"Very well. The negro Stephen, who was with De Vaca is here, and is willing to be your guide. If you come to any great city do not send back word, but return yourself and tell me about it. Make all your plans and set out as soon as possible."
Fray Marcos did as he was told, but it was several months before anything was heard of him. One day a traveler, in a monk's gown, came walking into the same seaport that De Vaca had visited.
"It is Fray Marcos, who went in search of the Seven Cities! Did you find them! Are they full of wealth? Where is the negro Stephen?"
Fray Marcos would not answer their questions.
"I have much to tell, but my news is for the Viceroy himself," said the padre, and he started for the city of Mexico. When there he said to the Viceroy:
"The Indians came out to meet and welcome me everywhere. They had food ready for me, and where there were no houses, they built bowers of trees and flowers that I might rest safe from the sun. I spent four days journeying through a desert, and then I found some Indians who marveled much to see me. They thought, because I was white and wore a gown, that I must have come from Heaven. I asked them if they knew of any great kingdom where there were seven large cities, and they told me that farther on were high mountains with wide plains at the foot where the people lived in cities and clothed themselves in cotton. I sent Stephen ahead three-score leagues, and charged him to send back Indians to bring me news of his success. If the country was poor and mean, he was to send me a cross no longer than my hand; if it were a goodly place the cross was to be two lengths of a hand, and if he found what he sought he was to send me a large cross. In four days a messenger came from Stephen bearing a cross as high as a man. He brought news of a mighty province called Cibola, thirty days journey northward from the town where Stephen was. In this province there are seven great cities governed by one Prince."
"You should have followed at once to make sure that all these things were true," said the Viceroy, now very much interested.
"I did," responded Fray Marcos. "Each day messengers came to me carrying large crosses and giving more particulars concerning Cibola. Finally I entered a valley where there were many people, and all of them had turquoises hanging from their noses, and ears, and collars of the same three or four times double around their necks. Then I had to go through another desert, and was beginning to get very tired when one day there came running to me, an Indian in great fright—his body covered with sweat and dust, and his face showing extreme sadness. He said that the day before Stephen had reached Cibola, and had sent guides into the city with presents for the chief, and to let them know he came in peace. But the great Lord of the City flew into a rage and dashed the presents to the ground. He drove the messengers out in fury, and said he would kill them if they came back again. He said, too, that he would kill Stephen. But the negro was not afraid, and went directly into the city. Instantly they were seized and cast into a prison, where they were kept all night without anything to eat or drink. The next morning Stephen and his guides tried to escape, but the people killed all of them except one other and the messenger who came to me. These two were struck down and left for dead, but were only stunned, and when the angry people went away they crept out in the night, and made their escape."
"What did you do then, Fray Marcos?" asked the Viceroy.