharp stick called a tonkas; a 
 slow and tedious process. Why not endow them 
 with another valuable piece of machinery ? 
 
 So the Teules and the Carib captive consulted. 
 The result was a rather rude, but very effective mon- 
 ument of their friendliness a large wooden wheel 
 with sharp stones fastened as teeth into its circum- 
 ference. When revolving, a henequen leaf henequen 
 is the Maya for the hemp was pressed against it 
 by means of a lever, the pulp scraped off instantly, 
 and the silken fibres left soft and clean ready for dry- 
 ing. It was hailed as a 
 gift from the gods a 
 great invention and 
 was kept in constant use 
 by the people until they 
 had fibre enough piled 
 up to last their own use 
 a hundred years. 
 
 " But is there any good 
 in it ? " asked Tom one 
 day. "It saves labor, to 
 be sure, but bymeby such 
 
 a simple people will have nothing to do, if we go on 
 inventing labor-saving machinery. What a pile of 
 money we could make out of this hemp business if 
 we only had a transportation and a market ! Then 
 there's the coffee, and the sugar, and twenty other 
 things that ain't developed ; see ? " 
 
 " Suppose, Tom," answered John, " that we could 
 bring our city into communication with the coast, 
 would you be willing to do it ? Think how soon this, 
 simple race would become the prey of heartless 
 traders ! How long before their peace and innocence 
 
 PLATE ARMOR.
 
 7 
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 would be destroyed ? Tom, a million dollars laid 
 before me now, would not tempt me to give my con- 
 sent to this ruin of my people." 
 
 " That's so, John ; money ain't everything," sighed 
 Tom, " though I wish I had some myself." 
 
 " It was gold," continued John, " that caused the 
 ruin of the Aztec empire of Mexico. To gain it, 
 Cortez and his soldiers destroyed millions of inno- 
 cent people. Before and since, for gold in the 
 West Indies, and in South America, the Spaniards 
 
 ENTRANCE TO THE CAVERN OF THE IDOLS. 
 
 depopulated whole islands, torturing men, women, 
 and children to death. I hope my people will never 
 know this accursed preciousness of money." 
 
 " Yet," added Tom slyly, " one reason of your 
 coming down to look for this city was the report that 
 its walls were all of silver, and that there were whole 
 caverns full of gold, and so forth, though I will say 
 you didn't seem much took aback when we found out 
 the silver walls were only white stone that looked 
 like silver when the sun shone o.n it, and that the 
 region didn't have no treasures, except what the 
 priest and king were guarding." 
 
 John laughed. " It has been impossible to spend 
 
 here even the money that we brought with us/* 
 
 Taking down their old money-belts, John spread 
 their contents on the white stone floor, a shining 
 heap of golden dollars, and looked on amused while 
 Zan and Xia played with the coins. 
 
 "They shine," said the princess, "like the treasure 
 in the caverns of the idols. Have you seen that 
 treasure my ancestors captured from the Quiches ? " 
 
 John's father, who was sitting near, looked up. 
 "John, I have heard among the Caribs of that 
 treasure," he said. " There was a fabulous amount 
 of golden ingots, silver, and gems, which the Itzaes 
 captured from a wandering band of Quiches, who 
 were on their way from the coast where they had 
 sacked a town, a church, and a merchant ship. Can my 
 daughter show it to us ? " said he, turning to Xia. 
 " As you are cacique here," he added, turning to 
 John, " I suppose we may inspect as we like." 
 
 John answered gravely : " I have not yet meas- 
 ured my strength with the priests." 
 
 But the little princess had risen eagerly and placed 
 her hand in that of John's father. 
 
 " Yes, my father ; why not ? " said she. " My 
 brother and I will conduct you. It is in a mighty 
 cave under the temple. We shall need torches." 
 
 By John's orders, the ever-faithful body-guards 
 were despatched for torches, and then Zan and Xia 
 led the way to the temple. None of the priests dis- 
 puted their entrance, or questioned of their errand. 
 They walked straight to the curtain that hunrj behind 
 the altar which concealed the skeleton and the great 
 armor that had so frightened Tom when he had 
 been set up as an idol. They paused a moment 
 to gaze on the helmets and breastplates, the chain- 
 armor, lances, swords, and arquebuses, piled at the 
 feet of the hideous idol that had grinned at Tom on 
 that eventful day months before. All the armor was 
 of the kind worn by the Spanish conquerors, and was 
 probably taken by the Quiches when they sr.ckecl the 
 town. The idol was theirs also, and had been 
 considered a great trophy of ancient Itza valor. 
 
 Turning sharply around a pedestal, the little party 
 faced a wide black opening from which a strong 
 draught of air blew cold and damp. As they bent to 
 look within, a bird flew out of the gloom and 
 almost dashed into their faces. Xia clapped her 
 hands gleefully : 
 
 " Oh ! there is Toh, the only bird that did not sail 
 in the ark when the great flood came."
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 AN UNDERGROUND RAMBLE. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 OH they saw to 
 be a strange- 
 shaped bird, with 
 a saw-toothed bill, 
 a back covered 
 with silky green 
 f eathers, and with 
 a black velvety 
 pendant hanging 
 fron> his breast. 
 But r/s queerest 
 feature was his long tail. He had an ordu^ary tail of 
 short feathers, but beyond this stuck out or hung 
 down two slender feathers about a foot in 'ength. 
 Each one looked as if it had been stripped of all its 
 barbs, leaving only the shaft, or quill, with a Ltle 
 oval tip of feathers at the end. 
 
 The torches were quickly lighted. They revealed 
 a smooth face of rock. Down the perpendicular sides 
 was cut a narrow stairway. From little holes and 
 fissures in the rock streamed out the denuded tail 
 feathers of numerous Tolls hovering their eggs or 
 young. Very few seemed alarmed as the party 
 passed down, only flirting their tails and uttering 
 expostulatory squeaks, and then Xia related the 
 tradition of Toh's survival of the great flood. 
 
 Now do not suppose all their conversations carried 
 on as fluently as here seems. This instead was fre- 
 quently interrupted by many hitches when her New 
 England hearers utterly failed to comprehend the little 
 princess' most careful Itza as she related the Indian 
 tradition, dating from early times, a tradition col- 
 ored perhaps by Spanish priests. 
 
 "It was a long time ago," began she, "many 
 thousand years before your grandfather and my 
 grandfather were born. The God of the Air looked 
 down on the people of earth and saw they were bad. 
 He thought them too bad to live and rear children 
 
 that might be worse. So he made the waters of the 
 skies to descend and cover the earth, even the tops of 
 the mountains. But there was one man who had 
 built a great canoe, and he determined to save all 
 the animals, two of every kind. And when his 
 canoe was finished and rain began to fall, his family 
 went into the covered part of the canoe, and all 
 the animals followed. Oh, there were many, many 
 creatures, and many, many days did it take for them 
 to find places for themselves ! But there were bad 
 beasts as well as bad men that did not believe the 
 great flood was coming. They laughed at the great 
 cacique during his many years of labor on the canoe. 
 And this bird, this wicked Toh who had another 
 name then sat on the branch of a tree above the 
 great canoe works and laughed at the wise cacique 
 also. 
 
 "Still the good animals tried to make Toh enter 
 with them. The cacique also reasoned with him, and 
 even tried to catch him and his mate, but only suc- 
 ceeded in pulling out some feathers from their tails. 
 
 " Then Toh laughed : ' Toh ! ' he said (which, 
 means go along), 'I won't go into your old canoe.' 
 
 " Then the tiger leaped up and caught Toh by the 
 tail, but only pulled out a few more feathers. Toh 
 moved farther up the branches, and cried out : 'Toh I 
 Go along ! who's afraid of you ?' 
 
 " The elephant was the next to enter, and his 
 little sharp eyes saw Toh mocking at him in the tree. 
 He reached up his long trunk and almost caught 
 Toh by the neck, but he twisted away so that the 
 elephant only pulled a few more little feathers out 
 of his tail. 
 
 " By this time the tail was all pulled out except the 
 two long feathers that we see him wear to-day, and 
 he was very angry. He climbed higher up the tree 
 and scolded the elephant long after he entered the 
 great canoe. 'Toh!' he shrieked : 'Go along, you 
 great mountain of meat ! I wouldn't be seen in the 
 same canoe with you. Toh, toh, toh ! ' 
 
 "After the canoe was full and the waters had 
 covered all the earth except this one mountain, on a
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 tree of which Toh still hovered, the cacique looked 
 out of the door and said : 'Toh ! there is room for 
 just two more. We haven't any of your kind in here." 
 
 " ' Oh, I sha'n't be drowned ! toh ! Shove along 
 with your old canoe ! ' 
 
 "After a moon and part of a moon had passed 
 away, the cacique sent out a humming-bird to look 
 for land ; and it flew swiftly all around and returned 
 with a leaf. The next day he sent out a vulture, 
 which found the bodies of many drowned creatures, 
 
 the flood, only with his tail stripped by beasts." 
 " That's a prettv yarn," remarked Tom. " Won- 
 der where the little woman got it from ? " 
 
 They afterward found it to be a Maya tradition ; 
 one of those stories that the Indians call Tales told by 
 the old Men ! Nearly every wild animal of Yucatan they 
 learned had some fanciful story connected with it by 
 these simple people. 
 
 They had descended the stone stairs and had been 
 sitting upon a great stone altar at the mouth of the 
 
 IN THE CAVE OF THE IDOLS. 
 
 and so never returned. And when the humming-bird 
 had been out again and did not come back, then the 
 cacique knew the waters had left the land, and he 
 guided his canoe to a mountain. The first sound the 
 animals heard when they stepped out of the canoe 
 was the mocking voice of Toh. And they said 
 among themselves : 'There's that horrid Toh. I did 
 hope he had been drowned ! I don't believe there 
 was any use of being shut up for a moon and half a 
 moon in that awful canoe, after all.' 
 
 " How Toh escaped the deluge nobody could tell, 
 but he did; and we see him now just as before 
 
 cavern. Now they arose, the six flaming torches 
 lighting up the walls with a strong red glare. 
 
 "This is probably the Cave of the Idols," said 
 John's father, "of which I have heard among the 
 Lacandones. When the Spaniards first arrived in 
 Yucatan the temples scattered all over the peninsula, 
 now in ruins, were adorned with statuary, represent- 
 ing kings that had died, priests, and great warriors. 
 Some of the Spanish priests, no one knows why, 
 taught the people that these images were capable of 
 working them harm, and advised them to destroy 
 them. They themselves broke up many valuable
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 73 
 
 works of art, and burned volumes of Indian history 
 that can never be replaced. But the Itzaes at 
 least those of this city were not brought under this 
 evil, destructive influence, and did not share in the 
 spreading superstitions. It is said that, alarmed by 
 reports from the Mayas, their chief men gathered in 
 all the precious national statues within reach, and 
 deposited them in a secret cavern, probably this one ; 
 we will soon see." 
 
 John saw at a glance that the cavern was one of 
 those natural formations that abound in the vast bed 
 of coral rock that constitutes the greater part of Yu- 
 catan. Great pillars of limestone supported the 
 arched roof, and long passages extended far, far out 
 of sight. 
 
 Entering, they saw, seated upon shelves hollowed 
 out from the sides of the cavern, the famous idols and 
 statues. One, of colossal proportions, was the image 
 of a woman with the head of a dog ; another had the 
 head of a wolf and another the feet of a fowl. These 
 all Zan explained represented a single fabled monster 
 that used to prowl abroad and worry the Indians after 
 nightfall. 
 
 " In our ancient times," said he, evidently repeat- 
 ing a familiar tradition, "this spectre took the shape 
 of a woman of a lovely mestizo. and walked 
 abroad at night, wearing in her hair the flower of the 
 plant called sache tobay. She charmed her victim, 
 and when he pursued, she fled, then retraced her 
 steps and allowed herself to be reached. Her lovers 
 always died of a slow fever, finding in place of the 
 enchanting Mestizo,, a figure full of thorns, and with 
 feet as thin as a fowl's. 
 
 "And here," continued the Prince, pointing to a 
 figure of a giant who spanned the pathway with mas- 
 sive stone legs, spread wide apart, " is still another 
 shape in which this monster delighted to affright our 
 brothers, the Mayas. He used to walk forth into 
 the city at night, and, placing his feet on each side 
 the street, crush all that passed between them by 
 bringing his legs together. Ah ! he was the worst 
 giant, but the enanos were the most troublesome. 
 Here are the enanos" 
 
 They had now reached a collection of curious 
 images, forty or fifty in number, each about a foot in 
 height, of most grotesque forms, and with hideous 
 heads. These were the dwarfs, or pigmies, or enanos, 
 who once lived in Yucatan. The legend is that God 
 formed man from a handful of earth and sacate grass, 
 and made several trials before he was satisfied with 
 
 his work. First, there came to earth the giants, who*' 
 were a mild race, though so large, and these were 
 followed by the dwarfs. These dwarfs annoyed the 
 giants much. They built many little cities the ruins 
 of which may be seen to-day in Northern Yucatan.. 
 They also delighted in pestering the Indians, and the 
 latter did not feel safe until all their images were 
 destroyed, or else secured in this cavern of the 
 Itzaes. 
 
 As Xia, who had strolled away to look at some 
 distant statue, came dancing back, she flashed into^ 
 their faces the rays of a strange phosphorescent light.. 
 " I declare," exclaimed Tom, " if she ain't got a doz- 
 en or more of them fireflies made into a sort of a 
 lantern. Yes, and look at our bodyguard, too, every 
 mothers's son of 'em with a firefly fastened to his big 
 toe ! " 
 
 " Amongst the Caribs," said John's father, " there is 
 but little other light. They call them God's lanterns, 
 and say he sent them especially for the poor Indians." 
 
 " They are bigger than ours up North," said Tom ; 
 "why! one of these gives out light enough to see 
 to read by ! " 
 
 Here an exclamation from. Prince Zan drew them 
 on. They found him with his eyes riveted to the wall 
 above him. 
 
 " The red hand! sure as I'm alive ! " cried Tom. 
 Even the eight brave young men cf the body- 
 guard recoiled as they discovered this dread symbol 
 upon the rock. Even John and Tom grew grave 
 when they remembered Don Pedro's prediction regard- 
 ing the red hand found in the ruins of Tuloom, and 
 how fully it had been verified. It was stamped 
 directly over an arched opening into a passage which 
 evidently terminated that portion of the cavern, and 
 which kd into an immense sacred treasure vault, Zan 
 explained. 
 
 John pointed out the omen to his father. " Yes," 
 said he, " this symbol, the Indians say, is the sign of 
 the ' Lord of the Ruins,' who watches over his prop- 
 erty, himself dwelling in invisible regions. He has, 
 they say, sealed such places with his own hand 
 clipped in his own blood. We are to disregard the 
 warning at our peril." 
 
 " Never mind ; come on ! " shouted Tom. 
 
 Glancing reassuringly at the little Prince and 
 Princess, John and his father followed Tom into the 
 dark vault. The atmosphere was stifling. Xia, fol- 
 lowing, clung to John's hand, and Zan, finding his 
 voice, implored them not to advance. Shamed by
 
 74 
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 the courage of their masters, the torch-bearers now 
 went ahead, though tremulously. They soon came to 
 a series of arched openings extending along the walls 
 of the vault, some of them closed by slabs of stone ; 
 others had fallen in. Each slab that was in place 
 bore the same warning : the red hand. 
 
 " It means hands off, of course," said Tom, " but it 
 was intentioned to apply to Indians, not to Yankees," 
 and he wrenched off a slab, and thrust a torch into 
 the opening. His cry of exultation drew the others 
 around him. They rubbed their eyes as though gaz- 
 ing at the sun. A- glittering heap of golden vessels, 
 urns, cups, plates, salvers, ewers, incense-burners, lay 
 ^there reflecting back the torchlight. " So much for 
 iSlab Number One," remarked Tom. " Now we'll 
 just dare Hand Number Two." 
 
 " Gently, Tom," whispered John. " Remember 
 that to our Prince and Princess this is sacred ground." 
 
 " The spoils of a church," said John's father. " It 
 has lain here probably for two hundred years or 
 more." 
 
 There were thirteen of these arched ovens ; four 
 on each side of the vault, and five at the lower end. 
 Here .the natural formation of the cave had been 
 improved upon by being cemented, sides and floors 
 everywhere smooth except for some treasure recepta- 
 cles, and a great and apparently very deep well that 
 yawned in the centre. 
 
 One after another they examined these depositories, 
 bringing to light not only treasures of value, as gold 
 and silver, but objects of native workmanship, of 
 which no museum in the world contained the like- 
 ness. There were several dozens of copper axes 
 shining like gold, which the ancient Itzaes must have 
 brought from Honduras in their trading excursions, 
 for their country yields no metal. Until recently the 
 existence of these copper hatchets and axes were 
 unknown to the antiquarians of America. Among 
 these were scattered knives and spear heads of 
 bronze. Gold ornaments, and stones considered 
 precious by the ancients, glowed in the gloom of the 
 adjoining coffer. These were fashioned in strange 
 shapes, some like alligators, tortoises and river fish, 
 others like ears of corn, shells of the sea, and birds. 
 The largest and most beautiful gold ornament was 
 wrought in the shape of a serpent, with scales like 
 feathers, and eyes gleaming like diamonds. " The 
 image of our Master, Kukulcan," whispered the two 
 royal children simultaneously. 
 
 Then there was the golden ara with fiery eyes, 
 
 Kinich-kakamo, also once adored as a deity, and an 
 exquisitely chiselled golden Quetzal, that emblem of 
 the great feathered serpent, the royal bird of Quiche. 
 
 The actual value of these curiosities cannot be 
 estimated ; even this party, little versed as they were 
 in antiquarian lore, were impressed by the fact that 
 their value to science far exceeded that of the pre- 
 cious metal of which they were composed. 
 
 Battle axes and rude weapons of stone, implements 
 of warfare and for domestic use, filled two other 
 vaults. One of these when opened gave out an odor 
 so penetrating that it made every member of the party 
 
 IN THE TREASURE CAVERNS. 
 
 sneeze violently. When they could examine, they 
 found most wonderful feather garments, kept from 
 decay by the properties of this powerful perfume. 
 There were shields covered with bright feathers, 
 head-dresses, girdles and breastplates gleaming with 
 the metallic hues of the breast plumage of the 
 occellated turkey. "This must have been an Aztec 
 capture," remarked John thoughtfully, "for the 
 inhabitants of Yucatan were not skilled in feather- 
 work like their brother Indians of Mexico." Amongst 
 the gold ornaments they discovered specimens of the 
 chalcihuitl, the emerald stone found only in Central
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 75 
 
 and South America, and extremely rare and precious. 
 
 But in the five farther cells they came upon that 
 
 w hich though it at first puzzled them promised to 
 
 be more precious to Science than all the objects of 
 
 gold and silver. Each 
 cell contained a great 
 book of bark, folded after 
 the manner of a Japa- 
 nese historic painting. 
 Upon each side of the 
 leaf were printed strange 
 
 A GLITTERING HEAP. characters hieroglyph- 
 
 ics. Each book when 
 
 opened was nine or ten feet long, its leaves about 
 eight inches long and four wide. When folded, 
 it looked like an ordinary book enclosed between 
 two broad covers. Very reverently John removed 
 these ancient volumes from their hiding-places. He 
 informed his companions in a whisper that they were 
 probably looking upon the oldest written records of 
 human history in America. 
 
 , His father confirmed his statement. " We have 
 probably," said he, " fallen upon what learned men 
 have been looking for in vain, for many years. These 
 are the libraries of the H. Menes, or the wise men of 
 Yucatan, buried centuries ago. Tradition has told 
 of them, but until to-day nobody has seen them who 
 could make it known to the world. And too, could 
 we read those characters inscribed upon the stone 
 walls of the temple, we should probably have some- 
 thing of the history of the race." 
 
 " Do you think it could be mastered ? " inquired 
 John. 
 
 "Yes; but it would take years, perhaps. One 
 would have to devote all his time." 
 
 A settled purpose was already forming in John's 
 mind. He looked wistfully at the books. He felt 
 strangely lifted beyond self, kindred, country. He 
 was conscious of a purpose, a life work, a mission. 
 But he remained silent. 
 
 The torches were flickering now, and one of the 
 guardsmen suggested return. They stood crowded 
 about the lower end of the vault, the Indians as 
 interested as the young white men. 
 
 " What will you do with the treasure ? " Tom 
 asked this. 
 
 " Do with it ! " John repeated quickly. " Do with 
 it ! it isn't ours." 
 
 " Not ours ! well, I should smile." 
 
 Tom was growing excited. There was more wea h 
 
 in this little cavern than he had ever conceived of. 
 It seemed to him that it belonged to them, the only 
 persons who could make use of it. He hotly re- 
 sented John's Quixotic bearing in the matter. " Look 
 here, John North," said he, " why did you come here ? 
 What was your object in seeking this Silver City? 
 And this has been here for hundreds of years. Nobody 
 ain't claimed it in that time, nobody don't own it. 
 The chiefs that bronght it here are all dead and gone, 
 years and years ago. It might lay here till doomsday 
 and these Itzaes wouldn't never use it. You are as 
 good as a king over these Injuns, and all you've got 
 to do is say you want the whole lot and they'd give it 
 to you." 
 
 "And for that very reason I will not do it," said 
 John. "They have honored me with trust; they 
 repose in me the most perfect confidence. This is 
 their property ; it is worth many thousand dollars, 
 perhaps half a million. No, Tom ! I protect this 
 property for my adopted people ! " 
 
 But Tom was about to give way to his indignation. 
 Captain North interfered : " John is right. Look at 
 me, Tom, penniless, old, and with health broken. 
 What have I to carry home to my family after a dozen 
 years' absence ? Yet I would not have my son betray 
 this people, these helpless young sovereigns." John 
 was deeply moved. 
 
 "I knew you would approve my decision, father? " 
 he said simply. " And Tom is right, that I came 
 here for gold. But I have found it under such cir- 
 cumstances that I cannot consider it honestly ours." 
 
 " Well, forgive a feller," said Tom. " But it does 
 gall me to go away and leave such a mint of money 
 with people who don't know its value." 
 
 The royal Itza children had been anxiously listen- 
 ing to this conver- 
 sation, understand- 
 ing a word here and 
 there. They drew 
 one another aside, 
 and after whisper- 
 ing awhile, rejoined 
 the group. Prince 
 Zan placed his hand 
 
 on Tom's shoulder. He spoke with truly regal dig- 
 nity. "Does my brother want gold? Behold it! 
 By law of descent, this treasure which has come from 
 the old caciques down to my father, belongs to me and 
 to my sister. The people own it not. It is ours. To 
 you, my brother, to King John, my sister's brother, and 
 
 ANCIENT BOOKS.
 
 7 6 
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 to this our new father, we give it all. Take it away. 
 Do with it what you like, but do not frown one upon 
 another." 
 
 Xia stood in front of John, her eyes shining almost 
 as luminously as the fire-flies she still kept in the 
 wicker cage. " You will have it, will you not ? " she 
 entreated, reaching up and taking his face between 
 her hands. 
 
 Silence fell upon the party. Here was generosity 
 that surpassed anything their cold Northern natures 
 could have conceived. Here was a forgetfulness of 
 self that put Tom to shame, 
 
 " I have thought of a solution of the whole thing," 
 said John's father as he drew his adopted daughter 
 tenderly towards him. " It is to make available, for 
 the world's use, this precious collection of antiquities. 
 As it is as Tom truly remarks these things are 
 doing no good to any one, and the first party from 
 outside the walls that may gain access, might destroy 
 or waste all. Let us accept the gift conditionally. 
 Let us transport the treasure to the North, and there 
 dispose of it to the best advantage. These golden 
 vessels will. bring ten times their weight in gold as 
 art treasures for some museum ; these copper axes, 
 and even the stone implements, have scientific value. 
 We will .be able to realize an immense sum, and, 
 paying ourselves fairly for our care and service in 
 the matter, we shall return to the Prince and Princess 
 a most royal sum." 
 
 " I see where you come by your level head, John," 
 said Tom. "I guess it wan't so much the money I 
 wanted as it was to see these articles put to the best 
 use." 
 
 John turned to the waiting children. He took their 
 hands in his own. " I will explain to you what we 
 will do," said he; "you will be satisfied." 
 
 They bowed their heads joyously, and as they 
 turned to go out, little Xia, breaking away, dared 
 John to catch her, dancing off with a carol. 
 
 Her sweet voice suddenly stopped, broken by a 
 shout from the bodyguard, who had advanced to the 
 mouth of the vault, the shout mingling with the dull 
 thud of a fall. John halted, himself in the act of 
 darting after her, a deathly faintness coming over 
 him : she had fallen into the well ! 
 
 With exclamations of horror they gathered around 
 the opening, and thrust their torches into the black- 
 ness. It was not deep. 
 
 Low moans told them that Xia was alive, but 
 there were other sounds that stopped their heart- 
 
 beats. Shrill and prolonged hisses greeted them. 
 Two eyes like rubies looked at them. The Indians 
 sent up a great cry : " It is the den of the holy ser- 
 pent ! " and fled. 
 
 John roused himself. " Come back ! " he shouted 
 indignantly. Mastered by his firmness, the Indians 
 came back. Two sped up the tortuous passage to 
 the temple for a rope. " Our only hope, " said John, 
 " if Xia is not already killed, is to direct the attention 
 of the serpent to ourselves to prevent him from 
 making a coil and crushing her at once. Take me 
 by the hands, father, and lower me into the well." 
 
 THE DEN OF THE " HOLY SERPENT.' 
 
 His father did as directed, without a word, for his 
 son voiced his own idea. Time was precious. There 
 was none to spare for words. John felt around with 
 his feet ; the wall was rough, and he got a footing. 
 But he did not try to descend as yet. He made a 
 disturbance to attract the serpent to himself. The 
 reptile was about ten feet below him, his eyes shining 
 like red stars. With renewed hisses, it at last raised 
 itself from its coil , nearer and nearer came the shin- 
 ing, terrible head. 
 
 "Hold me hard, father, and draw up gradually." 
 They saw his purpose : to cause the serpent to pur-
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 77 
 
 sue him out of the well. It was a course full of peril 
 to themselves, but not one flinched. Tom had his 
 revolver, as also John. The Indians held their 
 lances. The strong arms raised him slowly, the ser- 
 pent following steadily. It was within a foot of the 
 surface, then it drew back, visibly its coil all unwound. 
 
 " Shall I shoot ? " said Tom. 
 
 " No ! " said John, " its fall would crush the child. 
 Can you hold a little longer, father ? " 
 
 " Yes, my son." 
 
 "Then drop me a little, then raise me to tempt 
 the snake. Don't fear; it's a boa its bite will not 
 kill, but its folds can crush. We must beguile it out 
 of the well." 
 
 There was a sound now in the passage above. 
 The Indians shouted that they were coming with a 
 rope. The torches were burning dimly, but in their 
 gleam Tom prepared a noose in the centre of the 
 rope, by John's direction, while the latter, by swing- 
 ing himself before the serpent and kicking at him, 
 kept his head in view. 
 
 " A strong rope, Tom ? " 
 
 " The best ever twisted." 
 
 John's voice came once more out of the dusk : " I 
 will make another effort to have him raise his head to 
 the surface of the well. Two of you take the rope ; 
 you, Tom, and one of the Indians ; place yourselves 
 one on each side the well. When his head appears, 
 drop the noose over it and draw tight! At that 
 moment, I will shoot a ball into his brain, then I 
 must leave the rest to you. Ready ? " 
 
 " Yes ; ready." 
 
 There was a silence, broken only by low moans 
 from the little victim in the depths of the den. Pro- 
 voked by the active movements of the expected prey 
 before him, the great boa raised itself to the full 
 extent its coil would allow. The head with its angrily 
 glaring eyes now shone in the centre of the well ; it 
 evidently was hesitating whether to dart at its tor- 
 mentor or not. Its red mouth was open, its forked 
 tongue playing in and out like lightning.
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 THE QUETZAL. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 HERE, now ! " whispered 
 John, bringing his revolver 
 to bear upon one of those 
 red eyes, and then drop- 
 ping it to a point a few 
 inches below, so the bullet 
 would penetrate the brain. 
 The round noose in the centre of the rope drawn 
 across the mouth of the well was suspended just 
 above the head and held by three men. Suddenly it 
 fell. The men at either end pulled savagely, tight- 
 ening the knot about the reptile's throat. Simul- 
 taneously with this movement came the report of 
 the revolver, rilling the cavern with deafening echoes. 
 So near was the muzzle to the serpent's head that 
 the bullet opened a great wound. The monster 
 writhed and lashed the walls of the well with its 
 powerful tail, but not long. The men ran around 
 to the farther side of the well, meeting, then pulled 
 together, and the horrid body was drawn out of the 
 den. 
 
 The well was clear. Xia was safe. But the Ser- 
 pent was not yet dead. It was still capable of the 
 destruction of the whole party. Its power of muscu- 
 lar contraction scarcely impaired, it lay striking out 
 savagely. 
 
 John had been drawn up at the same instant with 
 the serpent, and now, seizing his broad knife, he sprang 
 into the struggling group. Two of the Indians with 
 their lances were slashing at the serpent, leaping this 
 way and that to avoid its blows, while those at the 
 rope could only keep out of its way by dragging it 
 on toward the narrow passage where it could not 
 strike. Only one torch remained, but by its light 
 John's father with a nervous blow cut through the 
 scaly skin in the mid-back ; by another he severed 
 the vertebrae, thus paralyzing the monster. The fight 
 was now virtually over. 
 
 " Hurrah ! " cried Tom, " we've fixed him ! " Tom 
 had held on bravely ; but for his example the natives 
 would have fled away from the horrid fight more than 
 once. 
 
 "Now the rope and torch this way!" shouted! 
 John. With great difficulty they unloosed the noose 
 from the serpent, and brought it to him at the mouth of 
 the well. 
 
 " Round my waist with it, and lower me quick,"" 
 said John. " Give me the torch ! There ! Now let 
 me down!" 
 
 " Be careful, my boy ; the serpent's mate may be 
 there," said his father. 
 
 THE PEOPLE VIEWING THE SERPENT. 
 
 " No ; for these great boas nearly always live 
 alone," said John cheerily.
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 79 
 
 The well was but fifteen feet deep. On the bot- 
 tom he found the little princess, breathing, but un- 
 conscious. 
 
 He did not stay for a glance around, but hastily 
 gathered her into his arms. 
 
 " Pull ! " he signalled to his friends anxiously wait- 
 ing above. 
 
 Tom bent and received the child, but the moment 
 John was on his feet again he took her back in 
 his arms, and ordered the party to make haste out 
 into the open air. 
 
 Prince Zan seized the torch and sprang ahead. 
 They did not halt in the temple, but hurried on 
 to the palace, and laid the child on her own couch, 
 in her own apartment. There was a faint sigh and 
 smile as the jar of the hasty flight ceased and she 
 felt herself sinking among the soft pillows. Prince 
 Zan explained in brief words, and with an exclama- 
 tion of horror. An old woman among the attendants 
 lifted her again, and bore her into an inner apart- 
 ment. 
 
 John was anxious, but he did not see her again 
 until nightfall. However, Zan came frequently with 
 bulletins. She had recovered ; she was resting ; she 
 was eating chicken broth; she hoped John was not 
 hurt ; and at last, she wished to see the cacique, her 
 kind brother John. 
 
 As he sat holding the little tremulous, dusky hand, 
 one of her maids brought him a coin which she said 
 she had taken from Xia's grasp while she lay uncon- 
 scious. It was an old Spanish doubloon, a gold coin, 
 bearing date of the early part of the seventeenth cen- 
 tury. It must have been clutched as she lay at the 
 bottom of the pit. He showed the coin >to his father. 
 The old man's eye grew brighter as he read the inscrip- 
 tion. 
 
