At dawn next morning they were both eating a hurried meal in the cave, and talking over the advisability of making a retreat while it was yet time.
"As soon as they find out the opal is missing, the whole country will rise in arms," said Jack, emphatically; "and every Indian will be questioned closely, both within and without the town."
"But the news won't reach the coast for some time, Juan."
"I question very much if it has not reached the coast now," replied Jack, a trifle drily. "From the end of that road are many other paths to the coast, so swift messengers might have passed us in that way. Let us hope, however, that this is not the case, and that Cocom will be the first to bring the news that the opal is lost."
"Cocom will guess that I have taken the opal!"
"Doubtless; and the question is whether he will permit you to take it to Tlatonac."
"But why not, Juanito? I am the guardian of the opal. It is mine."
"Querida, you are wrong. It is the property of Huitzilopochtli. You are only its guardian—a mere honorary position that does not entail possession of the stone. Its proper place, according to the Indian's superstition, is in the shrine of Totatzine."
"But Cocom is a Christian. He will not care about my taking it."
"Dios! I am not so sure of that, Dolores. Cocom, by his own profession, was brought up an idolater, and old habits cling. It is true that he was converted by the good Padre, and I have no doubt his Catholicism is very fair—for an Indian. But if he does not worship the war-god, he at least believes in the prophetic quotations of the Opal; and, thus believing, may resent it being taken from the shrine."