“Why do you not call him my father, Kamaiakan?” interposed the other. “He is indeed the father of this mortal body which I wear, which (as you tell me) bears the name of Miriam. Besides, are not Miriam and I united by the thread of descent?”
“Something of the spirit that is you dwells in her also,” said the Indian.
“And does she know of it?”
“At times, my princess; but only as one remembers a dream.”
“I wish I might converse with her and instruct her in the truth,” said the princess. “And she, in turn, might speak to me of things that perplex me. I live and move in this mortal world, and yet (you tell me) three centuries have passed since what is called my death. To me it seems as if I had but slept through a night, and were awake again. Nor can I tell what has happened—what my life and thoughts have been—during this long lapse of time. Yet it must be that I live another life: I cannot rest in extinction. Three times you have called me forth; yet whence I come hither, or whither I return, is unknown to me.”
“There is a memory of the spirit,” replied Kamaiakan, “and a memory of the body. They are separate, and cannot communicate with each other. Such is the law.”
“Yet I remember, as if it were yesterday, the things that were done when Montezuma was king. And well do I remember you, Kamaiakan!”
“It is true I live again, princess, though not in the flesh and bones that died with you in the past. But in the old days I was acquainted with mysteries, and learned the secrets of the world of spirits; and this science still remained with me after the change, so that I was able to know that I was I, and that you could be recalled to speak with me through the tongue of Miriam. But there are some things that I do not know; and it is for that I have been bold to summon you.”
“What can I tell you that can be of use to you in this present life, Kamaiakan, when all whom we knew and loved are gone?”
“To you only, Semitzin, is known the place of concealment of the treasure which, in the old times, you and I hid in the desert. I indeed remember the event, and somewhat of the region of the hiding; but I cannot put my hand upon the very spot. I have tried to discover it; but when I approach it my mind becomes confused between the present and the past, and I am lost.”