 " Do you remember," said he to Tom, " the tradi- 
 tion I told you, how the Itzaes captured the plunder 
 of a Spanish city ?" 
 
 " Well ! " answered Tom eagerly. 
 
 "And how I said those gold and silver vessels 
 were probably part of that plunder ? " 
 
 "Just so." 
 
 "And that it was strange we did not find any 
 coins ? " 
 
 " Just so ; and the coins were hidden in the ser- 
 pent's well ! Ain't that so ? And this is one of them 
 that our little angel grabbed when she was struggling 
 there in the dark ! Won't we be rich ? " 
 
 John and his father smiled: Tom's eagerness to 
 
 be rich amused them. " A little while ago," laughed 
 John, " you planned out our lives here. And now 
 you only wish to get up North again and live at your 
 ease." 
 
 " Well," said Tom," it's getting kind o' monotonous, 
 not to have nothing to do but to lay under a cocoanut- 
 tree from morning till night, and just eat, sleep, and 
 be happy. I tell you, Mr. Cacique, it's rather wearing 
 on a feller." 
 
 " I don't call serpent-hunting monotonous," laughed 
 John, " and it seemed to me you had a terrible dash of 
 excitement in the fight with the Caribs. Then there's 
 your army to drill, the Prince to instruct in mechanics, 
 and all the improvements for a whole kingdom to 
 invent and keep in running order. As for future adven- 
 ture, I guess we could get enough outside among the 
 Mayas and Caribs." 
 
 "Well, what's the use," said Tom, "if nobody 
 knows all this to home ! I confess I'd like to walk into 
 one of them confounded quiet New England stores, 
 where I used to run around barefooted, and slap down 
 one of these old yeller doubloons on the counter and 
 say, says I, 'Trot out the best you have now, whatever 
 'tis I'll take the whole piece. You can send it up to 
 Thomas Bolton, at the hotel. Don't remember Thomas 
 Bolton, do you ? s'pose not.' And then I'd set 'em 
 a-remembering ! I shouldn't enjoy that sort of small 
 thing now, should I ? Oh, no, not a bit of it ! Course 
 not!" 
 
 John laughed. " I don't know as I blame you. 
 But did it ever occur to you that we are forbidden to 
 leave this city ? " 
 
 " 'Twould be a pity if a king couldn't get out of 
 his own kingdom," laughed Tom. "John, I heard 
 you tell the cacique that day he was killed in the 
 fight that we should 
 get out, hook or 
 crook, four months 
 from that day ! 
 
 "Three months are 
 gone, and in one 
 month more I expect 
 to be on my way 
 North. But I've 
 been puzzlin' ever 
 sence to think out how it's going to be did. You 
 are cacique, to be sure, but every priest in this 
 town has his eye on you all the same." 
 
 John smiled. " Did you ever hear of an eclipse, 
 Tom ? " 
 
 A LEAF INSECT.
 
 8o 
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 THE PALM WEAVIL. 
 
 " I don't see how that signifies," said Tom. 
 " Well, you will. The people have been asking for 
 some sign in the sky, of my celestial origin ; and 
 about the time that total eclipse of the moon is due, 
 
 I'm going to proph- 
 ecy of its appearance 
 to the very minute." 
 
 "I don't see how 
 that's going to help 
 us," said Tom. 
 
 A great noise with- 
 out here interrupted. 
 They found the ser- 
 pent had been drawn 
 into the street. The priests learning the cause of the 
 uproar in the cavern had protested against its re- 
 moval. They declared the slaying of the snake to be 
 a crime. It was their Sacred Serpent. Unknown 
 to the people, they had fed him there for years. He 
 was the guard of the secret treasure of the tribe. He 
 had been brought hither from the forests of Tabasco. 
 Every week they had sacrificed to him four sacred 
 rabbits, reared in the seclusion of a distant "holy 
 garden." 
 
 These six .keepers of the temple now followed the 
 men who were removing the serpent. They openly 
 denounced the young cacique. " He has estranged," 
 said they, " the people from their gods. Lo ! the son 
 and daughter of our king are daily wavering in their 
 worship. He tells them there is but one God and 
 that he has no visible shape on earth. Our young 
 sovereigns, no doubt, already believe these heresies. 
 They will soon openly cease to worship at the shrine 
 of Quetzalcoatl. The religion, the priests, the tem- 
 ples of the Itzaes will ere long cease to exist. This 
 city itself will be thrown open to the tread of strange 
 nations ! We warn you ! " 
 
 Sullenly they permitted the passage of the serpent 
 through the temple. They washed the dark stains from 
 the floors in gloom and execration. But that night, 
 in the darkness of their inner sanctuary, they planned 
 a holy scheme of vengeance. 
 
 The serpent was viewed by all the people. 
 Stretched along the marble pavement, it measured 
 eighteen feet in length, and its bulk was prodigious. 
 They admired the wondrous courage of its slayers, 
 but they grew silent in the presence of the priests. 
 This creature was holy : the symbol of the wisdom of 
 their god ; the guard of the temple treasures. More 
 than one gazed upon the white cacique as upon the 
 
 object of some near and mysterious doom. John 
 was informed of the anger of the priests by Prince 
 Zan. He was troubled. He spoke to his father. 
 
 " A struggle with these keepers of the false 
 gods is probably inevitable, and probably near at 
 hand. Let it come. I am not their natural ruler, 
 yet their people are as children in my hands, and I 
 will at least lead them away from the worship of 
 images of stone. Still I am sorry to have offended 
 the priests. But out upon them ! They would have 
 preferred little Xia to be devoured by that monster, 
 rather than that we should have slain him ! " 
 
 " Move cautiously," said his father ; "you are in a 
 bad spot. Appease them if you can. Why not pre- 
 pare the skin of the serpent, and give it to them as a 
 peace offering ? " 
 
 John thought well of this. It was the labor of 
 days, but at last the great serpent was skinned and 
 preserved,, and so well prepared that he looked as 
 though yet alive. Even his eyes shone like the ter- 
 rible eyes of life. The priests received the gift in 
 silence, yet with evident awe and astonishment ; and 
 they set the gigantic creature up under its great 
 namesake in stone, in the inner court. 
 
 Xia had recovered so rapidly that she witnessed 
 the installation of the stuffed serpent in the temple. 
 She smiled but faintly at the ceremonies. " It will 
 please the priests," said she, "but is it not foolish to 
 burn incense before a creature that is so dead ? Teach 
 my people, oh, my brother, about the one true God 
 of whom you speak to me ! " 
 
 The young New Englander turned his eyes away 
 from her gentle gaze. He took her hand in his, but 
 he did not s"peak. He was counting the cost. 
 
 One evening about sunset a trumpet-blast from the 
 sentinel at the eastern gate, who ceaselessly paced 
 the battlements, on the watch for friend or foe, 
 called the people 
 into the royal ave- 
 nue. Tom as chief 
 of the troops has- 
 tened to the sentry- 
 box, and from his 
 elevated station 
 looked out over the 
 valley. 
 
 A solitary footman was crossing the fields. It was 
 dusk when he reached the drawbridge, and, recog- 
 nized as one of the white cacique's body-guard, the 
 ponderous gates revolved and let him inside the walls. 
 
 A " WALKING-STICK."
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 81 
 
 " I return from the hunt," he said simply. 
 The Itzaes who had received him greeted him 
 warmly. 
 
 " Yes ; a long hunt," said Tom, the war-chief, with 
 
 THE RETURN OF THE COURIER. 
 
 a smile, and forthwith took him to John, while the 
 populace dispersed. 
 
 It was one of the couriers who had gone out with 
 the message to Cozumel a month before. He was 
 way-worn, and he limped from a wound in the leg; 
 his bow was broken, his quiver empty, and his shield 
 nearly split in twain. 
 
 John looked at him pityingly. " Your companion ? " 
 asked he. 
 
 He shook his head. In a few words he told the 
 story of the enterprise. The ruler of the Mayas had 
 tried to prevent them from crossing his territory ; but 
 through the aid of Christobal, secretly, they had 
 reached Tuloom. There they found a canoe, and finally 
 reached the island of Cozumel. There, too, they ran 
 a death risk, the mate and Don Pedro taking them 
 for spies from the mainland, and warning them back 
 from the shore with rifles. They held up their let- 
 ters in despair, and that saved them. The overjoyed 
 
 men on the island kept them a week. When well 
 rested they were carried to the mainland in the long- 
 boat, and left with many blessings and cautions to 
 begin the perilous journey back to the Itza valley. 
 
 The Mayas this time detained them forcibly, and 
 confined them in wooden cages. The fourth night 
 this messenger made his escape. He worked desper- 
 ately to free his comrade in the other cage, and as 
 dawn broke in the east they both crept out towards 
 the village borders. But the escape was discovered, 
 pursuit made, and his fellow messenger was sur- 
 rounded, struck down, and borne away. The broken 
 bow and battered shield were evidence that he who 
 had escaped had done so only after a fierce struggle. 
 
 The Indian told his story simply. Something yet 
 troubled him more than his wound ; more than the 
 loss of his comrade. "My master," said he in a 
 broken voice, " my companion had the letters from 
 your friends. I have not one." 
 
 This was terrible news. Their hopes went out. 
 But they determined to rescue the man who had the 
 message. Proclaiming that one of the cacique's own 
 body-guard was held prisoner by the Mayas, war-chief 
 Tom dispatched men ordering the Maya chief at once 
 to set the captive at liberty or the Itzae nation would 
 march upon his territory. 
 
 This done, John, trembling a little at the bold step, 
 turned his attention to the defences of the city. It 
 was possible the Mayas would not wait for attack, 
 but march upon them. Without exciting too greatly 
 the fears of the simple Itzaes, he urged each man to 
 plant every available foot of their gardens with corn 
 and beans. Rooms in the temple and academy were 
 set apart as storehouse and granary, and a portion 
 of the crops already 
 ripe, as it was brought 
 in from the valley sur- 
 rounding the walls, was 
 stored for the general 
 use should need arise. 
 In the pure, dry atmos- 
 phere of this region, 
 these stores would keep 
 for years. The joyous 
 Itzaes were delighted 
 with the prudent fore- RESPLENDENT TROGANS. 
 
 thought of their ruler in preparing for a possible 
 season of drought, or of great rains, for the older 
 ones could recall more than one period of starva- 
 tion, when many of their number had perished.
 
 82 
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 An attack from the Mayas was not generally con- 
 sidered or discussed. Every man worked diligently 
 and cheerfully. 
 
 John often contemplated the scene with a yearn- 
 ing in his heart which disclosed itself in tears. 
 
 o 
 
 Would that he could forever isolate the shining city 
 and its peaceful people from the eye and step of civ- 
 ilization ! 
 
 The four square miles of territory enclosed by the 
 four great walls was one vast garden dotted with 
 pleasant abodes. About a thousand families occu- 
 pied these peaceful dwellings. They constituted one 
 great family, presided over by a royal family an 
 Arcadian kingdom. Harmony and love prevailed, 
 because the thirst for power and the greed for gain 
 were alike unknown here. The priesthood was the 
 only internal element to be feared. Outside the 
 mighty walls, in the moat, all the kinds of water-fowl 
 peculiar to Yucatan sported in the water and built 
 iheir nests in the rushes that lined the banks. 
 Except the few that had been shot by John for 
 specimens for the museum, they had remained 
 unharmed for centuries. In case of siege, they 
 would constitute a welcome addition to the food 
 within the walls. It is true they had no cows, horses, 
 swine, sheep or goats. But fowl they had in great 
 numbers, and wild turkeys abounded, besides a 
 curious native bird somewhat resembling a turkey, 
 called the Hocco. This bird is about half the size of 
 the turkey, and known by the Spanish name, Faisan, 
 or pheasant. Its plumage is very glossy and it has 
 a curious crown of feathers. Its flesh is very delicate, 
 and much superior to chicken. It flocked the moun- 
 tains and sometimes came down into the gardens of 
 Itzamutul. 
 
 The material resources of the city were ample for 
 a year's siege. More fortunate than the Aztecs of 
 Mexico, whose supply of water, conducted by aque- 
 ducts to their capital, was cut off during the siege, 
 the Itzaes obtained theirs from a source within the 
 walls from beneath the city ; from the cavernous, 
 coral rock underlying the whole peninsula of Yucatan. 
 John had found that the Itzaes believed that the 
 great treasure-cave where the serpent was destroyed 
 extended from their city to the sea, a distance of thirty 
 leagues. This he doubted, but still he had not explored 
 the passage that certainly existed, leading off to un- 
 known distances. Pure water they obtained by descend- 
 ing to a natural well near the space allotted as a market- 
 place. He was aware of the very singular fact that 
 
 there are no rivers in Yucatan, or very few that flow 
 above the surface, but that nearly all flow under- 
 ground. They come from no one knows where, 
 and run no one knows whither ! Now and then they 
 break out into one of these immense caverns, and the 
 people living in Yucatan draw all their water from 
 these caves. These are called Cenotes, or "water 
 caves." The water is always pure and cool, always 
 of the same depth, and always of the same tempera- 
 ture. 
 
 It had been a favorite morning recreation with both 
 himself and Tom to watch the Itza girls wend their way 
 towards the great Cenote. One after another they 
 would pass with large urn-shaped jars poised on their 
 heads, chatting and laughing. All at once they 
 would disappear, as though swallowed up by the earth, 
 into a passage winding downwards. This led into an 
 immense chamber, the roof of which was supported by 
 stalagmitic pillars. Passing in beyond they crossed 
 a deep and black chasm, walking firmly upon a single 
 log, and descended a ladder of slender poles, finally 
 reaching the pool. In this way, for hundreds and 
 hundreds of years, had the Itza maidens and matrons 
 obtained water for household use. 
 
 It was one evening after having incited everybody 
 to do his best to put the city in a well-provisioned 
 condition, that John was chatting with his friends in 
 the palace court. " Look ! " he said, " our seldom- 
 seen friends, the priests ! " 
 
 The six keepers of the Sacred Fire came HI, and 
 paused before him. They speedily dispatched their 
 errand. They had found their god greatly incensed at 
 the slaying of the Treasure Serpent, and only partly 
 propitiated by the offering of the Holy Skin. Another 
 thing there remained to do. The mighty young.cacique 
 possessed the gift of bringing to the semblance of 
 life the birds he s-hot in the air and trees. If he 
 would exercise his art upon the Holy Bird of the 
 tribe, the sacred Quetzal, that it might stand forever 
 before their god, beside the Holy Serpent-skin, then 
 would he smile once more upon the nation, and the 
 atonement be sufficient for the sacrilege of slaugh- 
 ter. Then, indeed, they would have an ever-present 
 emblem : Quetzal, the bird of green and golden 
 plumage ; Coatl, the sacred serpent, Quetzal-coatl, 
 the mightiest being of their mythology. Thus might 
 evil be turned into positive blessing. 
 
 John smilingly promised : " Bring me the bird ; I 
 will prepare it with great care for the temple." 
 
 The priests bowed low : " Great king, most royal
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 cacique of Itzamutul, that bird liveth in the mighty 
 forests of Peten, near the lake of the Sacred Tapir, 
 five days' journey hence. If thou wilt consent to go 
 with these, thy servants, we will accompany thee." 
 
 " I will go, my brothers. To-morrow we will start 
 at daylight." 
 
 The sombre-garbed priests bowed once more, and 
 withdrew. As they shuffled through the corridor, Zan 
 and Xia came tripping in to bid their friends good- 
 
 She answered swiftly, with : 
 
 " Listen to me, and you, my brother, listen. Dost 
 remember the legend of our ancestors that they 
 had two gods until their tribes were united ? One 
 was he of the Aztecs, one was he of the Itzaes. 
 The Aztecs were fierce and cruel ; they sacrificed to 
 their god the lives of men and children. It was many 
 years before our ancestors could destroy this wicked 
 worship, and replace it with the true one, with its 
 
 " NOW, OH QUETZALCOATL, THOU ART ABOUT TO BE AVENGED ! " 
 
 night, for it was an Itza custom to say to one another, 
 " May the gods bless thy rest!" 
 
 " What wanted the priests ? " asked Xia, climbing 
 to John's knee. 
 
 "That I go with them to-morrow, to seek the 
 Quetzal, my lady sovereign." 
 
 She could not hide her sudden terror. 
 
 " Ah, no ! You must not do that. You do not 
 know the chief man of the priests, Balam-helam. He 
 has that in his heart that would cause him to kill 
 thee." 
 
 "What, my little Itza queen, are you afraid of your 
 own priests ? " 
 
 offerings of flowers and fruit, instead of blood. Hast 
 never heard of the victim that the Aztecs yearly 
 offered to their idols ? They chose the fairest and 
 most god-like of their young men, and for a twelve- 
 month honored him above all others in the land. As 
 the allotted time drew to a close they decked him 
 with flowers, and carried him through the streets on 
 their shoulders, and all saluted him as a king. Then 
 they led him to their temple, built upon a great pyra- 
 mid of stone there is one, my father told us, at 
 Uxmal. There, in sight of all the people, they 
 stretched him upon a great flat stone. The high 
 priest came, and with his knife of sharpest flint cut
 
 8 4 
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 open his noble breast and tore from it the innocent 
 heart as an offering to their idol. Here, even in this 
 city, those wicked Aztec priests used thus to kill 
 victims, until my people crushed it out this awful 
 worship of blood. 
 
 " Now, what is it I would say to you ? This ! " 
 she pressed her lips to John's right ear and whispered 
 " Balam-helam, our high priest, is the distant son 
 of one of those man-slayers. When I look at him I 
 think he would restore the ancient worship." 
 
 Our brave New Englander was startled as the pos- 
 sible perfidy of the priests was shown to him. But 
 he had given his royal word ; not the fear of all the 
 priests of the peninsula should make him break it. 
 
 Xia on her couch in the farther apartment could 
 not sleep ; through the night she lay tossing feverishly. 
 At dawn she took her station where she could watch 
 the departure of the hunting party : Cacique John, 
 his chief Tom, the two pages, and four priests. 
 
 The high priest had insisted that no men-of-war 
 should accompany them, and John had yielded, relying 
 upon his superior weapons to give him the advantage 
 in case of need. He carried over his shoulder his 
 light bird-gun, well charged with shot, and his revolver 
 was in his belt. Parting from his father whom he 
 left in charge of affairs, he sought the royal children, 
 but they were not to be found. 
 
 It was thought ten days would complete the journey. 
 The first night they camped in the forest. Each 
 party kept by itself. The pages John knew were 
 loyal. But what were they ? Young lads with no 
 weapons but their forest-knives. Under pretence of 
 possible attack from the Caribs, John placed one of 
 the four on watch throughout the night; each had 
 his three hours' vigil. They. were unavowed four 
 against four, John felt. But, standing on the defen- 
 sive, they must seem wholly unsuspicious. 
 
 Four days and nights passed. Their way led 
 through vast and luxuriant forests, where the trees 
 climbed to the clouds, carrying up circling draperies 
 of vines. Birds so strange and beautiful that the 
 young naturalist could scarcely refrain from stopping 
 to shoot them, filled this great wood. Quadrupeds, 
 so rare in museums that they would have brought 
 fabulous prices, crossed their path without provoking 
 a shot. One night they were disturbed by those weird 
 insects, the " walking-sticks," whose slender green 
 bodies looked like animated twigs. Almost as curious 
 were the leaf-insects. 
 
 One morning they saw a beautifully mottled cane 
 
 lying in their path. Tom stooped to pick it up, but 
 one of the pages caught him by the arm. What was 
 his surprise to find this object to be a living and 
 venomous viper, the bite of which was sure and 
 sudden death. 
 
 The evening of the fifth day saw them in the forest 
 of Tikal. It was a weird sight, this forest, for it was 
 filled with ruins of temples, pyramids, and great stone 
 idols ; and altars rose up everywhere. Many hundred 
 years before, it must have been the site of a city ; now, 
 wild beasts lurked behind its altars, and birds, ser- 
 pents and monkeys inhabited the abandoned rooms 
 of the crumbling structures. 
 
 They cleared a room of one building of its rub- 
 bish and there encamped. That night it was John's 
 watch for the three hours preceding dawn, and after- 
 ward he strolled away seeking the Quetzal. He was 
 anxious to terminate this suspense and he resolved to 
 secure the birds that very day and begin the return 
 march the next morning. 
 
 By and by, in the distance, he heard a faint cry. 
 It came nearer and nearer : Cou-rou-cou, cou-rou-cou ! 
 Presently he heard it over his head in a tall spiny 
 palm. Gazing intently he at last saw a golden-green 
 bird, with a long glittering tail, crouched low upon 
 a palm rib. At once he raised his gun and fired. 
 The royal beauty fell at his feet, so glorious in its 
 splendor of plumage that he was lost in admiration 
 and amazement. He raised it from the ground almost 
 reverently. 
 
 An exclamation startled him. He turned to see 
 Tom, the pages, the priests. The report of the gun 
 had roused them all. 
 
 He joyfully held out his prize to the high priest. 
 Balam-helam moved away, his brow darkening. His 
 companions followed him. 
 
 John was surprised. He stood pondering. 
 
 " It is not what they wanted," he said at last, to 
 Tom. Drawing him aside he hastily related the sus- 
 picions of the little princess. " But," concluded he, 
 " we are a match for them. I consider myself 
 absolved from my promises. I have the Quetzal. 
 We will stay here to-day, secure what specimens we 
 can, for the Institution, then make all haste to-morrow 
 to return." 
 
 Balam-helam meantime gathered his three followers 
 in the ruins of a temple near by. " He has done it," 
 he hissed between his teeth. " He has killed the 
 bird beloved ef our deity. I have made sure of the 
 vengeance of our gods. Having also slain the serpent,
 
 CACIQUE JOHN, 
 
 he hath incurred the twofold wrath. They both 
 must die J We will have a noble sacrifice, as of old 
 did our fathers." 
 
 All that day Balam-helam searched the forest, 
 beneath the dampest ferns and rankest vegetation. 
 Digging up the roots of two plants, he returned late in 
 the afternoon to camp. 
 
 "To-night, at the evening repast," said he to the 
 priests, " I will place this root in the soup. It has 
 the power of causing a deep stupor to seize those who 
 eat of it. But this other root note its different shape 
 will prevent the effects of the first, if eaten soon 
 after. See you my meaning ? We have the anti- 
 dote, the strangers have it not. When sleep has 
 seized them, we will call upcn our gods to behold the 
 feasts of old spread before them." 
 
 Grimly at the evening meal the priests regarded the 
 young cacique and his chief. They ate heartily them- 
 
 selves, and no suspicion could have been awakened. 
 At midnight, even the watch slept. There was no 
 need of haste and stealth. Balam-helam laughed 
 aloud, spurning the hated cacique with his foot. 
 
 " Drag them to the altar ! " he cried in evil glee. 
 
 Among the near palms, a giant stone towered 
 above a square block of marble, both hideously 
 sculptured. Upon the marble they stretched the 
 doomed young strangers. The high priest drew the 
 sacrificial knife. 
 
 "Now, oh, Quetzalcoatl, thou art about to be 
 avenged ! Let the blood of these strangers atone for 
 the neglect of the Itza nation these long years." 
 
 He paused transfixed, his hand at the throat of 
 the young cacique, his knife half-raised. John had 
 awakened from his stupor ; his clear eyes were up- 
 lifted, gazing straight into the baleful orbs above him. 
 For a moment Balam-helam shrank abashed.
 
 86 
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 BACK INTO THE WILDERNESS. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 HAT ! falter ! " exclaimed one 
 
 i 
 
 of the under priests ; " give me 
 the knife of sacrifice ! " 
 
 Balam-helam recovered himself. 
 " Back to thy place ! I alone am of 
 Aztec blood ; I alone am of the ancient priesthood ; 
 I alone may appease Quetzalcoatl in his wrath ! " 
 The fires of frenzy were relighted in his eyes. A cry 
 of exultation and hate broke from his lips as he 
 raised the sacrificial knife. A smile followed as he 
 saw John in vain trying to move in the nightmare of 
 the drug ; a great pallor succeeded the smile as he 
 heard a rush through the vine-thicket behind the altar. 
 It was all one flash of action. One instant a spear- 
 point riveted his eye, the next it had pierced his 
 heart. 
 
 The flash of the weapon, the sharp cries, seemed to 
 release John from the deadly stupor. As the high 
 priest fell he struggled to rise, and then his con- 
 sciousness deserted him again, or he had but a vague 
 sense of being the centre of a group of struggling 
 men. One of the priests hurled a knife at his throat 
 but still he lived, though still he could not rise 
 then a spear glittered across his eyes, another and 
 another leaped past like swift lightnings, and after 
 that there was a rush of many feet a confused and 
 wild flight and pursuit ; the forest echoed with terrible 
 cries. Was it a dream ? Was he lying in the old 
 moonlit chamber, in the New England farmhouse, 
 asleep and dreaming, and this tropic forest of sculpt- 
 ured altars and hideous idols, this fray of armed 
 Indians, but a fancy born in his sleep of his evening's 
 reading of the old wizard book ? If Joe would only 
 speak to him and rouse him ! 
 
 But no, it was not a dream ! A soft, warm, dusky 
 arm was thrown around John's neck ; soft kisses 
 were pressed upon his face ; soft Itza murmurs were 
 in his ear : " Do not lie here, brother ! You are free. 
 Come with me, brother ! " 
 
 John's eyes searched wistfully the sweet, familiar 
 face. He raised himself, and took the child beside 
 him. A shiver ran over him as he met the grinning 
 gaze of a huge idol in the moonlight thicket. " My 
 little Xia, how came you here ? " 
 
 But here, trooping back, came other familiar faces : 
 his own guardsmen with their spears and shields ; 
 Prince Zan too. He turned. Tom was at his side, 
 stretched on the broad stone altar, lying in a pro- 
 found sleep. 
 
 It was the work of a half-hour to thoroughly rouse 
 him, as he had eaten heartily of the drugged soup. 
 Only the most vigorous pounding, shaking, dragging 
 about and drenching availed. 
 
 Wet and cold, Tom was thoroughly cross and un- 
 reasonable, and it was some lime before he realized 
 the strange peril in which he had been involved. The 
 two pages were also to be awakened, and it was 
 dawn before they reached the temple where they had 
 camped. 
 
 Then our New Englanders learned the secret of 
 their rescue. It was sweet little heroic Xia who 
 told the story. She and Zan had risen like young 
 sovereigns, and summoned the bodyguard, and suc- 
 ceeded in exciting their 
 deepest fears, and then 
 they set forth on the res- 
 cue, and had given them- 
 selves no rest, except 
 in the darkest hours of 
 night. They had reached 
 the forest of the sacred 
 ruins not an hour too 
 SOOn. Both the children ALTAR AMONG THE SACRED 
 
 , i A i RUINS. 
 
 gazed on them with the 
 
 tenderest love in their looks. John's own eyes filled 
 with tears. Their feet were cut, their faces torn by 
 thorns, their garments in tatters. John almost wept 
 aloud when he saw the gashes in Xia's tender hands 
 and arms. " My own brother could not have done 
 more," said he to himself. " Henceforth they are to 
 me as my own."
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 The guardsmen saw and listened in silence. They 
 were young men, born and trained to fight ; they 
 rarely spoke. They received John's praises with 
 silent gratification. The slaying of the priests had 
 been to them but as an incident of war. 
 
 Feeling all danger past, John and Tom gave one 
 day to the hunt of the Quetzal. 
 
 This bird, aside from its sacred character among 
 the Indians, is a rare and beautiful bird ; a royal creat- 
 ure. It is known to naturalists as the Resplendent 
 Trogon Trogon resplendent. In South America its 
 long tail feathers were worn by the daughters of the 
 caciques. In Mexico, in the time of the Aztec king- 
 dom, only the emperor was allowed to use them. 
 Their plumage is most glorious ; like emerald frosted 
 with gold. They were said to be so proud of their 
 long and beautiful tails that they build their nests 
 with two openings, entering at one side, leaving at 
 the other. The family to which they belong, the 
 trogonida, is found only in the Tropics. We of the 
 North never see a living trogon unless we go South 
 and penetrate the tropic forests. It cannot endure 
 confinement. Like the humming bird, it lives on 
 food that man cannot supply to it in captivity. Six of 
 these magnificent birds were taken back to the city 
 and added to the treasures the young men had ac- 
 cumulated for the museum at Washington. 
 
 The journey back was slow. Xia and her brother 
 were carried in a litter, their wounds and lameness 
 had become so serious. The Indians would have con- 
 structed a litera for Tom and John, and have borne 
 
 them on their shoulders, 
 but this the young men 
 would not allow. The 
 priests, by John's orders, 
 had been reverently bur- 
 ied at the foot of the 
 great altar which they 
 had sought to stain once 
 more with the old Aztec 
 sacrifice. 
 
 The Itza people re- 
 ceived without much con- 
 cern the news from the mountains. They had long 
 turned to the young white men for guidance, for new 
 ideas, and for just decisions. Besides, there were still 
 two priests to conduct the temple worship ; men of mild 
 bearing, whom Balam-helam had not taken into his 
 secret plans ; men who listened with interest when- 
 ever John read in Itza from the Bible men who by 
 
 A TOSSED-UP CAT. 
 
 nature loved the truth. For the time, universal peace 
 and good-will brooded over the ancient capital of 
 Itzamna. 
 
 But John, realizing his great influence and his 
 great opportunity, hesitated sometimes in his work of 
 enlightenment. He knew that the war-like Mayas 
 looked upon the city as the Mecca of the nation. 
 Here were conserved their own ancient gods ; here 
 were the great temples of their religion. The Itzaes, 
 Christianized, would at once be regarded as a tribe 
 of enemies worse, traitors. Dare he take upon his 
 young shoulders the responsibilities of such great 
 changes ? He feared, as matters stood even now, that 
 the Mayas would march against the city as soon as 
 they heard of the death of the priests, even if not 
 incited to do so by the defiant challenge regarding the 
 captive messenger. He congratulated himself that 
 the city was so well prepared to withstand a siege. 
 Farther into the future, even the near future, John 
 dared not look; if he did, a life far different from any 
 he had ever planned confronted him even beckoned 
 to him with imperious finger. 
 
 One day messengers arrived from the Sublevados ; 
 not their own cousins, but two Mayas. However, 
 they bore the detained letters from Cozumel. They 
 explained that the Itza cousins were too fatigued to 
 attempt the return trip without rest, even as they, too, 
 must tarry for refreshment in Itzamna, a few days. 
 
 At ease regarding any immediate enmity of the 
 Mayas, our young cacique and his friends gave them- 
 selves up to the joy of at last hearing from the mate 
 and Don Pedro. Cozumel seemed to them the outside 
 world. Nearly six months had elapsed since the boys 
 had sailed from the island. For half a year they had 
 been buried in this wondrous wilderness without any 
 tidings of the comrades from whom they had been so 
 rudely separated at Tuloom. With hearts throbbing 
 with anxiety, they broke the seals of the two letters. 
 Thus ran the mate's : 
 
 COZUMEL, Sometime in May. 
 MY HEARTIES : 
 
 There ain't words that'll tell how glad Don Pedro and me 
 was to get your letters by the last mail. But it wa'n't no new* 
 to me that you and Tom had found the Silver City. I said to 
 Don Pedro, says I, after we'd got clear of them fiends at 
 Tuloom, 'somehow, I don't have no fears for them two boys; 
 they're like cats, they be ; you may toss 'em high as you're 
 mind to, and they'll always come down on their feet ! ' says I. 
 We had a long consultation about the chances of your being 
 sacrificed by the savages, an' we'd felt pretty bad, for we 
 knew 'twas no use a-follerin' on into a forest full of 'em except 
 that I had that innard faith in your luck. ' Depend on it/
 
 88 
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 VASES IN THE TEMPLE 
 CAVES. 
 
 says I, to Don Pedro, says I, ' them boys is all right. If they 
 ain't jest gone and took the through train for that Silver City,' 
 says I, ' it ain't Jack North that's heading the percession,' says 
 I, 'so the best we can do is to wait and keep a spring on our 
 cable, so that we can light out after 
 'em at a minute's warning,' says I. 
 Now, I'll let you know how we've 
 planned to reach you. 
 
