Now the chieftain of the party, an enormous grizzled warrior, stepped forward and said:
“Tell us, then, O Atkayma, where you have been; why now you are here.”
“Then listen to my words,” was the reply. “It is nine years since I led a band of young men to the sea. The Mopanes fell upon us and cut my comrades down. Some, I hope, escaped. I found a boat and fled across the great water, the enemy following. A ship of the white people—the powerful Americans—saved me and took me on board, repelling the Mopanes. I was carried to far lands, with no way to return to my people. Years passed by. I found a good friend among the white men, a friend who has now helped me to come back to you. He is yonder, with seven others who have assisted me. On our journey to Itzlan we were surprised by Mopanes. You may see how many we have destroyed.”
The warriors glanced around. The ground was literally covered with bodies. They well knew they had not slain all these themselves.
“My white friends,” continued Chaka, “must become the friends of the Itzaex nation; my people must become their friends. To them you owe the safe return of your atkayma.”
This last statement was the first to be received with disfavor. There were sundry grunts of protest and gestures of dissent. The old chieftain bowed low and made reply.
“Never, O Atkayma Chaka, has the white man been the friend of the Itzaex,” said he.
“Time changes many things. These white people have been like brothers to me,” announced Chaka, in a firm voice. “I know them. In their hearts is no treachery; they seek no conquest; they are good and true. Tell me, Gatcha, have they not destroyed many of the enemies of the Itzaex? Have they not given you back your hereditary atkayma, just as the gods have permitted my father Tcheltzada to meet his doom? If you fail to greet my preservers as friends, the gods, from whom I am descended, and for whom I speak, will surely punish you.”
That seemed to settle the case with the Itzaex. Once more they prostrated themselves before Chaka in token of obedience, and the chieftain Gatcha said:
“It is well, O Atkayma. If your uncle, the mighty Datchapa, receives the white men, we have no objection to offer to them.”