Fathers took occasion to have a little visit with their children; husbands and wives consulted their mutual interests; while lovers contrived to exchange much of the small coin of affection, openly, innocently and with obvious encouragement.
Mingling freely with the crowd, were the vestal virgins, themselves trained by Priestesses of the Sun, in charge of the boys and girls under the age of twelve. These eager little bodies were allowed to satisfy their curiosity. The vestals tried to explain everything coming under their observation, so that the visit was an object lesson as well as a half-holiday.
Groups of older boys came attended by warrior-priests, who trained them in the art of warfare, after which they were apprenticed to the various guilds, and taught to be skilled in some branch of industry. In many cases, an elder brother or other relative was serving an apprenticeship while a younger boy was still studying warfare. Then, there was a pardonable display of skill and knowledge by the elder, which did not fail to spur the ambition of the younger.
Both sexes were allowed to study picture writing, music or oratory, and there was much friendly rivalry among them.
The guild awards were always those most hotly contested. In this category were prizes for cooking, weaving, basketry, pottery and the care of the sick, which was the prerogative of the women, while all the industries gave encouragement to the apprentice boys in their charge.
CHAPTER TEN
THE FORTUNE THAT WAS TOLD WITH TAROT CARDS
Setos, the Dogberry of Tlamco, lived in a pretentious square house where the disused Laurel Hill Cemetery is now located. The house was gay in stucco ornament and artistic coloring. The surrounding grounds were extensive, and the rambling enclosure was altogether the most elaborate private establishment in the city.
Quick, active, energetic and scientific, Setos had, also, the cunning of a schemer and the ambition of a dictator. In stature, he was short and pudgy, with a round, fat body and with disproportionately small extremities. He made many gestures with his arms and carried his straight stiff thumbs downward. His finger-nails were narrow, indicating obstinacy and conceit, while his thick and stubby fingers showed that he was cruel and selfish. Setos’s eyes were small and gray.
In addition to long ham-like ears was a nose which was a cross between a hook and a beak. The thin lips and square jaws completed a countenance which reflected a bold and uncertain temper. The man had a nervous habit of clasping his coarse, fat hands, especially when excited or over-anxious. Withal, he was inordinately vain, not of his good looks certainly, but of his achievements—and, his godliness.
Akaza had a way of looking straight through Setos’s mean, shabby nature which mightily irritated this entirely self-satisfied man. Setos always imagined that he was being put upon in the civic councils, and he was determined that the visitors should imbibe something of his greatness at the fountain-head.