 If the map of Yucatan that we've 
 got is good for anything, there is a 
 deep bay exactly opposite that In- 
 dian capital, Chan Santa Cruz, 
 where you said you frightened 'em 
 so by shooting the owl, and this bay is called Ascension, and lays 
 just about a hundred miles sou'-sou'west of Cozumel, and as near 
 as we can cakelate, about the same distance nor'-nor'east of 
 that air city you was so anxious to git into, and now we guess 
 you are just as anxious to get out of. 
 
 Here is the case as I put it to Don Pedro : Says I, ' if the 
 boys can contrive to git over their hundred miles to the coast,' 
 says I, ' ain't it fair to presume that we can make a run of a 
 hundred more, and meet' em half way ? ' says I. So the case 
 stands about this way : There's an island at the bottom of the 
 bay, called Isla de los pajaros, or the Bird 
 Island. Now we intend to land on Bird 
 Island about the last week in June. The 
 question is, Can you jine us there ? There 
 ain't but two things against it, fust, the 
 chance that these messengers will give our 
 scheme away to the cacique of the Sub- 
 levados. Second, there is your gitting out 
 of the city, as you say no strangers are 
 ever allowed to git out. But if you can't 
 manage this, you ain't what I take you 
 for 1 So I'll leave it that we meet the last 
 week in June. Don Pedro and me will 
 take along our turkle nets, and plenty of 
 
 ammunition, and will cruise about the bay for a month on the 
 lookout for you, unless the savages run us off. And speak- 
 ing of turkle perhaps we ain't got the pootiest lot of turkle 
 shell man ever set his eyes on. Don Pedro and me ain't 
 been loafing any, I tell you. Morning and night we worked, 
 a-turkle ketching and fishing for pearl oysters. You two boys 
 ain't going to want for nothing as long as we live 1 I s'pose 
 you'll come out of the wilderness without any more to your 
 name than a picked chicken, but we've got enough for the whole 
 of us, not leaving out your father. And that didn't supprise me 
 either, your finding of him down there. Following out that 
 clue we got of the shark, I said to Don Pedro, says I, ' that 
 boy'll foller it out; he ain't much on the sea,' says I in fact, 
 he's a regular Jonah but soon's he's set foot on land,' says I, 
 * he's in his native element,' says I. JASN W. WALKER. 
 
 Formerly mate of the Dappled Diver, and now fust lef- 
 tenant in the service of his Majesty, Don Pedro Pinto, King of 
 the Cozumel Island. j. w. W. 
 
 Don Pedro's letter, after the good cheer of the 
 mate's, entertained them greatly : 
 
 WEAPONS. 
 
 ISLAND OF COZUMEL. 
 Mr LITTLE HIJO : 
 
 What has you so long keep you ? Esta cerca ahora 6 meses 
 we no have not hear to you. Parece los salvajes have eat you 
 make ze soup of you. So you have find la Cindad de Plata, 
 tan grande, tan magnificat How much you like ze peepile? 
 Los Indies de Itzae son muy buenos, tienen la cortesia de sus ante- 
 pasados, aunque tienan el culto de Quetzalcoatl. Ze mait el Senor 
 Walker, esta mi buen amigo; tien emucho la simpatia de la cora- 
 zon his hart, eet is right. Amigo mio, tenemos muchos de la 
 tortugas, muchos ! muchos ! panusted y para el Senor Tom Cuando 
 nostros volvermos aqui tendremos mucho de la plata, para usted 
 para su padre, y pava el senor Tom. To do el mundo vill have 
 much dinero ayvery body, he vill have ze rico. Siento mucho 
 que ustedes, have ze bad loock. Espere uptel nosotros a la isla 
 de los pajaros en mes: ve will be zare vizout ze fail in el 'long bote " 
 A Dios! temo borrar lo que escribo con les legrimas que se 
 escapen de mis ojos. Abrago a vd querido amigo y le suplico 
 trasmita, mis afectos a su afreciable familia. Se repite de vd, 
 etc. Ze mait he says zis ees ze first-class Eangliesh. 
 
 PEDRO PINTO. 
 
 "Well," said the young cacique, with averted eyes 
 and grave face, " such of the party as wish to go North 
 will avail themselves of this offer of conveyance." 
 He spoke in a light tone, but his voice trembled, for 
 in this short speech he purposed to announce his 
 determination to remain in the Silver City. 
 
 His father's face was full of grieved surprise. 
 Tom bounded from his seat, and faced John like an 
 astonished exclamation point. But argument and 
 entreaty failed to move him. It was no sudden 
 determination, after all, he said, but a foregone con- 
 clusion. " It would," he said, " be a heartless and 
 unmanly act to abandon his people, and leave 
 them without a ruler, at least during the period of 
 Prince Zan's minority." He had accepted from the 
 dying cacique the guardianship of his two children ; 
 he had assumed the caciqueship 'as a sacred trust 
 until the rightful ruler was of age. Before the Itza 
 people, and in the sight of God, he was under obli- 
 gations to remain. " I have no more right," he said, 
 " to break my faith with an Indian than with a white 
 man. Meanwhile," he 
 went on, " I shall devote 
 my leisure to deciphering 
 the hieroglyphics on the 
 temple walls, and in the 
 bark books of the Memes. 
 If I succeed, a thousand 
 years of history will be 
 added to the triumphs of civilization in America." 
 
 His father brought up considerations of home and 
 
 VASE AND CLAY FIGURES.
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 89 
 
 country, of mother and brother, but it was plain to 
 see that John had settled all these questions with 
 himself long before. " I send them you instead, 
 dear father, for the present," he said ; " mother will 
 be thankful that I dreamed my ' romantic dream,' as 
 she used to call it, since it was the means of your 
 rescue and return, father. Surely I can spare half 
 a dozen years of my young manhood for these im- 
 portant duties of others." 
 
 There was no need now of secret p'ans, and of 
 calculations upon the Indian consternation in the 
 
 THE LAST VIEW OF THE SILVER CITY. 
 
 presence of an eclipse. Even the traditional custom, 
 to let no stranger depart who once had entered the 
 Silver City, would give way before the command of 
 the wise young cacique^ especially were it seconded 
 by the wishes of the royal children. Therefore it was 
 soon understood, though much to the general grief, 
 that sometime in June the war chief Tom, and the 
 cacique's father, were to' depart for the land of the 
 Snow King. The white cacique was to remain. 
 
 The preparations made for departure were very 
 simple. There was little to take away except the art 
 treasures discovered in the temple caverns. These 
 
 were packed in bags of native hemp. There were 
 thirty-three each ; a good backload for an Indian. 
 These Indians, with an armed escort, were to go in 
 night-journeys, with Tom and Captain North, to As- 
 cension Bay, to meet the mate and Don Pedro. 
 This measure was also publicly explained. The 
 Itzaes fully understood that their sacred treasures 
 were to be disposed of to the museums of Europe and 
 America, and that the proceeds were to be divided af- 
 terwards one half of the whole amount to be set 
 aside for the royal children and their descendants, the 
 remainder to be equally divided among Tom and Cap- 
 tain North as John's representative. 
 
 The large amount of Spanish gold supposed to ex- 
 ist in the well was to remain there, since it could be 
 used in time of need in the peninsula, for the benefit 
 of the tribe. 
 
 It was now but two nights before the departure of 
 the party for Ascension Bay. The city had retired 
 to rest, but there might have been seen a strange 
 sight for Itzamutul after dark. The eastern gate was 
 ajar, and, the heavy blocks of marble slowly unclos- 
 ing, a black body of armed men came pushing softly 
 through, and met by the Mayas who had brought the 
 Cozumel letters moved silently up between the mighty 
 statues of the royal avenues. 
 
 The sentinels at the eastern gate had easily been 
 overpowered by the couriers spies of the Mayas' 
 chief and the Mayas were admitted without noise. 
 
 " Two nights later and too late ! " said the 
 couriers eagerly. " The Lords of the Air depart on 
 the day but one, save the great magician, he of the 
 Thunder Weapon." Silently they proceeded toward 
 the palace. The picked men entered the silver door 
 stealthily. When they emerged the three white men, 
 gagged and bound, were led in their midst. 
 
 They were taken before the Mayas' chief. 
 
 " The ones ! " he growled, looking upon them with 
 a countenance of wrath. He turned to the men who 
 had dragged them from their hammocks. " Bring their 
 sandals and their raiment, not their weapons ! We 
 march at once to the hills." 
 
 He frowned upon the pantomime of John's entreaty. 
 No farewells were to be taken of the Prince and 
 Princess. 
 
 "TheTtzaes know not of my coming," said he. 
 "They will believe ye have been transported to that 
 region in the air whence ye came to our country. 
 It is well." 
 
 Silently as they had entered, the Mayas' host had
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 departed through the marble gates and over the 
 drawbridge. The sentinels, bound and blindfolded, 
 knew not who had opened the gates, nor knew they 
 who closed them. The three prisoners, blindfolded, 
 were placed in literas, and on the shoulders of their 
 captors were hurried over the beautiful valley to the 
 hills. As they reached the great forest the chief 
 halted his band and bade them remove the bandages. 
 
 " Look, " he said, " your last upon the city ye 
 would have thrown into rebellion ! Never more shall 
 ye behold its silver walls ! It is again buried, and 
 forever, from the eyes of the white man." 
 
 A bitter cry burst from John's lips. He thought of 
 the tender lives in that city of peace left perhaps 
 to be the prey of their fiercer brothers, the Mayas. 
 John turned an imploring look upon the cacique. 
 He divined its meaning. His stern lips wreathed 
 with a haughty smile. " Waste no pity," he sneered. 
 " We have performed our task. We have saved our 
 gods, our treasures, our holy worship, from your 
 grasp. We again hide our beautiful city from the 
 sight of the world. And as Itza and Maya lived in 
 peace before you came, so will we continue. Ye it is 
 who would have brought enmity between us ! " 
 
 Bathed in the light of the moon, the white walls 
 glistened with a pure and silvery radiance as the 
 host entered the wood, and John had seen the last of 
 the Silver City. 
 
 And now the Mayas' chief came to John's side. 
 Once more he halted his host. "Think not I will 
 spare thee, young wizard, now that I have thee with- 
 out thy magic weapons," said he. " If I do not sac- 
 rifice ye to our outraged god, whose high priest ye 
 have slain, before the sun rises in the east, may I 
 loose my own head! One hour no longer ye 
 may live. Now what have ye to say?" 
 
 It seemed to devolve upon John, the young wizard, 
 to answer. 
 
 John felt his father's eyes and Tom's upon his 
 face. He felt that upon his wisdom their lives too 
 depended. He threw his robe about him with a 
 .haughty indifference. 
 
 " Chief of the Mayas, dost forget you address a 
 chieftain of the God of the Air ? My weapons are not 
 visible to eyes like thine. Will you have a sign from 
 my all-powerful master of what may befall if you harm 
 us ? Behold, then, I warn you, that unless you grant 
 me free passages to the sea, I will call for a sign of 
 near vengeance to appear in the heavens. See ye 
 yonder moon, sailing joyously up the eastern sky ? 
 
 To-morrow night at this very hour she shall suddenly 
 frown upon you and depart for a season into the 
 council chamber of the wrath of darkness." 
 
 He spoke in Itza, and all the host heard and 
 understood. The sentiment of awe and dread during 
 the time of an eclipse is universal among the savages 
 of the globe. Their panic was visible. Evidently 
 they doubted not the power of the young wizard to per- 
 form what he had boasted. The chief himself was 
 deeply disturoed. He drew back from his captives, 
 but John quietly followed him with his calm gaze. 
 He spoke at last : 
 
 " If it befall as thou boastest, thou and thy friends 
 shall depart, and we will escort thee to the sea. But 
 if it come not to pass to-morrow night at this hour, 
 we will wipe thee /d thy mischief forever from our 
 land and our thoughts." 
 
 It cannot be said that the coming event was 
 awaited by the little band of captives without 
 anxiety. What if there were an error of calculation 
 in their almanac which predicted the eclipse ? 
 
 They marched all that day, and at night encamped 
 full forty miles from the starting point. The hour 
 of the eclipse approached. The prisoners were not 
 allowed to converse, but each could see that his com- 
 rades were anxious, depressed. 
 
 For an hour the attention of the Mayas had been 
 directed toward the east, and when the moon rose 
 proudly to view undimmed by a cloud, they sent up 
 a deafening shout of exultation. They would have 
 seized the false prophet there and then, but he waved 
 them back. " Wait ! two more hours yet remain ! " 
 
 They fell back. They waited in suspense not 
 greater than that which settled around the throbbing 
 hearts of their prisoners. 
 
 Two hours passed. And then, lo ! with almost 
 miraculous steadiness of movement even to John, a 
 black shadow began to creep over the surface of the 
 moon. It settled there ; only a narrow rim appeared, 
 surrounding the great black disk. 
 
 The Mayas, with low cries, fell on their faces. The 
 chief grovelled forward to John's feet. He implored 
 the pardon of the captives. " And remove, oh, great 
 magician, that serpent that is devouring the fair and 
 beautiful moon! We are thy slaves, command us! 
 Believe us, we ourselves will conduct ye to the coast." 
 
 It was surely a legitimate triumph of science over 
 ignorance. The young New Englander bowed his 
 head to the All-xvise who had given him his opportu- 
 nities of knowledge.
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 " Rise," he exclaimed ; " the serpent departs. Only 
 see, now, that ye fulfil your promises." 
 
 The warriors gazed upward with awe. The sky 
 was clear. Emerging, the glorious luminary moved 
 on her heavenly course as serenely as before. 
 
 A glad shout arose. Reverently, one by one, the 
 throng kissed the feet of their mighty captives. They 
 were eager to move coastward, eager for the depart- 
 ure forever from these mysterious beings. 
 
 Two nights and days they journeyed. They were 
 loaded with favors, and treated with homage. They 
 
 in Itza. " The moon shall light you night by night 
 till the sun come." 
 
 They lay in their literas and awaited the dawn. 
 They knew the cautious mate would never approach 
 the shore by moonlight. 
 
 The first streak of daylight saw Tom running up 
 and down the sands. " Ahoy ! Ship ahoy ! " he was 
 shouting at the top of his voice. 
 
 "Ahoy yourself! Ahoy!" came back in trumpet 
 tones. 
 
 In another moment a canoe put out from the long- 
 
 THE TRIUMPH OF SCIENCE. 
 
 had no fears of treachery, unarmed though they were. 
 The third night, an hour after sunset, a cool breeze 
 touched their cheeks a breeze from the sea! At 
 midnight the band filed out of the forest upon the 
 sand beach at the head of Ascension Bay. Here the 
 Mayas left them. As the host turned again into the 
 forest, the chief pointed eastward. In the pathway 
 of the moon lay a black object. It was Don Pedro's 
 long-boat. In the gladness of feeling himself re- 
 united with the great world, John waved the Mayas' 
 chief a cordial adieu. "A safe journey!" he cried 
 
 boat, and ten minutes later Mate Walker stood on the 
 beach. 
 
 But no pen can report that meeting. Even John's 
 two fathers. Captain North and Don Pedro, met like 
 old friends, and the Spaniard's joy over his "son" 
 was touching. 
 
 They at once hurried aboard the boat, for, as the 
 mate remarked, "The Indians might change their 
 minds come daylight." 
 
 Two days were consumed on the run along coast 
 to Cozumel, but they were two days of sunny hilarity
 
 9 2 
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 and wonderful yarns. As Tom said, " The Arabian 
 Nights were nowhar' alongside of life in the Silver 
 City." 
 
 John alone was grave. He thought constantly of 
 the children of the cacique, whom he had loved so 
 dearly; of the peaceful kingdom that had been wrested 
 from his rule ; of the tempting historical labors in the 
 temple. 
 
 " Never mind," said the mate. " You've got all 
 your life before you yit, and you may yit translate 
 them works of the wise men yit." 
 
 "We'll go back any time he says so," said Tom 
 eagerly. "Just let me breathe a whisper of them 
 gold and silver treasures in the well, and them glit- 
 tering dishes we packed up only to leave behind us, 
 and I could raise an army of men up home that 
 would sweep the whole country of Yucatan like a 
 new broom, an' not leave a dish or a doubloon, or a 
 bird or a beast ; for its borne in on me that our young 
 king of Itzamna here, is a-mourning for his gor- 
 geous birds about as much as anything had mor'n 
 two hundred kinds of 'em, he had ! " 
 
 " The young king of Itzamna " smiled but faintly. 
 He was thinking of the heartsick surprise of the two 
 royal children when they woke to find him gone 
 gone without a word, without a sign of either expla- 
 nation or farewell, without a hint of return. It was 
 intolerable. " It cannot, it shall not be forever ! " he 
 said to himself again and again. 
 
 There was something in the manner of the mate 
 and Don Pedro that seemed to imply that they had 
 a great surprise in store. 
 
 But the mystery remained unsolved until they 
 reached the shore of Cozumel and turned into the 
 channel that led to the lake, where John had been 
 discovered by Don Pedro after the wreck. 
 
 It was about sunset, and the golden rays lingered 
 upon the tree-tops ; as they struck sail and rowed up 
 towards the cabin, they lighted up, also, something 
 besides a familiar object. The boys were thrilled 
 with an intense excitement, for there lay quietly at 
 her moorings, with masts set and rigging taut, the 
 beautiful shape of the Dappled Diver ! 
 
 11 Thought ye'd be supprised," chuckled the mate, 
 while Don Pedro looked on with smiling eyes, and 
 stroked his long gray beard. 
 
 " Oh, the Don and me ain't been doin' nothin' all 
 the time you was lost," said the mate. " There came 
 a westerly wind one day, and I says to Don Pedro, 
 says I, ' If this wind blows pooty stiddy from that 
 
 quarter long,' says I, ' it may start the Diver off the 
 reef.' And so we took the long-boat and went round 
 to her, and lo and behold, she had slid into deep 
 water, an' would a-drifted off, if it hadn't a-been for 
 them anchors we'd put out when we left her. Well, 
 we jest went to work an' rigged a jury-mast, an' in a 
 week we had worked her around into the lake where 
 you see her now. Ain't she a beauty ! " 
 
 " But where'd you get masts and riggin' ? " asked 
 Tom. 
 
 " Oh, Don Pedro had plenty layin' raound, loose 
 spars and timbers, an' a whole haouse full of ropes 
 
 THE " DAPPLED DIVER." 
 
 and blocks. It was a job to git 'em up, but we had 
 time enough, and we done it at last. She ain't no 
 longer a skewner, as yeu see, but more of a brigan- 
 tine. We couldn't git big enough masts intew her. 
 Jest step aboard and look at her." 
 
 " Neat as a man-of-war," was the verdict of the 
 whole party. 
 
 " And ready tew sail ter-morrer ! " added the 
 mate. " Everything's aboard, even tew the gold 
 which we buried in the tomb. Here's your cabin, 
 John, an' you'll find what valooables you left in that
 
 CACIQUE JOHN. 
 
 93 
 
 chist. You ain't seen it all, neither. Here's the 
 afterhold full of turkle-shell, an' any quantity of 
 turkle ile under the main hatch. The old Diver's 
 tight as a cup ; her cargo of shooks and staves ain't 
 hurt a mite. Now do any of yew draw any infer- 
 ence from this ? " 
 
 "That you'll sail back to Cuba, and finish the 
 voyage," said John. 
 
 " Tew be sure ! " added the mate. " And there 
 we'll load with sugar, m'lasses, and then up sail for 
 Selim ; Don Pedro, he's goin' with us. He is, that's. 
 a fact ; but he's made me promise tew come back 
 an' spend another season a-turklin' with him. We'll 
 spend a month or so at home, an' then come back 
 here some time in November. P'raps we'll all come 
 back, seein' 's how much there is left behind tew 
 square up. P'raps you'll have another whack at that 
 treasure in the city yet, an' see your leetle friends 
 ag'in ; eh, John ? " 
 
 John's face lit up with something of its old fire. 
 
 " Mate, do you really think you'll come back here 
 in November ? " 
 
 "I don't think, I know it," answered he confi- 
 dently. 
 
 " Do you really need me in sailing the vessel to 
 Cuba ? and can't you ship some hands to help you 
 on the voyage home ? " 
 
 "Of course we can; it ain't but four or five days' 
 sail to Cuby." 
 
 "Then, with Don Pedro's permission, I am going 
 to stay on this island till you return ! You can pro- 
 vision me, and leave me a rifle and ammunition, and 
 a boat. You know I want to study natural history 
 here, for one thing." 
 
 Contrary to his expectations no strong opposition 
 was offered by his companions to this romantic prop- 
 osition. 
 
 " Jest as I expected," said the mate. " I told Don 
 Pedro, says I, ' that boy ain't goin' tew be contented 
 to go home,' says I ; ' here he's lost his birds and 
 things, and what's he got tew show for the money the 
 perfesser lent him ? Nothin',' says I ; ' actooally 
 nothinV Don Pedro, he says, says he, ' I'll give 
 him money to pay back the perfesser,' says he, and 
 he'd a-done it, tew. But I says, says I, 'you don't 
 know John North,' says I ; ' he works from a sense 
 of duty, he does. He's sot his heart on gettin' a col- 
 lection of birds, he has, and not all the powers that be 
 is going to turn him away from it,' says I." 
 
 "No," said John, "they couldn't. I've set my 
 heart on a specimen of every bird in Yucatan to 
 take to Washington." But he said nothing of an- 
 other plan on which his heart was still more strongly 
 set : by some means to open communication with 
 Christobal, the kind and powerful war-chief of the 
 Mayas ; that done, he believed he could once more 
 find the path to his precious people in the Silver 
 City. 
 
 With this hope beating high in his heart, while his 
 comrades sailed away in the Dappled Diver, a week 
 later, he watched them from the headland till out 
 of sight, with a strange loneliness, perhaps, but not a 
 pang of regret. And when they had rounded the 
 southern point and stood off into the eastern chan- 
 nel, opposite the reef where the Diver had run 
 ashore, they saw with their glasses his lone figure 
 still walking the sands near the wrecking cabin. 
 
 THE LONE FIGURE ON THE SANDS.
 
 
 ! 
 
 ' I V 
 
 !
 
 MONTEZUMA'S GOLD MINES
 
 CHRISTMAS MORNING WITH THE NEW DOLLS : " You heathen toy, I s'fose you never heard about Christmas, and the Star, 
 and the Child in the Manger, and I will need to have Sunday School for you and the Mikado Baby every day all winter ! " 
 
 MONTEZUMA'S GOLD MINES. 
 
 BY FRED A. OBER. 
 
 (Author of "The Silver City") 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 FAREWELL, COZUMEL. 
 
 T3 ENEATH the golden roof-tree of a palm, on 
 JD the sandy shore of Laguna Santa Cruz, lay 
 stretched the figure of a youth within sound of the 
 surf-beat of the blue and sparkling waters of the 
 Caribbean Sea. 
 
 It is a land-locked lakelet Laguna Santa Cruz 
 on the coast of Cozumel, an island lying east 
 of the mysterious peninsula of Yucatan. Deep 
 and sombre are the woods of Cozumel, containing 
 within their secret depths the ruins of most ancient 
 buildings, pyramids, and perhaps palaces sole 
 mementos of a people passed away. Spicy and 
 fragrant are the gales that sweep over these for- 
 ests and drift languidly across to the main land, 
 laden with the sweets of a thousand blossoms, 
 with the perfume of palms, and the honey-scent of 
 frangipanni. For centuries have these honeyed 
 breezes blown the odors of Cozumel over to the 
 silent main, giving to this fair isle its name, "Coz- 
 umel, Island of Honey-bees." 
 
 The solitary palm that sheltered the motionless 
 form from the sun waved its leaves in the afternoon 
 breeze, sending a flickering play of shadow over 
 the yellow sand beneath, and letting in, now and 
 again, an ardent beam ; but even the piercing 
 shaft of Helios failed to move this sleeper on the 
 shore. The cocoa-nuts above clashed noisily to- 
 gether, the dry flower-spathes rustled against the 
 trunk, and the long branches of the palm swayed 
 this way and that with the coming breath of even- 
 ing; still no movement beneath. Even when a 
 boat-keel grated upon the sand and there leaped 
 out three half-naked men who advanced stealthily 
 upon the slumberer, he stirred not. It seemed then 
 that a quivering shock passed through trunk and 
 branches of the palm, and that she essayed to lift 
 her leaves and beat her stem ; but the wind had 
 wholly died away, and the sun was fast nearing 
 the horizon ; a great red disk in the amber sky. 
 Well might the pitiful palm have shuddered with 
 apprehension, noting what proceeded at her very 
 feet; that the unresisting boy was bound witb 
 twisted cords of bark and borne to the boat ; that 
 the hut in which he had dwelt standing in sight
 
 MONTEZUMA'S GOLD MINES. 
 
 at the edge of the forest was swiftly searched, 
 ransacked and then set on fire. As the flames 
 crackled fiercely amongst the dry leaves that 
 thatched the hut plumes that had once greenly 
 adorned her own coronet Palma saw these wild- 
 looking strangers load the boat with their plunder 
 and push off into the lake. 
 
 The glowing disk in the West extinguished its 
 fires in the Gulf of Mexico ; paler grew the sky, 
 swiftly drawing over its face the curtain of night, 
 spangled with stars ; and then the palm-tree was 
 left alone, brooding above its silent lake, and 
 watching the smoke of the burning hut as it rose 
 upward and drifted over the forest. 
 
 Afloat on the heaving Caribbean Sea, the boat 
 guided by a fierce-gesturing helmsman, took its 
 course northwardly, after turning out of the inlet 
 that, connected with the lake, finally reaching a 
 small vessel that lay in mid-channel. The sail 
 was hoisted and the craft bore away to the north. 
 
 Not till then not till their canoe had been 
 fastened securely astern, and its contents distrib- 
 uted aboard the larger boat ; the unresisting 
 prisoner stretched out under the lee-rail, sheltered 
 by a sail ; and a steaming supper brought by the 
 cook from the caboose did the sailor speak. 
 
 " He sleeps well ! " said the oldest of the trio, 
 indicating by a nod the prisoner under the lee- 
 rail. He was a sturdy weather-beaten sailor the 
 speaker with coarse features, curling black hair, 
 a grizzly beard, and eyes black as night, having in 
 their keen twinkle a suggestion of evil deeds in 
 their owner's past. 
 
 " But well then, Antonio," spoke out the next 
 younger, who much resembled the old man in 
 garb and feature, "what less could he do than 
 sleep ! did not Juanito whisper in his ear the sleep- 
 song of the Mayas ? Will he ever wake ? " 
 
 Juanito was the youngest of the crew, a slender, 
 graceful lad, clad in ragged shirt and trousers 
 through various rents in which elbows and knees 
 protruded. His skin was a beautiful golden-bronze 
 in color, his cheeks flushed with the red of the 
 mango ; his eyes were of soft lustrous black. 
 Grace of motion, fineness and nobility of feature 
 distinguished him from his companions, as though 
 he might have perhaps in him the spirit of the con- 
 quistadores the conquerors of his native Mexico. 
 
 " He will wake at dawn," the lad answered 
 carelessly ; " that is sure enough. But do not you 
 
 dare loosen the cords till I have had a word with 
 him, lest he do harm to some of us." 
 
 The conversation was in rough Spanish. The 
 three fishermen were Mexicans. They had come 
 up from the eastern coast of Yucatan, whither they 
 had gone to fish for turtle, and were now on their 
 way back to the Laguna de Terminos, many days' 
 distant on the other shore of the peninsula. 
 
 " But how did you put el senor estrangero into 
 slumber so lasting ? " asked Manuel, regarding the 
 lad with admiration. 
 
 " Como? How ? Trust Juanito when there is 
 work that needs wits. It was this morning, early ; 
 el solitario was astir with the dawn ; I watched him 
 from the forest ; he came out from his jacal and 
 built a fire in front of it, placing over it the kettle 
 in which he makes his chocolate. Then he went 
 down to the shore, to his canoa, and before he 
 came back I had been at the fire ; I had lifted 
 the cover of the chocolate, I had dropped into it 
 the sweet gum." 
 
 "Thou didst well," said the grim and grizzly 
 Antonio. " Without thee and thy sleep-song el 
 estrangero might have been even now hunting the 
 forest for the night-birds of Cozumel, and it would 
 have fared hard with us had we attempted to cap- 
 ture him when his eyes were open ! His enemies 
 fear him and admire him : the young Gringo ! " 
 
 "But why," asked Manuel, "have we taken him?" 
 
 " Are not five hundred pesos de oro a good rea- 
 son ? " laughed Antonio. " Si, amigos, five hun- 
 dred dollars for Antonio as master of the vessel, 
 and one hundred for Juanito, and one hundred for 
 Manuelito ! " 
 
 "Ah!" said Manuel thoughtfully. "But yet, 
 wherefore ? Why did we steal upon this stranger, 
 abduct him from an island all uninhabited save by 
 himself, destroy his property, and burn his dwell- 
 ing down ? Who pays the pesos de oro ? " 
 
 " Softly, amigo mio; the end is not yet. We do 
 this youth no harm ; he will be set free again 
 perhaps. And now, who pays ? and why does he 
 pay ? Didst ever hear of Christobal ? " 
 
 "Who has not heard of the dread chief of the 
 Sublevados ! " cried Manuel. " Did he not descend 
 upon my own fishing-camp, two seasons ago, de- 
 spoil it, and murder two of my companions ? " 
 
 " Thou hast seen him then ? " 
 
 " No good Mexican ever saw Christobal and es- 
 caped to tell of it."
 
 M O NTE Z UMA 'S GOLD MINE S. 
 
 " So ? Still them hast seen him. Dost remem- 
 ber the night we were anchored in Espiritu Bay, 
 under the lee of the mangrove islet ? " 
 
 " I remember," broke in Juanito ; " I rowed you 
 ashore, and you talked two hours with a tall and 
 stately Indian while Manuelito watched, rifle in 
 hand, ready to fire at el barbaro, should he attempt 
 to harm us." 
 
 " True ; and yet Manuelito has not seen Chris- 
 tobal ! " 
 
 " Was that Christobal ? Dios mio ! " 
 
 secret of their origin, and even going down into 
 the country of los barbaros, whence they returned 
 uninjured though Dios knows they may not have 
 deserved at all a safe exit ! But they returned to 
 Cozumel, and his companeros sailed away North 
 without him, leaving him there alone. 
 
 " Now, answer for yourselves like true Mexicans : 
 Did those companeros intend that el solitario should 
 remain here alone forever ? Did they not certainly 
 intend, instead, to return leading armies prepared 
 to invade the country, carry the Sublevados into 
 
 THE SLEEP-SONG OF THE MAYAS. 
 
 " None other most famous of the Sublevados, 
 our most revengeful enemy. Now listen, and I 
 will tell what he had to say to me to me, Antonio 
 Caravel, humble fisher of turtle on the shore of 
 Yucatan." 
 
