“Thou shalt make me thy servant.”
“Thou shalt make us to go through fire and water for thee,” they responded in unison, making the same obeisance as Alcamayn had done, bending the knee and with a downward gesture of the right hand.
The jeweler was included in the comprehensive bow given in passing but no further words were spoken. He did not attempt to conceal his respect and admiration; the vestals were equally frank in their curiosity. They had seen but few men so fastidious in dress, and there was a difference between his general appearance and that of the men of Tlamco.
Passing through the gateway a confusing scene greeted the visitors. Here two bands of warriors had been going through a quaint manual of arms in a competitive drill and were about returning to quarters. Carrying snake-headed batons, at the head of the column were the superior officers who acted as judges. Behind them came the two ensign bearers, one flaunting a triangular-shaped banner of embroidered satin, depicting a white heron on a rock. It was suspended from a gold bar, supported by a burnished bronze standard, finished with a cluster of brilliant-colored plumes.
The other emblem was a white satin square, showing a golden eagle with outstretched wings ornamented with silver-set emeralds. The pole was gilded, and tufted at the top with curled white horsehair, out of which protruded a flaring crest of peacock feathers.
Back of each standard bearer marched the trumpeter and drummer of the regiment. A blast from the trumpet, and a movement of the banners guided the companies, while general orders were signaled by the gold-knobbed baton.
The modern drum-major is not the only man knowing how to twirl an ornamental baton, as he casts side-long glances at his own moving shadow, nor is his high-stepping more admired to-day than it was of old. Vanity often changes the details, but seldom the actual methods of self-gratification.
The leaders wore quilted cotton tunics fitted closely to the body. Over this was a cuirass of thin gold and silver plates, in imitation of feathers. Leggins of ooze leather were attached to breech-clouts of dark blue cotton, while the feet were covered with sandals or bull’s-hide moccasins ornamented with bead-work. Wound around the shoulders was a gayly striped mantle of fine wool, so light and soft in texture that in actual combat it served as a sash for the waist.
The helmets were of wood fiber, light but durable, from the crests of which floated a panache of feathers. The form of head covering, the color and arrangement of the plumes, indicated the family and rank of the wearer. Every warrior carried a shield, either of metal, or leather, or a light frame of reeds covered with quilted cotton.
A perfect sea of spears and darts tipped with transparent obsidian or fiery copper, sparkled in the noonday sun. The gay head coverings, the ribbons floating in the air, and the ornate shields wove in and out in serpentine undulations, finally disappearing in one of the Long Houses used for mess.