Passing round a boulder that lay at the foot of this wall, Zibalbay led the way into a tunnel behind it.
“Do not fear the darkness,” he said, “the passage is short and there are no pitfalls.”
So we followed the sound of his footsteps through the gloom, till presently a spot of light appeared before us, and in another minute we stood on the further side of the mountain, though we could see nothing of the place because of the falling shadows.
Without pausing, Zibalbay pushed on down the hill, and, suddenly turning to the right, stopped before the door of a house built of hewn stone.
“Enter,” he said, “and welcome to the country of the People of the Heart.”
As the door was thrown open, light from the fire within streamed through it, and a man’s voice was heard asking, “Who is there?”
Without answering, Zibalbay walked into the room. It was a low vaulted apartment, and at a table placed before the great fire which burnt upon the hearth sat a man and a woman eating.
“Is this the way that you watch for my return?” he asked in a stern voice. “Haste now and make food ready for we are starved with cold and hunger.”
The man, who had risen, stood hesitating, but the woman, whose position enabled her to see the face of the speaker, caught him by the arm, saying,
“Down to your knees, husband. It is the cacique come back.”