 Antonio paused, for he had been eating all this 
 time ; took a long draught from a water-gourd, and 
 then began a singular narration : 
 
 " You must know that this young American came 
 here to our country uninvited ; that he and his 
 companions roamed through the sacred forests for 
 months, shooting the wild birds and beasts, peer- 
 ing into the ruined temples as if to pry out the 
 
 slavery, and plunder the sacred cities beyond ? Of 
 this Christobal feels certain. Though he be a sav- 
 age Christobal has the wisdom of chieftains. This 
 was the subject of our converse on the Espiritu 
 sands. Sure it is that Christobal feared an invasion 
 of Americanos, and engaged me to remove the guide 
 this white bird-hunter kill him he dare not, 
 mind you all ! No army without a guide and 
 leader can penetrate the sacred interior. So would 
 the invasion come to naught forever. So it was 
 the great Sublevado ch.ief gave to me the seven 
 hundred pesos de oro to remove the dread Gringo 
 from the island, to a place far and forever distant
 
 MONTEZUMA'S GOLD MINES. 
 
 and this we have done, and two hundred pesos 
 are yours, my friends. Let us to the division." 
 
 Manuel and Juanito eagerly assented, for their 
 fingers had been itching for a grasp on the leath- 
 ern pouch which Antonio had brought aboard with 
 him and carefully stowed away in his bunk. 
 
 He went below, now, and then came up, the bag 
 in his hand, pouring its contents out upon the top 
 of the "house." The sloop was sailing along on 
 level keel and the glittering coins did not roll 
 away. Beneath the dim light of an oil lantern 
 suspended to the main-boom they clustered around 
 their treasure, with hands trembling for its divis- 
 ion. The man at the wheel and the cook were the 
 only other members of the crew ; the latter was 
 busy in the galley, but the former stood just 
 behind the group, and saw the shining heap of 
 silver and gold as it poured from the inverted bag. 
 He could not restrain an exclamation of wonder, 
 and craned his neck to look over Antonio's shoul- 
 der, letting slip his hold on the wheel for a mo- 
 ment, thereby causing the craft to lurch, setting 
 some of the pesos rolling wildly about the deck. 
 
 Antonio jumped up with a cry, while the helms- 
 man recovered himself, and the two companions 
 scrambled after the fugitive coins. These -were 
 soon all gathered again, apparently, and they pro- 
 ceeded to count them, dividing the gold from the 
 silver. But the number of pesos did not tally with 
 Antonio's expectations; there were two onzas of 
 gold missing two golden doubloons of sixteen 
 dollars each. 
 
 "That rascally Pedro," muttered Antonio. 
 " Why didn't he mind the sloop ! Hola ! Juanito, 
 you're sitting on an onza ; get up, sly thief, and 
 render over the other ! " 
 
 Saying which, Antonio excitedly reached out 
 and snatched a gold piece from under the strip- 
 ling's leg. 
 
 " Give me the other, perillo. dog of a boy, or I'll 
 throw you into the sea ! " 
 
 Juanito protested ; he had not seen the other, 
 and his sitting on the one was an accident. An- 
 tonio refused to believe him. Gathering the coins 
 into the pouch, he hurriedly thrust it into a corner 
 and advanced threateningly. But Juanito was a 
 plucky youth who had always fought for a living, 
 and had held his own. Seeing the old sailor's in- 
 tention, he backed up against the rail and drew 
 his knife. Then Antonio smiled diabolically, 
 
 made a feint at him with his left hand and, as the 
 knife flashed out to meet it, stooped quickly, 
 seized the boy by the leg, and whirled him over 
 the rail into the sea. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE DESCENDANT OF MALINCHE. 
 
 There was less of confusion on board the sloop 
 than one unused to Mexicans would have expected. 
 At the time they were running very near an island 
 with white ledges jutting out into the water, an 
 islet densely covered with vegetation. The helms- 
 man was for putting the vessel about and throwing 
 a rope to the boy who was swimming lustily astern. 
 But Antonio forbade : 
 
 "Let him alone; the water will cool his blood. 
 Run into yonder bay, where the rim of sand lies 
 between the two cliffs. He will follow." 
 
 Hurling a malediction at the swimmer, he turned 
 on his heel. Soon the bay was reached a little 
 cove, rather and the dying breeze, cut off by 
 the cliffs, drove their bows gently upon the sand. 
 Anchor was thrown out, master and mate leaped 
 ashore. Then Juanito, sullenly shaking the water 
 from his face, reached up for the gunwale and 
 climbed over in. He found the cook and helms- 
 man laughing over the affair, and soon he saw that 
 his master, having had the best of it, had con- 
 cluded to forget the quarrel, especially as he had 
 discovered the gold-piece, under a coil of rope. 
 But Juanito had no intention of forgetting. That 
 sudden plunge into the dark waters which were 
 sometimes swarming with sharks was not an 
 agreeable incident. He paid no attention to the 
 overtures of Antonio. Refusing to go ashore and 
 join the others, he crawled off upon the deck, 
 where he divested himself of his scanty garments 
 and wrung the water from them. As he was 
 reaching out for a blanket, in which to wrap him- 
 self, for the night was cool, his arm was arrested 
 in mid-air by a slight movement of the hitherto 
 silent prisoner who lay where they had stretched 
 him out under the gunwale. The ringers of his 
 left hand were working feebly, as if to untie the 
 withes that bound the wrists. 
 
 Following up, with a glance, from the hand to 
 the head, Juanito was met by a flash from a clear 
 brown eye, which gazed into his unflinchingly, and
 
 MONTEZUMA'S GOLD MINES. 
 
 yet inquiringly. The light from the lantern fell 
 directly upon the prisoner's face, bringing it out 
 clearly, as he lay on his back in the semi-dark- 
 ness. It was a young, handsome, white "Amer- 
 ican " face. As the Mexican lad gazed at him 
 a look of admiration sprang into his eyes. Then 
 a sudden flash of resolve crossed his face like 
 a brilliant smile. He gathered the blanket about 
 him, advanced, sat down by the prostrate form, 
 took the weak hands and began to unbind the 
 wrists. Suddenly he stopped short. 
 
 Bending down to the prisoner's ear, he whis- 
 pered: "Habla usted Espanol? Do you speak 
 Spanish ? " 
 
 A movement of the head answered him. "So? 
 Then you can understand. If I unbind you, you 
 will not try to escape not to-night? Nor will 
 you harm me ? " 
 
 "No." The answer came huskily, as though by 
 great effort. 
 
 Then Juanito again attacked the withes, nor did 
 he desist until the young man was free. After 
 several efforts to regain his feet " el Norte Amer- 
 icano" as Juanito designated him in his mind, 
 finally reached a sitting posture, aided by his lib- 
 erator. He looked about him, in a dazed way, 
 leaning against the rail, breathing heavily, and 
 evidently with difficulty. 
 
 Juanito regarded him critically. "That will 
 pass," he said half to himself, "that will pass 
 very soon. Lie down again, I advise you," he 
 whispered in Spanish. " You will breathe better. 
 Then, too, Antonio is there on the beach ; he 
 should not see you. You of course do not know 
 Antonio. But so do I. Therefore I hate him ! 
 Also you should hate him. You and I shall have 
 a revenge ! They will sleep on shore, but just 
 now they are coming aboard. Therefore lie down." 
 
 The brown-eyed lad fell back listlessly in his 
 first position. The master of the vessel stumbled 
 past without noticing him. He paid little atten- 
 tion either to Juanito, simply ordering him to take 
 some bedding ashore, and the cooking utensils. 
 Then securing the bag of money and a bottle of 
 aguardiente, and casting a glance around to see 
 that the vessel was in proper trim, he and Manuel 
 rejoined the cook and the helmsman on the beach. 
 
 It was at about three o'clock in the morning 
 that Juanito crept quietly to the bows, a sharp 
 knife in his hand. Twenty minutes later, or there- 
 
 abouts, the white stranger, still lying under the 
 lee-rail, heard a soft splash in that direction ; then 
 the young Mexican came aft to him, and grasping 
 his arm, motioned him to look over the rail. He 
 raised himself painfully. He could see that the 
 black cliffs seemed moving past them. It was 
 with a faintly-perceptible motion, at first; but soon 
 the white line of sand grew blurred, ;nen dimmer 
 and more dim, finally fading away completely in 
 the darkness. The clear brown eyes turned in- 
 quiringly upon the boy. Juanito chuckled, and 
 rubbed his hands : 
 
 " Do you know what I did ? No ? I cut the 
 cable ! " 
 
 "You and I are free, then ? " murmured the pris- 
 oner, also in Spanish. 
 
 " Free ? Yes ! Only not so fast. Old Antonio 
 has his rifle. And how would you like to hear a 
 bullet singing over you, or boring a hole through 
 you, perhaps ? / have heard old 'Tonic's bullets 
 hiss and sing; yes, and they were sent after me, 
 too. Si, senor Americano ; my old master stops not 
 to think when he feels anger ; he fires at you first ; 
 perhaps then he reflects who knows! Senor, I 
 am different ; it is not a very little that makes me 
 in anger ; but then I wait and think long how I 
 can best pay back. We will not pay back for 
 throwing me into the sea, and for dragging el senor 
 from his island ? O, no ! He will not feel the loss 
 of his good sloop, with its cargo of fish and turtle- 
 shell ? O, no ! And he will not miss the faithful 
 Juanito, either, who has done his bidding these 
 many years ? O, no ! " 
 
 Juanito looked as though revenge was sweet. 
 
 " It is sometimes better not to take revenge, my 
 friend," said the weak voice at his elbow, dreamily.' 
 
 Juanito stared at him. Even the padre, priest 
 of the village where he was born, stood on his 
 defence and retaliated. But his companion was too 
 weary to talk, even to return his gaze. He showed 
 no anxiety, no interest in his own fate. Juanito 
 desisted from questioning him, and crept softly 
 below. Just before dawn he came again, bringing 
 with him food and drink. The " North Ameri- 
 can " mechanically roused to take the nourish- 
 ment, and with a grateful sigh he acknowledged 
 Juanito's cold sponging of his face and hands and 
 neck. Then he seemed to look about him, scan- 
 ning the open sea with interest. 
 
 They had, by this time, drifted out of sight o
 
 6 
 
 MONTEZUMA'S GOLD MINES. 
 
 the shore-line of the island, although not out of 
 sound of its surf which beat upon the rocks with a 
 dull roar. The night-breeze still blew brisk in the 
 channel between island and mainland, and they 
 slowly drifted within its influence. Then, when 
 Juanito thought the creaking of the blocks could 
 not reach the shore, he hoisted the sail, carefully, 
 an inch at ^ Sme, his prisoner getting on his feet 
 to assist. The craft felt the new impulse, and 
 moved more swiftly; the wind was from the east, 
 and blowing them farther and farther from the 
 island. 
 
 Placing the stranger at the helm, with directions 
 to shape a course northwardly, Juanito, in obedi- 
 ence to his sailor instinct, proceeded to make 
 everything ship-shape on deck ; but presently he 
 came aft again. The gray of dawn was now tak- 
 ing the place of the star-lit darkness, and he ex- 
 tinguished their light, which had been anxiously 
 guarded. "We will watch with our own eyes for 
 land and enemies, amigo" said he. 
 
 There was need to watch. Mugeres, the island 
 on which the crew had been left in slumber, was 
 not entirely desolate; a fishing village lay on the 
 other side, and Juanito knew this, and also that 
 the old captain would lose no time in crossing the 
 long stretch of scrub-forest that lay between him 
 and the village to secure a vessel for pursuit. 
 
 He also knew that the deserted mariners would 
 not awake till daylight, and that it would take them 
 at least three hours to reach the village. Perhaps, 
 at least he hoped so, still another hour would be 
 wasted in securing a boat. He calculated, then, 
 upon having nearly half a day's start of his pur- 
 suers ; but he knew that he must rely more upon 
 his knowledge of the inlets and lagunas of the 
 coast, than upon the sailing qualities of the sloop, 
 which was not by any means a fast one. 
 
 The day passed and night fell again. Unless 
 they wished to sail up into the unknown expanse 
 of the Gulf of Mexico, they should now change 
 their course ; but instead, Juanito held the more 
 northwardly, till midnight, in order to baffle the 
 enemy, who knew the coast even better than they 
 did. Then he changed again, due southwest now, 
 having reached a point nearly one hundred miles 
 from land. 
 
 As they sat together after putting the sloop 
 about, Juanito suddenly interrogated his prisoner : 
 'What does el senor Americano call himself?" 
 
 "My name," the American answered, "is Johrt 
 -John North." 
 
 "Juan Norte; and mine, too, is John Juanito. 
 Juanito Alcantara, senor, alsenncio de usted at your 
 service. And what was el senor doing down here in 
 Cozumel ? For what was he waiting in Cozumel?" 
 Why did the chief of the Sublevados pay great 
 pesos to rid Cozumel of el senor a boy like me ? "" 
 
 "Christobal ! " cried the American with interest.. 
 "Was this ship in the service of Christobal ? " 
 
 Juanito told the story of the drugged choco- 
 late, and gave him Antonio's account. The young 
 prisoner smiled at the great chief's fears, but as 
 Juanito talked he revolved many things in his- 
 mind, and half resolved that there should be an 
 "army" and an "invasion " not of soldiers, as the 
 great Maya chief had feared, but of scientists and. 
 explorers an army with torches and spades.. 
 Once more he would behold his little Princess Xia 
 and her brother, and this time he would remain, 
 and give the Silver City a strong and wise govern- 
 ment. His heart beat high at the thought of the- 
 true and tender and trustful young Princess.. 
 "With Xia and Zan, and their people, will I abide," 
 said he. Ah ! what a dream ! Sitting there on 
 deck of the kidnapped sloop, with no human be- 
 ing in reach except this golden-skinned young 
 Mexican, how was he to reach home and secure 
 the money and the men for explorations in Yuca- 
 tan ! Mysterious and terrible Yucatan ! O for 
 money ! A million was not too much ! 
 
 With a sigh he turned back to Juanito : " Why- 
 was I left in Cozumel ? Because I would be left- 
 I had an unredeemed promise to the United States- 
 Government. I had promised the Government 
 specimens of the birds of Yucatan. I staid to do 
 it. I had nearly done it. I should have shipped 
 them North within the year. Now you have un- 
 done my work. You have burned my specimens, 
 my journals, my three years' work ! My future 
 too, and the future of others ! " 
 
 "What will el senor do? " said Juanito humbly. 
 
 " El senor " set his white teeth. " I will go^back 
 to Cozumel," said he. " But I will first go home 
 for men and money." 
 
 " I will get money for el senor, and I will be one- 
 man for him," said Juanito. 
 
 John smiled. But Juanito's soft big black eyes- 
 were fixed on him gravely. " I can serve el Norte 
 Americano" he said.
 
 MONTEZUMA'S GOLD MINES. 
 
 John smiled again, and patted the bronze hand 
 that lay on the gunwale as he might have patted 
 the head of a dumb, loving dog or horse. 
 
 They sailed for days, taking watch and watch, 
 sleeping and waking by turn. But at last, one 
 afternoon, the Mexican came and said, "Another 
 night and one part of a day and we shall sail into 
 River Coatzcoalcos. There we come beyond reach 
 of my master." 
 
 " And when we have reached a port will my 
 friend Juanito send word to Antonio that his prop- 
 erty is there, waiting to be restored to him ? " 
 
 The Mexican looked at him steadily for a space. 
 
 " SeTwrito, ' Little Master,' " said he, " you are 
 older than Juanito. You have had learning set be- 
 fore you in the schools. You have had father and 
 mother to teach you good from the bad. Juanito 
 has had no school ; nobody cared ; only Antonio 
 took him that he might have one to work for him, 
 to do for nothing what others do for pay. Ten 
 years Juanito has served Antonio. Faithfully Juan- 
 ito has served him. What has Juanito to-day ? " 
 
 The boy stood erect, with his great black eyes 
 overflowing with emotion, and pointed to his scant 
 and ragged garments. "This is all, seTwrito all 
 that Antonio has given for ten years' service ! " 
 
 It afterward transpired that the boy had been 
 for years as a slave to the turtle-catcher; this was 
 his first break for liberty. It was but fair, to his 
 mind, that he should seize the craft if he could 
 as an equivalent for all the debts of the past. 
 
 His New England-born companion was touched 
 by this plea for justice ; he felt a thrill of compassion 
 for the boy. He resolved to secure him his dues 
 if possible. Yet of course the Mexican's property 
 must be restored. But he wisely deferred further 
 discussion until a time should come for action. 
 
 Meantime through all his conversation a name 
 had been ringing in his ears : Coatzcoalcos. 
 
 " Why do we go to Coatzcoalcos, Juanito ? " 
 
 " Because " the boy hesitated ; " there we may 
 escape Antonio." 
 
 " Is there no other reason ? " 
 
 The streak of red in the boy's cheek spread 
 beyond its accustomed limits. Then he answered : 
 "Juanito has friends there." 
 
 " At the port ? " 
 
 " No; in the interior, on the llanos ; there Juanito 
 was born ; there his ancestors lived, for nearly 
 three hundred years." 
 
 "That is a long time." 
 
 " Si, my family is a very old one, senor" 
 
 " Old as the Conquest ? " 
 
 " More than that," answered Juanito ; " before 
 the Spaniards came here my people ruled this re- 
 gion. Does 'Little Master' know about the Con- 
 quest ? " 
 
 " Yes ; I have read of it in history." 
 
 " Then he knows that Cortez, the Great Captain, 
 came here ; even just here ; he sailed along this 
 very coast; he landed at Tabasco." 
 
 "Yes, Juanito, I know; it was in 1519." 
 
 " Then the senorito knows that when he came to 
 Coatzcoalcos he was met by some of our caciques, 
 who presented him with a beautiful Indian 
 maiden ? " 
 
 " Yes, Juanito ; it was the most romantic episode 
 of that gloomy campaign. And she was a blessing 
 to Cortez and the Spaniards, this Indian maiden, 
 for she served them as interpreter and brought 
 over to their cause many other Indians." 
 
 " Amiga, you tell it well, better than Juanito can,, 
 because he has not seen it in the books ; Juanito had 
 it from the stories told him by the old ones. But 
 Malinche, the beautiful Indian girl, was a prin- 
 cess of Tabasco, was she not ? She followed the 
 fortunes of el capitan, Cortez, faithfully, did she 
 not ? And then, after the wars were over, she 
 returned to her own land, to her own native town, 
 and there dwelt in honor, did she not ? " 
 
 " Yes, Juanito, you and history agree." 
 
 Juanito's eyes were glowing, his form dilated, 
 and his handsome face was alive with feeling. 
 
 "Malinche was of royal blood. Antonio often 
 laughed at me because I claimed her as my ances- 
 tor and was proud of it." 
 
 "Do you mean, Juanito, that you are a descend- 
 ant of Malintzin, the heroine of the Conquest?" 
 cried John, thrilled with the most romantic aston- 
 ishment. 
 
 "Si, seTwrito ; and in her own town, on the land 
 that once was hers, I, Juanito, lived, when a child." 
 Then a fierce gleam lit up his face, and he added : 
 " But how did Juanito live there ? Does the senor- 
 ito know ? No ? He lived there as the child 
 of slavery! Si/" This last word was hissed 
 forth, as a serpent might have uttered it. "Sif 
 On the land once his family's own, secured 
 to it by the country Malinche saved to tne 
 Spaniards ; taken from it by sons of those same
 
 8 
 
 MONTEZ UMA 'S GOLD MINE S. 
 
 Guachupines, and with it our freedom ; Maldicion ! " 
 
 John gazed at the lad. This was most stirring, 
 most strange ! But why should it not be true ? 
 Juanito was a handsome lad, as fine in form and 
 feature as the cherished young Prince of the Silver 
 City. He took his hand. " Heaven help us 
 both ! " said he gently, in Spanish. " Let us stand 
 by each other." 
 
 He left him at the helm and went forward to tend 
 the sail. But when he returned, Juanito's excite- 
 ment had not gone down. His dark face was 
 almost beautiful with its glows and reds as he 
 turned to John, and spoke rapidly : " Does el 
 seTiorito wish much for money ? " 
 
 "Yes," said the "Little Master," with a smile, 
 " that he does." 
 
 " Juanito means immense riches ; gold and sil- 
 
 JUANITOS COLD BATH. 
 
 ver by the ton ; so much that the ' Little Master ' 
 might build a Silver City himself." 
 
 John laughed. " I shouldn't mind being as rich 
 as even that, Juanito." 
 
 "The richest mine in the world would that 
 tempt Little Master to take a long journey ? " 
 
 "Probably." 
 
 " Will he take it at once ? " 
 
 "As soon as the existence of this magic mine 
 shall be made clear to him," laughed the Little 
 Master. 
 
 "But it is clear. At least it can be with the 
 help of senorito" 
 
 "You speak in riddles, Juanito. Come now, 
 tell me to what mine do you refer ? " 
 
 " My friend has heard of el rey Montezuma ? " 
 
 " Of course he has heard of that famous Mexi- 
 
 can," said John. He turned now n, Juanito with 
 more attention than he had ao yet shown. 
 
 " He was the great King of the Aztecs," went 
 on the young Mexican with kindling eye. " He 
 had gold, gold, gold, chambers of yellow gold. 
 Where did he get it, Little Master ? " 
 
 "I have heard," replied John, "that he got it 
 from the mines of Malinaltepec. My father told 
 me much of these same mines, Juanito. My father 
 was for many years a prisoner among the fierce 
 Lacandones. There he learned much of the secret 
 of the Aztec treasure. When he went home to 
 the North, he left me the description of the mines. 
 I used to dream sometimes in Cozumel that I 
 would go and search for them. But I always saw 
 many obstacles in the way ; I cannot speak the 
 language of the Indians of the country holding the 
 mines, and now I have lost the clue my father 
 gave me. You burned it, Juanito." 
 
 " What was the clue, senorito ? " 
 
 " It was a book, written by Cortez, the con- 
 queror, and in it were described the mines of Mon- 
 tezuma, and the way to them." 
 
 " Dios mio, seTiorito ! Then if we had that book 
 how easy all our desires would be fulfilled ? " 
 
 " I do think we together might possibly have 
 found the ancient mines," said John. 
 
 "But why not try without that book? Juanito 
 knows all the Indian knows about the treasure- 
 vaults ; he can speak the Zapotic, that is spoken by 
 the Indians of the hills; and he knows the direc- 
 tion to reach that region. More than this, amigo, 
 look!" He thrust his hand into his bosom and 
 drew out a little leather case, which was suspended 
 about his neck by a string. " Always I carry this 
 with me ; it has in it the proof of my descent from 
 Malinche, and it has but let senorito trust me. 
 It was a gift from a great chieftain of the hills to 
 Malinche. It is three hundred years old and 
 more, Little Master." 
 
 The boys talked far into the deepening after- 
 noon. No more fascinating and romantic matter 
 ever occupied two lads. No stranger situation 
 could be. The most wonderful adventure was 
 possible. They were already so near the coast 
 that another hour would land them on the myste- 
 rious historical shores. The slant rays of the 
 sinking sun bathed a white sail and the glistening 
 walls of a town in golden sheen.
 
 MONTEZUMA'S GOLD MINES. 
 
 BY FRED A. OBER. 
 
 (Author of" The Silver City") 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 FREEDOM FOR JUAXITO. 
 
 A NARROW inlet broke the line of coast ahead 
 of them. This inlet, Juanito remembered, 
 led to a placid lagoon behind the sand-hills. So 
 he stood in for the bar at its mouth, guiding his 
 course by the foam-flashes of the breakers, and 
 dexterously threading the narrow and winding chan- 
 nel. Finally gliding into smooth water, behind the 
 medanos, or sand-hills, they felt a security they had 
 not experienced for several days. 
 
 " We can rest now, Little Master," said Juanito ; 
 " and if that sail we saw should follow, and should 
 chance to be an enemy I suppose the great bird- 
 hunter can use a rifle ! " 
 
 Once they thought they heard the flapping of sails, 
 and hoarse shouts ; but no further noise disturbed 
 them, and they went to sleep. 
 
 When they awoke, it was broad day ; the tropic 
 sun was laughing at them over the tree-tops. 
 " Senorito" said Juanito, "Little Master I call 
 you that because you are the leader-born the 
 wind is rising, and we should at once sail out into 
 the river." 
 
 A town lay at the mouth of the Coatzcoalcos ; 
 but this they managed to avoid by taking a swampy 
 passage leading out of the western end of the la- 
 goon. Emerging they entered the great river, and 
 aimed to reach another town, twenty miles higher 
 up, which, Juanito said, was called Minatitlan. 
 The current was swift and the wind fitful, as great 
 trees rose high above the swampy shores, and they 
 were obliged often to labor for hours at the oars. 
 Late in the afternoon they reached the town, five 
 hundred miles distant from the island they had 
 drifted from the week before. It was not an at- 
 tractive village, being mostly Indian huts. But 
 they were not travellers looking for attractions ; the 
 village was the starting-point for a long overland 
 journey into the interior. It was the first stepping- 
 stone, in fact, across the unknown distance between 
 them and the misty region of gold. 
 
 They drew up to the rotting wharf, both too 
 busy to notice a man apparently in waiting; a 
 man who looked at the two young sailors as though 
 sighting along a rifle-barrel. 
 
 Juanito suddenly saw him. " As I thought ! " 
 exclaimed he. " That boat in sight, as we entered 
 the inlet, held Antonio and Manuel. So, Little 
 Master." 
 
 "Welcome, caballeros, welcome to Minatitlan!" 
 That harsh and jeering voice belonged, without a 
 doubt, to the old grizzly Antonio. He threw his 
 head back and laughed at the sight of his ship and 
 his slave. Another man, who had run rapidly up 
 into the town, as Juanito and his craft had hove 
 in sight, now came back, an alcalde and three 
 rusty, ragged soldiers at his heels. They were 
 dirty, and under-sized these soldiers their mus- 
 kets rude rattling old weapons of a pattern quite 
 unknown to John ; but the men were backed by 
 the majesty of the law, resistance would have 
 been useless, and our young New Englander 
 waited in silence. Juanito, with an imprecation, 
 took up a rifle ; but John restrained his movements 
 by a motion, and he dropped it, shrugged his 
 shoulders, and the next moment was following 
 gloomily after his companion as he climbed to the 
 wharf. 
 
 The ferocious-visaged Indians marched them 
 both off to the calaboza, or jail, a stone building 
 with massive walls, and thrust them into a mouldy 
 room with a single grated window, swarming with 
 innumerable cockroaches and centipedes. 
 
 John said nothing, did nothing, for a while. He 
 sat as if in a stupor. But Juanito, glowering at 
 the dungeon door, sullenly occupied himself with 
 whetting his knife upon the stones of his cell. " It 
 is for Antonio," he muttered ; " if I can get at him 
 only, I will pay him his wages. He has earned 
 wages of me. I owe him debts, large debts, Lit- 
 tle Master." 
 
 John looked at him with a gesture of disappro- 
 bation. After a moment he said, " You believe in 
 me, Juanito ? You trust me, do you not ? " 
 
 " Si, senorito."
 
 MONTEZUMA'S GOLD MIXES. 
 
 " Do you not believe that I can cope with An- 
 tonio, that I can set you free from him?" 
 
 Juanito hesitated ; he had great faith in the 
 young white man, but he knew Antonio. " Antonio 
 is a crafty dog, senorito" 
 
 " Without doubt, Juanito. He shall do you jus- 
 tice, however. Revenge we do not want, do we, 
 amigo ? " 
 
 Amiga -^ "friend;" this word seemed to touch 
 the Mexican lad. "Amigo" he syllabled softly, 
 instead of replying to John. In years and years 
 nobody had called him " friend." " Senorito" he 
 said at last, laying down his knife, rising to his 
 feet, and looking up at John, " I am not yet worthy 
 to be called 'friend.' Juanito has yet to atone for 
 stealing the Little Master from the Isla Cozumel. 
 How can the Little Master trust Juanito that 
 Juanito who did Antonio's bidding on Cozumel 
 that Juanito ? " 
 
 " Because," answered the American, " the Juan- 
 ito who did Antonio's wicked work is not the one 
 who now confesses it." 
 
 " Es verdad" admitted the boy, "it is true. 
 There was a good Juanito hidden within the bad 
 one, all the time ; but he might never have come 
 up into the light had it not been for senorito. So 
 it is that the good Juanito will ever 'be at his ser- 
 vice. But the bad one thirsts for revenge upon 
 Antonio " he added fiercely, " thirsts ! thirsts ! " 
 
 They sat conversing late, then lay down to sleep 
 upon the stone floor. No beds, no food had been 
 provided. 
 
 Early next morning, however, the jailer came 
 with a simple meal ; and at nine o'clock he came 
 again, followed by the alcalde and his soldiers, who 
 escorted them to the tribunal before which the old 
 turtle-catcher had brought complaint. There sat 
 the judge, a kindly-looking old man, with white 
 hair and moustache, and black twinkling eyes. 
 
 Both Antonio and Manuel were there, and they 
 sprang to their feet with a fierce scowl as the 
 young men entered. The alcalde, bearing his sil- 
 ver-tipped wand of office, led the way into the 
 court-room and assigned to each his place. This 
 done, he looked about him savagely, and waved 
 his wand, as though to say : " You see me, Don 
 Mariano de la Angostura, alcalde of this district ; 
 show me a bigger man, if you can." Then he sat 
 down, and glared at everybody in general. 
 
 Antonio, corroborated frequently by Manuel, 
 
 narrated how it was that his boat had been taken 
 from him, but saying never a word as to the pre- 
 vious happenings of the voyage. 
 
 After this account was finished, John was called. 
 The judge, knowing that he was an American, as- 
 sumed that he could not speak Spanish, and sent 
 out for an interpreter. 
 
 " Pardon, your honor," said John, " but I can 
 speak Castilian a little." And then he gave, in 
 Spanish, an account of the taking of the sloop. 
 
 The judge seemed to be captivated by his straight- 
 forward bearing, and by the purity of his speech. 
 "Ah," he murmured, " es Castiliano puro it is 
 the Castilian of old Spain." 
 
 To the evident surprise of Antonio, John had so 
 far confined his story solely to the seizure of the 
 boat. But now, that told, he paused. Then fixing 
 hie gaze upon the judge, he said : " Your honor, 
 may I ask a single question ? " 
 
 " Certainly ; par su puesto go on." 
 
 " Your honor, I would like to ask, What is the 
 penalty for kidnaping ?" 
 
 " The penalty, upon good and sufficient proof is 
 death!" 
 
 John turned towards Juanito's master ; the old 
 Mexican shook visibly. His face took on an ashen 
 hue. His eyes glared, and his hand fumbled at 
 his belt. 
 
 " Senor Americano" said the judge, "you imply 
 something serious by this question. Have you 
 any charge to prefer against any one here ? " 
 
 John hesitated. He had no desire for revenge. 
 He did not care to drag this unhappy man to jail. 
 Much less would he bring about his death. He 
 was saved immediate actfon by the old turtle- 
 catcher himself, who, with a fearful cry, dashed 
 away, followed by Manuel. But they leaped 
 through the doorway only to encounter the fixed 
 bayonets of the three soldiers, who halted them, 
 and then compelled them to return. 
 
 The judge eying the men sternly, again told 
 John to prefer his complaint. 
 
 " I would rather refer them to the clemency of 
 your honor," replied the young man. 
 
 " So it may be," said the judge, " but acquaint 
 me with the circumstances." 
 
 Then John told the story of his enforced depart- 
 ure from Cozumel, such gaps in the narrative as 
 he could not fill being bridged by Juanito. 
 
 " You have just cause for at least incarcerating
 
 MONTEZUMA'S GOLD MINES. 
 
 these men for life," the judge said when they had 
 finished. 
 
 " Your honor, I desire nothing for myself." 
 Then he told the story of Juanito's long slavery. 
 " I do ask that reparation be made this young 
 man," he said, with sudden fire in his eyes, " for 
 long years of unrequited servitude ; and also a 
 complete legal release from his master." 
 
