“I remember it well,” said Semitzin. “We rode across the desert, carrying the treasure on mules. The air was still, and the heat very heavy. The desert descended in a great hollow: you told me it was where, in former days, the ocean had been. At last there were rocky hills before us; we rode towards a great rock shaped like the pyramid on which the sacrifices were held in Tenochtitlan. We passed round its base, and entered a deep and narrow valley, that seemed to have been ploughed out of the heart of the earth and to descend into it. Then—— But what is it you wish to do with this treasure, Kamaiakan?”
“It belongs to your race, princess, and was hidden that the murderers of Montezuma might not seize it. I was bound by an oath, after the peril was past, to restore it to the rightful owners. But our country remained under the rule of the conquerors; and my life went out. But now the conquerors have been conquered in their turn, and Miriam is the last inheritor of your blood. When I have delivered to her this trust, my work will be done, and I can return to the world which you inhabit. The time is come; and only by your help can the restitution be made.”
“Was there, then, a time fixed?”
“The stars tell me so. And other events make it certain that there must be no delay. The general has it in mind to discover the gates through which the waters under-ground may arise and again form the sea which flowed hereabouts in the ancient times. Now, this sea will fill the ravine in which the treasure lies, and make it forever unattainable. A youth has also come here who is skilled in the sciences, and whom the general will ask to help him in the thing he is to attempt.”
“Who is this youth?” asked Semitzin.
“He is of the new people who inherit this land: his name is Freeman.”
“There is something in me—I know not what—that seems to tell me I have been near such a one. Can it be so?”
“The other self, who now sleeps, knows of him,” replied the ancient Indian. “He is a well-looking youth, and I think he has a desire towards her we call Miriam.”
“And does she love him?” inquired the princess.
“A maiden’s heart is a riddle, even to herself,” said Kamaiakan.