“And your lucky Greek was the one to be chosen! He was fed well as one would fatten an ox for the knife. He had some knowledge of simple remedies, and in brewing herbs for their sick he had also stolen the opportunity for the further addition to his coat of color. He was to them an Indian of an unknown tribe, yet, since he was to be offered to the gods, he was made the very center of ceremonial dances, and infernal heathenish customs.
“Both men and women enter into certain sacred––or infernal orders, whose ceremonies are only known to those initiate. An inter-tribal connection is kept up in such societies between villages speaking a totally different language,––even though the tribes be at war, there is always a truce for these wild creatures who dance together for some magic, or some prayer to their false gods.”
“And the truce is kept?”
“It would not be possible for a tribe to break truce of their diabolical things of their spirits. At the ceremonies for the sacrifice to the comet god was a girl of another tribe, and when the Greek noted that her desire was not to see him destroyed, he had the first glimpse of hope,––the only other he had was 92 to remove the stain in some way, and convince them that their gods had made a miracle to save him.”
The priest made a gesture towards the great sand drifts at every side of rock wall and column.
“To which of you would it occur, if hiding meant chance of life––to which of you would it occur to go under that sand for days so close to the trail that the women with the water jars would pass you scores of times in a day carrying water from this pool?”
“This pool?––this––”––the eyes of Don Ruy lightened––“this is then that place of the great danger?”
“A man could not hide in the sand like that––nor deceive these wild trailers of animals,” decided Don Diego––“and of a certainty it could not be close to the trail!”
“So we would naturally think,” decided Padre Vicente. “But the Indian girl was wiser than our wisdom, Señor, for she did aid his escape, and she did hide him there. To get breath, his face was touching a great wall of rock against which another was carelessly laid. The place had been chosen with a knowledge that seemed inspired––for only close to the trail where the sand was like to be disturbed by naked romping children,––only there in all these deserts could he have been hidden from their hunters.”
“Here?––in this place?” again said Don Ruy. “Holy father it is a good story––yet sounds a romance fantastic to fit this weird place of the pool and the star shine of the night?”