 The judge reflected a few moments, shading his 
 face with his hand. There was a humorous smile 
 on his lips as he delivered his decision : " Senor 
 Antonio, you received, from the savage, Christobal, 
 seven hundred pesos de oro for the performance of 
 a work that might have brought upon you the 
 severest penalty of the law. Since this generous 
 stranger waives his right to complain against you, 
 I may release you from certain legal consequences 
 of that deed, but on conditions : What have yo'u to 
 say against forfeiting your ill-gotten gold ? " 
 
 Antonio's features writhed with the anguish of 
 one having his heart-strings severed ; but he said 
 nothing. 
 
 " However," continued the upright Mexican, 
 " in view that you have suffered much inconven- 
 ience by the loss of your boat for a time, and have 
 been at some expense, I merely order that you 
 divide equally with your companions the sum given 
 you, and give to your former servant, Juanito, a 
 release forever from service." 
 
 There was no appeal from this decision. Before 
 they left the hall, the money was divided, and the 
 papers drawn up and signed by which Juanito re- 
 ceived absolute freedom. 
 
 It should be explained, in this connection, that 
 in Mexico (even at the present day, although slav- 
 ery was abolished sixty years ago) thousands of 
 Indians are held in bondage. For by Mexican 
 law, if one of them incur a debt, he must repay it 
 with his labor. The landed proprietors, the own- 
 ers of Haciendas, or large estates, thus hold their 
 peones, or laborers, by a grip as strong as ever 
 existed in days of legal slavery. They take good 
 care that their servants never get out of debt, and 
 ever remain slaves. Even death does not release 
 these victims, for their obligations descend upon 
 their children, and through them to their remote 
 descendants. One of Juanito's ancestors had been 
 made the victim of this iniquitous law, through the 
 conspiracy of the Spanish rulers, and hence his 
 family had rested under the ban of peonage. It 
 
 was through purchase of this obligation that An- 
 tonio had acquired possession of Juanito, while 
 other Mexicans held other members of his family. 
 By the sentence of the Minatitlan judge, the lad 
 was now rendered a free man, forever released 
 from all claims, and in full possession of his rights. 
 He was so stupefied at his good fortune, that he 
 could only cling to his padron's hand, and kiss it 
 gratefully. 
 
 But when it came to the division of Christobal's 
 gold, Juanito refused to take the portion counted 
 out to him ; he would have none of it it was the 
 price of a crime. Nor would he take it in consid- 
 eration of his ten years of toil. But let Antonio 
 look to himself ! if ever he crossed his path ! 
 
 "My son," protested the judge, "I shall take 
 this money for you. I will give your friend here a 
 receipt the time will come when you will see fit 
 to call for the gold and will be able to make good 
 use of it. What is your name ? " He paused, pen 
 in hand. 
 
 "Juanito Alcantara, your worship," answered 
 the lad, still glowering at his old master. 
 
 " Alcantara ! What ! But surely not of the fam- 
 ily of Tuxtlas ! " 
 
 " The same, your worship ! " 
 
 " Mother of Mercy ! " cried the judge. " What 
 wrong that a descendant of our Princess should 
 have been in slavery. May God requite your 
 sorrows ! " 
 
 He evidently regarded the lad with interest from 
 this moment. " Jesu ! " he muttered, turning away. 
 "And this in the native province of his noble 
 ancestress! What wrong! what injustice! No 
 wonder is it that the gentle spirit of the great 
 Princess walks the old gardens of Chapultepec ! " 
 
 He congratulated the young men warmly on 
 their escape from the turtle-catcher, plainly believ- 
 ing that John had been destined for as bad a fate 
 as Juanito's. " Dios mio /" he exclaimed again, 
 addressing John, "that the descendant of the 
 kind Malinche, of the noble Knight Jaramillo 
 he of the Conquistadors should have served as a 
 fisherman's slave ! He belongs in the royal city, 
 in the Street of Medinas ! The blood of the 
 Aztec Princess shows in his cheek and in his eye 
 see ! " 
 
 In truth Juanito had flushed and kindled as he 
 heard the judge recount his historic ancestry, 
 and brow and cheek flamed anew now at the
 
 12 
 
 MONTEZUMA'S GOLD MINES. 
 
 sense of his long slavery. " I hate like the Span- 
 iard ! " he cried out fiercely. " I cannot forgive 
 like the generous Malinche no ! no, not yet ! " 
 he added, meeting John's eyes. 
 
 The romantic story of Donna Marina, the Aztec 
 interpretess for the Conquistadors, had long ago 
 been familiar to John in the pages of Prescott, 
 and now the strange incidents came one by one 
 back into his remembrance as he sat in the dingy 
 old Mexican law-court. Was this golden-skinned 
 youth indeed a descendant of a royal standard- 
 bearer of the time of Cortez and the Conquest 
 
 then, is at your disposal while you make your 
 plans. My advice and assistance also are at your 
 service." 
 
 After a moment's reflection, John confided to 
 him that they had intended to go upon a journey 
 of exploration, more or less extended, into the 
 interior. 
 
 The judge told them to bring their effects from 
 the vessel, while he would send out to find them 
 some trusty canoemen, since the river was their 
 route for the present. 
 
 Manuel and Antonio had disappeared as soon 
 
 IN CUSTODY: ON THE WAY TO THE TRIBUNAL. 
 
 Don Juan Xaramillo, one of Cortez's Castilian 
 Knights ? This living paragraph of old history 
 almost confused his brain, intimate with romance 
 as he had been in Yucatan. His proposed quest 
 for the lost gold mines appeared to him, for the 
 moment, no fantasy. He reverted to the old New 
 England farmhouse, his father and mother and 
 brother, and questioned his own sanity. 
 
 Meanwhile he was listening to the courteous 
 words of the high-minded old Mexican judge. 
 "You are here strangers, and worse. My house, 
 
 as released ; but with a soldier the young men 
 overtook them before they had launched the boat, 
 and they were made to deliver over Juanito's few 
 possessions. They did this with ill-grace. They 
 swore, as soon as they were safe in mid-stream, 
 that they would be amply revenged for all their 
 trouble. 
 
 " Let it so stand," cried Juanito, hurling back 
 their taunts ; " but remember that I too have 
 accounts to settle ! You have not finished with 
 your slave ! "
 
 MONTEZUMA'S GOLD MINES. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 IT? TFF COATZCOALCOS. 
 
 John and juanito remained guests of the judge 
 for two days, during which time the Mexican ex- 
 erted himself to the utmost to forward their plans. 
 He engaged a great canoe with rowers, provisioned 
 it for the journey, and gave them medicines to 
 ward off the evil effects of the malarious climate 
 of the lowlands. He asked no questions. But 
 when one day they mentioned the locality they 
 intended to explore, his black eyes twinkled : " It 
 is a grand search, young men. Say not a word. 
 I would join you, were it not for my age and fam- 
 ily. I too have had my dreams. But bring to me 
 some memento of il rey, if it be only a hatchet of 
 copper." They promised, laughingly, to bring him 
 one of the largest nuggets of gold, making no ef- 
 fort to dispel his sagacious conclusions. 
 
 On the morning of the third day they said adios, 
 and launched their canoe upon the great river, 
 alone again, with no company but the sinewy In- 
 dians tugging at their paddles. They were on a 
 tropical river, where palms rose on each bank, 
 projecting their heads above the mass of vegeta- 
 tion that walled them in ; where vines hung from 
 sombre trees and fell to the water vines span- 
 gled with flowers, and odorous with a thousand 
 blossoms ; where orchids and wild pines sat 
 astride great branches and shot into the air their 
 spikes of bloom, and lianas hung like cables and 
 cordage from the leafy canopy above. The solemn, 
 sullen river rolled on its dark flood without a 
 sound, and the paddle-dips and cries of their boat- 
 men alone disturbed the silence. 
 
 It was not once absent from the young com- 
 mander's mind that they were voyaging through a 
 country rich in aboriginal traditions and in mem- 
 ories of the Spanish Conquest, and he would 
 gladly have halted on his journey to penetrate 
 within and examine places where interesting 
 events had taken place. All the region he hourly 
 left behind was once astir with martial music, 
 and the forests about Tabasco and Coatzcoalcos 
 alive with gathering hordes of angry Indians, 
 assembled to repel the invaders. For there Cor- 
 tez landed, in 1519, and had his first conflict with 
 the natives ; and there the first horses ever upon 
 the soil of Mexico were brought into terrible 
 
 contact with the Indians. Against fearful odds, 
 fought the poor people who were thus invaded, 
 put to defending themselves on their own soil; 
 and when they had brought up their well-trained 
 troops in masses and hurled them upon the 
 Spaniards, and the strangers were about to re- 
 treat, there then appeared the apparition of the 
 horses, Cortez's cavalry, brought from Cuba, of 
 fiery chestnut horses in glittering caparison. As- 
 tonished, the poor creatures gazed with awe at 
 these fearful monsters, pawing, snorting, scream- 
 ing, rearing. They had never before seen an 
 animal larger than the tapir of their forests ; and 
 when, simultaneously, the black-mouthed cannon 
 began playing into their ranks, they abandoned 
 their positions, together with their freedom and 
 independence, and fled. Man for man, with their 
 weak shields of quilted-cotton, they had been 
 nearly a match for the mailed warriors of Cortez , 
 brave and worthy Indians under the leadership of 
 valiant chiefs, true patriots. But the horses and 
 the cannon appalled them, as later they appalled 
 Montezuma himself. They sued for peace, and 
 begged pardon of their conquerors. After Cor- 
 tez's soldiers had retired, hundreds of wounded 
 creatures Juanito's countrymen must have 
 crawled into these forests to die while the smoke 
 of their burning houses floated in the air. 
 
 This was three hundred and sixty years ago, 
 and since that time the natives a brave people, 
 John knew from both Bernal Diaz and Prescott 
 had been more or less under the influence of the 
 Spaniard. Juanito told him, however, that in 
 their religion they were still more pagan than 
 Roman Catholic, still dancing savage dances 
 about their altars and sacred images. 
 
 Three days of this water-travelling, halting at 
 night for a camp, and pushing on rapidly soon 
 after sunrise, brought them to a point where the 
 stream became narrow, winding, and shallow. 
 Here it was determined to take to the woods ; the 
 Indian canoemen, transforming themselves into 
 carriers, were to leave the boat hidden in the 
 rank grass (which now overhung the water) and 
 transport their effects two long days of travel still 
 further into the deep and mysterious forest. It 
 had seemed forbidding enough, as they viewed it 
 from the boat ; but now that they were to penetrate 
 it, and wind their way between the slimy tree- 
 trunks and amongst the dripping growth of vines
 
 MONTEZUMA'S GOLD MINES. 
 
 and parasitic plants, the real obstacles of the jour- 
 ney seemed for the first time to appear. 
 
 Two days and nights they were buried in the 
 gloom of the great forest; they camped where 
 darkness overtook them, resuming their journey 
 at daybreak. On the afternoon of the third day, 
 worn down with fatigue, they found a clearing in 
 the wood, through which their trail led. The 
 small thatched hut was surrounded by a half wild 
 garden thinly planted with shrubs that John had 
 never seen before. They were about two feet 
 high, some of them bearing small reddish flowers 
 
 IN TOKEN THAT HE WAS UNARMED. 
 
 and some long crooked pods containing yellow 
 seeds ; while all had curious winged leaves. 
 
 The owner of the clearing soon appeared, and 
 was surprised at seeing strangers, and a white man 
 amongst them. But he invited them in and set 
 about preparing a meal. John questioned him, 
 through his own Indians, as to the strange shrub 
 in the garden, and was told that it was a dye-stuff. 
 They gave him its Aztec name, Xiuhquilipitzahuac, 
 and told him it grew wild throughout Tabasco, 
 Chiapas, and Yucatan. After puzzling over it 
 some time, it suddenly occurred to him that it was 
 
 indigo, a native plant of the country, cultivated and 
 in use by the aborigines before the Conquest. 
 This indigo has several species, represented in 
 both hemispheres, which produce the famous dye 
 known to the ancients of Egypt and India; the 
 Mexican species being known as Indigofera anil. 
 
 This clearing in the forest, letting in the sun- 
 light amongst trees that would have been unnoticed 
 in the general gloom of the thick woods, brought 
 to light many species, among them mahogany and 
 rosewood. One tree which our young naturalist 
 noticed, growing among the rocks, with a large 
 trunk, straggling branches, and fragrant flowers 
 of lovely red, proved to be the rare Brazil-wood 
 (Caesalpina Brasiliensis) the heart of which not 
 only furnishes a rich red dye, but is susceptible 
 of high polish. This poor Indian, indeed, was 
 surrounded by precious woods that, on the coast, 
 would have made his fortune, but here were not 
 worth the cutting. The crowning proof of the worth- 
 lessness of these rare and beautiful woods when 
 far from a market, was found in the Indian's hog- 
 pen, for it was of rosewood. 
 
 The Indian himself was insensible to the won- 
 der his useless riches excited, and never looked 
 up from his hospitable labor. When this was 
 done, he invited John and Juanito to sit down on 
 a mahogany log, and eat. He answered briefly all 
 questions, but never once asked of the strangers 
 whence they had come, where they were going, or 
 why they had paid him this unexpected visit. 
 
 " Did you notice the Indian, when he passed us 
 the water-gourd ? " asked Juanito of John. " Did 
 you mark how he clasped his left hand with the 
 right, and bowed low, as he gave it to you ? " 
 
 "Yes. What did he mean by it? I thought it 
 a peculiar performance." 
 
 "He meant nothing more than his ancestors 
 had taught him ; it is an ancient custom. It sig- 
 nifies that he is your servant, your most humble 
 senridor; and he clasps his hands together the 
 wrist of one with the hand of the other that you 
 may see he has no weapon ready to stab you with. 
 He belongs to a most peaceful tribe ; but they 
 were not always so peaceful. Once was, when they 
 fought with the Spaniards, and they were hard to 
 be subdued. Even when they were their servants, 
 they were rebellious, and dangerous. So, their 
 masters ordered that whenever they came near 
 them they should clasp their hands together, or
 
 MONTEZUMA'S GOLD MINES. 
 
 hold them out, in token that they were unarmed." 
 
 " He differs from our Indians, in many ways," 
 said John. " He seems to belong to a new tribe." 
 
 " Yes, and it shows that we have nearly reached 
 the end of our foot-march, Little Master, and are 
 near the great hacienda the judge told us of, where 
 we get horses. This man is a Zoque, belonging 
 to a tribe living on the skirts of the hills we seek 
 to penetrate. Let me question him. 
 
 The Indian seemed surprised. " Why, maestros, 
 you are even there ; a day's march further shows 
 you el hacienda grande" 
 
 " Are there horses there ? Can we find caballos 
 for a journey over the hills ? " 
 
 "Caballos ! hay millones, maestros ; millones !" 
 
 " Let us go on at once," urged John. " I am anx- 
 ious to get astride a horse and find this great and 
 gloomy forest behind me." 
 
 But Juanito objected. It was late in the day; 
 he thought it better to stop with the Indian, and 
 make the trip by daylight. "Juanito know this 
 land best," he said proudly. He yielded, however, 
 to John's arguments. Giving the hospitable Indian 
 a silver-piece, they were about to depart, when he 
 stopped them. 
 
 " The sehores had better not camp in the forest. 
 Here is the cabin of their servant; let them take 
 and occupy it, he will himself give it for their use 
 solely. In the forests' are serpents muchos ser- 
 pientes more than a rod in length ; and los tigres 
 which devour all travellers by night." 
 
 " The Zoque speaks truly," said Juanito ; " the 
 forest ahead of us, as it is higher up, holds more of 
 wild beasts ; it is better to stop, Little Master." 
 
 But John laughed and shouldered his rifle. 
 Juanito, with a flash of wrath from his black eyes, 
 took up his and, motioning the Indian carriers to 
 follow them, strode into the wood. After two 
 hours' tramp they entered an opening, where a lit- 
 tle stream flowed beneath some giant trees. It 
 seemed a good place for a camp, and they threw 
 down their burdens. A fire was built, chocolate 
 was boiled, and as darkness descended they were 
 ready for the hammocks already stretched between 
 the trees, when Juanito said, "Juan hopes Little 
 Master may wake on the morrow." 
 
 "O," laughed John, "these are not my first 
 nights by a forest fire. You forget my experi- 
 in Yucatan." 
 
 Those experiences in Yucatan ! Again the tale 
 was told for the Mexican lad, and again they dis- 
 cussed the plan of a forced return to the Silver 
 City. Then they reverted to the lost gold mines 
 of Montezuma, and speculated upon the chances 
 of finding the book of Cortez. " I mentioned the 
 book to the judge," said John, " but though he 
 has a fair library himself, he had never seen this 
 volume. He had heard, however, of it, in the 
 library of the Institute at Vera Cruz ; and if it 
 should seem absolutely necessary we could make 
 a journey there and read it." 
 
 " It might save us time, then," said Juanito. 
 " Who can tell ? Juanito can lead to the region 
 of gold, but he may be months seeking the mine's 
 mouth. Yet that too Juanito can do." 
 
 John lay long awake, looking up into the leafy 
 canopy overhead, a covering so dense and dark 
 that no portion of the sky could be seen. His 
 thoughts went back to his first meeting with the 
 boy. He admired his courage and pride, and ad- 
 mitted that there must be great native goodness in 
 him some drop of Donna Marina's generous 
 blood to survive the base, hard treatment of the 
 past ten years. He would do all in his power re- 
 develop his better qualities and to shape his future.. 
 
 With this renewed resolution, John endeavored 
 to shut his eyes for sleep ; but they persistently 
 fastened upon a bright thing, like a diamond, glis- 
 tening in the tree above ; it might have been a 
 drop of water ; but it glittered more brightly mo- 
 ment by moment and seemed to move slightly as 
 now his steady eyes regarded it. He could even 
 believe, at last, this diamond drop to be set in a 
 round and glistening head, which presently length- 
 ened itself into a dark and sinuous body, winding 
 about the thick branches of the tree in countless 
 convolutions. But now an oppressive sense of 
 sleep long deferred asserted its claims, weighed 
 his eyelids down, and he closed them, at last, and 
 slumbered heavily. 
 
 Had he remained awake he would have seen 
 the diamond disappear, the convolutions separate, 
 and again combine, the dark body glide lower and 
 lower. He saw nothing, however; and knew 
 nothing, until wakened by a sense of suffocation. 
 Then he shouted hoarsely, as he struggled to free 
 himself from the slowly-compressing folds that 
 enwrapped him : " Juanito ! Juanito ! "
 
 MONTEZUMA'S GOLD MINES. 
 
 BY FRED A. OBER. 
 
 (Author of " The Silver City.") 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 FOREST, CAMP, AND SADDLE. 
 
 JUANITO ! " The cry was half stifled, but the 
 young Indian heard it, and leaped from his 
 hammock. The carriers also sprang up and 
 darted towards the spot indicated by the voice. 
 It was so dark they could scarce distinguish the 
 writhing bulk of the boa from the human form it 
 had enclosed, and they hurriedly lighted torches 
 at the smoldering embers of the fire. They were 
 not startled by the sight that then met them, for 
 they lived in a land of serpents ; but they uttered 
 cries of sympathy for el capitan, as he lay, help- 
 less, motionless, within that horrid coil. The 
 weight of the boa had dragged one end of the 
 hammock to the ground, and John was entangled 
 in its meshes, as well as held fast by the serpent 
 which raised its head when the Indians approached, 
 and opened its flexible jaws as if to engulf its 
 prey at once. There was no time to lose, and 
 they lost none, but with their great forest knives 
 hacked at head and tail until the proud crest 
 drooped and the scaly coils loosened. Juanito 
 had guided the Indians, fearlessly seizing the sup- 
 ple neck and endeavoring to drag the head away 
 irom such close contact with his master's face. 
 Now extricating John's senseless figure, with the 
 help of the Indians he bore it to the bank of the 
 stream. 
 
 John proved to be not severely injured, how- 
 ever, though sprained and bruised, and he sat up 
 with his men the rest of the night about the camp- 
 fire, not caring to seek the hammock again, and at 
 the first signs of daylight they turned their backs 
 upon the tragic spot and took up the line of march 
 for the hacienda. It was slow and painful march- 
 ing to John, at least, but he bore it in silence, 
 realizing that his bruises and sprains had been 
 caused by his own obstinacy in refusing to listen 
 to advice, a fact upon which Juanito generously 
 forbore to comment. 
 
 At noon, they emerged upon the skirts of a 
 clearing, and a vast plain lay before them, green 
 with springing grass and dotted in every direction 
 with horses and cattle. Far off, in the midst of 
 this plain, they could see the white walls of the 
 hacienda to which they had been directed. This 
 they reached about sunset, approaching its great 
 walls with feelings of joy and relief, for they had 
 good reason to expect shelter and food, as Juanito 
 assured them that no person was ever yet turned 
 away from a Mexican farmhouse when in search 
 of either. 
 
 They were not disappointed; they were over- 
 come, in truth, by their reception. Halting on 
 the flags of the broad veranda, they sent in by a 
 mozo (or man-servant) the letter given them by 
 the Mexican judge at Minatitlan. It seemed but 
 a moment, and that the mozo had had hardly time 
 to traverse the hall, before the haciendado ap- 
 peared, the letter in his hand, and hastened 
 toward them with beaming face. 
 
 " Is it the Senor Norte that I address ? " he said, 
 holding out his hand, and then embracing John, 
 throwing both arms about him, first with his head 
 over one shoulder, then over the other, and all the 
 time patting him on the back with both hands and 
 pouring forth inquiries after his health and the 
 health and welfare of his friends at Minatitlan 
 this was John's first experience of a Mexican wel- 
 come. Juanito received only a pat on the shoul- 
 ders. 
 
 They followed Don Augustino within that was 
 his name Don Augustino Diaz del Campo, as 
 he told them with many a wave of his hand, and 
 adding with his hand on his heart, " servidor de 
 ustedes your humble servant, whose house is en- 
 tirely at your disposal, and all there is in it mi 
 casa esta muy d en disposition, senores, y todo que lo 
 contiene." 
 
 This fine announcement turned out to be no idle 
 Spanish compliment either. A bountiful dinner 
 was soon spread before his guests by Don Augus- 
 tino ; a dozen courses, ending with frijoles, or
 
 MONTEZUMA'S GOLD MINES. 
 
 beans of the country, and coffee, from his own 
 plantation. Then, seeing that they were exceed- 
 ing weary, he sent them off to bed, with a hearty 
 buenas noches, declaring that though he was on the 
 point of perishing for news from the coast he 
 would wait till the morrow. 
 
 Their sleep was of the soundest, even though 
 John soon dreamed himself into a conflict with a 
 boa-constrictor, and awoke two or three times, 
 bathed in perspiration, and with a choking sensa- 
 tion. The morning found them refreshed, and 
 they appeared on the veranda just as Don Augus- 
 tino rode up on a powerful horse from making the 
 rounds of his plantation or rather, from receiv- 
 ing the reports of his overseers. Coffee was 
 brought them, and then it took half the day to 
 satisfy Don Augustino with news, for he had seen 
 no white man from the coast in nearly a twelve- 
 month ; and had not been off his hacienda in twice 
 that length of time. 
 
 This was our New Englander's first view of a ha- 
 cienda outside of books. As he talked with Don 
 Augustino, he looked around him with interest. 
 The house was of stone, long, low, massive, with a 
 broad veranda on two sides, and divided into 
 numerous great, bare, cool rooms. At a respectful 
 distance an immense wall surrounded it, so high 
 that nobody could climb over, so strong that 
 nothing much short of an earthquake could shake 
 it down, and so white that you could hardly look 
 at it when the sun shone on it. A great gateway 
 gave entrance to the space within by day, but at 
 night a barred and bolted gate closed out all in- 
 truders. Under the shelter of the wall within were 
 the lowly huts of the peones, the laborers, nomi- 
 nally servants, but in reality the slaves of the pro- 
 prietor. Yet they seemed contented, these swarms 
 of Indians who labored for Don Augustino, and 
 were, perhaps, willing to be in debt, so long as 
 they were never called upon for payment in any- 
 thing except the labor of their hands. The haci- 
 enda seemed as strongly built as if intended for a 
 fortress, and Don Augustino assured him that it 
 was considered necessary as Mexico was a land 
 of pronunciamientos or revolutions, and that any 
 day a revolutionary chief might appear before the 
 walls and demand heavy tribute. The Don took 
 this state of affairs lightly, however ; and he con- 
 fessed to having more acres of land than he ha.d 
 ever visited, and more cattle and horses than he 
 
 had ever counted. As for his Indian peones, he 
 took no note of their number, but let them come 
 and go, and draw their rations at their own sweet 
 will. He lived alone in his great house, and he 
 strongly urged the young men to stay with him, 
 promising to give them horses and land enough to 
 satisfy the most covetous and to enable them to 
 pass their lives in ease. 
 
 But it was not a tempting offer to either John or 
 Juanito, and after a week of rest and pleasure with 
 the kind hariendado, they signified their intention of 
 departing. They had already mentioned that they 
 should need horses to ride and a mule to carry 
 their luggage, and Don Augustino had promised 
 to supply them. He took them out into the corral 
 now and bade them take their choice, saying they 
 could have any animals they fancied. 
 
 The corral was full of horses and colts, a hun- 
 dred or more, and it was a difficult matter to 
 select ; so the major-domo (the farm overseer) 
 drove up two beautiful mares, a black one and a 
 chestnut, saying they were as good as any in the 
 herd, and these were saddled and picketed in the 
 yard in front of the house. The Don took a quiet 
 sort of pride in his horses, saying that many of 
 them were of almost pure Arab blood, and some 
 of them descendants of those magnificent steeds 
 brought over by the first Spaniards during the 
 early years of the Conquest. John's mare, the 
 chestnut, was carefully trained in a peculiar trot 
 called the /tf.w<7, in which the rider is hardly moved 
 in his seat. The art of training a horse to this 
 pace, the Don explained, came down from the con- 
 quistadores the warriors of Cortez. It was ac- 
 quired by means of a peculiar caparison a heavy 
 leather housing called the anquera, which covered 
 the hips and descended to the legs, and was fringed 
 with sharp nails that struck the horses legs when 
 trotting and caused the mincing gait called the 
 passo. A rope bridle with its cruel bit was slipped 
 over the mare's head and a peaked Mexican sad- 
 dle placed on its back, and then the steed was 
 ready for the rider. Juanito's horse was likewise 
 equipped, and a lasso was hung to each saddle 
 and a Mexican blanket, or serape, rolled up and 
 strapped behind the seat. The boys hung their 
 carbines at the side, suspended from straps in 
 front of the 'pommels, and felt fully equipped 
 gallant young conquistadores themselves. After an 
 experimental gallop, they returned to the house,
 
 i8 
 
 MONTEZUMA'S GOLD MINES. 
 
 divested the horses of their trappings, and selected 
 their mule. 
 
 This done, John, with much trepidation for 
 he feared they had taken better beasts than his 
 means would allow asked Don Augustino how 
 much he was to pay for this outfit. They were sit- 
 ting on the veranda, sipping their evening choco- 
 late, John and Juanito one side the table and Don 
 Augustino on the other. He looked up, as John 
 
 "Senor?" 
 
 " I say nothing ; not a centaro ; the horses are 
 yours. Caramba! Such a fuss over two horses 
 and a mule ! " 
 
 " But, senor, they are valuable, and so are their 
 saddles and trappings." 
 
 " Caballos I have a thousand, more or less; 
 and as for saddles my peones can make me more 
 when I get short." 
 
 D6N AUGUSTINO ARRIVES FROM " MAKING THE ROUNDS." 
 
 asked, and frowned. " Did el Americano expect to 
 pay for the beasts ? " he demanded. 
 
 "I I meant to, of course, if if you if I 
 have money enough." 
 
 " Then you have not money enough," he growled, 
 looking as black as a thunder-cloud. 
 
 The young man's heart sank ; he feared he had 
 made a great mistake in accepting such fine ani- 
 mals ; he wished he had taken burros, or donkeys, 
 since they were almost valueless. 
 
 "But how much ? " he persisted. 
 
 " Nothing ! " 
 
 They stared at him in astonishment, until he 
 fairly laughed them out of their surprise and re- 
 luctance. " Senor Juan el Norte, you are giving 
 me a bad opinion of your countrymen ; are they 
 all beggars in your country? do they not entertain 
 the stranger as the Mexican ? " 
 
 " Rather less lavishly," answered John. 
 
 " As for Juanito here, there is excuse," said 
 the Don, with a half-sneer ; " he was brought up 
 on the coast, where everybody suspects everybody 
 else, and where hospitality is a thing they have 
 forgotten; yet he ought to have known that a
 
 MONTEZUMA'S GOLD MINES. 
 
 .great haciendado would refuse pay for three paltry 
 .caballos. Still," added he, "as you want to repay 
 me, tell me fairly where you are going, and for 
 what, and I am rewarded." 
 
 " Certainly, senor, we would have done so long 
 since. You had but to ask," replied John with a 
 light laugh. "We will tell you without reserve, 
 for we may never return, and then you and the 
 Judge could institute some inquiries. You prob- 
 ably have heard of those ancient mines that are 
 said to be in the mountains beyond the great 
 forests ? Juanito tells me the tradition is general." 
 
 " Yes, yes, of course. I have heard those tales 
 all my life ; but what consequence ? Indian stories 
 are not to lean upon. No one cares to search." 
 
 " But this Indian story is confirmed," said John, 
 partly to quiet Juanito's rising wrath ; " the con- 
 quistadores themselves have left a description of 
 the country and the mines at the time of their 
 discovery." 
 
 " So ? that would be a different matter. But 
 have you seen any of these writings ? have you 
 them with you ? " 
 
 " No, senor, but my father has read the account 
 by Cortez himself, in an old, old manuscript he 
 once found in Tabasco ; and he told me of a vol- 
 ume containing the accounts, and that it could be 
 found in the archives of the City of Mexico, if 
 nowhere else." 
 
 " And what was it called, Don Juan ? what was 
 the book he had read ? " 
 
 " It was called the Letters of Cortez, and was 
 printed within five years after the Conquest the 
 first portion of it ; one of the oldest books in Spain." 
 
 " Hold ! Cartas de Cortez, ' Letters of Cortez ' 
 where have I seen that book ? Somewhere." The 
 haciendado leaned his head upon his hand and fell 
 to thinking, shaking his head negatively as remi- 
 niscence after reminiscence came up, but not the 
 right one ; at last "I have it ! In that old con- 
 vent of Santa Cruz ; we found it deserted ; all the 
 monks were gone ; the French had just sacked 
 it; I was a guerillero, then a free-lance fighting 
 for my country. We strolled through the clois- 
 ters and the empty halls, and in the library we 
 found hundreds of books, in parchment bindings 
 and vellum ; most of them were religious books, 
 and all of them very old. But one took my fancy, 
 and that was this very book you mention yes, 
 the Cartas de Cortez!" 
 
 " Did you take it ? What did you do with it ? " 
 his listeners eagerly chimed in chorus. 
 
 " Did I take it ? Of course I did." 
 
 " But what became of it ? " 
 
 " As to what became of it, that is another mat- 
 ter. But I am sure I brought it home with me. I 
 was taken by the title, for I had read when I was 
 a boy the Conquest of Mexico by Bernal Diaz, 
 one of the captains under Cortez, and here was 
 the same story," told by the great captain himself. 
 Yes, I brought it home with other books, and 
 I believe that I read it, and now I certainly do 
 remember something said about some mountain 
 mines." 
 
 " O, Senor Augustino, cannot you recollect at 
 all what was said ; where they were located ? " 
 
 " No ; it was years ago, more than a score. But 
 why wrangle here when the old book itself may 
 be around to tell the story." 
 
 " It is not in your library," said John, "because 
 I looked when you gave me permission to examine 
 your collection of books." 
 
 "Let us ask the major-domo out there if he 
 knows of any books lying about. Ho ! Pedro ! " 
 The overseer hastened to his side. " Pedro, where 
 are those old books we brought away from the 
 convent, now twenty years ago? " 
 
 " Maria Santissima ! most noble master ; do you 
 expect old Pedro to keep account of rubbish ? 
 And has not the cook been feeding the fires with 
 them this twelvemonth past ? " 
 
 " You rascal ! Do you mean to say they are 
 gone all gone ? " 
 
 "Sin duda, senor without a doubt." 
 
 Don Augustino, however, took the young men 
 with him to a room in a deserted wing of the great 
 building. 
 
 " Alia ! there ! " said he, pointing to a heap of 
 papers in a corner ; " if it is yet alive, your book 
 will be there." 
 
 The boys sprang at the musty pile. They 
 pulled out, one after another, several large vol- 
 umes of old religious works, which comprised all 
 that were in a condition to be handled. They 
 were turning away, disappointed, when the hacien- 
 dado turned over a mouldy parchment-covered 
 volume that had but half its leaves remaining. 
 He stooped with an exclamation of joy : " Here, 
 what is this ? Cartas de Cortez, or my eyes deceive 
 me. Shake the dust off and let's see ! "
 
 M O NTE Z UMA 'S GOLD MINE S . 
 
 John and Juanito shouted, for it was the very 
 volume that within the last few weeks they had 
 so often wished to see. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE RIVER WITH GOLDEN SANDS. 
 
 Leaf by leaf, one fragment after another was 
 exhumed from the dusty mass until the old book 
 finally lay nearly complete on the floor before 
 them. 
 
 " Vamonos ! come back to the veranda, and 
 let us examine the treasure," said the owner. 
 " Don Juan, as you are versed in history, and we 
 poor Mexicans are not, you shall read to us. 
 But first, if you know, tell us something about 
 these Cartas. Why were they written?" 
 
 " Of course, Don Augustino," said John, "you 
 are acquainted with the history of your own 
 country sufficiently to know that Cortez and his 
 companions sailed along the Mexican coast, in 
 1519; and that he landed, and fought his way up 
 to the Valley of Mexico, where, on an island in 
 Lake Tezcoco, in the centre of the great valley, 
 the Aztecs dwelt in their beautiful city of Tenoch- 
 titlan. They were numerous and powerful, and 
 ruled by the great king, Montezuma, who received 
 the Spaniards with pomp and magnificence, invit- 
 ing them into the city, where they were enter- 
 tained in the palace of Axaycatl, the king who 
 had preceded Montezuma. He treated them like 
 princes, and they requited his generosity by mak- 
 ing him a prisoner, in his own city. An insurrec- 
 tion of his people followed, in which Montezuma 
 was slain, and in which the Spaniards, were ex- 
 pelled, with great slaughter. This was in 1520; 
 in December of that year Cortez came back with 
 reinforcements, invested the city and finally cap- 
 tured it, after completely destroying it and killing, 
 it is estimated, nearly one hundred thousand 
 Indians. While this siege and conquest was going 
 on, at intervals of peace, Cortez wrote the famous 
 Letters, which we have here. He wrote five, but we 
 have only four, as the first is lost. The second is 
 dated, October 15, 1520, and was printed in Spain, 
 in Seville, October 8, 1522. The third letter was 
 written in May, 1522, and printed the next year; 
 while the fourth and last was written at the City 
 of Mexico, in October, 1524, and printed in Octo- 
 
 ber, 1525. So you see they are very ancient, the 
 oldest of them having been produced over three 
 hundred and sixty years ago. Well," continued 
 John, " it was with the events mentioned in his third 
 letter, that Juanito and I have to do. In this he 
 relates the capture of Montezuma, and the ki'^' 
 generosity in throwing open to them cne treasure- 
 chambers. All this golden treasure, the tribute 
 of many provinces, the savings of royalty for gen- 
 erations, the Spaniards took ; and they still clam- 
 ored for more. Then Montezuma offered to show 
 them whence came these golden stores." 
 
 Here John turned to the tattered old pages 
 which related to the mines. Juanito was fas- 
 cinated by the prospect of having his statements 
 confirmed by Cortez. Don Augustino was hardly 
 less interested. He himself was deeply excited : 
 
 "THIS SEEMS TO BE ALL OF IMPORTANCE," SAID JOHN. 
 
 When I discovered that Montezuma was fully devoted to 
 your highness [he is writing to the King of Spain] I re- 
 quested that he would point out to me the mines from 
 which gold is obtained. 
 
 To this he consented with the greatest readiness, and 
 immediately sent for several of his public servants and 
 assigned them to four provinces, two to each province, in 
 which he said the gold was obtained, and I deputed two 
 Spaniards to accompany the same number of his own men. 
 
 One party of them went to a province called Cuzula, 
 eighty leagues from the great city of Tenochtitlan, whose 
 inhabitants are vassals of Montezuma, where they were 
 shown three rivers, from all of which they brought me spe- 
 cimens of gold, of good quality. Another party of our 
 envoys went to a province called Tamazulapa, which is
 
 MONTEZUMA'S GOLD MINES. 
 
 21 
 
 seventy leagues from the great city, but more towards the 
 sea-coast. They brought me gold (rich gold) from a 
 .great river that passes through it. The other party visited 
 a region beyond this river, inhabited by a people speaking 
 a different language from those of Culna, and called Tenis; 
 whose chief ruler is a powerful cacique. His territory is 
 situated on a lofty and rugged mountain range, and his 
 people, inured to war, fight with spears twenty-five to thirty- 
 five palms in length. He is independent of Montezuma, 
 and the messengers with the Spaniards did not dare 
 enter this province until they had requested permission. 
 The cacique answered that he was very willing the Span- 
 iards should enter the province, but that the Culnas must 
 not do so, as they were his enemies. The Spaniards at 
 first feared to go ; but finally went, and were well received by 
 the chief and his people, who showed them seven or eight 
 mines in which gold was extremely abundant, and they 
 loaded the Spaniards with all the precious metal they could 
 carry. And Montezuma caused to be painted, by his native 
 artists, a chart of the country, painted on cloth, on which the 
 coast was delineated, and a great river, called by the natives 
 Guazacualco. The governor of this province of Guaza- 
 cualco, sent messengers to me, by whom he transmitted 
 jewels of gold, skins of tigers, feathers, and precious stones. 
 
 Here John paused, and turned over several 
 pages. 
 
 " This seems to be all of importance relating to 
 the mines; those we seek, I should judge, are in 
 that province that was ruled over by the fierce 
 cacique. He never allowed the Spaniards to re- 
 turn to the province, and these probably the 
 richest gold deposits in all Mexico have ever 
 since remained unknown to white men." He was 
 addressing himself as much as his companions. 
 
 " And the question," said the Don, " is to find 
 the exact loca-lity in which dwelt that fierce cacique. 
 Have you any clue ? " 
 
 "I think," said John, refraining from any refer- 
 ence to Juanito's magic roll, " that we will first 
 seek to reach the province of Tamazulapa, through 
 which one of the golden-sanded streams flowed, 
 and then try to work out the problem from the 
 traditions of the Indians there." 
 
 Don Augustino smiled incredulously. 
 
 "We can do it," hotly asserted Juanito, "now 
 that senorito has the story of the Indians and 
 that of the great captain, and finds they fit to- 
 gether. But, Little Master, did you note what Cap- 
 tain Cortez says of the river we have sailed up, 
 and the Province of Guazacualco ? The gov- 
 ernor of the province, as he calls him he was a 
 king was the father of Malinche, and he was a 
 friend of the fierce cacique. Little Master can 
 
 see the true traditions are with the people of that 
 province, can he not ? " 
 
 " Yes," interrupted the Don, " and part of his 
 province is now covered by the hacienda of Tux- 
 tlas, and I have heard that some of the peones 
 there claim to be the descendants of that ' King ' 
 of Guazacualco, and descendants too of his 
 daughter, Malinche." He spoke in a sneering 
 tone, as though he had little belief in, and less 
 sympathy for, any poor Indian peon. 
 
 Juanito's eyes flashed ominously, but he re- 
 strained his passion. He had refrained from any 
 allusion to his own relationship with the Indian 
 princess, and he now shot John a warning' look, 
 fearing, perhaps, he might betray the secret of his 
 parentage. 
 
 " Well, my friends," said the hariendado, " you 
 are welcome to the book ; take it with you, and 
 may it help you. Still don't pin too much your 
 faith on travellers' tales and don't parley with 
 the Indians. You insist upon going to-morrow? 
 Yes? Good-night, then; I will have you called 
 early. Good-night ! " 
 
 The next morning saw them off at an early hour. 
 The noble Don bade them final adieu, the " carga 
 mule " took her place at the head of the line where 
 it moved sedately along ahead of the horses, with- 
 out either bit or bridle, and so their journey into 
 the hills had begun. The little mule always lead- 
 ing the van, they filed away across the plain, 
 finally losing sight of the hacienda, and entering 
 the forests of the foothills. 
 
 A different scenery awaited them here, entirely 
 tropical in character, where the rank vegetation 
 .of the lowlands resounded with the cries of par- 
 rots and trogons. Two or three leagues' ride 
 through this luxuriant vegetation brought them 
 to the banks of a dark and rapid-flowing river. 
 This they had to ford. The current was swift, 
 but their horses were good swimmers, and boldly 
 plunged in, led by the carga mule, who seemed to 
 spurn the water with her little hoofs. " Look at 
 Lorita" said the arriera, admiringly, " she can do 
 everything but talk ; she is as bright as a parrot, 
 and that is why I called her Lorita." 
 
 A dug-out floated here, on the other bank, and 
 a long, peaked-roofed hut of grass stood at the 
 edge of the forest. Dripping from their swim, the 
 young horsemen presented themselves at the door- 
 way and said buenas dias to its inmates; but as the
 
 22 
 
 MONTEZUMA'S GOLD MINES. 
 
 men, half a dozen savage-looking Mestizos, were 
 in a high state of intoxication, they did not stop. 
 They rode on farther, and then halted at a curve 
 of the stream and tied their horses. Taking a 
 small shallow pan from the saddle-bag, John waded 
 into the stream and dipped up some sand. Juanito 
 watched approvingly: "You are right, senorito, 
 this rio flows direct from the golden country ; if 
 we find gold in these sands, then we know we 
 must find gold at its head." 
 
 John came up on the bank and whirled the pan 
 around swiftly, pouring out the larger particles of 
 gravel, little by little, and dipping up fresh quan- 
 tities of water, until only the finest of the sand 
 remained in the dish. The boys both bent over 
 it anxiously ; then carefully John whirled it again 
 with a peculiar motion, again throwing out the 
 water and lightest sand, till but a minute portion 
 was left in the pan. It needed only a glance this 
 time to detect numerous glittering particles, yellow 
 and sparkling ! John's face was radiant. Juanito, 
 forgetting his usual caution, exclaimed outright : 
 
 "s oro ! It is the yellow gold ! " 
 
 " It's onward now," said John, and with light 
 hearts they mounted their horses and rode away. 
 
 By and by they crossed the margin of the low 
 country, the tierra caliente, and now they entered a 
 cooler region, and higher, the tierra templada, or 
 temperate zone. Here vegetation differed again, 
 and they rode through beautiful groves of oak, 
 always climbing higher and higher. 
 
 So the days of their journey sped, a tropic pan- 
 orama of forest and jungle and cliff, broken by 
 sudden showers, and varied by glimpses of unin- 
 habited villages, and by nights in decaying and 
 deserted cabins. And now they had come to a 
 region where John was constantly upon the alert, 
 dismounting and making long forays into vales 
 and up heights, often consulting the old volume of 
 Cortez's Letters which they had found at the haci- 
 enda. From its pages he knew that if they were 
 upon the right trail, there should be somewhere in 
 this vicinity the traces of a ruined fort ; and at 
 last one day they did find a small section of bro- 
 ken wall that and nothing more. But from that 
 moment John felt confident. "Without doubt," 
 
 he declared to Juanito, " we are on the border-land 
 of the fierce Chinanticos, those strange savages- 
 who met the messengers of Montezuma with gi- 
 gantic spears and so barred the entrance to their 
 territory, though they allowed the Spaniards to go 
 through, and showed them such treasures of gold 
 as have never been discovered since." 
 
 "And the golden-sanded river," broke in Juan- 
 ito, " has its rise in this very region. I have heard 
 my mother say so, and I hope senorito is not going 
 to abandon it entirely. Little Master knows there 
 is gold in the river." 
 
 " Never fear, chiquito" said John playfully, " we- 
 can return ; but let us first find the greater treas- 
 ure beyond." 
 
 That afternoon another black storm-cloud burst 
 over them drenching them quickly, and making the 
 clayey trail precarious footing. Just as the cloud 
 discharged upon them its huge volume of water 
 they were nearing the brink of a ravine which 
 they must descend, and then climb the opposite 
 bank before reaching the village beyond, which 
 they could see their destination for the night. 
 The descent could only be made over some thirty 
 steps hewn out of the solid rock of the prec- 
 ipice. Lorita (the carga mule) descended jaunt- 
 ily, until half-way down, when she suddenly 
 halted, sniffed suspiciously at the step ahead of 
 her, and tried to re-ascend. The rocky pathway 
 was wide enough for but one beast, and they 
 were descending single file. By the mule's action. 
 they were crowded back and the horses, fright- 
 ened, began to prance about. " Hola, mula!" 
 shouted the arriero, " anda! go on ! " 
 
 But "mula" refused to go, and pushed back 
 against Juanito's mare, who raised herself on her 
 hind feet and came down against the poor crea- 
 ture with such force as to topple her over the cliff ! 
 A cry of horror rose for the wall below appeared 
 a sheer descent hushed at once, as Juanito's 
 horse backed her hind feet over the wall, fell, re- 
 covered herself, and hung, by her fore-feet only, 
 clinging against the escarpment. Even the trained 
 steed rode by John felt the horror of the occasion 
 and seemed determined to follow after its com- 
 panion. 
 
 (TO BE CONTINUED.)
 
 MONTEZUMA'S GOLD MINES. 
 
 BY FRED A. OBER. 
 
 ; Author of " The Silver City." } 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE TRAIL THROUGH INDIAN LAND. 
 
 THE arriero was safe because he was in the 
 rear; fortunately, too, he had a cool head. 
 He at once uncoiled the riata the lasso car- 
 ried over his shoulders, and threw it down to 
 Juanito, who caught it. Passing the other end 
 around the trunk of a tree growing on the bank 
 above, the arriero then signalled the boy to cast 
 himself loose from the saddle. This he did, 
 firmly grasping the noose of the riata, and the 
 agile arriero drew him easily over the brink and up 
 back to the ledge. 
 
 Meanwhile, John's horse was uneasily pacing 
 the narrow ridge, in imminent danger of shying 
 over the precipice ; but the arriero slipped by her, 
 grasped her bridle, and conducted horse and 
 rider down the path to a broader shelf. John 
 then slipped from the saddle and ran back to the 
 aid of Juanito, who was holding the head of his 
 mare, and encouraging her with soothing murmurs. 
 The ever-present lasso hung from the horn of the 
 saddle ; reaching it, John uncoiled it and got it 
 around the tree above. Joining together the two 
 other riatas, these were swung in the form of an 
 immense loop under the quarters of the horse, 
 and one end also attached to the tree. Then, with 
 John at the other, the arriero hauling at the line 
 fastened to the saddle, and Juanito at the horse's 
 head, the grand effort was made. The creature 
 seemed to understand every word, every motion, 
 and looked beseechingly into her owner's eyes, as 
 though to ask him to hurry as her feet were slip- 
 ping and her limbs trembling with the strain. 
 
 "Now, Bomta!" whispered Juanito in her ear. 
 "Up!" 
 
 "All together! " shouted John. 
 
 " Anda /" cried the arriero. The mare herself 
 made a mighty effort, her hoof smiting against the 
 cliff and striking fire from its flinty surface ; the 
 young men strained every nerve and muscle at 
 
 the ropes, and in another minute the little beauty 
 stood upon the ledge, trembling, reeking with per- 
 spiration, yet safe. 
 
 Juanito loosened the saddle-girths and led her 
 down to the bed of the ravine, where the white 
 mare received her with a grateful neigh of recog- 
 nition. Leaving him to care for the horses, John 
 and the miilero threaded their way back down to 
 the point where the mule had fallen, expecting to 
 discover its mangled remains. They reached the 
 place where she must have struck, in her descent, 
 some ten feet below the trail, but there was no 
 sign of her there only a little hair upon the edge 
 of a bowlder and a streak of blood here and there. 
 They looked at each other in amazement. The 
 mulero raised his tattered hat and scratched his 
 head. "Senor," he said, in awe-stricken tones, 
 " do you think anything has flown away with 
 mulita?" He gazed up in the air, as though ex- 
 pecting to find her sailing towards the sky ; but 
 John looked farther down the slope, and there saw 
 the recreant mulita placidly nibbling the leaves 
 of the bushes, which had partially concealed her. 
 The arriero was almost crazy with delight, darting 
 at the little beast and hugging her round the neck, 
 while she poured into his ears a most dolorous 
 bray. 
 
 John was surprised to discover the carga un- 
 disturbed by the fall, though the mule must have 
 landed upon it in her fall from the cliff ; but the 
 arriero resented any imputation that anything 
 terrestrial could have disturbed a carga of his 
 packing, anyway. Nothing but omnipotent force, 
 he declared, could detach that bale of luggage 
 from the mule, without first cutting the girths. 
 With great difficulty they extricated the mule from 
 her perilous position, and after a long delay joined 
 Juanito at the brookbed. 
 
 Without further adventure, they reached the 
 village ahead of them, just before dark, and ar- 
 rived before the door of the casa municipal, or 
 town-house, in a dripping condition. This was the 
 first inhabited Indian village they had entered.
 
 MONTEZUMA'S GOLD MINES. 
 
 They found but one white man in it the shrewd- 
 est^/* de razon they had yet met. This Mexican 
 term means a "man of reason," of intelligence, and 
 is applied by the Indians exclusively to white men, 
 and is a relic of the days of Spanish dominion. 
 So, when John rode up to the door of the casa and 
 inquired if there were any gente de razon in the 
 place, he was instantly understood by the assem- 
 bled Indians as asking for a white man, and sev- 
 eral of them instantly replied, "Si, senor, uno solo 
 Yes, sir, one only." 
 
 " Then I would see him," he said, thanking them 
 for the information, and they hastened in to ac- 
 quaint their " man of reason " of the arrival of 
 strangers. It seemed to be a noteworthy event, 
 this visit of a white man to their village, and many 
 scores of Indians came crowding around. They 
 appeared to be moved by curiosity only, and were 
 polite and attentive to his requests and wants. 
 
 When the only " reasonable man " of the region 
 appeared, he proved to be a very hospitable one 
 and at once invited them to dismount, directing the 
 mulero to take off the saddles and packs, and pile 
 them up on his veranda, and asked them into the 
 house. When he heard of the trail they had come 
 over, and the country they had ridden through, 
 he declared his wonder and admiration in hearty 
 terms. He proved indeed to be the jolliest of 
 hosts, a man given to politics, holding an office 
 under the Mexican government that uijefe poli- 
 tico or political chief, of the district. It some- 
 how transpired what the young men's mission was, 
 and the worthy man appeared greatly concerned 
 for their safety, repeatedly warning them against 
 going farther into the country of the Tamazula- 
 pans the Indians who guarded the secret of the 
 ancient mines. 
 
 He readily admitted that the mines existed and 
 were in that region, for he had heard so all his life 
 long ; but he added that from generation to gen- 
 eration the inhabitants of that tract had sworn to 
 defend the secret with their lives; they had a 
 hundred rifles with which a band of trained men 
 weekly drilled. " They have sworn eternal enmity 
 to all miners," said he, " because they have heard 
 what ruin and destruction miners have brought 
 upon other regions. And their traditions tell 
 them that all the troubles of their race came from 
 disclosing to strangers the secrets of their wealth." 
 
 Mentally acquiescing in the wisdom of the 
 
 Indians, in thus keeping foreigners out of their 
 gold-fields, John yet laughingly declared that he 
 should not think of abandoning the search until 
 the armed men resisted his entrance into the ter- 
 ritory. 
 
 The travellers again took to the saddle, next 
 morning, leaving their host uttering many a dismal 
 prediction. Their trail now led over hills and 
 mountains. They were entering into the country 
 of the Serranos the mountaineers descend- 
 ants of a long line of unconquered ancestors, a 
 people who long resisted the encroachments of 
 Montezuma and his Aztecs, and had beaten back 
 the soldiers of Cortez himself. All these hills 
 were inhabited ; the crests and ridges were cov- 
 ered with majestic oak-trees and their sides with 
 rich gardens. 
 
 They zigzagged up and down narrow trails for 
 days, crossing many streams, and riding through 
 several villages buried in seas of verdure, in the 
 last of which, a little town called Comaltepec, 
 they met with a great surprise a great surprise, 
 produced by a very little man. As they were 
 riding through the pleasant lanes between gardens 
 walled in with rocks and enclosed by hedges of 
 the organo, or organ cactus, a grotesque figure rose 
 up out of the road. 
 
 "Hotaf" whispered Juanito to John, "there's 
 the owner of Ocote rancho, the old rascal in whose 
 hut we slept last night." 
 
 " So it is ! " said John, " but how did he get out 
 here, three or four leagues from his rancho, ahead 
 of us, when we started at daylight ? " 
 
 "Oh, any Mexican knows side-trails and short 
 cuts; trust him for that, in his own country/' 
 
 The owner of Ocote rancho was a most comi- 
 cally-ferocious old man, not over five feet high, 
 and about sixty years old. He was so short and 
 " stubby " that he might have been taken for a 
 boy, had it not been for his gray hair (which was 
 pulled over his eyes) and his bristly beard. The 
 hair hid almost the whole of his face, and through 
 it twinkled a pair of beady black eyes. On his 
 head he wore a broad sombrero, nearly three feet 
 wide ; and the rest of his garb consisted of a 
 cotton shirt, a pair of wide cotton trousers, and 
 rude leather sandals kept in place by thongs pass- 
 ing between his toes and fastened around his bare 
 ankles. A very broad leather belt girt his waist, 
 and in this were stuck a huge knife and an
 
 MONTEZUMA'S GOLD MINES. 
 
 2 5 
 
 immense revolver ; both weapons so large that 
 they arrested the attention at once, and gave him 
 the appearance of a bandit. 
 
 He had planted himself directly in the path. 
 There was nothing to do but halt. He grinned 
 with malicious glee, and held out his hand, which 
 the travellers shook, perforce, in turn. He 
 beckoned them to follow, and led the way to a 
 little adobe house on a hillside, in which, to their 
 astonishment, they beheld a forge and implements 
 for smelting: metals. From some mvsterious hid- 
 
 his head knowingly, and said one word : " Oro ! " 
 "Yes, I see it is gold. But where did you get it?" 
 The little bandit pointed to the silver and ex- 
 claimed : "Plata!" 
 
 John handed the specimens back, spoke to 
 Juanito, and moved towards the door. But the 
 ranchero darted forward and planted himself in 
 their way. 
 
 '''Para ! Hold ! Has el ' caballero ever heard of 
 the mountain-mines of Montezuma the great 
 king? Let el caballero bethink himself." 
 
 : ORO!" SAID THE OLD RANCHERO. 
 
 ing-place he brought out some nuggets of gold and 
 some specimens of silver in solid bars. These he 
 placed in John's hands, and then stood peering 
 through his bushy hair into the young man's face 
 as he examined them. 
 
 John was inwardly agitated, over this virgin 
 gold, probably from the hill-mines of his search, 
 but he studied a calm demeanor, weighted the gold 
 carelessly, and as carelessly inquired where it 
 came from. 
 
 The old ranchero had not yet spoken, but he 
 now opened his mouth, pointed to the gold, wagged 
 
 John assented by a nod, outwardly undisturbed. 
 The bandit seemed to bore into him with his little 
 gimlet eyes, for an instant. Then he whispered 
 huskily : " This gold came from that mine. Si ' 
 es el oro sacro the sacred gold ! " 
 
 The effect upon el caballero was not, evidently, 
 what he had hoped. He went on : " El caballero 
 has heard of that mine ? He is even now in search 
 of it? Yes? But he knows not where it is. / 
 know. I can conduct el setior." 
 
 John consulted with Juanito as to what they 
 had better do ; treat with the man, or leave him.
 
 MONTEZUMA'S GOLD MINES. 
 
 "He is a rascal," said Juanito ; "but he may 
 have knowledge senorito could use for our good. 
 Let him go with us, and I will watch the wizard 
 for Little Master." 
 
 When the ranchero had secured their attention, 
 he became voluble and told them why he had fol- 
 lowed after them, and why he had intercepted 
 them. 
 
 " After the senores had left my rancho, I asked 
 myself why strangers and white men should 
 visit this country ; for not in years have I seen 
 one here before. And in a dream of the morning 
 it came to me that the caballeros were searching 
 for the Aztec mines ; and I rose at once and sad- 
 dled my burro and reached my town-house ahead 
 of the gentlemen. And here I am, sent, as they 
 can see, by Dios through the medium of a dream, 
 Jto guide them on their journey." 
 
 "That being the case," remarked John, "the 
 sooner we go the better." 
 
 In a short time the Mexican had drawn out and 
 saddled his donkey, strapped a pair of enormous 
 spurs to his bare heels, and was leading the way. 
 He was more comical than before, mounted on his 
 burro, for the little beast scarcely lifted the Don's 
 feet clear of the ground, and in order to make her 
 move faster than the horses he kept his bare legs, 
 with their huge spurs, in constant motion against 
 her sides, his arms tossing in corresponding 
 motion. He now and then checked their flapping 
 to communicate some item of information and to 
 strengthen the impression that he had been super- 
 naturally sent to guide them to the lost mines. 
 He finally confided to them that in addition to his 
 dream, the oracle, the old Indian squaw at Iztlan, 
 had told him only two days before that two noble 
 young men were on the way to bring him a for- 
 tune. And the fortune-teller of Iztlan never made 
 a mistake ! " Senor," he eagerly cried, stopping 
 his donkey so suddenly that John's horse nearly 
 walked over him, " senor, I am the only one in 
 this region, with another, who knows of the exist- 
 ence of these mines ! For forty years, I have 
 carried the secret ; I could not trust my country- 
 men ; but el Americano I know I can trust ; he 
 shall be told everything. Even the governor came 
 here, with a company of soldiers, seeking the 
 .mine ; but he went away with nothing. The friend 
 who gave me the secret brought from the mine a 
 burro-load of gold ; yes, much as his donkey could 
 
 bear ; though he was killed by the mountain 
 Indians who followed and sought him out. I 
 alone am left. I alone have the golden secret." 
 
 Then he rode on again, still flapping his arms 
 like a windmill and his heels in constant motion. 
 
 Towards evening time they reached the verge 
 of the plateau on which they had been riding. 
 Here they saw a terrible trail leading down the 
 steep sides of red sandstone cliffs, to a green and 
 quiet valley, through which a yellow river roared. 
 "Alia! there!" said the Don, halting at the 
 brink, " is the entrance to the land of the treasure ; 
 behold the river with the yellow sands ! " 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE INDIAN TOWN IN TIERRA CALIENTE. 
 
 It was, indeed, a terrible trail that led down into 
 the valley, twisting about and doubling upon 
 itself along the sides of cliffs and over rocks and 
 fallen trees. But it gave them access into the 
 heart of tierra caliente, into the very centre of sun- 
 land, the vast and perpendicular cliffs of sand- 
 stone walling it in. 
 
 Once down, and fording the tumultuous river, 
 Don Tomaso, the ranchero, led them to a broad 
 field, in which some Indians were at work, plough 
 ing the soil with a crooked stick. They all woie 
 a simple costume of cotton camisa &&&panialones, 
 and a hat ; but one of their number Don Tomaso 
 addressed as el presidente, and to him explained 
 that the strangers had come to pay him a visit of 
 respect, having heard of his bounty and the great 
 attractions of his town when in the City of Mexico. 
 
 Courteously acknowledging this honor, the presi- 
 dent at once abandoned the plough to the patient 
 oxen, and with simple dignity led the way to the 
 village, which slumbered in a grove of tropical 
 trees. Not a house was visible until they had 
 entered the grove ; then the thatched huts ap- 
 peared, made of poles plastered with mud; lowly 
 dwellings, but neat and clean. Orange trees, 
 yellow with fruit, great walnut trees, and others 
 purple with plums, completely sheltered this little 
 village from observation. 
 
 They were taken direct to the casa real, the 
 cabildo, the house provided by the people for the 
 entertainment of travellers. The alcalde, the chief 
 of the village, was summoned to usher them into
 
 M O N TE Z UMA 'S GOLD MINE S. 
 
 27 
 
 it with becoming ceremony. The alcalde came 
 with silver-tipped staff carried before him, saluted 
 the strangers in the name of his townsfolk, pro- 
 duced an immense key, opened the door, and bade 
 them welcome to the hospitalities of Tamazulapa. 
 The casa real did not prove an attractive house ; 
 its walls were damp and mouldy, and its thatch 
 swarming with centipedes, tarantulas and lizards, 
 so long had it been since strangers had occupied 
 it before. But it was the house of state and it had 
 
 JUAN1TO HAD HIM DOWN ON HIS KNEES. 
 
 two windows, which was more than any of the 
 huts could boast. 
 
 Women came, and brushed and dusted the fur- 
 niture (consisting of a table and two benches) and 
 swept the clay floor until it was clean. Then the 
 principal men arrived, with presents of fruit, fowls 
 and eggs. The children (lovely girls and boys of 
 dusky hue) peered slyly around the trunks of the 
 trees, or corners of the houses. The saddles and 
 the packs were piled up in a corner, their animals 
 led away to pasture, and then the young men were 
 left in entire possession of the cabildo, as completely 
 as though it had been theirs from the beginning 
 of time. They unstrapped their revolvers and 
 hung them above their carbines in the corner. 
 
 " It doesn't appear as though these men were 
 going to attack us," quietly remarked John, as he 
 removed his heavy spurs from his tired feet, and 
 flung himself into the hammock their arriero had 
 stretched beneath the trees. 
 
 "No," answered Juanito ; "these 'are honest 
 men." 
 
 " Have a care, senores, I say," said Don Tomaso ; 
 " have a care for your rifles and revolvers ; they 
 have your horses ; we cannot get away ; there is 
 but the one trail out of the valley. What will you 
 do if they come upon you with their trained sol- 
 diers ? While they believe you friends of mine, 
 all is well. But let your errand be known and " 
 he drew his hand rapidly across his throat, and 
 threw up his arms, like a man struck by a bullet. 
 " You are safe because you are my friends, senores" 
 
 Juanito shrugged his shoulders quietly ; but 
 Don Tomaso saw the motion, sprang to his feet, 
 and plunged forward, snapping his fingers in the 
 boy's face. " Perillo ! " he hissed. "Dog of an 
 Indian ! What know you of these people ? " 
 
 Juanito sprang at him with the swiftness of a 
 bow suddenly unbent, and had him at once by the 
 throat and forced down upon his knees, before 
 John could interpose. Don Tomaso was fumbling 
 at his belt for his knife. John reached them with 
 a bound, laid one hand on Don Tomaso's right arm, 
 and the other on Juanito's choking hand. " What 
 folly, amigo /" he said in the ear of the boy who 
 at once loosed his hold, excited as he was. The 
 separated combatants glared vindictively at each 
 other, without a word ; then each returned to his 
 seat ; but John was troubled, for he knew that a 
 desperate conflict between them was inevitable. 
 " I should have shaken off the old Mexican ! '' he 
 impatiently reflected. " It was a false move, and 
 I fear a fatal one." 
 
 At dusk, when they could retreat to a quiet spot, 
 unobserved, the young men talked it over. John 
 spared his reproaches, knowing it would have been 
 as impossible to stay a cyclone as the wrath of a 
 Mexican who had received such an insult. The 
 question was how to prevent another collision. 
 Juanito, after a long silence, promised to avoid 
 cenversation with their badly-chosen guide. " I 
 am sorry," he added, " if Juanito has made 
 trouble for the Little Master. But senorito must 
 understand that Tomaso is determined to kill 
 Juanito and it matters not what means he takes.
 
 28 
 
 MONTE Z UMA 'S GOLD MINE S, 
 
 Juanito will avoid him all he can ; but if a fight 
 comes then the senorito must chose whether 
 Tomaso must die or Juanito." He looked into 
 John's eyes mournfully, almost reproachfully, then 
 continued : " Juanito is not afraid to die ; but 
 what will then become of senorito ? " 
 
 "Nonsense, my boy," cried John, "neither of 
 you must die. Avoid him ; help me plan to dis- 
 miss him." 
 
 Contrary to John's fears, the two Mexicans 
 next morning seemed to have utterly forgotten 
 their quarrel, and he gave himself up to the 
 pleasure of studying this new and peaceful tribe 
 of Indians for a few days. It seemed to him 
 that they did little else than dance and sing, in 
 pleasant weather, and cultivate their gardens when 
 the rain came down. So far as their religion went, 
 they might have been classed as pagans, for they 
 clung far more closely to the ancient rites of the 
 sun-worship than to the forms taught them by the 
 Romish priests of later times. They had the re- 
 mains of a church, it is true, and said certain 
 prayers, and observed many feast-days. They 
 were irreproachable in their conduct to one 
 another, loving their neighbors as themselves. 
 They were at first shy of their stranger-guests, es- 
 pecially were the children shy ; their modesty was 
 a charm that gave grace to all their actions. In 
 song and dance they were very graceful and 
 pleasing, having sweet voices and lithe limbs well 
 trained. 
 
 On the first Sunday of their stay occurred the 
 grand sun-dance. The oldest men formed them- 
 selves in procession, with their faces painted in 
 various colors and startling figures, and carrying 
 in their hands fans of turkey-feathers, in the bright- 
 est dyes. Some of them wore masks, and were 
 most hideous to look upon, and all had on the 
 curious garments worn by their ancestors in most 
 ancient times. A tall flag-staff was borne in front 
 from which fluttered a banner, brightly painted 
 with the great smiling face of the sun. 
 
 After marching through all the village, receiving 
 offerings of drinks and fruits from every house, they 
 assembled in \\\&plazita the little square in front 
 of the cabildo and formed around their banner. 
 Their chief men then harangued them upon the 
 religion of their forefathers, telling them that the 
 first deity was a being unseen, whom they could 
 not approach ; but who took pity on his poor chil- 
 
 dren of earth and sent them the sun, as his visible 
 presence, ever shining in the sky by day, and rest- 
 ing only at night. Hence, though the priests had 
 since told them of a different god, of an ever- 
 living presence, who had once manifested himself 
 in human shape, yet they should offer their tribute 
 yearly to the first conception of their forefathers, 
 and should teach to their children the true ffod- 
 
 o 
 
 ship of the sun, a deity appointed to their race by 
 the First and Invisible God. 
 
 This chieftain was distinguished by a high crown 
 of turkey-feathers, which made his dusky features 
 appear even darker. After he had chanted a long 
 song in their native tongue, his followers replied 
 reverently, and then the music struck up, in weird 
 strains, and they danced furiously, shaking their 
 fans and their rattles of tortoise-shell to and fro, 
 but all moving, swift or slow, in perfect tune. 
 
 Nearly an hour was devoted to dance and song. 
 Then, at a signal, they suddenly stopped, gathered 
 about the banner, and gazed upon the sun-image 
 with looks of adoration. A dance of sorrow or 
 supplication followed ; then the dance of joy, after 
 which the flag was furled, and the day was spent 
 in visits and feasts. 
 
 During the week following, Tomaso led them 
 out on three fruitless searches into the hills. In 
 John's opinion he seemed to be feeling his way, 
 rather than trying to show them paths and locali- 
 ties of which he had certain knowledge, and one 
 evening as they sat together in the hut, reading by 
 candle-light, he intimated this to Juanito. The 
 Indian lad was jubilant : " Then senorito no longer 
 has any faith in el ladronito the little robber, eh ? 
 Well, has he lost faith in Juanito ? No ? If that 
 is so, to-morrow let Juanito again lead the search." 
 
 Don Tomaso's shock of hair appeared in the 
 doorway, at this moment, and through it glittered 
 his little black eyes ; he had evidently overheard 
 a portion, at least, of the conversation. " Ah, it 
 is not true, then, is it," sneered he, " that gold was 
 found in the river-sands ? And the great capitan 
 did not learn from Montezuma of rich mines near 
 Tamazulapa? And I am a robber? But gold is 
 here, nevertheless in the hills, in a pit, reached 
 only through long galleries. Esverdad; but I 
 and I alone know of the entrance to those 
 galleries. I will show you, Don Juan; you will 
 see, Don Juan." 
 
 The candle was spluttering in its socket, but
 
 GRANDPAPA'S POCKETS. 
 
 29 
 
 dimly lighting the room ; all the Indians had re- 
 tired to their houses, long since ; so they sought 
 their hammocks. But both John and Juanito in 
 the darkness buckled about them their belts, con- 
 
 serapes. They exchanged no words, but each of 
 the young men felt a new dread of their guide. 
 However, from Don Tomaso's hammock soon came 
 the sound of regular snoring, and they at last 
 
 taining their revolvers and knives, outside their dropped asleep. 
 
 GRANDPAPA'S POCKETS. 
 
 o 
 
 H ! such wonderful, wonderful pockets 
 As grandpapa's never were known; 
 
 They're as lean as can be in the morning, 
 But at nightfall so plump they have grown 
 That they're ready to burst, for packed in them 
 Is many a game and a toy, 
 With candies and cakes for the girlies 
 And lots of the same for the boy. 
 And oranges, apples, and cherries,- 
 Bananas, and peaches, and berries, 
 Balls, marbles, and beautiful dollies, 
 Mimic kittens, and monkeys, and pollies 
 Yes, and even torpedoes and rockets 
 Have been found in these wonderful pockets, 
 Grandpapa's pockets. 
 
 Oh ! such wonderful, wonderful pockets ! 
 Like stockings at Christmas are they; 
 But there's only one night for the stockings 
 And these why, they're filled every day ! 
 And oh ! how the rosy cheeks dimple 
 With smiles that are loving and bright, 
 As the dear old man's spied in the distance 
 And welcomed with shrieks of delight. 
 For sets of the prettiest dishes 
 On which to serve dinners delicious, 
 And cunning wee sofas and tables, 
 And books filled with jingles and fables, 
 And finger-rings, bracelets, and lockets 
 Have been found in these wonderful pockets, 
 Grandpapa's pockets.
 
 MONTEZUMA'S GOLD MINES. 
 
 BY FRED A. OBER. 
 
 (Author of " The Silver City") 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 A TIGER CAUGHT IN HIS OWN TRAP. 
 
 JOHN'S rest was broken, hours later, by a dull 
 thud, as of some one thrown violently to the 
 floor. This sound was followed by a tumult of 
 scuffling, hard breathing, and half-suppressed cries 
 of pain. He reached over to Juanito's hammock 
 it was empty ! With swift consciousness that 
 help was needed he sprang up and flashed his 
 light. He saw two forms writhing on the floor. 
 
 It was an inspiration truly, that had suggested 
 to him the lighting of their dark lantern, to place 
 out of sight in a corner; he had done this while 
 Tomaso was in the corral, before the hammocks 
 were swung. 
 
 Instantly, now, as he leaped to the floor, he 
 illuminated the space in front of him brightly, and 
 he was relieved to find Tomaso was underneath ; 
 one arm only free. Juanito was crouched upon his 
 breast, like a young tiger-cat, one knee against his 
 left arm, and striving to secure his right hand, 
 and its murderous cuchillo the broad-bladed knife 
 usually worn in the belt. The sudden light en- 
 abled him to fasten upon it, and then the little 
 giant was pinned securely to the floor. He looked 
 like a vicious, human embodiment of a tarantula 
 a grizzly, hairy spider as he lay there with limbs 
 outstretched, and glowering upon his captor through 
 his shock of hair. His revolver was still sticking 
 from his belt, and John drew it out. " Now what 
 shall we do with him ? " said he to Juanito. It 
 was a puzzling situation, surely. They knew not 
 what disposition to make of him. "The knives, 
 carbines, revolvers secure them, Little Master," 
 said Juanito, still holding Tomaso fast. 
 
 This done, the agile lad leaped up, clear of the 
 bandit, at a bound, and leaving him free. Tomaso 
 was on his feet in an instant. He darted swiftly at 
 the table. But John, seizing his shoulder, pulled 
 him back and spun him into his own corner, where 
 he crouched like an ocelot an Aztec tiger his 
 
 small, black, wicked eyes following every motion. 
 
 The young men had no speech in common save 
 Spanish. This tongue Tomaso also understood, 
 and they could not consult. But on one thing they 
 were settled without speech their enemy must be 
 watched; and through the slow-moving hours of the 
 night, they sat up and kept him in the light of the 
 lantern, weapons in reach. Tomaso never stirred 
 from his crouching position in the corner; not even 
 when daylight began to struggle through the chinks 
 in the walls, and Juanito, opening the door, went 
 in search of the alcalde. He was still in his cor- 
 ner, like a sulky spider, when Juanito returned, 
 with the alcalde, presidente, and other chief men 
 of the village. 
 
 But as they entered, Tomaso leaped for the door. 
 He was forced back by two strong Indians, and they, 
 under the directions of the alcade, dragged him off 
 to the calaboza. 
 
 Then, gathering in conclave under the spreading 
 branches of a tamarind-tree, with sentinels out to 
 keep off intruders, the village officials invited the 
 strangers to tell their story. 
 
 " It is a serious thing," began the alcalde, with 
 dignity and simplicity, " a serious thing to place 
 one in the calaboza who has claimed our hospitality. 
 Still we have protected you. Now we must know 
 what this man has done." 
 
 " Certainly, seiior," answered John. " It is your 
 right. The man simply sought our lives." But 
 Juanito narrated the events of the night. He 
 himself came of Indian stock, and he was speaking 
 to Indians ; accordingly he wasted no words. His 
 account was succinct : " Senores, we retired late. 
 My friend slept. I, suspicious of the heavily- 
 breathing Tomaso, remained awake. An hour 
 passed. Two hours. My eyes were open. The 
 heavy breathing ceased. I heard other sounds. 
 Tomaso left his hammock. He crept softly to- 
 wards us. He came under my hammock. I ex- 
 pected to feel his knife searching for me. But he 
 crept on. Beneath senorito's hammock he halted. 
 I sprang. The rest you know."
 
 MONTEZUMA'S GOLD MINES. 
 
 There was a general stir of assent through the 
 circle. " Without a doubt, he intended to kill 
 the white stranger el bianco ; but why ? " They 
 waited for the reason. 
 
 Juanito hesitated. He would have consulted 
 with John, since the assigning of the reason in- 
 volved the disclosure of their secret. He looked 
 inquiringly at the Little Master. He, divining his 
 thoughts, nodded approval. 
 
 Juanito went on : " Senores, the reason is this : 
 Senorito, my friend and master, has learned, from a 
 wonderful book written by the great Capitan, Don 
 Fernando Cortes, that there exists in these moun- 
 tains, golden treasure " 
 
 He stopped, for the usually stolid Indians 
 showed intense excitement. They rose. Whis- 
 pering together, they glanced at the young stranger 
 with anything but good- will expressed in their looks. 
 
 " Go on," said the alcalde at last. 
 
 " That is all," proceeded Juanito. " Our pres- 
 ence here so near the secret mines surely explains 
 our purpose." 
 
 " But Tomaso why should he take your lives ? " 
 
 " Tomaso met us, at Comaltepec, showed us 
 gold ; said he could guide us to the ancient mine, 
 and joined us. I doubt now his knowledge. But 
 he listened last night to the reading from El Capi- 
 tarfs account. Now he knows all that we know. 
 That being so " 
 
 He halted again. A flash of intuition told 
 John the conclusion of that unfinished sentence. 
 " That being so," John himself hurriedly said, " he 
 had all our secret. He needed us no longer. Why 
 should he share the gold with us ? He could pene- 
 trate more safely and surely without us than with 
 us. So he would kill us." 
 
 At this point some unexpected testimony was 
 offered, throwing a new light upon Tomaso's ac- 
 tions. An old Indian rose one of the influential 
 personages of the town. " The gold," said he, 
 " which this Tomaso had that which he showed 
 the strangers know ye whence it came ? // was 
 mine! Once, many years ago, I carried gold to 
 him ; he was a silversmith, at Imulco. He kept my 
 gold. He tried to force me to tell whence I got it. 
 More than this he stole the pieces I placed be- 
 fore the Blessed Virgin, which I took to her, with 
 prayers that she would bless my venture. He 
 stole them, and I had not heart to work, because 
 the Holy Virgin had been defrauded of her por- 
 
 tion. But I refused to show him the mine. He 
 knows naught of the mine. Forty years, it was, ago. 
 I have done." He sat down and drew his serape 
 about him. 
 
 Yet what should these peaceful men do with 
 Tomaso ? They were in as great perplexity as 
 were the young strangers a few hours before. 
 Keep him in the calaboose a period and then 
 send him out of the valley, with a warning never 
 to return, as he valued his life. That was the 
 final decision. 
 
 But the more important question concerned the 
 young strangers. It was demanded of John and 
 Juanito that they should not depart by stealth. 
 Then the council adjourned for breakfast, for it 
 was late; smokes were curling all around them, 
 and savory odors greeted the young men as, silent, 
 they returned to the cabildo. 
 
 At noon they were summoned. The discussion 
 among the Tamazulapans was dignified, but grave 
 and earnest. The solemn tone of it convinced 
 John that these Indians were indeed the custodi- 
 ans of the historic mines. Should they allow these 
 strangers to go farther, the presidente asked. 
 
 "They are not like the Spaniards, truly," 
 mildly urged the alcalde ; " yet," added he, in a 
 deepening tone, " they are white men. Other 
 white men will certainly follow after these, should 
 they reach the King's Treasure. That smoke, as- 
 cending into the upper air, tells to dwellers upon the 
 hills that we have here a fire ; no less certainly will 
 the visits of white men here proclaim to all the 
 world that they have found gold ! Who does not 
 remember the sufferings of the people when the 
 Spaniards came through the land in search of 
 money ? What should we gain ? Now, we have 
 enough for our wants ; the ground gives us all we 
 need, and all are happy. Of what use is gold to 
 us ? We neither buy nor sell. Of what good will 
 be the coming of many men, to dig pits in our 
 farms and spoil the water of our streams ? " 
 
 The presidente, in a long, serious speech, agreed 
 with the alcalde that it would be wisdom to keep 
 the secret of the mine buried as deep as its deep- 
 est pit was dug. " Yet," he added, looking com- 
 passionately upon his proteges, " these young men 
 have come many, many miles to learn of this treas- 
 ure ; one of them has sailed the wide ocean (which 
 none of us have ever seen) ; they have come in 
 canoas up the dark river, Coatzcoalcos ; have
 
 MONTEZUMA'S GOLD MINES. 
 
 crossed the savannas, and forced their horses over 
 the rough trails of the Sierras. Brave men are 
 they. Others have come here, truly; but how? 
 The gobernador came, with files of soldiers, and 
 demanded of us our gold ; but we fled to the hills 
 and he marched home at last with nothing as his 
 reward. Chatto the flat-nose came also ; his 
 fate ye all know! Like him perish all robbers! 
 But these come in peace. My eyes have seen 
 none like these before. Their eyes are clear. 
 
 Clearly he had understood every word of their dis- 
 cussion. Every face was turned to him. Alarm, 
 curiosity, interest, together with a strange look of 
 kinship, moulded the expression of all. 
 
 " It is no slight favor we would ask of you," 
 continued Juanito, " yet you will grant it ; if it 
 were ten times as great, ye- would grant it ! We 
 seek the old mines, but not alone for our own 
 advantage. We are willing to yield you a revenue 
 from our labors. We wish to be of benefit to you. 
 
 SHOWS THE TOTEM OF THE LORD OF THli I11LI.S 
 
 Their voices are kind. Would that the young men 
 of our people were as they." 
 
 There was a buzz of approbation ; and the al- 
 calde, seeing that the majority present appeared 
 likely to favor the strangers, shrewdly moved to 
 again adjourn. This they were about to do when 
 Juanito rose and asked their attention for a mo- 
 ment, and the alcalde granted him a hearing. 
 
 " Friends and brothers," began the boy in a 
 tongue quite unknown to John. But a visible thrill 
 of emotion ran through the assemblage. He was 
 speaking in Zapotec, their own language. This 
 -was their first intimation of his knowledge of it. 
 
 But you will grant what we ask, because I ask it-* 
 and for no other reason." 
 
 Then Juanito drew his right hand from its hid- 
 ing-place in his breast, and spread it out, palm 
 towards them. 
 
 Instantly, to John's surprise, although he was 
 expecting some surprising development to be 
 brought about by Juanito, from his air and im- 
 pressive tone, every member of the group bowed 
 his head and touched his forehead ; a murmur ran 
 around : " Coatelicamar ! Coatelicamar ! " 
 
 " Need I tell you, friends," continued the young 
 Indian, still in Zapotec, " that I am descended from
 
 M O NTE Z UMA 'S GOLD MINE S. 
 
 Malinche ; that from her, through long lines of an- 
 cestors, I received into my keeping this totem I 
 now display before you ? " 
 
 " We know now that you are one of us," returned 
 the alcalde, "even though your tribe be now far 
 separated from us. 
 
 " But it is a great thing you ask of us ; it is a 
 thing no man yet has wrested from us. Through 
 long years of poverty, though tempted by the offers 
 of riches, we have kept the secret of the mines. 
 Tribute in the name of Malinche has never been 
 exacted. If you command, in the name of the 
 great princess, Malinche, we must comply ; but 
 withdraw the totem and reflect upon the conse- 
 quences to our tribe. Here, before you, are old 
 men and young; yonder are our wives and chil- 
 dren ; in peace and happiness we dwell here ; in 
 peace and happiness we may continue to dwell, un- 
 less the gold-seeking miners come. Then we shall 
 pass from our homes, wanderers in the wild lands, 
 no more to be gathered together." 
 
 o o 
 
 " That, surely, we should not desire," returned 
 Juanito ; " you say truly, that I am one of you ! I 
 speak your language; the blood of the Zapoteca 
 flows in my veins. Yet, while you are free my 
 family is in peonage ; yes, held as slaves even 
 my mother, my brother, and sister. To free them, 
 to bring them back to join their kindred, I must 
 have gold, much gold. This / need enough to 
 pay their ransom; the rest I care not for, I would 
 stay and dwell with you. My friend too has great 
 deeds to do with gold." 
 
 " How much require you for the ransom ? " asked 
 the presidente. 
 
 Juanito told the sum ; it was great, because the 
 inherited debt had accumulated through years and 
 years. 
 
 " I doubt if there be so much in all the village," 
 said the alcalde. 
 
 He whispered to the old men, and they silently 
 separated, each going to his own division of the 
 village, and soon there was an outgoing of women, 
 children, and older people. Each one brought 
 something and deposited it upon a blanket, in the 
 plazita. Upon their faces were glad smiles, for 
 they had been told to bring all the money they 
 possessed to redeem one of their own race from 
 peonage ; and they rejoiced in the noble deed. 
 The chief man counted the little heaps upon the 
 blanket. " Is there no more ? " he said. 
 
 " No more ! It is all our houses held ! " The 
 presidente sighed : " Alas ! there is not half enough ! 
 Take back, O, my people, your treasures. The 
 strangers must go to the mine. But let us wait 
 through the night." 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 AT THE MINE'S MOUTH. 
 
 It was their first peaceful night in the Indian 
 village, their first opportunity for unrestrained con- 
 versation. 
 
 With a sense of happy security, they sat by their 
 lamp. " It is a question," John declared to Juanito, 
 " whether or not we ought to persist in our search, 
 for if these people oppose it they certainly have 
 the best of reasons. To go on is an awful respon- 
 sibility. But what was it you said to them, Juan- 
 ito ; what did you show them, that changed at once 
 their attitude of defiance to one of supplication ? " 
 
 Juanito had not revealed to him what it was that 
 he had held in his hand and displayed to the In- 
 dians. 
 
 " Does the senorito remember our conversation, 
 the first day we spoke of the mines ? " 
 
 " Yes ; you said you held a powerful means in 
 reserve. But of course I had no idea of what it 
 was." 
 
 " No. Juanito does not let all of himself be 
 known at once." 
 
 " But what is it ? " 
 
 " Has the senorito ever heard of the tribute-book 
 of Montezuma ? " 
 
 Senorito had heard of a tribute-book. 
 
 " He knows that in it are all the records of the 
 many treasures sent to the great king ? " 
 
 John shook his head. 
 
 " Piels de tigre (tiger skins) copalli (copal), gold, 
 as well as rich feathers and precious stones," went 
 on Juanito. " The name of the people who sent 
 them with each. And the totems of each Pueblo. 
 The senorito knows," pursued the imperturbable 
 Juanito, " that I am descended from Malinche, 
 Princess of Coatzcoalcos. Malinche, when Don 
 Fernando Cortes went to Spain, came back to her 
 own country. She was rich in land ; but had gold 
 paid as tribute to her by the Indians. Every 
 month, she sent her servants into the hills, and 
 they came back with it."
 
 34 
 
 MONTEZUMA'S GOLD MINES. 
 
 "And what has all this to do with us?" asked 
 John as Juanito paused. 
 
 " Much ! Senorito, those servants, to get that 
 gold, had to take to these hill-people the totem of 
 the lord of the hills, which he had given Malinche ; 
 Coatelicamar lord of the hills." 
 
 " Still, I am in the dark." 
 
 " Malinche died ; the totem fell to her daughter, 
 whose descendant I am." 
 
 A light broke upon the American at these words : 
 " And it is that totem which you have ? " 
 
 " Juanito has that totem ! " 
 
 He drew forth from under his camisa, where it had 
 hung around his neck, that little bag which John 
 had seen on the coast, and from it extracted a 
 piece of wrinkled parchment. Smoothing it out, 
 he displayed to John's wondering eyes the cher- 
 ished totem a prostrate serpent with two curious 
 figures upon its back. 
 
 " There is no doubt," said John, after carefully 
 studying it, " this is the totem of Coatelicamar." 
 
 " It fixes, too, beyond a doubt, the exact location 
 of the mine," said Juanito. "And now the senorito 
 knows all Juanito knows about it. Will senorito 
 give up the search now ? " 
 
 " No. My curiosity is more excited than ever. 
 We will discover the mines, even if we have to re- 
 trace our steps and follow up the course of the 
 river with the golden sands. We can then accom- 
 plish our purpose without disturbing our friends 
 here, who will certainly not lose anything by our dis- 
 covery, if they never gain." 
 
 With this resolve, they lay down to sleep. A 
 surprise awaited them in the morning. As they 
 opened their door, the alcalde and two others 
 stood before it. They saluted them with respect, 
 but waited till they had performed their ablutions 
 and had breakfasted, before they announced their 
 errand : " Senores, we will show you the mine !" 
 
 John thanked them, and they told him that two 
 young men would go with them, next morning, to 
 conduct them straight to the ancient shafts. But 
 they wished to stipulate that they should not re- 
 veal to other white men the location. This John 
 refused to promise. 
 
 " Then," said the alcalde, " our young men shall 
 not guide you. You may go and seek for your- 
 selves ; for how know we that the totem of Ma- 
 linche was not gained by force, even by fraud ? " 
 John laid a restraining hand upon the arm of Ma- 
 
 linche's descendant. " So be it," he said. "On 
 you must rest the responsibility of disobedience to 
 the old tribal mandate. We will go without your 
 protection, for go we will." 
 
 The alcalde was visibly shaken. But he replied 
 only : " Beware, however, of the people there ; the 
 descendants of the great chief. His people are 
 cannibals." 
 
 As they rode out of the village, towards the 
 river, nearly the entire populace gathered about. 
 The alcalde and presidente wore a troubled, anx- 
 ious expression, but they did not relent. Juanito 
 rode by them with a haughty look. With one 
 backward turn, he again displayed the mighty totem, 
 and figuratively shook the dust of their village from 
 his garments. 
 
 Their route lay about a day's journey across 
 the table-land into a rougher region. Their 
 horses, refreshed by their tarry in the Indian pas- 
 tures, were frisky and sympathetic ; while the 
 mule, freed from her pack and bearing on her 
 back only the arriero and a pair of saddle-bags, 
 kicked up her heels and brayed her delight loudly 
 and often. Everything seemed auspicious, except 
 for the predictions of the alcalde. They were 
 travelling lightly, but were heavily armed ; each 
 one having a belt full of cartridges about his 
 waist, a carbine and a revolver. Even the arriero 
 carried a revolver, of which he was so proud that 
 he had it slung from a broad strap over his 
 shoulder, where everybody could see it, and where 
 the sun could glint the bright nickel trimmings on 
 the butt and barrel. In a fight, he would rely, 
 of course, upon his trusty riata, for he could lasso 
 a man, or a wild animal, going at full gallop, and 
 drag his victim to the ground without checking 
 speed ; but a riata was not half so imposing as the 
 revolver, and did not bestow such an air of dis- 
 tinction. 
 
 The trail grew rapidly worse, becoming, finally, 
 only a narrow foot-path, which had hardly ever been 
 trodden by any save the barefooted Indians and 
 their dogs; but their gallant horses were sure of 
 foot, and with their noses to the ground safely 
 bore them through every perilous passage. 
 
 Emerging upon a narrow reach of plateau, John 
 (who was ahead) was about to avail himself of the 
 opportunity for a gallop, when the mule.ro cried 
 out. He reined in the impatient mare, who danced 
 about in this direction and that, fretting, and won-
 
 MONTEZUMA'S GOLD MINES. 
 
 35 
 
 dering what the delay could mean. The mnlero 
 pointed out to him along-tailed bird, with long and 
 slender legs, and a sharp beak, which looked like 
 a very large cuckoo, and which was industriously 
 collecting something from amongst the cactus 
 plants. 
 
 " I see it," said John, impatiently "a chacha- 
 2aha; why should you detain me to look at him? " 
 
 The arriero pointed beyond the bird, and there, 
 coiled in the trail, was a large rattlesnake. It was 
 apparently asleep; John pulled out his revolver, 
 
 THE TORTILLA-MAKER. 
 
 but the arriero held his arm. " Wait," he whis- 
 pered, " wait and see the serpent die ; la chachalaha 
 will attend to him." They retired a pace, swung 
 themselves off their saddles, and waited. Mean- 
 while, the curious bird had kept on with its em- 
 ployment, collecting the spiny leaves of the 
 prickly-pear, which it carried toward the sleeping 
 serpent and laid in a row around it. Its intention 
 was apparent; it was building a barbed fence 
 around the snake ! 
 
 Almost breathlessly, they watched the process. 
 It seemed almost human, in its gratified air of 
 
 responsibility, as it quietly walked to and fro, nip- 
 ping off a leaf and setting it in position, jerking 
 its long tail here and there, and bobbing its head 
 about with a sidelong glance at its audience. 
 
 Finally, the prickly fence was built ; the bird 
 walked around it noiselessly, stopping every gap, 
 then hopped over to peck the snake on the tail with 
 its sharp beak, quickly skipping back again and 
 retiring to a safe distance to watch the effect. 
 Thus rudely disturbed, the rattlesnake seemed at 
 first disposed to coil up more tightly for a spring ; 
 but it changed its mind and started to crawl away. 
 Then it saw the spiny hedge. It moved in another 
 direction, only to encounter the same prickly wall. 
 It seemed furious with rage, apparently realizing 
 its position ; but made a dash at the hedge, which 
 met it with a thousand barbed darts ; these not 
 only entered beneath its scales, but penetrated its 
 mouth, when it bit at them in its fury. Hope- 
 lessly involved in the trap, the serpent turned 
 upon itself and dealt a deadly wound with its own 
 venomous fangs ; which event the chachalaha had 
 seemed to expect, for the bird walked off with an 
 air of satisfaction. 
 
 The arriero wagged his head. "Es demonic" he 
 said ; " that is the bird of the evil one." 
 
 They went on, halting at noon by an arroya, 
 near which was an Indian hut, where a woman 
 with naked arms was grinding corn on the mctatl, 
 for the corn-cakes, or tortillas, for her family. 
 
 She was surprised at sight of strangers, but 
 quietly offered them tortillas, and signed them to 
 enter and be seated. She spoke a different tongue 
 from their friends of the valley, and Juanito said 
 she was one of the Mixes the cannibal people, 
 against whom the alcalde had warned them. 
 
 She was the only Indian they saw that day, until 
 mid-afternoon, when two runners, stalwart young 
 men, came upon them suddenly out of a ravine, 
 and stood before them in the trail. .They held 
 out a piece of paper, which explained that their 
 friend, the alcalde, had relented, and had sent 
 them as guides. 
 
 " The totem has done its work," said Juanito 
 grimly. " It has made itself obeyed." 
 
 The guides took their places, in advance of the 
 horses. They had been able to overtake the horse- 
 men by threading the foot trails through the ravines, 
 which were shorter than the bridle-paths. They led 
 on into a canon, where mighty walls rose up on
 
 GOING HOME FROM SUNDAY-SCHOOL. 
 
 either side, and the path was precariously narrow 
 and steep. The sun was rapidly descending be- 
 hind the jagged crest of the cordillera, throwing a 
 flood of golden light against the eastern wall of the 
 canon and glancing athwart the gray plains above. 
 The quail and the chachalahas were calling, each 
 to its kind, and seeking their night shelters. 
 
 The gloom of the great ravine deepened every 
 minute, and still their guides beckoned them on. 
 As they reached a curve of the ravine where it was 
 wide enough for their horses to walk abreast, Ju- 
 anito called a halt. 
 
 " Let us stop," he said, " here is as good a place 
 to camp as we shall find. I like my back to this 
 great wall." 
 
 The cliff shelved back a rod or two, leaving a 
 broad platform, over which it impended, completely 
 sheltering them from above. 
 
 "A good place," declared Juanito, "which we 
 can easily defend, should the cannibals conclude 
 to attack us. Now let us off with the saddles, and 
 barricade the approach from the path above." 
 
 " But wait, Juanito. Do you see our guides ? 
 They have lighted torches ; they are at the mouth 
 
 of a cave. Can that be the way into the mine ? " 
 The Indian lad went on a step : " Si, they are 
 beckoning to us. I will go to them ; let the Little 
 Master wait here, and have his hand on his rifle." 
 Juanito leaped across the ravine, which carried 
 a rumbling stream away and away into unknown 
 depths. He climbed on over a mass of broken 
 rock until he reached the hole in the cliff where 
 the Indians had halted. By the light of the torches, 
 he closely scanned the face of the rock. Without a 
 word to the guides he returned to John. 
 
 " No, setwrito" he said, " that is not the main 
 entrance to the mine ; possibly it is a side gallery. 
 The vast heap of broken ore shows that it has been 
 brought here. ' How do I know it is not ? ' Let 
 el senorito remember again the ,totem. Yes ! It 
 was a red serpent. The tradition of my family 
 says that the red serpent is painted at the mine's 
 mouth on the rock. This rock bears no serpent. 
 But it is near, amigito mio ; it cannot be far ; every 
 trace is here of ancient mines. Put by the rifle, 
 and let us prepare a camp. But look ! back on the 
 trail. Who is creeping down the rock ? "Diosmio! 
 Get behind me, senorito /" 
 
 GOING HOME FROM SUNDAY-SCHOOL.
 
 MONTEZUMA'S GOLD MINES. 
 
 BY FRED A. OBER. 
 
 (Author of" The Silver City.") 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE SACK OF GOLD. 
 
 JOHN sprang to his feet. He looked in the di- 
 rection whence they had just come. But he 
 saw nothing; neither evidently did Juanito 
 after that first startling apparition. Gloom and 
 darkness settled down upon the place ; not even a 
 shadow crossed the trail. 
 
 The boy rubbed his eyes, and looked inquiringly 
 at the Little Master, with all the superstition of his 
 race in his stare. " Surely, senorito, I saw him 
 the shade of our enemy, coming down the path." 
 
 John shook his head with a laugh : " It must 
 have been your imagination, Juanito ; you saw that 
 which you most feared to see ! " 
 
 Juanito assented, but with a half-reservation ; 
 the vision was sufficiently clear to make him deter- 
 mine to sit up all night on guard. The Indian 
 guides came back and crouched by the fire that 
 the arriero kindled. " Oro," they said signifi- 
 cantly to Juanito, but nothing more. They seemed 
 indifferent whether the strangers entered the mine 
 or not ; they had pointed it out to them. 
 
 Without giving their halting-place too much the 
 appearance of a barricaded camp, the young men 
 managed to pile up the saddles and other things 
 so as to obstruct the trail leading down, and 
 spread their blankets beneath a shelving rock that 
 protected them from above. John, though on the 
 eve of his fortune, perhaps involving fabulous 
 riches, was asleep in five minutes. After his 
 strange experiences among the treasures of the 
 Silver City, the awe which historic mysteries in- 
 spire could not affect him as at first. But Juanito 
 was sleepless. He expected a subtle attack. He 
 distrusted, too, the guides. He turned over the 
 leaves of the old Spanish book and wished he 
 could read. 
 
 But morning found them safe. Just as the sun 
 gilded the cliffs, they crawled from beneath their 
 shelters and went down to the stream to bathe. 
 
 Coffee was made, and then, after explicit directions 
 to the arriero to await their return, and to keep an 
 eye constantly upon the horses, they armed them- 
 selves with carbine and revolver and followed the 
 stream up the canon towards its source. Their 
 guides indicated to them that they should enter 
 the hole in the cliff. But Juanito refused, and the 
 Indians followed after, loading themselves with 
 their provisions, coils of cordage, and torches of 
 pine wood. 
 
 Everything had pointed (the night before) to a 
 close proximity of the mine ; but both the young 
 men felt averse (for some occult reason) to enter- 
 ing the passage pointed out by the guides. For 
 nearly two hours they tramped through the rock- 
 ribbed canon, sometimes in the stream, again 
 climbing over slippery rocks and clinging to nar- 
 row ledges. At last they reached an opening, 
 an amphitheatre-like basin, where vast heaps of 
 scoriae and broken rock indicated to John's eye 
 another vent of the mine. They examined the 
 great cavernous fissure carefully. Suddenly Juan- 
 ito leaped aside with an exclamation of joy. A 
 red serpent was painted on one of the stones of 
 the lintel. The boys looked at each other with 
 strange sensations, and then proceeded to curi- 
 ously examine the totem. It corresponded rudely, 
 but surely, with the red serpent on the old parch- 
 ment Juanito wore on his heart. 
 
 But the morning was well-nigh spent ; and they 
 entered the tunnel with little delay, the cool cav- 
 ern receiving them at once, as into another world 
 a world of darkness, in which they groped their 
 way following the Indians with their smoking 
 torches. 
 
 The tunnel, or drift, was so high they could at 
 first walk in it upright. They passed several lat- 
 eral drifts (called cruceros) which indicated to John 
 a mine of great magnitude. The torches lighted 
 the path in an uncertain way, and they were con- 
 stantly stumbling upon one another. Still the 
 Indians tramped on towards the heart of the 
 mountain. Barefooted as they were, their shuf-
 
 MONTEZUMA'S GOLD MINES. 
 
 fling footsteps were hardly audible. Suddenly 
 John's foot struck against an object that gave out 
 a metallic sound. He stooped and picked it up, 
 calling to the Indians to bring their torches. 
 Juanito quickly detected through the rust the 
 gleam of copper. He pronounced it an Indian axe 
 or chisel. This, after much rubbing, it was shown 
 to be ; a primitive cutting-instrument such as the 
 Indians made centuries ago. 
 
 " A good find," said John, " for copper axes and 
 coins were reckoned part of the tribute from the 
 province of Coatelicamar. We must be near the 
 head of the drift." 
 
 As he said this, they stumbled over a low 
 mound. This upon examination proved to be a 
 heap of those same copper axes mixed with many 
 other objects of a different shape. There were 
 stone hammers, gouges and chisels, made of fine 
 serpentine rock, with their edges polished to a 
 point, and some curious knives of obsidian. 
 
 At sight of them, their thoughts quickly reverted 
 to the request of the good magistrate of Minatitlan. 
 " Bring me an axe of bronze," he had said. " And 
 he shall have it, too, the best there is here," said 
 John ; " and a nugget added if we find one." 
 Here, then, were the tools of those primitive 
 miners ; their axes and knives of bronze or 
 hardened copper and flint, and their hammers, 
 mauls and wedges of stone. With but these sim- 
 ple tools those patient laborers of past centuries 
 had penetrated the rock to this great distance, in 
 pursuit of the glittering veins and pockets of gold. 
 
 A few steps farther they went on, and then were 
 abruptly halted by a wall of rock directly across 
 their path. "As I thought," said John, "this is 
 the end of the main adit ; and no gold yet in sight. 
 These torches give too little light. Let me exam- 
 ine the walls with my lantern." He flashed the 
 light of the bull's-eye upon the rock, tapping it 
 occasionally with a hammer. Suddenly he called 
 out : " Here, Juanito ! Come here, and pound 
 with all your might." 
 
 He had discovered a fissure that seemed to lead 
 into an opening beyond. Under Juanito's sturdy 
 blows, the crumbling rock yielded ; the hammer 
 broke through and fell out of sight into darkness. 
 John flashed in his light, and then drew back with 
 an exclamation of wonder, and passed his hand 
 over his eyes, as though dazzled. 
 
 Juanito eagerly peered in. Without a word he 
 
 recovered his hammer, and went to work again* 
 with redoubled vigor. 
 
 While they were thus at work the Indians sat 
 unconcernedly upon the mound of copper axes.. 
 They were wholly indifferent, apparently, to the 
 exciting scene before them. They seemed to> 
 think it a part of the programme that the " great 
 man from over the sea" and the "little brother 
 from the coast " should find what they sought. 
 John marvelled at their indifference, and said as- 
 much to Juanito, who replied, that there was little 
 to wonder at in their behavior ; that they had, all 
 their lives, been accustomed to obey the head man 
 of their town without question, and to look upon 
 the acts of those above them as in every way sat- 
 isfactory. 
 
 "Now let senorito look into this bolsa this- 
 pocket of gold ; there it lies, in a glittering heap,, 
 winking and blinking at us like living eyes." 
 
 " Una bolsa de oro " a pocket of gold as Juan-- 
 ito termed it ; but it seemed to John rather an accu- 
 mulation by the hand of man, than a deposit by 
 nature's processes. The young man was at a loss 
 to account for it ; he had heard of caves and pock- 
 ets of pure silver ; but never of gold, in this shape 
 and condition. Juanito assented that there was 
 no doubt the Indians themselves had placed it 
 there, for the gold was not in that condition of the 
 metal when found in mines originally opened. 
 There were nuggets and pepitas or kernels of 
 gold, and fragments of golden ore, as it had been 
 cut out of the vein ; all heaped together in this lit- 
 tle cavern, lining it like the sparkling crystals in a 
 geode. 
 
 " There must be thousands of dollars here," said 
 John. 
 
 " Thousands ! No, millions ! Millones ; senorito 
 is a millionaire un millonario /" 
 
 " If I am, then Juanito is," assented John. 
 
 Juanito shook his head : " No, I am not yet 
 ready to be rich. Let senorito give me enough to 
 free my people, to provide for them while they 
 live ; the rest is senorittfs. Vaya ! let us get it 
 out." 
 
 With a calabash, furnished by the Indians,. 
 Juanito, as the willing servant of the Little Mas- 
 ter, scooped the golden treasure into a leather 
 sack. " Ah ! " he murmured admiringly, as pepitas 
 and nuggets rolled into the sack, " ah ! what a 
 fortune has Juanito found to-day. More gold than
 
 M O NTE Z UMA 'S GOLD MINE S. 
 
 39 
 
 all his people ever had ; more than Senor Torres, el 
 rico of Yucatan ! More even than the great Ma- 
 linche ever saw ! And it was all heaped up by the 
 Indians, hundreds of years ago ; all their toil was 
 for the enrichment of senorito" he went on talking 
 rapidly in the most excited manner as he worked. 
 "Better so than that Cortez should have had it; 
 or even Coatelicamar. Senorito, I think the poor 
 miners hid this here for themselves, expecting to 
 keep it. And why did they not carry it away ? 
 Perhaps they were slain ; perhaps they were called 
 out to fight the soldiers of Montezuma. Perhaps 
 
 "AHEAD!" JUANITO COMMANDED. 
 
 ah ! look at the gold ! There ! now we have 
 nearly all ; it is an empty pocket, now. But I can- 
 not lift it ; we shall have to call the Indians. Two 
 of them can hardly carry it ! " 
 
 John stood, hardly hearing Juanito, deeply 
 plunged in thought, lost in contemplation of the 
 past ; asking himself whether the gold belonged to 
 him, or to the Indians ; vaguely recalling pictures 
 of the barbaric miners that once toiled here ; naked, 
 with rude implements. Here, virtually in his own 
 ownership, lay the result of their labor for many, 
 many years, which they had wrested from the 
 
 secret places of the earth with toil, and blood, and 
 groans. The old scruples, the old yearnings for 
 the uplifting and good of the native race of own- 
 ers, took possession of. him, as in the treasure- 
 vaults of the Silver City. He could not look upon 
 this gold as treasure-trove. 
 
 Juanito seemed to divine his thoughts. " Gold 
 is good ! " said he ; " and it is better in the hands 
 of senorito than of these Indians. These many, 
 many years, it has been awaiting senorito' s arrival ; 
 not to take it now would be offending the great 
 Dios, who made the earth and the gold hidden in 
 the earth. Had they needed it, could they have 
 used it, they could have come any day and carried 
 it all away." 
 
 But John's thoughts went back an$ back ; to his 
 New England home ; to his patient mother, whose 
 faith in him and in his future was so strong ; to 
 his unfortunate father, whom he had been the 
 means of reuniting to the family ; then he thought 
 again, with a romantic regret, upon the renounced 
 possibilities of his life in the Silver City; there, he 
 had hoped, lay his life work ; there he had found a 
 conscientious primitive people, living in ignorance ; 
 he had hoped to guide them to a life of worthy in- 
 dustries and enterprises. He had in his mind an 
 ideal kingdom under the sway of the lovely Prin- 
 cess Hia and her brother. How rudely he had 
 been wrenched away ! And now among these sim- 
 ple people of the hills, a similar opportunity opened. 
 He inclined strongly to stay among them. Perhaps, 
 too, some day, when her brother no longer needed 
 her, he would again set sail for Cozumel and pene- 
 trate through the country of the Sublevados and 
 again reach the Silver City, and bear the lovely 
 princess away, and bring her into Mexico, where 
 the peaceful people of this golden country should 
 accept her as their queen, and together they would 
 spend their lives in elevating their subjects. Al- 
 though not a strict believer in special providences, 
 he yet saw the means divinely sent for accomplish- 
 ing a mission truly divine. 
 
 A voice broke in on his romantic reverie : 
 " Vamanos, senorito ; let us go ; it is getting late." 
 
 The Indians assumed the additional burden of 
 the sack of gold, and turned their faces in the di- 
 rection of the mine's mouth. They shuffled along 
 with heavy tread, their spluttering torches faintly 
 lighting the path behind. 
 
 In half an hour, they had reached the first of
 
 4 o 
 
 MONTE Z UMA 'S GOLD MINE S . 
 
 the lateral galleries, a dark hole yawning in the 
 left-hand wall the second they had passed com- 
 ing in. Here their guides paused, set down the 
 sack, and motioned them to examine the rock. 
 They broke into exclamations of astonishment and 
 joy; for it was gold-bearing quartz, milk-white, 
 streaked with golden threads. These lines of 
 gold led downward into the recesses of the crucero, 
 or cross-gallery, indicating beyond a doubt that 
 richer deposits lay beyond. 
 
 " Stay you here, Juanito, with our treasure, and 
 I will examine this ledge." John lighted the dark 
 lantern again, which he had reserved in case the 
 torches gave out. But Juanito demurred ; he did 
 not approve of the Little Master going in alone ; 
 there might be any number of dangers. 
 
 " But, Juanito," laughed John, " I shall merely 
 trace the echada the dip of the ledge to find 
 if the gold continues. I will be gone not more 
 than half an hour." 
 
 Juanito gloomily acquiesced. 
 
 " Vaya, con Dios, senorito. Go, and God be with 
 you, Little Master ; but Juanito likes it not. If 
 senorito does not return in one half-hour, I shall 
 seek him ; my heart is full of fear." 
 
 He threw his arms about John's shoulders and 
 clasped him tightly, then released him. And as 
 John took up his rifle, and adjusted the lantern to 
 his belt, he besought again, " Have a care, beloved 
 master ; look well to your rifle and revolver ; caves 
 and mines are the lurking-places of ladrones and 
 bandits ; remember Juanito's vision of last night ; 
 it may not have been his imagination ! " 
 
 John laughingly assured him that he had no 
 fears ; then disappeared, the twinkling of his light 
 revealing his presence only a little way. Then 
 Juanito sat down with the Indians, who, as soon 
 as John had gone, crouched by the sack, and be- 
 gan to chat together. They talked with unre- 
 served freedom, as their conversation was in their 
 own language, of which they assumed. the stranger 
 to be ignorant. 
 
 One of them took out a pouch of tobacco and 
 some corn husks and began to roll a cigarette, in 
 which occupation he was joined by the other. 
 
 "The sack is heavy," said the one who had 
 lighted the match. 
 
 The other assented. 
 
 " Much gold." 
 
 " Much." 
 
 " What will the great man do with it ? " 
 
 "Who knows?" 
 
 " What will the hairy-faced man say about it ? " 
 
 " Who knows ? " 
 
 Juanito, already excited, thrilled coldly at men- 
 tion of the " hairy-faced man." Whom else could 
 they mean than Tomaso ? He grasped the loqua- 
 cious Indian by the arm, who merely shrugged his 
 shoulders, and calmly smoked. " Was the hairy- 
 faced man the one the alcalde had placed in the 
 calaboose ? " 
 
 No surprise was manifested that Juanito had 
 understood their Zapotic. They answered un- 
 moved. Yes, they thought he was the same. 
 
 " The Spaniard, short of stature, with gray 
 beard ? " 
 
 There was no doubt of it. 
 
 " Where is he now ? " 
 
 " Who knows ? " 
 
 " What did he say to them ? " 
 
 " Nothing." 
 
 " Where did he go ? " 
 
 " Into the crncero /" 
 
 " Was he alone ? " 
 
 " He was alone." 
 
 "Come, then," cried Juanito, "come with me 
 into the crncero ; there is no time to lose ! " 
 
 They deliberately lifted their torches and pre- 
 pared to follow him. 
 
 " Ahead ! " he commanded. 
 
 They moved in, Juanito following. They evi- 
 dently saw no reason for haste ; but Juanito urged 
 them to their utmost speed, fuming over their de- 
 lays, choking with grief at thought of what might 
 happen before he could reach seTwrito. He knew 
 that in the Indians he had neither allies nor ene- 
 mies ; they would remain neutral, whatever hap- 
 pened. He longed to shout, but was afraid to lest 
 that should precipitate the Spaniard on his friend. 
 And Juanito knew enough of Tomaso to be sure that 
 he would kill the Little Master, out of pure malice, 
 even if he himself were certain of being shot in 
 the act. In doubt, in grief, every second of time 
 weighted with horror, Juanito crept after the Indi- 
 ans, with eyes and ears alert to catch the slightest 
 sign of life ahead, the faintest sound. They turned 
 an angle of the passage and there they heard signs 
 of life ; soft footsteps, and the click of a hammer 
 John tapping the gold-bearing rock. At the same 
 time there was the twinkle of a li^ht assurance
 
 MONTEZUMA'S GOLD MINES. 
 
 4- 4o 
 
 of safety. But, just as Juanito was about to re- 
 lieve his agony by a shout of joy, a dark form 
 darted across the lane of light, and a muffled fall 
 was followed by a death-like silence. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 FATE REPEATS. 
 
 Walking carefully along, alternately glancing at 
 the path before him and at the wall of the cut, 
 John had progressed but slowly. The crucero was 
 narrower than the main gallery, and not so high ; 
 it was also tortuous and rough, as it followed along 
 the gold-vein in its windings, ever twisting and ziz- 
 zagging about like a great petrified golden serpent. 
 It was like following an ever-unwinding thread, deep 
 and deeper into the centre of the earth, 'and he be- 
 came so fascinated and absorbed that he thought no 
 longer of the surmised dangers of the cut. Won- 
 dering at the sight that every succeeding footstep 
 unfolded, he lost himself in speculation as to the 
 reasons of the ancient miners for boring out this 
 long tunnel and, apparently, leaving the real vein 
 untouched. It was all a part of the mystery sur- 
 rounding the mine. Perhaps, as Juanito had sug- 
 gested, all this had been done as merely prepara- 
 tory, and that war unexpected and disastrous 
 had come upon the tribe, causing them to with- 
 draw all their miners to fight in the field. Again, 
 it might have been their manner of storing their 
 wealth ; leaving the rich veins exposed, ready for 
 the chisel when the gold should be needed. As 
 the time had never arrived, or, owing to some dis- 
 aster, the gold had not been disturbed, it existed 
 now as in that remote age when first brought to 
 light, firmly cemented within its walls of quartz. 
 
 A feeling of awe took possession of the lonely 
 investigator as he advanced downward, guided by 
 the golden clue. It would not have seemed strange 
 if the ancient Aztecs had appeared to demand of him 
 reasons for his intrusion. He shivered at this sug- 
 gestion, as though a cold draught had struck him, 
 and looked around. In the opposite wall was a 
 cleft a hole that seemed to descend into the very 
 base of the mountain where it had its foundation 
 walls over the abyss of the terrestrial fires. He 
 turned his lantern in that direction ; suddenly, and 
 as it lighted up a little space, he fancied that a 
 shadowy form, having human semblance, and with 
 
 baleful eyes, retreated slowly into its recesses. 
 But it did not reappear, and he laughed softly to 
 himself : " This peering into dead men's treasure- 
 vaults has shaken my nerves." 
 
 Had he but thrown a light, at intervals, behind 
 him, this story of his search might have had a 
 different termination. For the formless shade 
 emerged again from the cleft, and followed silently 
 on his track; it neared him by thrusting back 
 with his rifle John might have touched it ; nearer 
 it drew, suddenly assuming concrete shape, and 
 showing, in the brief glimpse as John suddenly 
 again looked backward, a terrible form with hand 
 lifted above his head. 
 
 "Tomaso!" This one cry only, as the hand 
 descended, weighted with the iron bar it held, and 
 John fell. 
 
 It was at this juncture that Juanito turned the 
 angle in the cut and witnessed the final act in the 
 dreadful pantomime. He at first knew not whether 
 it was friend or foe that lay silent on the rock, 
 friend or foe that darted across the space into the 
 lateral chasm. But he sped forward, rifle raised. 
 All seemed void, in the darkness, as he reached 
 the cleft ; but a noise of rattling stones sounded 
 within, and he discharged his rifle after it. The 
 noise ceased, swallowed up in the report and its 
 thunderous reverberation. Before it had died away, 
 another report followed, this time from within the 
 crevice, and a bullet bounded against the rock be- 
 hind Juanito. 
 
 The Indians, with their torches, had arrived upon 
 the scene, and had illumined the group so that 
 the hidden bandit had had a fairer mark than his 
 foe. But Juanito was unharmed ; and he rapidly 
 sent a half-dozen revolver-shots into the darkness. 
 
 As the last echo of the reverberations died away, 
 retreating further and further into the drift, Juan- 
 ito fancied he heard a groan, or an imprecation 
 he could not distinguish which. Then all was quiet. 
 
 Turning now to the silent shape in the crucero, 
 the boy motioned the Indians to lift John carefully. 
 They turned him over, and raised him, so that the 
 torch-light flared in his face ; it was still and pallid. 
 An intense longing possessed Juanito to clasp his 
 brother close in his arms, and bear him upon his 
 own breast into daylight and open air. His heart 
 burned with the pain of repressed emotion ; his 
 eyes were dry, but a-fire with mingled grief and 
 anger. The Indians, unmoved as ever, obeyed him,
 
 MONTEZUMA'S GOLD MINES. 
 
 gathering the Little Master into their arms, and 
 retreating with him towards the main drift of the 
 mine. Detaching the lantern from John's belt, 
 Juanito re-lighted it and fastened it to his own. 
 Then he slowly retreated after the Indians, his 
 back to them and his face to any concealed foe. 
 His was a most perilous position, for the lantern- 
 glare showed his movements ; but it also projected 
 a broad lane of light towards the supposed point 
 whence the enemy might appear. Thus they fell 
 back, in good order, towards their only known 
 avenue of escape. 
 
 As they retreated, when a rod away from the 
 cleft in the wall, something seemed to emerge from 
 it a shapeless something, yet to Juanito's eyes 
 having the general outline of a human being 
 .and danced across the drift and back again. 
 
 Bang! the rifle-roar again filled the cavern; 
 Juanito was amazed. He cared little for anything 
 living in the flesh, and was prepared to take any 
 odds ; but this phantom-like apparition through 
 which his bullet sped and caused no harm what 
 should he do ? Still he was battling for more than 
 one life ; and he resolutely quieted the supersti- 
 tious suggestions that thronged his brain. He had 
 still twelve shots left ; in his rifle six, and six in the 
 revolver which he had reloaded. 
 
 Meanwhile, the sad procession slowly moved 
 along. Following after it, as though drawn out 
 by a draught of air, before Juanito's burning eyes 
 trooped a constantly-increasing number of the 
 formless ones dun, misty shapes. They danced 
 in the gloom beyond the lane of light, never 
 emerging clearly out of the obscurity, but pressing 
 upon one another and constantly shifting places, 
 in restless pantomime. Despite his courage, Juan- 
 ito felt his limbs shake and his heart thump trem- 
 ulously. He gazed more in awe than horror. 
 " Santa Maria ! These are Indians, the old miners, 
 who have perished in the mine. They would not 
 harm me, an Indian of Malinche's own race. Why 
 did I shoot ? " 
 
 Suddenly, like the drifting away of a cloud 
 before a breeze, these phantoms disappeared, dis- 
 solved into the gloom of the cavern. The retreat- 
 ing group had reached the main drift, and here 
 they halted, to gain strength, before carrying their 
 insensible burden on to the cave's mouth. " The 
 gold what should they do with the gold?" the 
 Indians questioned dumbly. 
 
 Juanito shook his head : " Never mind the gold ; 
 bear the master quickly out to open air." 
 
 The Indians reassumed their burden. As they 
 stooped to take up the unconscious form, their 
 quick ears caught a sound of approaching footsteps. 
 They signed to Juanito. It came from the direc- 
 tion of the outer world, not from the crucero. 
 
 Placing the Indians with their charge behind a 
 projecting rock, Juanito covered the light, and 
 awaited the coming of whatever caused the sound, 
 crouched close to the wall, with rifle tightly clasped. 
 Louder grew the murmur, swelling to a muffled 
 roar, and betokening many footsteps, as well as 
 voices. Now lights gleamed. He shouted : 
 "Holaf" "Who are ye?" 
 
 Confused cries, but in friendly tones, answered 
 him, as of several voices at once replying to his 
 call. The next moment joyful exclamations issued 
 from the new-comers, greeting Juanito and the 
 guides, followed by lamentations over the body of 
 el Americano ; for they were Indians from Tama- 
 zulapa, headed by the alcalde, who had sallied out 
 in search of Malinche's kinsman, superstitiously 
 drawn perhaps by the red serpent of the ancient 
 totem. 
 
 They embraced each other eagerly ; and then 
 willing hands volunteered to relieve the patient 
 guides, and the retreat was at once begun. In due 
 time, the entrance to the mine was reached ; day- 
 light greeted them ; the setting sun fell slantwise 
 across the canon wall. A terrible weight seemed 
 to roll off Juanito's shoulders as they emerged ; 
 but the cloud in his brain still hung there, like a 
 veil before his eyes. Had it all happened in one 
 day ? Yes. Between the rising and the going 
 down of the sun, he had passed through a lifetime 
 (it seemed to him) of joy and fear. 
 
 They bore the body to the stream and bathed 
 the still face and hands, and washed the clotted 
 blood from the wound ; but, though the breath of 
 life was still in him, John did not return to con- 
 sciousness. Then they prepared a litter and be- 
 gan their march homeward, taking turns as carriers 
 until the rolling river was in sight, the hamlet in 
 the orange grove was reached, and they halted in 
 front of the cabildo, where a bed was quickly pre- 
 pared, and the medico, the native doctor, sent for. 
 
 Four days of intense agony passed by, during 
 which John neither woke nor gave evidence of sens- 
 ibility. During all this time Juanito remained by
 
 MONTEZUMA'S GOLD MINES. 
 
 his side, watching with unresting vigilance. But 
 one morning at dawn, as the wrens in the thatch 
 were twittering softly together, John opened his 
 eyes. It was a simple thing for one to do, yet it 
 startled Juanito more than that shot from Tomaso's 
 revolver, in the mine. " Gracias d Dios !" he 
 presently exclaimed, "Thanks to God ! senorito has 
 awakened from his sleep ! " 
 
 The pale lips moved as though trying to form 
 words. Juanito placed his ear down close. 
 
 " Tomaso ? I dreamt I saw Tomaso ! " 
 
 The sun hung straight over the hut when John 
 awoke again. This time his glance was untroubled ; 
 he recognized the faithful Juanito, and returned 
 his delighted caresses with heartfelt fervor. 
 "Juanito mio, how long have I been here ?" 
 " Five days, senorito" 
 " The gold did Tomaso get that ? " 
 " No ; the alcalde has it, keeping it for you." 
 Long and many talks followed, day after day. 
 Among other accounts Juanito told of the formless 
 phantoms in the mine, which John at once assured 
 
 "AND THE LITTLE CHILDREN SANG THE ANGELUS." 
 
 "Not here, Little Master; he is in the mine. 
 The alcalde thinks him dead." 
 
 " What did he do to me ? " 
 
 " He escaped, and followed us ; he struck you 
 down, in the crucero, and I O, senorito, he will 
 never trouble us again." 
 
 " Our friends, the Indians they were not 
 false ? " 
 
 " No, amigo mio, they were true ; you are back 
 in their town." 
 
 Lips and eyelids fluttered again, but closed, a 
 sigh of peace heaved the weak breast, and the tired 
 questioner dropped back into slumber. 
 
 him were but shapes of rifle-smoke. Of far more 
 importance were certain conversations with the 
 alcalde and the presidente. Meantime, his recov- 
 ery went surely on. Not a man, woman or child 
 in the village but lent a hand and brought a gift 
 to further his convalescence. Everything which 
 could add to his comfort or tempt his appetite 
 appeared in the cabildo as by magic. 
 
 One beautiful balmy day, about a month after the 
 adventure in the mine, the beloved el Americano re- 
 joiced the people by appearing at the door of the 
 cabildo. By Juanito's aid, he walked slowly through 
 the orange grove, to a verdant knoll, surrounded
 
 MONTEZUMA'S GOLD MINES. 
 
 by a ring of palm and fruit-trees. A busy scene 
 there met his gaze ; the men of the village were 
 building a house. Its frame was already up, some 
 of the workmen were plastering the walls, others 
 laying the thatch of bright palm-leaves, and all 
 were hurrying, as though working in anticipation 
 of some joyous event. It was a beautiful situation 
 for a dwelling, with an emerald slope reaching to 
 the river and a view bounded only by the distant 
 cliffs. 
 
 John admired, and praised. " Who is this palace 
 for ? " he asked. " Do you expect a cura to be 
 settled among you ? " 
 
 The alcalde laughed, and made answer: "No, 
 senorito, not a cura, but a teacher ; " then he trans- 
 lated the question to his neighbors, who suspended 
 their labors that they too might enjoy it, and in- 
 dulge in a chorus of laughter. 
 
 A week later, the house was done ; a broad 
 veranda distinguished it above all the rest, and it 
 was the grandest structure in the village. Ham- 
 mocks (woven by the busy fingers of Indian maid- 
 ens) were hung in it ; trees and flowers were 
 planted around it. Then the people assembled 
 about the cabildo, clad in their best and brightest 
 garments, their faces eager and joyous. Suddenly, 
 there broke forth the sound of singing voices ; 
 white garments gleamed beneath the glossy-leaved 
 orange-trees, and up through the avenue of palm- 
 trees came a score or two of children chanting 
 in their native tongue a delightful song of greet- 
 ing. 
 
 The alcalde led them, brought them to the door- 
 way in which the young men were standing, await- 
 ing the simple ceremonies of which they had been 
 apprised. 
 
 "Most noble sett or," he said, "and Little 
 Brother, ours, behold your people, come to con- 
 duct you to your home." 
 
 They had brought the beloved white stranger 
 their choicest offerings ; their love and loyalty. 
 John accepted their trust with unfeigned joy, feel- 
 ing that a new life had begun, that his life-work 
 "ay well-defined before him. Nor did it bear any 
 
 (THE 
 
 longer a relation to the gold mines of his search. 
 The gold lay before him, but it seemed valueless. 
 He looked upon it with an Arcadian indifference. 
 
 " We believed you would stay with us, even as 
 you promised," the alcalde went on, with simple 
 dignity. " We believe you will find us people 
 good to dwell amongst. All we have we now lay 
 at your feet ; only remain with us, and teach us 
 the wisdom of the East, the skill of your race, its 
 learning and its religion. Our Little Brother, 
 after his separation of generations, has at last re- 
 joined his kindred. He is content to stay, and 
 for his mother, his brother, and his sister. We 
 have sent swift runners to Tuxtlas with gold to 
 ransom them. Soon Juanito shall welcome them 
 to his home." 
 
 Gratitude and gladness shone in the eyes of the 
 two young men as they turned toward each other. 
 Surely their search for the Lost Mine had been 
 blessed. John swore in his inmost heart that 
 Montezuma's gold should never be put to ignoble 
 use in this, his little ideal commonwealth. The 
 thirst for gold, the toil and strife for gold how 
 pitiable, how dark and bloody and terrible this 
 gold- hunger had made the history of earth and 
 the human race ! 
 
 The alcalde led to the new house, all the people 
 following, singing the glad hymns of their race. In 
 the centre of the village, a stone's throw from 
 their new dwelling, were the ruins of a church. 
 Once, fifty years ago, it had stood there fair and 
 stately, its stone tower hung with bells, and reach- 
 ing upward toward the sky. 
 
 Now, it lay in heaps of ruins ; lor an earth- 
 quake had one day shaken it shaken it for but 
 a moment and it no longer bore the semblance of 
 a church. But in a corner of its walls, beneath a 
 roof of thatch, its bells still hung. And here, as 
 the dusk of night drew nigh, came the old sac- 
 ristan (self-appointed) and rang the chimes for the 
 oration, while little children gathered round and 
 sang the Angelus their evening prayer. Then 
 starry darkness and sleep fell upon the peaceful 
 village, and the happy dwellers in it. 
 END.)
 
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